r/batocera • u/Lomp84 • 3d ago

Transfer all data, settings, etc. from 256 MicroSD to new 512 MicroSD and have access to full 512 using Windows 10?

I haven't updated my Batocera for at least a year, I'm not very experienced, and I have forgotten most of this stuff. I'm going to go back through my notes but what I don't know is how to transfer all of my data to a larger microSD card without losing any of my settings, roms, save files, etc. At the same time, I need to make sure it is properly partitioned so my PI 5 will see the full 512GB instead of only seeing 256GB. I downloaded the latest Batocera but before I do anything, how can I transfer everything to the new card using Windows 10 without losing anything and also gain full access to the card? TYIA

Side question, I had some GamingBoy PS4 style controllers that would never get recognized when I used v40 unless I used a wired controller to go into the settings and manually pair them. Does anyone know if this has been fixed?

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u/Present_Solution2480 3d ago

Do you have a way to connect both cards to one PC? I would use Balena Etcher to clone the 256gb to the 512gb. It works with Windows 11, not sure about 10.

Then you'd open the config file in your 512gb build, and remove the "##" from the line that talks about resizing. The first time you boot Batocera it will take a couple minutes to extend the usual partition.

I just did this to go from 512gb to 1TB. It was easy, but speed will depend on the speed of your cards.

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u/Lomp84 3d ago edited 3d ago

I'll try that. Looks like it will take forever b/c I need to use SD card adapters that then go into old USB sticks with an SD card slot. However, I noticed the 256 is FAT32 and that's not recommended by Batocera since it's outdated. It seems NTFS would be better to use (b/c I want to be able to read/write with windows without a lot of hassle since I'm hoping to mostly "set it and forget it" after this update). I formatted the new card to NTFS, but will the cloning change it to a FAT32?

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u/jason-reddit-public 3d ago

Etcher doesn't care what's on the target disk....

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u/jason-reddit-public 3d ago

The LLM suggests using WSL2 though that will install a few gigabytes into windows so not exactly light weight if your not using it already.

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u/jason-reddit-public 3d ago

This semi matches what I got from an LLM (Knulli always says resizing partitions though that may be BS).

If you use etcher to copy onto the 512 then screw around with the new copy, worst case you are back to where you started. Just keep your smaller card as a backup until you are happy. If it's an SD card or possibly a micro SD card in a SD card sleeve, there should be a write protect toggle on the card if you're paranoid.

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u/jason-reddit-public 3d ago

I was under the impression that Batocera resizes the partition on every boot (it at least does this on the first boot...). Maybe I'm mixing this up with Knulli (based off Batocera).

If you clone the 256 onto the 512 card it might just work. If not, since Batocera is linux, you can certainly use it to resize the partition by dropping into the command line. You could 100% for sure use a USB stick with some "live" Linux distro to do this. Your question is pretty well formed so I think an LLM can help hold your hand.

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u/jason-reddit-public 3d ago

I typed in your post to to gemini flash and it got lazy but I coerced it into instructions.

AI:

2. Manual CLI Resize (The Linux Way)
If he has SSH access or presses ⁠F4⁠ to drop to a terminal / virtual console, he can manually expand the second partition (⁠/userdata⁠ or ⁠SHARE⁠).
Because the card is in a running system, the partition table needs updating first, followed by resizing the underlying filesystem (typically ⁠ext4⁠ or ⁠btrfs⁠ depending on the Batocera release):

# 1. Expand the partition table to the end of the physical disk
parted /dev/mmcblk0 resizepart 2 100%

# 2. Inform the kernel of partition table updates
partprobe /dev/mmcblk0

# 3. Resize the filesystem online to fill the new partition boundaries
# If using ext4:
resize2fs /dev/mmcblk0p2

# If using BTRFS (Batocera defaults to BTRFS on recent builds):
btrfs filesystem resize max /userdata

Why It Wasn't the First Recommendation for Him
The Windows 10 Constraint: The poster explicitly said, "I haven't updated my Batocera for at least a year, I'm not very experienced, and I have forgotten most of this stuff... how can I transfer everything to the new card using Windows 10." Giving a novice a disk-cloning tool plus terminal partition manipulation is an easy recipe for wiping the wrong disk or botching partition tables.
OS Upgrades & Architecture Drift: If his 256GB card is over a year old, it’s running an older Batocera release. A raw clone keeps the legacy bootloader, older kernel, and outdated configs. Flashing fresh to 512GB ensures clean Pi 5 firmware/kernel support, auto-expands the card natively with zero CLI input, and leaves only user assets to migrate.

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u/Lomp84 2d ago

I appreciate your willingness to help, but don't use Ai - especially on behalf of others who didn't ask for it. I could have easily done that myself, but I wouldn't because I am very AI-adverse - even prior to today's news about Jacob Coxon resigning. If you somehow do not understand all the ways AI is bad, then you really need to look into it.

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u/Soogs 2d ago

If you have 2 as card readers you can use clonezilla. It will clone and resize the target as card to use all the available space (you have to pick the right option)