VXA tape trouble and warning
I am having troubles with my VXA tapes and thought I'd pass on some signs, symptoms and a warning. The warning: Don't powercycle the VXA drive with a tape in it. Ecrix confirms that one is *likely* to destroy or lose some header information and the tape *may* then be recognized by RS as ERASED. There is no way to recover the umpteen gigs of info that are already on the tape at this point. Let me hear you all say redundant backups three times real fast right now! The trouble: Lost communications between the computer and the VXA drive. Backup will stall in the middle for various reasons (client dropped off the network, 519 errors, slow response...). RS will still be trying to run the backup and I've been able to stop the backup. Upon starting any backup to the tape at this point, the VXA drive is unrecognized (no SCSI drive recognition while RS scans the bus). I then restarted the computer, and powercycled the drive (tape still in it, as it wouldn't eject using the front panel). Tape is now unrecognized by RS and is listed as "erased" when it is inserted. Neither RS nor ECRIX have any solution (they reviewed the RS log files and their own log files from the drive), although ECRIX said they thought RS was working on communications problems with the drive, this was not confirmed by RS support. Haven't solved the communications problem yet, but if anyone has suggestions, I'm looking for answers. Suspects are SCSI cables (easy to check, just haven't traded them out yet). System: beige G3, MacOS 9.0.4, RS 4.3, external VXA on built-in SCSI bus with a CD-R following it on the same bus (cables are all short). -- Bob Durst Note my new e-mail address: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please update your address book to reflect the change. Visit my web site: http://fst.orst.edu/bob_durst/ -- -- To subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives:http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/ Search: http://www.mail-archive.com/retro-talk%40latchkey.com/ For urgent issues, please contact Dantz technical support directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 925.253.3050.
519 Error disconnects ASIP server
Just encountered a bad situation. I had turned off file and mail servers on my ASIP server to run a RS backup. During the backup something happened and RS shows a 519 error and of course quit backing up. Upon checking on the server, I discovered that it was running just fine, but no longer thought that it was connected to ethernet. Trying to reconnect it from the CP was futile, as it would never make the connection. I was forced to restart the server to reestablish a network connection. Backups of Share points have been occurring flawlessly for some time. Anyone have a clue what might have happened and how to prevent this in the future? We had been having trouble with backups failing and thought that we had solved the problem (bad VXA drive), but some of the symptoms earlier are frighteningly similar to what just occurred. Configuration: ASIP 6.3.3 on G4 with 9.0.4 with the latest upgrades. RS 4.3 running on a separate Mac (ASIP is a client). Server had been up for 10 days when this occurred. -- Bob Durst Note my new e-mail address: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please update your address book to reflect the change. Visit my web site: http://fst.orst.edu/bob_durst/ -- -- To subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives:http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/ Search: http://www.mail-archive.com/retro-talk%40latchkey.com/ For urgent issues, please contact Dantz technical support directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 925.253.3050.
