Ticket Options

Question Profile

Question Details

TICKET ARCHIVE -> OSX ".DMG" un-changed files backed up

dennisdahl3 - Oct 1, 2007 - 7:37 pm

Hi,

I am an APPLE MACINTOSH user with a PowerBook G4, 1GHz (TiBook) running OSX10.4.10.

I have Retrospect Express version 6.1.126, Retrospect Driver Update, version 6.1.10.100.

Retrospect Express version 6.1.126 came on a CD with my Western Digital, Maxtor and IOGear firewire drives.

My Retrospect is configured to DUPLICATE an entire drive.

Retrospect always duplicates several ".DMG" files even though they have NOT BEEN ACCESSED NOR CHANGED.

Usually it is the same ".DMG" files.

Many of these files are large, up to 18GB. and take many minutes to back up.

My inquires to DANTZ have never been answered helpfully.

In communications with EMC Insignia I was informed to contact Western Digital, my most recent drive manufacturer.

I hope someone can please tell me what I can do so that ".DMG" files are not duplicated unless they have been changed?

My guess is that there is some software patch or some bit-fiddling required.

Some .DMGs I do use occasionally, they are read-write .DMGs, and I want them to then be backed up accordingly.

I can not exclude .DMGs from further backups nor delete them for the above reason.

Well, heres hoping for a solution.

If you require further clarifications I'd be happy to iChat.

Thanks,
Dennis

Serenak - Oct 2, 2007 - 5:50 pm

Hello Dennis,

thanks for choosing macosx.com, I hope I can offer some pointers

I would think that the problem lies in your choice of "Duplicate" - I am not familiar with Retrospect because I use SuperDuper myself but I would guess most backup tools are fairly similar.

SuperDuper has several options for backing up an entire drive - erase and copy (a clean fresh clone), smart update (makes the existing back up match the disk you are backing up) and copy changed files (which overwrites changed files but does not delete any files removed from the master disk)... I suspect you need to look for one of the latter options or the equivalent.

Also most back up systems allow you to exclude certain files by name... look for an option to create an exclusion list where you can list the specific files you wish to prevent being repeatedly copied.

In my opinion your current problem is that you are in fact "cloning" the drive which copies everything... when what you really wish to do is update your existing clone or backup with changed files.

I am sorry that I cannot be more specific about Retrospect - if this hasn't helped come back to me and I will attempt to help more or throw the question back out to the other techs...

Also you might want to consider looking at the very reasonably priced and well respected SuperDuper! which you can find here http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDup...scription.html

Hope this helps.

dennisdahl3 - Oct 2, 2007 - 7:46 pm

This is what I found in the Retrospect help that came with Retrospect 6.1:

"Duplicate
Retrospect Express allows you to duplicate files on a volume or among volumes. Retrospect Express optimizes the duplication process by copying only your selected files and by copying only those files which do not already exist on the destination.

Files and folders are copied without compression, in the standard file system format, which is useful when transporting data to other computers. Encrypted files remain encrypted.

The duplicate feature is useful, for example, for creating a bootable Mac OS X backup or a user-accessible backup of a database on a hard disk.

TIP: Subvolumes are useful tools for duplicates. For example, a network administrator can define an application folder on a server as a Subvolume and duplicate it for quick installation on a user's workstation. See Subvolumes.

"

Maybe you could check into why this is happening. It is fun to discover things after using ones ingenuity.

Serenak - Oct 2, 2007 - 8:09 pm

OK so according to that it copies files that do not already exist and all your selected files. Not as smart as the SuperDuper "copy changed" or "smart update" which compares all the files and only overwrites changed ones (the difference is whether or not it removes files from the backup to make it match the master)

I would look for an option to create an exclusion list or double check that the .dmg files you think are being needlessly copied are not being changed somehow.

Otherwise I would strongly recommend you look at the free SilverKeeper from LaCie http://www.lacie.com/silverkeeper/ iBackUp http://www.grapefruit.ch/iBackup/ or SuperDuper!

Retrospect is a heavyweight hitter in the commercial market but you are not the first user of their express version that I have heard of having problems... It may be that it is not the best solution for you.

I can't really offer much more advice so I will chuck this back into the ring in case another tech has more specific Retrospect advice for you.

Sorry I couldn't help more.

TechSupport - Oct 5, 2007 - 8:10 pm

We apologize for not being able to resolve the issue you asked of us. It is the absolute worst case scenario for us to do this. In our review of why this happens, it generally is related to either the particular issue being addressed or frequently, incomplete or incorrect information provided. We hope by moving your request to the public forums that you will be able to get a solution without leaving you empty handed.

Your ticket has been closed with our support team. Your request has just been posted to Mac OS X System & Mac Software and is available for your viewing at:

http://macosx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=295710

Again, thank you for using Macosx.com. We hope you will consider using us again in the future.