Conference hydra::amiga_v1

    I don't have a hard drive, but I'd be glad to test it on my floppy
    disks.  Unfortunately, I can't download.

    Steve, you've answered my prayers.  I just completely backed up
    my Supra over the weekend, so now's the time to experiment.
    
    If you give me a path, I'll download it and give it a try.  If it
    works, I'll name my firstborn child after you (even if it's a girl).
    
    How come Supra can't do a backup utility in six months with an army
    of programmers, but one dedicated guy can knock one out in a week,
    and work a full-time job too?  Sheesh!
    
    By the way, if you notice any heat problems in the Supra, check
    out the 'NEW HARD DRIVE OWNER' note.  I've dropped a small fan into
    mine for $27.00
    

    I will try it too.  I have way to much data on my drive to have
    it all wasted one day.  If I have the ability to do incremental
    backups I will probably back up more often.
    
    			--Mike

    Willing to test it on an EPSON hard drive partitioned with the JAnus
    (XT version) card on the A2000. 
    Only drawback: loated in Italy.
    

    I will try to upload it tonite.
    
    When I do I'll post the location.
    
    /Steve.

Re: .0

>      	o Incremental backup (since date and time)

Although doing incremental backups on the basis of date and time makes
a nice additional feature, incremental backups should be driven by the
"archive" bit in the file's protection mask.

One of the new features of 1.2 is that a new protection bit was added
the the Amiga filesystem that is updated automatically anytime a file
is changed.  When a backup utility saves a file, it should use the
AmigaDOS call that sets protection to flip this bit.  If a backup
utility is doing an incremental save, it should look at protection
of the files to see if it has the value that means the file needs to
be saved (I believe that clear means the file needs to be saved).

Backup on the basis of the archive bit is safer (avoids problems with
bad dates on files) and avoids race conditions (What?! You were actually
using multitasking to update a file as the backup utility scanning the
directory the file was stored in?!).

Not to mention: using the archive bit means never needing to now when
you did your last backup :-).

The document that came with the 1.2 upgrade gives all the information
needed to use the archive bit.

Anyway, it sounds like to have a good program there.

Re: .6
    
    Yes, good point I had already been thinking of doing just that.
    But also see a need for date/time backups. So I'll probably add
    a 'LAST' keyword to the -s (since) switch. Anybody know what number
    bit to use. (I don't have the 1.2 docs).
    
    	Backup -s DD-MM-YY:HH:MM or
    	Backup -s LAST	
                                                                   
    Also allowing a NOBACKUP bit. (bit 24 some one on the usenet mentioned
    last week had been chosen as that function).
                     
    /Steve.
    

Re: .6:

From the Autodocs (although the same information is in the "enhancer"
documentation booklet that everyone got with the 1.2 update):

    ARCHIVE BIT:

    Bit 4 of the protection field is now cleared whenever a file which
    has been written to is closed, or a directory updated. This will
    allow an archiving program to scan a disk and detect those files which
    have been altered since it last ran. It can use the protect function
    to set the archive bit to mark the file as archived.

    The PROTECT command has been modified to alter only the lower 4 bits
    of the protection field and preserve the rest. It used to set them 
    all to 1.

    dos.h, dos.i: added FIBB_ARCHIVE and FIBF_ARCHIVE

A quick of include/libraries/dos.h shows that
	FIBB_ARCHIVE	is the bit number of the flag (4)
	FIBF_ARCHIVE	is the mask for the flag (1<<4)

>    Also allowing a NOBACKUP bit. (bit 24 some one on the usenet mentioned
>    last week had been chosen as that function).

Was this someone from Commodore?  I am not sure I trust any allocation
of a bit until it gets in the official include files and documentation.
Did they *PROMISE* to use bit 24?  I would have guessed that they would
use bit 5, since they seem to be allocating bits in order.

