SCSI Tape Backup for OS/2: DESPERATE, NEED HELP
Mike Forester
under OS/2?
Here are the ones that don't:
* BACK AGAIN/2000
Uses the nitwit Microsoft Tape Format, but doesn't use it reliably.
If a tape backup extends onto a second tape, BA/2K says "FUCK YOU."
Much like CDS's support says the same thing..
BACK AGAIN/2000 is *NOT USABLE*.
* SYTOS PREMIUM
Craps out silently, and records an error in SPOCLIB.DLL.
* SEAGATE BACKUP EXEC FOR OS/2 v. 3.0
It's actually reliable, if you don't want to use your computer for a
couple of hours while it tries to find ~50M of changed files; it
ramps
up the CPU to 100% and eats up ~40MB of memory. It sucks.
* GTAK/GTAR
Should be the best choice; but GTAK wants to convert all the DIR
names on
FAT32 partitions into UPPER CASE. Why???? Why does GTAK render
d:\HySnapDX\hsdx.FTS
as
d:\HYSNAPDX\Hsdx.fts
WHY? WHY?? WHY???
--
-Mike Forester <fore...@netcom.com>
------------------------------------
-> I yam what I yam and that's all that I yam.
Jaime A. Cruz, Jr.
Hash: SHA1
Sorry, can't agree with you regarding BA/2000 *OR* CDS Support. I've been
using BA/2000 for YEARS reliably and it's saved my bacon more times than I
can count!
Jaime A. Cruz, Jr.
o&o_o&o_o&o_o&o_o&o_o&o_o&o_o&o_o&o_o&o_o&o_o&o_o&o
o o
o Visit the Nassau Wings Motorcycle Club at: o
o http://www.nassauwings.org/ o
o A Charter Member of the Motorcycle Web Ring! o
o o
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Britt Turnbull
using Sytos no problems...
Probably unnecessary of me, but, maybe check termination, parity
settings etc.
Tape drives really hammer the SCSI bus, so minor deficiencies show up as
tape problems.
Sorry not to be of more help
--
Regards
Britt
eComstation..... the way it should be
OS2 the more you use it, the better it gets...
Edit antispam address please..
I'm for a Tim Free Zone....
Erick Andrews
> Has anyone here got a SCSI tape backup program that works *reliably*
> under OS/2?
>
[...]
You might check out Bakupwiz, http://www.pcx.com
also available on http://www.indelible-blue.com
It's doesn't seem to be actively marketed now, but I
doubt it needs much; it's a mature product and has
worked with all flavors of OS/2. However, I haven't
yet tried it with WSeB's JFS.
I've used it since 1994 with few problems and all but
a few of them were media errors. Peter Schultz, the
author, has been quite diligent in fixing any bugs over
the years.
--
Best,
Erick Andrews
eand...@star.net
Alan Beagley
a tape is that it seems to "forget" that it was supposed to do a compare
at the end.
I haven't found it too difficult to break a backup into subsets that do
fit on the tape.
--
Alan
Note: To reply directly by e-mail, remove "Spam_begone." from the
"Reply-to" address.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
This computer system uses IBM's OS/2 Operating System (Warp 4.5), the
choice of banks and other major corporations worldwide. Totally
unaffected by the "Melissa," "LoveBug", and similar viruses that
plague the Microsoft "Window's open; come right on in and do whatever
you want with my computer" operating system and applications.
"I believe OS/2 is destined to be the most important operating
system, and possibly program, of all time...." (Bill Gates, 1988)
Mike Forester wrote:
>
> Has anyone here got a SCSI tape backup program that works *reliably*
> under OS/2?
>
> Here are the ones that don't:
>
> * BACK AGAIN/2000
> Uses the nitwit Microsoft Tape Format, but doesn't use it reliably.
> If a tape backup extends onto a second tape, BA/2K says "FUCK YOU."
> Much like CDS's support says the same thing..
>
> BACK AGAIN/2000 is *NOT USABLE*.
<snip>
Erick Andrews
wrote:
> The only problem I have experienced with BA2K and backups that overflow
> a tape is that it seems to "forget" that it was supposed to do a compare
> at the end.
>
> I haven't found it too difficult to break a backup into subsets that do
> fit on the tape.
>
That's interesting. I've seen a similar problems with Arcsolo for OS/2 that
you describe above. I'm now highly suspicious they come from the same
code base.
