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[SOLVED]How to generate new boot files for moving system to another drive/part

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    #1

    [SOLVED]How to generate new boot files for moving system to another drive/part

    I have installed kubuntu 8.10 on a small partition on a USB drive, and now I want to move the whole system to a different drive and partition. These will both be external USB drives. I have the internal hard drive configured with grub so I can specify whatever boot device I want. I can copy all the system files over with no problem also. The problem is that if I set the system up on, say, /dev/sda4, and now I want to move it to /dev/sdb1, even though I can get grub to look there, the /dev/sda4 part is apparently hard-coded into the boot files, so it hangs after loading the initrdfs. What I have had to do in the past is reinstall, from scratch, on the new device/parition, and copy the original system files over the top of the new system (except for the boot files). That works, but not very elegant.
    So this is really a more general question: How do I generate a new set of boot files, using the same kernel and options I currently have, but specifying that the file system is located on another drive/partition?
    (PS I originally posted this on the wrong forum, so I deleted it and moved it here. Sorry if that causes anyone confusion.)
    We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet. -- Stephen Hawking
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    #2
    Re: How to generate new boot files for moving system to another drive/partition

    Maybe these help:

    Mother lode > HOW TO: GRUB Methods - Toolkit
    Toolkit for Installation, Rescue, Repair - Fixing Common GRUB problems
    Old but still > HOWTO: Copy kubuntu system
    Example: moving/copying kubuntu from hdb1 to the sda1...
    Before you edit, BACKUP !

    Why there are dead links ?
    1. Thread: Please explain how to access old kubuntu forum posts
    2. Thread: Lost Information
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      #3
      Re: How to generate new boot files for moving system to another drive/partition

      Thanks, lots of good info here, but not exactly what I am looking for.
      I don't think the problem is with grub, nor with copying files. I am by the way using grub4dos; I don't have enough sanity points left to risk reinstalling windows, so I use ntldr to run grub4dos. Works perfectly; almost. When I build a system on a certain drive/parition, I don't seem to be able to move that system to another drive/partition, even after editing menu.list, without it hanging. I have to generate new boot files from an install disk.
      My question is, how do I create those boot files (vmlinuz, kernel, etc) from an existing system, rather than having to use an installation disk?

      We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet. -- Stephen Hawking
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        #4
        Re: How to generate new boot files for moving system to another drive/partition

        Don't really quite know. Was experimenting with same about 6 moths ago, with mixed results--same questions you are encountering--a lot to do with settings in /home, the infinite log-in cycle (which would not clear up by regenerating kdm files), etc., etc.

        BUT, I do know something: It's trivial to clone a flash drive live/persistent operating system; and I'd guess it would be trivial to clone one hard drive to another identical hard drive.
        Here's how I do it using the dd command (you can skip the first post and go to Reply #1 for the applications:

        dd Command
        http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3090824.0

        Tip: Maybe the link to AwesomeMachine addresses your exact question. There are subtleties involved when using dd to copy (bit for bit) from a large/smaller partition to a smaller/larger one, but there are possibilities to explore. Sorry I don't have it for you, and sorry I don't have time to conduct some experiments--it's become a pending TODO for this Linux cowboy for awhile, but hope to get back to it, and please keep us posted here on what you discover.
        An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski
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          #5
          Re: How to generate new boot files for moving system to another drive/partition

          OK, thanks for the info. I think what I need is in the link. I was afraid it wouldn't be anything simple...
          We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet. -- Stephen Hawking
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            #6
            Re: [SOLVED]How to generate new boot files for moving system to another drive/pa

            yeah, this one, mentioned in my how-to, which I think you already figured out ...
            All around, the best source to date: Learn the dd Command (Author: AwesomeMachine)
            http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...ommand-362506/
            An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski
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