[SOLVED] System backup using <dd>

seabag · 06-05-2015, 10:48 PM

I am completely busted!! I've put in close to thirty hours in two days on this project. If someone can help me with how to use the quote trick, that would be good.

For now I have to sign off...i'm losing it.

syg00 · 06-05-2015, 11:21 PM

Use [code] rather than [quote] - I only mentioned quote (of my post) so you could see what I did. What does this give ?

Code:

ls /media/Seagate Expansion Drive

schneidz · 06-06-2015, 12:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by syg00

Use [code] rather than [ quote ] - I only mentioned quote (of my post) so you could see what I did. What does this give ?

Code:

ls /media/Seagate Expansion Drive

should be

Code:

ls "/media/Seagate Expansion Drive/sda1.iso"

since you got silly spaces in your directory name.

i think something like:

Code:

sudo dd if=/dev/sda1 of="/media/Seagate Expansion Drive/sda1.iso"

ought to work. not sure if sudo is necessary.

seabag · 06-06-2015, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by schneidz

should be

Code:

ls "/media/Seagate Expansion Drive/sda1.iso"

since you got silly spaces in your directory name.

i think something like:

Code:

sudo dd if=/dev/sda1 of="/media/Seagate Expansion Drive/sda1.iso"

ought to work. not sure if sudo is necessary.

The 'silly spaces' are determined by Ubuntu when I plug in the USB device.
When I try to rename it I get: "Error moving file: Permission denied."
When I try to rename it from sudo I get: "Error moving file: Device or resource is busy."
When I umount the device it becomes invisible so I cannot rename it.

Sorry for the silly spaces. I don't like them either and I understand that they fuck up the internal works.

Code:

joseph@joseph-TravelMate-2300:~$ ls /media/Seagate Expansion Drive
ls: cannot access /media/Seagate: No such file or directory
ls: cannot access Expansion: No such file or directory
ls: cannot access Drive: No such file or directory

Code:

joseph@joseph-TravelMate-2300:~$ ls /media/sdb1
ls: cannot access /media/sdb1: No such file or directory

Code:

joseph@joseph-TravelMate-2300:~$ ls /dev/sdb1
/dev/sdb1(in yellow colored font)

seabag · 06-06-2015, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by schneidz

no offense, but you seem to not know how to navigate files on your computer. this makes no sense:
of=/dev/sdb1/DiskDump

it seems potentially destructive to just keep trying various combinations with dd.

please put the results of the command you are running as well as the response from the pc in [code] tags so it is easier to follow.

Code:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 60.0 GB, 60011642880 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 7296 cylinders, total 117210240 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0004710d

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *        2048   113051647    56524800   83  Linux
/dev/sda2       113053694   117209087     2077697    5  Extended
/dev/sda5       113053696   117209087     2077696   82  Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdb: 2000.4 GB, 2000398933504 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 243201 cylinders, total 3907029167 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x90a62719

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1            2048  3907029163  1953513558    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT

Code:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ mount
/cow on / type overlayfs (rw)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
udev on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,noexec,nosuid,gid=5,mode=0620)
tmpfs on /run type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,size=10%,mode=0755)
/dev/sr1 on /cdrom type iso9660 (ro,noatime)
/dev/loop0 on /rofs type squashfs (ro,noatime)
none on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)
tmpfs on /tmp type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
none on /run/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,size=5242880)
none on /run/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
gvfs-fuse-daemon on /home/ubuntu/.cache/gvfs type fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon (rw,nosuid,nodev,user=ubuntu)

Code:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ df -h
Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/cow            999M   80M  920M   8% /
udev            989M  4.0K  989M   1% /dev
tmpfs           400M  812K  399M   1% /run
/dev/sr1        736M  736M     0 100% /cdrom
/dev/loop0      702M  702M     0 100% /rofs
tmpfs           999M   16K  999M   1% /tmp
none            5.0M  4.0K  5.0M   1% /run/lock
none            999M   76K  999M   1% /run/shm

seabag · 06-06-2015, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by schneidz

no offense, but you seem to not know how to navigate files on your computer. this makes no sense:
of=/dev/sdb1/DiskDump

it seems potentially destructive to just keep trying various combinations with dd.

please put the results of the command you are running as well as the response from the pc in [code] tags so it is easier to follow.

Please disregard the outputs in the previous post. I was in liveCD, but the external drive was not mounted. These are the outputs with the drive mounted:

Code:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 60.0 GB, 60011642880 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 7296 cylinders, total 117210240 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0004710d

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *        2048   113051647    56524800   83  Linux
/dev/sda2       113053694   117209087     2077697    5  Extended
/dev/sda5       113053696   117209087     2077696   82  Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdb: 2000.4 GB, 2000398933504 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 243201 cylinders, total 3907029167 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x90a62719

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1            2048  3907029163  1953513558    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT

Code:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ mount
/cow on / type overlayfs (rw)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
udev on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,noexec,nosuid,gid=5,mode=0620)
tmpfs on /run type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,size=10%,mode=0755)
/dev/sr1 on /cdrom type iso9660 (ro,noatime)
/dev/loop0 on /rofs type squashfs (ro,noatime)
none on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)
tmpfs on /tmp type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
none on /run/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,size=5242880)
none on /run/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
gvfs-fuse-daemon on /home/ubuntu/.cache/gvfs type fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon (rw,nosuid,nodev,user=ubuntu)
/dev/sdb1 on /media/Seagate Expansion Drive type fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096,default_permissions)

