THE problems are that the last line is not in the fstab on the ssd(sdb2) drive partition. that is what is confusing me. it isnt there and all my gksudo attempts to alter that fstab get denied i guess. I never noticed this in the terminal before. I had to try gksudo pluma in order to get any text editor to pop up. i tried to fix those 2 lines from the gksudo pluma fstab as shown but they do not take. i thought they had. maybe i need to go back to the TO command whatever that was from a few posts back
I have done no harm..as you said, the clone is just that, i have just not managed to make the mount point or boot load go from the HDD sda2 to the SSD sdb2. seems easy, should be, only .....i am doing something wrong and repeating it probably.
i open the ssd, right click on etc to open in terminal, and gksudo pluma fstab. then nothing works. the text editor shows superuser in title bar i have a 'fstab.d' folder -empty in the etc folder on the ssd.
i do boot into the live usb to do these things too.

Maybe you just copied that line accidentally from somewhere else when you posted the /etc/fstab contents?
You can read the fstab file by simply opening it in a text editor (without the root priviledges for editing).

In that case you might be editing the wrong fstab. You have 3 - one on the HDD, one on the SSD, and the live Mint's.

You mentioned previously that you could boot into the cloned Mint on the SSD. So boot into that Mint and edit /etc/fstab and run and Then switch your boot order to boot the SSD (sdb) first.

I also have a /etc/fstab.d folder, also empty. You want the /etc/fstab file, not that folder.

I do not think i have ever managed to boot into the sdb2 (new ssd) drive. it is on the dual boot grub screen when i boot without loading the live usb, however it always shows as sda2 , the old HDD orig one. i checked the etc/fstab in the new one and it has just as you suggested and looks as if it has it with the / sdb2 and the proper uuid under it. no issue with how is looks
but it isnt the one that ever boots
I did not fix something properly.
I am just so brainwashed by the 5yrs of windows GUI and new to command line that i cant troubleshoot these , probably, fairly easy mistakes
I will re check each fstab to be sure
I went to the php board instruction one more time and followed from after the copy part through the steps and all seemed to be done as it should have been.
fstab for the original HDD lists as / was on /dev/sda2 during installation with the original uuid and swap info below
the ssd sdb2 has the / partition - /dev/sdb2 and uuid is correct for the sdb2 and has swap line below
this i get from going to the etc folder in the 2 separate drives while in the live usb
i do not know what to alter from this point....or where. if anything
i did the install --recheck for grub and ran an update for it in that ssd sdb2 drive while booted into the live usb according to the steps in the instruction link.
it just seems as if everything is just fine only it wont work.
So, i know i missed some key edit or something. i got a bit confused from going between the instructions to my computer in question. I had the installation instructions up on a computer next to the Linux migrate one. 2 screens . so i wasnt copy/paste from instruction pages since it was on a different computer/screen.. not for most of the process anyway. . i do have each set up for dual screens but the 3rd screen was too far away and too big to move things. regardless, your help and instructions have been just great, no issues here. it is likely , as you say, some text copied or cut and no way for anyone but me to be able to spot it.
i am sure the process was just fine as proved by the fact that it boots and everything shows up where it is supposed to be, only it hasnt been able to boot with the copied TO drive/partition. i will get there , or bash it all and do a clean install onto the ssd after i pull the 1TB drive with the shrunken to 85GB Linux partition. just kidding. no way will i delete all this .
I have learned a great deal through the mistakes about the file system if nothing else. i learn through mistakes a bit better, not faster, but stays with me longer.i learn nothing from copy/paste first try successful processes . so, thanks for hanging in
john
thanks a lot for all this help.

