[Info-vax] Odd BACKUP error: unsupported file structure !

[JF Mezei]

John Wallace wrote:
>
> If you want the data off the disk and you have lost confidence in
> either the disk hardware or the file structure it contains, have you
> considered doing a block for block copy to something else 

Initially, I thought it was just the file structure. I don't experience
problems using the system, but know that ana/disk/repair generated
errors. So I decided to backup the disk and restore it to make it
"clean". It is only in doing so that I have come to realise that there
may be something wrong with the disk.

I had originally tried to send the backup to my xserve via NFS, but it
turns out that NFS has file size limitations that are well below the 10
gigs I need.

backup/physical would require 27 gigs of storage which I don't have on
the alpha.  I guess I could create about 15 2gig container fiels on the
xserve, mount them with LD, and then create a bound volume set that
would create a 30 gig drive allowing me to create one big saveset from a
physical backup.

After the backup/image is done, I may do a backup/physical to NLA0: just
to see how fast it runs.


> tool (BACKUP /PHYSICAL? Maybe something other than BACKUP if you're
> worrying about BACKUP doing the right thing quickly enough?)

I would have no worry about backup/physical. My concern is that backup
uses many tricks to access the file system and is exhibiting problems
reading this drive that I didn't experience in daily use. I am really
hoping this is just the overly obese INDEXF.SYS that causes it. (I've
deleted 10s of thousands of files that were a backup of an older mac
done via NFS).

> Before taking this backup I'd also want to check the error log,

If the devices all show 0 errors, would there be stuff in the error log?

Do IDE drives even report errors to VMS ? This tech was designed for
running DOS on wintel.



> that IDE cables were properly seated, and perhaps even replace the IDE
> cable in question with a "known good" one from elsewhere.

Well, for now, I will let the backup complete. Once I am reasonably sure
that the saveset is wholesome, then I can open up the alpha and perform
tests.

Another possibility is to reduce the alpha to a single drive system.
Move the backup save set to a bound volume made up of 2 gig containers
on the xserve, and then use backup to restore the files (/NOIMAGE) to
the system drive.