gwoho@nntp-server.caltech.edu (g liu) (02/17/91)
is there a pd/freely copyable backup program that will work on xenix? backup to floppy, that is. is there a better way than tar+split+cp to floppy? i just want to do strait complete file backups. i also would like a reasonable ability to recover from floppy disk errors. error correction would be good, but at least having errors wipe out only one file rather then the rest of the set would be nice. gwoho liu.
jbayer@ispi.COM (Jonathan Bayer) (02/18/91)
gwoho@nntp-server.caltech.edu (g liu) writes: >is there a pd/freely copyable backup program that will work on xenix? >backup to floppy, that is. >is there a better way than tar+split+cp to floppy? >i just want to do strait complete file backups. i also would like >a reasonable ability to recover from floppy disk errors. >error correction would be good, but at least having errors wipe out >only one file rather then the rest of the set would be nice. >gwoho liu. Yes. Use the sysadmin script. Only problem is that it doesn't do any error recovery if the floppy is bad. JB -- Jonathan Bayer Intelligent Software Products, Inc. (201) 245-5922 500 Oakwood Ave. jbayer@ispi.COM Roselle Park, NJ 07204
bill@bilver.uucp (Bill Vermillion) (02/18/91)
In article <1991Feb17.065756.14535@nntp-server.caltech.edu> gwoho@nntp-server.caltech.edu (g liu) writes: >is there a pd/freely copyable backup program that will work on xenix? >backup to floppy, that is. >is there a better way than tar+split+cp to floppy? >i just want to do strait complete file backups. i also would like >a reasonable ability to recover from floppy disk errors. >error correction would be good, but at least having errors wipe out >only one file rather then the rest of the set would be nice. Why do you want to do the tar then the split and then the copy. What's wrong with tar cv2 <filename.or.directory> (Assuming 2 is the proper number in your /etc/defaults/tar file) Passed the media size and blocking factor tar will gracefully put everything you need out there. There is a tarskip program on the net (a year or so ago) allowing you to go past any bad files. As to floppy errors, use good quality floppies, and backup often. You could also re-read the floppies to make sure they were okay. I do this on archiving. I tar them off, read them back in on another machine. When I know the floppy is readable I remove the originals. If it is an important file I make two copies. -- Bill Vermillion - UUCP: uunet!tarpit!bilver!bill : bill@bilver.UUCP
ronald@robobar.co.uk (Ronald S H Khoo) (02/19/91)
bill@bilver.uucp (Bill Vermillion) writes: > As to floppy errors, use good quality floppies, and backup often. > You could also re-read the floppies to make sure they were okay. But don't re-read them using tar tv2 because that *seeks* and thus does not re-read all the data. Do tar tvf - < /dev/install (or whatever) instead. And yes, *definitely* re-read the floppies on a completely different machine. I know someone who ended up with a whole binbag full of worthless floppies because his controller card went phut for *months* but was still able to read floppies that it had written itself. Then one day it totally went, and nothing else in the world could read those floppies. So be warned. Tape drives have a similar, but worse problem. It can be hard to tell that your drive is misaligned till it dies, and you can't read your backups on the replacement drive. Moral of the story: You always need at least two removeable media devices. Ever wondered what use that old 286 box was ? Now you know -- use it to verify your floppy backups ! -- Ronald Khoo <ronald@robobar.co.uk> +44 81 991 1142 (O) +44 71 229 7741 (H)
bill@bilver.uucp (Bill Vermillion) (02/20/91)
In article <1991Feb19.154228.6510@robobar.co.uk> ronald@robobar.co.uk (Ronald S H Khoo) writes: >bill@bilver.uucp (Bill Vermillion) writes: >> As to floppy errors, use good quality floppies, and backup often. >> You could also re-read the floppies to make sure they were okay. >But don't re-read them using tar tv2 because that *seeks* and thus >does not re-read all the data. Do tar tvf - < /dev/install (or whatever) >instead. Absolutely. There was a program called cktar on the net a few months ago. It gets the names from the tar device looks in the directory for a matching name, and then does a byte by byte compare. It also is supposed to report for problems matching UID's, GID's, and time of modification difference, and will give a position in the file where the comparison failed. I don't know if those work because I run the check after backing up so none of those have changed. -- Bill Vermillion - UUCP: uunet!tarpit!bilver!bill : bill@bilver.UUCP