LaCie PocketDrive

[Uno]

I've been backing up my PowerBook and desktop Macs under OS9 with Retrospect 4.3 to the LaCie PocketDrive (30GB). The PocketDrives are FireWire connected, and under OS9 this worked fine. However, I just downloaded the Retrospect 5.0 and Retrospect does not seem to "find" the device. I cannot find any information about incompatibility in the Dantz site (nor can I find anything confirming compatibility). The LaCie site says that no particular drivers are necessary under OSX, which seems to be correct, since I use the same drive (partitioned) for other stuff.

 

Anyone knows something about this?

 

Thanks

 

/Uno

[IrenaS]

Were you using a file backup set saved to that drive? Does the drive show up in the Finder? If so, then Retrospect should see the file on that drive.

[Uno]

Yes, on one of the partitions of the PocketDrive I was doing (or trying to do) an incremental back-up of a OS9 originated storage set. This all seems to work fine under OSX until the "Immediated Back-up" screen cannot finde the "removable device", though it is sitting nicely on my desktop with the correct name of the Retrospect originated storage set.

 

The Pocketdrive is formatted by the LaCie "Silverlining" hard disk tools, which work only under OS9 - maybe that has something to do with it? (If that is so, I would have to wipe out my storage sets and reformat with the Apple Disk Utility, I guess).

 

Thanks again

 

/Uno

[IrenaS]

You have set up a "Removable Disk" backup set. You need to use the File Backup set option instead. You'll want to erase and/or format that drive so taht you can start the new backup set on it, so if possible make sure you have other backups.

 

 

 

Another forum user posted this, whcih explains the discrepancy between OS X and OS 9:

 

 

 

The only reason you were able to see FireWire drives as removables in 4.3 under Mac OS 9 was because some driver software used by some FireWire vendors set the "removable" bit on their drives. OS 9 passed this information on to Retrospect, which handled the drive as if it were, indeed, removable (which it was not).

 

 

 

Mac OS X does not respect this bit if it was set by an OS 9 formatter, and using the DiskUtility software correctly will format FireWire drives as the fixed platter mechanisms that they are.

 

 

 

Retrospect 4.3 was released long before FW drives were available; if Retrospect 5.0 running under Mac OS 9 no longer sees these drives in an incorrect way (I don't know if it does), then that is a feature not a bug.

 

 

 

 

[Uno]

Thanks - this explains my problem and it is now solved.

 

To my defence I'd say that the Retrospect User's Guide is a bit ambiguous about the media - removable drives are not really considered.

 

So it says about "Hard disks" (where the File Backup is appropriate) that it is not really a back-up media (though usable) but with the inconvenience of being fixed, and not removable.

 

But the whole point of a pocket drive is the removability - if anything I think it is closer to a Jaz or Zip drive and a fixed hard disk, with the convenience of not having to bring the "device" for using it.

 

Since the market is flooded with portable drives - for this convenience, I guess - I think Retrospect should reflect that in its guides.

 

thanks again

 

/Uno