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Handheld Oscilloscopes - Are they worth it??

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Robo Pi
(@robo-pi)
Robotics Engineer
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 1669
 

Any Linux Geniuses out there? 

I need to copy an OS image from my Jetson Nano SD card over to a new SD card.   How to I copy an SD image using Linux Ubuntu?

Sorry for the derail from handheld oscilloscopes but I think that train-wreck already happened. ? 

Edited to add a Question to keep this thread on topic:

Which handheld oscilloscope would I need to purchase in order to see a data transfer when copying the image of an SD card. ? 

There.  We're back on topic! ? 

DroneBot Workshop Robotics Engineer
James


   
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codecage
(@codecage)
Member Admin
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Posts: 1018
 

@robo-pi

I thought you were a Windows user?

SteveG


   
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Robo Pi
(@robo-pi)
Robotics Engineer
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 1669
 
Posted by: @codecage

I thought you were a Windows user?

I'm actually an idiot, but that's a whole other topic entirely.

I have Linux installed on an old Windows machine.  That's all that's on there.  No more Windows on that machine.

Windows doesn't like these Linux-based SD cards.  When I plug it into windows it shows up as about 15  totally separate drives.   I have no clue how I'm supposed to use Win32DiskImager to make an image copy of that.

So I thought I'd  try doing this on the Linux machine.   At least when I plug it in there it shows up and one drive.

DroneBot Workshop Robotics Engineer
James


   
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(@pugwash)
Sorcerers' Apprentice
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Posts: 923
Topic starter  

@robo-pi

I believe there is a program called Clonezilla for Ubuntu, that will handle copying disk images.

Otherwise, you will have to learn some Linux terminal commands.

There.  We're back on topic! 

Only by a very thin thread. Sorry for the pun!


   
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codecage
(@codecage)
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@robo-pi

I think I'm a little clearer now on what you are trying to do.

You have an image already that you made from a Windows machine on a microSD card with Win32DiskImager, which makes that SD card a Linux card.  Now you would like to make an "image" of that card onto another.  I'm guessing you have already made changes to that card that you would rather avoid having to start from from a new scratch image and make changes to again.  Did I come close?

I have a friend that is a Linux guru that came up with something we used to make a backup of our RasPi SD cards we use on our ham radio repeaters, so I'll see if I can lay hands on that, along with how it works!

Stay tuned.

SteveG


   
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Robo Pi
(@robo-pi)
Robotics Engineer
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Posts: 1669
 
Posted by: @codecage

Did I come close?

Right on the money!

I have a copy of the original OS image that I could use to make a new SD card.  But as you suspect I have already made a lot of modifications to the system on the Jetson Nano that I would like to keep.  Like I've already gone through the license agreement.  I've already configured for my WiFi.  I've already changed a lot of system settings including setting it up so I no longer need to use a password.   And I've even set the Chrome browser up with some bookmarks I'd like to keep, etc.

So lots of changes already.  I'd like to just clone this OS system so I don't need to do all those things again.

DroneBot Workshop Robotics Engineer
James


   
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Robo Pi
(@robo-pi)
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Posted by: @pugwash

Otherwise, you will have to learn some Linux terminal commands.

Linux terminal commands would be just fine.

Just keep in mind that I want to clone a system image, not just copy files. 

So if you know of commands that can do that post away.  I'll type them in and see what happens. ? 

DroneBot Workshop Robotics Engineer
James


   
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codecage
(@codecage)
Member Admin
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Posts: 1018
 

@robo-pi

That Clonezilla that Pugwash mentions might do the trick, but it looks like it might be rather complex to get setup right.  I sort of browsed through the Clonezilla web site, but didn't get a deep understanding of all the twists and turns.

Anyone else out there that has used Clonezilla?  Speak up!

SteveG


   
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Robo Pi
(@robo-pi)
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Posts: 1669
 
Posted by: @codecage

That Clonezilla that Pugwash mentions might do the trick, but it looks like it might be rather complex to get setup right.  I sort of browsed through the Clonezilla web site, but didn't get a deep understanding of all the twists and turns.

I've actually used Clonezilla before.  As you suggest it's a complex beast.  I didn't have much luck with it when I did try it.  

I think I would almost rather just set up another Jetson Nano OS from scratch. ? 

It would probably be easier to just go through the same system configurations all over again.

The whole idea of cloning it was to make things simple.

I clone my Raspberry Pi SD cards using Windows and Win32Diskimager.  It seems to work ok with them.  They at least show up as a single drive letter.

I have no clue why this Jetson Nano SD card shows up as 15 different drive letters?  That's crazy.

