i have updated zbackup so it can support akita devices as well.

can someone with akita test and see if it works?

please make sure you make a nand backup before ypu try it.


install zbackup, then from outside of X, just run zbackup

it should create a initrd.bin on /mnt/card

now in theory, you could use this initrd.bin file to reflash your Zaurus...

on the c3100/3200 it should generate two files, initrd.bin just like for c1000, but also a pdaXrom-C3k....tgz file on /data
rename this file to hdimage-custom.tgz and you should be able to restore your system just like you the way you initially flashed it but using these backup files instead....


removed attachment. use new attachment in the following posts...

Hey Meanie,

Ok, zbackup installed fine on my sl-c1000. I jumped outside of X and ran zbackup which returned the following message:

sorry, your model sl-c1000 is not supported with zbackup


VirtusRex

please try uninstalling zbackup and installing again. somehow you still have the old version. make sure /us/bin/zbackup does not exist after you uninstalled zbackup, if it does, remove it before installing zbackup again...

Hi Meanie,

this is just great. :-) Another time we seem to have both the same idea at the same time.
I have just created a shell script which does a complete backup of my pdaXrom setup to an USB drive or an internal backup (just Documents directory opn SD to a place on hard disk, so you can revert to older file versions easily), dependent on a lot of conditions.
The script checks if
- AC adapter is connected
- USB device is connected
- SD is mounted
- there is enough space on the target drive for the backup

And it deactivates suspend during backup and restores the original suspend / screensaver settings afterwards (code for this rived from your xset-wrapper script).

Also, it calculates the time needed for the backup and creates backup files with time stamp in file name.

It creates backup files in a way which I will extend to making me able to use the backup files in order to automatically restore the entire setup from scratch. This will just be a small step from here.

I am still testing it. A full backup takes about 4-5 hours on my setup....

In case you want to use some of my ideas for zbackup, don't hesitate to do so.
Here is the script (as I said, not too well tested yet)!

This is tailored for my specific setup, so anyone using this script as a basis will have to adapt it to the partitions mounted and file systems to be backed up and targets etc.

daniel

nice, i dont have all these checks in place but i should have them.
once it is verified to be working, as a side effect of being able to backup your c1000 as an initrd.bin file, you can easily customise your c1000 and make it available for others to install by simply making a zbackup and sharing the resulting initrd.bin file for flashing...

Sounds like a great opportunity to have different versions of pdaXii13 (one with Fluxbox, one with Xfce, etc)! Save people the trouble of fixing all of the little quirks of installing a new WM.

that's the general idea
btw, when pdaXii13 Spitz 5.3.2 is available, it will have icewm and fluxbox preinstalled and slightly pre-customised, but some further tweaking is still required...

i have updated zbackup. it will be uploaded shortly...

[wishful-thinking]
xfce4 pre-installed and -configured?
[/wishful-thinking]

Anyway, thanks for updating zbackup, I'll try it out as soon as you've uploaded it.

and here is the latest and greatest build of zbackup


removed this ipk due to a bug in it. use the newer one instead

Ok, I reinstalled zbackup and it worked fine. It created a initrd.bin backup on my /mnt/card.

VirtusRex

that's good. now the big question is whether you can flash this initrd.bin and you get your exact setup back....

And the answer to your question is no. I tried using the initrd.bin to restore the os, but it failed half-way through the reinstall.

Error Message:

Oups!!!
RO file system: error while flashing.
Press the [ENTER] key for reboot.

VirtusRex

oh yeah, found the bug. i will upload a new fixed zbackup ipk and hopefully this one will work!

btw, what was the size of the generated initrd.bin file?

try this one

Ok, tried your new zbackup package, but now I'm getting the previous error msg:

your model SL-C1000 is not supported with zbackup.

VirtusRex

i presume you restored a NAND backup and forgot to delete zbackup before installing the package...

Hey Meanie,

Had a bit of a problem. I used an old Nand backup I had, but it's corrupt. Anyway, I reinstalled pdxaii13 and ran zbackup again. This time when I used zbackup it ran fine. Also, the backup initrd.bin installed with no problems.

So far it looks good. I'm going to install some apps on my sd-card and see how zbackup handles that.

Thanks,

VirtusRex

Ok, I tried another test but this time I install some stuff. First off I re-image to pdaxii13 for akita, then I install rox file manager. I ran zbackup and created an initrd.bin on my /mnt/card. Using the backed up initrd.bin file, I reinstall my backup os. The install went fine, but there was no rox file manager, which I installed on /mnt/user.

Is it possible that zbackup is not picking up the /mnt/user directory?

VirtusRex

anything under /mnt is ignored, only /bin /home /root /etc/lib /sbin /usr are backed up... but this can be easily fixed... what other directory needs to be backed up?

here's another updated zbackup which backs up /mnt/user as well

I was thinking, maybe you could add a feature to your zbackup program that would allow you to select custom directories to back as well.

For example, I usually setup my zaurus as follow.

Install primary applications (Gaim, Kismet, Mozilla, etc) on /mnt/user directory, then big stuff like firefox, gpsdrive, etc I usually install on my 2 gb sd-card under /mnt/card2.

