Moving installed MX to a new PC

[cancunia]

I'd like to use another Laptop for my existing MX Linux build, can I simply move the hard disk from one to the other? If I do will there be problems or poor performance?
I'm currently using an HP Laptop, moving to a Fujitsu.
I've put the system info here.

Thanks

Code: Select all

System:    Host: <filter> Kernel: 4.19.0-6-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 8.3.0 
           parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.19.0-6-amd64 
           root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash 
           Desktop: Xfce 4.14.2 tk: Gtk 3.24.5 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm4 dm: LightDM 1.26.0 
           Distro: MX-19.3_x64 patito feo February 15  2020 base: Debian GNU/Linux 10 (buster) 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP EliteBook 6930p v: F.20 
           serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 30DB v: KBC Version 87.2B serial: <filter> 
           BIOS: Hewlett-Packard v: 68PCU Ver. F.20 date: 12/08/2011 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 43.9 Wh condition: 43.9/55.1 Wh (80%) volts: 12.5/10.8 
           model: Hewlett-Packard Primary type: Li-ion serial: <filter> status: Full 
CPU:       Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core2 Duo P8700 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Penryn 
           family: 6 model-id: 17 (23) stepping: A (10) microcode: A0B L2 cache: 3072 KiB 
           flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 10107 
           Speed: 1596 MHz min/max: 800/2534 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1596 
           2: 1596 
           Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: Split huge pages 
           Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: EPT disabled 
           Type: mds status: Vulnerable: Clear CPU buffers attempted, no microcode; SMT disabled 
           Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI 
           Type: spec_store_bypass status: Vulnerable 
           Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
           Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Full generic retpoline, STIBP: disabled, RSB filling 
           Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel Mobile 4 Series Integrated Graphics vendor: Hewlett-Packard 
           driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:2a42 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: intel resolution: 1440x900~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Mobile Intel GM45 Express v: 2.1 Mesa 18.3.6 
           direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel 82801I HD Audio vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: snd_hda_intel 
           v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 chip ID: 8086:293e 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.19.0-6-amd64 
Network:   Device-1: Intel 82567LM Gigabit Network vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: e1000e 
           v: 3.2.6-k port: 70e0 bus ID: 00:19.0 chip ID: 8086:10f5 
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Intel Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel port: 7000 
           bus ID: 02:00.0 chip ID: 8086:4236 
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 931.51 GiB used: 565.78 GiB (60.7%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Seagate model: ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB size: 931.51 GiB 
           block size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s rotation: 5400 rpm 
           serial: <filter> rev: 0002 scheme: MBR 
Partition: ID-1: / raw size: 588.72 GiB size: 578.48 GiB (98.26%) used: 513.97 GiB (88.8%) 
           fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 37.0 C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian buster-updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian buster main contrib non-free
           2: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-earth-pro.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/earth/deb/ stable main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/megasync.list 
           1: deb https://mega.nz/linux/MEGAsync/Debian_10.0/ ./
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list 
           1: deb http://mxlinux.mirrors.uk2.net/packages/mx/repo/ buster main non-free
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/opera-stable.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/teams.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/ms-teams stable main
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/various.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/yandex-disk.list 
           1: deb http://repo.yandex.ru/yandex-disk/deb/ stable main
Info:      Processes: 207 Uptime: 9h 14m Memory: 2.86 GiB used: 1.73 GiB (60.5%) Init: SysVinit 
           v: 2.93 runlevel: 5 default: 5 Compilers: gcc: 8.3.0 alt: 8 Shell: quick-system-in 
           running in: quick-system-in inxi: 3.0.36 

[uncle mark]

By all rights you should be fine. The only question mark might be if the Fujitsu uses different graphics, but even then it should work and all that might be needed are some adjustments.

[cancunia]

Thanks for the quick reply, I'll give it a spin tomorrow.

[cancunia]

Unfortunately the Fujitsu does not recognise the disk from the HP as bootable. I've built another MX system on the Fujitsu and that's working fine. I'm not sure which Laptop is causing the problem so will need another way to migrate from one to the other.
Snapshot seems to want to make an ISO of the whole partition which in my case is about 500GB, I'lll read a bit more about that tool as it's maybe something I'm doing wrong. IN the mean time, if anyone has a good suggestion for migrating from one Laptop to another, I'd be really grateful to know about it.

Thanks

[baldyeti]

it _might_ be that the original system was set to boot in BIOS mode (presumably with an MBR-partitioned disk) whereas the newer one is set to boot in UEFI mode - try to enter the startup (firmware) menus of the Fujitsu and see if there is an obtion to enable BIOS boot mode (often called legacy mode).

[cancunia]

Just checked the BIOS, legacy mode (CSM) is enabled on the Fujitsu.

Is there another way to migrate from one PC to another?

Thanks

[baldyeti]

What error message are you seeing ?

Do you get a grub boot menu at all ?

[cancunia]

The message is something like 'No Bootable Device Found' but the disk does appear in the list of devices.

[baldyeti]

if you boot (the new system, Fujitsu if i followed correctly) with an MX USB stick (or DVD), can you mount and see the content of the HD ? You could then try the "MX boot repair" tool from the live session

While running that live session, please launch the "Quick System Info" and post its output so we can compare with the original system.

[cancunia]

That's a good idea, I have an MX boot USB that I used to create the new system on the Fujitsu so could try to see if I can mount the old disk from the HP in the Fujitsu but am not really keen on altering the the HP disk as it's my live system.
I'm going to take a look at Clonezilla to see how that works.