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VIDEO BACKUP SYSTEM USERS MANUAL INDEX ===== 1. INSTALLATION 1.1 Before you get started 1.2 What you should have 1.3 Hardware installation 1.4 Contents of the disk 1.5 Installing the software on Hard Disk 1.6 Copyright notice 2. USING THE VIDEO BACKUP SYSTEM 2.1 VBS main menu 2.2 Concepts behind VBS 2.2.1 Floppy vs Filesystem backup 2.2.2 Video connection check 2.2.3 Using the tape counter 2.2.4 Log Files 2.2.5 Visual Headers 2.3 Floppy Backup 2.3.1 Floppy requester 2.3.2 Backup operation 2.4 Floppy restore 2.4.1 Name requester 2.4.2 Restore operation 2.5 Filesystem functions 2.6 Log file functions 2.6.1 The file requester 2.6.2 Log file / Disable logging 2.6.3 Del log entry 2.6.4 Update log file 2.6.5 Create new log 2.7 Quit VBS 3. FILESYSTEM BACKUPS 3.1 File & Directory Selection 3.1.1 Selecting files 3.1.2 Menu options 3.2 Filesystem backup 3.2.1 Choosing the files 3.2.2 Backup requester 3.2.3 Filesystem backup operation 3.3 Filesystem restore 3.3.1 Name of the backup to restore 3.3.2 Restore operation 3.4 Filesystem verify 4. SOME HINTS 4.1 Configuration parameters 4.2 Using the right tapes 4.3 Additional hints Congratulations ! ================= You have purchased one of the most convenient and powerful backup systemns available for the Commodore Amiga TM computer today. As creating and manipulating video recordings is a main field of interest in the Amiga community, the Amiga is often used in conjunction with video equipment. The Video Backup System cleverly provides an extra dimension to this use of video with the Amiga. You will find that the Video Backup System is a powerful and versatile backup tool. To achieve maximum security, an effective error-correction scheme was incorporated. The system works with any Amiga configuration, and it is useful for both hard disk and floppy users. The connection to your existing home VCR is easily made, as all necessary cables are provided. Software Developmnent: Hugo Lyppens Hardware Development: Rob Langendoen Box front cover artwork: Ardjan Dommisse Copyright (c) 1992 Hugo Lyppens 1. INSTALLATION =============== This chapter provides the basics on the Video Backup System. The installation procedures for both hard and software are explained. 1.1. Before you get started --------------------------- You need to make a backup of the original Video Backup System disk, for disks are sensitive to heat and radiation. This copy is to be used as the working disk. In the Amiga user's manual, you can read instructions on how to copy a disk. 1.2. What you should have ------------------------- In any case, you should check the contents of the Video Backup System package to make sure that nothing is missing. You will find the following components: Video Interface: this is a small grey unit which has a 25 pin connector to connect to the Amiga`s serial port and two PHONO plugs on the other side Amiga to VCR cable: this is an ordinary PHONO to PHONO cable to connect the Amiga`s video output to the VCR input One 3.5" disk This manual Product Registration Card: when you send it in Lyppens Software Productions will keep you informed of bugfixes, upgrades and related products. You can write your comments on the product on the blank side. 1.3. Hardware Installation -------------------------- Figure 1.1 shows the hardware setup necessary for operation of the Video Backup System at a glance. Before you connect anything, be sure to turn off your computer and video equipment first. After these precautions, plug the Video Interface into the Serial Port. Next, connect its black plug to your VCRs video output. When you use a 1084S or equivalent monitor, you can optionally connect the red plug to the composite video input at the back of the monitor. You then enjoy the facility to use the 1084 as a control monitor for the video signal. Using the CVBS/RGB switch on the front panel. You can either choose the CVBS source (VCR) or the RGB signal (Amiga). Use the other cable to connect the Amiga's composite output to the VCR input jack. Via this connection, data flow`s from the Amiga to the VCR. 1.4. Contents of the Disk ------------------------- To checks the original disk, please put your working copy in a drive and double click on the VBS disk icon. After a few seconds, you'll see a window. Figure 1.2 shows the structure of the VBS program disk. In the root directory you'll find the Video Backup System program file, »VBS«. This single program comprises all the video backup and restore facilities of the Video Backup System. The separate utility »HD Install« is provided for easy hard disk installation. The »Shell« icon gives you access to the Amiga's command line interface. Futhermore, the following drawers exist: System This is the standard drawer for system utilities like »Format« and »DiskCopy«. LogFiles This is the standard drawer for Video Tape Log Files. Initially, you'll find no log file here. Later you will keep logs of your own video. Fonts This is the standard drawer for Amiga fonts. By default, Video Backup System uses >>melba.font<< for its visual headers (See 2.2.5). 