LOONA/EESzEEREEREEREEREERE-ERE,ERE>ER&E EREEREERkE}ERlEGER]EYE-EE-EE-EE-5EE-4E3E- EE-EEE-XEE,EE,EE,EE,EE,E4E,E E,E E,#ECE,yEBE/EE/EE/ EnE/EEE.EE.EE.E E.EE./ExE..EE.&EE. EE.XE*E)EgE)EE)bEE(EEE>E3E>EwE>EE>EE>3EE>wE.E>vE{E9E[E9EE9EE9EE9ELE9EE9MEE8EE8EoE8EnE8iExE;EE;EE;EE;EE;]E^E:EE:E*E:"E#E:!EzE:EE:~EE5EE5EYE5EE5EE5_E3E4EvE4EE4bEE4VEE7EE7EiE7!EE7fEE6EE6E E6EE6EWE6EE1E&E1E~E1?EE1wEE1vE?E0EhE0EE0EE0EE0EE0/EE00EE07EE0EE0EE3E^E3EE3E#E3jE"E2EE2EE2EnE JEnE BEnEEnEEnEEnEEnEEn@EEnFE$EnEErEiEEi*EEiaE=Ei`EJEhEEhEEh0EEh7EEhJE[EkEEkE/EkE4EkEBEjEEjEEjE EjEEj;EVEj}EEeE8EeE?Ee EEe EiEeBEEdEEdE7EdEEdE^EgEEgE*Eg2EaEgtEEgZEEfEEf.EEf`EDEfgEEaE.EaE-EaE5Ea=EBEaqEE`EE`EE`EiE`EEcEEcEEcE5EcECEcMEBEbEAEbEXEbEEbEEbEEbEEbEEbEEbEEb$ELEb;EBEbEEbEEb[EE}EE}EE}aE!E|EaE|EwE|EFE|EE|E)E|E`EEEEEEEErErErEHEraEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMETEMEEM1EEMNEEMTEE[9E=E[EE[EE[vEEZEEZEEZE*EZEbEZEXEZEEZEEZ]E EUELEUE͢EU&EEUE4ETEBETE̅ETEETE;ETQEsEWEωEW#EEW{EEVEEVETEV EEV@E%EQErEQEɊEQnEEPE EPEoEPEȤEP5EEPLE5ESELESE˄ES9E˛ESEESSEEREEREʬERcEʈERbEʟE-EE-EE- EkE-'EGE-eEńE,EE,EE,EE,EE,E[EIEEzEEEEEŞEEşEEGELEEEEEʰEE{EEEEEE EEEE˟EnEˊEoE˸E(EzE*EhEEiEE*EE+EEEpEEzEȨEnEȩEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEɮE~EiEbEjEEEEΓEE΅EEΩEQEEEEEEEϨEEEEEuÊE=EvEE>EEEEͭEEͮEEͯEEhEE'EE.E HEE wEE ~EE eErE EyE E5E EE EE ]EE DEE EEHE `E{E EjE EkE EE EE EAE EJE EE ExEtE'E=EEEEEVE }EE ~EE E(E  vendor-preferred mode, MRBackup uses it. The drive is a real defaults to "variable block size" mode. Since this is the On the SONY DAT drive, it is currently assumed that the drive Sony SDT-1000 (added 03/30/91) Archive ???? Sony. disappointed with its performance compared to the Wangtek or the to provide any reasonable asynchronous behavior. I was quite the buffer size in your mountlist entry. This drive does not seem This drive uses a fixed-size block of 8192 bytes. Specify "8" as Data Cartridge Technology MCD-40 (and -20) arrangement. buffer size to 64K. This results in an optimal double-buffering you'll get optimal results with MRBackup if you also set "his" being set aside by the handler, so plan accordingly). I believe buffer size if you can afford it (this results in 128k bytes This drive has an on-board 64K byte cache. Specify "64" as the Wangtek 5XXX ES following SCSI tape drives: specifically to support MRBackup Professional. It is known to support the earlier code and sports many new features, several of which were designed The current version of mrtape-handler represents a complete rewrite of the contributions to my understanding of SCSI tape operations. Markus Wandel and Bob Rethemeyer. I am very grateful to them for their Portions of this handler were originally derived from code written by This is a tape handler designed primarily for MRBackup Professional. MRTape: SCSI Tape Handler V1.07 quality of MRBackup Professional. problems you might encounter. We are constantly striving to improve the grateful for any information you pass back to us with regard to any handler which you suspect might work better. Of course, we would be very optimally with your particular device, don't hesitate to try another supplied with MRBackup Professional doesn't appear to be performing developed for specific devices suitable for backups. If the tape handler third-party handlers (public domain, shareware or commercial) which may be in performance, the net result is that MRBackup is adaptable to other code in MRBackup was an important one. Though there may be a minor penalty The decision to use a tape handler, rather than embedding tape-specific Using MRBackup with Other Handlers such as the 3M drive, will not support this feature. tape marks to separate its savesets. Drives which employ "direct access", as the Tandberg, WangTek, Sony, etc. This is because MRBackup depends upon that this capability only exists for "sequential access" tape drives such for a future release of MRBackup Professional. You should also be aware MRBackup's Scan Tape command. Improvements on this capability are planned Should you forget, however, this information is very easily retrieved with keep this information in a notebook or in a text file on your system. doesn't provide any means to record this information. Thus, you should all of this is to remember the order of your savesets. MRBackup currently a "2" to the tape device name. Example: "MRTape:2". The only "trick" to begin with zero. Therefore, to retrieve the third saveset, you must append must append the saveset number to the tape device name. Saveset numbers To restore from a saveset which is not the first saveset on the tape, you is positioned past the end of the last saveset on the tape. device name (e.g. "MRTape:A"). Prior to writing the new saveset, the tape already contains one or more savesets, simply append an "A" to the tape overwritten. To append a new saveset to the end of a tape cartridge which of the backup and any information previously written to the tape is the tape device name as "MRTape:", the tape is rewound prior to the start naming conventions used by the MRTape-Handler. Normally, when you specify tape cartridge. This is achieved by a slight modification to the device MRTape-Handler has the ability to "stack" multiple savesets on a single Multiple Savesets on One Tape offered. Synchronous mode seems to fare better in these situations. definitive solution to the problem though many hardware "hacks" have been (hang) the Amiga when run in asynchronous mode. We have yet to see a world. Certain combinations of tape drive and SCSI controller can lock up generally yields better performance. However, we do not live in a perfect parallel with the requesting program's activity. Thus, asynchronous mode MRTape-Handler will attempt to complete the operation "on its own time", in that operation completes before it can continue. In asynchronous mode, synchronous mode, the program requesting a tape operation must wait until MRTape-Handler supports both synchronous and asynchronous tape access. In Asynchronous vs. Synchronous Mode of the buffers used to transfer data between the two processes. communicate certain information to MRBackup which will allow dynamic tuning other Amiga applications. When used with MRBackup, MRTape-Handler can you many not redistribute this handler, you are welcome to use it with work with a wide array of tape devices from many different vendors. Though The tape handler provided with MRBackup, MRTape-Handler, is designed to Special Features of MRTape-Handler S:Startup-Sequence (or S:StartupII) file. the device mounting process by placing the above command in your You may then specify MRTAPE: as your Backup Path. You may also automate MOUNT MRTAPE: FROM DEVS:mountlist.mrtape (AmigaDOS 2.04) MOUNT MRTAPE: or device. This is done with the following command: Once the above steps have