I didn't find a document on the CZ site that explains precisely what these restore options actually do:
-g auto (default: checked) : "Reinstall grub in client disk MBR (only if grub config exists)"
-t (default : unchecked) : "Client does not restore the MBR"
-t1 (default : unchecked) : "Client restores the prebuilt MBR from syslinux (for Windows only)"
-j1 (default : unchecked) : "Write MBR (512 B) again after image is restored. Not OK for partition table differ from that of the image"
-j2 (default : checked) : "Clone the hiddent data between MBR and 1st partition"
-k (default : used) : "Do NOT create a partition table on the target disk"
-j0 (default : used) : "Use dd to create partition"
I need to know what these options do, because I don't know how CZ works in the following cases:
- When the Master Boot Code was removed voluntarily with "dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=440 count=1", the MBR contains no Master Boot Code (a.k.a. Master Boot Loader), only the Partition Table
- the MBR contains a Master Boot Code different from the one that was saved in the image. For instance, if I clone a Windows partition, does CZ also include the Windows Master Boot Code located in the MBR? If I then restore a Linux image, will CZ also update the MBR to replace the Windows Master Boot Code with the Grub in the Linux image?
Thank you.
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Anonymous
-
2010-01-29
Thanks much Steven for the explanations.
A couple of questions, though:
1. -t1: Does the syslinux MBR that Clonezilla restores include just the Master Boot Code (first 440 bytes), or does it also include the four-byte Disk ID and the Partition Table?
2. -t: So if I currently have Linux installed, with Grub in the MBR, and then I use Clonezilla to restore a Windows image, I must uncheck "-t" if I want Clonezilla to leave the MBR alone instead of overwriting it with the Windows Master Boot Loader?
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As for your questions,
(1) Only the first 440 bytes I believe.
(2) Not really. What clonezilla will restore is the MBR from the image, so if a MBR file exists in your Windows image (normally it does), it will be restored. It's nothing to do with the existing OS on the restored disk.
Steven.
Steven.
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Hello,
I didn't find a document on the CZ site that explains precisely what these restore options actually do:
-g auto (default: checked) : "Reinstall grub in client disk MBR (only if grub config exists)"
-t (default : unchecked) : "Client does not restore the MBR"
-t1 (default : unchecked) : "Client restores the prebuilt MBR from syslinux (for Windows only)"
-j1 (default : unchecked) : "Write MBR (512 B) again after image is restored. Not OK for partition table differ from that of the image"
-j2 (default : checked) : "Clone the hiddent data between MBR and 1st partition"
-k (default : used) : "Do NOT create a partition table on the target disk"
-j0 (default : used) : "Use dd to create partition"
I need to know what these options do, because I don't know how CZ works in the following cases:
- When the Master Boot Code was removed voluntarily with "dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=440 count=1", the MBR contains no Master Boot Code (a.k.a. Master Boot Loader), only the Partition Table
- the MBR contains a Master Boot Code different from the one that was saved in the image. For instance, if I clone a Windows partition, does CZ also include the Windows Master Boot Code located in the MBR? If I then restore a Linux image, will CZ also update the MBR to replace the Windows Master Boot Code with the Grub in the Linux image?
Thank you.
OK, I have put the answer here:
http://drbl.sourceforge.net/faq/fine-print.php?path=./2_System/88_mbr_related_options.faq#88_mbr_related_options.faq
Please check it, and if any more questions, please ask.
Steven.
And what may I ask is the difference between the commands in 2. (-t) and 4. (-j1)? Shouldn't the command in 4. be:
dd if=$IMAGE_DIR/$HARDDRIVE-mbr of=/dev/$HARDDRIVE bs=512 count=1 ?
Yes, you are right.
Steven.
Thanks much Steven for the explanations.
A couple of questions, though:
1. -t1: Does the syslinux MBR that Clonezilla restores include just the Master Boot Code (first 440 bytes), or does it also include the four-byte Disk ID and the Partition Table?
2. -t: So if I currently have Linux installed, with Grub in the MBR, and then I use Clonezilla to restore a Windows image, I must uncheck "-t" if I want Clonezilla to leave the MBR alone instead of overwriting it with the Windows Master Boot Loader?
As for your questions,
(1) Only the first 440 bytes I believe.
(2) Not really. What clonezilla will restore is the MBR from the image, so if a MBR file exists in your Windows image (normally it does), it will be restored. It's nothing to do with the existing OS on the restored disk.
Steven.
Steven.