Re: Recommendations on cloning a bootable main disk

[Bruce Labitt]

Thanks for the instructions on the BIOS - umm, nothing was wrong.  
Having the USB stick prior to entering the BIOS made the device show up.


OK, dd'd the disk.  Took a long time, 94 minutes, but everything is 
transferred, except for this email.


Next is to resize in gparted - which didn't complete.
I followed a youtube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDgUwWkvuIY

Just to note,*sdc has never been mounted. *

The video is done in a virtual machine, but I followed the part showing 
how to do the resizing.  The linux-swap was turned off.  The error is as 
follows:


GParted 0.30.0 --enable-libparted-dmraid --enable-online-resize

Libparted 3.2

*Grow /dev/sdc2 from 29.99 GiB to 723.03 GiB*  00:00:00( ERROR )

calibrate /dev/sdc2  00:00:00( SUCCESS )

/path: /dev/sdc2 (partition)
start: 437226563
end: 500118191
size: 62891629 (29.99 GiB)/

grow partition from 29.99 GiB to 723.03 GiB  00:00:00( ERROR )

/old start: 437226563
old end: 500118191
old size: 62891629 (29.99 GiB)/

/requested start: 437226563
requested end: 1953523711
requested size: 1516297149 (723.03 GiB)/

libparted messages( INFO )

/Unable to satisfy all constraints on the partition./



*Move /dev/sdc5 to the right and grow it from 29.99 GiB to 29.99 GiB*



*Move /dev/sdc2 to the right and shrink it from 723.03 GiB to 29.99 GiB*



*Grow /dev/sdc1 from 208.48 GiB to 901.52 GiB*



/dev/sdc1 is ext4 and what I want extended  208.48 GiB
/dev/sdc2 is the extended partition               29.99 GiB
/dev/sdc5 is the linux swap which was turned off 29.99 GiB and was 
inside the extended partition

unallocated was  693.04 GiB

Partitions were dragged and moved per the basic instructions.

Can you give me a hint what went wrong?  I'm kind of surprised that it 
failed, essentially in the first step, growing the extended partition 
after turning linux-swap off.


The problem might be that gparted still has a problem with leaving 1MiB 
at the end for the duplicate boot information.  I found a comment in 
2017 for gparted: http://gparted-forum.surf4.info/viewtopic.php?id=17646


And: https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=738144

Is there a practical work around to my reported error?

Thanks,
Bruce


On 12/1/18 4:39 PM, Dan Jenkins wrote:

On some of the BIOSes, unless you have the USB drive connected, before
you go into the BIOS, it will not appear as a boot option.

Also, depending on the USB flash drive model, it may appear:
1) as a removable device (aka a floppy drive),
2) a hard drive (appearing as second choice under hard disk drives;
     you would need to change the 1st drive to USB and the 2nd drive to
your current boot drive), or
3) as a CDROM drive.

Also, if you have a UEFI BIOS, you may need to switch it to Legacy,
instead of UEFI.

Lastly, if you have a UEFI BIOS, you need a UEFI compatible boot device.
In the case of Clonezilla, you need to download an AMD664 alternative
version (Ubuntu-based), rather than the default Debian-based. (We have
both the UEFI and Legacy versions of Clonezilla to try when we run into
such issues.)

And, rarely, I encounter computers that simply cannot boot USB flash
drives, but those tend to be much older ones.

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Re: Recommendations on cloning a bootable main disk

[Bruce Labitt]

I forgot just how slow DVD burning can be.  No wonder, no one hardly 
uses them anymore.  USB3 is truly a great invention.


On 12/1/18 4:24 PM, Bruce Labitt wrote:
Totally unexpected fly in the ointment.  Option in BIOS to boot to USB 
has disappeared. Arggghh!


American Megatrends BIOS Version 2.15.1226 ca. 2012

There were 4 boot options - now there is only 3, and no (apparent) 
option to get a 4th option back.  I took a picture of the screen, but 
I won't clutter up the list.


I *will* have to fix the bios, or I won't be able to boot from USB.

Temp fix - just to get on with life, is to create a boot DVD.  Not 
even sure where I keep the DVDs anymore...  Fortunately, my laptop has 
a DVD writer.



I did visit the AMI website, but it wasn't obvious how or if I could 
upgrade the BIOS.  I sent them a tech support request, on upgrade, and 
in particular about the disappearing option, maybe I will get an 
answer next week.


