Shirt Pocket Discussions  
    Home netTunes launchTunes SuperDuper! Buy Now Support Discussions About Shirt Pocket    

Go Back   Shirt Pocket Discussions > SuperDuper! > General

Reply
 
Thread Tools Rating: Thread Rating: 2 votes, 5.00 average. Display Modes
  #1  
Old 12-22-2008, 09:51 AM
Steve Kir Steve Kir is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 3
Really odd cloning experiences

I am trying the unregistered version of SuperDuper! and have just made my first clone using the instructions in the pdf entitled "Backing Up Your Macintosh for the First Time" ("Backup all files", "Erase Backup, then copy files from Macintosh HD", "Do nothing").

All seemed to be going OK but there are several peculiarities:

Peculiarity 1: When SD had finished via its message, my external HD's activity light continued to blink, so indicating continuing activity when there ought to be none. This seems to continue indefinately. I ejected the Ext. HD (but the first time it objected to the clone partition being ejected) then remounted the drive

I opened the clone and all files seemed to be there.

I then rebooted my Mac with OPTION held down. At first the new clone did not appear but after again going round the search for bootable discs (by me presasing the left hand button) it appeared. I selected it and it seemd to boot OK.

Peculiarity 2: The new disk should have appeared on the desktop at the very top right corner, but that position was occupied by the icon for the internal hard drive which is always set as the startup drive. The new clone appeared merely as a generic HD icon elsewhere on the desktop. When opened, both the drive situated at the top right corner and the clone drive showed identical files. When I used to use Carbon Copy Cloner (for years) the clone appeared in the top right corner and the internal appeared elsewhere on the desktop merely as another HD.

Peculiarity 3: Furthermore, I found that the Mac had appeared to have booted on the internal HD, not on the selected clone, because I tried to eject the HD at the top right corner and was refused ("Disc in use...", obviously), but I was able to eject the clone which I should not have been able to do if it was the boot volume.

Peculiarity 4: On the other hand, I created a test document in TextEdit (launched in the usual way from the Dock, and I expected it to launch from the boot drive). When saving it I examined the offered file path and at the head of the path was indeed the clone!! And when it was saved, it appearted in the clone but was not on the drive in the top right corner. This seemed to confirm that the machine was booted on the clone.

Also, when launching DiskUtility (11.1) and selecting the drive containing the two partitions, the partition used for the SD clone is listed as the boot volume.

I am totally confused. Making many clones for the last 4 years using Carbon Copy Cloner under OS 10.3.9, and more recently under OS 10.5.4, everything went as expected. Now for some reason the evidence on the desktop is contradictory and confusing, and prevents me having any security that I have a bootable version of my OS in case of a failure.

What on earth is going on please?

Specifically:

Q1: if my machine has indeed booted on the clone in the partition, how come I can eject that partition when it is running?

Q2: how come the internal drive sits at the top right corner, the place always reserved for the boot drive, and why am I not allowd to eject it?

Q3: Why does that internal drive not appear as usual somewhere on the desktop and is ejectable as usual?

Q4: Do I have a reliable bootable clone from all the above conclusion?

In:
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/forums/showthread.php?t=461

Dnaian said:

"Finally, since some release of 10.4 after 10.4.0, probably right around the time Boot Camp came out, Disk Utility started being able to format a partition as HFS+, even though the underlying partition scheme is Master Boot Record (Windows)."

"Macs cannot start up from volumes that are partitioned with Master Boot Record, regardless of chip. So, make sure your external drives are partitioned with APM (if you want them to work with both Intel and Power PC Macs) or GUID (if you're only working with Intel).

Q4: What is APM please? Version Tracker lists it as a Qualifications Certificate! Is it a utility that will partition drives that SD will boot from without the peculiarities mentioned above, and where can I get it?

FACTS: OS 10.5.4 (until this Summer OS 10.3.9). G5/2 MHz, June 2004. 1 GB RAM. Lacie 500 GB external Firewire 800 drive, 2 partitions made by Disk Utility 11.1 (supplied by OS 10.54) Mac OS Extended (Journalled). The clone partition amply big enough for the cloning. SuperDuper 2.5 (v 84) downloaded today.