1.5. Installing the Software on a Hard Disk ------------------------------------------- In case you have a hard Backup System you probably want to install the Video Backup System on it, so that you can start it from there at all times. On the disk there is a utility called »VBS_Install<< which carries out this job for you. Boot from your hard disk to make sure the FONTS path is set to your hard disk's font directory. On double clicking the »VBS Install« icon, a window appears on the Workbench screen, as shown in Figure 1.3 Using the directory gadget above, you can indicate which directory is to be used for the Video Backup System. By default, the directory is set to »work:VBS«. Click »OK« to start the installation, or »Cancel« to abort. After clicking »OK«, all necessary files are copied to the hard disk. To be able to start the VBS by double clicking a log file icon (See 2.2.4), the logical device »VBS:« needs to be ASSIGNed to the directory where VBS was installed. To accomplish this, your startup-sequence needs to contain a line »Assign VBS : <path to VBS>«. Click OK if you want the installation utility to insert this line in your startup sequence automatically. The default here is »s:Startup-Sequence« for systems running AmigaDOS 1.3 or less, and »s:User-Startup« for AmigaDOS 2,0 or above. Click Cancel if you prefer to add it yourself. After this, the installation is finished. 1.6. Copyright notice --------------------- The Video Backup System Software is not copy protected. This means that you can copy your original disk without difficulties. But please remember that copying this software for any use other than for backup purposes violates copyright laws. This means that it is illegal to make a copy to give to another person. It is also illegal to use a copy of this program on any two computers simultaneously. 2. USING THE VIDEO BACKUP SYSTEM ================================ This chapter describes the use of the Video Backup System software in full detail. If you did not connect the hardware and your VCR to the Amiga yet, please do so first. The VBS software fully uses the capabilities of Intuition to provide an easy to use and easy to learn user interface. The main means of issuing commands to the program is the mouse, as all functions are accessible through gadgets and pull down menus 2.1. VBS Main Menu ------------------ Please put your working copy into a drive and open the disk's window on the workbench. A double click on the icon labeled »VBS« starts the program. When the program shows up, you`ll see the main screen (Figure 2.1) To the left, you see ten gadgets which give you access to the program`s main functions. The large black area at the right is still empty. It is used to display the contents of log files (See 2,2.3). At the top of the log file box there is a pad that shows the name of the log file, now indicating >>None<<. 2.2. Concepts behind VBS ------------------------ For a better understanding, it is important to be familiar with some of the basic ideas behind VBS. 2.2.1. Floppy vs. Filesystem Backup ----------------------------------- These are the two kinds of backups available. A floppy backup is a track-by-track image of an 880K AmigaDOS disk, written to video. A filesystem backup is normally used to save the contents of hard disks, but you can make a backup of any filesystem device like RAM:, RAD: etc. It uses the file system instead of reading raw tracks, so that you can include and exclude individual files and directories. 2.2.2. Video Connection Check ----------------------------- The VBS software does this check before starting a backup operation. This makes sure that your backup really gets recorded on video tape, because the check fails when: Your VCR unit is not turned on The connections are not OK Your VCR is not tuned to the AUX channel (external source). The channel display on the VCR should show »0« or »AU«. Refer to your VCR's instruction manual for details. When the check fails, you will see a requester that tells you so. Then, you can either correct the mistake and click on »OK now« or click on »Abort« to abort the operation 2.2.3. Using the Tape Counter ----------------------------- The tape counter is necessary to find locations on the video tape easily. For the Video Backup System, it is assumed that your VCR has a real-time counter, the format of which is H:MM:SS (Hours, Minutes and Seconds). When inserting a new video tape, make sure that counter value 0:00:00 corresponds with the beginning of the tape. This is achieved by rewinding the tape and pressing the "counter reset" button on your VCR. Many VCR have a Time Go-To function, which gives you access to any point on the tape by simply specifying the time from the beginning of the tape. The Tape Counter also plays an important role when using the log files. 2.2.4. Log Files ---------------- Log Files are a means of keeping track of what is on a tape. For practical reasons. they are not kept somewhere on the tape. Instead, they are stored as a file on a floppy or hard disk. For each tape that you use for video backups, you should have a separate log file. To avoid confusion, a good suggestion would be to write the name you chose for the log file on the tape. Log Files contain lines of the form: START TIME - END TIME BACKUP TYPE NAME DATE Each of these entries represents a backup once made. START This indicates the starting position of this backup on the video tape. This value was specified when the backup was made, as the Amiga cannot determine the current counter value of the VCR automatically. END This indicates where the backup ends. This value was computed from the starting