Tasker and syncing files over Wifi

[ashburn15 (Syed Abu Bakar)]

Anybody knows of any plugin or way to sync files on your device with that on your (windows xp) pc directly over your home wifi? I'm currently using an app called Syncme but it does not have any Tasker integration. Don't think anything can be written directly from Tasker as windows file sharing (on the pc side) will be tough to crack. And using cloud to do it (e.g. from device to Dropbox to pc) takes an awfully long time. Any ideas?

[ashburn15 (Syed Abu Bakar)]

By the way the app is SyncMe Wireless by bvaisoft..

[Scott Miller]

Check out FolderSync.

Scott

[ashburn15 (Syed Abu Bakar)]

Ah yes, guess i missed out the part about "Samba/CIFS/Windows Share". Ok thanks will try it out..

On Sunday, September 23, 2012 7:33:35 PM UTC+8, Scott Miller wrote:

Check out FolderSync.

Scott

[Michael Yeager]

Post back on how it works for you. Right now I'm using RSync to backup my phone nightly but if this will allow me to pick and choose easily and use Tasker to schedule then it may be the better option...

[Scott Miller]

allow me to pick and choose easily 

You need to create folder pairs. A bit cumbersome, but it works, and I haven't found anything easier. You can't pick files, only folders, but you can add filters to either include or exclude files.

 use Tasker to schedule

Yes. The pro version includes a Tasker plugin that can launch a specific folder pair to be synced. 

I sync to local storage (internal and external SD Card) and to cloud storage. Sync to Windows for me is a bit challenging at the moment. I haven't worked out the details of getting my firewall on my laptop to allow the connection. If I turn the firewall off, then it works fine.

I've had it installed for a while, but only just started to set it up. Others on this group are using it as well and may have more information. Once it's set up, it seems to work well.

Scott

[Wes Stacey]

On Sunday, September 23, 2012 8:29:21 AM UTC-5, Michael Yeager wrote:

use Tasker to schedule then it may be the better option...

While the pro version contains the Tasker plugin, you don't need it. I was planning on buying the Pro version and using it but i found that FolderSync not only lets you sync folders it also let you schedule sycing all from the free version. you don't even need to get tasker involved.

I started looking into this as a way to backup Tasker, While my old phones had micro SD card slots in them that i could just insert into my new phones and restore my Tasker profiles, my current phone doesn't so i wanted a way to offload the auto-backups so they could be restored. I heard about FolderSync here and downloaded the free version to play around with and figure out the app, eventually planning on purchasing the Pro version and use Tasker to schedule the syncing. But as i was playing around with the free version i found that I could create folder pairs and schedule syncs with my Google Drive all from the free version. It accomplished everything that i was looking for, all without even having to get Tasker involved.

The result is an even better backup system for Tasker than i Had before. Before if i lost the phone i lost all the backups but this way even if i loose the phone i still have all my Tasker profiles ready to restore on my new phone.

[ashburn15 (Syed Abu Bakar)]

OK tried the free version of Foldersync. No Tasker integration but gives me an idea of what can be done.

Tried 2 types of syncs to transfer stuff from my phone onto Dropbox-

(1) Device to Cloud direct over wifi

The simplest most direct method is to create a "folderpair" between a device folder and a DB folder and let them sync over wifi. This uploads the content directly to the cloud. Of course the 1st sync took a long long time as there were 300+ files to sync. I theorized that my device internet upload connection was slow so thot i try (2) below..

(2) Device to Dropbox folder on my xp pc using windows sharing on wifi.

Theoratically, transferring files to your pc over wifi (using windows sharing) should be way faster then uploading to the cloud thru your internet connection right? That was the idea behind this method as i wanted the files over to the desktop Dropbox folder on my pc quickly then let the desktop DB folder sync to the cloud using my always-on pc's internet connection at its own pace (saving battery and wifi connection time on my device).

But actual tests showed that the wifi transferring of files between device and windows using Foldersync was actually similar or slower then uploading to cloud direct. Tried it with Syncme Wireless and that seemed to be much faster at Windows file sharing transfer compared to Foldersync.

I also tried 2 other free apps for DB that have tasker integration/plugin - Dropspace and Dropsync. Dropspace is only 1-way (device to cloud) and is good if u can live with this restriction. Dropsync (free) is 2-way but has got other limitations such as 5-mb file size limit so its useless. And the paid version costs about double that of Foldersync (which has a lot more services).
 
So, here's the conclusion. If u want to sync between device and DB directly, Foldersync is good, although u'll have to get the paid version for tasker integration. If u transfer a large amount of files between your pc and device, then Foldersync is slow but at least it works with Tasker. (or u can manually sync using Syncme Wireless if u can live without the tasker integration)

[ashburn15 (Syed Abu Bakar)]

Most of the apps mentioned above have their own internal scheduling but Tasker integration is important in some situations. For example, in my case, my device is not connected to wifi all the time (saves battery) and i use Tasker to switch it on at certain times (e.g. at home every half hour when i'm not sleeping or when i launch apps such as browser, whatsapp etc). If i can add the app plugin task to Tasker, then i'm assured that my wifi will be switched on then the plugin can trigger the sync. If i set up some in-app scheduling, wifi might not be on when the sync triggers. So i guess it depends on the how u use the apps..

[Michael Yeager]

I have it backing up my entire SD card to a NAS drive at home. I will purchase the full version for two reasons, one is to support the developer and the other is Tasker integration. I want to run my backup at a specific time and only if certain criteria are met. This is what Tasker does best. Took me very little time to set this program up and I'm sure I'm going to sync certain directories more often but this little gem does exactly what it says it does. The ability to use multiple different services is a big plus. I was using RSync for my nightly backup but will use this instead as it's far more flexible. If you use the app and like it that much, consider supporting it and buying it.

[Scott Miller]

And the free version only supports 2 or 3 accounts, and no filters. So there is reason beyond the Tasker support to purchase the full version. And of course to simply thank the developer for this useful tool.

Scott

[Michael Yeager]

I need no other reason than it's a well written and very useful app and only about $2.50. The Tasker integration is a big thing to me as I want control over what is being done and when. I don't want it starting to scan files to back up while I'm surfing the net during a commercial and slowing my phone to a crawl. I'm hoping more apps in the future are Tasker integrated...

[ashburn15 (Syed Abu Bakar)]

Yup i just bought the paid version too. It even syncs local folders e.g. from internal memory (DCIM, bluetooth, etc)  to external SD card. So u can add more redundancy by syncing from internal memory to SD Card to cloud. So far so good and worth every cent.

[Michael Yeager]

I have noticed that it chokes on .android secure but I'm not rooted at the moment so I'm sure that's why. Once rooted, you can probably do the whole file structure. Might be advantageous for a few reasons....

[Johnathan Wee]

HI Michael,

Could you share task you use with foldersync to backup your entire internal sdcard to your NAS?

thank you

[Michael Yeager]

Wow, I had forgottent about this old thread. FolderSync works flawlessly to back up my entire SD Card nightly when Tasker has all of the conditions met and kicks off the backup.

[Johnathan Wee]

I also tried Foldersync, but a few versions ago and it could only backup just the directories, not the entire internal sdcard. What settings did you use?

[Michael Yeager]

I just set the folderpair to /mnt/sdcard in the foldersync settings and that's it. No trick to it. The task only has the setting of what folderpair to sync. The actual setup is in the foldersync app itself.