By the way, you might want to consider making -s LAST the default
of the program.  That is probably the most popular way to run the
program.  (I am assuming that people will do several incremental
backups for every full backup that they do.)

For what it is worth, I find it interesting that a -s LAST will backup
a full disk the first time it is used.

    Thanx for the info Randy, actually after asking the question the
    first thing I did when I got home was look in the include files
    and there it was. So a few more lines of code and wala my backup
    now uses the Archive bit.
    Also bit 24 for no backup was mentioned as available by commodore.
    But at this point in time I don't see a need for a nobackup bit.
    At least not until the Amiga starts doing Crash dumps. :-)
    
    Here are the files, go to it. By the way you'll also notice that
    the compression is very fast. (No real noticable slowdown when
    compressing.)
                                   
    CGFSV2::DISK$73G:[DREW.AMIGA.BACKUP]SDBACKUP.ARC    ! executable
    				        SDBACKUP.DOC    ! doc file 
    
    Please read the doc file before using.
    
    I'd appreciate any comments good or bad. Also please please do not
    redistribute this version. I'm not sure how I'm releasing this at
    the moment. But I can say anyone who tests it for me will be first
    in line for a free copy.
    
    Steve.
    

    
    Found a small bug in SDBackup last nite: it did'nt probably call
    Format, when asked for. So fixed it and uploaded another version
    to same location
    		CGFSV2::DISK$73G:[DREW.AMIGA.BACKUP]SDBACKUP.ARC;2
    
    It's best anyway to have all your floppies to be used preformated
    that way if you have two drives you can put a volume in each drive
    and when it finishes one volume if it finds the next one mounted
    on it will go! That means you can leave you machine unattended for
    about each 2.5 megs of backup (assuming average of 40% compression).
                             
    

    Anyone have any luck de-ARCing Steve's file?  I tried downloading
    it several times, but kept getting a 'bad header on block 27' message.
    I tried DBW_VT100 set on XMODEM, IMAGE and I also tried Comm1.34.

    re: .11
    
    A few have tried it already so the arc file must be ok.
    
    Well I took the time wednesday nite and backed up both partitians
    of my drive 4 meg & 16 meg. I had a total of about 16 meg on my
    drive (already), it took 12 1/4 floppies to do a full backup. It
    went real good, my supra dive did lock up on me while backing up
    to the 6th floppy, but after a quick reboot all I had to do was
    a 'SDBackup -s last dh0: Back_6:' to continue. And it contiuned
    with the file it was working on at the time of the crash. This is
    because of those handy-dandy archive bits.
    
    After all was backed up I did a 'delete -r dh0:' under shell which
    wiped the disk clean. Then I proceeded with a complete restore with
    absolutely no problems. By the way the restore really flys! I just
    walked upto my machine every 10-15 minutes and stuffed in the next
    two floppies.
    
    My drive is now nicely refreshed.
    
    Last nite I put the finishing touches on SDBackup by adding a
    maintenace mode which allows just to view files that would be backed
    up and allows to set and clear archive bits on all or selected files.
    Also reduced the stack usage a bit. Although you still may need
    higher than normal 4000 byte stack, just to play it safe.
    
    Check the same location for a new doc file and arc file.
    
    all comments still welcome.
    
    
    Oh, and by the way I'll called supra about the lock up. (I've had
    a few of them). They said I should be running version 1.2 of the
    driver, but my disk says 1.1, so their sending me 1.2.
    
    Are the rest of you running 1.1 or 1.2 harddisk.device driver??
    
    Steve.
    
    

    RE: .12
    
    ]    Are the rest of you running 1.1 or 1.2 harddisk.device driver??
    ]
    ]    Steve.

    How can I find out which driver I have?
    
    Mike

	I'm running 1.2 gamma kickstart, and the 1.2 (I believe)
  	drivers that came with the Supra disk.

	I haven't had any lockups; although this morning, I had
	my first readwrite error.  I powered down, hoping scsi 
	reinitialization was sufficient to correct the problem,
	and everything is fine.