time and the measured duration of the backup operation. TYPE This is an indicator of the backup type. Currently, two values are possible. "ADF" means AmigaDOS floppy. "FS" means FileSystem. NAME In case of a floppy backup, this is the AmigaDOS name of the floppy. In case of a Filesystem backup, it indicates a name entered by the user. DATE In case of a floppy backup, it is the creation date read from the disk. In case of the FileSystem backup, it indicates the date on which the backup was made. Each time you make a backup, such a line is added to the log file. NOTE: The software deliberately doesn`t take any action when two entries overlap in time, to avoid data losses when you make a mistake. For instance, if you record something over a previous recording, you get conflicting entries in the log file table. You can remove obsolete entries by using the >>Del Log Entry<< function. 2.2.5. Visual Headers --------------------- A visual header is an image which is recorded on the VCR for about 5 seconds, just before the actual backup starts. In a large font the name of the backup and other data are shown. See Figure 2.2 for an example. This concept enables you to locate backups easily. Look at your control monitor (In case you connected the 1084S as described in section 1.2, press the CVBS/RGB button to select the VCR signal), and use the search forward/backward buttons on your VCR until you see the right visual header. 2.3. Floppy Backup ------------------ This function deals with the storage of AmigaDOS floppies on video tape. 2.3.1. Floppy Requester ----------------------- When you click on the gadget »Floppy Backup«. the Floppy Requester comes up (See Figure 2.3). Drive Selector At the top, you see the drive selector. Units that are not available are shown Ghosted (overlaid with a faint pattern of dots). Using the Left Mouse Button, you can select which drive you want to backup from. The selected drive is black. Entering start time When a video tape log file is in use (See 2.2.4), you must enter the string tape location in the time gadget after »Tape Start Position«. This will be used to create a log file entry for this disk. A good idea is to enter a time a few seconds ahead of the current counter reading. This allows some time for the VCR to get going after pressing RECORD, and this allows a good synchronization as well Multiple Disks The Video Backup System also allows you to store multiple floppies directly after one another on the tape. This is useful to store large games or PD collections on tape. If you want to store multiple disks, toggle the gadget »Multiple« by clicking on it with the Left Mouse Button. When »Multiple« is enabled, you may select more than one drive. For instance. when you select both DF0: and DF1:, the software will alternate between DF0: and DF1:. This means that the first disk comes from DF0:, the next from DF1:, the next from DF0: again and so on until you stop the series. Ending the floppy requester Click »Cancel« to cancel the backup operation. To continue, click »OK«. 2.3.2. Backup Operation ----------------------- Making the backup involves the following steps: First, the video connection is checked (see 2.2.2). If this is OK, the screen gets black. Make sure the disk to be backed up is in the selected drive. Make sure the right video tape is loaded and it is at the desired position. Press RECORD on the VCR. Press the Left Mouse Button to start. In case you use a log file, click when the video counter exactly matches the value you typed in. Then you realize the best synchronization. Now, the backup starts. For 5 seconds, you will see the Visual Header. Then, the actual backup takes place for 1 minute. You can always abort this operation by just clicking the Left Mouse Button. When »Multiple« is not enabled, you get back to the VBS main screen when the operation finishes. Press STOP on the VCR at this moment. If it is enabled, VBS will wake a backup of the next disk. If you selected more than one drive, the next disk will be read from another drive (the next in line). You had a chance to insert the next disk in this drive while the first was written. After the last disk of your series, click the Left Mouse Button to get back to the Main Screen. In fact, you can do this at any time you want to abort. 2.4. Floppy Restore ------------------- This feature enables you to retrieve floppy disk contents from video. Within a minute, VBS writes the floppy image from video directly to a blank disk. This disk doesn`t even have to be formatted beforehand! 2.4.1. Name Requester --------------------- When you click on the »Floppy Restore«« gadget, the Name Requester pops up. Now, you are requested to enter the name of the floppy disk you would like to restore. It is sufficient that the string you type here matches the first few characters the real name (case sensitive). This implies that entering nothing is always OK: it matches the first floppy backup found. Click »OK« to continue, »Cancel« gets you back to the Main Menu. After clicking »OK«, the Floppy Requester pops up. Here you select the drive(s) you want to restore to. Read Section 2.3.1 for a description of this requester. In case you enabled «Multiple« to restore a series of floppies, the name entered in the Name Requester only applies to the first disk. For any subsequent disks, this name doesn`t have to match anymore: the following backup found on video is restored. 