david.c Posted July 21, 2006 Report Share Posted July 21, 2006 Hi folks, Just downloaded Retrospect Desktop 6.1.126 demo to Power Mac G4 G4 Quicksilver, 933MHz, 1GB Ram, OS X 10.4.7 with LG CD/DVD DL plus about everything else Model: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-4167B Rev: DL11 (specs:http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=14976) Custom Configuration ran Successful DVD-R imation brand 8x ran Successful test Log says write method 1 will be used Went through the Quick Start/Quick Backup selected 3 volumes (21GB, 16GB, 7GB) all on one physical disk, all files for an Immediate Backup (some 250,000 files 21GB in total on first volume (BTW this machine has been made monolingual)) Started at 55MB/min dropped to 17MB/min at 1 hour with about 1GB written (dropped to 15.7 MB at 3 hrs) DVD drive is speeding up and down – on about a 1 sec cycle Activity Monitor - Disk activity 512KB/sec read pulsing in sync with drive speed changes HD: IBM 60GB UDMA/100 7200RPM 2MB IDE (IBM-IC35L060AVER07-0) CPU up and down but mostly over 90% also pulsing in sync I have no idea how long this backup is meant to take. I know lots of small files slow performance over fewer large files. I know DVD+R is meant to perform better–but how much? I had DVD-R on hand. I have looked for performance information (User Guide, Knowledge Base, Forum) but have found very little to guide me. Is this normal performance for Retrospect using this setup? If it is I think I'm going to have to find another backup solution. Any suggestions? Cheers David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennart_T Posted July 21, 2006 Report Share Posted July 21, 2006 Quote: I know DVD+R is meant to perform better–but how much? I have previously got inconsistent results on my Pioneer DVR-110. Most of the time DVD+R are quite a lot faster than DVD-R when backing up. Other times DVD+R has been much slower on verify. Today I bought a Samsung SH-W162-DVDR (16x, dual layer) to replace a dead Pioneer DVR-106D. Files were local hard drive, 3-4MB JPEG files, software compression off. PowerMac G4, dual 1.25GHz, 1GB RAM. Verbatim DVD-R 16x: Backup: 82MB/min Verify: 410MB/min Verbatim DVD+R 16X: Backup: 390MB/min Verify: 410MB/min Your milage may vary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.c Posted July 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2006 There is something seriously wrong here. It's been over 30 hrs and Retrospect is still chugging away backing up 21GB (OK I was asleep some of the time & didn't put discs in straightaway) BUT 14.5MB/min YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS about this software!!! Just as well you can download a demo. I don't want to stop and having a backup in proprietary format 4 disks later....I mean what sort of confidence am I to have in a restore if it's taking soooooo loooooong to backup? The log file tells me my drive is OK and my media is OK. Presumably it could give some guide as to throughput. Retrospect knows the volume size and number of files and disk space used before it starts so even an average would be better than nothing. If I knew it was going to take this long I would never have started. My DVD drive works fine with e.g., Toast so it's not the drive. I take it that if one follows the Quick Start quide compression is on by default? Is each file varified after it's written? I know this can have an overhead but this is rediculous. And what about the CPU usage? BTW the Retrospect driver is HL-DT-ST DVD-R -RDI 5.10 What could be going on. I could always try putting the original Apple DVD drive back in but as other applications are working I think it's this software that sucks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennart_T Posted July 22, 2006 Report Share Posted July 22, 2006 Quote: There is something seriously wrong here. It's been over 30 hrs and Retrospect is still chugging away backing up 21GB (OK I was asleep some of the time & didn't put discs in straightaway) BUT 14.5MB/min YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS about this software!!! Just as well you can download a demo. I don't want to stop and having a backup in proprietary format 4 disks later....I mean what sort of confidence am I to have in a restore if it's taking soooooo loooooong to backup? The log file tells me my drive is OK and my media is OK. Presumably it could give some guide as to throughput. Retrospect knows the volume size and number of files and disk space used before it starts so even an average would be better than nothing. If I knew it was going to take this long I would never have started. My DVD drive works fine with e.g., Toast so it's not the drive. I take it that if one follows the Quick Start quide compression is on by default? Is each file varified after it's written? I know this can have an overhead but this is rediculous. And what about the CPU usage? BTW the Retrospect driver is HL-DT-ST DVD-R -RDI 5.10 What could be going on. I could always try putting the original Apple DVD drive back in but as other applications are working I think it's this software that sucks Hi. I had a HL-DT-ST DVD-RW drive that didn't work at all with Retrospect, but worked just fine with other apps. I gave up and bought an external Pioneer, which worked just fine. Other apps use another kind of burning technique, where you burn the contents once and you can never add more data onto a DVD. (CDs are multi-session, but that's another story.) Instead, Retrospect use some kind of "block write", which enables Retrospect to add more data at any time until the disc is full. This "block write" is very demanding for the DVD drive, so not all drives handle this well. DVD+R is a more modern format, which handles this "block write" better than DVD-R. So, your drive may work just fine when not using "block write", but it doesn't help Retrospect perform its duties. It may also be a combination of drive and media that causes your problems. (I wish I could remember the proper term for "block write", but I don't. Sorry) Buy some DVD+R discs and give Retrospect a chance. It's good software, but places extreme demands on the hardware. As for verification, that's optional. YOU set it in the script or before immediate backup. Retrospect will (of course) report write errors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CallMeDave Posted July 22, 2006 Report Share Posted July 22, 2006 Quote: I wish I could remember the proper term for "block write", but I don't. Sorry Packet Writing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packet_writing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennart_T Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 Quote: Packet Writing. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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