At the moment, I'm not feeling very confident.  This all seemed easy a 
day ago, now its gotten complicated...


Bruce


On 12/1/18 3:18 PM, Tom Buskey wrote:

Clonezilla is awesome for that.

On Sat, Dec 1, 2018 at 2:07 PM Dan Jenkins > wrote:


We use Clonezilla off a bootable USB flash drive.

On December 1, 2018 12:51:34 PM EST, Bruce Labitt
mailto:bruce.lab...@myfairpoint.net>> wrote:

It' apparent that one uses a variant of dd.  What isn't apparent is how
one goes about cloning one's primary disk (active).  From searching it
appears it is not recommended to use dd when the disk is active, either
the source or the destination.

I'm trying to clone my nearly full SSD with the OS (Ubuntu 18.04) to a
new larger SSD.

Is there a tiny linux I can boot into that I can run dd from?  Or can I
make the main disk ro?  What do you suggest?

I have backed up home.  I really don't want to re-install the OS, since
I have had troubles with gdm3 screwing up (different topic).  (Black
screen, no consoles)

Recommendations/recipes on the cloning process sought.

I was simply going to use

# dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdc bs=4096 conv=sync,noerror

I've seen lots of comments about block size and optimal setting, but I'm
not sure what is optimal if there are unknown (but few) source drive 
errors.

Thanks,

Bruce

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Re: Recommendations on cloning a bootable main disk

[Dan Jenkins]

On some of the BIOSes, unless you have the USB drive connected, before 
you go into the BIOS, it will not appear as a boot option.

Also, depending on the USB flash drive model, it may appear:
1) as a removable device (aka a floppy drive),
2) a hard drive (appearing as second choice under hard disk drives;
    you would need to change the 1st drive to USB and the 2nd drive to 
your current boot drive), or
3) as a CDROM drive.

Also, if you have a UEFI BIOS, you may need to switch it to Legacy, 
instead of UEFI.

Lastly, if you have a UEFI BIOS, you need a UEFI compatible boot device. 
In the case of Clonezilla, you need to download an AMD664 alternative 
version (Ubuntu-based), rather than the default Debian-based. (We have 
both the UEFI and Legacy versions of Clonezilla to try when we run into 
such issues.)

And, rarely, I encounter computers that simply cannot boot USB flash 
drives, but those tend to be much older ones.

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Re: Recommendations on cloning a bootable main disk

[Bruce Labitt]

Totally unexpected fly in the ointment.  Option in BIOS to boot to USB 
has disappeared. Arggghh!


American Megatrends BIOS Version 2.15.1226 ca. 2012

There were 4 boot options - now there is only 3, and no (apparent) 
option to get a 4th option back.  I took a picture of the screen, but I 
won't clutter up the list.


I *will* have to fix the bios, or I won't be able to boot from USB.

Temp fix - just to get on with life, is to create a boot DVD.  Not even 
sure where I keep the DVDs anymore...  Fortunately, my laptop has a DVD 
writer.



I did visit the AMI website, but it wasn't obvious how or if I could 
upgrade the BIOS.  I sent them a tech support request, on upgrade, and 
in particular about the disappearing option, maybe I will get an answer 
next week.


At the moment, I'm not feeling very confident.  This all seemed easy a 
day ago, now its gotten complicated...


Bruce


On 12/1/18 3:18 PM, Tom Buskey wrote:

Clonezilla is awesome for that.

On Sat, Dec 1, 2018 at 2:07 PM Dan Jenkins > wrote:


We use Clonezilla off a bootable USB flash drive.

On December 1, 2018 12:51:34 PM EST, Bruce Labitt
mailto:bruce.lab...@myfairpoint.net>> wrote:

It' apparent that one uses a variant of dd.  What isn't apparent is how
one goes about cloning one's primary disk (active).  From searching it
appears it is not recommended to use dd when the disk is active, either
the source or the destination.

I'm trying to clone my nearly full SSD with the OS (Ubuntu 18.04) to a
new larger SSD.

Is there a tiny linux I can boot into that I can run dd from?  Or can I
make the main disk ro?  What do you suggest?

I have backed up home.  I really don't want to re-install the OS, since
I have had troubles with gdm3 screwing up (different topic).  (Black
screen, no consoles)

Recommendations/recipes on the cloning process sought.

