Create clone of microSD

Installation
1

I have a very old release of hassio, 0.96 or so and I want to see what happens if I update. I dont want to do it on my production OS because I’m so dependant on the working hassio in the daily life.

So my first thaught was to clone the microSD, easier said than done I can say! I have tried everything and the programs just cant make a good copu or one at all because of the many partitions created. At least I have around 7 of them. 32mb hassos, 24mb, 256mb, 24mb, 256mb, 8mb, 96mb and lastly the rest of my 32gb sandisk card 14.16gb. Seems like there is room for improvement here? This is a clean install via balena etcher flash… Is the snapshot way really the only way?

2

On what OS are you trying to clone the sd card? Windows, Linux?

I’d do it on Linux (Raspian, debian) with the dd command. This guide turned up on my first google search, three years old, but still valid. https://beebom.com/how-clone-raspberry-pi-sd-card-windows-linux-macos/

But if you have a clean install, than simply do the same flashing twice with Etcher on different sd cards, the system is exactly the same, even the unique ids are the same. After that you can easily work with the snapshots.

3

Also, as you’re on Hass.io, you have the option of taking then downloading a snapshot, and then uploading that to a new install.

4

Before upgrading, I almost always create an image of my card with Win32DiskImager then copy that to a new card using Balena Etcher. Then I boot off the new copy and keep the old in a safe place.

5

This seems like the one I’ll try since I’m on windows, have you verified that your clone is working and booted with it?

6

Yup. I do that all the time. I also keep the last several .img files so that I can restore one if needed.

7

Seems to be working, THANK YOU!