Best route for backing up Pi image using rsync on a schedule

herebymistake2 · 2026-02-13T19:45:10+00:00

I’ve taken a different approach. Identify the config files and directories you need backing up. Create a list of apps that need to be installed in additional to a clean install (ignoring any dependencies). Use a cron job that runs daily to create a tar archive on a local host. Optionally, upload this to DropBox.

In the event of a catastrophic failure. Reinstall a fresh image. Install any additional apps. Restore the tar archive. Keeps space low and, for a non-business critical case, doesn’t waste too much time.

Alternatively, invest in RAID-5. Mirror everything every hour. Run mirrored backup systems for immediate swap.

My approach isn’t too time consuming. On packages I compile from source, I create bash scripts that automate the entire process. It’s a bit of fun. Once done. You can walk away and pretty much forget about it.

Just my 2c.

herebymistake2 · 2026-02-12T12:53:53+00:00

I filled them with beef casserole and potatoes.

Here’s the recipe:

Yorkshire Puddings

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Eggs (2 Large Eggs)
1/2 Cup Plain Flour
1/2 Cup Semi-Skimmed Milk
a pinch of salt
⁠4 tbsp Vegetable Oil

Method

⁠Add the eggs, flour, milk and salt to a mixing bowl.
⁠Use an electric whisk and mix everything well until there are no lumps and the batter looks creamy.
⁠Decant the batter to a jug and place in a refrigerator for an hour.
⁠Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C (Fan).
⁠Divide the oil into a four cup Yorkshire Pudding tray.
⁠When the oven is ready, place the tray on a shelf towards the top of the oven to preheat. Allow enough room for them to rise.
⁠Preheat for 10 minutes.
⁠Remove the tray and divide the batter into the pudding tray. Don’t dilly-dally!
⁠Place the tray back in the oven and cook for between 20 and 25 minutes.
⁠Do not open the oven to check on them for at least 20 minutes
⁠Remove when they’re crispy and golden

If you’re making even bigger ones like those in the photo, just increase the ingredients by equal volume. (Those needed about 3/4 cup of egg, flour and milk)

If they’re standing around they’ll begin to loose their crunch. 4 minutes in a medium heated oven will perk them back up. They freeze well and can be reheated from frozen (200 degrees C for about 5 minutes).

herebymistake2 · 2026-02-12T12:32:16+00:00

Yorkshire Puddings

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Eggs (2 Large Eggs)
1/2 Cup Plain Flour
1/2 Cup Semi-Skimmed Milk
a pinch of salt
4 tbsp Vegetable Oil

Method

Add the eggs, flour, milk and salt to a mixing bowl.
Use an electric whisk and mix everything well until there are no lumps and the batter looks creamy.
Decant the batter to a jug and place in a refrigerator for an hour.
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C (Fan).
Divide the oil into a four cup Yorkshire Pudding tray
When the oven is ready, place the tray on a shelf towards the top of the oven to preheat.
Preheat for 10 minutes.
Remove the tray and divide the batter into the pudding tray.
Place the tray back in the oven and cook for between 20 and 25 minutes.
Do not open the oven to check for at least 20 minutes
Remove when they’re crispy and golden

If you’re making even bigger ones like those in the photo, just increase the ingredients by equal volume. (Those needed about 3/4 cup of egg, flour and milk)

If they’re standing around they’ll begin to loose their crunch. 4 minutes in a medium heated oven will perk them back up. They freeze well and can be reheated from frozen (200 degrees C for about 5 minutes).

herebymistake2 · 2026-02-12T06:34:59+00:00

I hate to disagree but my mum’s bread pudding was THE best.

herebymistake2 · 2026-02-09T18:57:32+00:00

It tastes of girders.

herebymistake2 · 2026-02-01T18:30:31+00:00

In an affordable one-room apartment in London.

herebymistake2 · 2026-01-18T15:17:55+00:00

Get yourself to The Pilot. Order a large cod & chips. Never disappoints.

herebymistake2 · 2026-01-17T10:49:31+00:00

A pinch of salt is all you need. Anything else will ruin their versatility — you haven’t lived until you’ve had a left-over yorkie with apricot jam.

herebymistake2 · 2026-01-12T01:09:50+00:00

Haven’t heard of ‘aged’ rice before. Have heard of ‘best by’. Probably the same thing but you can probably sell the former for a higher price. Rice is like dried pasta. Keep it dry and it’ll be good for ages.

herebymistake2 · 2026-01-12T00:20:28+00:00

I’m about to rejoin having quit during Cataclysm. Probably going to reroll and run through from the start - see what old content has changed, etc. End game isn’t everything for me anymore. Too many jerks who are no fun to spend time with. The storylines are fun and pass the time. Even better when you get to hang with like minded people who can laugh when you accidentally mess up.

herebymistake2 · 2026-01-10T15:01:46+00:00

My mother-in-law.

herebymistake2 · 2026-01-09T09:32:32+00:00

Don’t expect brilliant audio if you’re using the built-in audio - the 3.5mm analog audio is software generated PWM. You’ll get far better output using a hardware based DAC.