Maybe you could add a command to zbackup like the following:

zbackup /mnt/usr, /mnt/card2

This would allow the option to add extra directories.

Hi Meanie,

Is there any chance you make a C7x0/C8x0 version of zbackup ?
My C760 seems to have a NAND failure so I can't do a NAND restore anymore

Thanks
plcg

no, what you are asking for is a fully fledged backup applicaton. zbackup is not such an app. its simply a system snapshot tool which allows you to restore the snapshotted system. if you add the contents of the sd card to the image, how are you going to reflash your z? it wont all fit on your nand...

a separate backup tool is required for backing up your data and apps that are on exstra storage like, sf, cf, internal md, etc.. such a tool has not been foud yet, neither in pdaXii13 nor pdaXrom...

you can always try the new zbackup on the c760 to generate a initrd.bin file but make sure you can make a nand backup and restore before doing that. maybe ask someone else to try it. it should work in theory but needs testing and since i dont have those models, i cannot do it. the generated initrd.bin, once tested and working, can then be used a pdaXii13 flash image for other owners of such devices... c7x0/c8x0 owners can make their own custom pdaXii13 install images...

Ok, this time I install Gaim and Rox onto /mnt/user directory. Using zbackup_0.14_armv5tel.ipk, I created a backup intird.bin file. I then proceed to reinstall the os with the backup initrd.bin.

Results are buggy. Install went fine with no errors, but when X started up it defaulted back to matchbox. Plus, there was no sign of rox or gaim in the /mnt/user directory.
My /dev/root or / is almost completely used up. It had something like 4 megs free before applying the back, now it has just over a 1 meg free.

Just in case I’ll list the steps I take when running a back, that way we can remove any possibilities of user.

Backup Procedure

Step 1. Installing pdaxii13
1. Use pdaxii13 initrd.bin tools.tar updater.sh - to the root of your SD/MMC card.
2. Make sure the Zaurus isn't plugged into AC power.
3. Remove battery for at least 5 seconds.
4. Replace battery (replace battery cover, lock cover), plug in AC power.
5. Press and hold the "OK" button on the keyboard.
6. Turn the power on, you should see the Japanese service menu.
7. Select option 4 (flash/update).
8. You then have four options (1. USB, 2. CF, 3. SD, 4. Back)
9. Choose either option 2 or 3, depending on which media you put the files on.
10. After a while a menu pops up, select "3 NAND Flash utils" -> "1 Resize root partition", enter 50 - 50 MB for root partition on SL-C760/C860/C1000/C3100 or 30 for SL-C700/750.
11. After a while it is repartioned and will reboot, after that complete steps 2-10 again and wait for the menu again.
12. Now select "1 Install new ROM" and wait.
13. Press Yes for question about format user partition and wait when it will reboot
14. At login type "root" - without the quotes - then hit enter
15. Type "startx" - without quotes - then hit enter
16. Wait while the gui starts up
Step 2. Backup pdaxii13

1. Install Gaim and rox onto /mnt/user directory.
2. Install zbackup_0.14_armv5tel.ipk onto /.
3. Exit to command prompt, run zbackup.
4. Using backup initrd.bin, repeat Step 1. Installing pdaxii13


That’s basically what I’ve been doing.

Hope this helps,

VirtusRex

what does


and

show?

where does /mnt/user actually point to?

here you go.

ok, i understand now.

the caveat is that the flash process extracts the contens of / (root partition) and formats /home which is /mnt/user partition.

so if you flash akita with root and home, ie two partitions, then only root is restored and /home is wiped out. therefore zbackup only works properly if you resize root to 128mb

also, use zbackup 0.13

Ok, I used zbackup 0.13 and create an initrd.bin back, then I did the following:

Backup Procedure Using zbackup 0.13

Step 1. Installing pdaxii13
1. Use backup initrd.bin, tools.tar, and updater.sh - to the root of your SD/MMC card.
2. Make sure the Zaurus isn't plugged into AC power.
3. Remove battery for at least 5 seconds.
4. Replace battery (replace battery cover, lock cover), plug in AC power.
5. Press and hold the "OK" button on the keyboard.
6. Turn the power on, you should see the Japanese service menu.
7. Select option 4 (flash/update).
8. You then have four options (1. USB, 2. CF, 3. SD, 4. Back)
9. Choose either option 2 or 3, depending on which media you put the files on.
10. After a while a menu pops up, select "3 NAND Flash utils" -> "1 Resize root partition", enter 121 which is the max amount (I assume this is what you mean when you said to resize root to 128mb)
11. After a while it is repartioned and will reboot, after that complete steps 2-10 again and wait for the menu again.
12. Now select "1 Install new ROM" and wait.
13. Press Yes for question about format user partition and wait when it will reboot

Everything installed ok, but I got the following error which prevented me from accessing root login.
bin/sh: error while loading shared libraries : libncurses.so.5: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory.

