[NTLK] dd revisited

From: Jeff Sheldon (jeff_at_jurai.net)
Date: Wed Apr 28 2004 - 20:44:47 PDT


A couple of months ago I suggested that someone try using the *nix command
line utility "dd" to backup a Newton card and then try to re-write it.
Someone responded saying it failed miserably. That never really sat right
with me, so having just received a free compact flash reader, I put a 16Mb
card to the test by first copying everything to a flat file:

dd if=/dev/sda of=ata16.img

Then after formatting the card as a whole (no partitions) with EXT2, I
made sure it was blank and copied the data back:

dd if=ata16.img of=/dev/sda

Works fine. Now I can make routine backups of my Newton data, albeit with
Paul's ATA support. Not sure what problem the other guy had, but this is
pretty slick since I use Linux and never really cared for doing much else
except installing packages and backing-up/restoring data.

If anyone else tests this out, be certain you don't try to restore any
data unless the data already on the card is expendable. I discovered
while copying everything back that my compact flash card has some slight
physical damage, which probably corrupted part of a program.

Good luck.

-Jeff

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