Code:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ df -h
Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/cow            999M   87M  913M   9% /
udev            989M  4.0K  989M   1% /dev
tmpfs           400M  812K  399M   1% /run
/dev/sr1        736M  736M     0 100% /cdrom
/dev/loop0      702M  702M     0 100% /rofs
tmpfs           999M   24K  999M   1% /tmp
none            5.0M  4.0K  5.0M   1% /run/lock
none            999M  128K  999M   1% /run/shm
/dev/sdb1       1.9T  421G  1.5T  23% /media/Seagate Expansion Drive

Thank you :-)

schneidz · 06-06-2015, 03:15 PM

does this do the needful:

Code:

sudo dd if=/dev/sda1 of="/media/Seagate Expansion Drive/sda1.iso"

seabag · 06-06-2015, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by schneidz

does this do the needful:

Code:

sudo dd if=/dev/sda1 of="/media/Seagate Expansion Drive/sda1.iso"

I entered this:
dd if=/dev/sda1 of=/dev/sdb1 and did not receive any errors. Both drives started to work. Much time later. I returned to the machine to read this message:
113049600 +1 records in
113049600 +1 records out
57881395200 bytes (58GB) copied, 9640.98 S, 6.0MB/s

I was some fuckin happy!!

I ran (from liveCD) df -h
and, unfortunately received the identical output from before the transfer "occurred." [/dev/sdb1 1.9T 421GB 1.5GB 23% mounted at /media/Seagate Expansion Drive] If 58GB had transferred one would expect to see an increment in disk used. It was 421GB before and is 421 now, despite the good numbers reported above.

Additionally, I am cannot access the external drive either from live CD nor the machine itself. :-(

Damn!! What a series of arcane problems!!

How the heck can I access the external drive? Pull my hair!!

astrogeek · 06-06-2015, 08:16 PM

My own sensibilities are fairly well battle hardened, but please remember that this is a public forum and use of some expressions, while common, may well be offensive or inappropriate to others.

You might want to review LQ Rules as a good guide.

schneidz · 06-06-2015, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seabag

I entered this:
dd if=/dev/sda1 of=/dev/sdb1

seems like you successfully destroyed all the data on your external drive (why would you run that and not the command you quoted from me ?).

what does this show:

Code:

ll "/media/Seagate Expansion Drive"

seabag · 06-06-2015, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrogeek

My own sensibilities are fairly well battle hardened, but please remember that this is a public forum and use of some expressions, while common, may well be offensive or inappropriate to others.

You might want to review LQ Rules as a good guide.

Thank you AstroGeek for straightening me out on that

seabag · 06-06-2015, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by schneidz

seems like you successfully destroyed all the data on your external drive (why would you run that and not the command you quoted from me ?).

what does this show:

Code:

ll "/media/Seagate Expansion Drive"

When I ran that one a few times and this was the result:

Code:

joseph@joseph-TravelMate-2300:~$ sudo dd if=/dev/sda1 of=/media/Seagate Expansion Drive
[sudo] password for joseph: 
dd: unrecognized operand `Expansion'
Try `dd --help' for more information.

When I shrank it by removing the spaces it was rejected as an unknown command or similar; I can't find the terminal window.

It looks like you are right about the external. I think I lost 421GB of personal files.

seabag · 06-07-2015, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by schneidz

seems like you successfully destroyed all the data on your external drive (why would you run that and not the command you quoted from me ?).

what does this show:

Code:

ll "/media/Seagate Expansion Drive"

The return is:

Code:

joseph@joseph-TravelMate-2300:~$ ll /media/Seagate Expansion Drive
ls: cannot access /media/Seagate: No such file or directory
ls: cannot access Expansion: No such file or directory
ls: cannot access Drive: No such file or directory

Here is something interesting. gparted sees the external drive this way:
Partition File Sys Mount Pt. Size used unused
/dev/sdb ext 4 / 1.82TB 1.79TB 27.5TB (sorry about the formatting)

Note that the file system has changed from NTSF to ext 4, and that the used portion of the drive has increased from 421GB to 1.79TB!

Here is and interesting output from terminal.

Code:

joseph@joseph-TravelMate-2300:~$ cd /media
joseph@joseph-TravelMate-2300:/media$ ls
SeagateExpansionDrive

Note that the drive has been renamed with no spaces. Also please see:

Code:

joseph@joseph-TravelMate-2300:/media$ ll SeagateExpansionDrive
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1784057856 Jun  6 23:00 SeagateExpansionDrive

So it looks as if all is not lost. Hmm...how to get at the tremendous amount of data that is jammed into my newly formatted external drive that appears to contain no directories? Well, it keeps an old man jumping. :-)

seabag · 06-07-2015, 12:39 AM

Thanks to schneidz, and syg00, and fatmac and descendant for helpful comments. There were other comments that I marked as helpful.

I would not mark the thread solved. The difficulty was in identifying the output file. I came upon the idea to mark the entire partition as the destination: dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb This command was not rejected whereas all the others had been. The data was moved, but unsuccessfully (see above.) I ask the community, should it be marked closed or left open?

thank you to all. I like linux. There is a lot of tricks to learn!

fatmac · 06-07-2015, 04:49 AM

I haven't read all of the above posts, but with a filename that has spaces in it either substitute a ? or use a \ before it in the name.

Say you have /media/Seagate Expansion Drive
you would use either

Code:

ls /media/Seagate?Expansion?Drive

or

Code:

ls /media/Seagate\ Expansion\ Drive

hope that helps.