Retrospect Retro.Config (5.0)

[Chunky Gilmore]

hi there - I wonder if anyone can help me.

I had an error come up on Retropspect startup saying that it couldn't open the Retro.Config (5.0) file. I read on here to remove it from the library and so did that

Now it starts up OK but when I go onto 'Restore' and Search for Files and Folders' it only shows one tape title and yet there should be about 350.

There is an option to click 'More' which gives a 'Rebuild' option but I'm not sure what to do.

Thanks for any help

Cheers, Stu

 

[DavidHertzberg]

Chunky Gilmore doesn't say, but in posts back in 2016 he was using Retrospect Mac 5.  There is no User's Guide for Retrospect Mac 5 on the Retrospect.com website, but here is the UG for Retrospect Mac 6.  Starting on page 188 there are instructions for rebuilding a Catalog, which it sounds as if Chunky Gilmore should do.

[Chunky Gilmore]

Thanks David - I'm using version 5.1. I'll have a look

[twickland]

3 hours ago, Chunky Gilmore said:

Now it starts up OK but when I go onto 'Restore' and Search for Files and Folders' it only shows one tape title and yet there should be about 350.

Retrospect stores its data in backup sets. A tape backup set can have many members. The information about what data is in the backup set and how many members it has are located in the backup set's catalog. The Retro.config file does not contain this information, though it does track where the catalogs are stored.

If the catalog(s) is/are missing or corrupt, you'll need to rebuild it/them. However, if they are still on an accessible disk volume, you should be able to get Retrospect to see them simply by double-clicking on the catalog file in Finder.

[Chunky Gilmore]

Thank you Twickland - I'll look into it. I'm running this on an old G3 Mac but can't see anything called catalogue under finder

 

[DavidHertzberg]

Chunky Gilmore hasn't said whether he is running Retrospect Mac 5 under an early version of OS X on his G3, or whether he is running it under classic Mac OS 9 or earlier.  

If it is OS X, page 163 of the Retrospect Mac 6 UG says "The default location that catalog files are saved is Users/username/Documents".  I have just booted my donated Digital Audio G4 (ex-wife in 2005: "Take it back to your apartment, please; I don't have room in my closet") under OS X 10.3 (the OS X boot drive is SCSI, but my Adaptec SCSI card won't work past OS X 10.3).  Back in 2015, I ran a LAN backup feasibility test using the G4 as the backup server in order to decide whether it was worth buying a modern version of Retrospect to run on an inherited Mac Pro.  To do this I installed Retrospect Mac 6.1 on the G4, and in Users/davidhertzberg/Documents there's a file—with the Retrospect icon—named StorageSet Blue (ah, Storage Set, now there's a term I've not heard in many years).  Chunky Gilmore should look for a file with the name of his Storage Set and the Retrospect icon; that will be his Catalog File.

If it is classic Mac OS 9 or earlier, I also have the drive from my dear departed Blue-and-White G3 (which IIRC I recycled because it couldn't take enough RAM to run OS X) installed in one of the G4's two ATA slots.  That happens to have Retrospect Mac 5.1 installed on it, and there's a copy of the User's Guide.  I probably could e-mail it to Chunky Gilmore, if he doesn't have a copy already.  Alternatively, he could obtain a grant for me from the British Museum (anybody who spells "catalog" as "catalogue" must be a Brit) to research where the catalog is.  But maybe the research grant won't be necessary; there are files with the Retrospect icon named Backup Set Blue and Backup Set Orange and Backup Set Yellow in the Applications (Mac OS 9)/Retrospect 5.1 folder.

BTW, Twickland probably avoided mentioning it so that Chunky Gilmore wouldn't spill his tea, but if he actually has to Rebuild his Catalog File he'll have to do it from the physical tapes; I hope they're still readable.

Edited December 1, 2017 by DavidHertzberg
More-fully quoted ex-wife in 2005 on gift of Digital Audio G4; my G3 couldn't have run OS X

[twickland]

Each catalog will have the name of its backup set, and not the word "catalogue." 

[Chunky Gilmore]

Hi all - firstly, thank you so much David and Twickland for helping me with this.