been performed, you must mount the MRTAPE: add these values together for a value of 3. Thus, to select both asynchronous mode and on-board buffering, you would 2 - use on-board hardware buffering 1 - asynchronous mode adding these values together. The current feature values are: a unique value (1, 2, 4, etc.). Various feature selections can be made by features of the tape drive. Each bit position in the parameter has The parameter is a specially encoded value which selects certain be zero. The (logical unit number) field is not currently supported and must established by jumpers or DIP switches or jumpers on your tape drive. The parameter specifies the SCSI device number, usually specify this field exactly as the driver is named. driver's name has upper case or mixed-case letters in its name, be sure you controller. Also, note that this field is case-sensitive. If your device Consult your owner's manual if you are using a non-Commodore SCSI talk to the device. Use "scsi.device" with the CBM A2091 SCSI controller. The parameter specifies the device driver to be used to model 5XXX-ES tape drives, which have an internal 64K buffer. example value of 128, above, provides double-buffering for the WangTek The parameter is specified in multiples of K (K=1024). The standard AmigaDOS Mount command. The beginning and ending double quotes are required if you are using the "////" the equal sign (=) has the following format: You may need to change the "Startup" line. The expression to the right of # GlobVec = -1 Priority = 5 Stacksize = 4000 StartUp = "128/scsi.device/4/0/3" MRTAPE: Handler = l:mrtape-handler It contains the following: mountlist entry provided with MRBackup is named "mountlist.mrtape". just copy the mountlist entry file to the DEVS: directory. The using a text editor or, if you are running WorkBench 2.04 or above, Add the supplied device mountlist entry to your DEVS:Mountlist file, COPY MRBackup:L/mrtape-handler to L: MRTape-Handler to the L: directory: If it isn't already present, copy the MRBackup tape handler, the following steps: the standard MRBackup installation procedure. To use it, you must perform A SCSI tape handler is provided with MRBackup and is installed as a part of Do yourself a favor! backups with such a painless medium, your system will be much more secure. in their value. Also, since you'll be much more likely to perform regular cost about $20 each. The time and aggravation you'll save are inestimable quality units available in the under $300 price range. Tape cartridges SCSI tape drives are becoming more and more affordable, with several good control your hard disk drive) so you will only need to aquire a tape drive. already have the requisite SCSI interface controller (to interface and consider the purchase of a streaming SCSI tape drive. Chances are, you If you are regularly backing up more than 20MB of data, you really should MRBackup SCSI Tape Support skipped because of this condition. displayed to the screen and written to the log file for each file that is enable the Force Copy option. During the restore, a message will be with a file which has the same or earlier modification date unless you It is important to note that MRBackup will not overwrite an existing file you are free to select any valid Home Path. Of course, if you wish to restore your/save-set to a lower-level hierarchy, partition (e.g. DH0:, DH1:, etc.) to which you want the files recovered. restore such a backup, the Home Path must be changed to the name of the Path, only the directories are preserved (files are ignored). When you included by the Home Path is preserved. For levels higher than the Home directory hierarchy from the "top" of the partition through all levels When you do a backup and specify a subdirectory as the Home Path, the full your files will be restored to the same level in the hierarchy. If you later restore the save-set with the Home Path again set to "DH0:", ... etc. Docs/Utilities Docs/Graphics Docs/Amiga Docs ARexx/Tools ARexx/Examples ARexx/Docs ARexx partition). A portion of the files selected might look like perform a backup with the Home Path set to "DH0:" (your first hard disk may be cause for some confusion. Consider the following example. You the complete directory hierarchy for the files which are backed up . This performing a file restore operation. During a backup, MRBackup preserves There are some interesting (and important) items to be aware of when ------------------ Points to Remember Voice On/Off - enables/disables MRBackup's speech capability. the restore. Error Handling - establishes the type of error handling employed during Log File - records errors and progress messages during the restore. the patterns in this file will not be decompressed during a restore. Decompression Filter - compressed files whose names match one or more of (same as backup). Buffer, specifies the amount of memory to be used for file I/O buffering restored in their compressed state. Files compressed with code sizes larger than this limit will be Decompression - sets the upper code size limit for file decompression. Backup Mode - indicates the type of save-set we are restoring from. (overrides Backup Path). Disk Selection Icons - optional selection of backup path Backup Path - the source ("from" location) for the restore. Home Path - the target ("to" location) for the restore. operation: The following MRBackup settings come into play when performing a restore Relevant Settings ------------------ Restore Operations restore might be done to recover files which were deleted accidentally. likely do a full restore when rebuilding a disk partition. A partial The file restoration process is the inverse of a backup. You would most The Restore Process ----------------- MRBackup Restores to the Utilities menu command. This command button activates MRBackup's file utilities. It is equivalent Utilities Button Restore menu command. This command button initiates a restore operation and is equivalent to the Restore Button Backup menu command. This command button initiates a backup operation and is equivalent to the Backup Button convenient alternative to the equivalent menu command. This command button activates the Filters window and is provided as a Filters Button convenient alternative to the equivalent menu command. This command button activates the Options window and is provided as a Options Button these errors. practice to check the contents of the log for the cause and severity of gadget. When errors are detected during a backup or restore, it is good progress reports and error messages. To disable the log, simply clear this File gadget contains a valid pathname. This log will contain time-stamped MRBackup will optionally generate a log of all of its activities if the Log Log File