Can I use SuperDuper! 2.0 with my Maxtor OneTouch Button?

[dnanian]

Frequently, Maxtor users ask whether or not they can use the "button" on the front of their drive to run an automatic backup with SuperDuper! The answer, I'm happy to say, is "Absolutely". Here's what to do.

First, set up the backup exactly as you want it to occur, using the regular SuperDuper! UI. When you've got it right, click the "Schedule" button: you're going to temporarily schedule it.

Once it's set, navigate to the Library/Application Support/SuperDuper!/Scheduled Copies folder off your Home. In there, you'll find a SuperDuper! settings package, with a name based on your source and destination volumes. Copy (don't move) this settings package to Library/Application Support/SuperDuper/Saved Settings.

Back in SuperDuper!, you can now delete the scheduled copy, if desired.

Inside the settings package, there's an application that runs SuperDuper automatically. The problem is that a settings package is "opaque" -- that is, there's no easy way to tell the OneTouch Button Manager to run something inside this package, which looks like a single file. So, we're going to create a "symlink" to the little application inside this package using Terminal. Don't worry: this is easier than you might think.

First, open Terminal, and navigate to the "Saved Settings" folder. Do this by typing:

cd

(that's "cd" followed by a space), and then dragging in the folder from Finder -- Terminal will fill in what you need. Then press Return.

Now that you're in the correct location, you need to create the symlink. This is done with the "ln" (LN, in lower case) command.

In my case, my settings file is named "Smart Update Macintosh HD Backup from Macintosh HD". So, the command I need is:

ln -s "Smart Update Macintosh HD Backup from Macintosh HD.sdsp/Copy Job.app" "OneTouch Backup of Macintosh HD"

That's all on one line -- press Return at the end of your version. What it says is to create a symlink (a type of alias) to the "Copy Job" application, inside the settings package, and name it "OneTouch Backup of Macintosh HD".

OK -- you're almost done!

Now, open your OneTouch manager, tell it you want to "Open..." something when the button is pressed, and navigate to the Saved Settings folder. Select the "OneTouch Backup of Macintosh HD" you just created. When it appears inside the OneTouch Manager, you'll see it as "Copy Job.app".

That's it! When you press the button, the backup will run automatically.