Retrospect 6.1.126 on Mac mini (10.4.11) "incompatible"

[dougbehrens 0]

I'm trying to restore some old files on CD-Rs and DVDs. I go to> Restore > Search files and folders>click on the back up set I want>choose Destination>pick the files I want to restore> Retrospect tells me which disc to insert into drive and it shows my drive has "No Media"> I insert the prober disc>Loading>Ready>Incompatible

I've done this with 3 or 4 back-up sets and discs and get the same results.

Any ideas on how to get the files I need off my discs?

Thanks...

[dougbehrens 0]

Also want to mention that the original discs were created on another MAChine that is dead. I bought the Mac mini so I could run Retrospect 6.

Thanks...

[DavidHertzberg 63]

dougbehrens,

You need to tell us:

• The Macintosh model the CD-Rs and DVDs were originally created on
• The manufacturer,  model, and interface type of the drive they were created on—if it was a drive external to that Macintosh
• The Mac Mini model (year of manufacture) you are now trying to read the CD-Rs and DVDs on
• The manufacturer,  model, and interface type of the drive you are now trying to read the CD-Rs and DVDs on—if it is a drive external to this Mac Mini

You next need to look up the Mac Mini drive in the Retrospect storage devices Compatibility Table, by Manufacturer and Model and Interface Type.  Double-check that the device you have, if it is compatible with Retrospect currently (not necessarily in Retrospect Mac 6.1), is compatible with the types of CD-Rs and DVDs you want it to read.

If the drive isn't in the Compatibility Table but is compatible with the types of CD-Rs and DVDs you want it to read,  you need to read "Configuring CD/DVD Drives" on pages 33-35 of the Retrospect Mac 6 User's Guide, and do what it says.  The top of page 32 says "No Media indicates there is no disc in the drive."  You will need a blank CD-R and DVD of the types you want to read.

BTW, your having written "another MAChine that is dead" shows your complete unfamiliarity with Macintoshes.  The all-upper-case acronym MAC stands for Media Access Control, which is a type of hardware address that has nothing to do specifically with Macintoshes—although Macintoshes like Windows and Linux machines have MAC addresses.  To think MAC has something to do with Macintoshes is an error frequently made by Windows users.

[dougbehrens 0]

David,

Thanks for responding to my question. I will do my best to answer your questions.

•  I started out backing up to CD-Rs and then moved on to DVDs once they came on the market. The machine I used was a Mac G3 tower (blue) and then continued on a Mac G5 tower (silver) which was running Tiger when it died.

• I used the drive that came in the machines. Don't know who built them but they came from Apple with the machines.

• The Mac Mini I have is: Model Number: A1103, Model Identifier: PowerMac 10,1 > PowerPC G4 (1.4) > 1.25 GHz

• I'm trying to use the internal drive that came with the Mac mini. Retrospect identifies the drive as: Panasonic CD-RW, ATAPI-A:0:0.; In the Retrospect Compatibility Table it looks like all the Panasonic drives that are listed as Apple Version are Qualified. I can't find anywhere including System Profiler the model of the drive.

• The drive in the Mac mini reads other, non Retrospect, discs CD-RW ands DVDs.

Thanks for the lesson in Media Access Control. The only reason I used MAChine is to say that the machine that died was a MACintosh. I've been using Macintoshes exclusively since they first came out.

I really appreciate the help.

Doug

 

[dougbehrens 0]

David,

With further research it looks like the drive that is in the MacMini is listed as: MATSHITA... the Driver is Panasonic CR-RW (5.10)

In the Retrospect Compatibility Table MATSHITA is not listed but under Panasonic>ATAPI>CD-RW there is a listing for: Matsushita LF-D233A which says there is No Support.

So I will do what you suggested: If the drive isn't in the Compatibility Table but is compatible with the types of CD-Rs and DVDs you want it to read,  you need to read "Configuring CD/DVD Drives" on pages 33-35 of the Retrospect Mac 6 User's Guide, and do what it says.

I'll give it a go and let you know how it goes.

Thanks again,

Doug

[DavidHertzberg 63]

dougbehrens,

First, to get it out of the way, the company now known as Panasonic was previously known (from 1918 on) as Matsushita.  They originally adopted the U.S. brand name Panasonic because—in 1961—Matsushita sounded too, well, Japanese.   MATSHITA is an abbreviation of Matsushita that fits in 8 characters.

