Win32diskimager - quick question about image size
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Just a quick question about using win32diskimager to create a backup image of my SD card. I've never used it before. My retropie is currently on a 128GB SD card. Right now I have no games on it. I'm just getting started with Retropie and I've spent the last few days making several changes to themes and config files. I'd like to make a backup image now before I start copying my roms over, so that I can always go back to where I am currently if anything goes wrong from here.
Maybe this is a stupid question, but what size should I expect my backup image to be? Win32diskimager won't actually save a 128GB file will it? There's only a tiny amount of that space being used currently on the card since there aren't even any roms on it yet.
Pi Model or other hardware: Raspberry Pi 3 model B
Power Supply used: CanaKit 5V 2.5A Raspberry Pi 3 Power Supply / Adapter / Charger (UL Listed)
RetroPie Version: 4.1
Built From: Pre made SD Image on RetroPie website
USB Devices connected:
Controller used: Xbox One -
@groviar
I used Win32diskimager to backup my 64GB SD card awhile back and I believe the backup image file on my computer ended up being pretty close to a 64GB. You might make sure you have more than 128GB free space on your computer before you try it. You can then use something like 7zip to compress that image and I think it will make it much smaller for storing purposes but when you need to flash it back to your SD card, you'll need it extracted to the full image size.There are also other alternative for just backing up your ROM and/or configuration files. Here are some examples:
Backup Shell Script
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/4742/list-of-game-save-file-extensions/13PiSave: A tool to backup saves to Dropbox
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/5567/pisave-a-tool-to-backup-saves-to-dropboxAutomate Nightly Backups of your RetroPie Saves by Syncing to Google Drive
https://www.reddit.com/r/raspberry_pi/comments/2px590/automate_nightly_backups_of_your_retropie_saves/BitTorrent Sync
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/4075/setting-up-bittorrent-sync-on-your-retropie-installNextcloud Synchronization of Savestate and Savefile
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/7561/savestate-and-savefile-oncloud-nextcloud-syncronizationrpibu - backup script for RetroPie
https://github.com/Drakaen391/rpibu -
Yeeesh, I definitely don't want to do it that way, then. I already have all my games/roms/backed up how I want them on my PC, ready to copy over to the Retropie, so it seems silly to take up another 128GB of space for mostly nothing.
Plus I hear it's a problem for many people restoring their images to cards of the same size due to small differences in cards of the same size.
So it sounds like it's a better option for me to just save the config folders to my PC and store them in case I need to copy them back over later.
I saw this page:
If I copy just the bios, configs and splash screen folders to my PC using Filezilla, like in the section"Making a Backup (Option 2)" on the above link, would that save everything I would need to restore Retropie? I don't believe it would - that would just save config files, not all the installed systems, retropie files, etc.
Hmm, I wonder how much 7zip or winrar could compress that 128GB image, like you suggested? If it could bring it down to a much, much smaller size, I might consider doing it that way. I see there's some discussion about having a built-in compression tool in some future version of Win32diskimager, but it's been postponed. I'm guessing either 7-zip or winrar would eliminate most of that image file size since it will be mostly empty space.
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Plus I hear it's a problem for many people restoring their images to cards of the same size due to small differences in cards of the same size.
Some SD cards from various brands might say they are the same size but technically they are slightly different in size. Can cause problems if you flash an image on an SD card that slightly smaller.
So it sounds like it's a better option for me to just save the config folders to my PC and store them in case I need to copy them back over later.
That is how I do it and I also have an extensive document with notes, examples, how to's and links to this forum. Like the alternative backup methods I posted above was from my document.
would that save everything I would need to restore Retropie? I don't believe it would - that would just save config files, not all the installed systems, retropie files, etc.
I have a feeling it might miss a few things because of this thread:
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/8401/separating-snes-super-famicom-games/
You should make sure that you backup any alterations you did from their as well!Hmm, I wonder how much 7zip or winrar could compress that 128GB image
I'm guessing either 7-zip or winrar would eliminate most of that image file size since it will be mostly empty space.If it is like you said "only a tiny amount of that space being used" then it should compress it pretty well. I personally use (the free open source) PeaZip which is built around 7zip but looks more like WinRAR.
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@groviar you should backup your entire /opt/ folder, your /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/ folder, and your /boot/config.txt . It is good to have your emulators, libretrocores and ports. It can save you a ton of time from having to reinstall them later. Plus if you update your pi and an emulator is messed up, you can put the old one back on until the new one gets fixed.
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Can I backup (copy) all those folders/files right in Filezilla? Will I have access to those files/folders?
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@groviar i assume filezilla is an ftp program? If so you should. I personally use winscp on windows. But yeah you can just copy the whole folders.
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Can I backup (copy) all those folders/files right in Filezilla? Will I have access to those files/folders?
I believe you can "read" those folders/files in FileZilla to copy to your computer but you might not have the privilege to "write" them back. I'm not at my RPi so I'm not for sure about the "write" privilege.
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@backstander if you log in as root instead of pi you can copy everything. I log in as pi in an ssh program like putty but i ftp in as root.
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I'm new at this and don't know how to ftp in as root, only pi. Can I log in as pi for now and back up the /opt/ folder, the /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/ folder, and the /boot/config.txt, and worry later about writing back over to the card if I need to, or do I need to be logged in as root to access them?
And is there any advantage of using winscp over filezilla? I'm familiar with filezilla since I learned yesterday how to do it in filezilla.
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@groviar yes you can backup as pi. For root you need to look at this to add a password to root. Read the section "why cant i ssh as root anymore" after you give root a password (i use raspberry as the password so its easy to remember) then in your ftp program you change pi to root and use your password you created
https://github.com/retropie/retropie-setup/wiki/FAQ#why-cant-i-ssh-as-root-anymore
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Okay, that sounds easy enough. Thanks.
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@groviar i forgot to post the link so if you didnt see it reread my post
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Got it, thanks!
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