Four problematic usability questions:

[cooterbrown]

1 - Why if I back up to retrospect do I have to open retrospect to retrieve a file? In some instances I know what disk I need. It wastes time to open the program and let it do it's little thing then have it let me know what disk it needs. But if I try to retrieve straight from the disk - the disk shows me one file.

 

2 - Why after I retrieve and close Retrospect - I can't eject my disk. In some instances I need to reboot my computer. Why?

 

3 - Why if I choose Desktop as my retrieval folder - it saves to my desktop in OS9 and I have to go hunting for it?

 

4 - Why does it take 3 days to back up 30 gigs?

 

I bought this version before I tried it - admittedly - because I owned a previous version 5 years ago and it worked flawlessly. I am just absolutely befuddled as to how a product can unravel over time.

 

Help!

[CallMeDave]

1 - It's possible that you are using a Removable Backup Set. Retrospect has treated these the same since it was DiskFit on floppys; files are stored in a proprietary format on each disk that requires the program to be used to Restore files.

If you used Retrospect 5 years ago, it behaved exactly the same way.

 

2 - What sort of disks are you using? What are the exact steps that lead you to be unable to eject something?

It's unlikely that you "need" to reboot an OS X machine. Knowing what you're doing might lead others to suggest ways to get around it.

 

3 - Retrospect will Restore files to the Destination you select. If you don't like the location you've selected, select one that you will like better.

 

4 - Why do you post questions to a forum but withhold even a shred of information about your specific configuration?

[cooterbrown]

#1 - When I used it 5 years ago - I backed up to tape. So the program was necessary. My mistake. It's retrospects mistake for realizing folks use their program for backing up and organization - the need to tie users into a proprietary trap is probably overkill.

 

#2 - Using Apple DVD R's 8x speed. I put the disk in>I retrieve information>lots of times I will continue working and sometimes quit program. Either way can't eject DVD. Tonight - I rebooted - hit eject - came right out. The rebootin part is a pain.

 

#3 - No. I picked my desktop file. Not my desktop file in the os partition I never use. This is a bug. Please prove me wrong - then I can fix it. I did find a Reject Media When Quitting preference. But that doesn't fix the problem.

 

#4 - Lots of forums prompt for system information. When I don't see prompts, and I'm in a forum called Desktop for Mac OSX - it sort of begs the question.

[Lennart_T]

#4. How many combinations of Mac models, OS versions, Retrospect versions, network topology, backup media, backup devices etc do you think there is?

 

From How to use this forum :

Quote:

---

Advice for posting questions: A large number of questions are posted each day, and everyone wants a reply to the question they contribute. The following tips will allow for a quicker reply:

 

1) Pick the topic that best matches your configuration

2) Keep the question short. Long posts are often needed, but a short post will be read by more people and will be more likely to get a reply

3) Even in a short post don't forget the details. We need to know what OS you are running, what version number of Retrospect, backup device and any other hardware details you can offer

 

---

 

And you STILL haven't provided any FACTS.

[cooterbrown]

Apple G5/Dual 1.8GHz Power PC

1.25 GB DDR SDRAM

OS 10.4.8

 

Retrospect 6.1.126

 

Saving to Apple DVD

[CallMeDave]

> It's retrospects mistake for realizing folks use their program for backing up and

>organization - the need to tie users into a proprietary trap is probably overkill.

 

Retrospect works the way it does to provide a specific level of functionalilty. If you want a program that works differently, use a different program. But you won't find an optical disk burning backup software that uses disks as efficiently.

 

>I retrieve information>lots of times I will continue working and sometimes quit program. Either

>way can't eject DVD. Tonight - I rebooted - hit eject - came right out. The rebootin part is a pain.

 

When Retrospect is open, the keyboard eject key won't work. This has been discussed on the Forum for years, and remains a limitation of the program. Once you quit Retrospect, the keyboard eject key will work again. You don't need to reboot to eject an optical disk.

While Retrospect is open, you can eject disks from Configure->Devices-Eject

 

> No. I picked my desktop file. Not my desktop file in the os partition I never use. This is a bug.

>Please prove me wrong - then I can fix it.

 

That's not how bug reports work. You need to provide a step-by-step description of what you are doing that results in the unwanted behavior. Then, when others (such as the software engineer responsible for the program) can reproduce it, the bug can be logged and fixed.

 

Even though the Destination Selection window is not a standard Mac OS file dialog, it works reliably and as expected. Logical volumes (partitions) are shown by name, and any subfolder can be defined as a volume and used for any operation (such as Backup or Duplicate).

 

You're doing something wrong.

[Lennart_T]

I haven't used the kind of drive the PowerMac has, so the following may not apply to you.

 

Retrospect uses "packet writing" on DVDs. That's why Retrospect can add more data to a disc until it becomes full (sort of "multi-session"). DVD+R is a more modern format that DVD-R discs and consequently more suitable for packet writing. Try a few DVD+R discs and see it if goes faster. I get around 300-350MB/min using 16x DVD+R discs in my Pioneer DVR-110D drive. I get around 100MB/min using 16x DVD-R discs. Your milage may vary.

[cooterbrown]

Thanks Lennart - I will try that.

 

Dave - your a gem. With 2582 posts to your credit - you can write a bug report. You have time, I don't. Your also wrong that the eject button does work after I quit the program. Wrong wrong wrong. Wrong.

[CallMeDave]

> Dave - your a gem

 

Thanks. My mother agrees.

 

> With 2582 posts to your credit - you can write a bug report. You have time, I don't.

 

I can write one when I want to.

But I would never claim to have discovered a bug without providing the minimum amount of background. Such a claim would be worthless, and waste the time of anyone reading it.

 

> Your also wrong that the eject button does work after I quit the program

 

Since you continue to refuse to provide your complete hardware configuration ("Apple DVD?" What's that? Apple doesn't manufacture optical drives; all the drives that they use have specific manufacture and model information available for them), I can only explain how the software works on properly configured hardware. You wanna provide steps that result in a disk failing to eject, I (and others) could try those steps here and see if your situation is abnormal.

 

> Wrong wrong wrong. Wrong.

 

Agreed.

 

Dave