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Difference between 1 & 2 drive backup images
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Posted by: Michael248363

I purchased 2 DSR6k units within 2 weeks of each other from the same place. One unit had 30Gb & 15Gb drives in it, the other a single 40Gb drive. As I was doing the upgrade, I made a backup of each of the units. The 2 drive unit had a backup size of 212,127,527 bytes. The single drive unit had a backup of 202,090,599. I can understand that the backups wouldn't be exactly the same size, especially considering one vs two original drives.

But I've got a couple of questions:
1. Is there anything significantly different about a single vs a two-drive backup?
2. Is one backup better than the other?
3. Can I use either image to restore from or does it depend on anything?
4. Do I need to keep both backups or can I get rid of one, in which case which one should I keep?
5. Can I burn the files to a CD and restore from that instead of from a hard drive? And if so, what are the commands to mount the CD, or is it already available?

Ok, so that was more than a couple. ;)
__________________________
Michael
Tivo #1 -- Philips DSR6k w/ Lifetime Service - 259 hours
Tivo #2 -- Philips DSR6k w/ Lifetime Service - 259 hours

Posted by: ADent

Below answers assume -s (divorce) option used when backing up dual drive unit.

1. Yes. The single drive backup will only restore to a drive as large as or bigger than the original 40GB drive. The dual unit will restore to a 30GB drive.

2. Not really, esp if you use drive bigger than 40GB.

3. You can use either image. If you restore an image from another machine you have to do a full factory reset from the menus for the machine to work again.

4. You can get rid of one, if you don't mind doing a full factory reset on the other machine. Are you so cheap you can not afford the extra $.01 to $.50 for an extra CD-R blank? Make two copies of each in case you scratch one.

5. By all means. One of the goals of MFSTools was to make a backup smaller than 640MB so it would fit on a CD.

Posted by: Robert S

Originally posted by ADent

5. [Can I restore backup from CD?] By all means. One of the goals of MFSTools was to make a backup smaller than 640MB so it would fit on a CD.

Er, no. Or at least, the answer to that question is not 'yes'.

A standard MFSTools backup will easily fit on to a CD-R, that isn't the problem. The problem would be getting the image off the CD. That gets you into issues with byteswaping and the ISO9660 filing system used for CD-R.

You probably could do it from a 'normal' Linux install (possibly even Tom's Root and Boot) with MFS Tools 2, if you knew how to mount everything up under Linux.

The simplest answer to the question would have to be, you can copy the backup to a CD, but copy it back to a hard drive before you restore.

Posted by: Michael248363

Thanks. I guess the -6so in the command is what you are referring to, which I did use.

I'm just looking to simplify things. If I have one backup that would work regardless of what I restored it to, that's easier than having two images with potentially different command lines to restore, etc.

I actually already burned both backup images to a CD. Ok, I'll admit it, 4 CDs. Just to be safe. :D Like I always say, "Backing something up is easy, being able to restore it, that's the tricky part."

Thanks

Posted by: sirfergy

I restored just fine off of a backup cd image.

Posted by: Michael248363

What are the commands to:

1. Mount the CD so that you can access it,
2. Restore the image. Instead of hdb, or hdc, or hdd.

Posted by: sirfergy

Oh, I just mounted the CD-ROM. I think mine came up as hdd. It depends on what channel its on. YOu mount it just like a HD.