cp of files reboots phone

[bigbdroid]

When I try to cp the files from /sys/devices/platform my phome reboots without any warning. The code I'm using is

cp -aiv /sys/* /sd-ext/sys

It gives me a whole bunch of errors like cp can't stat 'this or that" no such file or directory, so on and so forth, etc, ad nauseum in the blink of an eye then poof reboot. I was just hoping that someone might have an idea of why this occurs and what I can do to fix this?
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And btw I'm trying to install Debian, but I gotta get through these errors.

 

[anthonycr]

I copy files from my phone all the time, but the code I execute would be.... cp /sys/* /sd-ext/sys
Of course you need to make sure you are in superuser mode, by entering su. An easier way to copy the files is just to get an app like file expert and copy the whole folder onto your sdcard.

 

[bigbdroid]

I tried every way I know. Variants of cp, astro file manager, yaffs explorer, etc. Either I get an error message saying that the opportunity can't be performed or it reboots the phone.

I'm at a complete loss.

edit: I think it's because the directory is looping in. I was told that cm7 kernels can't handle loop devices, but that it could be fixed manually? Any ideas on how?

 

[bigsupersquid]

i should update the xda guide.
firstrun.sh doesn't seem to be required for the chroot to work in an ext partition.
it's been months since i had to tweak anything, and I've done several full wipe rom installs in that time.

cm7 roms appear to get along well with debian without copying any files (except /etc/*) across the operating systems at all!
so trying to copy /sys might be unnecessary.
try formatting your ext partition, and unpacking a fresh copy of the squeeze filesystem.
then in terminal, after mounting the ext partition at /sd-ext,

su
yes n | cp -aiv /etc/* /sd-ext/etc/

then see if it'll "boot" ok without the firstrun script.
the "su" is because Android wants to block anything that might possibly compromise it's system.
i suspect debian'll work ok at that point.
if you make only two comments per day in the general xda forums, it would be about a week before you could post in the dev section and use the debian thread for questions...
edit: btw, it's not cm kernels that won't auto-create loop devices, it's just the iho kernels as far as I've seen.
google "create loop device" if you need to use one.
also, sorry for not getting back to you sooner, I've been mentally incompetent for about a week