ichase Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Hello all, Well I made the plunge after finding an awesome deal on a 240GB SSD drive. Now the fun part. I have been looking at good ol' Google and reading MANY different ways to do this but it just seems like it could be easier and I know others here have migrated to SSD drives and LOVE IT. The SATA drive in this laptop is currently a 500 GB drive. My set up as far as partitions is as follows: dev/sda1 100 GB (This drive used to have Windows 7 on it. I originally dual booted until I got comfortable with VBox. Now it's just a data drive. dev/sda3 - Arch Linux; 400 GB, 112 GB in use (so by moving all of my vdi files to external I shrunk it down to where it will fit on the 240 GB SSD drive. Don't ask what happened to /dev/sda2 - Psssst............Ever heard of Jimmy Hoffa? (We will leave it at that) I of course have a current image of /dev/sda3 as of last night using my trusted friend, Clonezilla NOW the fun part. I don't WANT to partition the new SSD drive what so ever. I have 8 GB of RAM so no need for a swap partition. This would leave just: dev/sda1 which will be nothing but Arch Linux. I want to migrate my current Arch linux EXACTLY the way it is to the new SSD drive. So I ask, what is your opinion on the most hassle free way to do this. Thank you as always great wise ones All the best, Ian PS: Guarantee this will end up being ANOTHER one of those posts that many of our guest and members will want to book mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 You are correct about the bookmark comment. I'll be looking to do this myself, just as soon as I find the right deal on an SSD. I'm gonna make a snack for the show, and grab a front row seat!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burninbush Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 @ ichase ... didn't we have a thread just like this a short while back? Best move is to reinstall from scratch. But that's not what you asked. So, here's what I'm pretty sure would work: do partition the drive with a small sda1 and sda2 and the bulk of it as sda3. Format the new sda3 with the same filesystem as the old. Then just do a direct copy of all files from your current sda3 to the new sda3 on the SSD. Edit your boot utility to point to the new drive and it should work. I'd then install grub to the new drive's MBR so you have an alternative boot method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 I do not think you will be able to move a sata install to a SSD. You will be better off installing new although you can back up things like packages list, config files in /etc/, etc. Also you have to set up the ssd drive or you will not see any speed benefits: Solid State Drives (SSDs) are not PnP devices. Special considerations such as partition alignment, choice of file system, TRIM support, etc. are needed to set up SSDs for optimal performance. ... https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Solid_State_Drives Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 (edited) Isn't this one of the great benefits of Linux? You can reinstall the O/S while keeping essential data backed up. No problems with licensing or hardware detection by some DRM module in the O/S. Frankly I've never been happy with anything but a fresh install when upgrading a Version. I'd just be afraid I'd have more aggravation with UUID and boot issues than the the time I'd save without a reinstall. But YMMV. Surely you don't have 112 GB of OS files and apps. Edited April 18, 2014 by raymac46 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichase Posted April 18, 2014 Author Share Posted April 18, 2014 Have been definitely leaning towards a fresh install. I removed the SATA drive and put the SSD drive in, launched Parted Magic, created a partition table and formatetd the entire drive to ext4 (which I did know had SSD support) /dev/sda1. I have always used ext3, but had read the wiki in regards to SSDs in that ext3 did not support SSDs and my Arch install was utilizing the ext3 file system. Starting from scratch is going to be the best bet. I have already backed up my packages, config files etc to an external drive so I have them there ready to go. DEFINITELY want ALL of the speed increase that you can get from an SSD drive. I will keep you all posted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Good deal! I am surprised you were using ext3. I havent used anything but ext4 for quite a few years now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichase Posted April 18, 2014 Author Share Posted April 18, 2014 So once formated to ext4 (which it is), the install method from the current Arch iso should be no different then with an HDD except for making some different changes to the fstab once you get to that portion of the installtion? Just making sure I am reading that correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Well I have not bought an SSD yet but it looks that way. I would read the whole wiki entry before starting though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amenditman Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 (edited) Step one after installing the SSD in the laptop is to enter the BIOS/UEFI and make sure that your SATA controller is configured to run AHCI. The ArchWiki SSD page, and the linked pages, are now really great for setting up on an SSD. Pay particular attention to the advice about using gdisk to create your partitions and align them properly. Definitely apply TRIM support through the fstab method, with only a few partitions it is the way to go. Edited April 18, 2014 by amenditman 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichase Posted April 18, 2014 Author Share Posted April 18, 2014 Step one after installing the SSD in the laptop is to enter the BIOS/UEFI and make sure that your SATA controller is configured to run AHCI. Thanks for the tip amenditman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Starting from scratch is going to be the best bet. For sure if you're moving from ext3 to ext4. You should be OK with alignment to use GParted or something like it. If I remember correctly you wouldn't use gdisk unless you want a GPT disk (mostly for EFI systems.