> --- In ts-7000%40yahoogroups.com, "jeffs7283" <jeffs@> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > --- In ts-7000%40yahoogroups.com, "drex459" <dexterjagula@> wrote:
> > >
> > > I'm pretty new to working in UNIX, and have to do some development on the TS-8390-4700 board. Before I get started I have to use an image provided by TS. I need some help backing-up an existing micro SD card, and "dropping" an imagine onto the same micro-SD card.
> > >
> > > Here is a summary of what I have to do:
> > > 1. Back-up the existing micro-SD card (that came with the TS-8390-4700 board).
> > > 2. "Drop" a downloaded image onto the micro-SD card.
> > > 3. If necessary, how to revert the micro-SD card to the backed-up image.
> > >
> > > Here's where I am, and what I still have to do:
> > > 1. Using the "sudo fdisk -l" command, I was able to see that the micro-SD card had a few partitions on it (/dev/sdb1, /dev/sdb2, /dev/sdb3, /dev/sdb4). I then used the command "sudo dd if=/dev/sdb of=sd.iso", which returned the following result:
> > > 3862528+0 records in
> > > 3862528+0 records out
> > > 1977614336 bytes (2.0 GB) copied, 505.756 s, 3.9 MB/s
> > > which looks like it got backed-up successfully to the .iso file. Is this the best way to back-up/image the micro-SD card, so that I can revert ALL files and partitions to the way it was?
> > >
> > > 2. The image I require is: "
ftp://ftp.embeddedarm.com/ts-socket-macrocontrollers/ts-4800-linux/binaries/ts-images/2gbsd-latest.dd.gz" Once downloaded, how can I extract this image and "drop" it on the micro-SD card? Can I use the 'dd' utility to do this? Or some other utility? Do I have to format the micro-SD card first?
> > >
> > > 3. If I want to revert the micro-SD card back to the way it was before I "dropped" the image onto it, how do I do that using the .iso type (or any file type) using the 'dd' utility?
> > >
> > > These questions may seem basic, but any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
> > >
> >
> > So far I think you've got it. 'dd' is the right utility for doing straight binary copy from one file/device to another. Since your card is showing up on /dev/sdb, after step 1 above you now have the original card image backed up in the sd.iso file. This includes the MBR on the card and can be used to restore the card image by using dd again in exactly the same way: "dd if=sd.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=32k" Setting the block size to 32k is a performance enhancer when writing to the card.
> >
> > For (2), writing a downloaded image to the card, you must first gunzip the downloaded file. Also note that you need to match the SD card size to the image. Don't try to put an 8Gb image on a 2 gig card and vice versa. Then it's just "dd if=<downloaded unzipped image> of=/dev/sdb bs=32k" to load it on the card. Note that it takes a loooooong time to write to an SD card this way, so be patient. Since you are writing a complete filesystem image to the card including the MBR there is no formatting necessary. Just plug in a card and go.
> >
> > For (3) see step one above, just write your original sd.iso image back onto the card with dd.
> >
> > Things to remember:
> >
> > dd is a very low level operation, no formatting or partitioning of a card is necessary to use it.
> >
> > Use the block size (bs=32k) parameter to improve performance when writing to sd cards. Leave this off when saving image from the card to disk.
> >
> > Match downloaded binary image size to card size. Note that the downloaded binary image is usually about 10% smaller than the size of the card in order to allow for the size of the card to shrink slightly over time due to sectors wearing out.
> >
> > Be sure to unzip downloaded images prior to writing to SD card.
> >
> > -Jeff
> >
>