Gadget select the appropriate directory and file name. select "PRT:". To save the listing to a file on the hard disk, simply to assist you. To send the listing directly to the printer, you would listing path directly into the gadget or you may use its requester gadget specifies the file or device to receive the listing. You may type the MRBackup normally generates a listing during backups. This gadget Listing Path Gadget multitask while doing a backup or restore!). memory which might be needed by other applications (remember - we can times larger than the largest file on your system. This will simply waste There is no practical benefit in specifying a buffer which is more than two by increasing your buffer size. The maximum buffer size allowed is 512K. bytes). If your system has expanded memory, you can take advantage of it file. The default buffer size is 32K bytes (K = 1024, thus 32K = 32768 The bigger the buffer, the fewer disk accesses that are required to move a number of physical disk accesses necessary to move data from/to a file. memory is set aside as a buffer (work area). This is done to minimize the When MRBackup performs input or output from/to a file, a certain amount of Buffer Gadget Note: the media types are described in detail in the section entitled SCSI Tape Fast Disk AmigaDOS cycles through the following range of values: This gadget selects the type of backup or restore to be performed and Media Type Gadget capability. This is an ON/OFF button which enables or disables MRBackup's speech Voice Gadget the Backup Path specification is ignored. drive is selected. Whenever floppy drives are selected in this fashion, click on one of these icons, a check-mark will appear, indicating that the diskettes only when all have been used or an error is detected. When you MRBackup will cycle through the selected drives and prompt you for more drives, reducing the frequency with which you must insert diskettes. through DF3:) for backup or restore. This allows you to preload your disk MRBackup supports selection of up to four floppy disk devices (DF0: Floppy Disk Icons Path. "MRBackup:Help/MRB_Backups.guide/main" } for more details on the Backup See the section entitled @{" Backup Operations " ALink of the floppy disk icon gadgets is selected, the Backup Path is ignored. backup path is the name of one of your floppy disk drives. If one or more backup or the source (FROM path) for files during a restore. Normally, the The Backup Path describes the destination (TO path) for files during a Backup Path Gadget specify a device, volume or directory name (not a file name). box or you may use the file requester to assist you. The Home Path must this location. You may type the Home Path value directly into the gadget specified by the Home Path. During restore operations, files are copied to reside. During backup operations, files are copied from the location The Home Path describes the device or directory where your files normally Home Path Gadget by changing this specification. settings. You may also reinitialize MRBackup with another preferences file (including this one), then use Save Preferences to record your new MRBackup:Prefs) is searched. You may change MRBackup's parameters the file is not found there, the working directory (default = from WorkBench), the current directory is searched for "MRBackup.init". If "initial file" specification (-i option from CLI, INIT= tool types preferences) are stored. If MRBackup is started without an explicit This gadget names the file where MRBackup's operating parameters (user Preferences Gadget carefully, as several important key concepts are presented here. Parameters window. Please take the time to read this information The following paragraphs describe all of the gadgets in the General gadget. file system and easily select the appropriate name for the corresponding is superimposed on MRBackup's main window . With it, you can navigate your name. When you click on a file requester gadget, a file requester window associated with another gadget which specifies a device, directory or file a question mark (?). These are file requester gadgets. Each of these is you will also notice several square buttons (raised gadgets), labeled with operations. In addition to the usual string gadgets and command buttons, The General Parameters Window contains parameters common to most MRBackup General Parameters Window name of the current directory. It is empty when the Current Level is zero. The long gadget at the bottom of the file selector window displays the full Current Directory (unlabeled) or restore). Click this button when you wish to terminate the current operation (backup CANCEL proceed with the current operation (backup or restore). Click this button when your file selection is complete and you wish to OK for restore operations. factored into the disk estimate. The disk estimate value is meaningless compression is enabled, the Compression Estimate value (entered by you) is of disks required to hold the files currently selected. If file For backup operations, this gadget provides a rough estimate of the number Disk Est. This gadget reports the total number of entries currently selected. No. Selected contained in the file selector list. This gadget reports the total number of entries (files and directories) Entries This button causes all entries at the Current Level to be deselected. Deselect all, this level only deselected. This button causes all entries at and below the Current Level to be Deselect all, this level and below entries except the parent directories for the current level are deselected. deselected. When the Current Level is non-zero, all file and directory Level setting. When the Current Level is zero (top level), all entries are This button has slightly different behavior, depending upon the Current Deselect all This button causes all entries at the current level to be selected. Select all, this level only numbers) to be selected. This button causes all entries at the current level and lower (higher level Select all, this level and below are selected. When the Select All button is clicked, all files in the selector file list Select All patterns are specified, the Include pattern is applied first. selection when a Select button is clicked. If both Include and Exclude Pattern, except that filenames matching the pattern will be excluded from buttons (later). The Exclude Pattern is very similar to the Include This is a string gadget which works in conjunction with any of the Select Exclude Pattern performed. be selected. If the Include Pattern is blank, no include matching is the Select buttons is clicked. Only those names matching the pattern will used in the MRBackup filters) which is applied to each filename when one of buttons (later). The