I have just followed the instructions from above post performed the update grub to the sdb and sdb2 commands and I see in the I-nex /drives monitor that the / point listed for sdb2, this hasnt happened for the past boots.
I do not know how or why, but i seem to have been able to boot into the ssd. or it indicates such
when i ran the update grub command, the last line noted that it found sda2 with mint 17.3 Rosa after running the sudo grub-install dev/sdb
that hadnt happened before either
I can now say , for sure, that I have a boot order issue. the rest is ok. I will follow the examples you'll have provided for me.
I may well have been able to use the grub menu down arrow for a short time to get sdb2 to load. not long since i've tried it after every failed attempt. only the earliest try today , i went to the 'advanced' line and sdb2 did not boot that time. did the next time i just down arrowed to sdb2 under the memtest86 line.
I know that this process has been successful. i have to figure out the boot order or something like that and then move on to the swap partition re assignment.
these things should work out fairly easily, and if not easily, then sooner or later
I will mark this as solved though since the process worked just fine somehow or other.
the rest is a different kettle of gumbo though but doesnt require another newbie post I dont think. (not unless I manage to destroy things ,doubtful)
thanks
I learned plenty here. just not quite sure why the boot order changes didnt take. i put a new item onto the ssd sdb2 so i can easily notice what drive booted up. i do not want any dual boot of identical things, so, will, soon, delete the HDD version, not sure when a good time for that will be yet
thanks
john

Please boot into Mint on the hard drive (either one), and post the result of the command:

fairly long --->>with the kernel updates I did
I tried to use the Grub Customizer tool to put the sdb2 on top but without success. I just need to down arrow till I try the terminal method again. I thought i might be able to use the tool, and did, only didnt work.
I would prefer to learn the proper way in the terminal though anyhow
john
P.S.
the only thing i was able to get the Grub Customizer tool to do was prevent the sda2(old hdd) from booting at all. It stayed at the top of the boot order list but would not boot unless i used the arrow down to the sdb2. Only set up one config and was easy enough to revert . no harm done. but I didnt get it to work though i did set and save the sdb2 to be top of the list.
john

OK. You do have plenty of kernels...:cool:

The Grub menu shows Mint on sdb as the first entry, and Mint on sda as the last entry.
That indicates that you are booted into Mint on sdb (SSD). You can enter "inxi -po" to check.

If it shows "Partition: ID-1: / size: 127.92G ... /dev/sdb2" then you are good.
Just to make sure grub is installed to the MBR of sdb, you can run the command Then to make sure grub is installed to the MBR of sda, you can boot into the Mint on sda and run the command

thanks
but this is where my frustration has been with the boot order.
what i sent was the grep menuentry when I booted into the sdb2 SSD. but , in the grub boot order screen sda2 still shows up on top.
I got a different grep menuentry when I booted normally,without using the down arrow to get at the sdb2. I have done that grub-install /dev/sdb a few times but still, without manually selecting sdb2 , it will boot into sda2 still
I will be deleting that partition sooner or later. I want to use that HDD for storage of movies or some such but mostly for backing up. I am just not ready to get rid of it. though, by deleting it, my boot order issue will become moot. only having the one sdb2 option available.
thanks again. i guess i will muddle through the boot order change and want to get it right before i delete the sda partitions altogether.
john
FWIW: I have gone to kernel 4.05 on my other machine, had to backtrack because the computer has an sapphire 7950 and i went to the proprietary drivers which did not work properly at that time. I read that a couple over 4.05 have been ok with the newer radeon releases. but i am fine with the non proprietary drivers in this machine. the gpu is old and not suited /supported. plus i am quite happy with how they handle the dual screens for movies, videos and i wont game with it .

Did you go into the computer's boot settings (BIOS) and set the SSD to boot first?
Or if you disconnect the hard drive does it boot Mint?

as many times as i go into the bios....I never thought once to look there .
thanks

Of course, that is the answer
john

I'm sorry to come so late to this posting. I have a couple of points.

First, if you have a satisfactory solution, consider posting a description of your results and how you got there. Others would be interested.

Next, I'm always curious by what people mean when they say "migrate {distro}" somewhere.
If you want to boot using the SSD, all that you require on the SSD is a /boot folder tree that is properly configured. YOu will also need to have either Master Boot Record (MBR) or GUID Partition Table (GPT) configured to use your /boot folder. Whichever init process you use will then look for other items in /etc, /usr, /var and elsewhere. You might want some on your SSD. The rest can be on your HDD. Consider using file system symbolic links to save space on your SDD.

There are some troubles using an SSD for lots of write/re-write actions so avoid putting swap and logging over there. I found this article SSD Optimization quite helpful.

Hope you sorted this out,
~~~ 0;-Dan