Image backup of emmc

[mm_half3]

Hello,

I’m using the latest stable coreElec and nightly builds on a few amlogic devices. They are booting from external storage (usb, sd), but are setup to put the data on the shared emmc with the boxes native Android installs.

I’d like to create backup image files of the entire emmc (android & coreElec data) using dd commands from a coreElec ssh terminal. Thought running dd on the /storage device might do this, but I’m seeing dd output files that aren’t the same size/capacity of the entire emmc, so I’m not sure this process is copying what I want.

Can dd from a coreElec ssh terminal be used to get an image of the entire emmc in this setup, or is another procedure needed?

Thanks,

[bubblegum57]

I’m interested in something to clone, or create an image of my device.

I know nothing about dd, I was wondering if there was a way of using clonezilla on a bootable usb device, & creating an image over the LAN via a laptop/pc.

[Portisch]

dd will be the same size as eMMC. So if 32GB eMMC yu get a 32GB img.
If you installed to internal with ceemmc you can use to create a complete CE backup to any other media by the tool itself. Or you use the backup option in CE settings.

Tutorial: How to backup the entire system to USB Flash Drive

Tutorial: How to backup the entire system to USB Flash Drive Preface The main purpose of a backup is Data Loss Prevention. Therefore it is recommended to perform a backup after a new installation of CoreELEC, and before any update or change to the system. CoreELECs internal backup tool backs up and restores the entire Kodi system, including passwords, usernames, settings, add-ons, configurations files, api keys, pictures, video and audio files, thumbnails, temporary files, etc. Contents Req…

[Compent]

If Android is installed and there is a version available for your setup, is it possible that TWRP could manage this?

[bubblegum57]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the backup, is only a backup, so an initial install needs to be made, before the backup can be applied. (restore)

A clone or image would ideally do both at the same time.

[Portisch]

by CE backup yes. ceemmc can make a bootable backup.
But this is the purpose of the backup. When your uSD get killed just create a new one, boot it and restore backup - done.

[mm_half3]

@Portisch: Thanks for the response, it confirms what I thought was one of the limitations of dd; it images the entire device infile, even unused space, and confirms I’m only getting a partial image when running it from a coreElec shell.

Not ready to install coreElec on the emmc yet, these devices still have it installed & are booting from external storage; only have coreElec data on the emmc, was hoping for a way to image before migrating to coeElec installed on emmc. Too bad DD won’t work in this case, it’s easy enough.

@Compent: The devices aren’t rooted, and thought TWRP could backup original ROMs if rooted. Last time I used it was with a rooted phone, and that was a while back. Will need to look into it more.

Thanks,

[mm_half3]

@bubblegum57 : I usually use clonezilla to backup/image my Intel/amd based media players to a networked smb/nfs NAS, but I haven’t been able to find an android version, don’t think they support it. It’s why I looked into the native unix dd command, or other options. dd works great to image sd or usb installs using any unix based OS, but getting the internal emmc of android boxes seem to be more problematic.