    I tried SDBackup over the weekend and it worked like a champion.
    It's a good idea to pre-format all your disks, and just keep both
    drives pre-fed.  It's also no big deal to format on the fly, so
    keep a spare CLI or two open in case you need them.
    
    
    I haven't yet done an incremental backup, so no comments yet on
    how that works.                              
    
    Nice job Steve, and thanks again.
                                                 
    

    re: .15
    
    you actually do not need to have another CLI kicking arround in
    order to format, since if you click cancel when the requester ask's
    for the next volume you will then be asked if you wish to format
    the next volume. SDBackup then calls the format program and does
    the work for you, then continues on.
    
    Steve
    

    A few comments on the mostly wonderful SDBACKUP!
    
    First, I couldn't get it to format? I would type Y and it would
    just quit. Any ideas?
    
    Second, it seems a little slower than it should be. It is faster
    (and the floppy drive is not always spinning)
    if I SDBACKUP to VD0:, and then to the floppy in an intermediate
    step. I presume that better buffering would solve this problem.
    Personally, I would like to see SDBACKUP grab 1/2 Meg or more if
    it is available. You could make a switch telling it how much ram
    to grab.... 880K would be perfect, of course.
    
    Third, it would probably be still faster and more compact to store
    all backup files to one *MASSIVE* one. This would eliminate some
    overhead like directory lookup as well. I don't think this should
    replace the version as it stands now, but the option would be useful.
    For people with memory and no hard disk, they could use SDBACKUP
    as a faster loader (there's already a program that performs that limited
    function but I don't remember the name).
    
    

    I finally started to use SDbackUp last nite.
    It is a nice ( and very USEFULL )piece of software. But everything
    can be improved. 
    Steve, in case you thinking of a new version, please, fix the following
    'problem'.
    When you run SDbackup -s LAST it will create a buch of unecessary
    directories and gives you plenty of warning not beeing able to modify
    the archive bit of the directory. I think it would necessary to
    delay the creation of the directory to when the first file need
    to be stored. This will prevent the save of new empty directories,
    problem that can be solved with:
    
     create directory if
    	need to save a file or
    	the directory is empty.
    
    marco

    You must be running the pre release version (X1.0). That problem
    was fixed in 1.0. Check my directory again for a newer version.
    
    About the warnings of modifying archive bit. That means you have
    other processes running that have locks on those files or directories
    or via an Assign command. The way I get around this is run a command
    file before I do a full backup to desassign all my logicals.
    Even a full backup on VMS, when online you get file access conflicts
    from open files or other users.
    
    Steve.
    

    OOooohh.  Neat... HOw do you deassign?
                    
    --Mike_who_may_just_release_another_version_of_smokey_before_november
    _17_runs_along...
    

    to desassign, say C:
    
    assign C: <return>
    
    (now that was a tough one :-)
    
    Steve.

Is there a version of this program that is compatible with 1.3?


                                   A new hard driver owner
                                        Jim

Re .22

I have it at home but for some reason not on my vax here.  It seems to work
with 1.3, though I haven't tried any extensive tests yet.  I can upload it
if it is no longer available in one of the public directories.  I will have
to double check which version I have.

	Paul

    
    Does anyone have an opinion on any of the commercially available
    hard disk backup utilities?        
    
    The only ones I know of are Quarterback and LVBackup.
    
    -Jeff
    

    I am enthusiastic about Quarterback.  It is fast enough that being
    faster wouldn't be useful: you'd be limited by your ability to change
    disks and write labels.
        John Sauter

    I just got a notice from the people that provide Quarterback. 
    There is new version which allows you to back up to some
    streaming tape and to bernouli (sp?) drives.  They've also
    added the ability to use 2 floppies during the restore (lack
    of this feature has been a criticism in some reviews). Oh
    yes, they also write the catalogue on the last disk as well
    as the first, in case the first gets damaged.
    