I don't have the auto-compare problem with Arcsolo if I switch off my monitor.
It's seems somehow related to taxing the video subsystem. Either that
or I'm fooling myself...it could be that 16-bit hunks of code somewhere in
the program sometimes can't handle over 8 Gigabytes of data on my LAN.
But unlike Bakupwiz, which I've never had a problem continuing onto additional
tapes, I would never recommend Arcsolo, which, like your BA2K description,
can't handle additional tapes. That has been the biggest pain. Arcsolo for
OS/2 is no long supported.
Christoph Bratschi
>
> Has anyone here got a SCSI tape backup program that works *reliably*
> under OS/2?
I use Novaback from NovaStor with my Sony SDT9000 (was included). I used
it for several years without any problems.
--
bye,
Christoph Bratschi
Homepage: http://www.bratschi.net
Powered by OS/2 Warp, Pentium III and SCSI
Doug Bissett
wrote:
> Has anyone here got a SCSI tape backup program that works *reliably*
> under OS/2?
>
BA/2(000) will work reliably, as long as your tape hardware is
reliable. Most of the time, when a tape drive won't work, there is
something wrong with the adapter, the drive, and/or the SCSI bus
termination (usually, the latter). CDS has always been very responsive
to resonable people, but they do tend to ignore those who are not
reasonable. Your post indicates which group you probably fit into.
Perhaps, If you describe the hardware, someone can describe how to get
it to work properly.
Hope this helps...
--
From the eComStation of Doug Bissett
doug.bissett at attglobal.net
The " at " must be changed to "@"
Alan Bremner
06:59 AM, Mike Forester <fore...@netcom.com> said:
> Has anyone here got a SCSI tape backup program that works *reliably*
> under OS/2?
NovaStor Backup for OS/2 <www.novastor.com>
Alan.
--
* Spam-trapped email address in operation - de-munge to reply *
* ILink OS/2 Conference Host * ICQ #4661118 *
JohnSut...@nospam.thanks
I use NovaBack with Warp 4 on HPFS and FAT partitions and SCSI DAT drive and peer network. It is not foolproof, but it seems to restore files OK.
I tried PCBax. It worked, but was no better than NovaBack and was too expensive to buy for the fun of it.
I understand your frustration. It seems that different people have different experience with backup software.
Bob Germer
Mike Forester <fore...@netcom.com> said:
> Has anyone here got a SCSI tape backup program that works *reliably*
> under OS/2?
> Here are the ones that don't:
> * BACK AGAIN/2000
> Uses the nitwit Microsoft Tape Format, but doesn't use it reliably.
> If a tape backup extends onto a second tape, BA/2K says "FUCK YOU."
> Much like CDS's support says the same thing..
> BACK AGAIN/2000 is *NOT USABLE*.
As have others, I too must vehemently disagree with the above. I have used
BA/2 and now BA/2K extensively with my DAT drive. I have numerous backups
which extend over two or more tapes. I have had an emergency which called
me away while a backup was in progress and BA/2K was waiting patiently for
the next tape some 9 hours later and picked up where it left off.
And as for CDS' support, I have found them reliable, prompt, and efficient
at handling problems which have cropped up from time to time.
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bob Germer from Mount Holly, NJ - E-mail: bo...@Pics.com
Proudly running OS/2 Warp 4.0 w/ FixPack 14
MR/2 Ice 2.21 Registration Number 67
It's OS/2, Jim, but not OS/2 as we know it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Varela
> And as for CDS' support, I have found them reliable, prompt, and efficient
> at handling problems which have cropped
That's not been the experience of we who have tried to use BA2K with a CDRW.
See the thread, "BA2000 Stand Alone Restore /CDR files".
--
John Varela
William L. Hartzell
But is not that a different problem? Using the product outside its
tested envelope, eh? Seem that a read-only file cannot be updated.
Does CDS claim that it will restore from CD-RW? BA/2 Pro does not.
Bill
bow...@cds-inc.com
166.90.31.234.Washington1.Level3.net>,
It's true that BA/2000 does not directly support a CDRW at this time,
but that has nothing to do with our support being reliable, prompt and
efficient.
In fact, we know why this happens and plan to add better support for
CDRW in the next release.
Other problems people have with Back Again/2000 can usually be
traced to their own system configuration/setup. I can give examples,
but I would rather have the original poster follow up as to what the
solution was.