Include Pattern is a filename matching pattern (as This is a string gadget which works in conjunction with any of the Select Include Pattern and the Current Level gadget is updated accordingly. When you click the Up gadget, the next higher directory level is displayed Up viewing. The top level is zero. This gadget reports the nesting level of the directory you are currently Current Level simply click on the Up button. Level indicator will be incremented. To return to the previous level, box will be redrawn with the contents of that directory and the Current double-click (two clicks, in rapid succession) on the entry. The display subdirectories), position the mouse pointer over a directory entry and different colors. To view the contents of directories (and their a dark background. Directory entries and file entries are represented by selected and deselected. An entry in the selected state is highlighted by Each time you click on an entry in the list, it will toggle between them. on either of the small buttons at the bottom which have arrow indicators on current level. You may also scroll the list one item at a time by clicking entries. You may click and drag this bar to reveal other entries at the bar) will be sized in proportion to the number of visible vs. total be viewed in the selection box, the drag bar (rectangle within the scroll will see a scroll bar. When there are more files at a given level than can box at the left of the file selector. Just to the right of this box, you The files available for selection/deselection are presented in the large to both files and directories. up the file selector. In the discussion that follows the term entry refers its operation, let's take a quick look at the graphical objects that make to enable you to "fine tune" the list of selected files. Before we discuss The file selector is presented to you during backup and restore operations ------------------------- The MRBackup File Selector course, you can always play "safe" and leave this value at zero. a new diskette. This is a feature you'll have to develop a "feel" for. Of is. In this case, MRBackup will delete the partially copied file and force occaisional "disk full" errors, depending on how aggressive your estimate size (100%-35%) when compressed. Please note that this may lead to (%). This means that you expect most files to be 65% of their original when determining space available. A reasonable value to start with is 35 compression estimate to a non-zero value, MRBackup will apply this estimate a significant amount of wasted space on each diskette. If you set the current backup diskette, the file's full size is used. This can result in compressed. Therefore, when determining whether a file will fit on the MRBackup does not know in advance what a file's size will be after it is compression enabled (it is irrelevant to Fast Disk and SCSI Tape backups). fit on the current backup diskette when performing an AmigaDOS backup with Compression estimating allows MRBackup to better determine if a file will Compression Estimating from the Shell command prompt. MRBackup:Compressor quit the Compressor, enter from the Shell command prompt or double-click the Compressor icon. To stop RUN MRBackup:Compressor nil: To start the Compressor, simply enter You may elect to start and stop the Compressor "manually" if you so desire. Starting and Stopping the Compressor Manually waits for the next request to do something. resources since it releases the data compression code and buffer memory and is designed to employ "overlays". When it is idle, it uses almost no Amiga being used, less memory is being used by MRBackup. The Compressor program a result, the MRBackup program is smaller. If data compression is not technical to be discussed here. Of most importance to the user is that as There are several advantages to this approach. Some of them are too to be processed and retrieving the results. will then enter into a "conversation" with the Compressor, requesting data running. If not, you will be asked for permission to start it. MRBackup files using the Utilities, MRBackup will check to see if the Compressor is restore with decompression enabled or if you compress/decompress individual Compressor. Whenever you start a backup with compression enabled or a MRBackup performs data compression with a separate program named -------------- The Compressor it. code size was used to compress a particular file when you later decompress size of the codes used for compression. Thus, you need not remember what the compressed file to indicate that it is compressed and to record the When a file is compressed, special codes are written at the beginning of demands on system memory but will result in higher compression ratios. performance trade-offs. Larger code sizes will make greater temporary use of user-specified code size limits allows you to make certain compression algorithms available. Its ability to be "tuned" through the the highest compression ratios, it is one of the faster software MRBackup employs Lempel-Ziv compression. While this method does not yield Data Compression Method other programs (multitasking) while MRBackup is running. demands on system memory which may be a consideration if you are running restore of compressed files. The use of data compression also places extra savings in space are worth the extra time required to perform the backup or performance penalty exacted for this, however. You must determine if the thus reduce the amount of media required to hold the saveset. There is a primary motivation for doing this is to save space on the backup media and written to a save-set and to decompress them when they are restored. The MRBackup provides you with the ability to compress your files as they are Data Compression ----------------- Compression guide 68000 processor. Attempting to run them will crash your system. machine. These versions contain instruction codes not supported by the DO NOT attempt to run the 020 versions of the Compressor on a stock 68000 "Compressor.Overlays" and rename the non-overlayed version to "Compressor". version. To do this, simply rename the overlayed version to run MRBackup from floppy disk, you may prefer to use the non-overlayed segments can be accessed quickly. If you are in a situation where you must Compressor program file must be readily accessible so that the overlay normally the preferred version to use. However, this also means that the since the compression code segment is removed from memory. This is The overlayed configuration requires very little memory when it is idle Compressor without overlays, optimized for accelerated Amigas Compressor_020.No_Overlays Compressor with overlays, optimized for accelerated Amigas Compressor_020 Compressor without