Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    Troubles booting an exact image of nano install on USB drives

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Problems Installing or Upgrading pfSense Software
    5 Posts 4 Posters 1.3k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • A
      arl
      last edited by

      Newbie here.  Sorry for the bother folks, and thanks in advance for any help.

      I have an older laptop running 2.2.5 on a 4GB USB stick.  It's going great for the most part, but I know that stick is going to fail at the wrong time, so my preparation was/is to have an exact bootable copy that I can sijmply plug and play when the first one fails.

      Using dd to image the one drive to the other does fine with the bits but #2 doesn't boot.  I've tried messing with gpart to make partitions active and such, but nothing is working.

      I know this is probably basic, but I'm learning, and I promise I'll get better with help :)

      Thanks!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • DerelictD
        Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
        last edited by

        Save the config, reinstall, and reload the config. Don't use dd.

        Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
        A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
        DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
        Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • A
          arl
          last edited by

          Normally I would do exactly that, but in this case I need to be able to give instructions to a non-techie person on the phone to "unplug that little purple thing and plug in that other little purple thing and push the power button…"  and have it all just magically work again.

          Any ideas on getting a USB stick to copy AND boot?

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • D
            doktornotor Banned
            last edited by

            And what is the problem?! Install on the new stick, restore the config, reboot once to let packages install, shutdown, unplug the stick. Use if needed.

            Do NOT use dd.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • S
              Snailkhan
              last edited by

              @littlearl:

              Newbie here.  Sorry for the bother folks, and thanks in advance for any help.

              I have an older laptop running 2.2.5 on a 4GB USB stick.  It's going great for the most part, but I know that stick is going to fail at the wrong time, so my preparation was/is to have an exact bootable copy that I can sijmply plug and play when the first one fails.

              Using dd to image the one drive to the other does fine with the bits but #2 doesn't boot.  I've tried messing with gpart to make partitions active and such, but nothing is working.

              I know this is probably basic, but I'm learning, and I promise I'll get better with help :)

              Thanks!

              Nano bsd has two partitions slices  containing two copies of os.

              Maybe that could be of some help.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • First post
                Last post
              Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.