Bad Back Up?
I primarily run linux rather then windows. Awhile back, I had migrated my data from one HDD to another so I could switch to EXT4 file system. Then I copied the data back to the newly created EXT4 partition. Recently, I decided I regretted this decision after I suspect a ton of data corruption was caused by using the write support in Ext2fsd to read and write my EXT partition in Windows. Due to space constraints and the amount of data involved, I believed Acronis TIH 2013 was the best tool for the job due to the amount of compression it can apply in an efficient manner. Turns out I did not need the compression features but as I needed to complete some tasks in windows, I decided I would use TIH anyways. Originally I did a partition back up by mistake. So when I went to restore my back up, I found that it wiped out the newly formated NTFS file system, and restored it back to EXT. So I proceeded to do a file back up this time. Once completed, the task verified the back up, I rebooted and loaded the Parted Magic live ISO and used the included partitioning tool(used to be gparted but I think they changed it recently) to format the EXT drive to NTFS once again. This went off with out any problems, so I rebooted and chose to go back in to windows. Once in windows, I proceeded to restore the back up. When I tell it to restore, I see a pop up that should display the contents of the back up. Instead it shows a single folder named "!NEW"(I some times append symbols to the start of folder names if I need them to sort to the top for qucik access/distinction). Nothing inside the folder or out outside of it. Just "!NEW". So at this point I tried to restore anyways. It shows a message saying analyzing partition, then it disappears and nothing is happening! When I browse to the back up location in Explorer, I do see a roughly 2TB image file which is accurate in terms of the data backed up. I tried to mount the back up using TIH, but TIH says it can't do so because there is no valid partition.
I suspect this is a bug in TIH but is there any way to restore this back up?
Did you try to do your restore from the recovery CD?
Did you try to do your restore from the recovery CD?
Hi Pat, thanks for the response. I apologize in the delayed response. I meant to attempt this last night and I forgot. I did, however, get to test the boot cd tonight, and it fails as well. It did register a single folder that was not named "!NEW"(although I believe it was a child folder of !NEW) and recognized a child folder as well. However, they contents, in terms of files, was empty. Here is the log. I was not sure if the uuid was something personally identifiable, so I did remove that to be safe.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
Recover Backup Archive</bold><endl/><tabpoint value=30><indent value=4>From file: <indent value=10><textcolor value="navyblue">"G:\My backups\MyBackup\MyBackup_full_b1_s1_v1.tib"</textcolor></indent><indent value=4><endl/>Recovery of: <indent value=10><textcolor value="navyblue">Files</textcolor></indent><indent value=4><endl/>Recover to: <indent value=10><textcolor value="navyblue">H:\</textcolor></indent><indent value=4><endl/></indent><endl/>" module="11" time="1360629712" />
As symbols at the beginning of standard files and folders is normally for special purposes such as ~, $ and occasionally _ and . I'm wondering if '!' as the prefix to a name confuses True Image. It certainly confused me :) I thought you were imaging a RISCOS system where executable files do begin with a ! by default.
Just to be sure, you are not trying to do a file backup right? This operation is not supported for Linux files systems
http://kb.acronis.com/content/23922
As symbols at the beginning of standard files and folders is normally for special purposes such as ~, $ and occasionally _ and . I'm wondering if '!' as the prefix to a name confuses True Image. It certainly confused me :) I thought you were imaging a RISCOS system where executable files do begin with a ! by default.
Colin, sorry for any confusion. Do you have any alternatives? Windows Explorer, Dolphin Browser, and whatever file browser the Parted Magic ISO uses, all handle the symbols fine with in normal day to day operations. Also, the linux command rsync, had handled these fine when I got a new 3TB HDD and went to transfer over data from a failing HDD awhile back. I suspect this is indeed the problem.
Just to be sure, you are not trying to do a file backup right? This operation is not supported for Linux files systems
http://kb.acronis.com/content/23922
I was backing up data/files on an EXT4 partition. Using Ext2FSD, which is an EXT file system driver for Windows, I was able to read the partition just fine. I was writing the back up to an NTFS partition. As I said before, I was able to back up the entire EXT4 partition, and restore it using TIH2013. Given this experience, I do not believe that the file system is the culprit here. I suspect Colin is correct that the ! symbol is causing the problem. There was no problem when I did a full partition back up, but when I did a file back up, TIH does not work as it should.
Tiresome I know, but perhaps replacing the ! with a Z would soon decide if TI is misinterpreting the !.
The only access I have to the data now is the TIB file itself. Is it possible to rename the folder at this point? As I said, the TIB file is about 2TB in size, so in theory all the data should be in the file, it is a matter of getting TIB to parse beyond that folder. It is unusual that I use a ! instead of a ~. So the task may not be all that tiresome.
To change a file inside a tib, you need to mount the tib in read write mode, make the alteration, and then unmount. Note though this will create a new tib file, so you need space for your original tib file and the amended one. If I recall correctly the amended tib will be similar to making an incremental image, so it shouldn't be as large as your original, but you will need both present when making a restore.
To change a file inside a tib, you need to mount the tib in read write mode, make the alteration, and then unmount. Note though this will create a new tib file, so you need space for your original tib file and the amended one. If I recall correctly the amended tib will be similar to making an incremental image, so it shouldn't be as large as your original, but you will need both present when making a restore.
Maybe I am misunderstanding your definition of mount, but as stated in the OP, when I tried to mount the back up it says there is no valid partition. In my case, I forgot how exactly I tried to mount it, but I think it was right click ->True Image -> Archive -> Mount..
Is the file system inside the tib file EXT4 or NTFS? You can only mount if the FS is a Microsoft based one, partitions are mountable.
Try mounting from within True Image itself, the shell extensions can sometimes play up.
This is a file back up, not a partition back up, but it originated from an EXT4 fs. Is this a limitation of TIH or Windows(since windows does not natively support EXT)?
I tried mounting as you instructed, and got an error that it can not detect the volume. Glancing back over your earlier link, I see EXT file back ups are technically not supported. If this is the case though, how come the back up is 2TB in size as if the data is contained?
Thanks you for the persistent help Colin!
My error, when you mentioned a partition backup, I didn't realise you were referring to a files and folders backup - two different things. Files and folder backups can't be mounted as they don't contain partition or disk information.
Exploring the tib file won't work as that is read only.
As you say, non Microsoft disk systems can only be disk or partition systems, so how you managed an out of spec file backup is interesting, certainly using the EXT2FS utility isn't catered for, and indeed this might be why the whole thing has gone pear shaped.
I haven't tried this, but I wonder if converting the tib file to a VHD and then accessing the resulting VHD would work, though I have my doubts.
No worries Colin. It is a confusing situation, and a difficult one to explain while trying to be through. Combined with a lack of sleep and other factors, it might not have come out as well as I hopped!
Testing the VHD conversion theory now. The graphical progress bar in the app simply says queuing and shows no progress but the task bar icon is indicating progress. However, the destination HDD is not filling up with data.