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-   -   SuperDuper vs Tiger - slower backups? (https://www.shirt-pocket.com/forums/showthread.php?t=682)

2stepbay 09-20-2005 12:09 PM

SuperDuper vs Tiger - slower backups?
 
Since upgrading to Tiger from Panther, my bu time for cloning my HD has increased from 8+ minutes to over 17 minutes. The last 3 backups have been around 17:30. Other than Tiger, there has been no significant addition to the system. Also, I am not indexing my external HD via Spotlight.

Wondering if anyone else has experienced similar?

dnanian 09-20-2005 12:41 PM

Yes, it's not uncommon. Floating files are handled differently by Tiger, and it confuses SD! As such, all floating files look like they've changed every time, and we copy them.

To fix this, you need to lock down ownership -- likely in your Home folder. You can do so with the "chown" command, if you know how to use that... I can give some basic instructions to help out, too.

Once that's been fixed up, your 2nd and subsequent backups after the lockdown should be fast again.

2stepbay 09-20-2005 02:54 PM

SD vs Tiger - Chown Command
 
[QUOTE=dnanian]To fix this, you need to lock down ownership -- likely in your Home folder. You can do so with the "chown" command, if you know how to use that... I can give some basic instructions to help out, too.[QUOTE]

Thanks Dave. Sounds like a Terminal command? :eek: Appreciate any direction you can offer.

Does version 2.0 adjust for the floating files? or is the chown command enough?

I appreciate the updated info about v2.0. I like the screen shots. Very generous of you to offer it as a no charge upgrade. :cool:

I think SD is a much more efficient way to clone than what the competitors offer. Thanks again for your attention to the detail.

dnanian 09-20-2005 04:36 PM

We've figured out another way to handle floating files under Tiger in v2.0, so this isn't a problem. (They changed things in Tiger, and -- unknown to us -- that messed up our previous floating detection.) So, if you don't want to do this, you can wait.

If you don't mind doing it, here's how. First, start Terminal. By default, Terminal starts in your Home folder: that's where we want it to be.

Determine your User ID and Group ID with the following command:

id

(Just copy/paste.) That'll give you output like:

uid=501(dnanian) gid=501(dnanian) groups=501(dnanian), 81(appserveradm), 79(appserverusr), 80(admin)

So, on this machine, my user id (uid) is 501 and my group id (gid) is 501. That's what I want my personal files owned by (I'm assuming here that you keep your personal files in your Home folder, as you should under OSX -- if that's not the case, let me know). To accomplish that, I use chown as follows:

sudo chown -R 501:501 *

Substitute your uid and gid as appropriate -- you want uid:gid in that command (so mine is 501:501). Note that you will have to enter your password when prompted -- it won't echo. that's normal.

In English, that command says "as the super user, change the owner of all files in this folder and all folders contained here, to user id 501 and group id 501".

Once that's done, do your backup twice. The 2nd time, it should be back to normal speeds.

Let me know if that makes some sense.

2stepbay 09-21-2005 05:47 AM

Floating Files
 
Thanks for the Terminal guidance. My nos. were the same as those listed for you. Wondering if this change is undone if I repair permissions?

After change first time backup was 19:40, second 13:37. I'll try again tomorrow. In Panther, my backup times were around 8 minutes.

Thanks again Dave.

dnanian 09-21-2005 08:31 AM

Well, if your backup times are still longer than expected, there are two possibilities:

- You've got Spotlight on, and it's scanning a lot during the backup
- You've got floating files somewhere other than your Home folder

So, do you store personal files in a different location?

2stepbay 09-21-2005 03:58 PM

Files
 
All personal files are in my home folder.

Yes, spotlight is running in the background, however, I have the various external partitions set up in Spotlight's privacy pane, as I don't need them indexed.

I have noticed after cloning onto one of the partitions, that partition is deleted from Spotlight's privacy pane. Spotlight then starts to index the partition, until I drag the partition into the privacy pane. Is this a Tiger bug, or is it something v2 resolves?

Thoughts?

sjk 09-21-2005 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dnanian
sudo chown -R 501:501 *

Shouldn't that be:

sudo chown -R 501:501 .

... to include any hidden dotfiles?

dnanian 09-21-2005 06:22 PM

(Yes, strictly speaking, it should, but I don't think his problem has to do with hidden dotfiles.)

dnanian 09-21-2005 06:24 PM

We've got a script that specifically turns spotlight off for the destination volume: see the FAQ. v2.0 automatically disables spotlight during the backup, and restores the state when it's done, so it's handled differently...

2stepbay 09-21-2005 08:28 PM

Tiger vs SD
 
Thanks for the script.

Before inserting the script the last bu took 15:04, after installing the script 16:23. Hmmmmm. I'll try it again. Double hmmmm. This time it took 25:24. :confused:

I think I'm going to wait for version 2. It's really not that big a deal. Very glad to have a reliable clone. It's come in very handy on a few occasions.

dnanian 09-21-2005 09:30 PM

That doesn't make much sense, actually. Do you have something else hanging around that might be interfering with file copies?

Have you tried doing your backup in Safe mode (shift-boot) to see what happens?

2stepbay 09-23-2005 10:38 PM

Safe Mode vs Standard Mode
 
Quote:

Do you have something else hanging around that might be interfering with file copies? Have you tried doing your backup in Safe mode (shift-boot) to see what happens?
Finally found the time to run the backup in Safe Mode: Here's the result -

Safe Mode - time 9:26
Standard Mode: 3 consecutive backups - 15:26, 19:03, 17:21

Any suggestions about what might be "hanging around"? I have all of my personal files in my User Account. All applications are in the application file. No Nortons or Virex apps. Tiger seems slow when shutting down or on the restart. Seems to take time for all the screens to clear and the restart to begin - much slower than Panther. I have two other user accounts set up. One with very tight restrictions (guest use of the computer) and the other as a mirror of my personal account to use for testing applications in case of odd behavior. Also, using Dashboard, with about 21 widgets on the screen. Spotlight is indexing only the HD. External partitions are excluded.

As you previously suggested I have added the apple script to shut off indexing. Didn't seem to have much affect on the time.

I have run Disk Warrior. Directory is OK. Prior to running the above tests, I repaired permissions, cron scripts, but did not clear the cache files.

Well, that's the weather report. Thanks for the help.

PS You could make this process a whole lot easier by releasing Version 2. ;) :eek:

dnanian 09-23-2005 10:59 PM

That certainly says "Spotlight" to me, although it could be some other kernel extension or similar. Why don't you generate a System Profiler report and send it to me at the support address... maybe there's something there that'll look suspicious.

2stepbay 09-25-2005 01:19 PM

Backup with Haxies Disabled
 
As suggested in your e-mail, I disabled the Unsanity Haxies. BU was 11:43 - fastest time yet! vs the 15 - 17 minute with Haxies on. Still slower than my Panther times of 7 - 8 minutes.

Wondering if version 2 addresses the slow down effect of the haxies?

Thanks for the followup Dave.


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