2.4.2. Restore Operation ------------------------ After completing the floppy requester, the screen gets cleared and the text »Searching for AmigaDOS floppy: <NAME><< appears. Remember, you can abort at any time by pressing Left Mouse Button. Follow this procedure: Wind the tape to the location of the disk to be restored. Use the Go-To function of your VCR if it has one. Make sure there is a write-enabled disk in the selected drive and that it doesn't contain valuable data. WARNING: All data on this disk will be overwritten during a restore! Press PLAY on the VCR. If VBS, encounters a backup which doesn't have a matching name or is of a different type (e.g FS) the message »Encountered ...« is printed. When the desired backup is found, a message saying so is printed and the data are transferred from video to floppy disk. When »Multiple« is not enabled, you get back to the VBS main screen when the restore operation finishes. Press STOP on the VCR at this moment. In the other case, VBS will restore the next disk it encounters on the video tape. If you selected more than one drive, the next disk will be written to another drive (the next in line). This gives you the chance to change disks in one drive while the other is involved in a restore operation. The VBS monitors the disk changes. It prevents you from restoring twice to the same disk by accident, by requesting you to remove that disk before continuing. After you got the last disk of your series, click the Left Mouse Button to get back to the Main Screen. 2.5. Filesystem Functions ------------------------- The FileSystem functions can store and retrieve data on a file-by file basis. In practice, they are used to save the contents of hard disks on video tape. Chapter 3 covers a description of these functions 2.6. Log File Functions ----------------------- 2.6.1 . The File Requester -------------------------- The purpose of the File Requester is to enable you to inform the Video Backup System of which file to process. You specify the file name, and also the drawer and disk device where this file is located. Figure 2.4 shows the file requester in action. At the top you see the operation which will take place after selecting a file, in this case »Select Log File«. Beneath, there is a file select box, which shows the contents of the current drawer. This drawer can contain files and sub-drawers. Sub-drawers and files are shown separately: sub-drawers (if there are any) are at the top part of the box, marked »(DIR)«, and files at the bottom part. The files and drawers are alphabetically sorted. If the current drawer is not the root of the current drive (i.e it is a subdirectory), there will be a special name at the top of the list. It is >>/ (DIR)<<, and it denotes the parent drawer. This is the drawer that contains your drawer. At the right of the file select box, you will see arrow gadgets at the top and bottom edges, and a slide bar between them. The arrow gadgets are of use when there are more entries in the current drawer than fit in the box. In this case, clicking once with the left mouse button on the lower arrow will shift the list one line up. Conversely, clicking on the upper arrow will shift a line down. The slide bar's knob has a variable size. It indicates which percentage of files and drawers in the current drawer are actually visible in the box. So, when there are at the most 9 files and drawers, the knob is full- size (100%). As there are more entries in the list, the knob becomes smaller. The other purpose of the knob is to indicate the position of the part of the list currenly shown. When you click on the knob with the left mouse button and hold the button down, you can move the knob to a new position. As soon as you release the left mouse button, the corresponding portion of file names will be shown in the file select box. You can use the left mouse button to select items in the file select box. When you click on a drawer entry (labeled >>(DIR)<<, this drawer becomes the current drawer and you see its contents in the file box. It means, you get one level deeper in the disk structure this way. If you click on »/ (DIR)<< which is the parent drawer you will get one level up in the disk structure, and the contents of the parent drawer will be shown. And if you click on a file name, the gadget labeled >>File« will display this file name. You can then get this file by clicking »OK«. Beneath the file select box, there is a variable number of gadgets. There's a gadget representation for each disk device (>>DF0:<<, >>DF1:<< etc) available in the current system configuration. For instance, the number of gadgets here changes if you add more disk drives, a hard disk etc. to your system. If you click on one of these gadgets, the file requester will switch to the new drive, and the file box will show the contents of the root directory of the selected disk. The next gadget is labeled »Drawer«. It is a string gadget and it shows the name of the currently displayed drawer. You can also use this gadget to change to a new drawer of your choice. To do this, you click on the gadget to activate it. Now, a cursor appears. You can delete the listing name by typing <RAMIGA>+<X> or by using the <DEL> and <BACKSPACE> keys. Then, type the the full name of the new drawer Always use a drive name (like »DF0:«) at the beginning of the name. Finally. confirm your entry by pressing <RETURN>. The gadget beneath this one is labeled »File«. This is also a string gadget. It shows the name of the file if you selected one in the file select box. Alternatively, you can enter a name here yourself as described above. As soon as you press <RETURN>, this file will be used. At the bottom, selecting the gadget »Abort« causes the operation to be cancelled. The file requester will disappear and nothing will happen. Click on the other gadget, »OK« to finish your selection. The file name, as displayed in the »File« gadget will be used for the load or save. If the »File« gadget is empty because you didnt either select a file in the file box, or enter a file name yourself, the file requester. will disappear and nothing will happen. 