Cheers,
Brent Bowlby
CDS, Inc.
http://www.cds-inc.com
http://www.backupgear.com
Sent via Deja.com
http://www.deja.com/
John Varela
wrote:
> But is not that a different problem? Using the product outside its
> tested envelope, eh? Seem that a read-only file cannot be updated.
> Does CDS claim that it will restore from CD-RW? BA/2 Pro does not.
No, but Indellible Blue does (or did) claim that BA2K works with RSJ, which is
why I bought it. And then returned it when it didn't work and CDS ignored my
request for support.
I was a purchaser of their software and their support people did not respond
to my e-mail.
--
John Varela
paul marwick
> Sorry, can't agree with you regarding BA/2000 *OR* CDS Support. I've been
> using BA/2000 for YEARS reliably and it's saved my bacon more times than I
> can count!
:-) Years, you say? Given that BA/2000 has been out just over a year,
this is very interesting...
I've used BA/2 for several years without problems. I cannot say the
same for BA/2000 - it works but is nothing like as reliable as BA/2.
paul.
--
paul marwick - Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, UK
remove the numbers for e-mail
---
William L. Hartzell
Then CDS is blameless in this. Your beef is with Indelible Blue.
Bill
Doug Bissett
> In fact, we know why this happens and plan to add better support for
> CDRW in the next release.
How about just fixing the program so that it can use write protected
files for a restore? That one shouldn't be too hard, and it should
allow a user to restore a system, directly from a CD (CDs are always
write protected, except when controlled by the writing software),
after the user copies a backup file to CD. I wouldn't mind using write
protect on the backup file that I put on my hard disk too. I do click
the wrong thing, occasionally, and it is too easy to wipe out the
backup, along with the stuff that has been backed up.
You also need an option to write files to the hard disk, that will be
suitable for copying to a CD, for those who cannot get a direct CD
write to work (split the output into 650 meg, or any other optional
size, files). Some CD writing software does not have a way for a
program, like BA/2(K) to write to the CD directly, but it can use a
proper sized file to write the disk. This could be useful for other
devices, as well.
Thanks...
John Varela
> but that has nothing to do with our support being reliable, prompt and
> efficient.
yet to receive a reply have something to do with the reliability, promptness,
and efficiency of your support?
It doesn't matter. I did receive a response from RSJ support, who told me
there is a conflict. I returned BA2K to Indelible Blue and kept RSJ CDWriter.
--
John Varela
Jaime A. Cruz, Jr.
Hash: SHA1
Picky Picky Picky
I just did a Stand alone restore of my entire boot partition last week with
BA/2000. No problems whatsoever.
Jaime A. Cruz, Jr.
o&o_o&o_o&o_o&o_o&o_o&o_o&o_o&o_o&o_o&o_o&o_o&o_o&o
o o
o Visit the Nassau Wings Motorcycle Club at: o
o http://www.nassauwings.org/ o
o A Charter Member of the Motorcycle Web Ring! o
o o
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John Varela
wrote:
> Then CDS is blameless in this. Your beef is with Indelible Blue.
That's right, and IB took BA2K back, no problems. My only complaint with CSD
is that their support did not respond to this communication that I sent to
them on 11 August 2000:
I just installed Backagain 2K, Product Code 771096511014.
I want to use it with my CDRW drive, an HP CDWriter Plus 9110i, with RSJ CD
Writer version 3.07 as the driver. I have been writing, reading, and
rewriting files with the CDRW for a couple of weeks and am confident it works.
According to Indelible Blue, where I bought both RSJ and BA2K, the programs
are supposed to work together.
When I attempt a backup to the CDRW drive, BA2K aborts with Error ID 0x0200,
Primary RC 0x0006, and Secondary RC 0x0000. The Device Info field is blank.
PII 233, 192 MB RAM, Warp 4 FP 13, DANIS506.ADD, SciTech drivers at
1280x1024x16M. RSJ CD-Writer configured to max speed, CD-XA format, and ISO
Level 3.
--
John Varela
F. Ambacher
Msg-Date: 07 Jan 01
Group : /COMP/OS/OS2/APPS
Subject : SCSI Tape Backup for OS/2: DESPERATE, NEED HELP
----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Has anyone here got a SCSI tape backup program that works *reliably*
> under OS/2?
