twinter Posted May 17, 2003 Report Share Posted May 17, 2003 I have had problems with Retrospect ever since upgrading to OS X. I will get an error message: "Can't add to backup set "myname": the catalog is locked." However, the catalog set is not locked when I check in the finder window and I have never locked it at any time. Quitting Retrospect and relaunching 2 or 3 times fixes this. However, I do not find out from Retrospect that the catalog set is "locked" until I attempt to backup, and Retrospect takes about 30 minutes to spin through all my files before it makes this determination, so obviously it is a frustrating and time inefficent "fix". Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Details: I am now running OS 10.2.6 and Retrospect 5.0.238 and driver update 3.5.104. The catalog set is ~270 MB in size and is located on the same internal hard drive that my system folder is located on. Hardware is a G4 867 MHz with 512 MB RAM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CallMeDave Posted May 18, 2003 Report Share Posted May 18, 2003 There have been two other threads here on the Forum with a similar report. http://forums.dantz.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=Desktopworkgrupx&Number=21704 http://forums.dantz.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=Desktopworkgrupx&Number=24606 I suggested to one of the posters that he try and Forget the Backup Set and then open it again from the "More..." button. The poster never posted whether this helped or not. As with all requests for help, having complete information is alway helpful. For example: - What sort of Backup Set does this catalog belong to (there is not such thing as a catalog set). Tape? CD/DVD? File? - Can you create a new Backup Set and write to it successfuly? - Were you using this same Backup Set with Retrospect 5 under OS 9 (since you report that your problems began when you updated to OS X)? You don't need to spend 30 minutes trying to write to a Backup Set; simply define a small folder as a Volume, and do an Immediate backup to that for your tests. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 19, 2003 Report Share Posted May 19, 2003 Thanks for info. I'll try some of the things you suggest. The problem is tough to solve since it is intermittent, about 1/3 of the time when I attempt to backup and I can't seem to find any common thread between the failures or successes. Generally, quitting Retrospect and relaunching once or twice solves it. Retrospect "seems" to be more robust if I quit all other applications, especially QuickKeys, but I can't find an obvious conflict and this is supposed to not matter in OS X but Retrospect seems to be much more problematic if QK is running in the background. I never had the problem in OS 9, but the reason I upgraded Retrospect was to get OS X compatibility. I am backing up to 33/66 GB VXA (Ecrix) tapes via Firewire. Still have the Retrospect bug where it does not recognize the VXA tape drive if I just turn the VXA on. I have to turn my computer off, turn the Ecrix on, then turn the computer on, but at least this is a reproducible problem that is easily worked around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CallMeDave Posted May 20, 2003 Report Share Posted May 20, 2003 Quote: Retrospect "seems" to be more robust if I quit all other applications, especially QuickKeys Now might be a good idea to list what other software you're running that inturrupts the OS at a low level, the way QuicKeys does. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 25, 2003 Report Share Posted May 25, 2003 Thru many wasted hours of trial and error, I've learned the hard way to quit everything else except Retrospect so that nothing interferes with it (although I thought this was supposed to be a thing of the past in OS X). Although it would be intellectually interesting to figure out what "conflicts" with Retrospect, I have a non-computer profession and just use the Mac as a tool to accomplish my job. I'd simply like something that works and isn't buggy and lets me back up routinely without hassle. Obviously, computer technology hasn't matured to that level yet and this may be one of those bugs that can't be easily fixed. However, if you or anyone has a suggestion to reliably get rid of this "catalog locked" error I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swallack Posted June 5, 2003 Report Share Posted June 5, 2003 I have been experiencing a pretty similar problem on my system. In fact, was checking for existing threads before starting a new one on the issue. I have a 1GHz G4 running 10.2.6 which has 2 internal HD (30GB each). Just over 2 weeks ago, I added a 120GB external Firewire HD & upgraded my older Retrospect to 5.0.238. I then set up a script to fully back up both internal HD's to a data file on the external Firewire HD & leave the catalog uncompressed (it should do incrementals every night & once a month, reset the backup set). I ran the script manually & it did fine. I then left it alone, but then 4-5 days later I realized that neither the data file, nor the catalog file had been changed in a few days. I checked in the log & looked at the file characteristics. I added write permission for all to both files & made sure that they were unlocked. I kicked off the script & it ran fine. A few days later, same issue & a msg in the log about the catalog being locked. I checked & neither file was locked, though I did find that the permissions on 1 was locked. I unlocked it, restarted Retrospect, & ran the script which ran fine. Now, I'm seeing the locked catalog thing show up every few days & when I check the catalog & data files, they are rw for owner, group, & all, the files are unlcoked, & so is the lock icon for the permissions. On a hunch, I locked & then unlocked the permissions on both files. The script then ran. This has occured since then. I can't imagine what is going on & would appreciate any assistance. Thanks, Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyJ Posted June 6, 2003 Report Share Posted June 6, 2003 What other third party software is running on this computer? Is the Firewire drive shared for access on a network? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swallack Posted June 7, 2003 Report Share Posted June 7, 2003 My Firewire HD is not networked in any fashion. As for 3rd party software, hmm, well: Yahoo Messenger Nikon View Monitor Lexmark X83 Monitor Norton Auto Protect MouseWorks Background Logitech Control Center Daemon These are the ones listed in the Process Viewer window that don't look like system processes. I routinely run Explorer & Quicken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swallack Posted June 11, 2003 Report Share Posted June 11, 2003 After installing an update via Software Update, my Mac had to be restarted. On a hunch, I checked the lock icon for the backup set files' permissions. The backup set itself had the permissions locked. I unlocked them, then cycled the machine a second time. Sure enough, the permisisons were locked again. Not sure yet why this is happening, but at least I now have some information to help me figure things out. Scott P.S. Both times, the back up set's catalog file was fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CallMeDave Posted June 12, 2003 Report Share Posted June 12, 2003 Quote: After installing an update via Software Update, my Mac had to be restarted. On a hunch, I checked the lock icon for the backup set files' permissions. The backup set itself had the permissions locked. I unlocked them, then cycled the machine a second time. Sure enough, the permisisons were locked again. Not sure yet why this is happening, but at least I now have some information to help me figure things out. "permissions" is a unix term that refers to the matrix of access a file can have (rwx for each of owner, group and everyone). "locked" usually referes to one of the attributes a Macintosh file can have (similar to invisible, initiated, etc), way back since the early Finder days. The same terminal command that changes permissions (chmod) is not capable of changing file attributes (which requires the "chflags" command). (Apple's Tech Info article #106272 is an excellent primer on these) If the "locked" check box in the Get Info window of a file is changing across restarts, and Retrospect is not running at the time, then Retrospect has nothing to do with it. Do other files' attributes change in this way, too? Are you running any 3rd party utilites or "haxies?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swallack Posted June 13, 2003 Report Share Posted June 13, 2003 I'm not talking about the file being locked, I'm talking about the lock icon on the permissions tab of the "dialog box" which you get when you do get info on the file. OTOH, a few tests back, I stopped thinking that Retrospect was altering the flag, but unfortunately, it does seem to be checking it. I tried powering down the HD, disconnecting the Firewire cable from my Mac, reconnecting it, & checked the lock icon when it spun back up. The icon had not changed from the open / unlocked setting. Then, I did the same thing EXCEPT restarted my Mac while the HD was disconnected, then reconnecting it only after the system was back up. The icon was changed to the locked setting. Not really sure what's going on & why it's just the one file, but I've pinged a buddy of mine at Apple so maybe he can think of something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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