FYI, a VM can be made to work…but typically a VM is a nuisance to get to work correctly and not reliable. If you know a lot about the VM it might be possible to use this…I wouldn’t advise relying on it.
If you just flash, use something like this first without attempting to restore a clone (use the same version the clone is from…I’m assuming the size for using the most of eMMC…you can vary this if the clone is from a different size):
sudo ./flash.sh -S 14580MiB jetson-tx1 mmcblk0p1
Then with the clone in place flash as “bootloader/system.img” again flash like this to load the clone:
sudo ./flash.sh <b>-r</b> -S 14580MiB jetson-tx1 mmcblk0p1
When cloning a root partition there may be an implicit requirement that the arrangement of hidden partitions agree with that size…I’m uncertain of any of the details, but the purpose of flashing once normally using matching parameters to the device the clone is from fulfills this requirement.
Cloning can extract any subset of eMMC (including specific partitions other than root partition). Restore can also flash specific subsets of eMMC (typically root partition is the goal). Letting the flash software do all of the rest of the flash should provide a compatible layout of all of the hidden partitions needed prior to handing off to the root partition.
If you have some specific use-case of cloning and restore it might be useful to know more about the exact requirements, including source and destination L4T versions.