>
> Here are the ones that don't:
> * BACK AGAIN/2000
> * SYTOS PREMIUM
> * SEAGATE BACKUP EXEC FOR OS/2 v. 3.0
Do you have tried
Backmaster
http://www.msrdev.com
> -Mike Forester <fore...@netcom.com>
> ------------------------------------
> -> I yam what I yam and that's all that I yam.
Regards
Frank
mailto: ana...@admiral.berlinet.de
goto: http://www.anakor.de
created under Warp Server for e-business
Bob Germer
pa...@55waitrose.com (paul marwick) said:
> I've used BA/2 for several years without problems. I cannot say the same
> for BA/2000 - it works but is nothing like as reliable as BA/2.
My experience is vastly different from yours. I find BA/2K absolutely
reliable on any of my systems.
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bob Germer from Mount Holly, NJ - E-mail: bo...@Pics.com
Proudly running OS/2 Warp 4.0 w/ FixPack 14
MR/2 Ice 2.21 Registration Number 67
Win3.1? For fast relief call 800-3-IBM-OS2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bob Germer
jav...@earthlink.net (John Varela) said:
What we? You are the only one in this thread blasting CDS.
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bob Germer from Mount Holly, NJ - E-mail: bo...@Pics.com
Proudly running OS/2 Warp 4.0 w/ FixPack 14
MR/2 Ice 2.21 Registration Number 67
I'm an OS/2 developer...I don't NEED a life!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
´Olafur Gunnlaugsson
Mike Forester wrote:
> Has anyone here got a SCSI tape backup program that works *reliably*
> under OS/2?
Christie at :
http://www.cristie.com:80/uk/uk_html/uk_frm_main.html
Slightly more expesive than the other products, but also much more
expandable, scripting factilities etc
you should contact them for an US dealer, but I have had no problems buying
from them and I nowhere near the UK :)
--
Aut disce aut discede
'Olafur Gunnlaugsson - o...@oli.is - http://olafur.net
This sig is dedicated to Nicholas R. Avery
James Moe
Christoph Bratschi wrote:
>
> Mike Forester wrote:
> >
> > Has anyone here got a SCSI tape backup program that works *reliably*
> > under OS/2?
>
> I use Novaback from NovaStor with my Sony SDT9000 (was included). I used
> it for several years without any problems.
>
Novastor may be selling it but it is a non-product. They stopped
development about two years ago. It has a couple of "known problems"
that their tech support will gladly tell you about but are never going
to be repaired.
--
sma at sohnen-moe dot com
James Moe
Mike Forester wrote:
>
> Has anyone here got a SCSI tape backup program that works *reliably*
> under OS/2?
>
> Here are the ones that don't:
>
> * BACK AGAIN/2000
> Uses the nitwit Microsoft Tape Format, but doesn't use it reliably.
> If a tape backup extends onto a second tape, BA/2K says "FUCK YOU."
> Much like CDS's support says the same thing..
>
See if you can find a copy of BackAgain/2. It is much more reliable.
>
> BACK AGAIN/2000 is *NOT USABLE*.
>
I agree. While ba2k would backup just about anything, it would not
restore: it would spend hours (if I let it) hunting all over the tape
for the requested files. And the test case was not very large (< 50 MB).
CDS claimed it was due to an old SCSI driver for the Flashpoint
adapter. When I got the latest driver from DD fixpak 1, ba2k would hard
crash the system. I was very disappointed with the product.
Note that I have not tried it since installing a tekram SCSI
adapter. It may actually work now....
co...@catherders.com
bit different than yours - if anyone can tell me how to do a selective (by
drive letter) backup and restore, I will be incredibly happy.
Mike-
In <3A586846...@netcom.com>, on 01/07/2001
at 06:59 AM, Mike Forester <fore...@netcom.com> said:
>Has anyone here got a SCSI tape backup program that works *reliably*
>under OS/2?
>Here are the ones that don't:
>* BACK AGAIN/2000
> Uses the nitwit Microsoft Tape Format, but doesn't use it reliably.
> If a tape backup extends onto a second tape, BA/2K says "FUCK YOU."
> Much like CDS's support says the same thing..
> BACK AGAIN/2000 is *NOT USABLE*.
>* SYTOS PREMIUM
> Craps out silently, and records an error in SPOCLIB.DLL.