overlays, will run on any Amiga Compressor.No_Overlays Compressor with overlays, will run on any Amiga Compressor The following compressor executables are provided: MRBackup:Compressor quit the CLI: If you wish to stop the compressor, just issue the following command from RUN nil: MRBackup:Compressor from the CLI or from your s:user-startup script: will always find it available, simply issue the following command, either this directory. If you wish to preload the compressor so that MRBackup MRBackup program is stored. The logical name "MRBackup:" should point to The compressor should normally be kept in the same directory where the compression/decompression tables. the primary code segment is "rolled in" and memory is allocated for the idle, very little memory resources are required. When it becomes active, time). Otherwise, it creates a public port named "MRCompress". When it is it exits immediately (only one instance of Compressor may be run at one it first checks to see if a copy of Compressor is already running. If so, The compressor is implemented as a small overlayed program. Upon startup, minimized). streaming of data to/from the compressor (actual data movement is program is smaller. Compression performance is also enhanced by the separating the compression services from the MRBackup program, the MRBackup these services, it enters into a "dialogue" with the Compressor. By to perform data compression/decompression services. When MRBackup requires The compressor is a free-running application typically started by MRBackup ----------------------- The MRBackup Compressor the save-set is acceptible. the backup log to determine the nature of the errors before assuming that Status Display window. If it is non-zero, it would be a good idea to check When the backup is complete, make a quick check of the Errors gadget in the Floppy Disk Carousel since, according to our knowledge, it doesn't exist! assistance. MRBackup does not currently provide support for the Amiga will be prompted to insert/remove diskettes as MRBackup requires your files. If you have selected either AmigaDOS or Fast Disk backup mode, you button in the file selector window, MRBackup will proceed to backup your Assuming that you completed the file selection process by clicking the OK on its operation. Selector " ALink "MRBackup:Help/MRB_FileSelector.guide/main" } for details files) from this list. See the section entitled @{" The MRBackup File chosen. It then gives you the option to omit certain files (or groups of considered eligible for backup, according to the backup parameters you have selector. The file selector displays the list of files that were being scanned. Once the scan is complete, MRBackup will present its file gadget in the Status Display window will display the name of the directory Home Path. While MRBackup is scanning, the Current File or Directory The first backup step performed is a scan of all files specified by the conditions, etc. media as necessary as well as alert you to other bits of information, error the backup proceeds, pop-up requesters will instruct you to insert/remove will appear. This window informs you of the progress of the backup. As MRBackup's main window will disappear and a smaller Status Display window Project menu or by typing the keyboard shortcut, Right-Amiga + B. backup process. This is done by selecting the Backup command from the Once you're sure that all save-settings are correct, you may begin the The Backup Process each special project area. Also, you may wish to define specific backup and compression filters for 1, 1978 and setting the Test Archive Bits gadget to "No". directory for the project area and setting the Test Date gadget to January can be accomplished by setting the Home Path to the name of the topmost recommended that you do daily "full" backups of these selected areas. This may have a specific area in which you work. In these instances, it is specific directory hierarchy. Likewise, if you're a graphics artist, you If you're a developer, you may be concentrating all of your work in a The Project Backup that you choose one method or the other for desirable results. combines date testing with archive bit testing. However, it is advised As an aside, MRBackup does not prevent you from doing a backup which different set of backup media for each unique step. to that used for the date sensitive backup. However, you MUST use a The sequence to observe when performing the archive bit backup is similar which have been backed up. Bits gadget is also on, MRBackup will set the archive bits of all files only files with cleared archive bits will be backed up. If the Set Archive successfully backed up. When the Test Archive Bits gadget is set to ON, Backup software, such as MRBackup, can set this bit when a file has been Specifically, AmigaDOS clears the archive bit whenever a file is modified. maintains an archive indicator bit in each file protection word. In addition to maintaining the file modification date, AmigaDOS also Incremental Backup Based on Archive Bit Setting on a daily basis. additional files, assuming a dynamic system where files are being changed incremental backup, more backup media will be required to hold the the full backup was done. In this case, each time you perform the backup, while the second set would contain all files which changed since just two sets of backup media. The first set would contain the full There is some room for variation here, however. You might want to maintain not destroy your previous save-set(s). files, etc.) are required. When performing incremental backups, you must Saturday of each month). Notice that multiple media sets (tapes, floppies, You might choose a one month cycle (i.e. step 1 is repeated on the first the delay may range from several hours to a week or more (not much more!). upon your requirements and confidence level (degree of self-discipline?), In the sequence above, there is an implied delay between steps. Depending Repeat the sequence starting with step 1. Perform incremental backup to backup media set "n". Perform incremental backup to backup media set 2. Perform a full system backup to backup media set 1. A typical backup scenario for a date-sensitive backup might be: backup. window. Only files changed on or after the Test Date are selected for comparing file modification dates against the Test Date setting in the main Amiga's time-of-day clock. MRBackup can take advantage of this fact by file's modification date to the current date and time, as set in the Each time a file is written (modified), the AmigaDOS filesystem sets the Incremental Backup Based On File Modification Date performed. backups record only the files that have changed since the full backup was full system backup followed by one or more