Backing up RetroPie prior to updating to V4.4

[omen_peter]

Hi all. Whilst I’ve been using this forum for many months to help me out, this is the first time I’ve had to post so hopefully I’ll add all the required info you need. Firstly:
Raspberry Pi Model B V1.2
Power Supply used: 5V 3.0A Power Output
RetroPie Version 4.2.8
Pre-made SD Image from RetroPie website
15GB SD Card
USB Devices connected: 2TB External HDD (for ROMS)
Controller used: Sonnics i8 Mini Keyboard, Wii U Pro Controller
Guide used: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Updating-RetroPie/

As you can see from above my version of RetroPie is a bit out of date, but I’ve been putting off updating it for ages. With the release of V4.4 I eventually decided I would update. Using the “Updating RetroPie” guide linked above, I decided to backup first by using Option 2 – using the Samba Shares and copying the bios, config, and splashscreen files to my Windows 10 PC (my ROMS are stored separately and not on the SD card).

I would say this had a 98% success rate…

1% of the failure was that whilst copying there were 8 files that weren’t copied over (all of these are in /home/pi/RetroPie/configs):
\dreamcast\data\dc_boot.bin
\dreamcast\data\dc_flash.bin
\nds\drastic\drastic_logo0.raw
\nds\drastic\drastic_logo1.raw
\nds\drastic\game_database.xml
\nds\drastic\usrcheat.dat
\nds\drastic\system\drastic_bios_arm7.bin
\nds\drastic\ system\drastic_bios_arm7.bin

The message each time stated that “You require permission from the computers administrator” in order to copy the file. My user profile on my PC is full admin. Does anyone know why these particular files did not copy over? These are obviously related to Dreamcast and Nintendo DS, of which I only have a few games and am yet to actually play those games (so maybe these files aren’t ‘live’ yet), but this means I haven’t fully backed up all the files.

The other 1% was due to the fact I decided (for better or worse) to try and view a .cfg file on my PC. When prompted I selected ‘Notepad’ as the default viewer but forgot to untick the ‘make this the default app for all files’ and so straight away all the .cfg files converted to Notepad (although they all still end with .cfg). Looking online to try to reset to default requires editing the registry on my PC, something I really don’t want to do! So, have I messed up my backup by converting all these files to ‘Notepad’?

Happy to try and provide more info if required. Have I actually picked the best backup option or would following the steps for Option 1 be better?

Also, I notice some people have their relevant pi details as a kind of signature at the bottom of their posts. How do you do that?

Cheers.

[KN4THX]

@omen_peter My bios files are just kept in /bios/ but I wouldn't think that would have an impact permission wise. When I log I to my samba shares I use my Pi user credentials, is that what you mean by your 'admin' login?

As far as the signature, just go into your profile and edit it to add a signature in the signature box.

Files are determined by their extension. A cfg file is always a cfg file unless you change the extension. Windows just let's you pick a default editor application in order to make it easier on you. If you want to change any default app setting in Windows just open the start menu and type 'default' and the top option should be 'Default App Settings'.

[mitu]

@omen_peter said in Backing up RetroPie prior to updating to V4.4:

So, have I messed up my backup by converting all these files to ‘Notepad’?

No, you did not.

Happy to try and provide more info if required. Have I actually picked the best backup option or would following the steps for Option 1 be better?

You can do both, if you're not happy with the results from upgrading, you can always go back to your previous image.

Also, I notice some people have their relevant pi details as a kind of signature at the bottom of their posts. How do you do that?

You edit your forum profile and add the information in the Signature field.

[omen_peter]

Thank you both for your replies!

@TheDataCereal good spot re:bios. It didn't click that those should actually be in the bios folder. Like you said it shouldn't affect the ability to copy but I may move them anyway just to see. On the subject of that, is it safe to move files via the samba shares view on my PC (or can you even do it)? Or is it best to move them on the SD card directly? With regards to my 'admin' I logged in to samba with my pi credentials AND I'm an admin on my Windows PC too, so really confused as to why those certain files weren't copied.

@mitu that is good to know I haven't messed it up! Actually, since my post I've actually found out that the choice of default apps are User Profile dependent. I logged into my wife's user profile on the PC and accessed the files via samba on her profile and .cfg files were back to displaying a blank document as opposed to the Notepad symbol. I've since backed up on her profile too. I am seriously considering also backing up by using Option 1 and creating a SD image of my SD card, just in case!

I knew my computer skills were pretty poor but despite searching I still can't see a 'signature' field anywhere on my forum profile - ha! I'm sure it's there somewhere!

Cheers again guys.

[KN4THX]

On the subject of that, is it safe to move files via the samba shares view on my PC (or can you even do it)? Or is it best to move them on the SD card directly?

It is perfectly safe and I use that a lot for small groups of files.

[omen_peter]

@thedatacereal perfect! Thank you.