Looking for some guidance

[FeMike]

So i  borked my os a few times and have reflashed the Debian without issue. But as I'm still new to this it takes me a bit to get back to my setup. I've tried timeshift with some success but would like to learn the process without any apps. What I'm trying to do is set my machine up the way I like it and make an image of that setup for ease of restore. 
1st- I take an image with
     sudo DD if=/dev/mmcblk1 | gzip -c > /media/FeMike/sdcard1 backup.img.gz
Then I take that card bring it to my windows pc and use balena etcher to flash it to another sdcard. I power down my pb64 plug the card in them turn it back on and it is still booting from Emmc. What strep am I missing or is this the wrong way to go about it? Thank you

[evilbunny]

So i  borked my os a few times and have reflashed the Debian without issue. But as I'm still new to this it takes me a bit to get back to my setup. I've tried timeshift with some success but would like to learn the process without any apps. What I'm trying to do is set my machine up the way I like it and make an image of that setup for ease of restore. 
1st- I take an image with
     sudo DD if=/dev/mmcblk1 | gzip -c > /media/FeMike/sdcard1 backup.img.gz
Then I take that card bring it to my windows pc and use balena etcher to flash it to another sdcard. I power down my pb64 plug the card in them turn it back on and it is still booting from Emmc. What strep am I missing or is this the wrong way to go about it? Thank you

Are you trying to dd from a running system? If so you will only end up with corrupted images.

[FeMike]

So i  borked my os a few times and have reflashed the Debian without issue. But as I'm still new to this it takes me a bit to get back to my setup. I've tried timeshift with some success but would like to learn the process without any apps. What I'm trying to do is set my machine up the way I like it and make an image of that setup for ease of restore. 
1st- I take an image with
     sudo DD if=/dev/mmcblk1 | gzip -c > /media/FeMike/sdcard1 backup.img.gz
Then I take that card bring it to my windows pc and use balena etcher to flash it to another sdcard. I power down my pb64 plug the card in them turn it back on and it is still booting from Emmc. What strep am I missing or is this the wrong way to go about it? Thank you

Are you trying to dd from a running system? If so you will only end up with corrupted images.

Yes, hopefully that is my issue. I guess I should try booting live from sdcard1 that is bone stock and dd the mmcblk1 image to sdcard2 on the system. At this point would I need to use etcher to put the img of my setup on sdcard1 since it's already bootable? Or just dd the img to sdcard1?

[evilbunny]

Yes, hopefully that is my issue. I guess I should try booting live from sdcard1 that is bone stock and dd the mmcblk1 image to sdcard2 on the system. At this point would I need to use etcher to put the img of my setup on sdcard1 since it's already bootable? Or just dd the img to sdcard1?

yes boot from sdcard and make sure there is enough space for a compressed copy.

If you want to do "live" backups you would need to use rsync/rsnapshot to copy newer files rather than disk images.

[FeMike]

Yes, hopefully that is my issue. I guess I should try booting live from sdcard1 that is bone stock and dd the mmcblk1 image to sdcard2 on the system. At this point would I need to use etcher to put the img of my setup on sdcard1 since it's already bootable? Or just dd the img to sdcard1?

yes boot from sdcard and make sure there is enough space for a compressed copy.

If you want to do "live" backups you would need to use rsync/rsnapshot to copy newer files rather than disk images.

Would I just dd it to an already bootable sdcard or use etcher?

[evilbunny]

Yes, hopefully that is my issue. I guess I should try booting live from sdcard1 that is bone stock and dd the mmcblk1 image to sdcard2 on the system. At this point would I need to use etcher to put the img of my setup on sdcard1 since it's already bootable? Or just dd the img to sdcard1?

yes boot from sdcard and make sure there is enough space for a compressed copy.

If you want to do "live" backups you would need to use rsync/rsnapshot to copy newer files rather than disk images.

Would I just dd it to an already bootable sdcard or use etcher?

You can't clone a drive while it's active. rsync/rsnapshot copies files and usually doesn't have files change while they're being backed up.

[FeMike]

Yes, hopefully that is my issue. I guess I should try booting live from sdcard1 that is bone stock and dd the mmcblk1 image to sdcard2 on the system. At this point would I need to use etcher to put the img of my setup on sdcard1 since it's already bootable? Or just dd the img to sdcard1?

yes boot from sdcard and make sure there is enough space for a compressed copy.

If you want to do "live" backups you would need to use rsync/rsnapshot to copy newer files rather than disk images.

Would I just dd it to an already bootable sdcard or use etcher?

You can't clone a drive while it's active. rsync/rsnapshot copies files and usually doesn't have files change while they're being backed up.

Sorry maybe I should clear it up. I'm currently booting from sdcard1 (which is bootable). I also have sdcard2 in a USB card reader. I'm now dd'ing the Emmc to sdcard2. The Emmc (mmcblk1) isn't active. After I get the zipped img, can I dd it from sdcard2 to sdcard1 while booted off the emmc or do I use etcher to flash it back to sdcard1?

[xmixahlx]

it may depend on how permanent your setup is... i prefer to rsync my home directory to USB drive. i can then transfer my home directory and repeat if needed

[evilbunny]

Yes, hopefully that is my issue. I guess I should try booting live from sdcard1 that is bone stock and dd the mmcblk1 image to sdcard2 on the system. At this point would I need to use etcher to put the img of my setup on sdcard1 since it's already bootable? Or just dd the img to sdcard1?

yes boot from sdcard and make sure there is enough space for a compressed copy.

If you want to do "live" backups you would need to use rsync/rsnapshot to copy newer files rather than disk images.

Would I just dd it to an already bootable sdcard or use etcher?

You can't clone a drive while it's active. rsync/rsnapshot copies files and usually doesn't have files change while they're being backed up.

Sorry maybe I should clear it up. I'm currently booting from sdcard1 (which is bootable). I also have sdcard2 in a USB card reader. I'm now dd'ing the Emmc to sdcard2. The Emmc (mmcblk1) isn't active. After I get the zipped img, can I dd it from sdcard2 to sdcard1 while booted off the emmc or do I use etcher to flash it back to sdcard1?

If emmc is idle, and the 2nd sdcard is as well you can just dd from emmc to sd2 and skip the copy to sd1

[FeMike]

yes boot from sdcard and make sure there is enough space for a compressed copy.

If you want to do "live" backups you would need to use rsync/rsnapshot to copy newer files rather than disk images.

Would I just dd it to an already bootable sdcard or use etcher?

You can't clone a drive while it's active. rsync/rsnapshot copies files and usually doesn't have files change while they're being backed up.

Sorry maybe I should clear it up. I'm currently booting from sdcard1 (which is bootable). I also have sdcard2 in a USB card reader. I'm now dd'ing the Emmc to sdcard2. The Emmc (mmcblk1) isn't active. After I get the zipped img, can I dd it from sdcard2 to sdcard1 while booted off the emmc or do I use etcher to flash it back to sdcard1?

If emmc is idle, and the 2nd sdcard is as well you can just dd from emmc to sd2 and skip the copy to sd1

Thank you and sorry for all the questions. So if emmc is idle and I dd to sdcard2 will I be able to boot from sdcard2 or do I need sdcard2 to be bootable prior to the dd.

---

it may depend on how permanent your setup is... i prefer to rsync my home directory to USB drive. i can then transfer my home directory and repeat if needed

So my permanent setup is just the stock Debian with minor changes like changing the user at first boot, updating blueman services, timedatectl, common Wi-Fi's, and passwords for root and new user. Nothing in home until I have a workable back up if this set up. I'm new to this so it takes me a bit to get this far and have had to reflash a few times.