Can't finish backup, locks my dvd drive open.

[Guest]

I have a QPS 80Meg firewire drive, model Ox340, that used to handle my backups flawlessly but since getting Retrospect 6.01, the BackUp times-out and requests me to insert a DVD/CD into my iMac's Superdrive to finish the back up of about 40 Mb. (It varies every time I use it). This ALWAYS locks up my drive in an open position while requesting me to insert a disc. My only solution is to cancel the BackUp. My operating system is OSX 10.4.4. Why doesn't the backup finish on my external drive, along with the catalog, like the old version used to. It has more than enough room. The program seems to want to put the catalog file on my computers drive, a place I don't want it in case I crash. I haven't been able to backup anything since I got this Upgrade and Dantz refuses to anwer my previous three requests for help.

[Guest]

This is the log of the failed result of my attempt to backup. Maybe it will help clarify the previous post. As you can see, I have 30.9 GB yet to copy but it refuses to put it in my external drive and locks up my DVD/RW drive once more.

 

Running Custom Configuration tests on PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-104 at 1/18/2006 9:08 PM

1/18/2006 9:08:12 PM: Setup test: Successful

1/18/2006 9:08:12 PM: Default setup test: Successful

1/18/2006 9:08:12 PM: Drive type test: Successful

1/18/2006 9:08:12 PM: Drive initialization test: Successful

1/18/2006 9:08:18 PM: Disc information test: Failed

- 1/18/2006 9:08:18 PM: Custom Configuration tests: Failed

1/18/2006 9:08:26 PM: Execution stopped by operator.

Remaining: 365142 files, 30.9 GB

Completed: 0 files, zero KB

Performance: 0.0 MB/minute

Duration: 00:10:49 (00:10:39 idle/loading/preparing)

[Guest]

Apparently my problem is of insufficient importance to warrant an answer from Dantz Tech support. I've wasted countless emails sent directly to Dantz, not including this forum, with absolutely no response from anyone. Apparently my problem is so obscure that no-one else has ever experienced it. If I could find another Backup program, I would buy it in an instant. I guess I'll just have to kiss my $80. goodbye.

[nekr0phage]

Hi Emond,

 

Retrospect places the catalog file on your hard drive so that it has a centralized reference for matching source files and other basic operations. This is common with every type of backup set except File backup sets. If your hard drive crashes you can recreate the catalog file from the backup media. So this is not something that you should worry too much about.

 

I'm unclear as to exactly what you mean when you say, "This ALWAYS locks up my drive in an open position..." Do you mean the eject button is non responsive? This can happen with some devices as Retrospect revokes requests for control to any process aside from Retrospect in order to maintain the integrity of the backup operation. Have you tried giving the drive a little nudge to see if it will close?

 

As you can see in the log segment you posted, custom configuration of the drive failed. The Pioneer DVR-104 is already a supported device for Retrospect, so you should not need to use the configuration option. Try deleting any files named "deviceXX" from /Library/Preferences/Retrospect and then run the backup again. Also - Retrospect does not support the use of CD media with this drive. Best performance is generally achieved when using DVD+RW media, and recommended brands include TDK and Verbatim.

 

I'm sorry to see that no one had responded to you previously. As you can see by my registration date, I was not active in the forums when you initially posted.