Re: dd maybe?

Re: dd maybe?

[David Jackson]

Scott --
>Hello,
>
>I'm just wondering if there is a way to successfully make a mirrored copy 
>of a drive, formatted with NTFS, by using a tool like dd, or is there a 
>better (other Linux) tool for this?

If your going to use dd the drvies have to be identical. ie. heads, sectors, etc.

Also be sure to set the block size "bs" flag.

David

Re: dd maybe?

[Scott Taylor]

At 07:38 AM 11/06/2002, you wrote:
>Scott --
> >Hello,
> >
> >I'm just wondering if there is a way to successfully make a mirrored copy
> >of a drive, formatted with NTFS, by using a tool like dd, or is there a
> >better (other Linux) tool for this?
>
>If your going to use dd the drvies have to be identical. ie. heads, 
>sectors, etc.

Oh.  Bummer, try and find a 500MB drive today. :(

>Also be sure to set the block size "bs" flag.

That's the question I forgot to ask, "how can I tell what block size to 
use? (is there a magic number that will work regardless?)"

Re: dd maybe?

[Jeff Hunter]

If it's NTFS, you should look into Ghost Disk.

Jeff

Scott Taylor wrote:

> At 07:38 AM 11/06/2002, you wrote:
> 
>> Scott --
>> >Hello,
>> >
>> >I'm just wondering if there is a way to successfully make a mirrored 
>> copy
>> >of a drive, formatted with NTFS, by using a tool like dd, or is there a
>> >better (other Linux) tool for this?
>>
>> If your going to use dd the drvies have to be identical. ie. heads, 
>> sectors, etc.
> 
> 
> Oh.  Bummer, try and find a 500MB drive today. :(
> 
>> Also be sure to set the block size "bs" flag.
> 
> 
> That's the question I forgot to ask, "how can I tell what block size to 
> use? (is there a magic number that will work regardless?)"
> 
> -
> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-admin" in
> the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
> More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
> 

Re: dd maybe?

[Scott Taylor]

At 07:51 AM 11/06/2002, Jeff Hunter wrote:
>If it's NTFS, you should look into Ghost Disk.

Who?  Is that a Linux tool?

Thanks.

Scott.

Re: dd maybe?

[Scott Taylor]

At 07:53 AM 11/06/2002, Scott Taylor wrote:
>At 07:51 AM 11/06/2002, Jeff Hunter wrote:
>>If it's NTFS, you should look into Ghost Disk.
>
>Who?  Is that a Linux tool?

Only ghosts I know of is for Postscript viewing.

Re: dd maybe?

[Jeff Hunter]

It's Norton or Symantec and runs in DOS (I believe). It will make an 
image of any DOS/FAT/NTFS partition that can be placed on any other IDE 
(and maybe SCSI) drive.

Jeff

Scott Taylor wrote:

> At 07:51 AM 11/06/2002, Jeff Hunter wrote:
> 
>> If it's NTFS, you should look into Ghost Disk.
> 
> 
> Who?  Is that a Linux tool?
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> Scott.
> 
> -
> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-admin" in
> the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
> More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
> 

Re: dd maybe?

[Jeff Hunter]

Quite likely an evaluation copy out there somewhere...

Jeff

Scott Taylor wrote:

> At 08:01 AM 11/06/2002, you wrote:
> 
>> It's Norton or Symantec and runs in DOS (I believe). It will make an 
>> image of any DOS/FAT/NTFS partition that can be placed on any other 
>> IDE (and maybe SCSI) drive.
> 
> 
> DOS?  Norton?  Sounds like it costs money. ;)
> 
> Cheers.
> 
> 
>> Jeff
>>
>> Scott Taylor wrote:
>>
>>> At 07:51 AM 11/06/2002, Jeff Hunter wrote:
>>>
>>>> If it's NTFS, you should look into Ghost Disk.
>>>
>>>
>>> Who?  Is that a Linux tool?
>>> Thanks.
>>> Scott.
>>> -
>>> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe 
>>> linux-admin" in
>>> the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
>>> More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
>>
>>
>>
>> -
>> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-admin" in
>> the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
>> More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
> 
> 

Re: dd maybe?

