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Failure of scheduled backups to run


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Scheduled backups had run successfully for 8 months then suddenly stopped. Whenever I launched Retrospect 5.0 manually, the backup script executed successfully, but the next scheduled backup failed until I performed it manually again. Any thoughts?

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  • 2 weeks later...

You should trash the entire Retrospect application icon and the directory at

/Library/StartupItems/RetroRun/, empty the trash, then run the 5.0.238 installer again. Your preferences will remain untouched.

 

 

 

 

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You have probably unintentionally changed something which has broken the auto-launch. When things are working properly, there is a background process (RetroRun) which launches Retrospect as required.

 

A full reinstall (exactly as Amy described) is the easiest and most likely way to fix things, as there isn't a common cause for the failure that I am aware of.

 

(If you do happen to work out what went wrong though, it would be interesting to know! Just not interesting enough to make you jump through hoops to find out what it was...)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I run a scheduled backup each evening at 10 PM. I had the same problem (scheduled backup stopped running automatically) and cured it with the procedure in Post #26614. A few days later I installed a Mac OS X update "Security update 2003-06-09". As of that evening the scheduled backup did not run. The next night I tried leaving the application running when I left the computer at about 6 PM, and the backup started at 10 PM as scheduled. After that I tried it with the application not running and the script did not execute, even though the script and media both showed ready. I finally trashed the Retrospect application and RetroRun directory and reinstalled ala #26614.

 

I can't be 100% sure it was the Apple update that caused the scheduler to stop working, but I don't recall doing anything else that would have affected something buried in the system. I hope this helps pinpoint the problem so that an effective solution can be found. I'm not looking forward to reinstalling the application after every Apple software update.

 

 

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I'm not looking forward to reinstalling the application after every Apple software update.

 


 

Reinstalling the application had nothing to do with resolving the problem. The issue is most certainly with the 'retrorunfile' file, which seems to keep track of what scripts are pending and when they're supposed to run (you can open it in a text editor and see some if the information displayed).

 

Trashing this file, then launching/quitting Retrospect twice seems to be necessary to wack it back into shape.

 

Dave

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  • 2 weeks later...

Quote:

Trashing this file, then launching/quitting Retrospect twice seems to be necessary to wack it back into shape.

 


I have trashed the /Library/StartupItems/RetroRun/ folder, emptied the trash, restarted Retrospect twice as suggested. At first that appeared to work, but the second or third day the backup again failed to run. Then the following day it did run, but not the day after that.

 

I then tried leaving the Retrospect application running when I left the computer at night, and the scheduled backup ran reliably. But the following night with the application not running, even though I checked the scheduled backup to confirm Retrospect said it was ready to go, it didn't run.

 

There have been no more Apple software updates, so in hindsight I don't think they had anything to do with the problem.

 

I can't seem to troubleshoot this through the application, since the application is being fooled into thinking the backup is ready to go. Can I use UNIX commands to look directly at the scheduler processes and files before I leave at night to tell whether they are ready to run? Any other ideas?

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I have trashed the /Library/StartupItems/RetroRun/ folder

 


 

My suggestion was actually to trash only the file, not the unix daemon that launches (or is supposed to lauch) Retrospect. But no matter, it all gets re-created when you manually launch the program.

 

One question; the last time the program auto-launched successfully, were there any errors in the log?

 

Dave

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Quote:

were there any errors in the log?

 


No -- when the autolaunch backup runs successfully, whether or not the Retrospect application is running at the time of the autolaunch, there are no log errors.

 

I did look back at your previous post about trashing just the retrorun file (I had still been following AmyC's recommendation to trash the entire directory). You said you could open that file in a text editor and see some of the information displayed. My RetroRun file is a mix of binary and text about 1 MB in size and I don't recognize any information about the scheduled backup. The other file in the RetroRun directory is StartupParameters.plist, which is a very short XML document; is that the UNIX daemon you referred to that automatically launches Retrospect? Does my description of the two files match what they are supposed to look like?

 

Harrison

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My bad. I lost track of what was being said in the thread...

 

"/Library/Preferences/Retrospect/retrorunfile" is where the offending file lives (the retrorun in the StartupIems folder is indeed the unix process, spawned from within the Retrospect application bundle; it's not at fault). Since a complete application re-install trashes retrorunfile, the problem goes away (for a while). But you really only need to trash this one file and restart the program twice for auto-launching* to work again.

 

*auto-launching here means Retrospect being launched when it's time to run a script; scripts that execute when Retrospect is already running do not depend on retrorun (or retrorunfile).

 

Dave

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After I saw your post yesterday I trashed /Library/Preferences/Retrospect/retrorunfile, emptied the trash, started and quit Retrospect twice, and checked to see that the script was scheduled and media ready before quitting the second time. When I came in this morning the script had not run. I started Retrospect at which time the script began to run.

 

After running scheduled Retrospect scripts reliably day after day for years, I find this problem with Retrospect under the "upgraded" OS X version really frustrating, particularly since I also manage a UNIX server with cron jobs that run 100% reliably. Retrospect should be able to do the same.

 

Harrison

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I am having the same problem. Retrospect for the Mac is really going into the toilet fast. There have been problems for months that have not been fixed and now we have the autorun problem with the only solution that seems to work being reinstalling the software. That really stinks.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Quote:

A new version of Retrospect is coming soon. We have made a lot of bug fixes and changes that will helpfully address this problem for you.

 


Does v5.1 fix the "failure of scheduled backups to run" problem that is discussed in this thread?

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  • 2 weeks later...

We have been able to reproduce this issue sporadically in our lab under a controlled environment and are still investigating the cause and solution. There were no direct changes to 5.1 that would fix this issue, as the exact cause has yet to be determined. However, other software changes may have resolved the issue.

 

We now have a trial edition for the Macintosh product line. I would suggest giving it a try.

 

http://www.dantz.com/en/products/index.dtml

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