    They also announced something called "Mac DOS" (I think that was
    it).  Some product for interchange of files between Amiga and Mac.
    
    

    Could you go into a little more detail about MAC dos?
    
    If this allows you to read and write mac disks on an Amiga...then
    my prayers have been answered.
    
    Have they?
    
    Randy
    

    re .26
    
    Were they specific as to which types of streaming tape devices they
    support in the new version? Do they supply the device driver for
    these tape devices?
    
    It's funny that they send this out now, because I called them about
    3 weeks ago to ask if they supported any kind of tape devices and
    they said no, and they had no plans to do so in the near future.

    I just purchased Quarterback last weekend.  On a scale of 1-10 I would
    give it a 9.  The version I have sounds like the one referred to in
    .26.  (It supports use of two drives for both backup and restore, and
    claims to support other media.)  There is very little to fault about
    it.  I could get picky and complain about default setting and saving
    being a little awkard, but in general the user interface is very
    pleasant and intuitive. 

    It is FAST!  I agree with the prior comment that being faster would
    make it operator limited.  However this would not be the case if it did
    data compression and still wrote at the same speed.  I would like to
    see that added.  Next to speed, minimizing the number of floppies
    required is my highest priority. 

    The documentation talks about supporting devices other than floppies,
    but doesn't say much about it.  The user interface is designed on the
    assumption that the individual volumes have a predetermined capacity.
    (It tells you how many floppies will be required.)  This would have to
    change (or just lie) to use tapes. 

    It uses its own floppy format, which is acceptable to me for the speed
    it achieves, and especially since it formats on the fly.  However I did
    have one floppy which it rejected as bad media.  I subsequently tried
    that floppy with DiskWipe, DiskErr, Format, etc., without any problems.
    Apparently Quarterback is somewhat picky about its media, or else I had
    a transient error. 

    I would certainly recommend this product to anyone with a hard disk.

	Paul

    	I am having a problem backing up one of my partitions.  It is the
    	largest. (20 floppies w/QB)  I get the symptom stated in the QB
    	manual.  Quarterback hangs with the floppy drive light on.  I am
    	having a 50% success rate backing up this partition and it in-
    	variably fails on the last two or three floppies.{_I have 9
    	partitions mounted that average 5-7 floppies per backup.
    	Anyone else out encountering this problem with large partitions?
    	Any advice to offer?  I am ready to chuck QB out of the window,
    	having just tried to backup my large partition three times.
    
    	pissed,
    
    	mark
    
    p.s.Am using QB V2.3
    
    	Is there a reliable hd backup utility out there?

    I have been using QuarterBack for quite some time and have had no
    problems.  My largest backup is 18 floppies.
    
    The only time I have seen the problem you describe is when I had my old
    Escort drive which had nothing but problems with it.  Sometimes the
    access light on the hard drive would hang, sometimes the floppy light
    (if I was backing it up) and sometimes the system would simply hang.	
    
    These symptoms happened whether or not I was using QuarterBack.  The
    problem was obviously in the drive or the interface.  Repeated calls to
    Escort tech support line were useless. Since it was out of warrenty, my
    solution was to chuck it out the window and buy a A590.  Haven't had a
    problem since.
    
    So, I guess the moral is to be sure it isn't the hard drive that is
    giving you the problem.  Maybe there is a couple of bad spots out there
    that it is having trouble with.  My Escort couldn't seem to handle anyt
    kind of a error.
    
    Ken
    

    What is the status of SDBackup?  Is is 'safe' to use with a 1.3
    filesystem?
    
    					Jim Collum
    

    I have had QuarterBack hang on me a few times while I had the demo
    version of CrossDos installed. I have a one drive 2000 and therefore
    had to use the TDPatch13 program for the Trackdisk bug. As soon as I
    quit using CrossDos and the TDPatch13 program everything worked fine.
    
