How to copy CoreELEC bootable micro SD card to new micro SD card for a backup?

Help & Support Installation & Booting
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First I want to sincerely thank everyone involve with CoreELEC. You have my extreme appreciation for your efforts.

I have a 32gb micro SD card that is bootable and configured with CoreELEC that is working perfectly with my Android box.

How can I make a duplicate copy of that micro SD to a new unused 32gb micro SD card for a backup in case my existing one dies? I’ve tried to search the forum and could not find an answer to this specific question. If I missed it, perhaps someone could provide a link? Or if someone could explain how it can be done? (I’m fairly PC literate, not so much for Linux or Android and zero for Mac).

VANKYO MatrixBox X95 Max 4K Android 9.0 TV Box,
Ultra HD 4GB RAM 64GB ROM TV Streaming Player
Amlogic S905X2 64 Bits Quad Core Processor, H.265/2.4G
One micro SD slot (this is the one I’m booting from), one USB slot (used for USB HDD connection).
My PC is Win10

Help would be appreciated.

Thanks so much in advance.
BluegrassPicker

2

It’s a bit of work but here’s one way of doing it:

  • Make a full system backup of your original CE installation.
  • Copy the backup file to a USB Flash Drive
  • Create a second SD Card with a fresh CE installation
  • Remove your current SD Card from the Media device
  • Insert the SD Card with the new CE installation into the Media device
  • Boot the Media device via the recommended method (toothpick, etc.) into the new CE installation
  • Restore the backup from the USB Flash Drive

You should now have an identical copy of your original installation.

Hint; technically, all you need is the backup file.

Alternatively, you can try shadowmaker or backupper.

1 Like
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win32diskimager is your friend.
with it you can store a complete image of your SD-card to your PC and restore it to another SD-card.
the new SD-card must have the same size as the original one or larger.

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I use clonezilla, IF the new microsd card is slightly smaller, won’t be able to do a complete clone.
But you can clone each partition in turn.
I use Gparted to reduce partition sizes if needed. It sounds a bit of a faff, but it works for me.

I have created a bootable usb drive from here https://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/

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IF the new microsd card is slightly smaller, won’t be able to do a complete clone.

My backup method doesn’t have those restrictions.

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But, with your method, you have to do the initial installation, then restore, my method, if the sd cards are the same size, you created a clone, so it will boot straight up.

But, people have the choice & can use either method, to best suit themselves.

Generally, I create a backup, to the sd card backup folder, then copy over to my laptop, which is a slight variation of your method.

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That’s what I mean.

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Sincere thanks to everyone who replied. Mission accomplished. I now have a confirmed and tested backup disk, and I have a copy of the backup file as well.
If I upgrade to the new CoreELEC version I’ll repeat the process again.

Thanks once again to all for your help. Very sincerely appreciated.

BluegrassPicker

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