# Clone Linux OS: 250GB Samsung 840 EVO  ?  1TB Crucial MX500

Run this from the **Ubuntu live USB session** (so the source disk is unmounted).
Goal: byte-for-byte clone, grow root to fill 1TB, then physically swap MX500 into the
250GB's SATA slot and boot.

SOURCE = Samsung SSD 840 EVO 250GB   (current root: 1G EFI + ~232G ext4 `/`)
TARGET = Crucial CT1000MX500SSD1 1TB (currently holds Windows — ALREADY BACKED UP on
         the Samsung HD103UJ labelled "SSD 1 Gig New Windows"; safe to wipe)

??  Device letters (sda/sdb/...) WILL be different in the live session. NEVER trust the
    letter. Identify both disks by MODEL/SERIAL via by-id, exactly as below.

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STEP 0 — open a terminal in the live session, become root
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    sudo -i

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STEP 1 — see all disks, then list by stable id
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    lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,MODEL,SERIAL,TRAN,MOUNTPOINT
    ls -l /dev/disk/by-id/ | grep -iE "840_EVO|MX500"

  You want the two whole-disk entries (NOT the ones ending in -part1/-part2):
    SOURCE  ? .../ata-Samsung_SSD_840_EVO_250GB_XXXXXXXX   (?232.9G)
    TARGET  ? .../ata-CT1000MX500SSD1_XXXXXXXX  or  usb-...MX500...  (?931.5G)

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STEP 2 — pin both disks to variables (EDIT to match YOUR by-id names from step 1)
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    SRC=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Samsung_SSD_840_EVO_250GB_XXXXXXXX
    DST=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-CT1000MX500SSD1_XXXXXXXX

  Resolve to real nodes and print, to eyeball them:
    SRCN=$(readlink -f "$SRC"); DSTN=$(readlink -f "$DST")
    echo "SRC=$SRC -> $SRCN" ; echo "DST=$DST -> $DSTN"

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STEP 3 — SANITY CHECKS (do not skip — this is the wrong-disk guard)
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    lsblk "$SRCN" "$DSTN"          # SRC ?232G w/ ext4 root ; DST ?931G w/ NTFS Windows
    mount | grep -E "$SRCN|$DSTN"  # MUST print NOTHING (both unmounted)

  Confirm with your eyes before continuing:
    • SRC is the 250GB Samsung with the ext4 `/`
    • DST is the 1TB MX500 with the Windows/NTFS partitions
  If a mount shows up, unmount it:  umount <that-mountpoint>

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STEP 4 — install the resize helpers (live session has internet)
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    apt-get update && apt-get install -y gdisk cloud-guest-utils e2fsprogs

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STEP 5 — ?? DESTRUCTIVE: clone whole disk (wipes the MX500)
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    dd if="$SRC" of="$DST" bs=64M conv=fsync,noerror status=progress
    sync

  (~250GB read; expect ~20-45 min depending on USB speed. Leave it alone.)

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STEP 6 — fix GPT for the bigger disk, then grow root to fill 1TB
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  Re-resolve DST node (it shouldn't change, but be safe), then:
    DSTN=$(readlink -f "$DST")
    sgdisk -e "$DSTN"           # move backup GPT header to true end of 1TB disk
    partprobe "$DSTN"
    growpart "$DSTN" 2          # grow partition 2 (the ext4 root) to fill free space
    e2fsck -f "${DSTN}2"        # answer y if it offers fixes (clean clone may need none)
    resize2fs "${DSTN}2"        # expand the ext4 filesystem into the grown partition

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STEP 7 — verify
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    lsblk "$DSTN"
  Expect: partition 1 = 1G vfat (EFI), partition 2 = ~999G ext4.
    e2fsck -n "${DSTN}2"        # read-only sanity check, should be clean

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STEP 8 — power off and swap
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    poweroff
  • Physically REMOVE the 250GB Samsung 840 EVO (keep it safe — it's your backup).
  • Install the MX500 into the SAME internal SATA port/slot the 250GB used.
  • Pull out the SanDisk live USB. Power on.

??  Do NOT boot with BOTH the 250GB and the MX500 attached at once — they share the
    same filesystem UUID and EFI id (that's what makes the swap seamless), and having
    both visible to the bootloader can confuse it. One root disk at a time.

  If it boots: log in, run  df -h /  ? should show ~1TB. Done.
  If it does NOT boot: power off, pull the MX500, reinstall the 250GB ? you're exactly
    back where you started (the 250GB was only ever read from). Then we debug.

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NOTES
• Why dd whole-disk: copies the EFI partition, GPT, and ext4 with identical UUIDs, so
  fstab and the EFI boot entry work unchanged once the MX500 sits in the same slot.
• The MX500's Windows is destroyed by step 5 — that's intended; the bootable Windows
  copy lives on the Samsung HD103UJ ("SSD 1 Gig New Windows").
• growpart not found? fallback with gdisk: `gdisk "$DSTN"` ? `p` (note part 2 start) ?
  `d` 2 ? `n` 2 (same start, default end, type 8300) ? `w`, then resize2fs as above.