I was simply going to use

# dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdc bs=4096 conv=sync,noerror

I've seen lots of comments about block size and optimal setting, but I'm
not sure what is optimal if there are unknown (but few) source drive 
errors.

Thanks,

Bruce

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Re: Recommendations on cloning a bootable main disk

[Tom Buskey]

Clonezilla is awesome for that.

On Sat, Dec 1, 2018 at 2:07 PM Dan Jenkins  wrote:

> We use Clonezilla off a bootable USB flash drive.
>
> On December 1, 2018 12:51:34 PM EST, Bruce Labitt <
> bruce.lab...@myfairpoint.net> wrote:
>>
>> It' apparent that one uses a variant of dd.  What isn't apparent is how
>> one goes about cloning one's primary disk (active).  From searching it
>> appears it is not recommended to use dd when the disk is active, either
>> the source or the destination.
>>
>> I'm trying to clone my nearly full SSD with the OS (Ubuntu 18.04) to a
>> new larger SSD.
>>
>> Is there a tiny linux I can boot into that I can run dd from?  Or can I
>> make the main disk ro?  What do you suggest?
>>
>> I have backed up home.  I really don't want to re-install the OS, since
>> I have had troubles with gdm3 screwing up (different topic).  (Black
>> screen, no consoles)
>>
>> Recommendations/recipes on the cloning process sought.
>>
>> I was simply going to use
>>
>> # dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdc bs=4096 conv=sync,noerror
>>
>> I've seen lots of comments about block size and optimal setting, but I'm
>> not sure what is optimal if there are unknown (but few) source drive errors.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Bruce
>> --
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>>
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Re: Recommendations on cloning a bootable main disk

[Bruce Labitt]

Thanks for everyone's suggestions! Sometimes one misses the obvious.

Bruce

On 12/1/18 1:50 PM, Mac wrote:

Umm...make a bootable usb stick, boot from that and do the dd?

On Sat, Dec 1, 2018 at 12:51 PM Bruce Labitt 
mailto:bruce.lab...@myfairpoint.net>> 
wrote:


It' apparent that one uses a variant of dd.  What isn't apparent
is how
one goes about cloning one's primary disk (active).  From
searching it
appears it is not recommended to use dd when the disk is active,
either
the source or the destination.

I'm trying to clone my nearly full SSD with the OS (Ubuntu 18.04)
to a
new larger SSD.

Is there a tiny linux I can boot into that I can run dd from? Or
can I
make the main disk ro?  What do you suggest?

I have backed up home.  I really don't want to re-install the OS,
since
I have had troubles with gdm3 screwing up (different topic). (Black
screen, no consoles)

Recommendations/recipes on the cloning process sought.

I was simply going to use

# dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdc bs=4096 conv=sync,noerror

I've seen lots of comments about block size and optimal setting,
but I'm
not sure what is optimal if there are unknown (but few) source
drive errors.

Thanks,

Bruce


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Re: Recommendations on cloning a bootable main disk

[Dan Jenkins]

Parted also works for me. Both clonezilla and parted are my recommendations. 

On December 1, 2018 12:51:34 PM EST, Bruce Labitt 
 wrote:
>It' apparent that one uses a variant of dd.  What isn't apparent is how
>
>one goes about cloning one's primary disk (active).  From searching it 
>appears it is not recommended to use dd when the disk is active, either
>
>the source or the destination.
>
>I'm trying to clone my nearly full SSD with the OS (Ubuntu 18.04) to a 
>new larger SSD.
>
>Is there a tiny linux I can boot into that I can run dd from?  Or can I
>
>make the main disk ro?  What do you suggest?
>
>I have backed up home.  I really don't want to re-install the OS, since
>
>I have had troubles with gdm3 screwing up (different topic).  (Black 
>screen, no consoles)
>
>Recommendations/recipes on the cloning process sought.
>
>I was simply going to use
>
># dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdc bs=4096 conv=sync,noerror
>
>I've seen lots of comments about block size and optimal setting, but
>I'm 
>not sure what is optimal if there are unknown (but few) source drive
>errors.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Bruce
>
>
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Re: Recommendations on cloning a bootable main disk

[Dan Jenkins]

We use Clonezilla off a bootable USB flash drive. 