DroneBot Workshop Robotics Engineer
James


   
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(@zeferby)
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@robo-pi

From back in the days when i used linux a lot, i remember i used good old dd, but unfortunately no specifics at the moment.  My memory made me go read :

http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/dd.1.html

and :

https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/html_node/dd-invocation.html#dd-invocation

The examples at the end of the last link show that you can dd from/to input/output "pseudo-files" using /dev/something

Since i don't have a linux handy that's all i can tell right now...

Hope this helps ?

 

I also just found this : https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/dd-command-linux/

 

Eric


   
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Robo Pi
(@robo-pi)
Robotics Engineer
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Posts: 1669
 
Posted by: @zeferby

From back in the days when i used linux a lot, i remember i used good old dd, but unfortunately no specifics at the moment.

I just found this link too that also suggests using the dd command.

Jetson Nano Clone SD Image

I think I'll give that a shot later tonight.   Sounds good.

DroneBot Workshop Robotics Engineer
James


   
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Spyder
(@spyder)
Member
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@robo-pi

I seem to be late to this party, as usual I was down in my lab, building... something that probably won't work.

My vote goes for "dd". I've used it many times in the past to compensate for stubborn data recovery projects. (did you know that you can't actually delete things from your hard drive ? You can't do it. You can't even move a file from one directory to another. Data doesn't work that way. Even xerox machines keep copies. Yea, I know, crazy, isn't it ?)

The cool thing about using dd in Linux is actually kinda straightforward because linux sees pretty much everything as a file, including your hard drive with multiple partitions and even OS's, (Yes. I've used dd to copy a hdd with 3 separate OS's, and all 3 came back bootable) so the code examples given in the nvidia forum you quoted should work just fine. Whether you output to a file (.img) or to another drive depends on you and how you plan to deal with it afterward. If you go straight sdd to sdd then you only have one copy, and if you go from sdd to file, then you still only have one copy. The upside of sdd to sdd is that you can immediately test the copy, whereas with sdd to file, you then have to reflash and wait to test it (I hope you spent the extra $ on the gold label sdd cards. The speed and reliability is worth it. Heck, the speed alone is worth it)

I would start with mounting only the source disk first, so that you can note the name that the system assigns to it, then mount the second disk, and make a note of that. This should reduce the possibility of copying the blank over onto the old one. Remember, since linux sees everything as a file, it won't tell you if you're copying the data in the wrong direction

As to the 15 or so partitions. Been there, done that. I looked thru the nvidia forums when I first got my nano only to be told that "this is the way nvidia does things", which is more an excuse than an explanation and not very helpful in either case

 


   
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(@pugwash)
Sorcerers' Apprentice
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Topic starter  

@robo-pi

Now that you have hijacked this thread, and you should have known better after the discourse on TM1638 Key&LED.

Here's my advice:

Step 1

Click "Applications" on your menu bar, then click "Accessories," and then "Terminal" to open Ubuntu's Linux Terminal emulator.

Step 2

Type "su" and press "Enter" to enter the root of the drive, if you aren't already logged in as so.

Step 3

Type "dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb" without quotation marks. Replace "dev/sda" with the path to the drive you want to clone. Replace "dev/sdb" with the path of the drive you want to copy the cloned drive to.

Press "Enter," to begin cloning the drive.


   
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(@yurkshirelad)
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Joined: 3 years ago
Posts: 493
 

If I can drag you all back to the original topic... 😉 

Any further thoughts on this topic in 2021? I am learning about microcontrollers and I also want to learn basic electronics and perhaps build some simple circuits. My first circuit will be a linear voltage regulator.

I'm never going to be an electrical engineer and that isn't my intent. So this is a true hobby and something to tax my brain. I don't want to spend a lot of money in case this hobby comes to an end in the near future.

Would you recommend a handheld oscilloscope for my needs? I only need something for basic investigation and learning, perhaps even a single channel might be enough. I don't want a USB scope even though there are some good options - I want something that isn't tied to a laptop. I've read about Hantek's 2C42 range, but I think those start around C$250, which is more than I think I should spend on this at the moment. I can probably buy a bench oscilloscope for C$300-350+tax anyway, so this Hantek isn't appealing.

I know the JYE Tech DSO150 is regarded as a toy, but would it be enough for my needs? It's only C$50+tax prebuilt from Amazon, and if I stop learning about microcontroller and electronics in 12 months, I won't feel so bad about leaving C$50 at the back of the drawer, compared to C$300+.

Thanks


   
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(@iserlohn)
Member
Joined: 3 years ago
Posts: 6
 

@yurkshirelad

I like my Hantek 6022BE USB with 2 channels and 20 MHz storage. It comes without a display and you will need a windows machine to run the software for it. Apart from that it comes with a < €100 price tag which makes it acceptable for the small budget hobbyist.


   
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