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> -----Original Message----- |
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> From: Paul [mailto:gentoo@××××××××××××.com] |
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> Sent: 16 September 2005 15:23 |
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> To: gentoo-user@l.g.o |
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> Subject: [gentoo-user] Replacing main harddisk |
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> |
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> |
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> Hi all, |
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> |
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> My main harddisk is starting to go, making awful noise and |
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> causing the |
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> computer to freeze. |
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> I have another spare disk and I wondered if somebody would |
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> list out the |
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> procedure I need to follow to create and format the |
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> partitions and to copy |
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> all of the faulty disk contents. Then how to boot from the new disk. |
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> The new disk will need the following partitions:- |
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> /boot ext2 |
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> /swap |
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> / reiserfs |
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|
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1. Using the dd command or a cloning software derivative: |
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If the new disk is *exactly* the same size like the old one, then using |
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the dd command you can basically clone your failing disk, including MBR |
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and all partitions, including swap!, bit by bit: |
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========================= |
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dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdb |
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========================= |
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|
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On the other hand, if the new drive is larger then you will need to |
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partition it, exactly like the old one. On the new drive, create the |
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same entries you find with fdisk for your old drive: # fdisk -l |
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/dev/hda |
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|
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Also, don't forget to clone the MBR: |
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========================= |
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dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdb bs=446 count=1 |
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========================= |
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If you also want to clone the partition table (as opposed to writing one |
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afresh with fdisk) then increase the bs=446 to 512. |
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|
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2. Using tar |
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If at the same time you want to alter the partition sizes on the new |
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drive then you can use the tar command, for each partition except for |
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swap. Besides creating partitions of a preferred size on the new drive, |
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you will also need to mkfs for each partition. Still have to use dd to |
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clone the MBR. |
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========================= |
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# mkdir -p /mnt/new_boot |
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# mount /dev/hdb1 /mnt/new_boot |
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# cd /boot |
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# tar lcpf - .|(cd /mnt/new_boot; tar xpvf -) |
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========================= |
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Repeat for / and also use tar -d (check $ man tar) to verify that the |
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directories were copied over without any mishaps. Personally I prefer |
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tar because it is faster, it defragments the drive's contents and can |
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verify that the new directory was not corrupted in the tarring/untarring |
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process. |
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|
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3. There's a number of backup apps out there which can do more or less |
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the same using a different front end; e.g. partimage. |
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|
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Good luck. |
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-- |
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Regards, |
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Mick |
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|
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-- |
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