From: nospam@needed.invalid
On Wed, 12/31/2025 6:11 AM, jjb wrote:
> On 2025-12-31 02:30, Gordon wrote:
>> On 2025-12-30, Monsieur wrote:
>>> Gordon wrote:
>>>> On 2025-12-30, Axel wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> I wanted to clone my 500 Gb LM nvme disk to a 500 Gb mechanical drive,
>>>>> but Rescuezilla reports that the target disk is too small. ??
>>>>>
>>>>> https://auslink.info/linux/rz.jpg
>>>>>
>>>>> I also get that message when trying to create an image.
>>>>>
>>>>> Foxclone also reports that the disk is too small.
>>>>>
>>>>> https://auslink.info/linux/foxclone.jpg
>>>>>
>>>>> How come? thanks,
>>>>>
>>>> The destination disk is smaller that the source.
>>>>
>>>> Yes we are talking about maybe just a few bytes.
>>>
>>> It is not a question of "just a few bytes", it also happens when you
>>> make an image of a partition and then immediately write the image back
>>> to the *exact same* partition, without altering anything.
>>>
>>> https://imgur.com/a/bJQ3uYD
>>>
>>> This is a bug in CloneZilla that's been known for years and they keep
>>> trying to talk their way out of it. "You must be doing something wrong".
>>> Those guys just can't count. Partitions don't magically get smaller
>>> after making an image of them. Or at least they shouldn't.
>>>
>>> I really don't know how people trust their data with this awful mess of
>>> a program.
>>>
>> A bit of clarity
>>
>> Two ways to clone the partition. 1) Copy the source to the destination. 2)
>> is to backup the partition by copying the source files and placing them in a
>> directory after compression.
>>
>> I use Clonezilla the second way to the point that I have in my mind that is
>> all that Clonezilla does. Clearly it does more than this as there are menu
>> items. Thus I think we have a misunderstanding.
>>
>> Your picture at https://auslink.info/linux/rz.jpg shows the problem. 5....
>> 88864 bytes vs 5 ...80160 bytes or 8704 bytes difference.
>>
>> There is an agreed issue that it is not possible to clone to a smaller
>> partition even if the active data does. One just has to accept this.
>>
> As far as I know (and seem to remember from the long ago) it is possible to
instruct clonezilla
> to NOT check the destination size (see FAQs). This is obviously a dangerous
operation, but works
> IF your data resides not beyond the limit of the smaller size partition.
YMMV.
That used to work, in the MSDOS partitioning era. As there might not
happen to be any metadata in the last cylinder on the disk drive.
And when the partitions themselves did not have metadata (superblocks?)
scattered all over the partition surface, a little snippage off the
end might be survivable.
But disks today have primary and secondary GPT tables, the secondary is up
in the last cylinder, and purposely truncating materials does not end well.
*******
To bodge this situation, you use GParted to shrink the last partition,
leaving the partition with integrity when finished.
The cloning tool still has to support the moving of the GPT secondary
partition, to the correct location when cloning to the smaller drive.
The "dd method" would not work properly, and then you'd need to use
gdisk to add back the secondary partition. So even if the cloning
tool is a piece of crap, you might still manage it after a little
gdisk love to fix it up.
But as users, we really really want this shit to work. The proper
bodge is shrink the last partition, use a good cloning tool and it's
done and dusted.
When you leave a "puzzle" in a disk drive like this, it comes back
later to bite you on the ass. That's my personal experience with the
taking of short cuts in these matters.
Paul
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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