Unable To Backup RetroPie Image

erbright

Hello, I have searched this thoroughly on different forums and can't find a solution. I am totally unable to backup my retropie image. I do not want to make a copy on another sd card, I just want to make an image file (or copy of the retropie folder) that saves on my hard drive. I have listed the methods I tried below (unsuccessfully):

Win32DiskImager - Doesn’t work. I create the image and try to mount it to make sure it works and Windows tells me it's corrupted. This happens over and over again.
I tried installing Ubuntu in a virtual machine on my Windows host pc, figuring I could read the ext4 partition and copy the files that way. I cannot access my host drives in the Ubuntu virtual machine so this method won’t work either. I tried various recommendations online to fix it, doesn't work.
My Chromebook can read the ext4 partition files on the sd card, so I tried using it to copy and paste the entire RetroPie folder to another drive. It gets to the very end of copying and then gives me an error, so nothing gets copied.
I tried installing Ext2Fsd on Windows to try and read the files that way so I could copy the important folders. Doesn’t work - keeps telling me I need to format the drive.
I tried searching for a tool that I can use directly in retropie / emulationstation to either copy the files over my network, or create an image and save it over my network. There doesn't seem to be such a tool in existence. I have heard a couple names such as RPI-Clone and Sd Card Copier, but I think they are only for copying to another sd card, not to a drive which is what I need. I also need something with a GUI as I'm not too familiar with terminal code.

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks!

dankcushions

@erbright said in Unable To Backup RetroPie Image:

Win32DiskImager - Doesn’t work. I create the image and try to mount it to make sure it works and Windows tells me it's corrupted. This happens over and over again.

mount it where? i'm not quite sure i understand the utility of mounting/accessing files on the image - typically if you need to restore your pi, you just write the entire saved image to your SD card and you're back where you were.

if you want to access files from your current image, can you not do it via SFTP?

erbright

@dankcushions I wanted to mount the image as a drive in Windows in order to test the image file to make sure that it works (I have heard Win32DiskImager has caused issues for some people). When I mounted it, it says it's corrupted, so that tells me the image file won't work if I ever need to restore it to my sd card. Also, I'm not sure what an SFTP is? I have Putty installed and can do basic commands but I don't really know anything about transferring files that way.

YFZdude

@erbright
You could try using WinSCP. It uses SFTP but it gives you a GUI interface that allows drag & drop functionality.

https://retropie.org.uk/docs/SSH/

Ashpool

@erbright said in Unable To Backup RetroPie Image:

When I mounted it, it says it's corrupted, so that tells me the image file won't work if I ever need to restore it to my sd card.

Mount it, under Windows? Have you tried it with any downloaded image (retropie/raspberry-os/whatsoever) for the Pie and got a positive/working example? Just curious, because with Windows built in mount/Powershells mount-diskimage all working images for the raspi i tried are being reported as corrupt/damaged (they hold more then one partition). So I would recommend to actually write your image to another sd card and test it (And yes, that is the tricky part, as -unless you shrinked the image (PiShrink)- the new sd card has to have at least exactly the sector count of the imaged one (and that varies even between cards of the same type/manufacturer) and also means, that if your sd card has lost some sectors in the meantime, it couldn't be written back to it)

Edit: Another Thought - I haven't tried it myself so far on an usb-stick or sdcard, but maybe Clonezilla could be a sounding alternative ?

simpleethat

Windows can't natively read the filesystem used for Raspberry Pi OS /Retropie. You can use software like Linux File Systems for Windows by Paragon (or others) to read that partition on the image but Windows will always think it is corrupt without help.

EDIT: I've never tried to mount the image of a backup I've made with Win32DiskImager but I've never seen the need for that. But I have inserted the MicroSD card and been able to read it that way. That being said, I've never had a problem with a backup created through it. It is annoying that you can't ignore the unfilled space when creating an image but it is what it is. It's a fairly simple program that works pretty well pretty consistently.

erbright

@yfzdude I think WinSCP is the best way to go for backing up. However it is giving me an error when copying some files. I got the first couple folders copied and when it gets to the third folder it gives me an error - "Cannot open remote file" - "permission denied". Any ideas? The first couple folders copied over fine.

mitu

@erbright What folder are you trying to copy and it throws an error ? If you're trying to copy the whole Linux partition (/), that's normal.

Crush

@erbright said in Unable To Backup RetroPie Image:

Win32DiskImager - Doesn’t work. I create the image and try to mount it to make sure it works and Windows tells me it's corrupted. This happens over and over again.

This is all you needed to do, it did work, you just can't mount it under Windows.