How do I image Raspberry Pi OS SD card on MacOS?

[MacBH928]

I have RPi and I want to backup the SD card from Disk Utility. There is 2 options:

1)Apple SD card reader
Below it
2)boot

If I make an image of the first option I get a 32GB img file-the whole SD card. If I backup the boot I get a 56MB img file. Looking at the DU it seems the boot volume is 256MB which is only 56MB full from the total SD card. image for clarification.

 

[barbu]

Disk utility won’t be of much help here. You’ll probably want to use ‘dd’ from the command line. Lots of information on Google for how to do it.

 

[mortlocli]

Use the mac version of raspberry pi imager:

Raspberry Pi OS – Raspberry Pi

From industries large and small, to the kitchen table tinkerer, to the classroom coder, we make computing accessible and affordable for everybody.

www.raspberrypi.org

 

[MacBH928]

Use the mac version of raspberry pi imager:

Raspberry Pi OS – Raspberry Pi

From industries large and small, to the kitchen table tinkerer, to the classroom coder, we make computing accessible and affordable for everybody.

www.raspberrypi.org

I want to do the opposite, I want to backup the RPi, not burn the iso to the sd card

 

[mortlocli]

oops...sorry matey...I should learn to read.
..so no idea solution found yet I take it??

 

[MacBH928]

oops...sorry matey...I should learn to read.
..so no idea solution found yet I take it??

I was told that I can do it via the terminal using something called the DD command but I never tried it

 

[mortlocli]

I was told that I can do it via the terminal using something called the DD command but I never tried it

Youve got that same command in terminal on your mac.
Ive used it to make boot up linux usb sticks ...theres good tuts online for that. Not sure about doing backups though.

 

[barbu]

First Google hit

 

[mortlocli]

That’s an excellent link, barbu.
ive bookmarked it.

(hadn’t got around to quacking it (DuckDuckGo)).

 

[MacBH928]

First Google hit

I wanted a GUI mac solution , yours truly is afraid to use the terminal as I do not understand how the directories and the mount/unmount command works

 

[mortlocli]

well this might work for you:
take a look at:

Backup option 3: Schedule backups​

An easier approach is to use a free program called Déjà Dup. This automates rsync and gives it a user-friendly interface. It’s an easy program to use, and you can back up your Raspberry Pi using Amazon S3, SSH, FTP, or by copying the files directly to a flash drive.

Back up your Raspberry Pi: how to save and restore files — The MagPi magazine

Back up the files on a Raspberry Pi to an external drive. Learn how to copy, save and restore your Raspbian OS directories

magpi.raspberrypi.org

 

[mortlocli]

this article starts out about backing up the system but at part 2 goes on to:
The second backup option is to back up just your Home folder as a compressed file. Uncompressing the file enables you to browse and restore individual files and directories.

 

[barbu]

I wanted a GUI mac solution , yours truly is afraid to use the terminal as I do not understand how the directories and the mount/unmount command works

@MacBH928 that’s fair. Would you like to learn a bit more about Unix commands? Because this stuff is pretty easy once you gain just a little confidence working in the terminal. And if you’re messing with a pi device, it seems you’ll need these skills anyway. If you can summon the will to try the tutorial, post here or DM me with questions as you go. We can walk you through this and help demystify some Unix stuff.

 

[MacBH928]

well this might work for you:
take a look at:

Backup option 3: Schedule backups​

An easier approach is to use a free program called Déjà Dup. This automates rsync and gives it a user-friendly interface. It’s an easy program to use, and you can back up your Raspberry Pi using Amazon S3, SSH, FTP, or by copying the files directly to a flash drive.

Back up your Raspberry Pi: how to save and restore files — The MagPi magazine

Back up the files on a Raspberry Pi to an external drive. Learn how to copy, save and restore your Raspbian OS directories

magpi.raspberrypi.org

Thanks for the link

@MacBH928 that’s fair. Would you like to learn a bit more about Unix commands? Because this stuff is pretty easy once you gain just a little confidence working in the terminal. And if you’re messing with a pi drcice, it seems you’ll need these skills anyway. If you can summon the will to try the tutorial, post here or DM me with questions as you go. We can walk you through this and help demystify some Unix stuff.

Thanks, thats kind of you. I am planing a linux migration...kind of...

I am afraid of the terminal because if you do not know exactly what you are doing you might destroy your system. Just type "rm -rf /*" and its Au revoir for your system. Its very dangerous. We were all there when we mistyped something including passwords many times. At least with GUI you can see what is going on, like you see the icon put in the trash.

 

[Lihp8270]

Thanks for the link



Thanks, thats kind of you. I am planing a linux migration...kind of...

I am afraid of the terminal because if you do not know exactly what you are doing you might destroy your system. Just type "rm -rf /*" and its Au revoir for your system. Its very dangerous. We were all there when we mistyped something including passwords many times. At least with GUI you can see what is going on, like you see the icon put in the trash.

If you’re planning a migration to Linux you’ll find yourself in the terminal a lot.

 

[barbu]

Just type "rm -rf /*" and its Au revoir for your system. Its very dangerous.