partial backups. The partial the proper procedures are followed. The incremental backup consists of a Incremental backups provide a reasonable alternative to the full backup if The Incremental Backup media required for a "full" backup. via the backup filter. This will dramatically cut down on the time and consider excluding the files which don't change (programs, examples, etc.) commercial software installed on your hard disk, you should probably disk if you followed typical vendor's instructions). If you have lots of has a backup - the original disk (or the backup you made of the original Another thing to remember is that much of your commercial software already that satisfy your needs. flexibility, however, you will quite likely find a mix of backup techniques however, you may find this approach quite burdensome. Given MRBackup's point in time. If you are using floppy disks to backup a large partition, partition(s) is taken, fully reflecting the state of your machine at that media are not limiting factors. A complete "snapshot" of your hard disk A full backup is the most desirable method if time and available backup The Full Backup -------------- Backup Schemes not detailed here. MRBackup is so flexible that you may come up with several other approaches may use one or more of them, depending upon your use of the Amiga. backing up your system. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. You You may not have even thought of it, but there are several approaches to "MRBackup:Help/MRB_SCSITape.guide/main" } for specific information. section titled @{ "MRBackup SCSI Tape Support" ALink error-handling behavior are invoked for the tape drive. Refer to the same as Fast Disk mode, except that additional support and modified SCSI (Small Computer Systems Interface) interface. It is essentially the As you might have guessed, this mode supports a streaming tape drive with a SCSI Tape Backup Mode of the original files. your backups in remote files while fully preserving the AmigaDOS attributes tremendous! You can perform a full backup without changing disks, saving networked file server with lots of available disk space, the advantages are file as a single entity. If you're fortunate enough to be connected to a a very large capacity floppy diskette. You can then manage this backup FILE OR ANY STREAM-ORIENTED DEVICE! This capability, in essense, simulates Another interesting feature of Fast Disk mode is that you can BACKUP TO A general-purpose backups because it is so fast. the AmigaDOS filesystem(s), you will most likely prefer to use it for most recoverability has been designed in. Though this format cannot be read by backup diskettes. At the same time, a high degree of integrity and volumes in Fast Disk mode, meaning that there is no unused space on your any compression techniques). Also, files are automatically split across to it and slightly more data can be written to the diskette (without using head movement is minimized. The diskette is formatted as data is written sense, this format is analagous to a streaming tape drive. Floppy disk format is called MRBackup Fast Disk Format (real catchy name, eh?). In a MRBackup addresses this problem by providing a new diskette format. This when working with floppy disks. Fast File System (FFS) enhances performance a great deal but is still slow accelerator (caching program) such as ASDG's Facc-II. The new, improved disk buffers via the AddBuffers command or by using a floppy disk when accessing floppy disks. This can be overcome somewhat by adding more recoverability, suffers from poor performance. This is especially notable The Amiga's original filesystem, while providing a great deal of Fast Disk Backup Mode another. backup destination. You can also perform backups from one directory to connected to a network file server, you can use any of these for your a hard disk with removable media, lots of extra space or if you are floppy diskettes. If you are fortunate enough to have a "spare" hard disk, One important item to note is that you are not required to backup files to let us know!). software, MRBackup will handle it (if you find an exception to this, please "tricks" in this mode. If the disk hardware is supported by standard Amiga to the AmigaDOS filesystem. MRBackup also employs no hardware-specific backing up to diskette, MRBackup creates disk volumes which are accessible with the standard Amiga tools such as DIR, LIST, COPY, TYPE, etc. When tool set. That is, you can manipulate the files in an AmigaDOS save-set The AmigaDOS backup mode provides full compatibility with AmigaDOS and its AmigaDOS Backup Mode suited to your needs (or budget!). MRBackup provides you the flexibility to choose the mode that is best SCSI Tape Backup Mode Fast Disk Backup Mode AmigaDOS Backup Mode supports three backup modes: In a previous section, we touched briefly on the fact that MRBackup ---------------- The Backup Modes maintained. This is true for all backup modes. The file protection word (HSPARWED), comment and modification date are all MRBackup preserves all file attributes when backing up and restoring files. long way toward making this chore more pleasant. discipline to be done on a regular and effective basis. MRBackup goes a say, backups are not a fun way to use your Amiga and they require "with his pants down" on a couple of occaisions (excuse #1). Needless to varying degrees. Even the author of this backup program has been caught to, but...", "I don't have enough floppy disks", etc. We are all guilty to don't get done. The excuses are many and varied. "I'm too busy", "I meant Backups are insurance against such probabilities. However, they often Systems "crash", causing irrecoverable damage to hard disk partitions. terms of cost to replace) than the machine itself. Hard disks fail. The data and programs on your Amiga might well be worth more to you (in ----------------- Backup Operations can call an internal AmigaDOS support routine to perform the formatting. 