Disk Utility "restore" fails with "no such file or directory"

Question

Some time back, perhaps a LONG time ago, I successfully used Disk Utility's "restore" function to "clone" my Mac OS X partition onto an external disk, before I upgraded the OS on my internal drive.
This weekend I tried to do it again, and failed on every attempt.
My first attempt was on my MacBook. At very end (the progress "bar" was all blue) it died saying that there was an error (2), "no such file or directory". I think the external drive probably isn't GUID, which would make it non-bootable, but I'd still think "restore" itself should work.
Okay, let's try my Power Mac G5, which is where it worked several releases ago. Same thing.
Okay, one more try... Booted into safe mode (in case background activity accounts for the missing file/directory), did the restore again, failed again.
I realize that SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner or other tools may be "better", but since this worked once it seems like it still should.
Any ideas?
Doug

Answer 1

Did you:
A. Repair the hard drive and permissions prior to cloning?
B. Erase the destination drive before cloning?
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now shutdown the computer for a couple of minutes and then restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.0 for Tiger) and/or TechTool Pro (4.5.2 for Tiger) to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
How to Clone Using Restore Option of Disk Utility
1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
2. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (journaled, if available) and click on the Erase button. This step can be skipped if the destination has already been freshly erased.
4. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
5. Select the backup or destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the Destination entry field.
6. Select the startup or source volume from the left side list and drag it to the Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
8. Select the destination drive on the Desktop and press COMMAND-I to open the Get Info window. At the bottom in the Ownership and Permissions section be sure the box labeled "Ignore Permissions on this Volume" is unchecked. Verify the settings for Ownership and Permissions as follows: Owner=system with read/write; Group=admin with read/write; Other with read-only. If they are not correct then reset them.
For added precaution you can boot into safe mode before doing the clone.