I found the specs for your Mac Mini on everymac.com.  My original suspicion was that its newer CD-RW/DVD optical drive could not read CD-R discs, but AFAICT that should not be true.  However, if you look here, your old Retrospect backup discs may have exceeded their usable lifespan. 

I'd suggest buying a small number of new CD-R discs on Amazon, backing up at least a Subvolume (IIRC the Retrospect Mac 6 name for Favorite Folder) from your Mac Mini onto CD-R, and trying to restore it.  If that works, you may be SOL in trying to restore your old files.  However if it doesn't work, you might consider buying this or the equivalent.  If—after using the cleaning disk—you can write and read back files using ordinary OS X 10.4 facilities but not Retrospect 6.1, you'll need to try the configuration procedure on pages 33-35 of the Retrospect Mac 6 UG.

BTW a couple of hours ago I found a CD-R burned in 2004 containing a couple of software apps.  I fired up my ex-wife's Digital Audio G4 (she asked me to save it for her when she switched to a PowerBook after moving out), which dates from around 2001, and—after persuading the balky drive door to open— successfully opened the CD-R in order to view the files.

P.S.: Expanded third paragraph with two additional sentences; added fourth paragraph.

Edited November 24, 2018 by DavidHertzberg
Expanded third paragraph with two additional sentences; added fourth paragraph.

[DavidHertzberg 63]

dougbehrens,

First of all, the DVD-RW drive on my ex-wife's Digital Audio G4 is a Pioneer DVR-103, not a Matsushita drive.

Second, if after cleaning you can neither write nor read back files to/from a CD-R disc using ordinary OS X 10.4 facilities, you may have to buy an external optical drive; the drive in your Mac Mini may be effectively dead.

[dougbehrens 0]

I'm not sure it's the discs because up to a couple of weeks ago I was able to get data off the old CDs and the DVDs with Retrospect on an old G4 laptop that has recently died. 

I just tried using Retrospect to to back a couple random files. I was able to back up and restore with no problem to a DVD. 

I was originally trying to restore from CD-Rs that were created in 2001 (Backup set 1)with no luck. I had a backup set of Backup set 1 (Backup set 2) and it also would not work. I just tried an more recent backup set from 2002 (Back up set 3) and it works fine... as I moved through my backup sets no other discs worked all the way up to my most recent.

I don't see how all the discs could have failed at once. I'm tempted to buy a new optical drive. Any suggestions? Will most work with an old MacMini? I checked out Amazon and got confused with all the choices.

Thanks for your help.

Doug

[DavidHertzberg 63]

3 hours ago, dougbehrens said:

I'm not sure it's the discs because up to a couple of weeks ago I was able to get data off the old CDs and the DVDs with Retrospect on an old G4 laptop that has recently died. 

I just tried using Retrospect to to back a couple random files. I was able to back up and restore with no problem to a DVD. 

....

....

....

Doug

It sounds to me as if the optical drive on your newly-acquired Mac Mini is having problems reading CD-Rs, as distinct from DVDs, at least using Retrospect 6.1.  That's why I suggested buying some new CD-Rs and writing to them and reading them back, first with ordinary OS X 10.4 facilities and then with Retrospect 6.1.  If the writing-reading doesn't work with OS X 10.4 facilities, the drive is either dead or doesn't work with CD-Rs.  If the writing-reading just doesn't work with Retrospect 6.1, you should try the configuration procedure on pages 33-35 of the Retrospect Mac 6 UG.

Per a fast look via Google, you can buy USB 2 drives for anywhere from $20 to $60.  Be sure you get one that can read CD-Rs, not just DVDs, and preferably one that you can easily RMA if it doesn't work.

[dougbehrens 0]

Ordered cleaner and discs...I'll see how its goes.

Thanks again for you help.

Doug

 

[Nigel Smith 10]

Doug,

Have you got access to another Mac with a CD/DVD drive and a Firewire connection? Doesn't matter what it is -- you may even be able to use that old G4 laptop, depending on what died.

What you might be able to do is:

1. Start the other Mac up in Target Disk mode (hold down the T key at startup)
2. Connect it to your Mac Mini with Firewire
3. Both the HD *and* the optical drive will then be available to the Mac Mini as external drives

Then put the disks into the other Mac's optical drive when prompted by RS on the Mini.

Might get you round any drive problems without requiring a trip to Ebay.