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abarbarian Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 amenditmans tips are top class. An you can transfer a hdd install to a ssd with the wiki, https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Full_system_backup_with_rsync If you do remember to change the fstab on the ssd before you reboot. The one thing I found was that the backup installed to a single partition rather than my multi partition set up. Everything worked just fine afterwards and it took about 15 mins to complete. Ssd's are the biz, an mine is just a 60 GB cheapy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichase Posted April 18, 2014 Author Share Posted April 18, 2014 YES, Amenditman's tips ARE top class. I don't let "pride" overrule my judgment, I know, with the help of many on here that I have become A LOT more knowlegeable in regards to Linux, I know I am no where close to the knowledge base that others like Amenditman, Security Breach, V.T. Eric Layton, Lil Bambi etc are. I'm am NOT afraid to say "I don't understand" and "Need help". Must admit the SSD wiki for Arch is not as "easy" to understand as maybe the above experts. I slapped my HDD back in and am running on that at the moment. I think I got a bad Arch iso as it was failing left and right on boot earlier today. Downloaded another one and going to try it again in the morning with an ethernet cable attached to the laptop. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abarbarian Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Must admit the SSD wiki for Arch is not as "easy" to understand as maybe the above experts. So true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amenditman Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 If you a having trouble with the SSD wiki, just take it step by step and ask here. We will help and you will be the new SSD expert. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 If you a having trouble with the SSD wiki, just take it step by step and ask here. We will help and you will be the new SSD expert. Ill have to remember that when I finally buy an SSD.` Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichase Posted May 17, 2014 Author Share Posted May 17, 2014 (edited) Well, just because "Life" has been so hectic for a LONG time, it HAS taken me this long to provide MYSELF the time to get the SSD setup but setup it is (well, almost) running into a few things that have me scratching my head but YES it is A LOT faster especially when it comes to moving large amounts of files. 22 GB in 12 minutes, yeah; MUCH faster than the standard HDD. The desktop is ALSO built but I can't find my notes on the multi-head set up. Yes I have been reading the multi-head Arch Wiki and what not. I HAD great notes when I did this the last time and I am USING the same two 19" monitors I ran the last time, but for some reason it is still seeing the 2nd monitor running as VGA as a CRT monitor and only giving it a max of 640x480 which as you can imagine makes THAT monitor look all sorts of messed up. But this will come out in a different post. I believe I did create one for the desktop. Baby steps Added: Moving from HDD to SSD was actually not that bad. The SSD wiki though hard for me to understand does make a difference in the small nuances that are required for an SSD like adding the noatime to your fstab. One simple thing that is as obvious as the nose on your face but you may not think about (well, at least for me) when essentially rebuilding or migrating an Arch Linux install to a different computer or new SSD and moving all of your configs files over is you HAVE TO REMEMBER that most config files you set up are set up for the MACHINE and when you migrate them over to a DIFFERENT machine, the configs will give you some problems. I did find I had to delete a few config files and applications and reload them with fresh configs. Yes; simple and obvious but sometimes you are looking broad and missing the few SMALL things. Just to provide an example to the many guest that might be wondering exactly what I am talking about. I use Clementine as my music player of choice. (I just like it) Everytime you change something in Clementine it is updating a config file in your /home/username/.config/clementine folder (yes, I am just using Clementine as an example) so if you do what I did and just moved the .config folder from one computer to another the config file is looking for certain things the migrated computer may not have. Alas, you have problems. Just some food for thought And SSDs keep coming down and down in price. I believe I picked up the 240GB PNY SSD for $89. I just run everything else on a 1TB external which have ALSO come way down in price. Edited May 17, 2014 by ichase 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 Excellent!!! I plan on buying a small sdd in the next couple of months and migrating my Arch install over so now I know that it can be done successfully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichase Posted May 22, 2014 Author Share Posted May 22, 2014 (edited) Well FINALLY had the time to finish getting the SSD setup in the laptop yesterday. Pretty much all the small issues I was having I was able to resolve with a tweak there, a necessary package there, re-installing some packages to get new configs etc. Much like I did on the desktop. I am still not seeing much faster boot times and I may need to delve into the SSD Arch Wiki a little bit more in order to get the most speed out of this thing. But it's up and working and it's just like being on the HDD. I had asked the question about migration. I AM here to tell you from expereince of both the desktop and swapping to an SSD on the laptop; installing from scratch from the Arch Live CD and importing your packages via pacman, config files fonts etc "IS" the most less painful way to go. But as I mentioned in the other post, just remember that SOME config files were setup for the "other" machine and WILL give you problems on the new machine. Edited May 22, 2014 by ichase 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Thanks Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abarbarian Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 $ systemd-analyze