[Glynn Clements]

Scott Taylor wrote:

> > > I'm just wondering if there is a way to successfully make a mirrored copy
> > > of a drive, formatted with NTFS, by using a tool like dd, or is there a
> > > better (other Linux) tool for this?
> >
> > If your going to use dd the drvies have to be identical. ie. heads, 
> > sectors, etc.
> 
> Oh.  Bummer, try and find a 500MB drive today. :(

Copying partitions (rather than entire disks) with dd is usually safe;
you only need to ensure that the partitions are of the same size. But
that still leaves the problem of getting the boot sector written. 
Also, I haven't tried it with NTFS.

> >Also be sure to set the block size "bs" flag.
> 
> That's the question I forgot to ask, "how can I tell what block size to 
> use? (is there a magic number that will work regardless?)"

When copying disks, it doesn't generally matter what block size you
use[1] , but the amount of data to copy should be an exact multiple of
the block size. However, things will probably go faster if you pick a
larger block size than the default (512 bytes).

[1] The most common case where block size does matter is when
accessing a tape drive.

-- 
Glynn Clements <glynn.clements@virgin.net>

Re: dd maybe?

[Scott Taylor]

At 07:56 AM 11/06/2002, Glynn Clements wrote:

>Scott Taylor wrote:
>
> > > > I'm just wondering if there is a way to successfully make a 
> mirrored copy
> > > > of a drive, formatted with NTFS,

<sweep>

>Copying partitions (rather than entire disks) with dd is usually safe;
>you only need to ensure that the partitions are of the same size. But
>that still leaves the problem of getting the boot sector written.

Yeah, no problem with ext2 partitions.

>Also, I haven't tried it with NTFS.

That was the main point of my question. ;)

>When copying disks, it doesn't generally matter what block size you
>use[1] , but the amount of data to copy should be an exact multiple of
>the block size.

I think your heading in the direction where I'm lost.  Can you elaborate on 
that?

>  However, things will probably go faster if you pick a
>larger block size than the default (512 bytes).

makes sense.

Cheers.

Scott.

Re: dd maybe?

[Glynn Clements]

Scott Taylor wrote:

> >When copying disks, it doesn't generally matter what block size you
> >use[1] , but the amount of data to copy should be an exact multiple of
> >the block size.
> 
> I think your heading in the direction where I'm lost.  Can you elaborate on 
> that?

I don't know if it can be said any more simply. Basically, you need to
know the size of the partition to be copied, or at least the size of
each cylinder (it's a safe bet the the partition is an exact number of
cylinders).

-- 
Glynn Clements <glynn.clements@virgin.net>

Re: dd maybe?

[Scott Taylor]

At 08:32 AM 11/06/2002, Glynn Clements wrote:

>Scott Taylor wrote:
>
> > >When copying disks, it doesn't generally matter what block size you
> > >use[1] , but the amount of data to copy should be an exact multiple of
> > >the block size.
> >
> > I think your heading in the direction where I'm lost.  Can you 
> elaborate on
> > that?
>
>I don't know if it can be said any more simply.

You just did. ;)

>  Basically, you need to
>know the size of the partition to be copied,

I see, that makes much more sense to me.  Shouldn't be hard to figure out, 
just by mounting it.

Thanks again.

Scott.

Re: dd maybe?

[David Jackson]

>>If your going to use dd the drvies have to be identical. ie. heads, 
>>sectors, etc.
>Oh.  Bummer, try and find a 500MB drive today. :(
>>Also be sure to set the block size "bs" flag.
Any multiply of 1024 will do try something like 8192.

Here's a mini-howto that deals with copying Linux files sys between
disk, but it might work with any mounted file systems?

http://tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Hard-Disk-Upgrade/index.html

i.e. format drive B for NTFS, mount /dev/old_ntfd /mnt/A
mount /dev/new_ntfs under /mnt/B

Follow howto and see what happens.

You might also check on http:/freshmeat.net
for backup solutions.


