Hi,
I am trying to backup my manjaro installation with clonezilla. Have tried it using a manjaro live iso and the clonezilla live iso. Both resulted in the following error:
Reading Super Block
Calculating bitmap... Please wait...
extfsclone.c: Couldn't find valid filesystem bitmap.
The backup proces starts but with a lot of errors, if I remember correctly it was 820’s. It finishes with an error message in red that (can’t remember).
After that I did a btrfs scrub of my system:
[magician@intel-manjaro-kde ~]$ sudo btrfs scrub status /
[sudo] wachtwoord voor magician:
UUID: 17243299-2eab-4c05-9d27-76b0968b95e5
Scrub started: Wed Aug 18 17:23:56 2021
Status: finished
Duration: 0:06:05
Total to scrub: 189.49GiB
Rate: 529.51MiB/s
Error summary: no errors found
Another try with clonezilla resulted in the same error. Then I tried to do a file system check (translated from dutch):
[magician@intel-manjaro-kde ~]$ sudo tune2fs -c 1 /dev/sda
tune2fs 1.46.3 (27-Jul-2021)
tune2fs: Invalid magic number in superblock during opening of /dev/sda
/dev/sda contains 'DOS/MBR boot sector'-data
[magician@intel-manjaro-kde ~]$ sudo tune2fs -c 1 /dev/sda1
tune2fs 1.46.3 (27-Jul-2021)
The maximum number of ''mounts?'' is set to 1
[magician@intel-manjaro-kde ~]$ sudo tune2fs -c 1 /dev/sda2
[sudo] password for magician:
tune2fs 1.46.3 (27-Jul-2021)
tune2fs: Invalid magic number in superblock during opening of /dev/sda2
/dev/sda2 contains a btrfs-filesysteem
During a reboot nothing happens. Still cannot perform a backup of my system. No usefull guides on the forum or internet 
. Can anyone please help me?
Thank you!
Hello @Magician1981 
It seems clonezilla does not support btrfs… and to be clear: tune2fs is a tool for ext2/3/4 . This the tool for btrfs:
sudo btrfs check --repair /dev/sdYN
(equivalent to fsck)
So what would you like to accomplish? Just an image of the HDD?
Thank you. Will mess around a bit.
Yess I have found that out just a few minutes ago, thank you.
Indeed a image of the boot ssd that I can restore later if something fails.
Well if the destination is also btrfs, it is quite easy to use timeshift… but here are a more custom commands:
#Create the mountpoint and mount it
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/backup
sudo mount /dev/sdYN /mnt/backup
#create a readonly snapshot of `@` (commonly root)
# on the same drive
btrfs subvolume snapshot -r /subvols/@ /subvols/@ro
#send the readonly snapshot to backup drive
btrfs send /subvols/@ro | btrfs receive /mnt/backup
# "re-snapshot" to rename it on the backup drive
btrfs subvolume snapshot /mnt/backup/@ro /mnt/backup/@
# delete the readonly snapshot on the backup drive
btrfs subvolume snapshot delete -c /mnt/backup/@ro
# delete the readonly snapshot on the main drive
btrfs subvolume delete -c /subvols/@ro
# Sync all transactions
sync
# replace old UUIDs with new UUID on the backup drive
sed -i 's/$OLD_UUID/$NEW_UUID/g' /mnt/backup/@/etc/fstab
sed -i 's/$OLD_UUID/$NEW_UUID/g' /mnt/backup/@/boot/grub/grub.cfg
Thats it… the backup drive has the exact copy of @ and by installing a bootloader, also fully bootable.
1 Like
Backup drive is ext4. But thanks anyway.
Can be converted…
e2fsck -fvy /dev/sdYN
btrfs-convert --copy-label /dev/sdYN
If spinning HDD:
btrfs filesystem defrag -v -r -f -t 32M /mnt/btrfs
Rollback:
btrfs-convert --rollback /dev/sdYN
1 Like
Will try this as a last resort. Have limited knowledge.
Have some more info.
[manjaro@manjaro ~]$ sudo btrfs check /dev/sda2
Opening filesystem to check...