Nige

[dougbehrens 0]

I have an older MacBook Pro with an optical drive. I connected both MacBook Pro and MacMini via firewire cable.  I started the MacBook Pro in Target Disk mode... got the Firewire logo moving around on the MacBook screen and the MacBook hard drive icon on MacMini screen.

Went to the MacMini and started Retrospect > Immediate > Restore > Search Files and Folders > picked my BackUp and Destination > picked the files I wanted to download.  Only the MacMini optical disk shows up in the Retrospect dialog box. In Retrospect I went to Configure > Devices... and only the MacMini optical drive is showing up.

Is there a step I missed? How do I get Retrospect on the MacMini to see the optical drive in the MacBook Pro?

Thanks for your help,

Doug

[Lennart_T 149]

6 minutes ago, dougbehrens said:

How do I get Retrospect on the MacMini to see the optical drive in the MacBook Pro?

This might help:

https://support.apple.com/HT203973

[dougbehrens 0]

Sorry but I don't read Sweedish. Do you have an English link?

[DavidHertzberg 63]

12 hours ago, dougbehrens said:

Sorry but I don't read Sweedish. Do you have an English link?

I don't read Swedish either, but I Googled "Apple HT203973" (without the quotes) and got this.

[Lennart_T 149]

12 hours ago, dougbehrens said:

Sorry but I don't read Sweedish. Do you have an English link?

Rats. I was sure I posted a non-language-specific link.  

I try again: https://support.apple.com/HT203973

 

At bottom right you can change the language on most Apple's support pages.

Or you could just removed the language part of the URL.

[dougbehrens 0]

Thanks for the English link. I was able to connect my MacBookPro with the MacMini. On the MacMini I have access to the MacBookPro HD... but no where can I see access to the optical drive. I put a disk in the MacBook Pro optical drive that has files on it and the icon for the disk does not show up anywhere. In Retrospect on the MacMini the MacBook Pro optical drive does not show up in Devices.

In the instructions you sent, at the bottom it says: 

If you can't use a shared disc

If your Mac already has a built-in optical drive, or an external optical drive connected, you won't see the Remote Disc feature appear in the Finder or other apps.

Does this mean I can't share the MacBook Pro optical disk with the MacMini because it has it's own optical drive?

Really appreciate your help.

[Nigel Smith 10]

It's more likely that Retrospect doesn't get direct-enough access to the drive hardware for this to work. Worth a try to save some money, but I hope I didn't encourage you to waste too much time on it.

Options:

• Get a compatible external drive
• Replace the internal drive in the Mini (sample iFixit teardown here)
• Do the restores on another Mac on which you can install or migrate Retrospect

But I'm not sure any of that will help. If I'm getting the above right:

1. Retrospect on the Mini works fine creating then restoring from a new DVD
2. It doesn't work for 2001 (Sets 1 and 2) (CD-Rs)
3. It does work for 2003 (Set 3) (CD-Rs)
4. It doesn't work for anything more recent than 2003 (CD-Rs?)

...which implies it is a problem with the media rather than the drive -- I'm not sure that e.g. an alignment problem would cause failure on some but not all CDs. CD-Rs can degrade surprisingly quickly in the real world, unless you've used expensive "archival grade" media, and retrieving data from 10-15+ years-old disks will always be a dodgy proposition.

I never used RS much with optical media, so hopefully the David and Lennart will chime in here: Could you use Disk Utility to image the CD-R, then burn that image off to another disk that could be read by RS? I guess there's a slim chance that the OS's disk access routines are more robust/forgiving than RS's, allowing you to recreate a CD that's readable by RS.

Nige

[DavidHertzberg 63]

dougbehrens,

I'm by no means a hardware expert, although I've done a couple of easy replacements on my Macs over the years.  The iFixit instructions for Mac Mini optical drive replacement Nigel Smith linked-to look rather hairy to me.

If all else fails, you could snail-mail the CD-Rs to me for attempted reading on my ex-wife's Digital Audio G4.  You would have to pack the CD-Rs lovingly, and include with them one or two USB2 thumb drives of suitable capacity.  You would also have to include an informal but legally binding letter to me; it would state that I make no promises beyond my best efforts as to getting results or preserving the CD-Rs, will make no charge other than return postage, and promise to make no copy for my own use of any files that I manage to recover from the CD-Rs.  PM me if you're interested.