Great power, great responsibility, yada yada. But every problem has a solution, for example, you can look up how you can restrict rm commands with environment settings. And practically speaking, it’s really hard to run your example command by accident. However, you are correct that messing with disk formatting and imaging commands can get scary and you have to be very careful.
One strategy could be to virtualize your Linux environment where you wouldn’t be risking your main system and you could roll back mistakes. Then connect your Pi to that.

 

[MacBH928]

If you’re planning a migration to Linux you’ll find yourself in the terminal a lot.

There is where the FOSS guys get it wrong, if you want people to switch from propreitery to FOSS you should make it dead simple. I always use this example, back in the day Apple used 1 button mice just so not to confuse the users. If they would like see Linux gain more users then they should make linux users see the terminal as much as Mac users see it or Windows users see the command prompt.

Great power, great responsibility, yada yada. But every problem has a solution, for example, you can look up how you can restrict rm commands with environment settings. And practically speaking, it’s really hard to run your example command by accident. However, you are correct that messing with disk formatting and imaging commands can get scary and you have to be very careful.
One strategy could be to virtualize your Linux environment where you wouldn’t be risking your main system and you could roll back mistakes. Then connect your Pi to that.

I am all for using the terminal but I think there should always be a GUI option, I mean on Mac you never have to use the terminal I think most mac users do not know that its there. Why can't things be the same on Linux!? At least on the friendlier distros.

As for backing up, I heard TimeShift is pretty reliable you just click one button and it creates a "snapshot" of the system and you can go back to it whenever. Am I wrong or right?

 

[Lihp8270]

here is where the FOSS guys get it wrong, if you want people to switch from propreitery to FOSS you should make it dead simple. I always use this example, back in the day Apple used 1 button mice just so not to confuse the users. If they would like see Linux gain more users then they should make linux users see the terminal as much as Mac users see it or Windows users see the command prompt.

The trouble is that so much hardware support for Linux is done by the community.

While this is a great achievement, and a fantastic display of how open source can be successful. The abilities of this group is far greater than the typical user.

So installing, tweaking, modifying via terminal on a system by system basis is normal for them. There’s no consideration or desire to simplify the whole process.

 

[MacBH928]

The trouble is that so much hardware support for Linux is done by the community.

While this is a great achievement, and a fantastic display of how open source can be successful. The abilities of this group is far greater than the typical user.

So installing, tweaking, modifying via terminal on a system by system basis is normal for them. There’s no consideration or desire to simplify the whole process.

you are saying my point, if they want to keep linux a programmer's os like freebsd they can keep doing what they are doing but if they want it to gain market share and get better support from other app developers they should make something that is closer to "open it and use it" instead of saying stuff like "you will use the terminal a lot".

The other thing is that there are maybe 7 distros claiming they are the user friendly Linux, if they combine their efforts in 1 distro we would probably see something a lot more polished.

 

[DaveFromCampbelltown]

The RPi has a built-in utility under Accessories called SD Card Copier.
Use that to copy your SD card to a Flash Drive.

If you really want to use your Mac, there is a free utility called balenaEtcher that has a 'clone drive' facility. I haven't tried it though.

 

[mortlocli]

Dave (is that campbeltown in Aussie), I think you are making the same mistake I did... not reading MacBHs query correctly. Its not so much a back up of the system hes after..but a back up of his files.
Oh and theres quite a good card copier/maker on the RPi webside for macs...I used it on a old Imac - the one with the bultin SD card slot...and it works fine.

Raspberry Pi OS – Raspberry Pi

From industries large and small, to the kitchen table tinkerer, to the classroom coder, we make computing accessible and affordable for everybody.

www.raspberrypi.org

 

[mortlocli]

hey - off topic I know, but have you guys had a look at the RPi courses in Udemy.. theres quite a good selection.
One looks very interesting to me :

Raspberry Pi Full Stack Raspbian

A whirlwind tour of full-stack web application development on the Raspberry Pi

www.udemy.com

full-stack web application development on the Raspberry Pi

Thats quite high level computing..done on such a small device. Ok - so its not the most exciting outcome ..temp and humidity readings recorded into a database place on the web...but gee the process of setting all that up is quite a skill.
..and the computing industry seems to have need of those skills...ok...so on a larger scale.

 

[MacBH928]

The RPi has a built-in utility under Accessories called SD Card Copier.
Use that to copy your SD card to a Flash Drive.

If you really want to use your Mac, there is a free utility called balenaEtcher that has a 'clone drive' facility. I haven't tried it though.

if I kept VNC on on the RPi I can do that. I have to check. Its running headless as a pihole, no monitor and no keyboard. I will ssh into it.

 

[mortlocli]

Off topic (again) apart from the RPi factor - got Windows 11 running on my RPi 400 ..info on how its done is at:

GitHub - Botspot/wor-flasher: Legal utility that runs on RPiOS to flash another SD card with Windows 10/11

Legal utility that runs on RPiOS to flash another SD card with Windows 10/11 - Botspot/wor-flasher

github.com

 

[Raul Ionescu]

For backup/restore Raspberry Pi SD card, you may use "SD card backup for MacOS" as well: https://github.com/r-ionescu/SD-card-backup-for-MacOS/blob/main/sd-backup.sh