David

Re: dd maybe?

[Glynn Clements]

David Jackson wrote:

> >>If your going to use dd the drvies have to be identical. ie. heads, 
> >>sectors, etc.
> >Oh.  Bummer, try and find a 500MB drive today. :(
> >>Also be sure to set the block size "bs" flag.
> Any multiply of 1024 will do try something like 8192.
> 
> Here's a mini-howto that deals with copying Linux files sys between
> disk, but it might work with any mounted file systems?
> 
> http://tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Hard-Disk-Upgrade/index.html
> 
> i.e. format drive B for NTFS, mount /dev/old_ntfd /mnt/A
> mount /dev/new_ntfs under /mnt/B

Copying at the filesystem level would require NTFS write support,
which is currently classified as "DANGEROUS". Also, if there are any
files which can't be moved (e.g. the boot loader), copying will move
them. So, I suspect that it wouldn't work for copying an entire NTFS
(or FAT) "C" drive.

-- 
Glynn Clements <glynn.clements@virgin.net>

Re: dd maybe?

[Scott Taylor]

At 08:01 AM 11/06/2002, you wrote:
>It's Norton or Symantec and runs in DOS (I believe). It will make an image 
>of any DOS/FAT/NTFS partition that can be placed on any other IDE (and 
>maybe SCSI) drive.

DOS?  Norton?  Sounds like it costs money. ;)

Cheers.


>Jeff
>
>Scott Taylor wrote:
>
>>At 07:51 AM 11/06/2002, Jeff Hunter wrote:
>>
>>>If it's NTFS, you should look into Ghost Disk.
>>
>>Who?  Is that a Linux tool?
>>Thanks.
>>Scott.
>>-
>>To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-admin" in
>>the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
>>More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
>
>
>-
>To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-admin" in
>the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
>More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html

dd maybe?

[Scott Taylor]

Hello,

I'm just wondering if there is a way to successfully make a mirrored copy 
of a drive, formatted with NTFS, by using a tool like dd, or is there a 
better (other Linux) tool for this?

Cheers.

Re: dd maybe?

[Murat Koc]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 398 bytes --]


> Hello,
> 

Hi,

> I'm just wondering if there is a way to successfully make a mirrored copy 
> of a drive, formatted with NTFS, by using a tool like dd, or is there a 
> better (other Linux) tool for this?

try partimage.

http://www.partimage.org

really good tool. it supports

ext2,ext3,ntfs,fat16/32,jfs,xfs,hpfs,ufs,reiserfs,hfs

-- 
IYI CALISMALAR

								MURAT KOC

[-- Attachment #2: This is a digitally signed message part --]
[-- Type: application/pgp-signature, Size: 831 bytes --]

Re: dd maybe?

[Scott Taylor]

At 09:06 AM 11/06/2002, Murat Koc wrote:

> > I'm just wondering if there is a way to successfully make a mirrored copy
> > of a drive, formatted with NTFS, by using a tool like dd, or is there a
> > better (other Linux) tool for this?
>
>try partimage.

I will!

>http://www.partimage.org

Now, that is kewl.

>really good tool. it supports
>
>ext2,ext3,ntfs,fat16/32,jfs,xfs,hpfs,ufs,reiserfs,hfs

Thanks.

Scott.

Re: dd maybe?

[urgrue]

just thought id mention gnu parted, 
http://www.gnu.org/software/parted/parted.html
nifty tool, but doesnt support NTFS. partimage sounds great, ill have to 
try it.


>> > I'm just wondering if there is a way to successfully make a mirrored copy
>> > of a drive, formatted with NTFS, by using a tool like dd, or is there a
>> > better (other Linux) tool for this?
>>
>>try partimage.
>
>I will!
>
>>http://www.partimage.org
>
>Now, that is kewl.
>
>>really good tool. it supports
>>
>>ext2,ext3,ntfs,fat16/32,jfs,xfs,hpfs,ufs,reiserfs,hfs
>
>Thanks.
>
>Scott.
>
>-
>To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-admin" in
>the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
>More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html