    I chaulked it up to an interation problem between QuarterBack and
    CrossDos which both bypass the operating system to some extent.
    
    		Regards....   Clint
    
    

    I have a 40MB partition which takes about 30 floppies to back up.
    I used to see the "hang" problem with MRbackup, but I haven't seen it
    since I started using QuarterBack.  I am also running AmigaDOS 1.3.2,
    I wonder if any of its patches fixed this problem?
        John Sauter

    The problem seem VERY intermittent.  I used to have a 35 floppy
    partition and it never failed.  75% of the time I get through a full
    backup with no problem.  It is the other 25% that is aggravating.
    I am running WB1.3.2/ARP1.3 with Qmouse1.6, a print spooler, and SRT
    running in the background.  The symptoms are very random.  CCS's fix is
    to always leave a floppy in the drive(s).  I do that and still have the
    problem.  I also run NOCLICK3.5.  I am going to try booting up the QB disk
    and performing the backup w/o any other tasks running.
    I like the ease and speed of Quarterback but the intermittent hangs are
    really a pain.  
    
    mark
    
    p.s. I have two hard drives and the symptom appear randomly no matter
    what partition I am backing up.

    So how much $$$ is Quarterback going for now a days?  
    
    I just got a hard drive for Christmas (!!!) and am looking for a good
    backup util.
    
    I would go the PD route, but I'd rather have the support that a
    commercial company gives.
    
    Steve O
    
    

    
Here is an update to my Supra A500 SCSI controller/Quarterback
problem.  
    
    My setup: A500->Supra SCSI->Adaptec4000A->ST-506(2)

My symptom was that Quarterback would randomly hang during
backups.  When Quarterback hung, the floppy drive light on 
the active drive would be on.  If I shoved the Quarterback 
screen to the rear and activated ANY other program Quarterback 
would continue.  Usually I would activate a shell then log
out of the shell and bring the Quarterback screen to front
and continue.

I called Central Coast Software and explained the symptoms to 
them and they told me that this was a KNOWN problem with the
Supra controller and that Supra should send me a PAL.  I called
Supra and Clark (for once he was civil) said he would send it
to me.  I received the PAL yesterday.  I replaced the PAL numbered
83-8A, with the new one numbered 83-8B.

Using Diskspeed 2, I show about a 5% increase in transfer rate, nothing
great but every little bit helps. And, so far, Quarterback works
fine.  


mark
    

    I've been told that both Central Coast and Supra have done workarounds
    for this problem.  (ie, if you have v1.09f of the supra software, _OR_
    the latest Quarterback software, this shouldn't be a problem)
    
    At least this is what I've been told....
    
    Steve
    

    I HAVE V1.09f AND V2.3 of Quarterback and still had the problem.  I
    also have V1.06b, V1006c, and V1.07d of the Supra software and the
    problem persisted until I replaced the PAL.
    
    mark

I have the same hardware setup as Mark. And I have the same problem. I'm
running Supra v 1.09f and QB v 2.03. I'm waiting for my PAL now. I called
Clark the day after Mark so it should be here today or tomorrow.

The key to this problem is after QB hangs you can get it going again by
pushing it to the back and causing any kind of hard disk activity (by clicking
on an icon for example). As soon as Clark heard this he knew what the problem
was.

Tom

    
    
    While attempting to get my Midget Racer and A500 Suprascsi to 
    cooperate with one another (had to reformat my drives then it
    functioned flawlessly) I called Supra and asked them for a 
    new autoboot ROM.  Supra seems to have had a change in attitude 
    (for the better) about customer service.  Not only did they send 
    a new Autoboot ROM but they also sent the latest boot and tools
    floppies, a new controller manual (it hasn't changed, still
    lousy), AND a hard drive backup utility called ExpressCopy.

    			ExpressCopy mini-review

    I have been using Quarterback since installing my hard drive and
    have been happy with it.  Its speed and ease of use makes it a great 
    product.  My only concern(minor) was that the volumes Quarterback 
    created were not AmigaDOS compatible.  

