pevans Posted March 21, 2007 Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 Hi, I've been using Retrospect for 3-4 years, but do not consider myself to be an expert. I run regular hard drive backups at work and home. Because I keep all but the current member of my work backup set at home, I had the brilliant idea to use the restore file function to access work files when I'm not in the office. The backups are in different formats, so I attempted to configure my home DVD writer for a second format. After I did this, I could access the work files, but the home backup discs wasn't recognized. When I re-configured the drive for the home format I lost the work format. Is it possible to configure this DVD drive for 2 formats? Details Retrospect 7.5 (work), 6.5 (home) TSST TS-L632D writer (un-supported?) work format = DVD+R home format = DVD-R Many thanks for your sage advice. Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwalker Posted March 21, 2007 Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 No. +R and -R use different media. The media determines the format. Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pevans Posted March 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 Thanks The home DVD writer (TSST TS-L632D) is DVD+-R so it recognizes both media. I am not using the work set for backups at home, simply to restore files to my home computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwalker Posted March 21, 2007 Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 Most, if not all, readers can READ both formats. However, +R media can only be written in +R format, etc. +R and -R are technologies, and the writers must write according to the media type. Once the media is written, most readers can read all formats of media. Perhaps I'm not understanding what you are asking. Have you tried writing +R disks at home? Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pevans Posted March 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 Sorry for the confusion: My home DVD writer (TSST TS-L632D) is DVD+-RW, so it recognizes/reads, and writes/burns, to -R and +R media using applications other than Retrospect. I cannot get Retrospect to read a backup set from both formats simultaneously. I would like to have Retrospect continue to create my home backup set, but have the opportunity to restore files from the work back up set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwalker Posted March 21, 2007 Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 Ok, I understand now. I looked in the Retrospect supported devices database, and your burner is not listed. Interestingly, the similar "TSST TS-L532D" is explicitly NOT SUPPORTED so there must be some issues. TSST TS-L532D You may just need to get a supported device. Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pevans Posted March 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 Retrospect and the TSST TS-L632D appear to work ok with custom format configuration. Thanks for your time. Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyJ Posted March 21, 2007 Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 Hi Peter You'll need to configure for all formats at the same time. For example, when it's done formatting for +R it will then ask if you want to format for any other media types. At that point you can say Yes or OK and format for -R. You have to configure for _every_ type of media you want to use with Retrospect at the same time. Later configurations for a given drive do not append to the configuration file. That said... Russ is correct. The drive did not pass certification by the hardware engineers - the device entry says "Not Supported" which is different then "Not Tested". The engineers put drives through a pretty rigorous process. Somewhere the drive failed on a fundamental level, so proceed at your own risk. Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pevans Posted March 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 Thanks. I did not try to do the configurations at the same time. First I configured for the work DVD set (+R) and tested the restore function. Then noticing that my home backup set could not find a compatible disk, re-configured for the home DVD set (-R). Actually, when I performed the second configuration and ran the home backup script, I received error code 101. When I put a new disk in, I received error code 103 ("Unexpected beginning of media"). Does this mean I can no longer append to my home backup set? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pevans Posted April 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 Amy, Thank you for your suggestion, which appears to have solved both problems! My drive now writes to my home backup set and can restore files from my work backup set. Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klipspringer Posted May 5, 2007 Report Share Posted May 5, 2007 If I understand Amy's suggestion, is it possible to run the device configuration program again (since you can't append to the configuration file), configure for both DVD-R and DVD+R at the same time, and then use both types of disks? I am intrigued by statements that DVD+R is faster, but I have been using DVD-R for backups for many years and do not want to risk not being able to access them. Does anyone have experience with how much faster DVD+R is? Many thanks for any recommendations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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