>* SEAGATE BACKUP EXEC FOR OS/2 v. 3.0
> It's actually reliable, if you don't want to use your computer for a
> couple of hours while it tries to find ~50M of changed files; it ramps
> up the CPU to 100% and eats up ~40MB of memory. It sucks.
>* GTAK/GTAR
> Should be the best choice; but GTAK wants to convert all the DIR names
>on
> FAT32 partitions into UPPER CASE. Why???? Why does GTAK render
> d:\HySnapDX\hsdx.FTS
>
> as
> d:\HYSNAPDX\Hsdx.fts
>WHY? WHY?? WHY???
>--
>-Mike Forester <fore...@netcom.com>
>------------------------------------
> -> I yam what I yam and that's all that I yam.
-----------------------------------------------------------
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The web page is at http://www.catherders.com
Because network administration is like herding cats.
-----------------------------------------------------------
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I'll change my trashcan filters. Sorry for the inconvienence.
-----------------------------------------------------------
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co...@catherders.com
In <wnvzrpbcgbayvarar...@news-server.optonline.net>, on
01/07/2001
at 02:28 PM, "Jaime A. Cruz, Jr." <Spam...@Bite.Me> said:
>-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>Hash: SHA1
>Sorry, can't agree with you regarding BA/2000 *OR* CDS Support. I've
>been using BA/2000 for YEARS reliably and it's saved my bacon more times
>than I can count!
<snipped>
John Varela
> On 01/08/2001 at 04:03 PM,
> jav...@earthlink.net (John Varela) said:
>
> > On Mon, 8 Jan 2001 13:54:50, Bob Germer <bobg.REMOVEME.@pics.com> wrote:
>
> > > And as for CDS' support, I have found them reliable, prompt, and efficient
> > > at handling problems which have cropped
>
> > That's not been the experience of we who have tried to use BA2K with a
> > CDRW. See the thread, "BA2000 Stand Alone Restore /CDR files".
>
> What we? You are the only one in this thread blasting CDS.
I haven't "blasted" them; I only reported that their support did not respond
to my query. Did you look at the thread I cited? "Jeff" also mentions
non-response from CDS support. That's two of us at least. If you go to Deja
News and look up a thread from last August titled "BA/2000 Server Problem"
you'll find some other people who were not too happy with BA2K.
--
John Varela
John Varela
> On 01/08/2001 at 04:03 PM,
> jav...@earthlink.net (John Varela) said:
> > That's not been the experience of we who have tried to use BA2K with a
> > CDRW. See the thread, "BA2000 Stand Alone Restore /CDR files".
>
> What we? You are the only one in this thread blasting CDS.
Oh, and by the way, in the posting that started this thread, Mike Forester
said, independent of any problems with CDRW:
>* BACK AGAIN/2000
> Uses the nitwit Microsoft Tape Format, but doesn't use it reliably.
> If a tape backup extends onto a second tape, BA/2K says "FUCK YOU."
> Much like CDS's support says the same thing..
>
> BACK AGAIN/2000 is *NOT USABLE*.
So that's at least three people who have problems with CDS support. Which is
of no concern to me, since I own no CDS software, having returned BA2K whence
it came.
--
John Varela
Mike Forester
>
> I use Novaback from NovaStor with my Sony SDT9000 (was included). I used
> it for several years without any problems.
I tried the Novastor SCSI tape demo several months ago. I was impressed
with its backup speed. Unfortunately, it didn't use QFA, so the restore
of a small file near the end of a long tape could take literally hours.
The demo is no longer available on their website, though.
--
-Mike Forester <fore...@netcom.com>
------------------------------------
-> Scratch a lover, find a foe. -- Dorothy Parker
Mike Forester
>
> There is a UK outfit called Cristies that has just come out with a new
> OS/2 version of their in-house tape backup program. The demo is very
> solid, worked perfectly in my testing. The only problem is the
> incredibly high price for the server version. They do have an
> autoloader option and there is also an ADSM plug-in.
>
> Check out http://www.cristie.com:80/uk/uk_html/uk_frm_main.html
I tried it a few months ago. I have a few important Unix-style files
like .login that PC-BAX couldn't even see.
Mike Forester
I was a beta tester for Backmaster, back when I had a Colorado Jumbo
250.
I tried the latest demo version when I got SCSI hardware. It didn't
recognize it.