2.6.2. Log File / Disable Logging --------------------------------- Depending on whether you are already using a log file, this gadget has text >>Log File ...<< or »Disable Logging«. See Section 2.2.4 if you're not yet familiar with the concept of a Log File and its purpose. Enable Logging To select an existing log file and to enable logging, you should click the gadget »Log File .. «. In reaction, the File Requester appears. Select the log file file that corresponds to the video tape you want to use here. Its contents will be listed in the Log File window at the right of the screen. At the top, the name of this log file is displayed. If the file doesn't fit in this window entirely, use the Scroll Bars at the right and at the bottom to see more of it. NOTE: An alternative way to start the Video Backup System is to double click a log file icon. Then, this log file is immediately available after start up which means you don't have to go through this prodedure anymore. Disable Logging When you don't need to keep track of your backups anymore or if you want to switch to another log file because you changed the video tape, click on this gadget. If there are any unsaved changes in the log file, you are asked whether you want to save the changes first. When you click on »Yes«, the changes are stored. After this, the log window becomes black again. 2.6.3. Del Log Entry -------------------- This function enables you to erase a line from the current log file. This is useful when you record something over a previous recording. In this case, you get a new entry in the log file which conflicts with that of the previous recording. VBS doesn't automatically remove this obsolete entry, so you should use the >>Del Log Entry« function. You can also choose to edit the log file with your favourite ASCII editor instead of using this function. 2.6.4. Update Log File ---------------------- Use this gadget to write the log file from the Amiga's memory back to the disk file it came from. As a result of making some backups, entries may have been added to the table. This function secures those changes. 2.6.5. Create New Log --------------------- When you start using a new video tape for video backup purposes, you can use this function to create a log file for it. This feature is accessed by clicking on »Create New Log«. However, it doesn't work when a log file is already active. If so, please Disable it first, then click this gadget again. Immediately, the File Requester comes up. Go to the drawer where you keep your log files and specify a new file name. Choose a name which is easily connected with the new tape. VBS will now create an empty file. If you started from Workbench, an associated icon will be created as well. From now on, your backup operations will be recorded to this log file. 2.7. Quit VBS ------------- This is used to finish your session. If there are any unsaved changes to the log file, you are asked whether you want to save it first. When you choose »Yes«. the file is stored. Then, the program quits and you will return to Workbench (or CLI). 3. FILESYSTEM BACKUPS ===================== A filesystem backup is used to store files and directories on video tape. In practice, you will use the Filesystem Functions to secure your hard disk's contents. If you ever had the unfortunate experience of losing data, you know the value of doing this. The VBS allows you to select the files and directories to be included in the backup. The directory tree provides a visual way to view and select the directories and files you want to backup. With the mouse, you need only point and click on the files or directories you want. Furthermore, this directory tree structure is preserved on the video backup. 3.1. File & Directory Selection ------------------------------- The VBS filesystem functions all use a windowed, mouse driven environment to make choosing files and directories to back up, restore or verify easy. This section explains how to use the File & Directory Selection Screen. Figure 3.1 shows its layout. From top to bottom, the Selection Screen contains the following parts: Menu Bar: This is the top line of the screen where all menu selections are made. Also: drag bar to slide screen up and down. Backup Status Box: This box displays the currently selected drive and path to be backed up. If you want to change this, select »Cancel» from the menu and adjust the Path Dialog Box. Furthermore, it shows you just how many subdirectories you have selected to back up, how many total files across all subdirectories and how many bytes the files occupy. Directory Tree