Checking filesystem on /dev/sda2
UUID: 17243299-2eab-4c05-9d27-76b0968b95e5
[1/7] checking root items
[2/7] checking extents
[3/7] checking free space cache
block group 237318963200 has wrong amount of free space, free space cache has 4096 block group has 1073737728
failed to load free space cache for block group 237318963200
[4/7] checking fs roots
[5/7] checking only csums items (without verifying data)
[6/7] checking root refs
[7/7] checking quota groups
check/qgroup-verify.c:546: account_all_refs: BUG_ON `ref->num_bytes != num_bytes` triggered, value 1
btrfs(+0x1a65d)[0x55b57c0f165d]
btrfs(qgroup_verify_all+0x5ad)[0x55b57c0f27ad]
btrfs(+0x49d9a)[0x55b57c120d9a]
btrfs(main+0x8e)[0x55b57c0ed0be]
/usr/lib/libc.so.6(__libc_start_main+0xd5)[0x7fdc46329b25]
btrfs(_start+0x2e)[0x55b57c0ed3ee]
Aborted
[manjaro@manjaro ~]$ sudo btrfs check --repair /dev/sda2
enabling repair mode
WARNING:
Do not use --repair unless you are advised to do so by a developer
or an experienced user, and then only after having accepted that no
fsck can successfully repair all types of filesystem corruption. Eg.
some software or hardware bugs can fatally damage a volume.
The operation will start in 10 seconds.
Use Ctrl-C to stop it.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1^C
I did not coninue with the repair because of its warnings. Maybe try something else first??
The drive HAVE TO BE UNMOUNTED like with fsck for a check.
I was running a live iso to do that 
Do you use qgroups? Seems there is a problem… Maybe disable it:
btrfs quota disable /mnt/btrfs
btrfs filesystem sync /mnt/btrfs
You did a scrub above and have no errors. So the data has been checked against checksums. That should be ok.
1 Like
I have no idea if I use qgroups. Never heard of it. Run these commands from a live enviroment?:
btrfs quota disable /mnt/btrfs
btrfs filesystem sync /mnt/btrfs
How would these commands look like in my perticular situation? Replace /mnt/btrfs with /dev/sda2?
Will try tomorrow. Thank you.
The drive /dev/sda2 must be mounted to /mnt/btrfs. Doesnt matter where…
Small update. Have used fsarchiver to clone my boot drive which took forever, hence the delay.
Today I will check qgroups and rerun btrfs check to see what comes up.
Btw I have read on multiple forums that clonezilla does support btrfs and some people succesfully backup their system while others experience more or less the same problem as me. Will give a ‘‘testing’’ version of clonezilla a shot too.
ok update.
~ sudo btrfs quota disable /mnt/17243299-2eab-4c05-9d27-76b0968b95e5
~ sudo btrfs filesystem sync /mnt/17243299-2eab-4c05-9d27-76b0968b95e5
~ sudo btrfs check /dev/sda2 1 ✘
Opening filesystem to check...
Checking filesystem on /dev/sda2
UUID: 17243299-2eab-4c05-9d27-76b0968b95e5
[1/7] checking root items
[2/7] checking extents
[3/7] checking free space cache
block group 237318963200 has wrong amount of free space, free space cache has 4096 block group has 1073737728
failed to load free space cache for block group 237318963200
[4/7] checking fs roots
[5/7] checking only csums items (without verifying data)
[6/7] checking root refs
[7/7] checking quota groups skipped (not enabled on this FS)
found 202846408704 bytes used, no error found
total csum bytes: 187061704
total tree bytes: 3123593216
total fs tree bytes: 2674573312
total extent tree bytes: 213942272
btree space waste bytes: 508425595
file data blocks allocated: 728536821760
referenced 308825628672
Did a reboot and tried clonezilla again with same error as result. Then from live iso:
~ sudo btrfs quota enable /mnt/17243299-2eab-4c05-9d27-76b0968b95e5 1 ✘
~ sudo btrfs check /dev/sda2 1 ✘
Opening filesystem to check...