--
-Mike Forester <fore...@netcom.com>
------------------------------------
-> A 286 brain with a T1 mouth.
Mike Forester
>
>
> BA/2(000) will work reliably, as long as your tape hardware is
> reliable. Most of the time, when a tape drive won't work, there is
> something wrong with the adapter, the drive, and/or the SCSI bus
> termination (usually, the latter). CDS has always been very responsive
> to resonable people, but they do tend to ignore those who are not
> reasonable. Your post indicates which group you probably fit into.
Pissed off, yes; but not unreasonable.
In fact, Brent Bowlby has been helping me since Sunday. I wish he'd
replied to my requests for help back in October, but that's beside the
point. I have a Seagate STT8000N, which, as he points out, is one of
the most popular Travan drives around. We've cleaned up a few odds and
ends in my config.sys, and the backups complete like they're supposed
to. Still won't read the second tape of a set, though.
Mike Forester
>
> As have others, I too must vehemently disagree with the above. I have used
> BA/2 and now BA/2K extensively with my DAT drive. I have numerous backups
I keep hearing great things about BA/2, but I missed it. Reviews of
BA/2K on these newsgroups are decidedly mixed. Still, I keep trying;
it's the best of the lot, as far as I can tell.
> And as for CDS' support, I have found them reliable, prompt, and efficient
> at handling problems which have cropped up from time to time.
They were helpful at first; and then my messages just seemed to go into
a black hole. For a while I just gave up on BA/2K. Then the drive had
to be repaired, so Seagate sent me a refurbished one.
Brent Bowlby has been back in touch with me, though, and I think we're
going to get it solved this time.
It takes an awful lot of time to back up ~9 gigs using every possible
program in every possible configuration, and then try various tests on
it. I seem to spend half my life doing this.
--
-Mike Forester <fore...@netcom.com>
------------------------------------
-> Cover me. I'm changing lanes.
Mike Forester
>
> No, but Indellible Blue does (or did) claim that BA2K works with RSJ, which is
> why I bought it. And then returned it when it didn't work and CDS ignored my
> request for support.
Before I bought BA/2K, they told me they were "in discussions" with
RSJ. Haven't heard anything further about that.
> I was a purchaser of their software and their support people did not respond
> to my e-mail.
It seems to be hit-or-miss. At first, I got good support from them.
Then, I got the impression they were bored with me. Now Brent and I are
corresponding again regularly. <g>
--
-Mike Forester <fore...@netcom.com>
------------------------------------
-> Are there any lawyers in the house? BLAM BLAM Any More?
Bill Smith
I've used NovaBack for the last 11 years and even the
earliest version used QFA. It has saved my proverbial
ass many times when hard drives failed. Any file is
restored in less than a minute on a 125 meter tape with
my Sony SDT9000. I don't understand why the demo would
not include this. I don't know if they offer the OS/2
version for sale any more, since their dedicated
support for OS/2 stopped a couple years ago.
They do have a drive image software that will work with
any OS and any backup device, tape, ZIP, CDR, ORB, or
what ever. I don't know what it's capabilities or
limitations are.
Alex Taylor
>Back Again/2 (NOT 2000) works pretty well. My problem with GTAK/GTAR is a
>bit different than yours - if anyone can tell me how to do a selective (by
>drive letter) backup and restore, I will be incredibly happy.
What do you mean by "by drive letter"?
To back up drive C:
tar -4 -c -E -p --posix C:/
To back up drive D:
tar -4 -c -E -p --posix D:/
To rewind
tape -4 rewind
All assuming your tape device is #4.
To restore drive D: (assuming all above steps have been done), you need to
skip over the C: section. TAPE.EXE probably has a way of doing this but
the documentation is very cryptic. TAR can do it just as well; probably
something like
tar tE
which simply lists the contents of a section without restoring it. Then
the tape should be at the end of the first backup section, i.e. at the
beginning of the drive D: backup. Then you can restore with tar as usual.
This is mostly from memory, though. I don't make any guarantees...
Only problem with GTAR/GTAK is it takes _forever_.
--
--------------------------
Alex Taylor
al...@eddie.cis.uoguelph.ca
--------------------------
Alex Taylor
>> I use Novaback from NovaStor with my Sony SDT9000 (was included). I used
>> it for several years without any problems.