VirtusRex

sorry, i forgot i made some other required fixes to 0.14 that isn't in 0.13.
try 0.14 again with 121 root size. it should work but add some extra files that aren't required, i will upload a 0.15 asap to fix that... but make sure 0.14 works first...

Hey Meanie,

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner, but works been crazy.

I did what you said and used 0.14, but I'm still getting the same error.

VirtusRex

please try 0.15

http://www.tyrannozaurus.com/feed/beta3/cu...15_armv5tel.ipk

Hey Meanie,

One more thing, I just checked the version of pdaxii13 I'm using and it's 5.3.1, and I check your pdaxii13 site, which has a 5.3.2 version, which uses a NAND install, am using the wrong os version?

Should I which to 5.3.2?

VirtusRex

5.3.2 is a new version which is basically 5.3.1 plus some bug fixes + new zbackup

Ok, did a complete reinstall of pdaxii13 5.3.1. Set Nand flash resize to 121.
Installed Rox onto /mnt/usr.

Created backup initrd.bin based on 0.15.

Reinstalled everything and X windows started, but the bottom taskbar was gone, and the background was completely red.

While pdaxii13 was loading up, I keep getting the following msg:

jffs2_scan_eraseblock() magic bitmask 0x1985 not found at 0x3100028: 0x0006 instead

VirtusRex

you can ignore the the jffs errors, they will disappear after a few reboots....

looks like the contents of /home/root/ is missing some stuff.

can you exit X, then run startx and exit X again and see what is seen in the console

also a

ls -la /home/root

ok, i think i know where the problem is. please try this updated v0.16
thanks for all your patience and testing this for me.

Hi Meanie,

I haven't tried the latest, but if I understand your script correctly (especially the if-then-clauses) I'm curious about some parts:

- Am I correct to assume that if a "/data"-partition is found the backup goes there. If a extended-root-environment is detected (/usr mounted on hd), then first a tgz with the contents of /usr is created. Ok, that is needed for "flashing" the hdimage. Then the jffs2-filesystem is created and stored temporary on /data. Until now all is clear to me. However, then the jffs2-image is "pasted" into the tgz file rendering it invalid. I'm not sure if this is planned, as I would have expected to have two files at the end, the jffs2-image for the root filesystem which goes onto the flash and the hdimage.tgz which is extracted onto the first partition of the harddisk.

- Somewhere in between the script tries to unmount /usr. Well, on a running system this just has to fail and does. Later on the script remounts the partition resulting in /usr being mounted twice. Basically this is unnecessary, as the whole partition can be copied while it is mounted.

I'll have a look over the latest version tonight. I'm no expert on shell scripting but I'll try to point out any bugs I might find.

No problem Meanie, you've done some amazing work with pdaxii13 and I'm at your service.

I think I've got a problem with my c1000. Whenever I do a 121 Nand flash, I assume the root will get bigger right?

This is what I usually get using df -h:

filesystem size Used Available Use% Mounted On
/dev/root 53.0 53.0M 0 100% /
none 12.0M 20.0k 12.0M 0% /dev
/dev/mtdblock3 68.0M 3.8M 64.2M 6% /home
/dev/mtdblock3 68.0M 3.8M 64.2M 6% /mnt/user

should /dev/root be 121 in size?

VirtusRex

Umm, Meanie, could it be that the attachment of v0.16 is not linked correctly? I am not able to download it. v0.15 works fine.

seems attachments are also not working, as are attached pictures. I tried downloading it and got a browser full of code.
http://www.oesf.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=23467

EDIT:
I downloaded 0.16 last night with no problem.

OK, here's a method to download it in firefox.
hilite the filename and copy.
right click link and select save link as
when dialog pops up, paste in the copied filename and click OK

On some files, a dash may get substituted by an underscore.

oops, that's a bug. thanks for spotting it! it will be fixed in the next update, ie 0.17
this bug only affects C3100/C3200 NOT C1000 so C1000 users don't need to worry about it at all...

does the following work:

mkdir -p /mnt/nand
mount -t jffs2 /dev/mtdblock2 /mnt/nand

Hey Meanie,

Ok, I got pdaxii13 5.3.2 going and tried your zbackup 0.16. Well looks like your fix worked, the initrd.bin backup worked perfectly. I'm still trying stuff, but no bugs so far.

VirtusRex

This is great!

I will add some more bug fixes for C3100/C3200 in zbackup 0.17 then zbackup will work for all models

Yes, it does (as to be expected). Actually, the mtdblock-devices do represent the NAND-memory, don't they? And as far as I have seen "/dev/root" is just a symlink to "/dev/mtdblock2" which is mounted as "/".

I'm not sure what the other mtdblock-devices are, though. 0 and 1 both have a size of 7MB on my system, so I guess that the boot block must be somewhere there. This, of course, would also have to be included in a backup.

Would it be a good idea to "dd" the whole nand, i.e. mtdblock0-3, into an initrd-file and just flash them back on restore?

mtdblock0 is kernel?
mtdblock1 is emergency rootfs
mtdblock2 is rootfs
mtdblock3 is home

initrd.bin only contains rootfs and a tarred up home is inside the /root directory of rootfs