Window: This is the window on the left side of your screen. It lets you see and select the subdirectories you wish to back up. You can use the mouse to position the highlight bar in the window. The highlighted directory is indicated by a light blue bar. Using the scroll bars at the right and at the bottom, you can reveal more of the tree in case it doesn't fit entirely in the window. File List Window: This is the window on the right side of the screen. It lists all files in the highlighted directory. These files are shown in columns here by default; the software determines how many columns will fit given the file name lengths. You can toggle files on and off by clicking over them with the Left Mouse Button. Yellow indicates that a file will be included, black indicates exclusion. When the file list is bigger than the window permits, you can use the scroll bars to see more. 3.1.1. Selecting Files ---------------------- Selected files and directories are highlighted in yellow, unselected items are black. As you can see, all files and directories, except for unreadable files (which don't have their r protection bit set), are automatically selected initially. There will probably be occasions when you want to back up only certain directories and/or files instead of the entire tree. Mouse clicks and menu commands give you flexible options to specify these directories and/or files. By clicking on different directory entry with the Left Mouse Button, you can make the blue highlight bar jump to that directory. The File List Window will reflect the contents of this directory immediately. Clicking again on the highlighted directory toggles its selection state. This means that its colour changes from yellow to black or vice-versa. When you select or deselect a subdirectory this way, the whole tree of subdirectories and files beneath it also gets selected or deselected. This implies that all of the directories and files can be unselected by moving the mouse to the root directory and clicking on it once or twice, depending on whether the highlight bar was already at the root directory If you then want to select your »IFF_Images<< directory and all of its files, click twice on the >>IFF Images<< entry in the tree list window. If you only want to select certain files of your »IFF_Images<< directory, click once on it to make it the highlighted directory. Then go to the File List window, and click once on each file you want to include. Note that when you select a file of a previously unselected directory, it automatically gets selected as well. Clicking again on a selected file brings it to the unselected state again. NOTE: VBS will let you select and back up empty directories. 3.1.2. Menu Options ------------------- Press the Right Mouse Button to reveal the menus available on the File Selection Screen. Action Menu The Action Menu consists of two items. The text content of the first item depends on whether you selected the Filesystem Backup, Restore or Verify option. In all cases you select this item when you are ready selecting files and directories and want to continue the operation. This feature is also accessible via short-cut Right Amiga S. The second item is used to cancel the operation. It brings you back to the VBS Main Menu. For a quick Cancel, press Right Amiga-C. Include/Exclude Menu This menu provides powerful options to include and exclude groups of files to backup. It consists of these 6 items: Include Files: On selecting this, all files in the highlighted directory are included. Exclude Files: On selecting this, all files in the highlighted directory are excluded Toggle Files: This item toggles the selection state of all files in the directory. Exclude all Archived: This item influences the whole directory tree. It excludes all files which have their Archive Bit set. The Archive bit is used to Identify files that are unchanged since the last backup operation. When you create or modify a file, its Archive bit is cleared. Include all Archived: This is the opposite of the item above: all files which have their archive bit set get included. Long File List: Use this item to toggle between long and short file list. When disabled, you get a short file list only file names. arranged in as many coluwns as will fit in the File Window. When this item is enabled, you see a check mark next to it. VBS will then show more information on the files. They are listed in a similar way as the »List« comwand of AmigaDOS would do: Name, Filesize, Protection Bits, Modification Date and Modifcation Time. For instance, this allows you to see whether a file's Archive Bit is set or not, The drawback is that less files will be visible simultaneously, since each one occupies a whole line. 3.2. Filesystem Backup ---------------------- This feature lets you make a backup of a filesystem directory structure and its contents. 3.2.1. Choosing the Files ------------------------- On selecting this gadget, the following dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 3.2. This is where you enter the drive and directory path you want to backup. If you wish to back up an entire hard disk you would normally enter »DH0«« here, and press <Return> or click »OK«. You might not want to backup everything however. For example, if you just want to backup IFF images you just created type the path name for your IFF directory (e.g. »DH0:IFF Images«). This will select all files in this directory and its subdirectories. The File Selection Screen will only show the contents of the subtree »DH0.IFF_Images«. After completing the Path Dialog Box, you get to the File and Directory Selection Screen. If you discover you made a mistake when typing the path, just select »Cancel« from the menu to get back to the Main Menu. Otherwise, select the files to back up. After doing this, select »Start Backup ...