I've read through most of the various posts discussing how to clone the internal OS/install onto one of the MMC cards, but I've got a slightly different scenario that I'm toying with here; is it possible to use the same sort of techniques to create an image file that could then be saved and later uploaded to a different N800 using the firmware updater tool that Nokia provides? I understand that it's possible to do this buy recompiling my own version of Maemo on a Linux machine using the toolkits and things, but since I'm not looking for extra kernel modules/etc I'm thinking it would be much easier to take a working install, add some programs and things to it, and then convert it back to an image that I can use incase I get a second N800 or something happens to the first.

The backup app is great, but it won't store things like installed applications, etc right? especially things like the RT-Comm updates, etc.

Thinking out loud here I've used dd to create entire image files before, but to be successful you have to make sure the OS isn't actually DOING anything, which on the IT could be difficult...

Thoughts?