[nmglug] HDD > SSD

[Brian O'Keefe]

Hi a,

First, let's get corroboration from another NMGLUGGer or two 
(Satsangat?). But, /dev/sda is very probably your current HDD. When you 
click on it as you describe, the info on it is displayed. /dev/sda1 is a 
partition on that drive, /dev/sda, and that shows up in the graphical 
representation you see. It shows how many partitions, the size of them, 
what type (boot, swap, etc.), how much free space on the disk, etc. The 
/dev/sdb is most probably the new SSD and when clicked on will show a 
big blank nothing, just the full size of the SSD, no partitions just 
free space. Cloning takes the entirety of /dev/sda including /dev/sda1, 
and transfers the info to /dev/sdb (your new SSD). So in your 
description you would run dd as the command below except that /dev/sdb 
would be replaced with /dev/sdd, as you describe it from GParted. I also 
run GParted from a separate drive (bootable optical or usb) from which 
I've booted my machine.  Otherwise it's like trying to work on your car 
engine while it's running and that won't work.

My concerns are twofold at least. If partitions and such essentially 
mean nothing to you (out of your experience) as in sda and sda1 then I 
hesitate to guide you further. It is super critical that the syntax of 
the command is exactly correct. Secondly, missing spaces in the line or 
other simple slips can destroy your data. This has never happened to me 
in ten years but it has happened to others. I run the command below and 
change the drive info as need be. That is if GParted shows /dev/sdd 
instead of /dev/sdb (as in the command below) I change that one letter 
of a "b" to a "d" and then run the command. I also rely on copy and 
pasting the command into the command line (terminal) to avoid a typo of 
nuclear proportions. Having said that, I've done exactly what your 
wanting to do, prayed and sacrificed a penguin and all has always turned 
out fine. But I obviously have never, to date, made a mistake nor can I 
make any guarantees!

Let's put this out to the group for any input. I learned this method 
from the group so that shouldn't be a big ask. I just sense that your 
unfamiliarity needs some additional bolstering so please hold off for a 
bit. Also, it would help for you to send along some screenshots of 
GParted with /dev/sda and then /dev/sdd so we can verify your info.

It works and works well but one cannot make a mistake and not expect 
issues. Read these as relates to what you want to do (essentially what 
I've presented but clarity is good): http://tinyurl.com/yyvaekk9

Brian

On 6/5/19 10:54 AM, a wrote:
>
> Brian
>
> Am ready to run the program. Question gparted choice  /dev/sda or 
> /dev/sdd (right top menu)
>
> When I open /dev/sda it indicates /dev/sda1 which of these do I use in 
> te dd command?
>
> Thanks a
>
> On 6/4/19 7:30 PM, a wrote:
>> dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb bs=1M conv=notrunc,noerror
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