<<. 3.2.2. Backup Requester ----------------------- Now, you will find yourself at the Backup Requester, see Figure 3.3. Assigning a Name to this Backup Type the name which you want to give to this backup as a whole in the string gadget at the top. This is the name that appears in the Log File. When you restore this backup later, you refer to it with this name. Entering start time When a video tape log file is active (See 2.2.4), you must enter the starting tape location in the time gadget after >>Tape Start Position«. If it isn`t, this gadget will not be shown. This time value will be used to create a log file entry for this filesystem backup. A good idea is to enter a time which is a few seconds ahead of the current counter reading. This allows some time for the VCR to get going after pressing RECORD, and it allows a good synchronization as well. NOTE: Especially with large hard disk backups, make sure that there is enough room left on the tape, to avoid disappointment. Expect a typical rate of about 40MB per hour. Archive Bits This is a toggle gadget, which in disabled state by default. Click on it with the Left Mouse Button to change its state. When this gadget is enabled, it causes VBS to set the Archive bit on each backed up file. The Archive bit is used to identify files that are unchanged since the last backup operation. When you create or modify a file, its Archive bit is cleared. Reporting At your option, VBS can generate a report after the backup is finished. By the name after >>Send Report To ...« is None, indicating no report will be made. If you want a report, click on »Send Report To«. Immediately, the File Requester shows up. Use it to specify which file the report is to be written to. It automatically proposes backup name (if already specified followed by the extension ».Report«. The following example report shows what is included in the report: Click »Cancel« to get back to the File Selection again. Click >>OK<< if you decide to make the backup. 3.2.3. Filesystem Backup Operation ---------------------------------- Making the backup involves the following steps: First, the video connection is checked (see 2.2.2). If this is OK, the screen gets black. Make sure the right video tape is loaded and it is at the desired position. Press RECORD on the VCR. Press the Left Mouse Button to start. In case you use a log file, click at the moment the video counter exactly matches the value you typed in. Then you realize the best synchronization. Now, the backup starts. For 5 seconds, you will see the Visual Header. This header shows the name you gave to the backup, the path from which the backup is made and the current date. The duration of the actual backup depends on the amount of data to be stored, but expect it to take about 1 hour / 40MB with the current version. A good suggestion would be to make the backup at night, or when you'll be out for a while. You can abort the backup operation by pressing the left mouse button. As a safety feature, the button is only sampled once every few seconds, so you might need to hold the button down for several seconds before VBS actually aborts the operation. When the backup finishes, you get back to the Main Menu. Press STOP on the VCR at this time. 3.3. Filesystem Restore ----------------------- This feature enables you to retrieve part or whole of a file system backup. On restore, the original tree structure is reconstructed. You can use this to restore files lost after a disk crash, restore files to a previous state, transfer files to a different machine, etc. 3.3.1. Name of Backup to Restore -------------------------------- On selecting the »Filesystem Restore« gadget, the Name Requester pops up. Now, you are requested to enter the name of the filesystem backup you would like to restore. It is sufficient that the string you type here matches the first few characters the real name. This means that entering nothing is always OK: it matchcs the first filesystem backup found. Click »OK« to continue, »Cancel« gets you back to the Main Menu. 3.3.2. Restore Operation ------------------------ After completing the Name Requester, the screen gets cleared and the text »Searching for FileSystem: <NAME>« appears. Remember, you can abort at any time by pressing Left Mouse Button. Follow this procedure: Wind the tape to the location of the filesystem backup to be restored. Use the Go-To function to get there of your VCR if it has one. Press PLAY on the VCR. If VBS encounters a backup which doesn`t have a matching name or is of different type (e.g. ADF, the message »Encountered ...<< is printed. When the desired backup is found, a message saying so is printed. VBS then reads information that describes the tree structure, This lasts a few seconds. After this, you get to the File Selection Screen. Within 5 seconds, you must press PAUSE (or STOP) on your VCR. If you want to do a full restore, simply select »Start Restore To ...