    From the ExpressCopy manual...(reprinted and edited w/o permission)

    Expresscopy(xco) is designed to rapidly copy directories and files
    from a source directory path to the destination 3.5" floppy.  XCO
    is unique in that the disks it creates are compatible with either
    the Standard FileSystem or the Fast FileSystem...the disks that it
    creates have the same directory paths and files as the source
    directory, and the files can be used normally.

    Search parameters can be specified to limit which files are
    copied.  You can eliminate files which have the archive bit set,
    files whose DateStamp is prior to a date and/or time you enter,
    and filenames which do not match a filename pattern you specify. 
    You can also exclude files whose filename matches a filename
    pattern you specify.

    If the source files will not fit on a single disk, you will be
    prompted for additional disks as needed to complete the copy.
    Xco allows you to use up to 4 disks drives to make additional
    copies of the disks xco creates when performing a copy.  Xco
    allows you to alternate between up to 4 disks drives.  This allows
    you to pre-load disks so that you will not be bothered as often to
    feed disks and speeds up backup slightly.

    Xco will automatically detect, and format and verify a new disk,
    and, if you wish, will ask if you wish to over-write any valid DOS
    disks you insert.  It will allow you to set the ARCHIVE protection
    bit of the source files to make incremental backups easier.

    Xco was designed to allow you to multi-task effectively.  You can
    adjust the programs priority while it's running.  You can HALT xco
    if needed, and use the floppy drives normally.  When you RESUME
    copying, xco will check to make sure the correct disks are
    inserted, and if necessary, ask you to insert the correct disks.

    If XCO comes across a file or directory that it can't access
    because it is in use, it will give you a chance to finish whatever
    you were working on, then try to access the dir/file that was in
    use, or you can skip the file or dir.

    Xco can be used from either the CLI or Workbench, and has the
    ability to load/save configuration files specifying parameters for
    backups or copies you perform frequently.

    ExpressCopy includes the program XCORestore(XCR)...  
    its use is obvious, or you can use YOUR favorite copy program to 
    restore your files to its volume...
    You can have it list all the files copied to a listing file and
    display its filenames, attributes, and a CRC checksum value.


    I used it to back my hard drive last night and here are a few
    observations using QuarterbackV4 as comparison.

    When started from the workbench you get a custom screen with string 
    gadgets and "psuedo 3-d look" buttons that control your source
    file options (pattern search, date and archive bit tests),
    Destination disk options (OFS/FFS, Drive #s, verify, Estimate
    number of disk for backup, list, etc), Source directory or volume
    (which lets you choose which volume/directory you want to copy).

    You are forced to use the mouse AND type in the string gadgets to set
    your backup parameters, although if you SAVE them you only have to
    do so once.  You CAN save your parameters with an ICON or NOICON so 
    you only have to click on the icon, and start the copy with the 
    parameters you saved.  Quarterback's intuition interface is MUCH 
    easier to use than XCO's.  In Quarterback you just point and click 
    and everything is done.  XCO forces you to match patterns, for
    example, to backup a single file or "double click" through
    directory/volume names to find what you are looking for.(?)

    When the copy is started Xco starts a background program which
    controls the copy, and brings up a small window that allows you
    to abort, halt/resume, and increase/decrease the programs
    priority.  It brings up system requestors to prompt you to change
    diskettes and/or notify you of errors or any status change.  When
    alternating floppy drives during copy it only beeps when both
    floppies need changing, unlike Quarterback which beeps on each
    change.  I played with the priority and did not get a visit from the
    guru.  It slowed my Turbo Silver render so I cranked it down to 0,
    its default.;^)

    Quarterback is MUCH, MUCH faster when reading the source volume to
    determine how many floppies are needed for backup.  It is probably
    twice as fast as XCO.  Also XCO, on average, needed 1-3 more
    floppies than Quarterback depending on the size of the partition.
    i.e. Quarterback needed 27 floppies to backup my largest partition, 
    XCO needed thirty; Quarterback needed 7 floppies on another partition, 
    XCO needed 8.

