Hi, steps to backup from a command line interface (cli)

1. plug in the drive
if it was already in, unplug it and wait a couple seconds then re-attach it.

2. ctrl+alt+F12
Hopefully, this terminal, tty12 shows a live feed of the kernels output.
If so, you should see something about the usb drive...like

the usb is sde and will be found at /dev/sde

no you can copy the contents with rsync (like xcopy from M$Win)

3. type
that will copy the directory to the flash drive

when finished use the down arrow to repeat the command,
use the > arrow to move the cursor past pictures,
backspace over the last directory and type in the next directory to backup.

repeat add infinitum.

All the best.

1 members found this post helpful.

I finally got around to addressing this entire matter after having had to put away the headache while I moved ... T H R E E times since February ... and, yes, I will have to move ... again. I need this laptop to be up and going, preferably with an OS other than Macrohell. I finally tried to salvage files and actually got pretty good at the rsync procedure, but derned if the sde directory never actually represented/accessed the USB drive. I would often double-check by probing the contents of the sde directory to find that the deposited files indeed were there. But once I would attempt to view the drive contents to copy them into a different computer, the drive was empty. I tried repeatedly with both a Fat32 and NTFS-formatted flash drive. The drive apparently would not be "seen" by the PCLinuxOS system. The operation was destined to be a wash.

Anyhoo.

I used Rufus to create a bootable flash drive of the newest *.iso distribution of PCLinuxOS KDE, 2014.12.

I installed it. Sidenote: I REALLY wish the full-disk-erase option would include being given the choice to create the partitions myself. It appears that some feel that placing the swap partition in front of all others is more effective, and I also wanted to customize the sizes of the other partitions. Oh, and what's up with the promise of a prompting after installation to remove the flash drive that never comes? I end up removing it after having to shut down the system at:
Unmounting file systems: [ OK ]
INIT: no more process left in this runlevel

I digress.

Up and running, I downloaded and installed ALL the updates all at once, but not before trying to be a lil' slick by, in a first install-go-round, updating just the dkms-nvidia-current and its dependent x-11 driver. The upshot is that, either way, the reboot into my greatly-anticipated, fresh, new OS ... results in two lines referencing nvidia and indicating that dkms is not set ... and then I'm summarily prompted to log in.

So. Undaunted, I poured through all da Internets and came upon someone's post about ferreting out a list of the itinerant dkms holdouts on Ubuntu. Hey, what the hay! Linux is Linux, right? I entered his magic incantation at a localhost prompt and ... BAM!

PCLinuxOS release 2015 (PCLinuxOS) for i586
Kernel 3.18.1-pclos1 on a Dual-processor i686 / tty1
localhost login: ...
Password: ...
[userid@localhost ~]$ for i in /var/lib/dkms/*/[^k]*/source; do [ -e "$i" ] || echo "$i";done
/var/lib/dkms/nvidia173/173.14.39-3pclos2014/source
/var/lib/dkms/nvidia304/304.121-1pclos2014/source
[userid@localhost ~]$

Sidenote: (or maybe not) ... I notice that the 2014.12 version (and subsequent 2015 release due to updating) is "for" i586 while my 'Dual-processor' is referred to as i686. Hmm. ... ?

Then I thought ... hmm ... early in the install process a choice is given for the removal packages of unused hardware support, and upon clicking 'Advanced,' there were listings of dkms and nvidia video drivers. I wondered. So I re-started the entire install process to view the description of those packages and ... sure enough, revelation. Here is what it says:

"We have detected that some packages are not needed for your system configuration. We will remove the following packages, unless you choose otherwise:"

Unused hardware support (checkmarked by default)

(Upon clicking 'Advanced'):

"Unused hardware support"
dkms-nvidia173
dkms-nvidia304
x11-driver-video-nvidia173
x11-driver-video-nvidia304

So I proceeded with the next install go-round, without the checkmark.

Now I felt I was fairly safe with expecting that I would finally see the face of that shiny new OS ... After all, I'd devoted much time to finding out just what the install procedure wanted, did some clever sleuthing, and found that the install procedure ... turned out to be lacking, to put it mildly ... and then luckly rectified the matter with a simple checkmark removal.

Boot up failed again. This time, and again at the start of the script, there were lines to the effect that those nvidia 173 and 304 files were "already" found, "OK", and then further down there were some lines about wlan and 'fail' ... before quickly popping over to displaying only a log-in prompt. After two attempts to boot up, the script stopped appearing before the appearance of just the log-in display. You'd think that script as important as that with information providing valuable clues to lead to solutions would remain displayed after the log-in prompt appears, and at each and every time of boot-up.

That magic incantation yielded nada, this time.

I don't want this post to lose sight of the fact that this entire episode started because of my performing my due diligence at keeping the 2014.08 system updated daily.

Now, after installing the newest version of PCLinuxOS and attempting to cooperate diligently with the updating regiment first-thing, and even after supposedly solving an issue by apparently discovering that the install procedure apparently was wrong on its assessment that the support of those packages was not needed, I hit another brick wall for once again doing just what was expected as standard procedure.

I noted that there is a history as far back as 2012, perhaps further, of issues that Linux and its various shape-changers have had with the nvidia drivers, and that there was even a public display of ... displeasure ... with nvidia's honchos on the part of the Linux chieftan.

Be that as it may, there is likewise a good span of time that the creators of PCLinuxOS have had to test not just the installation on a variety of machines, especially focusing on those with the nvidia geforce video card, but also the impact of the rolling updates of those video drivers on those machines. I personally have concluded, after all that has happened, that the risk is way too high of WASTING valuable time into the future with putting Linux to work. You would think that it would be important to Linux to make a dedicated effort to test distributions and updates on older machines. There were comments online on various blogs/forums expressing sublimated fear of a system catastrophic failure at any instance of updating. I understand. There was a recent article on how so not worth it it is to use Linux. I read it while in denial during mid-stream efforts to successfully install PCLinuxOS 2014.12. I'm sorry to say that now ... I understand.

I have a friend who works with Linux Mint KDE. He tells me not to lose hope just yet; that using Mint there likely will not be the same issues with the nvidia geforce card drivers, even with the old Sony Vaio SZ780. I have my reservations against that claim, but I'll try it.

For now, this is Opey Taylor .... signing off.

1 members found this post helpful.

Hillarious