I am just learning linux and have a ASL3/Shari node running. I would like to make a duplictae of my sdcard so that if I have any problems or break something, I will be able to just change the sdcard to the backup one and be back in business. I read alot about backps but am even more confused now. My question is, is there and easy way to make an exact duplicate of my sdcard for this purpose?
Thanks for any help you might be able to offer.
Dave
N8EPF
Dave,
Just load the sdcard up in the software you used to write it
read the card and write to file as img.
When you want it dup’d
just load the image and write to a new card.
If you need better details than that, you might include the software name used to manipulate the sdcards if you can’t find help on the web.
I was actually looking for the best software to do this with. Thanks for the info.
Dave
N8EPF
You could have cleared that up in your first question. To which the answer is Yes.
Best is always an opinion. I use win32 disk imager. Simple enough.
Best, or good enough to work for purpose. LOL
The simplest way is using dd to make the copy. First
more /proc/partitions to see what name your existing card has then (my procedure)
dd if=/dev/sda of = /home/georgec/asl-image
Assuming the sd card is /sda, etc
GeorgeC W2DB
Win32 Disk Imager. Create an .img file and write it too another card.
1 Like
I use Balena Etcher. Never had any issues.
Thank you so much!!! You people in this group are so helpful. I will in turn pay it forward whenever I can help. Thanks again!!!
Dave
N8EPF
One more thing: before you run out of disk space (hangs head in shame) also install 7zip so you can use it to compress your saved images in .xz format.
On the desktop (Windows) I have SD Card Formatter, Belena Etcher, Win32DiskImager and the RPi Imager software. The middle two look after the clones/backups. Also agree with the comment about 7Zip. Also check out PiShrink. One of the big problems is that when you use a 32GB SD card, and you have expanded the file system, you end up with a 32GB image. So you will get through a lot of disk storage backing up these img files. If the application only needs 8GB, use an 8GB SD card would be my advice.