>
>I tried the Novastor SCSI tape demo several months ago. I was impressed
>with its backup speed. Unfortunately, it didn't use QFA, so the restore
>of a small file near the end of a long tape could take literally hours.
>
>The demo is no longer available on their website, though.
I have it kicking around somewhere. I should upload it to Hobbes
sometime.
Jack Troughton
>
> le...@nospm.psynet.net wrote:
> >
> > There is a UK outfit called Cristies that has just come out with a new
> > OS/2 version of their in-house tape backup program. The demo is very
> > solid, worked perfectly in my testing. The only problem is the
> > incredibly high price for the server version. They do have an
> > autoloader option and there is also an ADSM plug-in.
> >
> > Check out http://www.cristie.com:80/uk/uk_html/uk_frm_main.html
>
> I tried it a few months ago. I have a few important Unix-style files
> like .login that PC-BAX couldn't even see.
Just out of curiousity (and not knowing the software, I don't know
if it's even relevant), did you tell it to backup *.* or *? You
should tell any program you want it to do *, not *.*...
--
----------------------------------------------------------
* Jack Troughton jake at jakesplace.dhs.org *
* http://jakesplace.dhs.org ftp://jakesplace.dhs.org *
* Montréal PQ Canada news://jakesplace.dhs.org *
----------------------------------------------------------
Doug Bissett
wrote:
> It takes an awful lot of time to back up ~9 gigs using every possible
> program in every possible configuration, and then try various tests on
> it. I seem to spend half my life doing this.
>
Sounds to me, like you need something more than a tape backup system.
Have you considered just using XCOPY (with the appropriate
parameters), and a removable hard disk (one of those plug it in, copy
the data, and unplug it devices, NOT a removable media device)? The
plug in adapter is not a really expensive item, and 30 gig hard drives
(plenty of room, for multiple backups), are cheap as dirt, these days.
Get two, so you can alternate them, and have two backups. The
removable drives do require some careful handling, and it is not a
good idea to just leave them sitting around on a shelf, but with 9
gigs of data, it will be MUCH faster, and, probably, more reliable
than any tape system.
Hope this helps...
Raphael Tennenbaum
Hmm, my results (methods?) are quite different, but I
suspect it's because I'm using QFA...
Here's a command for restoring L:\foo\foo.fil from a backup
with a QFA directory (Q:\LOGS\FULL_2001-01-10.DIR):
tar -xppPE -D Q:/LOGS/FULL_2001-01-10.DIR L:/./foo/foo.fil
I've had to do this numerous times, and it seldom takes more
than 10-15 seconds for a single file -- longer of course for
a full direcotry or partition restore, but a lot quicker
than BA/2.
It's also possible to back up the QFA directory to the very
same tape -- on a single-tape volume backup at any rate --
with clever use of tape positioning commands. (I've meant
to write this up for VOICE or e-Zine...) This way in case
of a complete catastrophe, you can boot to floppies with the
tape drivers loaded, restore the QFA directories, and then
restore your partition(s).
--
Ray Tennenbaum '99 YZF-R6
readme@ http://www.ray-field.com
Erick Andrews
wrote:
I wouldn't be so absolute that hard drives are more reliable than *any* tape
system, although the hard drive technology does keep improving.
Sure, there are cost-benefit-value tradeoffs, but their are some classes of
tape drives, like expensive DLT ones that are can adjust their read/write
offsets and thresholds, and ECC's to the vagaries of magnetic recording
that I doubt is built into el cheapo 30 Gig hard drives.
The cost of these tape drives are not cheap, neither is the media, but
at some point along the bit-quantity curve the cost becomes less. That
would include the cost of storage, handling, availabiltiy and archiving, too.
Yes, for small SOHO use the cost of entry could be prohibitive, with or without
a changer model. Right now, Quantum and IBM (and others) are vying for
top place with new standards and offerings with their streaming tape
sub-systems.
I have a used Cipher 860 and in 4 years, I've never seen a media error, while on
my cheaper Exabyte and Viper QIC's, I've seen many problems.
Just my 2 cents per terabit...
--
Best,
Erick Andrews
eand...@star.net
Mike Forester
>
> Mike Forester wrote:
> > I tried it a few months ago. I have a few important Unix-style files
> > like .login that PC-BAX couldn't even see.
>
> Just out of curiousity (and not knowing the software, I don't know
> if it's even relevant), did you tell it to backup *.* or *? You
> should tell any program you want it to do *, not *.*...
