Proactive backup not rotating through media set members

[dangermouse]

I have a number of proactive scripts. Some backup to a media set with two 1TB USB hard drives and Retrospect correctly alternates between the two, which are for the moment both permanently connected.

 

Other scripts do a similar thing, but the media sets each contain 3 members. These are all removable Iomega Rev disks. Whilst the backups themselves run perfectly fine every time, it always goes on to set up the next schedule using the same member instead of moving on to the next member in the set.

 

I did manage to force it, by removing the most recently used (and intended for next use) disk from the set. At some point between then and when the schedule was due, the schedule changed correctly to the least recently used member remaining in the set. I then reintroduced the removed member. Meanwhile, the script should have scheduled the third member, but did not, scheduling instead the same one as it just used. So I have successfully cured it's obsession with one member, only to see it replaced for an obsession with another.

 

This problem applies to all the scripts using the various Rev disks as members. Each script has it's own three members to its own Media Set.

 

Is this a known bug? I searched but could not find any mention.

[Mayoff]

Retrospect is designed to write to the 1-media set disk until that disk fills up. It won't request the 2-media set disk until the first disk is full.

 

If you want a different disk for different days, then you should have a media set for each disk.

[dangermouse]

Sorry, I'm in idiot mode again. I'm doing what you said, I just said it all wrong. I think I got confused over the terminology and use of the term 'member'.

 

Each script is set to use three Media Sets. Each set has only the one member. I want the script to use media set '1-disk one', set '1-disk two' and then set '1-disk 3'. It keeps trying to use set '1-disk one' all the time.

 

The rest of what I said is correct. If I remove the chosen Media Set from the script, it'll move on to the next one, correctly choosing the one with the least recent backup. But it then gets stuck on that one.

[Mayoff]

can you post a screenshot or two of what you see. It will make it more clear for me.

[dangermouse]

Thanks for the help.

 

Please see attached files:

Schedule.jpg shows the weekly backups of photos. It has scheduled set 'photos one' again, pending now, even though it used the same set last week.

 

Photos one, two and three show which backups have been performed to the various sets, and that photos one is not the proper choice. Photos two is older, photos three has never been used.

 

Script.jpg shows the script with the Media Sets selected.

 

Hope that helps, and thanks again.

[Maser]

Am I wrong and that this *shouldn't* work?

 

I thought the only reason to have multiple "Media Sets" within a script would be if you had multiple *external disks* that you were plugging in on specific days.

 

Not to have it "rotate" the media sets within the same script?

 

If you wanted to have all 3 media sets on the same external disk and rotate between them, you'd have to have 3 different scripts on 3 different schedules, wouldn't you?

[dangermouse]

Each of these sets is a separate, removable, Rev disk for an external Iomega Rev drive. I want the proactive backup to use each of the disks in turn so they are all reasonably up-to-date. I then semi-regularly rotate one off-site.

 

I have another script with two separate 1TB USB HD's listed as the two media sets to use. That script runs daily, and it makes one backup per day, and it alternates between the two drives as I hoped.

 

I don't see the difference between the 3 removable disks and the 2 USB drives.

[Mayoff]

The Media Sets>Members screen is really what we would want to see to learn more about the media request. The Activities>Executing screen may also be helpful

 

If the proactive script has 3 media sets, then it should accept any of the 3 media sets, if they all have free space on the members.

 

Is 1-photos one inserted and mounted to the desktop?

[dangermouse]

Requested screen shots attached.

 

'Photos one' was not in the drive, as I didn't want it to wander off and use it. Since you said it should use whatever was there, I have inserted 'photos three', since that's the one that's not been used yet. It is mounted according to Finder. So far, Retrospect has ignored it, and the status shows as 'needs media'.

 

The Members.jpg screenshot shows the member for set one, two and three correspond with this, showing their respective members as two and three, so I did not grab them separately. The top part shows that all sets have only one member.

 

[Mayoff]

Photo's one already is stuck in a Media request. It can't try to use Photos three until you stop the backup that is waiting for media.

[dangermouse]

Last time it correctly used photos three. Once complete, it promptly scheduled another backup using photos three for 7 days later (this is a weekly schedule). It remained intending to use photos three all the time, and is now trying to execute.

 

The problem is once it finishes a backup, it immediately commits to the next backup, reusing the same set. So it will always remain stuck. This is the same issue with the 3 other scripts that use the Rev drive (each with it's own 3 disk sets).

 

This is what I tried last time. I decided not to argue with it and let it reuse the set, hoping it would then move on, but it does not.

 

I'll give it the one it wants now, and post screenshots of the reschedule and you'll see more what I mean.

[dangermouse]

Well that didn't take long, just a quick incremental backup. I gave it disk one, it spotted it and did the backup, and now as you can see from the screenshot it's scheduled to run again in 7 days, using the same set. Still ignoring the old set and the empty set.

[Mayoff]

If you set the script preferences to 7 days, then it will not backup any specific source more then once every 7 days, no matter what media you have inserted.

 

If you want to have a media rotation using a single script, then set the options to backup clients more frequently. Otherwise, Have a different script for each destination, with the same source list.

[dangermouse]

I'm perfectly happy with the 7 days, I just want it to use the next media set listed in the script. Every 7 days, run the backup to the least recently used Media Set listed as available Media Sets in the script.

 

If you look at the last screen shot, you can see it has run the backup to photos one, then correctly scheduled the next run for 7 days later. But it intends to use the same media. Why am I able to add multiple media sets if it wont use them? Are they for when the first runs out of room? I that that's what multiple members in a set was for.

 

Is this something it simply doesn't do, as suggested by another responder earlier?

 

If I have to make 3 scripts, each running at 21 day intervals and each using only one of these media sets, I would get the desired result. But then what, exactly, is the point of proactive? How would this be different from a regular script?

 

And why does this work fine on my two USB hard drives, just not on the Rev's?

[dangermouse]

I upgraded to the newer Retrospect, and still have the same behaviour. I'd like to know if this is really normal behaviour, or something that will get fixed.

 

[Mayoff]

Even with the screenshots and descriptions, I think something is being lost in translation (between my ears).

 

I think it is worth giving us a call so we can talk with you about the strategy and what you are seeing. A bug may be in all of this, but talking to a tech will help narrow down what is expected or not expected.

 

Support is free for all 8.0 users right now.