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zement	2010-07-05 , 16:54
Posts: 28 \| Thanked: 3 times \| Joined on Jun 2010	#11

i am interested in the usb recovery mode too, especially for trying the following:

backup:

Code:

# dump it to the pc with the hostname 'yourpc' via ssh
dd if=/dev/mtd5 | ssh root@yourpc "cat > rootfs.img"

restore:

Code:

./flasher-3.5 -r rootfs.img -f -R

seriously i didn´t get it till that point, i can´t connect to ssh server in usb recovery mode

regards

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abill_uk	2010-07-05 , 17:21
Banned \| Posts: 3,412 \| Thanked: 1,043 times \| Joined on Feb 2010	#12

Originally Posted by Corso85

Yes. I know this has been asked before. But this time I'm dead serious. I just upgraded to 1.2 and it literally took me a week to configure everything again.

I want someone to write an application for Ubuntu or Windows that would assist in the process of making an exact replica of an N900s rootfs ready for re-flashing.

I'd like to restore my N900 to an exact condition without reliance on online repositories or dependencies.

Guides online such as the one in Hack-A-N900 are vague and incomplete.

I don't have the time or knowledge to do this, so I'm offering 65$ to 100$ US dollars (depending on quality) to whoever makes it. Wired via Paypal.

What you are asking does not make sense to me unless i am not understanding this properly because a backup is a backup and would not be apllicable if you are upgrading the OS to a newer version.

If you did a backup using the backup utility already on the OS of the N900 then it is simple to restore all your apps but if you did not then you start over again, a bit frustrating i know but thats the way it works at the moment as no apps available that are better than what we have right now.

Meego is coming dont forget so maybe something better will come with it but i agree with you on the backup that we need something like a system restore on Windows for example but not yet available on the N900.

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joelteixeira	2010-07-05 , 19:24
Posts: 63 \| Thanked: 29 times \| Joined on May 2010	#13

I would like a solution like this also and I disagree about the native Backup solution. If you have a full backup, you can do wahtever you want with your deice. Try applications, add/remove repos, play with your widgets... etc. Any time you can just back in time with your device. Without any traces.

Just to list one example, If after a reflash you expect to restore your device state just by restoring the backup file from native application you will lost any modifications on apps you have.

The only thing the restore will do regarding apps, will be add repos and say "install this, this this...".

I have a partition just for images that I create weekly with clonezilla and I take very seriously anything about backup/restore. IMHO, if a restore doesn't restore everything... it doesn't work as it should.

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RobbieThe1st	2010-07-05 , 22:03
Posts: 842 \| Thanked: 1,197 times \| Joined on May 2010	#14

Originally Posted by MohammadAG

afaik that method mounts the rootfs, which puts you in the same situation above.

Wait. Why does it?
It should have the rootfs mounted in read-only mode, which should allow copying.

Or was that page I linked to wrong?

If this still doesn't work, I'm out of ideas for now. I'll have to wait until Thursday when I actually -get- my N900 to test some theories out, see what I can make work.

I'm sure there's a way to do it. This is linux we are dealing with, after all.

-rob

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	Stskeeps	2010-07-05 , 22:25
	Posts: 1,671 \| Thanked: 11,478 times \| Joined on Jun 2008 @ Warsaw, Poland	#15

Short story: Build something on top of the rescue initrd we have for MeeGo. flasher -k kernel -n initrd.img -b, boot into kernel with initrd..

http://wiki.meego.com/ARM/N900/Using_Rescue_Initrd

Or better yet, contribute to that..

__________________
As you go on to other communities, remember to build them around politeness, respect, trust and humility. Be wary of poisonous people and deal with them before they end up killing your community.. Seen it happen to too many IRC channels, forums, open source projects.

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joelteixeira	2010-07-05 , 23:26
Posts: 63 \| Thanked: 29 times \| Joined on May 2010	#16

Originally Posted by Stskeeps

Short story: Build something on top of the rescue initrd we have for MeeGo. flasher -k kernel -n initrd.img -b, boot into kernel with initrd..

http://wiki.meego.com/ARM/N900/Using_Rescue_Initrd

Or better yet, contribute to that..

