# Full disk copy...



## AbMagFab (Feb 5, 2001)

I've done dozens of upgrades, drive replacements, etc. But I've only done backup/restores of the OS/SP/etc, never the data.

If I wanted to, anyone know the 'dd' command to do a full disk copy? It's 750GB SATA to 750GB SATA (non-DB35 to DB35, both Seagates), if that matters.

Thanks!


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

I believe mfslive will do what you want. I plan to use it to upgrade my drive.

http://www.mfslive.com/download.htm

You then use this link to generate the correct command

http://www.mfslive.com/cgen.php


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## captain_video (Mar 1, 2002)

dd if=/dev/hdc of=/dev/hdb bs=1024k

where hdc = the original drive and hdb = the target drive.

You may also want to enable dma for each drive using this command:

hdparm -d1 /dev/hdx


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## poppagene (Dec 29, 2001)

You may want to make sure that the version on mfs tools you use supports large drives


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## TheMerk (Feb 26, 2001)

captain_video said:


> You may also want to enable dma for each drive using this command:
> 
> hdparm -d1 /dev/hdx


 :up:

Definitely do this. I started a DD full disk copy from a 300GB to a 750GB on Friday night and it was still going on Saturday morning.

CTRL-C'd the process and started over, typing *hrparm /dev/hdx* first, just to see if DMA was on on the drives. It wasn't.

Turned on DMA on each of the drives with *hdparm -d1 /dev/hdx* and the process was done within 3 hours.

Note: in the instructions above sub hdx for hda, b, etc...


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## spike2k5 (Feb 21, 2006)

TheMerk said:


> :up:
> 
> Definitely do this. I started a DD full disk copy from a 300GB to a 750GB on Friday night and it was still going on Saturday morning.
> 
> ...


If you use the latest boot cd from mfslive.org, you won't have to. It's already turned on by default.

If you dd copy 300GB to 750Gb, you are doing bit by bit copy so your new drive can only utitlize 300GB worth of space in TiVo.

You won't be able to expand again w/ mfsadd.

If your original 300GB is in good working condition, try backup|restore pipe operation and you will be able to expand fully to 750GB.
Try the following link for the correct command:

http://www.mfslive.org/cgen.php


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## TheMerk (Feb 26, 2001)

spike2k5 said:


> If you use the latest boot cd from mfslive.org, you won't have to. It's already turned on by default.
> 
> If you dd copy 300GB to 750Gb, you are doing bit by bit copy so your new drive can only utitlize 300GB worth of space in TiVo.
> 
> ...


You are correct about that, I ended up using Instantcake and starting over now that you mention it.

So now I have a 750GB A and a 300GB B. What If I want to upgrade the B in the future? What command would I use and preserve my recordings?

I can see how to replace both disks on that page, I can't see how to replace just one...


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## spike2k5 (Feb 21, 2006)

TheMerk said:


> You are correct about that, I ended up using Instantcake and starting over now that you mention it.
> 
> So now I have a 750GB A and a 300GB B. What If I want to upgrade the B in the future? What command would I use and preserve my recordings?
> 
> I can see how to replace both disks on that page, I can't see how to replace just one...


You would have to dd copy 300Gb to a new bigger drive.

mfsadd -r 4 -x /dev/hda /dev/hdc

where /dev/hda is your 750GB "A" drive, /dev/hdc is your newly copied "B" drive


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## TheMerk (Feb 26, 2001)

spike2k5 said:


> You would have to dd copy 300Gb to a new bigger drive.
> 
> mfsadd -r 4 -x /dev/hda /dev/hdc
> 
> where /dev/hda is your 750GB "A" drive, /dev/hdc is your newly copied "B" drive


I did that and I got the "nothing to add" message. When I returned the drives to the HR10-250 I still had the same recording time. That's when I decided to bag it and just Instantcaked the whole thing.

I'd like to upgrade the 300GB B in the future if possible, but it's the partition issue again, right?


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## spike2k5 (Feb 21, 2006)

TheMerk said:


> I did that and I got the "nothing to add" message. When I returned the drives to the HR10-250 I still had the same recording time. That's when I decided to bag it and just Instantcaked the whole thing.
> 
> I'd like to upgrade the 300GB B in the future if possible, but it's the partition issue again, right?


Which boot cd did you use and was it a dual drive setup?

mfsinfo would give me more detail as to why it didn't work.

You can always do full backup|restore pipe to go to bigger drives.


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## TheMerk (Feb 26, 2001)

spike2k5 said:


> Which boot cd did you use and was it a dual drive setup?
> 
> mfsinfo would give me more detail as to why it didn't work.
> 
> You can always do full backup|restore pipe to go to bigger drives.


I used Tiger's MFS Tools with LBA support, the one in the Hinsdale guide.

I guess I'll cross that bridge when/if I ever do the B drive upgrade.


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## AbMagFab (Feb 5, 2001)

For anyone that cares (I'm the OP), the mfslive worked great, doing a "backup | restore" to copy the drive. Took about 6 hours for a full 750GB drive.


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

AbMagFab said:


> For anyone that cares (I'm the OP), the mfslive worked great, doing a "backup | restore" to copy the drive. Took about 6 hours for a full 750GB drive.


That was what I used, it was very strait forward. Glad it worked out.


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