Checking filesystem on /dev/sda2
UUID: 17243299-2eab-4c05-9d27-76b0968b95e5
[1/7] checking root items
[2/7] checking extents
[3/7] checking free space cache
block group 237318963200 has wrong amount of free space, free space cache has 4096 block group has 1073737728
failed to load free space cache for block group 237318963200
[4/7] checking fs roots
[5/7] checking only csums items (without verifying data)
[6/7] checking root refs
[7/7] checking quota groups
check/qgroup-verify.c:546: account_all_refs: BUG_ON `ref->num_bytes != num_bytes` triggered, value 1
btrfs(+0x1a65d)[0x5562f180265d]
btrfs(qgroup_verify_all+0x5ad)[0x5562f18037ad]
btrfs(+0x49ffa)[0x5562f1831ffa]
btrfs(main+0x8e)[0x5562f17fe0be]
/usr/lib/libc.so.6(__libc_start_main+0xd5)[0x7f90c386bb25]
btrfs(_start+0x2e)[0x5562f17fe3ee]
zsh: abort sudo btrfs check /dev/sda2
Should I do:
sudo btrfs check --repair /dev/sdYN
I am a bit reluctant as you might understand. I have no idea if the fsarchiver backup works…
Thank you.
Another update.
Did the following at night because it takes a long time to complete:
WARNING:
Full balance without filters requested. This operation is very
intense and takes potentially very long. It is recommended to
use the balance filters to narrow down the scope of balance.
Use 'btrfs balance start --full-balance' option to skip this
warning. The operation will start in 10 seconds.
Use Ctrl-C to stop it.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Starting balance without any filters.
ERROR: error during balancing '/mnt/17243299-2eab-4c05-9d27-76b0968b95e5': Read-only file system
There may be more info in syslog - try dmesg | tail
After a reboot I got multiple errors regarding not being able to write certain files and configs.Another reboot and my system was gone. It goes straight to the cli with emergency mode or whatever. Then I tried:
~ sudo btrfs check --repair /dev/sda2 32 ✘
enabling repair mode
WARNING:
Do not use --repair unless you are advised to do so by a developer
or an experienced user, and then only after having accepted that no
fsck can successfully repair all types of filesystem corruption. Eg.
some software or hardware bugs can fatally damage a volume.
The operation will start in 10 seconds.
Use Ctrl-C to stop it.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Starting repair.
Opening filesystem to check...
Checking filesystem on /dev/sda2
UUID: 17243299-2eab-4c05-9d27-76b0968b95e5
[1/7] checking root items
Fixed 0 roots.
[2/7] checking extents
No device size related problem found
[3/7] checking free space cache
cache and super generation don't match, space cache will be invalidated
[4/7] checking fs roots
[5/7] checking only csums items (without verifying data)
[6/7] checking root refs
[7/7] checking quota groups
Counts for qgroup id: 0/256 are different
our: referenced 9621086208 referenced compressed 9621086208
disk: referenced 9621086208 referenced compressed 9621086208
our: exclusive 7467597824 exclusive compressed 7467597824
disk: exclusive 7519490048 exclusive compressed 7519490048
diff: exclusive -51892224 exclusive compressed -51892224
Counts for qgroup id: 0/257 are different
our: referenced 90903420928 referenced compressed 90903420928
disk: referenced 90903420928 referenced compressed 90903420928
our: exclusive 90657878016 exclusive compressed 90657878016
disk: exclusive 90903420928 exclusive compressed 90903420928
diff: exclusive -245542912 exclusive compressed -245542912
Counts for qgroup id: 0/1308 are different
our: referenced 55400407040 referenced compressed 55400407040
disk: referenced 55400407040 referenced compressed 55400407040
our: exclusive 158294016 exclusive compressed 158294016
disk: exclusive 158343168 exclusive compressed 158343168
diff: exclusive -49152 exclusive compressed -49152
Counts for qgroup id: 0/1327 are different
our: referenced 55405174784 referenced compressed 55405174784
disk: referenced 55405174784 referenced compressed 55405174784
our: exclusive 162963456 exclusive compressed 162963456
disk: exclusive 163110912 exclusive compressed 163110912
diff: exclusive -147456 exclusive compressed -147456
Counts for qgroup id: 0/1360 are different