« from the menu. Otherwise, select those files you wish to restore first (See Section 3.1). At this stage, a requester pops up. Type the drive and directory to restore to. When you`re doing a full restore of your hard disk, this could be »DH0:« or »work:«. In any case, this entry must refer to an existing directory, so if you need to restore to a path which doesn`t exist yet, first use the AmigaDOS command »MakeDir« to create it. After finishing the requester, press PLAY again on the VCR to continue the operation. At this time, the actual files are transferred from video tape. If errors occur during the operation, they will be listed to the screen, VBS is able to continue to restore after an error occurred. As with making a backup, you can abort the operation a by holding the left mouse button for a while. NOTE: Existing files will NEVER be overwritten, VBS will create the directories necessary to reconstruct the backup`s tree structure. When the restore operation finishes, press STOP on the VCR. Use the Left Mouse Button to get back to the Main Menu. 3.4. Filesystem Verify ---------------------- This command is used to compare a backup to the original data (on disk). It will not affect your disk: it will check whether the backup is OK. As VBS uses an effective error correction scheme, it is very unlikely that the backup is bad. However, if you want to be absolutely sure that your backup is good, you should use the Verify function. The user interface of this function is equal to that of the Filesystem Restore feature (Section 3.3), so its operation is not repeated here. The only difference is that data isn`t written to disk, but instead, disk data and video data are compared. Each file that is affected by a verify error will be reported on screen. 4. SOME HINTS ============= The previous chapters were concerned with a full description of all features that the Video Backup System offers. This chapter gives some important hints which enable you to get the most out of VBS 4.1. Configuration Parameters ----------------------------- When you start the Video Backup System software from Workbench, it takes advantage of the Workbench mechanism for setting program options. This feature is called Tool Types. You can see the Tool Types of VBS by clicking once on its icon and then selecting »Information« from the Workbench menu. The Tool Types gadget is a string gadget on the Info window. It contains entries to allow you to set some configuration values, which have influence on the program`s behaviour. There are two arrows associated with this gadget which allow you to scroll up and down to scroll through the available entries. The following settings are recognized by VBS: LOGDIR=VBS:LogFiles Here you can specify which directory the log files are to be kept. Of course. you can use any directory for saving log files if you like. But this will be initial proposal in the File Requester, which can save a lot of mouse clicks! WORKBENCH=ON/OFF For this entry, you can specify either »ON« or »OFF«. When it is »ON«, VBS leaves the Workbench open. In case it is »OFF«, the Workbench is closed on start-up of the program, This feature is used to save memory. On 512K wachines, it it recommended that you set this entry to »OFF«, since this gives VBS some extra memory space. LARGEFONT=melba.font-61 This specifies the name and size of the font to use for the large characters in a Visual Header (See Section 2.2.5). Of course, this font must be available in the FONTS: directory of your system. SMALLFONT=melba.font-29 Similarly, you can indicate here which font and size to use for the small text in a Visual Header. PADFONT=topaz.font-8 This indicates which font to use inside Pads. The term »Pad« refers to windows having scroll bars at the bottom and at the right, used to show Log Files, Directory Trees and File Lists. DISKCHANGE=ON/OFF Normally VBS checks whether you changed the disks properly when you use »Multiple« on floppy backups and restores, This serves to avoid making a backup of the same disk twice, or restoring twice onto the same disk. In the rare case you have non-standard disk drives which have trouble with the disk change signal, you can turn off this feature by specifying >>OFF<< here. VIDEOCHECK=ON/OFF This feature controls whether Video Connection Checks are to be performed prior to each backup operation, See 2.2.2. These checks are based on the fact that most VCRs route the incoming video signal at the video into the video-out directly when they are tuned to the AUX or 0 channel. When your VCR doesn`t do this, set this tool type to »OFF« to disable the checks. 4.2. Using the Right Tapes -------------------------- To achieve maxiwum security, it is recommended that you use High Grade tapes for Video Backup purposes. To avoid losing data, don`t store the tapes near a magnetic field. 4.3. Additional hints --------------------- When experiencing problems, vary Picture Sharpness or similar controls, if your VCR has them. Usually, a sharper picture signal improves the backup reliability. During a backup operation. it is important to turn off screen blankers or other utilities that might affect the screen while it is being recorded. For AGA chipset equipped Amigas it has to be made sure that the Video Backup System can work in a 15KHz line frequency display mode. This can be achieved by not using Mode Promotion and VGAOnly, or similar setting.