On December 1, 2018 12:51:34 PM EST, Bruce Labitt 
 wrote:
>It' apparent that one uses a variant of dd.  What isn't apparent is how
>
>one goes about cloning one's primary disk (active).  From searching it 
>appears it is not recommended to use dd when the disk is active, either
>
>the source or the destination.
>
>I'm trying to clone my nearly full SSD with the OS (Ubuntu 18.04) to a 
>new larger SSD.
>
>Is there a tiny linux I can boot into that I can run dd from?  Or can I
>
>make the main disk ro?  What do you suggest?
>
>I have backed up home.  I really don't want to re-install the OS, since
>
>I have had troubles with gdm3 screwing up (different topic).  (Black 
>screen, no consoles)
>
>Recommendations/recipes on the cloning process sought.
>
>I was simply going to use
>
># dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdc bs=4096 conv=sync,noerror
>
>I've seen lots of comments about block size and optimal setting, but
>I'm 
>not sure what is optimal if there are unknown (but few) source drive
>errors.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Bruce
>
>
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Re: Recommendations on cloning a bootable main disk

[Mac]

Umm...make a bootable usb stick, boot from that and do the dd?

On Sat, Dec 1, 2018 at 12:51 PM Bruce Labitt 
wrote:

> It' apparent that one uses a variant of dd.  What isn't apparent is how
> one goes about cloning one's primary disk (active).  From searching it
> appears it is not recommended to use dd when the disk is active, either
> the source or the destination.
>
> I'm trying to clone my nearly full SSD with the OS (Ubuntu 18.04) to a
> new larger SSD.
>
> Is there a tiny linux I can boot into that I can run dd from?  Or can I
> make the main disk ro?  What do you suggest?
>
> I have backed up home.  I really don't want to re-install the OS, since
> I have had troubles with gdm3 screwing up (different topic).  (Black
> screen, no consoles)
>
> Recommendations/recipes on the cloning process sought.
>
> I was simply going to use
>
> # dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdc bs=4096 conv=sync,noerror
>
> I've seen lots of comments about block size and optimal setting, but I'm
> not sure what is optimal if there are unknown (but few) source drive
> errors.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bruce
>
>
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Re: Recommendations on cloning a bootable main disk

[Jerry Feldman]

Boot any Linux distro, Fedora or Ubuntu from USB, and dd should work fine.


Sent from Galaxy S9+

Jerry Feldman 
Boston Linux and Unix
http://www.blu.org
PGP key id: 6F6BB6E7
PGP Key fingerprint: 0EDC 2FF5 53A6 8EED 84D1  3050 5715 B88D 6F6B B6E7


On Sat, Dec 1, 2018, 12:53 PM Bruce Labitt  It' apparent that one uses a variant of dd.  What isn't apparent is how
> one goes about cloning one's primary disk (active).  From searching it
> appears it is not recommended to use dd when the disk is active, either
> the source or the destination.
>
> I'm trying to clone my nearly full SSD with the OS (Ubuntu 18.04) to a
> new larger SSD.
>
> Is there a tiny linux I can boot into that I can run dd from?  Or can I
> make the main disk ro?  What do you suggest?
>
> I have backed up home.  I really don't want to re-install the OS, since
> I have had troubles with gdm3 screwing up (different topic).  (Black
> screen, no consoles)
>
> Recommendations/recipes on the cloning process sought.
>
> I was simply going to use
>
> # dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdc bs=4096 conv=sync,noerror
>
> I've seen lots of comments about block size and optimal setting, but I'm
> not sure what is optimal if there are unknown (but few) source drive
> errors.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bruce
>
>
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Recommendations on cloning a bootable main disk

[Bruce Labitt]

It' apparent that one uses a variant of dd.  What isn't apparent is how 
one goes about cloning one's primary disk (active).  From searching it 
appears it is not recommended to use dd when the disk is active, either 
the source or the destination.

I'm trying to clone my nearly full SSD with the OS (Ubuntu 18.04) to a 
new larger SSD.

Is there a tiny linux I can boot into that I can run dd from?  Or can I 
make the main disk ro?  What do you suggest?

I have backed up home.  I really don't want to re-install the OS, since 
I have had troubles with gdm3 screwing up (different topic).  (Black 
screen, no consoles)

Recommendations/recipes on the cloning process sought.

I was simply going to use

# dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdc bs=4096 conv=sync,noerror

I've seen lots of comments about block size and optimal setting, but I'm 
not sure what is optimal if there are unknown (but few) source drive errors.

Thanks,

Bruce


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