    The copy speed of Quarterback and ExpressCopy were about the same,
    in fact, ExpressCopy was a bit faster.  But when I had XCO set or
    check the archive bit it spent a lot of time seeking the hard
    drive which degraded the copy speed somewhat.

    ExpressCopy performs as advertised.  It took 5 minutes less to
    backup my hard drive with ExpressCopy than Quarterback with Xcos
    archive bit check/set disabled. Its intuition interface is slightly 
    more complicated to use than Quarterback's but if you Save configuration 
    files for commonly used volumes/directories/files you only have to 
    "point and click" or fire off a CLI script to get it started.
    Everything that can be done from the workbench can be done from the 
    CLI.  It does not support Arexx :( , but I had NAZcron start a backup 
    and it worked fine. 

    Quarterback will copy to any AmigaDOS compatible device, while
    ExpressCopy limits you to 3.5" floppy drives.  ExpressCopy's
    graphic interface is not as "slick or clean" as Quarterbacks but
    if you want uncompressed, AmigaDOS compatible, 3.5" floppy 
    backup volumes, ExpressCopy will do it. (and fairly quickly at
    that!)

    mark

    ps - I do not know what it costs.  If you have a Suprascsi
    controller call them.  You may be able to get it at the same price I
    did.  They are shipping it with all their new controllers.

    

    re: .43
    
    Can ExpressCopy handle files larger than one floppy?  It was previous
    program's inability to handle such files that led me to Quarterback.
        John Sauter

I'd been considering replacing my current clone backup system with something
that went to floppies (just about have to if I upgrade to a 3000). ExpressCopy
looked like the best thing (I categorically refuse to use anything that doesn't
write AmgiaDOS file systems), and your review answered all the important
questions.

	Thanx,
	<mike

    Yes!  From the manual...
    
    ExpressCopy has the same limitations as the DOS FileSystem in regards
    to the maximum size file that can be stored on a floppy disk.  The
    maximum size file is limited to approx.  880k.  If any files are
    encountered that are too large, a File Too Large Requestor will be
    displayed, notifying you that the file is too large to fit on a single
    disk.  XCO will allow you to split the file between disks.

    re: .46
    
    I'm glad to hear that a file can be split between floppies.  How does
    the restore process work with such a file?  Do you have to manually
    glue the parts together, or does it somehow recognize that the files
    are parts of an originally large file?
        John Sauter

    I will look it up and reply tonight.
    
    md

    Sorry it took so long...I forgot.
    


    Splitting files...

    When XCO encounters a file that is too large to fit on a single floppy
    disk, it prompts you with a requester asking if you desire to split the
    file between disks or abort the copy of the file.
    If you tell XCO to copy the file, xco will split the file into multiple
    files, onefile per disk, until it is finished copying the file.  The
    original filename and size for the file will be placed in the comment
    field of each split file created, and the split files will be given a
    unique name.  XCR needs this information in order to restore the
    original file.

    The manual goes on to explain how the unique name is made.

    md
    

    So on restore it recombines the fragments into the original large file?
    That sounds very good.
    
    How fast is XCO?
        John Sauter

    It's copy speed is about as fast as Quarterback.  Its SCAN/READ volume 
    directory and SET/CHECK Archive bit speed is slower than Quarterbacks.
    
    With Quarterback it takes me about 1.5 hours to do a full backup.
    With ExpressCopy it takes about 1.6 hours to do a full backup.
    Will someone develop a tape driver?????
    
    mark

I ordered a copy of ExpressCopy from Supra, as I couldn't find it anywhere
else. After that, I stumbled over an announcement of an upgrade, so I
called them and checked on it. Supra apparently wasn't supposed to sell me
a copy, but I was able to upgrade for the standard cost ($12).