Backing up Appleshare server
I have looked thru the ASIP list archives and Dantz's site, but I don't find clear directions or suggestions for backing up an Appleshare server. I'm cross posting this to the ASIP list also. Is there a FAQ about this somewhere? I'm new to ASIP and must make sure that I have good backups (and know how to restore from them!) just in case of disaster. I will be running ASIP file, print, web and mail services on the machine and could run RS on that machine or on a separate machine as necessary. The ASIP server will be servicing a small university department with about 30 clients (mix of Mac and Win) with light traffic. I'm confused by the RS manual (version 4 third edition) since it talks about scripts for stopping mail services for instance, but these are not present in my installation (where did they go?). The RS manual also references chapter 6 of the ASIP manual, but there is no printed manual, only the on-line help. There are no specific directions for using RS that I have been able to find there. I will also be using RS to back up client machines if that makes any difference in the suggestions. Any and all suggestions are welcome. I will summarize to the lists as appropriate. System: G4; OS 9.0.4; ASIP 6.3; external VXA tape drive; Retrospect 4.3 -- -Bob D. Builder and Pilot of Kinetic Sculpture Vehicle "Killer Tomato" Visit my web site (http://www.bcc.orst.edu/~durstb/ )for pictures and additional info. -- -- To subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives:http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/ Problems?: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Client not visible
I am in the throws of moving RS from one machine to another. During the testing phase, I have it running on both machines (call them A and B). "A" has RS running and also has the client on it. When "B" is set to back up A, I get a message that A isn't visible on the network (I know it is-RS there works fine). B also seems to loose connections to other clients, as from the clients database, frequently none of the network machines are visible. Selecting Network and then the appropriate OS, clients become visible and then everything is ok. Why do I have to do this manually for RS to see them? Is this a problem with running RS on two machines at the same time? Is there something else I'm missing here. A: Beige G3; 9.0.4; RS 4.3.1; client 4.3 B: G4; 9.0.4; running ASIP; RS 4.3.1 Latest clients on all machines. -- -Bob D. Builder and Pilot of Kinetic Sculpture Vehicle "Killer Tomato" Visit my web site (http://www.bcc.orst.edu/~durstb/ )for pictures and additional info. -- -- To subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives:http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/ Problems?: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Summary: RE: Force a backup
Yes, that works like a charm-thanks Craig. Looks like the cause of the original problem (of having a possibly corrupted file that RS thought was ok) had to do with SCSI voodoo. Changed the chain around (VXA now last) and things now appear to be much better. The additional symptom was that the VXA drive was not getting all of it's commands and was sitting in an unusual mode (LED's 3 and 4 on green always). Ecrix tech support was not of great use, suggesting that I buy a SCSI card and put only the VXA on it. I'm sure that would work, but things ought to work without that added expense. They do now. How does one force a single file to get backed up that RS thinks is already backed up? One way: Launch Retrospect ImmediateBackup Select your source and destination volumes if they're not already selected Click Options Click More Choices Click Matching Uncheck "Match source volumes to catalog" Click OK Now, just select the file you want to back up by clicking on Preview. HTH, Craig -- -- To subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives:http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/ Problems?: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- -Bob D. Builder and Pilot of Kinetic Sculpture Vehicle "Killer Tomato" Visit my web site (http://www.bcc.orst.edu/~durstb/ )for pictures and additional info. -- -- To subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives:http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/ Problems?: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Force a backup
How does one force a single file to get backed up that RS thinks is already backed up? I'm testing a new VXA drive and trying a backup/restore sequence. Backup ran fine and when trying to restore I get one file that won't restore. Log states "File "blah blah" appears incomplete." Don't know what the problem is (I'll work on that also), but I'd like to try to force RS to re-backup the file. Won't do it, because it already thinks the file is backed up and there is no need. Don't want to start over and re-backup the entire disk, nor start a new set just to grab this file, but I'm stumped. -- -Bob D. Builder and Pilot of Kinetic Sculpture Vehicle "Killer Tomato" Visit my web site (http://www.bcc.orst.edu/~durstb/ )for pictures and additional info. -- -- To subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives:http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/ Problems?: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Storage space smarts
Dean Brissinger writes: On a side note, does Retrospect check for identical files between backup clients? I have 30 macs with identical system folders. I really only need to backup those system files once. If retrospect was so smart, I could do full backups site wide and get most efficient coverage with minimal tape space. I note it tends to backup more than it needs to because of volume name, time stamp, etc. Alas, there are files that change their time stamp any time they are accessed. Retrospect has no choice but to back them up unless you use an exclude filter. Is there (or could there be) a filter that allows one to exclude a file based on ONLY a changed date/time stamp? Or maybe better still one that did a further compare (checksum or ...) to decide that it was ok to skip a particular file because it really was backed up already. -- -Bob D. Builder and Pilot of Kinetic Sculpture Vehicle "Killer Tomato" Visit my web site (http://www.bcc.orst.edu/~durstb/ )for pictures and additional info. -- -- To subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives:http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/ Problems?: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Ans: Storage space smarts + new?
