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[soxfan1966]

Good afternoon,

I purchased a PI 3B+ as I wanted to try a different Pi than the Zero W one I have been using to run HomeGenie.

I'd like to clone the SD card I have from the Pi Zero W and use the cloned card on the Pi 3B +.

Is that possible?

[petera]

Good afternoon,

I purchased a PI 3B+ as I wanted to try a different Pi than the Zero W one I have been using to run HomeGenie.

I'd like to clone the SD card I have from the Pi Zero W and use the cloned card on the Pi 3B +.

Is that possible?

If you have Clone installed on your Pi of course. If not might just be easier taking an image of it if you want to use it on another model Pi. Be careful as the Pi Zero card booting in a Pi 3b+ can have undesirable side effects owing to differences in firmware. The new Pi software may have dealt with this though. Taking an image copy of the card as a precaution.

[Tuicemen]

Buster was suppose to allow swapping of SD cards with different pi models.
I know Stretch and older versions had issues when swapping.
I'd say to make a total new SD image just for the Pi 3B+ and make backups of software running on the zero and then restore them on the 3B+ card. It may take a bit longer but maybe more reliable in the long haul.

[soxfan1966]

Hmmm.  I already started the SD card clone process so will give it a whirl.  If it doesn't work, I will start with a fresh install and use the HomeGenie backup.

[petera]

Hmmm.  I already started the SD card clone process so will give it a whirl.  If it doesn't work, I will start with a fresh install and use the HomeGenie backup.

Of course it will work. If you already and are comfortable using it it’s the best option.

Depending on what Linux kernel you have installed on Raspbian Buster (or Raspberry Pi OS as it’s now known) will determine if you can make the swap over seamlessly). I had to compile a version of Raspbian Buster with an earlier Linux kernel version owing to driver incompatibility on old hardware I was using. That particular build didn’t handle the swap over too well.

Yes Clone works very effectively and of course you can do it on the fly.

[Tuicemen]

From my and others tests with Stretch Zero W images in different pi models, it may be a while before things go south (if they are going to). Keep the Zero W and its image handy.

[soxfan1966]

Cloned SD card is in the new Pix 3B+ and it is up and running.  Only thing I had to do was update my router so the new Pi had the same IP address as the old one (I updated the reserved IP address for the old one first).  So everything points to the same IP address as before and things are running.  It does seem a bit faster but that may be my just expecting it to be.

Will see how the routines to turn off the Christmas Lights go in a few hours and will check on it in the morning.  I still have my Pi Zero W with the original SD card too - a solid back up that I can just plug in and replace the other one with (would need to update the IP addresses but that would be it).

I'm awaiting the Smartenit that I ordered (with the X10 add on) so I can use that to replace my Smartthings (which I have been using in place of the Alexa Bridge, but has been spotty the last few months).

[petera]

Cloned SD card is in the new Pix 3B+ and it is up and running.  Only thing I had to do was update my router so the new Pi had the same IP address as the old one (I updated the reserved IP address for the old one first).  So everything points to the same IP address as before and things are running.  It does seem a bit faster but that may be my just expecting it to be.

Will see how the routines to turn off the Christmas Lights go in a few hours and will check on it in the morning.  I still have my Pi Zero W with the original SD card too - a solid back up that I can just plug in and replace the other one with (would need to update the IP addresses but that would be it).



I'm awaiting the Smartenit that I ordered (with the X10 add on) so I can use that to replace my Smartthings (which I have been using in place of the Alexa Bridge, but has been spotty the last few months).

Yes the Clone feature is the best way to go for regular backups. Simple to install and use too.

[soxfan1966]

A few additional notes:

1) The Pi 3B+ has 5Ghz wifi in addition to 2.4 Ghz but to enable it I had to set the WiFi Region code (so it knows what frequencies are valid in your area). 
I did this via:
sudo raspi-config

And under the Localization Options, WLAN Country choosing the proper entry for me.  Once I did that and rebooted I was getting a 5Ghz connection.  Note that the ifconfig and iwconfig commands can be helpful in checking your wifi and ethernet connections.


2) I tested out the available ethernet connection as well, which works but I was getting an internet connection to my router for both the ethernet and the wifi.  I messed around with turning off the wifi radio but decided in the end to leave both enabled but disconnect the ethernet cable - so I am using just the 5Ghz wifi connection.  Seems like a good backup connection plan to be able to use the ethernet connection should there be a wifi issue.  Note that you will get a different IP address for both your wifi and your ethernet connections, so keep that in mind when using Putty (or some other program) to connect to the pi.


3) I updated Raspberry Pi OS on the Pi 3B+ once it was up and running.  I thought this was a good step as it would both update things and hopefully also add anything that may have been specific to the 3B+ vs the Zero W:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/raspbian/updating.md


Observations:
Functionally, I do not see any differences in running HomeGenie on the Pi 3B+ over the Zero W.  Everything seems to work the same, which is good.  I do not have any devices attached to the Pi with the exception of the CM15A (the x10 controller).

Performance wise, the 3B+ definitely loads HomeGenie much faster and the response time for devices also seems faster.  I am hoping once I add in the Smartenit to replace my Smartthings interface (that I use for getting Alexa to talk to HomeGenie for my X10 devices, I have not used HaBridge in over a year) that my upgrades will be complete

[petera]

Yes after a first time install it’s necessary to run sudo raspi-config to localise your installation and avoid any difficulties. Also in most cases the user will want to use the complete card for Raspbian. You’ll need to expand the file system from that Configuration menu too.

HA-Bridge has now become more trouble than its worth trying to maintain it so the cheap hub with a registered Alexa skill is certainly the easiest way forward.

[brobin]

You could probably also run Pi-hole on the 3B+ without causing any problems.  It uses very little resources. 

[petera]

You could probably also run Pi-hole on the 3B+ without causing any problems.  It uses very little resources.

You could run many other services on the same RPI once you know how to fix them when they go wrong.

There’s not many on this forum that are comfortable working in a Linux environment so I wouldn’t recommend adding to any potential issue that may arise. In fact most of not all use Windows devices to access their RPI so the best piece of advice here is to leave well enough alone.

[brobin]

Can't argue with that. The Pi's are cheap enough to dedicate to a single application.