Thanks. (Sorry for the long post.)
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 12-22-2008, 10:51 AM
dnanian's Avatar
dnanian dnanian is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Weston, MA
Posts: 14,923
Send a message via AIM to dnanian
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Kir View Post
Peculiarity 1: When SD had finished via its message, my external HD's activity light continued to blink, so indicating continuing activity when there ought to be none. This seems to continue indefinately. I ejected the Ext. HD (but the first time it objected to the clone partition being ejected) then remounted the drive
This is either Spotlight or an AntiVirus program.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Kir View Post
Peculiarity 2: The new disk should have appeared on the desktop at the very top right corner, but that position was occupied by the icon for the internal hard drive which is always set as the startup drive. The new clone appeared merely as a generic HD icon elsewhere on the desktop. When opened, both the drive situated at the top right corner and the clone drive showed identical files. When I used to use Carbon Copy Cloner (for years) the clone appeared in the top right corner and the internal appeared elsewhere on the desktop merely as another HD.
Disk position is not a way to determine the current drive, but given what you said below (that you did eject it, which would not be possible, even though it would be an option) it hasn't started up from the backup drive... check in "About This Mac" to see what the current startup drive is.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Kir View Post
Peculiarity 4: On the other hand, I created a test document in TextEdit (launched in the usual way from the Dock, and I expected it to launch from the boot drive). When saving it I examined the offered file path and at the head of the path was indeed the clone!! And when it was saved, it appearted in the clone but was not on the drive in the top right corner. This seemed to confirm that the machine was booted on the clone.
Not if you could eject it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Kir View Post
Also, when launching DiskUtility (11.1) and selecting the drive containing the two partitions, the partition used for the SD clone is listed as the boot volume.
Then I have no idea how you could possibly have actually ejected it. Are you sure it didn't just have an eject symbol? Did you actually eject it?


Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Kir View Post
Q4: What is APM please? Version Tracker lists it as a Qualifications Certificate! Is it a utility that will partition drives that SD will boot from without the peculiarities mentioned above, and where can I get it?
APM is "Apple Partition Map", and is likely what your drive has, but if you recently partitioned you should check: select the drive hardware in Disk Utility and look at the lower right side of the window, next to "Partition scheme". It should say "Apple Partition Map".
__________________
--Dave Nanian
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 12-22-2008, 11:50 AM
Steve Kir Steve Kir is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 3
Yes, my DiskUtility does say "Apple Partition Map", and About this Mac gives the clone as the startup disk when I am booted into the clone.

I don't have any anti virus program so it must be Spotlight that is keeping the drive activating. I will see if I can turn Spotlight off, if there is a way. Do you know anthing about that? Thanks.

On the question of apparently being able to eject the clone when it appears to be the boot volume, I have tried to eject it again by dragging to the wastebasket (as before) and nothing happens - it just continues to sit there. So I must have confused myself.

While the clone is the boot volume I have again saved a test file by simply launching TextEdit from the dock and in the Save dialogue box saving it under a distingtive title. It is listed in the clone volume under "Documents" but not on the volume at the top right corner.

Also, I have altered the desktop picture in the internal volume, and when I boot into the (previoulsy created) clone the old desktop picture is still there.

Also, I have added some www addresses to the dock while running the clone and they do not appear when I boot into the internal drive.

Therefore I am pretty confident that I can boot into the clone. Thanks for all the help.

(But it remains odd that the disk at the top right corner refuses to eject ("in use"). It can't be.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 12-22-2008, 11:56 AM
dnanian's Avatar
dnanian dnanian is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Weston, MA
Posts: 14,923
Send a message via AIM to dnanian
You can add the backup drive into the Spotlight Preference Pane's "Privacy" tab to stop Spotlight from indexing it.

Glad to hear you couldn't actually eject the backup: that wouldn't make any sense at all. The internal not being ejectable might be because something is referencing it by volume name. If you name the backup drive the same as the original, it'll stop that from happening.

Again, don't check the startup drive by desktop position. That's just not legitimate: use the Startup Disk preference pane.
__________________
--Dave Nanian
Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
cloning a safety clone camner General 6 10-29-2009 04:52 PM
Cloning not working NMBob General 8 06-13-2008 05:29 PM
Unexpected Quit cloning to Mac Pro MacDorq General 8 11-28-2006 11:47 AM
3 Questions About Cloning... Mojo General 2 10-28-2006 08:29 PM
How long for cloning? BorisMD General 26 09-25-2005 02:32 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:22 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.