transferring data to new drive
 

hi--

i will try to phrase this as simple as i can.
new hard drive on the way. want to load linux.

what is the easiest way to transfer some data off an ext2
partitioned drive (sata) onto the new drive (eide) that will be partitioned with either ext3 or ext4. will a flash drive work?
can i use mount command to see and copy data once mounted between drives?

i see in my opensuse linux book that you have the option at setup to specify a 2nd blank (new) drive to install linux on and leave the other drive alone. so that is not an issue.

i flopped at converting from ext2 to ext3 on the fly so i tried to pick
the simplest way to go forward for an eventual upgrade.

thanks,
mtdew3q

Yeah sorry about that - unlucky. Here's how I do it - you're free to ignore me .... :p

- do everything from a liveCD; saves issues with the pseudo f/s like /dev and /proc
- pre partition and format the new disk
- "cp -a <source partition> <target partition>"
(repeat as necessary - not swap)
- mkswap for new swap(s)
- install the bootloader for new system
- fix the fstab (in need)

All done. The reason I use "cp" is that it is file-system aware, so you can be sure the files were o.k. (at least readable), and you can change the f/s format without issue.

I'd remove the original drive and install the new drive, install linux, then install the original drive again, use mount to mount it in the OS, and copy what you need off of it.

thanks very much syg00 and Admiral-

that is all i need. very cool.
it should be easy.

mtdew3q