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Retro DR CD Failure


jlusher

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Hello Everyone!

 

I recently upgraded my system with a new MOB, CPU, RAM. I tried to do a system restore yesterday, but the CD hangs when it reaches the install for the standard IDE/ESDI driver. I thought, at first, that there might be a problem with the new CD, so I tried with one that was three months old (both from same Retro version: 6.5.283), but that one hung in exactly the same place, as well.

 

I haven't needed to use a Retro CD in a couple of years, and I was disconcerted by the failure, because the process always worked excellently in the past. The manual workaround, reinstalling XP, reinstalling SP1 (for USB 2.0 support), and then reinstalling Retrospect in order to use my most recent backup (yesterday morning), was less than elegant.

 

Any insights anyone might care to offer will be gratefully shared. I can't believe this is related to my new hardware, because the system is humming along beautifully, so I'm completely mystified.

 

Thanks to you all for your attention.

 

Jim Lusher.

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Yup, did it just before testing the DR, that's why I fished the old DR disc out of the file and tried it the second time, with the same result. The MOB is an Intel D875PBZ, by the way, in case that's significant.

 

I'd sure feel a lot more secure if I knew I had a recovery strategy that worked.

 

Jim.

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I find that hard to accept. I've been using the same software for a long time, and this problem only started with this upgraded system, which is only five days old. I've never had problems with my DR CDs until now, and I'm still using the same burning software I've used for the last four years or so.

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Hi

 

I would do a backup from scratch with a completely new backup set. When you create the DR CD make sure you use the i386 folder directly from your install CD. (That is if you already haven't tried this)

 

What SCSI and IDE controllers are installed on this new system? Your standard windows XP CD boots just fine right? Can you press f6 during the install process and install the driver for your hard disk controller?

 

Nate

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That's exactly what I did, and the F6 option is available, except the only controllers involved at that level are the ones on the MOB. The only other controller on the system is a Promise raid controller, which was not yet present when the glitch occurred, so the drivers for that device were not an issue (and won't be an issue, because the raid array is not the boot drive). And, yes, the Windows disc does boot with no problems, otherwise I'd still be in the weeds with this thing.

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Quote:

jlusher said:

I find that hard to accept. I've been using the same software for a long time, and this problem only started with this upgraded system, which is only five days old. I've never had problems with my DR CDs until now, and I'm still using the same burning software I've used for the last four years or so.

 


 

Your new mobo/IDE could have different timing/properties that affect the software.

For example, is DMA enabled?

 

Did you install an OS, that will have differences.

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Still using Roxio Easy CD Creator Platinum (5.3.5) to burn, still running XP Home SP1, and as far as I know, DMA is enabled, because none of the hardware or software is griping about it not being enabled (and several programs check for that when they're being installed). There are no glitches anywhere in the system, except for this one significant (to me, anyway) issue. I'm wondering if updating the software to Retro 6.5.319 will address this?

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I've installed the Retro update (and the RDU as well), and next I'm going to do a current full system backup and then build a new DR CD off of that snapshot (same thing I did last week, only newer version of Retro).

 

 

 

***************************************************************************

 

 

 

OK. Its a couple of hours later and I did all that and tested it.

 

 

 

So, now the DR CD hangs when it reaches the Promise raid card driver. I did a restart, used the F6 option and loaded the Promise driver off of the floppy, and the DR CD still hung in the same place.

 

 

 

 

 

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! This is frustrating!

 

 

 

My next move is going to be removing the Roxio burning software and loading Nero 6 instead, then regenerating the CD image from scratch and burning a new DR CD through Nero.

 

 

 

Any other ideas? Just send 'em along. Thanks.

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Hi

 

I doubt this is a problem with the burning software itself - I suspect it has more to do with the image file or some bizzare hardware conflict. So you were able to get farther this time? as a test can you pull the Promise card and see if the boot proceeds? Were the promise drivers fully updated when you did the backup?

 

Thanks

Nate

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Nope, I didn't get further, because the Promise driver was being loaded before the standard IDE/ESDI driver where the process stalled originally. So, actually, I didn't even get as far as I had previously.

 

 

 

If there is something freaky going on when the image file is being created, I can't fathom what that might be. I'm going to try the DR CD on another system, just to see if it gets through the entire loading process. If there is some kind of hardware conflict, it certainly isn't the Promise card because the problem predates its installation.

 

 

 

I've never had a problem anything like this, ever.

 

 

 

confused.gif

 

 

 

********************************************************************************

 

 

 

OK. Here's what: the DR CD stalls in the same place on another system, right at the Promise driver. So, I tried a different DR CD, this one from an image from 8/24, before the Promise card was installed, and also from before I ran the Retro updates, and that DR CD stalled at the Standard IDE/ESDI Hard Disk Controller, just like before.

 

 

 

I can't find an emoticon for consternation!

 

 

 

There is definite weirdness happening here.

 

 

 

********************************************************************************

 

 

 

Further...OK, so I tried using a DR CD from another system, and that completed the setup process with no trouble. Next, I imported a snapshot from that other system, and created a DR image from that source, instead of this system with the problem, and burned a CD from that image file, which also completed the setup routine with no trouble (of course, the drivers this DR CD loads are appropriate to the system from which the snapshot was taken, rather than this system).

 

 

 

So, I think this indicates that there is not really a problem with the image file creation on this system, or with the burning software, and that there must be some kind of hardware issue (I'm thinking with the MOB), but beyond this point I'm not even running on fumes.

 

 

 

Is there an emoticon for "clueless?"

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Hello,

 

I have recently eliminated a problem with a sony 510a dvd writer, and I belive this problem may be responsible for some of the strange problems that others are having. I uninstalled the intel application accelerator, using the control panel (in my dell system, the intel app was named something similar).

 

Apparently this accelerator reacts differently with various intel chipsets. Upgrading to the current version of IAA (2.3) did not help. This program has also been tied to some of the problems that have been experienced with w2k sp4 installs.

Good Luck.

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My 2 cents.

 

From my experience, it sounds like a hardware conflict. But, first, just to confirm. The Disaster Recovery CD you are trying to use on your upgraded system was built on the upgraded system but referencing a backup set from the previous, pre upgraded system?

 

If I've got it right, you've got a Promise Raid card in the system? Are the drivers for it installed in your now upgraded system? When trying to use the DR CD, you are using the F6 option to load the Promise drivers?

 

Assuming that's what you are doing, and still having the hang, I think your best bet is to take out of the system everything that isn't required to boot - including any modems, sound/multimedia, etc. Build a new backup set and Disaster Recovery.

 

Not sure what to say if the DR still hangs. I did have a roughly similar problem using an OEM version of WinXP and Retrospect 6.0 [non professional version]. The 'problems' all went away when I upgraded to 6.5 professional.

 

Also, you can call Dantz Support directly. I found them to be helpful.

 

HTH.

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