Complete Mint Backup - Remastersys

[markcynt]

I just used Remastersys with the complete backup mode and it's simple as pie.

Not only is it a complete backup but the LIVE CD portion is also fully customised with all of your programs and settings minus the fancy graphics effects.

While installing the backup I opened FF and all my favorites and extensions were there. I was even still logged in to gmail and my home page.

After I installed and rebooted to the new installation everything was just as before minus the desktop effects.

All I had to do was run

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sudo nvidia-xconfig

, logout, login, and run

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sudo nvidia-settings


to reconfigure my graphics.


Here is a guide.

http://maketecheasier.com/backup-ubuntu ... 2008/12/22

Instead of adding

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deb http://www.remastersys.klikit-linux.com/repository remastersys/

[b]to the repository list I added this

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# Remastersys
deb http://www.geekconnection.org/remastersys/repository karmic/

as advised here on the Remastersys website http://www.geekconnection.org/remastersys/ubuntu.html

Edit: For KDE users - I had trouble starting the installer in KDE. If you have this problem simply run this command in the terminal:

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sudo ubiquity kde_ui

[exploder]

Thank you for posting this! That was the best "How To" for using Remastersys I have ever read! I backed up my installed system with no problems at all. I have a lot of customizations to my system, the Intel fix, Transmission and Pidgin from getdeb, OpenOffice 3.1 from the ppa repo and lots of little tweaks and refinements. You have saved me hours of work should I have to reinstall the system! Thanks again for the link and the additional information you provided!

Edit: If you have done a lot of customization to your system I highly recommend using this "How To" and back up your system.

[markcynt]

Thanks exploder,

TBO I was truly blown away at how easy it was and while I was checking around for guides I noticed most are outdated. So I tried to make it newbie friendly, since I'm not really that far removed from being a newb myself.

Everyone and I do mean everyone, should use this great program. The ability to make custom install disks that easily is just awesome.

[ibm450]

Great post

Will try when i get back to my room after work.....

[Aging Technogeek]

If you back up your system with remastersys, let me recommend using K3b to burn the .iso file to disk. I find it much easier to use than Brasero, partly due to the excellent KDE style GUI. It also automatically computes the md5 sum of every file it burns so cross checking is easy. It also has a disk verify utility you can select to run after a disk is burned. I have never had a bad burn with K3b.

[markcynt]

I still use Brasero while in Mint or Ubuntu but K3b is definitely a superior program.

[Aging Technogeek]

One note about remastersys. It will not copy any proprietary drivers you may have installed. If you use the ATI or NVidia drivers for your graphics card, you will need to reinstall them after installing the OS.

[markcynt]

One note about remastersys. It will not copy any proprietary drivers you may have installed. If you use the ATI or NVidia drivers for your graphics card, you will need to reinstall them after installing the OS.

Actually, that's not entirely accurate.

I know nothing about ATI or Intel graphics but If using nVidia drivers one just needs to run sudo nvidia-xconfig after restoring the system, log out, log in, and everything will be as before. Works for me with the 180 drivers provided by MInt and with the 185.18.14 drivers I installed the other day.

[ibm450]

absolutely BRILLIANT !!!

what a great software this is! its exactly what i was after as i work away and experiment alot on this distro. its god sent especially when you down load heaps of updates and customize your system the way you want.

now i can play and fiddle with all the settings in config etc with out feeling fustrated that i have to re download all the updates and software again.....love it

[markcynt]

There's a quite a few reasons this is better than cloning software IMO.

1) When you go to restore with the custom Live CD you made it brings up the same great desktop and settings you made minus the compiz effects.

2) If you like to surf the net while installing, all of your add-ons, bookmarks and saved passwords are still there.

3) It uses the Ubiquity installer so you can set new partition sizes if you want to.

4) You can make custom Live Cd's for family and friends instead of having to go to their house to install and customize.

5) It's simple.

[markcynt]

I used Remastersys to reinstall Mint KDE yesterday and the installer did not want to open. I tried to double-click, tried right-click>Open but the installer wouldn't launch.

To get it to open I had to run this command in the terminal:

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sudo ubiquity kde_ui

This will work every time.

[ibm450]

I used Remastersys to reinstall Mint KDE yesterday and the installer did not want to open. I tried to double-click, tried right-click>Open but the installer wouldn't launch.

To get it to open I had to run this command in the terminal:

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sudo ubiquity kde_ui

This will work every time.

what about in the control center? system ->install

[ibm450]

oops, sorry, just read your last line

This will work every time.

[markcynt]

Yeah, I only posted this so others would see it. Plus I edited my original post.

[truckerjay]

Trying to get remastersys have put in the info in terminal like the guide says one thing is says deb not found?

[markcynt]

Trying to get remastersys have put in the info in terminal like the guide says one thing is says deb not found?

I'm not really sure what you're saying here.

[dlkreations]

Trying to get remastersys have put in the info in terminal like the guide says one thing is says deb not found?

I'm not really sure what you're saying here.

I believe he didn't add the repository correctly.

Truckerjay,

Follow this line by line, and you should get it installed and running fine.

In your terminal,

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gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Add the following line to the end of the file. Save and exit

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# Remastersys
deb http://www.geekconnection.org/remastersys/repository ubuntu/

Update the repositories and install Remastersys

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sudo apt-get update

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sudo apt-get install remastersys

Once the installation has finished, go to System -> Administration -> Remastersys Backup

[Aging Technogeek]

A possible difficulty with using Remastersys on large installations. See here

viewtopic.php?f=47&t=30179&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

and here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_9660#The_4_GiB_.28or_2_GiB_depending_on_implementation.29_file_size_limit

It appears that, although the Wikipedia article says Linux supports multiple extents for files larger than 4 Gib, this may not always be true. A work-around such as that described in the first reference above may be needed

[mzsade]

Hi, i have added the line you advised to the sources list as below:
## ------------------
## OTHER REPOSITORIES
## ------------------

## +++ Canonical (stable) +++
deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ jaunty partner

## +++ Medibuntu (stable) +++
deb http://packages.medibuntu.org/ jaunty free non-free

## Remastersys

deb http://www.geekconnection.org/remastersys/repository ubuntu/

but remastersys is not showing in my Synaptic. What am i doing wrong, i did 'Reload' after that, yet no joy?

[Fred]

mzsade,

Right now the repository isn't there. It may be down temporarily or possibly moved. I just went there and it gave me a 404 error.

Try again later. It is better to just copy & past the commands in the terminal like Don's instructions in the above post. You would then have seen that the repo was not active.

Fred