our: referenced 55326171136 referenced compressed 55326171136
disk: referenced 55326171136 referenced compressed 55326171136
our: exclusive 659464192 exclusive compressed 659464192
disk: exclusive 659742720 exclusive compressed 659742720
diff: exclusive -278528 exclusive compressed -278528
Counts for qgroup id: 0/1379 are different
our: referenced 55596335104 referenced compressed 55596335104
disk: referenced 55596335104 referenced compressed 55596335104
our: exclusive 635240448 exclusive compressed 635240448
disk: exclusive 635666432 exclusive compressed 635666432
diff: exclusive -425984 exclusive compressed -425984
Counts for qgroup id: 0/1453 are different
our: referenced 55885750272 referenced compressed 55885750272
disk: referenced 55885750272 referenced compressed 55885750272
our: exclusive 5589934080 exclusive compressed 5589934080
disk: exclusive 5591076864 exclusive compressed 5591076864
diff: exclusive -1142784 exclusive compressed -1142784
Counts for qgroup id: 0/1807 are different
our: referenced 58500378624 referenced compressed 58500378624
disk: referenced 58500378624 referenced compressed 58500378624
our: exclusive 21319680 exclusive compressed 21319680
disk: exclusive 21368832 exclusive compressed 21368832
diff: exclusive -49152 exclusive compressed -49152
Counts for qgroup id: 0/1844 are different
our: referenced 59422535680 referenced compressed 59422535680
disk: referenced 59422535680 referenced compressed 59422535680
our: exclusive 32641024 exclusive compressed 32641024
disk: exclusive 32657408 exclusive compressed 32657408
diff: exclusive -16384 exclusive compressed -16384
Counts for qgroup id: 0/1849 are different
our: referenced 60628021248 referenced compressed 60628021248
disk: referenced 60628021248 referenced compressed 60628021248
our: exclusive 107646976 exclusive compressed 107646976
disk: exclusive 107663360 exclusive compressed 107663360
diff: exclusive -16384 exclusive compressed -16384
Counts for qgroup id: 0/1853 are different
our: referenced 60784132096 referenced compressed 60784132096
disk: referenced 60784132096 referenced compressed 60784132096
our: exclusive 137179136 exclusive compressed 137179136
disk: exclusive 137195520 exclusive compressed 137195520
diff: exclusive -16384 exclusive compressed -16384
Repair qgroup 0/256
Repair qgroup 0/257
Repair qgroup 0/1308
Repair qgroup 0/1327
Repair qgroup 0/1360
Repair qgroup 0/1379
Repair qgroup 0/1453
Repair qgroup 0/1807
Repair qgroup 0/1844
Repair qgroup 0/1849
Repair qgroup 0/1853
Repair qgroup status item
found 202853998592 bytes used, no error found
total csum bytes: 187146536
total tree bytes: 3096428544
total fs tree bytes: 2673704960
total extent tree bytes: 203653120
btree space waste bytes: 504208859
file data blocks allocated: 723639857152
referenced 309573853184
That didn’t work either. So the problem is my btrfs partition is in read only mode i guess. Now the question is how to change that back to rw. Fstab look normal with rw option in the line:
# /dev/sda2
UUID=17243299-2eab-4c05-9d27-76b0968b95e5 / btrfs rw,noatime,compress=lzo,ssd,space_cache,commit=120,subvol=@ 0 0
# /dev/sda2
UUID=17243299-2eab-4c05-9d27-76b0968b95e5 /home btrfs rw,noatime,compress=lzo,ssd,space_cache,commit=120,subvol=@home 0 0
I’ve managed to backup my home folder so (most) configs are saved. any ideas?
Since quota was the problem, then there could be set a limit while repairing. And if a limit is set, no file can be written.
Hmm - never heard that before.
One thing to understand is that clonezilla is an advanced form of dd.
How am I going to put this?
Do not run clonezilla within the environment to be cloned - based on how btrfs are handling the filesystem - I suspect you will get weird errors - no particular in mind.
To clone an entire device controlled by btrfs - I suggest you to boot an independent system - then use that system to do the bitwise cloning of the device using by clonezilla.
I have no intimate knowledge of the brrfs filesystem but I suspect that when you try to image the filesystem from within a booted system you are going to get into some issues - and because of my lack of intimate knowledge I would do some kind of cold-backup for a filesystem like btrfs.
