rlesperance Posted October 16, 2007 Report Share Posted October 16, 2007 Hi, I have been doing incremental backups for a long time with Retrospect without any problem. I just realized that my recent backups where not done properly. When I execute a script, it starts and stops immediately with a report that the backup was done succesfully and no files is backed up. Retrospect's file could be corrupted. The Retro.Config (6.0) file is missing in the Retrospect folder (Macintosh HD/Library/Preferences/Retrospect). I suspect I will have to reinstall Retrospect and start all over again. Can I import my filters to the new Retrospect ? Thanks in advance. Robert Lespérance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwalker Posted October 16, 2007 Report Share Posted October 16, 2007 Quote: Can I import my filters to the new Retrospect ? Assuming that you are talking about "Selectors", I ask, import from where? They are stored in Retro.Config. Are you SURE that the Retro.Config file is missing? Sadly, there is no way to export scripts or selectors. We have been asking for that for many years. May I suggest, before you take this drastic step, that you boot your computer from the install DVD and run Disk Utility to see if there is corruption on your boot (startup) volume? You can't fix problems on the boot volume while booted from it. Your problem might be as simple as a messed-up Selector such that no files are being selected. Why don't you try creating an "all files" selector from scratch, or not using a selector, and seeing what turns up for the files that will be backed up? Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlesperance Posted October 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Hi Russ, I have reinstalled the original corrupted ? Retrospect preference folder (Macintosh HD/Library/Preferences/Retrospect). I can see my selectors and my scripts. When running my scripts they open and close immediatly without copying anything. It is a behavior related to that specific preference folder, since I created a new one that works well. What file could be the problem ? Is there a way to recuperate my original preferences without having to start all over again ? Thanks in advance. Robert Lespérance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwalker Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Quote: What file could be the problem ? I've never seen this before, but you seem to have correctly narrowed it down to corrupted preference files. Quote: Is there a way to recuperate my original preferences without having to start all over again ? Yes, restore them from a backup that was taken when the files weren't corrupted. You indicate that you have been taking incremental backups "for a long time". Why don't you try to restore from an older snapshot (using newly created preferences, look for older snapshots, restore the preferences folder to some place, then move the restored preferences into the correct place). When at the restore window in Retrospect, when choosing the restore (Immediate, Restore, Restore files from a backup), click the "Add Snapshot" button, and add a snapshot from a while back (repeat until you find an uncorrupted set of preferences). Good luck. Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CallMeDave Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Quote: When at the restore window in Retrospect, when choosing the restore (Immediate, Restore, Restore files from a backup), click the "Add Snapshot" button, and add a snapshot from a while back (repeat until you find an uncorrupted set of preferences). Or, do a Search for files Restore, and use the search criteria of "Retro.Config (6.0)" This should give you all your old instances of backed up preferences (assuming that the file changed in some way during all of your backups over time) without having to deal with Snapshots. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwalker Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Quote: Or, do a Search for files Restore, and use the search criteria of "Retro.Config (6.0)" If that's the only problematic file. It's unclear from his post whether this is the only corrupted file, which is why I made the suggestion that I did that he retrieve the entire folder, etc. I guess that one way to tell would be to replace only that file from the most recent snapshot with the one from his new config, see if Retrospect works (but will be missing the configurations, etc.). If so, then only that file is at issue and your suggestion to look for versions of that file would work. Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlesperance Posted October 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2007 Hi, Excuse me for not returning faster. It was faster to restart everything. I was able to have a printout of the selectors's script from my old corrupted folder (only the execution of the script created the problem). I was able to retype them in a new and fresh copy of Retrospect. I realy don't understand what created that corruption. It is a first time from many years using Retrospect without any problems execpt since I recently bought an 2.5" external 160GB drive. In any event, I didn't have any previous Retrospect files, because my incremental backup was only backuping specific and important files from my USERS folder. Doing an incremental from this folder is a snap (± 5 minutes) and I can do it everytime I leave to my 2.5" portable drive or even to my iDisk space on DOTMAC. But Retrospect preferences are located on MACINTOSH HD/LIBRARY/PREFERENCE. An incremental backup of MACINTOSH HD is very long ... it is very very very long (±2 hours). I have not realized that those preferences were not in my incremental backup. They were only in my daily duplication backup, and if I duplicate a corrupted file I can only restore a corrupted. I am still having a strange behavior when I make my nightly unattended backup. There is frequently a freeze of the computer and most of these times it seems to be while backuping. Retrospect does not fully complete the duplication script that can take ± 2 hours. It looks like the communication between Retrospect and the drive is lost. I have no way of seing what is the problem other than if the script does not fully execute (then the report will show). My 2.5" portable drive is a FireWire drive powered by a double USB cable connected to a USB hub. I tried also a direct FireWire connection without the USB power cable but then there is not sufficient power. Can this configuration create a problem ? Can Retrospect backup to a BUS powered hard drive ? I wonder what if there is a list of all the crucial files/folders that I should incremently backup (other than all my personnal application files, my bookmarks, my contacts, my Documents folder, my iWeb's Domain file, my Home/Library/Preferences folder... and now my Retrospect prefs) ? I will post a new thread regarding this matter. It should be important for many of us to point them out. Thanks for helping ! Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwalker Posted October 26, 2007 Report Share Posted October 26, 2007 Quote: My 2.5" portable drive is a FireWire drive powered by a double USB cable connected to a USB hub. I tried also a direct FireWire connection without the USB power cable but then there is not sufficient power. Can this configuration create a problem ? perhaps. Quote: Can Retrospect backup to a BUS powered hard drive ? Retrospect can back up to any reliable disk drive hardware. Your question should be: Can Retrospect back up to unreliable hardware that hangs the bus? The answer would be no. Retrospect doesn't talk directly to disk drives - it uses standard syscalls to the Mac OS drivers. If the bus hangs because of bad hardware, those syscalls never complete, and the system hangs. It's not a Retrospect issue. Get reliable hardware and your problems will go away. Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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