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

Go Back   Shirt Pocket Discussions > SuperDuper! > General

Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old 08-30-2007, 03:41 AM
patrickmast patrickmast is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 15
SD does not erase sparseimage

Hi,

I use DS to backup my "VM" drive where I keep my Parallels Virtual Machine Images on. Those files are like 10-15 GB's in size, so I did NOT choose to use "Smart update" because most of the times ALL files changed and needs to be backuped.

Instead I use "Erase ..., than copy file" from the "During copy" drop-down.

Strange thing is, the sparseimage is 221GB, while, when I open the sparseimage, the only folder in the sparseimage is only 55GB.

Does this mean that SD does NOT erased my sparseimage, but instead "deleted" the files IN the sparseimage and writes the newer files into the sparseimage, so that the sparseimage gets bigger and bigger?

Problem is that my backup HD gets full and my next backup fails because it runs out of space.

Thanks

Patrick Mast
http://www.PatrickMast.com
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 08-30-2007, 08:29 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
As you can read in other threads, that's the way OSX handles images, Patrick. And, yes -- we "erase" the contents of the image, and OSX doesn't shrink it.

If you can't write directly to the drive (which would avoid this problem), perhaps you can write a little AppleScript to delete the image before the backup, and schedule that using an iCal alarm?
__________________
--Dave Nanian
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 08-30-2007, 02:59 PM
patrickmast patrickmast is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by dnanian View Post
As you can read in other threads, that's the way OSX handles images, Patrick. And, yes -- we "erase" the contents of the image, and OSX doesn't shrink it.

If you can't write directly to the drive (which would avoid this problem), perhaps you can write a little AppleScript to delete the image before the backup, and schedule that using an iCal alarm?
Why can't SD not just Delete the image, and than start to copy? The info SAYS it's going to to just THAT

From the "During copy" dropdown:
"Erase ..., than copy files from..."

Patrick
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 08-30-2007, 04:36 PM
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
Because the "erase" refers to the volume, not the file.
__________________
--Dave Nanian
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 08-31-2007, 01:35 PM
patrickmast patrickmast is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by dnanian View Post
Because the "erase" refers to the volume, not the file.
So, same question. Why does SD not simply remove the FILE? ;-)

Patrick
http://www.PatrickMast.com
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 08-31-2007, 01:39 PM
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
Because it doesn't: erasing the contents of the file make more sense most of the time, because then the volume doesn't have to be re-extended.
__________________
--Dave Nanian
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 08-31-2007, 04:36 PM
James James is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 37
Take a look at this page, it shows you how to compact (shrink) your sparse image.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 09-01-2007, 03:21 AM
patrickmast patrickmast is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by dnanian View Post
Because it doesn't: erasing the contents of the file make more sense most of the time, because then the volume doesn't have to be re-extended.
What is "re-extending" a volume.

I'm still convinced that, deleting the parse-image file is the more simple solution. Ok, so, lets get a compromise here ;-)

Why not have an extra checkbox in the "Before copy" section with "Erase parse-image"?

Patrick
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 09-01-2007, 07:41 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
A sparse image starts out small, and extends as it grows. It takes time and I/O to extend its size -- an image that's already a bit "fat" is faster.

I tend to frown on checkboxes that would be rarely used, like this one, and whose benefit is not immediately apparent to most users...
__________________
--Dave Nanian
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 09-02-2007, 09:54 AM
Felix Felix is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Texas
Posts: 30
Quote:
Originally Posted by dnanian View Post
tend to frown on checkboxes that would be rarely used, like this one, and whose benefit is not immediately apparent to most users...
Like the OP, I sure would use it and consider such a feature to be a helpful addition.
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
Can't select sparseimage as source! mirkwood General 14 06-14-2010 06:03 PM
Erase, then Copy: Disk Image Size Planning gbeb General 1 07-05-2007 12:15 PM
Sparseimage access question jesswin General 2 05-06-2007 05:48 PM
Problem with sparseimage backup: LOSS OF DATA germ General 3 06-19-2006 09:27 PM
Update only a specific folder in a sparseimage ? Wanda General 9 01-29-2006 09:26 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 09:54 PM.


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