Thanks for the 'smart' reply. Glad to see there is some good sense in RS. New related question: Is there a FAQ about how any of these criteria are set? For instance: if file A1 was created on computer 1 and then copied to computer 2 will it meet the 'already backed up criteria' or will the modify date and time be altered or creation date be different? I wouldn't expect any of the criteria to have changed in the above scenario. Does this scenario change if both 1 and 2 are Mac's vs PC's? How about if the file is created on Mac 1 then copied to PC 2? Bob, Retrospect uses several matching criteria to compare files that have already been backed up to what is about to be backed up. If one of the following has been changed at all, Retrospect will back up the file again: MAC files: name, size, type, creator, creation date and time, modify date and time, and label. PC files: name, size, modify date and time, file system. Therefore if the A1 files are identical in all of the ways listed above, there should only be one in your backup set if matching is set to its defaults. Matthew Tevenan Technical Support Specialist Dantz Development Corporation 925.253.3050 [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Bob Durst [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: "retro-talk" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2000 13:14:36 -0700 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Storage space smarts I'm curious as to how smart RS is about storage space on a backup set. I'll outline the simple situation for the experts to explain to me how RS handles it. Computer 1 contains files: A1, B1, C1 Computer 2 contains files: A1, B2, C1 Both are being backed up to the same backup set. In the backup set will there be two copies of A1, and C1 and one each of B1, and B2, or will there only be a single copy of A1 and C1 with pointers in both computers file lists that they each contain A1 and C1 but 1 contains B1 and 2 contains B2? I wouldn't care if the files were small, but if they are BIG it makes a difference. -- -Bob D. Builder and Pilot of Kinetic Sculpture Vehicle "Killer Tomato" Visit my web site (http://www.bcc.orst.edu/~durstb/ )for pictures and additional info. -- -- To subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives:http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/ Problems?: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- -- To subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives:http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/ Problems?: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- -Bob D. Builder and Pilot of Kinetic Sculpture Vehicle "Killer Tomato" Visit my web site (http://www.bcc.orst.edu/~durstb/ )for pictures and additional info. -- -- To subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives:http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/ Problems?: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Storage space smarts
I'm curious as to how smart RS is about storage space on a backup set. I'll outline the simple situation for the experts to explain to me how RS handles it. Computer 1 contains files: A1, B1, C1 Computer 2 contains files: A1, B2, C1 Both are being backed up to the same backup set. In the backup set will there be two copies of A1, and C1 and one each of B1, and B2, or will there only be a single copy of A1 and C1 with pointers in both computers file lists that they each contain A1 and C1 but 1 contains B1 and 2 contains B2? I wouldn't care if the files were small, but if they are BIG it makes a difference. -- -Bob D. Builder and Pilot of Kinetic Sculpture Vehicle "Killer Tomato" Visit my web site (http://www.bcc.orst.edu/~durstb/ )for pictures and additional info. -- -- To subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives:http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/ Problems?: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
moving a CD storage set
Is it possible to move a CD storage set from the proprietary format that Dantz uses into a more universally readable form? I know that it works if one has a storage set on removable media (Zips, Jaz etc.) and then writes the storage set onto CD-R (using Toast to copy the Zips to CD). These are useable by Retro to restore from (reading them in a regular CD-ROM), but I don't know about starting from a CD storage set. Possible scenario: backup on a Dantz certified CD-RW drive onto the CD-RW disk, but when the disk is full, copy (move it...) it off to a CD-R that would be readable (and hence useable for restore) on any CD-ROM drive. Can this be done? -- -Bob D. Builder and Pilot of Kinetic Sculpture Vehicle "Killer Tomato" Visit my web site (http://www.bcc.orst.edu/~durstb/ )for pictures and additional info. -- -- To subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives:http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/ Problems?: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