2.04 or beyond, the FormatDisk script will not be used. Instead, MRBackup the `Quick' setting in the `Formatting' option. If you're running AmigaDOS I recommend that you preformat all new (out of the box) diskettes, then use to the front and locate the FormatDisk window in order to do this. custom (non-WorkBench) screen, you will have to bring the WorkBench screen pause until you press the RETURN key. If you're running MRBackup on a and remove the `, rather than WORK= specification (e.g. CON:0/0/640/200/MRBackup ). window according to which should be a valid CON: window This Tool Type entry instructs MRBackup to open its "background" console WINDOW= when attempting to locate the preferences file. These Tool Types are identical and instruct MRBackup to search PREFS= DIR= MRBackup recognizes the following Tool Types entries: to your Amiga owner's manual if you are unfamiliar with this procedure. Types entries, you must use the Info command in the WorkBench menu. Refer entries which can override its default behavior. To add or modify the Tool or an MRBackup project icon. MRBackup supports several icon Tool Types To start MRBackup from the WorkBench, simply double-click its program icon WorkBench Operation MRBackup:Work, as the working directory. This option instructs MRBackup to use , rather than -w This option is essentially the same as the -d option. -p MRBackup:Prefs/MRBackup.init or MRBackup.init in the local directory. This option instructs MRBackup to initialize from , rather than -i preferences files. , rather than MRBackup:Prefs, when looking for These are: -d This option instructs MRBackup to search supports several command-line options which override its default behavior. "Shell"), you can just type MRBackup at the command prompt. MRBackup To start MRBackup from the CLI (Command Line Interface, also called the CLI Operation WorkBench. MRBackup may be run from either the Command Line Interface (CLI) or the setting. The next two sections describe how this is done. working directory defaults to MRBackup:Work, but you may override this the backup process. This area is called the "working directory". The MRBackup requires an area for storing certain temporary information during Working Directory procedures for each environment are presented below. icon or from the CLI by typing the appropriate command line. The startup MRBackup may be started from the WorkBench by double-clicking its program not familiar, please refer to your Amiga owner's manual. manual refers to an Amiga-specific procedure or feature with which you are your Amiga and that you are familiar with its user interface. If this This manual assumes that you already know the basic operating principles of Operation files created by MRBackup during backup and restore operations. This is the default MRBackup working directory, used to store temporary Work also use this directory to save your custom preferences files. including the MRBackup.init file and the filter file templates. You may This directory contains various MRBackup Professional "preferences" files Prefs Professional. Use this directory to store listing and log files created by MRBackup Lists and Logs included in the user manual. Changes in this directory describes last-minute changes that could not be information and details not available in the user manual. The file named This directory contains several small document files providing additional Docs process. Use this directory as a repository for catalog files created by the backup Catalogs scripts. MRBackup Professional. Use these as a guide for writing your own ARexx This directory contains a number of example ARexx scripts for use with ARexx_Scripts subdirectories provide a means for grouping files with a similar purpose. The MRBackup: directory contains several subdirectories. These ----------------------------------------- Subdirectories in the MRBackup: Directory This is the MRBackup Professional program file. MRBackup general-purpose formatting of disks as it is not intended for that purpose. disk is to be formatted (AmigaDOS backup mode). DO NOT use this script for This is a shell script file, invoked by MRBackup Professional when a backup FormatDisk decompression is requested. is automatically started by MRBackup Professional when data compression or This program file is MRBackup Professional's data compression "engine". It Compressor directory. The following files will be found at the top level of the MRBackup: Files in the MRBackup: Directory but it is strongly suggested that you adopt this configuration. None of the subdirectories in this directory are an absolute requirement This section briefly describes the contents of the MRBackup directory. ----------------------- The MRBackup: Directory system. MRBackup: logical name will always be available whenver you reboot your startup-sequence (s:StartupII, s:user-startup, etc.) to assure that the It is recommended that you also place the ASSIGN statement in your ASSIGN MRBackup: DH0:MRBackup MAKEDIR DH0:MRBackup created/assigned prior to installation. Example: partition or directory where MRBackup Professional is installed and must be AmigaDOS logical name, MRBackup:. This name is equated to the name of the IMPORTANT NOTE: this version of the software requires the definition of an install MRBackup Professional. "Install-MRBackup" and double-click it. This will run a script which will drive and double-click on its disk icon. Find the icon labeled Insert the MRBackup Professional working copy disk into an available floppy still upward compatible with this release of the software. created for use with previous versions of MRBackup Professional. They are may wish to make backup copies of any ".init" or filter files which you within the partition or directory which you specify for installation. You according to category into several subdirectories which will be created a partition (recommended). MRBackup's support files have been grouped Professional will copy all files to a disk partition or a directory within the installation process. The new installation procedure for MRBackup original diskette. Use the working copy, not the original diskette, for As always, prior to installing any new software, make a working copy of the ------------------------- Installation Instructions system. MRBackup will work with any hard drive supported by the AmigaDOS operating Wangtek 50XX, TEAC 36XX, Sony DAT, etc. ) at least 1 floppy disk drive or SCSI streaming tape drive (Archive Viper, any Amiga system with at least 1 MB memory and AmigaDOS 2.04 or higher Requirements reduce the number of diskettes (or other media) required for a backup. insertions, etc. MRBackup provides optional data compression which will for presenting prompts, error conditions and requests for floppy disk MRBackup uses the Amiga's speech capabilities to provide an effective means interface is designed for a pleasing appearance and ease of operation. wide range of backup and restore options. Its Intuition-based user controlled by a flexible set of user-configurable parameters and offers a your Amiga for other chores while backups are being performed. MRBackup is environment. It does not "take over the machine" and will allow you to use MRBackup is designed to behave well in your Amiga's multi-tasking become damaged or lost, MRBackup can recreate it by scanning the saveset. retrieval of individual files when necessary. Should the catalog file A saveset catalog file is created for each saveset, allowing quick SCSI streaming tape Any sequential file or device (local or networked) in "fast" format Floppy disk, in a special "fast" format Floppy disk, in AmigaDOS format backed up to: management and backup/restore of files to/from hard disk. Files can be computers. It provides a wide range of services to support Amiga file MRBackup is a hard disk backup program for the Commodore Amiga family of ------------ Introduction Welcome to MRBackup Professional! ===================== MRBACKUP PROFESSIONAL TYPED BY SHARD ====================================================== PRESENTS MORE SHYTE FOR YOU ON THIS FINE BORING DAY . Z G N C A Y A G . R \___________/ : : \__________ \_ | : \__________/ \ _____ _/ \ \_________/ | \________/ _______/ `N| : : | ___/ \_ D_ / / _/ | / \_ | | \ : \_/ -A : \______ \ | \_ _: \_/ \_/ ____| \ \ \ __ _ / __ / : ___________/ ______| | . _________ ________ _____________ : performer, though settling time after a rewind is a bit unsettling. :-) Tandberg 3600 series This is quite similar to the WangTek drive. It has an on-board 64K byte cache, though only 60K is really available for buffering. This one may have a few glitches when run in asynchronous mode. The use of the word "handler" is significant. This is not a "device driver". It responds to AmigaDOS I/O packets. Implementing tape support in this way (as opposed to embedding SCSI direct calls within the MRBackup Professional program) provides a large degree of device independence for MRBackup Professional. MRBackup Pro simply writes a stream of data (encoded in MRBackup's "FastDisk" format) to the Backup Path. This may just as easily be the SER: device, a file (local or networked) or some other device configured to respond to standard filesystem calls. Here are the packets supported and the degree to which they are supported: ACTION_FINDINPUT Opens the drive for exclusive read access only. ACTION_FINDOUTPUT Opens the drive for exclusive write access only. ACTION_INFO (26) ACTION_DISK_INFO These fill in an InfoData structure with as much useful information as possible. Specifically, an attempt is made to fill in the following fields: id_DiskState If a tape is inserted, this field is set to ID_UNREADABLE_DISK. If no tape is inserted, this field is set to ID_NO_DISK_PRESENT. id_NumBlocks An approximation of the tape cartridge capacity is provided. id_BytesPerBlock If a 3M drive (MCD-40) is detected, 8192 is assumed. Otherwise, 512 is assumed. id_DiskType This field is set to 'TAPE'. The first 4 characters of the manufacturer's code might be used in a later revision. id_InUse This field is set to the boolean equivalent of "tape cartridge inserted". ACTION_LOCATE_OBJECT (Lock) A rather hokey lock is created and returned. It should be sufficient for programs which require such things. ACTION_EXAMINE_OBJECT (Examine) This packet is recognized, but ERROR_OBJECT_WRONG_TYPE is currently returned. ACTION_READ Just what you'd expect. ACTION_WRITE Just what you'd expect. ACTION_END (Close) If the write buffer has any residue, it is padded to the device block size with zeros and written to the drive. If the drive is not the 3M variety, a filemark is then written. The device is then marked as closed. ACTION_DIE All resources allocated to the handler are released and the handler is unloaded from memory. If you replace the current handler code with a new version and then re-access the drive, the new code will be loaded and initialized (great for development - no need to reboot). (There are others, to be documented later.) MRBackup currently treats the backup set as one contiguous file. Individual files have special header blocks and the data blocks have control information which defines the end of each file. There is a special control block to mark the end of tape. Thus, the filemark isn't typically ever "read" and isn't required, which is how the 3M drive (block-structured) is able to work. MRTape-Handler uses asynchronous I/O, but you might not believe it when you use the 3M tape drive. I'm not sure what the problem is, but I wasn't able to get good performance from the 3 1/2" ministreamer that I tested with. The buffer size parameter in the Startup field of the mountlist entry must be chosen with care. This is the size of 1 buffer (as opposed to 1 block, as is typically specified for filesystems). The handler allocates one buffer for synchronous I/O and two buffers when using asynchronous I/O. For example, I reccommend 8 (8192 bytes) for the 3M drive (this is required by the drive) and 64 (65536 bytes) for the Wangtek 5150 ES. The Wangtek has a 64K cache buffer. Setting MRTapeHandler to use 64K buffers causes 128K bytes to be allocated (a significant chunk!) but performance is quite good. To obtain the best performance for other drives, you may need to experiment. Use MRBackup Professional's "Throughput" measurement as a relative guide to the effects that changes in buffer sizes have on your backups. Here is a sample mountlist entry for MRTape-Handler: This is a mountlist entry for the SCSI tape handler provided with MRBackup. Pay particular attention to the StartUp message. Its format is: "////" where is the total amount of buffer memory, specified in K (K = 1024); is the SCSI device driver name; is the SCSI unit number; is the SCSI logical unit number (not currently used but must be set to zero); is a set of bits controlling certain tape drive options The bit values, which may be added together are: 1 asynchronous mode, 0 = synchronous mode 2 use on-board buffer, 0 = don't use on-board buffer Example: to enable async mode and the on-board buffer, the value would be 3 (1 + 2). Other flag bits will be provided as new features are added. MRTAPE: Handler = l:mrtape-handler StartUp = "64/scsi.device/4/0/3" Stacksize = 4000 Priority = 10 GlobVec = -1 # To determine the version number of MRTapeHandler, view the handler with any binary file editor and look for a string that begins with the letters "$VER:". You may also use the "version" command under WorkBench 2.0. A small program, named "die", has been supplied with the handler. It allows you to force the handler to free up all resources and unload itself. Example: die mrtape: For a long time, MRBackup has relied on arp.library for many of its services. The Amiga Resource Project (ARP) was created by Microsmiths, Inc. of Cambridge, MA. Currently MRBackup only depends upon this library for file requester (under AmigaDOS 1.3) and date management services and is being phased out of MRBackup Professional. MRTape-Handler got its early inspiration from a public domain tape handler written by Marcus Wandel. Though MRTape-Handler bears very little resemblence to that code, I am nonetheless grateful to Marcus for sharing his code which served as an excellent example of SCSI-Direct programming. HAVE FUN GUYS AND REMEMBER ITS ALL FOR FUN aLL DoCs DoNE By SHaRD/N&B