EFIClone - automatic backup of the EFI partition

[UtterDisbelief]

Hi folks... long time no see here.

Unfortunately in May 2018 we had a house fire and I was away from the Hackintosh scene for over a year while we rebuilt the house and moved back home.

Finally in the last week or two I have been able to get back to my Hackintosh hobby and last night rebuilt my HP 8300 Elite with Mojave (Sniki's method).

This morning I decided to go back and start getting my EFI backup routine in place and logged on to check this old thread.

Sorry for any problems that might have been attributed to the script. I'm going to experiment with it and see if I can get it going under current state-of-the-art.

I'll also check out the newer references to Acronis and the updated script that trs96 posted to see if things have progressed to the point where this is no longer necessary.

Ted

Sorry to read about your traumas. Glad you are all safe

Yes, a lot can happen in a year, but I'm sure you'll be up to speed in no time. All sorts of interesting stuff going on.

 

[trs96]

I'll also check out the newer references to Acronis

I still recommend this, especially if you dual boot with Windows. It's worth the investment. It can even completely replace TimeMachine and make daily/weekly/monthly backups automatically. Even if your hackintosh drive becomes un-bootable for any reason, you can boot from an Acronis flash drive that you create and make a full system drive clone.

Make sure to not get versions older than 2019 as they don't include the macOS cloning option. Avoid Ebay sellers that offer pirated licenses for 5-7 dollars or less. They of course, are not genuine. Buy from a brick and mortar retailer or large online retailer.

The 2020 version is already out but you should be able to find the '19 version at a discount at either Amazon or Newegg. You only need to buy it once, isn't a yearly subscription. You can keep using it in perpetuity as long as it is still working with macOS versions in the future. I'd expect it to still work with macOS for at least the next 5 years.

 

[wombat94]

@trs96

Interesting about Acronis support for Mac. I am no longer dual booting with Windows - and have never used TimeMachine for my Macs... my backup solutions run to CCC and automated file backups (I used to use Arq, but have recently switched to Duplicacy). I always view rebuild of a machine as an opportunity to start clean rather than restoring a full image backup.

Having said that, I did have a license for TrueImage when I was a windows user - I will see if I can find my old registration info and see if I can get upgrade pricing.

 

[trs96]

Interesting about Acronis support for Mac. I am no longer dual booting with Windows.

It's a little confusing because they sell a "Mac only" version of Acronis that you'd install to the macOS system drive. You'll still want the PC/Mac version as in the pic I posted above. It's best to create a bootable USB with Acronis '19 on it. That way you're prepared for anything that can go wrong with a hackintosh. Murphy's law is in effect just like with everything else in life.

 

[trs96]

Here's the Acronis Cloning KB article for anyone interested.

Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office, Acronis True Image: How to clone a disk on Mac | Knowledge Base

Introduction Using Acronis True Image 2019 and later you can duplicate all your data and make macOS bootable on your new hard drive via Disk Cloning. You can use this to migrate to a new Mac computer or to clone the system to an external HDD and have a bootable copy of the system. Keep in mind...

kb.acronis.com

 

[wombat94]

So... I still have my Acronis account. The last version I paid for was 2010, but it is offering me an upgrade to 2020 for $29.99. Not bad. I'll definitely take it into account when looking at bare-metal backup/restore options for my machines now.

 

[FlyLight]

I'm still confused... Can the 2020 version of Acronis make a bootable clone of all partitions of my boot drive, including EFI, just by running the Mac version and choosing "Clone"? Will it automatically create the same partitions etc? Or do I still need to do the whole "Windows on a thumb drive" thing?

 

[trs96]

Can the 2020 version of Acronis make a bootable clone of all partitions of my boot drive, including EFI,

Since you have a Hackintosh, you aren't restricted to the "Mac only version." The standard "PC" Windows/Mac version allows you to make a bootable rescue Usb with Acronis on it. You boot from USB and clone Mac or Windows drives.

You want the PC version in Blue to make your rescue USB, not the Mac version, as illogical as that sounds.

 

[FlyLight]

Does that mean I still need to use a Windows thumb drive to run Acronis from? I only have one boot drive in the machine, with mojave 10.14.4 running

 

[trs96]

Or do I still need to do the whole "Windows on a thumb drive" thing?

If you mean the Windows PE rescue drive, that would need to be used if you've setup a dual boot of Windows/MacOS on the same drive or on separate drives. If using macOS only on PC hardware you can install it directly from the .DMG to macOS Mojave.

One person reported the 2019 version installed to USB, cloned a dual boot (same drive) Mac/Windows drive and it worked. Since I never put both on the same drive I have not confirmed that works.