It's everything claimed here - fast, easy to use, and reliable. The upgrade
(to version 1.53) adds full 2.0 support, including links. It also adds an
ARexx port so that running applications can create backups. Finally, it
adds a CanDo deck (both executable and editable deck) to use that Port.

The deck provides much finer control over CanDo than the default interface -
it basically gives XCO multiple "backup" commands, then has XCO run
them as a batch. Note that you don't need ARexx to use this capability.
Finally, you can ask the deck to save an ARexx script for you to recreate
that backup.

Recommended software!

	<mike

    Anyone out there using Ami-Back?  I downloaded the demo of version
    1.05a from Portal and it looks fantastic!  Direct Tape support, built
    in scheduler, nice looking user interface, backs up from anything to
    anything(well, almost).  The demo does everything except restore and it
    looks pretty impressive.  I've heard that "Moonlighter" software, the
    creators, are very responsive to user input. <--from reading Usenet
    news.  I think that I finally found a replacement for Quarterback!!!
    (which doesn't set the archive bit on ALL files on full backup)
    
    mark

    I've been using it, at version 1.04g.  I haven't tried the scheduler,
    but the basic backup/restore program seems to do its job.  It's never
    failed to restore a file from tape for me.  The user interface is
    adequate, but not as good as Quarterback's, in my opinion.
    
    The support people are good at responding.  They have a BBS in Florida
    from which registered users can download the latest version.  When I
    complained that the copy I'd bought wouldn't run with my Kickstart 1.2
    ROMs they fixed it within a few days.  I haven't downloaded the latest
    version because I don't like paying the connect time, so I'm waiting
    until I can get the benefit of a few more updates in a single download.
    
    The version I'm running does have a couple of bugs, but they can be
    worked around.  Sometimes it fails to allocate memory for something
    during a save.  If I reboot it works OK, so this is probably a
    memory checkerboarding problem.  My tape drive responds to its first
    selection attempt with "not ready" if it has been reset or its tape
    changed since the last selection.  AmiBack doesn't deal with this too
    well, but I can work around it by asking it to rewind the tape before
    starting the backup, and ignoring the error message from the failed
    rewind attempt.
    
    I haven't been able to get verification mode to work when saving to
    tape.  It seems to spend forever reading the tape; perhaps I'm just not
    patient enough.  I avoid this problem by doing an explicit read-compare
    after the save, and looking through the log for errors.
        John Sauter

> (which doesn't set the archive bit on ALL files on full backup)
  
Thats not quarterbacks fault any backup utility will not be able to set the
archive bit on any file or directory that has a LOCK open on it. Each 
ASSIGN you do causes a lock. I use to run a small script that cleared all
assignments before doing backups to get around this problem.

/Steve.

  

I like   it!  I'm  running  Ami-Back  with  my  borrowed  TK50Z  from  work.
Originally,  I  had  a  problem  with  it, but after downloading the current
version from their BBS, it's been great. No mountlist required, etc. I've had
no problems with saving and restoring files using it. The verify mode on
backups works fine for me. That's my default setting. It does of course
increase the time required, but it seems to backup the files quickly.

I've only got one problem with it. When I have Ami-Sched kick off a backup,
it seems to "think" for about 45 seconds and then GURU's on me, complaining
of  an  address  error (I believe). I've reported this to their BBS and they
are looking into the problem. They seem very responsive.

I'm very happy with it. Anyone else using it with a TK50? Does the scheduler
work for you?

Gail

    I haven't used Ami-Sched yet.  I use Nazcron for automated hard disk to
    disk backups with Ami-Back.  I back up to an amigados file.  Its kind
    of strange seeing an 88 meg file but it works fine.  I especially like
    the log file Ami-Back maintains during automated backups.  Sometime in
    the near future I will try it with a TK50z.
    
    mark