I'm afraid this would work only with MeeGo, the packages there is RPM and even with the possibility to convert it using alien... is not a guarantee. I would trust alien to convert a simple application, but something related to the core system.. I don't know.

I hope some developer bring this to Maemo... Like corso85 said, I don't have the knowledge to do something like this.

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Corso85	2010-07-05 , 23:42
Posts: 278 \| Thanked: 209 times \| Joined on Dec 2009	#17

Originally Posted by abill_uk

What you are asking does not make sense to me unless i am not understanding this properly because a backup is a backup and would not be apllicable if you are upgrading the OS to a newer version.

If you did a backup using the backup utility already on the OS of the N900 then it is simple to restore all your apps but if you did not then you start over again, a bit frustrating i know but thats the way it works at the moment as no apps available that are better than what we have right now.

Meego is coming dont forget so maybe something better will come with it but i agree with you on the backup that we need something like a system restore on Windows for example but not yet available on the N900.

I prefer having everything working to my liking, than being "up-to-date". For instance, now that I'm on 1.2. I still can't get Quake 3 to work. (I tried searching, but none of the solutions worked with me

). So now am without Quake 3. If I had a rootfs replica. I'd revert to 1.1 and screw 1.2.

The Backup utility is faaaar from being complete. It only saves a list of the apps and some email/contacts settings here and there.

However, there is so much more that we do with the n900. Dosbox config files, Emulator setting optimizations, anything I did to fix something through terminal over time.......I won't remember everything i did to backup it myself.

Most importantly, my restoration's fate lies in the hands of the online repos and internet connection. What if this obscure package is no longer there? whatever depends on it is screwed. What if there are new version conflicts? I try to save the .debs but that is still too tiresome. This is the single most annoying thing I hate about Linux and will never make me move to it full time

This is the one thing I adored about my Xperia. Had a ROM image on the SD card. with a button combination booted into a special mode and imaged from there. no computer, no internet, no hassle. everything back exactly as it was.

Last edited by Corso85; 2010-07-05 at 23:48.

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RobbieThe1st	2010-07-06 , 00:36
Posts: 842 \| Thanked: 1,197 times \| Joined on May 2010	#18

Originally Posted by Corso85

I prefer having everything working to my liking, than being "up-to-date". For instance, now that I'm on 1.2. I still can't get Quake 3 to work. (I tried searching, but none of the solutions worked with me ). So now am without Quake 3. If I had a rootfs replica. I'd revert to 1.1 and screw 1.2.

The Backup utility is faaaar from being complete. It only saves a list of the apps and some email/contacts settings here and there.

However, there is so much more that we do with the n900. Dosbox config files, Emulator setting optimizations, anything I did to fix something through terminal over time.......I won't remember everything i did to backup it myself.

Most importantly, my restoration's fate lies in the hands of the online repos and internet connection. What if this obscure package is no longer there? whatever depends on it is screwed. What if there are new version conflicts? I try to save the .debs but that is still too tiresome. This is the single most annoying thing I hate about Linux and will never make me move to it full time

Do realize that with a full Linux desktop, you can back up whatever you want - including the entire rootfs, restore it as needed. Here's a simple guide for Ubuntu. You can also backup individual packages(I'd use a script myself), or lists of such.
Of course, I might be biased, having made the switch to Linux about a year ago, but I haven't run into such problems with repositories.

Back to the issue of the N900, why -can't- we backup the rootfs when we are running on it? If we can do it with Ubuntu, we ought to be able to with Maemo, which is also Debian based(especially since we are only using tar in that command). Can someone take a look for me?

-Rob

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kureyon	2010-07-06 , 05:19
Posts: 992 \| Thanked: 738 times \| Joined on Jun 2010 @ Low Earth Orbit	#19

Originally Posted by RobbieThe1st

Back to the issue of the N900, why -can't- we backup the rootfs when we are running on it? If we can do it with Ubuntu, we ought to be able to with Maemo, which is also Debian based(especially since we are only using tar in that command). Can someone take a look for me?

Actually that method is flawed. There is no sane way (currently) to fully backup a running system.

If you want an exact 100% bit for bit copy you need to umount all the partitions that you need to backup. And the easiest way is to boot from a different setup (liveCD, usb, whatever) then run dd or partimage or whatever.