try the above and $ systemd-analyze blame and have a read here http://forums.scotsnewsletter.com/index.php?showtopic=67799&do=findComment&comment=389083 Especially post 6. Then you need to pick sunrat's brains as he is the systemd expert tweaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichase Posted May 23, 2014 Author Share Posted May 23, 2014 Great info abarbarian May need to slap the HDD in, run systemd-analyze and systemd analyze blame to get some what of a bench mark of the speed difference between the HDD and SSD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichase Posted May 23, 2014 Author Share Posted May 23, 2014 (edited) Well curiousity got the best of me so I swapped over to my HDD and got the following. I will definitely say the numbers tell the tale. SSD numbers are below the HDD numbers. HDD [ichase02@arch64 ~]$systemd-analyze Startup finished in 5.693s (kernel) + 31.335s (userspace) = 37.028s [ichase02@arch64 ~]$systemd-analyze blame 18.758s man-db.service 9.262s wicd.service 8.737s dkms.service 7.673s net-auto-wireless.service 4.928s lm_sensors.service 4.219s logrotate.service 2.982s alsa-restore.service 2.724s shadow.service 2.611s systemd-logind.service 2.564s systemd-modules-load.service 1.131s nfsd.service 1.036s systemd-fsck@dev-sda1.service 905ms tmp.mount 890ms dev-mqueue.mount 866ms rpcbind.service 834ms sys-kernel-debug.mount 820ms systemd-user-sessions.service 808ms dev-hugepages.mount 786ms systemd-vconsole-setup.service 692ms systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev.service 636ms systemd-remount-fs.service 534ms systemd-rfkill@rfkill0.service 497ms udisks2.service 467ms systemd-random-seed.service 445ms systemd-udev-trigger.service 436ms systemd-binfmt.service 389ms rpc-idmapd.service 356ms rpc-mountd.service 302ms polkit.service 301ms kmod-static-nodes.service 233ms user@1000.service 202ms systemd-journal-flush.service 192ms systemd-backlight@backlight:acpi_video0.service 188ms systemd-udevd.service 175ms mnt-data.mount 166ms systemd-sysctl.service 165ms proc-sys-fs-binfmt_misc.mount 132ms systemd-update-utmp.service 131ms systemd-rfkill@rfkill1.service 125ms systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service 94ms var-lib-nfs-rpc_pipefs.mount 86ms systemd-backlight@backlight:intel_backlight.service 65ms systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service 2ms sys-fs-fuse-connections.mount 1ms sys-kernel-config.mount SSD [ichase@arch64 ~]$ systemd-analyze Startup finished in 3.208s (kernel) + 685ms (userspace) = 3.894s [ichase@arch64 ~]$ systemd-analyze blame 321ms wicd.service 163ms systemd-backlight@backlight:acpi_video0.service 86ms systemd-logind.service 80ms alsa-restore.service 75ms systemd-binfmt.service 71ms systemd-modules-load.service 40ms systemd-udev-trigger.service 17ms tmp.mount 15ms dev-mqueue.mount 15ms sys-kernel-debug.mount 14ms systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev.service 14ms dev-hugepages.mount 12ms systemd-update-utmp.service 11ms user@1000.service 11ms systemd-remount-fs.service 10ms systemd-random-seed.service 10ms systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service 8ms systemd-journal-flush.service 7ms kmod-static-nodes.service 6ms systemd-vconsole-setup.service 5ms systemd-rfkill@rfkill1.service 5ms systemd-rfkill@rfkill0.service 5ms systemd-user-sessions.service 5ms systemd-udevd.service 4ms systemd-sysctl.service 2ms proc-sys-fs-binfmt_misc.mount 1ms systemd-backlight@backlight:intel_backlight.service 1ms sys-kernel-config.mount Edited May 23, 2014 by ichase Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Wow, 37 seconds on a normal drive? That is pretty high. Perhaps you have some things running you may may not need. I get around 10 seconds on my sata drives so your 3 seconds is amazing IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichase Posted May 23, 2014 Author Share Posted May 23, 2014 (edited) Yeah, I have less services running after I performed a fresh install. I guess over the course of time, I had some services running on the Sata I thought I might have needed, but DEFINITELY a HUGE difference between Sata and SSD in regards to the numbers. I did miss one thing in the Wiki that I fixed that made a much better difference. My boot time in between boot and grub menu does still seem slow but I don't reboot all that much so no big deal there. Transferring files, moving from app to app etc is SO MUCH faster. Now that the SSD is set up, I now have a 500 GB Sata that can come to good use. I'm a data storage junkie. I have more external and internal hard drives and flash drives then I know what to do with. Let it be on sale and Ian is snatching it up. Like some woman when it comes to shoes No offense ladies, I know all woman are NOT like that. But you have to admit, many are. Edited May 23, 2014 by ichase 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abarbarian Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Later that same evening, removed lvm-related stuff - systemctl mask lvm2-activation-early.service systemctl mask lvm2-activation.service Startup finished in 3.542s (kernel) + 3.724s (userspace) = 7.266s Sunrat 03 02 2014 You left sunrat for dead and I thought he was unbeatable. :worthy: :worthy: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichase Posted May 24, 2014 Author Share Posted May 24, 2014 You left sunrat for dead and I thought he was unbeatable. :worthy: :worthy: No,not at all, just worked out that way and he probably just had more services running than I do. I did disable a couple of services I knew I did not need that were more than doubling that speed. Speaking of sunrat, where has he been hiding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amenditman Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Speaking of sunrat, where has he been hiding? Probably out soaking up some rays. No time for online when you can be out in the sunshine. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichase Posted May 24, 2014 Author Share Posted May 24, 2014 Probably out soaking up some rays. No time for online when you can be out in the sunshine. Nice rhyme Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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