I cloned the OS to a 4GB SD card (by following the Milhouse instructions). And then I added a bunch of programs, changed settings, etc.

Now I want to back up that SDHC card such that I have an identical replacement, such that I have another card just that I could just pop into the slot. Is there a way to do this? Since it has special partitioning and boot files, I don't think you can just copy the files to a identically sized disk.

Do you have to make a disk image, or what? How would you make that back-up copy?

I have had the same question an hour ago
I did it with partimage in ubuntu.
I used my SD cardreader but maybe it is also possible to use the usb cable to the N800.

But I have not tried to copy it back to the SD card. So I can't say if it is really working.
But the backup process looked fine.

1. Boot from flash
2. Assume you have the org in mmcblk0 and the target SD in mmcblk1
then mount those two SDs (into /floppy and /opt for example). Remember at this step you already have the machine able to see the two SDs, meaning you have create partitions on the target and insmod all needed modules (mbcache and ext2 for ext2 type, and jbd and ext3 if you like ext3)
3. tar it from the org to the target.


Here:

insmod ..../mbcache.ko
insmod .../jbd.ko
insmod .../ext3.ko
insmod .../ext2.ko

[ the N800, for example, at this stage can see both already formatted SDs ]

mount /dev/mmcblk0p2 /floppy (/floppy is an empty dir)
mount /dev/mmcblk1p2 /opt

<whereever>/tar cf - -C /floppy . | <whereever>/tar xvf - -C /opt


Do it by hand but now you know what is going on .......
You don't need a script for it !

nhanquy,

Thanks for that reply. I'll punch the official Thanks! button after I've actually, successfully followed your instructions. First, though, I need to buy (I suppose) an identical SDHC card, so it will be a few days before I get to try them. I expect you'll hear back from me with questions. I'm not a Linux user except for the tablet, so the instructions look rather spare and cryptic (though I'll try my best!). Thanks again!

No, you don't need an identical card. What if you want more space so you can install KDE on it for example? Meaning you have to add 1.5G or so to mmcblk1p2!

tar allows you copy all files from the old card maybe to a new bigger partition on the new card.

On a Linux PC it is even simpler - put the SD in a reader (or in the device if you're booted from internal memory), then use the aforementioned tar command to copy all the contents to a folder, replace the card and do it the other way round.

Of course the card should be formatted with linux supporting fs.

i like using partimage in ubuntu, rather than the tar command. because tar compresses and needs decompression afteward. with partimage, wysiwyg. also you can create, delete and resize partitions easily.

I could use some partimage help from a linux-capable person. I'm trying to back up an OS I cloned to an MMC. I am not a linux user but I manage to move ahead step-by-step by depending on the kindness of strangers. If you are one such kind stranger ...

I have my mmc with its two partitions (a la fanoush and milhouse) in an sd card reader. I have managed to boot into linux with SystemRescueCD, which includes partimage. And now I'm in partimage and confused about how I specify the file I'm I'm creating.

But first things first.

(1) The SD card contains 2 partitions. The partition with the OS is formatted as ext2fs and the other partition is formatted as FAT32. My PC hard drive has only FAT32 (and NTFS) partitions. (1a) Can I back up each of these partitions onto a FAT32-formatted drive? (1b) If I can't back up the ext2fs partition to FAT32, then it seems my best bet is to pop in an additional SD card which *is* formatted as ext2fs, or which is already formatted and partitioned to be my copy (that is, I would skip backing up to a hard drive and just make a duplicate of my original SD onto a second SD). Is this what I have to do (assuming I'm not planning to make a ext2fs partition on my hard drive)? (1c) Or do I really want to use something like Partition Magic, but for Linux, to make a ext2fs partition on my hard drive? Included on SystemRescueCD is GNU Parted, which seems to be a program that could do that.

(2) What the heck would be a file path for the file I want to create? I'm used to Windows/Mac, so I think in terms of volumes, which I've learned isn't proper penguin. Partimage is showing I have partitions with names like sda1, sda2, sdb1, sdc2, but the Partimage manual is showing I create a file with a path and name like /mnt/backup/N800x.partimage.gz (I came up with the name, but the path is in the manual). How do I get to say just what volume is being used by a path like that. Say I want to just put the file on what I think of as the E: drive (which is FAT32), what would I write as the path-and-file-name? (Partimage is identifying it as sdb1, but the manual certainly isn't showing a path like /sdb1/N800x.partimage.gz)

Thanks!!

What you could do is to use tar. It's what the script uses & what most N800 distro's use.

For tar, I don't believe you need a ext2/3 partition on the computer. This is a basic example so someone please fix it.

You would boot from flash (if not using a card reader) and insmod ext2 modules. And mount your cloned os partition. Then plug in the usb cable and let linux mount it on the computer.

Lets say your N800 is mounted at /media/disk and your computer's hd at /media/windows.

In a terminal (as root to preserve permissions):
tar -c /media/disk > /media/windows/backup.tar

Of course, that tar command may need improving.

EDIT: Sorry, someone already posted tar. Sorry again.

Gerald:

On Windows, Acronis True Image Home will make partition image back-ups of Linux partitions on drives that it can see.

I put my SD cards in a USB card-reader and back it to a Windows file using True Image Home.

Although it does treat users as if they were children (I hate wizard interfaces), TI Home is a good back up solution for Windows and I think it is worth the $50 - even without the ability to back up Linux partitions.

Don.