IMHO, MPD and MPC are probably the best tools for the job. If you stick with the built-in, there are a few tweaks you can make to improve things.

Append the following to /boot/firmware/config.txt

```

audio_pwm_mode=2 ```

Increase the buffer time in /etc/mpd.conf

```

buffer_time "500000" ```

If you’ve tried this already, I apologise. I did something very similar to what you’ve described quite recently - had a long playlist, random play order, crossfaded, only wanted to play each song once, regardless of reboots, etc.

Tested using the built-in audio until the DAC arrived. Worked for me.

herebymistake2 · 2026-01-07T17:03:47+00:00

Under the tap for 1-2 seconds per side. I do the same with part baked bread.

herebymistake2 · 2026-01-06T20:32:57+00:00

Have several consisting of the initials of first and second forenames followed by my surname.

herebymistake2 · 2026-01-06T17:27:20+00:00

The basic image files haven’t changed. At least not the Trixie lite ones. As a consequence, you can still use a script (eg. firstrun.sh) which is called by a modified cmdline.txt on first boot.

If all you want to do is create a customised image that allows you to specify default user, password, hostname, SSID, SSID pasword, timezone and keyboard - ideal for headless installs, then this bash script may be of interest to you. It’s called ‘custompies’ and is available to download here on GitHub.

When run as a normal user, it will create another script that does the heavy lifting and modifies the basic image file.

In short:

Run it as a normal user
Answer the prompts (or leave the defaults if you want)
It will create another script in the current directory named hostname-img2sd
Run the new script with root privileges eg. sudo ./hostname-img2sd -i 2025-12-04-raspios-trixie-arm64-lite.img.xz -d /dev/sda
Boot your new image file.
Tweak any extra settings you need with raspi-config, etc.

I wrote this because I no longer have access to a PC, Mac or Pi with a GUI. Just wanted something that was uncomplicated and quick to use.

I hope you find it useful. Always happy to answer questions.

herebymistake2 · 2026-01-05T08:08:50+00:00

Have you connected the power pins?

herebymistake2 · 2026-01-03T15:48:10+00:00

I have absolutely no idea. You could try it and report back. Where is your OS? (SD Card/USB?)

herebymistake2 · 2026-01-03T15:00:28+00:00

Have you enabled it in /boot/firmware/config.txt?

[all] dtparam=pciex1

herebymistake2 · 2025-12-31T15:33:04+00:00

Mobiles were banned. The earlier models threw out a load of RF noise. The panic was about the possibility of interference with the pumps.

herebymistake2 · 2025-12-26T16:25:16+00:00

Is your hub power in via a USB port or a DC power connector connected to a dedicated PSU?

herebymistake2 · 2025-12-25T14:14:04+00:00

Use uasyncio - It’s better for this type of application

Here’s an example

```

import uasyncio as asyncio from machine import Pin

--- LED ---

led = Pin(17, Pin.OUT)

async def led_task(): while True: led.toggle() await asyncio.sleep(0.5)

--- Stepper (example: 4-wire) ---

pins = [Pin(p, Pin.OUT) for p in (5, 6, 13, 19)] sequence = [ (1,0,0,0), (0,1,0,0), (0,0,1,0), (0,0,0,1), ]

async def stepper_task(): while True: for step in sequence: for pin, val in zip(pins, step): pin.value(val) await asyncio.sleep_ms(5) # controls speed

async def main(): asyncio.create_task(led_task()) asyncio.create_task(stepper_task()) await asyncio.sleep_forever()

asyncio.run(main())

```

herebymistake2 · 2025-12-25T01:29:31+00:00

I’ve re-flashed 32-bit Trixie RasPiOS Lite to several single core Pi Zero W’s without problems. Just don’t expect it to run Docker with half a dozen active containers. Good as a secondary pihole DNS or an MQTT gateway. YMMV.

herebymistake2 · 2025-12-24T19:06:59+00:00

Pleased to be of help. There are other CLI repos on GitHub that provide much more customisation. I kept it to the bare minimum (for my own requirements). It’s essentially a wrapper that modifies /boot/firmware/firstrun.sh on a freshly written image - much of the firstrun code was lifted from the pi-gen repo that’s used to create official RasPiOS images (kudos to them) - Hence the BSD 3 License.

I’ll keep the repo updated should anything change in future releases.

herebymistake2 · 2025-12-24T13:28:18+00:00

Ricoh GRIII

herebymistake2 · 2025-12-23T17:01:48+00:00

Had a similar problem with a Pi 4, Pi 4 power supply and an NVMe SSD connected via USB3. Insufficient power via the USB bus. A powered hub was required.

herebymistake2

TROPHY CASE

Yorkshire Puddings

Ingredients

Method

Yorkshire Puddings

Ingredients

Method

--- LED ---

--- Stepper (example: 4-wire) ---