I don't remember, but I'm sure I didn't use *.*. I think I just checked
entire drives in the GUI.
--
-Mike Forester <fore...@netcom.com>
------------------------------------
-> Anatomically Correct beats Politically Correct any day.
Alex Taylor
>>Only problem with GTAR/GTAK is it takes _forever_.
>
>suspect it's because I'm using QFA...
>
>Here's a command for restoring L:\foo\foo.fil from a backup
>with a QFA directory (Q:\LOGS\FULL_2001-01-10.DIR):
>
>tar -xppPE -D Q:/LOGS/FULL_2001-01-10.DIR L:/./foo/foo.fil
I've never tried QFA. Because I don't know how it works and
the GTAK documentation in general is somewhere between cryptic and
unintelligible.
frank schmittroth
>>Here's a command for restoring L:\foo\foo.fil from a backup
>>with a QFA directory (Q:\LOGS\FULL_2001-01-10.DIR):
>>
>>tar -xppPE -D Q:/LOGS/FULL_2001-01-10.DIR L:/./foo/foo.fil
>
>I've never tried QFA. Because I don't know how it works and
>the GTAK documentation in general is somewhere between cryptic and
>unintelligible.
I have used QFA with gtar/gtak and found it works well. As noted,
one simply needs a "D" option to specify a tape directory. When
restoring individual files, gtar goes quickly to the required tape
block.
Also, the tape directory file is a text file, so one gets a detailed
record of the saved files that one can browse. As noted in the docs,
one needs to manually delete old tape-directory files since they
are appended, not rewritten.
Frank.
user...@qwest.net
out the correct command line parameters to use for my backups. I've been
using it with a DDS-2 drive with great success.
However...
I just got a DDS-3 drive, a Sony STD-9000N, and GTAR hangs after about 8
GB of backing up. (It's a 12 GB tape). Is this a problem with GTAR? is
it limited to 8GB? Has anyone used it successfully with tapes 12 GB or
larger?
I've been meaning to write up an article about my GTAR experiences, but
I'm waiting until I get the 12 GB tape problem ironed out.
-steve
jmandres
You can use tarfront as a graphical front-end to GTAK/GTAR. It works very well if you keep your
catalog files out of the hard disk e.g. in a zip cartridge. I regularly use it for backup of my
drives.
One tip: I do not use it for backing up my first hard disk where I have two operating systems
partition. For that I use a free DOS product (SnapBack, from Columbia Data Products, www.cdp.com)
that stores hard disk images in tape. It restores the whole drive or partition so is rather slow
for files, but in case of installation failures you can recover your disk in perfectly working
state.
--
José Manuel Andrés_Gimeno
Instituto de Carboquímica, CSIC
María de Luna 12
50015 - Zaragoza
ESPAÑA / SPAIN
Tfn: +34 976 733977 Fax: +34 976 733318
jman...@carbon.icb.csic.es or jman...@tornado.icb.csic.es
Alex Taylor
>> I've never tried QFA. Because I don't know how it works and
>> the GTAK documentation in general is somewhere between cryptic and
>> unintelligible.
>
>catalog files out of the hard disk e.g. in a zip cartridge. I regularly use it for backup of my
>drives.
Thanks for the pointer, I'll check it out.
Kevin Waugh
TARFRONT that works quite well (for me at least) and it saves you from
having to remember all those tar command line switches. It allows
selective backups and restores of drives/folders/files by navigating a
tree. It has saved my bacon a couple of times :-) It only works if you
remember to do the backups !!!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Original Message <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
On 1/11/01, 3:58:49 AM, al...@eddie.cis.uoguelph.ca (Alex Taylor) wrote
regarding Re: SCSI Tape Backup for OS/2: DESPERATE, NEED HELP:
Jerry Travers
The problem you are having with Sytos Premium is the same problem I have experienced. I
discovered the fix to be decreasing the number of loaded fonts to <90. We have had good
experiences with Sytos Premium, besides that. The real problem with Sytos Premium is that
Veritas is no longer supporting the code.
Mike Forester wrote:
> * SYTOS PREMIUM
> Craps out silently, and records an error in SPOCLIB.DLL.
--
Jerry Travers
IBM Certified Systems Expert - OS/2 Warp 4
Golden Code Development Corporation http://www.goldencode.com