I can't locate a complete backup of all the tapes (each tape is named Peacock XX on the attached jpegs) as it seems a safety copy was not made regularly (I wasn't in control of backing up so won't take the blame for that one). I can see and search the individual tapes but can only seem to select one at a time. Before I had this issue I could search a group of tapes in one go so is there a way to make a new catalog from this?

Thank you.

[DavidHertzberg]

I'm afraid I'm going to have to get more personal with you, Chunky Gilmore.

First, I see from the screenshots that you appear to be running Retrospect Mac 5.1 under some version of OS X.  It would be a good idea if you told us what version, just because that information is always useful.

Second, I see from your screenshots that you have a bunch of Catalog Files, as well as your Retrospect 5.1.1 folder, on your desktop.  Did you try double-clicking on the Catalog File you're interested in, as Twickland suggested in this post?

Third, if that doesn't do what you want, then we have to consider what "I can't locate a complete backup of all the tapes" means.  My guess is that it means that you can't find all of the tapes in the Backup Set you are interested in.  So why are you interested in in seeing a list of tape Members you don't have anymore, unless knowing the Date Modified of the tapes you don't have is somehow important?  I think you simply need to Repair or Rebuild the Catalog File with whatever tapes you still have, as described starting at the bottom of page 187 in the Retrospect Mac 6 UG.  Either way you are going to have to let Retrospect look at the tapes, and that means the tapes you still have.  IMHO it would be best if you "come clean" about what you are trying to accomplish.

Finally, have you considered donating your entire client installation (I hope it's your client installation, and not your employer's or your home installation) to the British Museum?  Why is the installation running on a G3 in 2017?  Again, IMHO it would be best if you "come clean" about this.

David H.
 

 

Edited December 1, 2017 by DavidHertzberg
Put in link to Twickland post, which I forgot to do

[Chunky Gilmore]

Thanks David - there is no cloak and dagger involved. I worked for a company (Peacock) that went into voluntary liquidation and with my boss's consent was given all the backup tapes to continue the work with the same clients. I design album covers and often need to retrieve old files from this system if the album is going to be re-released or released on a different format (vinyl, deluxe CD etc). I now have a different system for back-up but anything pre 2015 is on these tapes.

I'm running OSX 10.3.9 on a separate Mac but I work on something much more up to date.

I can see the individual tapes listed but what i had previously was all the contents of all of those tapes on one file.

Thanks again for your help.

Cheers

[DavidHertzberg]

Sorry, Stu, I meant "come clean" in the sense of fully describing what your (as it turns out) own situation is, not to imply any cloak and dagger.  I assume you are still using the G3 because of some combination of "they don't make graphics programs like that anymore" and "I can't find/afford/attach a tape drive that can read those old Retrospect backup tapes on my modern system".  Otherwise I would suggest buying a copy of Retrospect Mac 14 Desktop Edition for your modern system, and building/Rebuilding a Media Set containing the old tapes you actually have for it.

David H.

[Chunky Gilmore]

Ah I seeeeeee. Yes the drive I have doesn't work on anything more up to date than a G4. I'll read through the link you very kindly supplied above and see if I can get that to work. Thanks again for your help David.

Stu

[twickland]

8 hours ago, Chunky Gilmore said:

I can see the individual tapes listed but what i had previously was all the contents of all of those tapes on one file.

You may be confusing a backup set with the tape members of that backup set, as none of the screenshots above show any actual tape members.

Your third screenshot above shows that Retrospect is aware of six backup sets.  You can highlight any or all of them to search for your files of interest. You can also open more catalog files and search them as well.

I can't say what limitations, if any, that Retrospect 5.1 may have regarding how many backup set catalogs that it can be aware of and search through in one go. That may depend on how many tape members are in each backup set, as well as the total count of files in the backups. As David notes above, having a backup set's catalog is not useful if you don't actually have the tape members of that backup set.

In your next post, please give us an idea of how many tape members there are in a typical backup set of yours. You can find this by going to Configure>Backup Sets>Configure [specific backup set]>Members.

 

[Chunky Gilmore]

Thanks Twickland and thank you David! All working now. I went to...

Restore

Search For Files And Folders

More

Open

and then added each tape from the Backups Folder - each tape still contained all the info of what was on it

 

Fantastic! Thanks again for all your help guys