OS/2 Shareware BBS: 36 Tips/36-Tips.zip/bmfaq.txt

Text File | 1996-12-13 | 18KB | 368 lines

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              BackMaster Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
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The following is a attempt to answer many frequent questions we recieve
about BackMaster, hopefully you will find the answer to your questions
here. This document is updated as new info becomes available.

To obtain a updated copy of this document via e-mail, simply send e-mail
e-mail to:

[e-mail].

Within 10 - 20 minutes our FAQ outo mailer will return a new copy to you.
This is NOT a subscription service.

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           About BackMaster 2.0 - MSR Development Corporation
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BackMaster 2.0 is the first true 32-bit OS/2 backup software program to
offer both floppy-interface, parallel-interface, and SCSI support in a
single package. Version 2.0 offers support for higher capacity tape drives
including Travan, QICWide, QIC 40/80/3010/3020, DAT and extended length
cartridges with storage capacities up to 8 GB. BackMaster allows you to
perform backup and restore functions without interrupting other tasks.
Included with the product is a utility program that enables PC users to
create a floppy disk-based disaster recovery "boot floppys" for recover-
ing a complete system from tape.

BackMaster 2.0 is available for $89.95 (MSRP).
Upgrades are available for $44.95 (MSRP). (Registration Required)

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                           Frequently Asked Questions
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Q: Where can I get BackMaster ?
A: Below is a list of BackMaster resellers

MSR Development Corporation
4407 Manchester Avenue suite 104
Encinitas, CA  92024
    - Voice [phone]
    - BBS: [phone]
    - Fax [phone]
    - WWW: http://www.msrdev.com
    - FTP: ftp.msrdev.com
    - Compuserve: GO MSRDEV

Resellers:
    - CompUSA               1-800-266-7872
    - IBM Direct              1-800-342-6672
    - Indelible Blue          1-800-776-8284 or 1-919-878-7479
    - MicroCenter             1-800-211-6949
    - OS/2 Express           1-800-672-5954 or 1-612-823-6267
    - OS+ Resource          1-310-804-6153 or 1-310-804-6154
    - Post Software Int.    1-919-556-6721
    - Software City          1-708-949-9210
    - Software Spectrum   1-214-864-7885

Q: What device's does BackMaster currently support ?
A: BackMaster 2.0 supported Internal and Parallel Drives:

    - Archive XL Series
    - BackMaster Internal  QIC-80, 420, 800T, 850
    - BackMaster Parallel QIC-80, 420 and 850
    - Colorado Jumbo 120, 250, 350, 700, 1400, T1000
    - ColoradoTrakker 120, 250, 350, 700
    - ComByte DoublePlay
    - Conner Tapestor 250, 420, 800, 850, 1700, 3200
    - Conner Tapestor (MQP) 250, 420, 800, 850, 1700, 3200
    - Iomega Tape 250, Parallel Port Tape II, Ditto EZ 800 Parallel
    - Iomega Ditto Internal and Parallel 250, 420, 800, 850, 1700, 3200
    - Mountain Filesafe 4000, 8000
    - Microsolutions backpack 250, 800, 800TD, 900
    - Summit SE 120, 250

  BackMaster 2.0 Supported SCSI tape drives:

    - Archive Python 2838,2550
    - HP Powertape & SureStore 2000, 5000, 6000
    - WangDAT 1300, 2600, 3100, 3200, 3300DX, 3400DX
    - Tandberg TDC 3600, 3800, 4100, 4200

  SCSI DAT tape drives supported:

    - HP PowerDat PD60, PD90

  Supported adapters and high speed tape adapters:
    - Generic 2.88 Megabyte Floppy Controllers
    - Colorado FC-10, FC-20, TC-15
    - Conner CTC
    - IOmega Ditto Dash
    - IOmega Tape Accelerator 2
    - AB-10, AB-11

Q: How can I optimize BackMaster for the best backup performance ?
A:There are several things that you can look at to optimize your software
   and your OS/2 system to get better more reliable backup performance.

    - If you are using a standard ISA, EISA, VESA, or PCI system, the driver
      IBM2FLPY.ADD is unnecessary on your system and should be remarked
      out or deleted from the config.sys entirely.  This driver should only be
      needed for Microchannel machines.

    - If you have installed WARP from CD, then the device driver
      XDFLOPPY.FLT may be remarked out of the config.sys.  This driver adds
      support for the 1.88 megabyte diskettes that IBM uses for the installation
      diskettes.  The first two diskettes (the only two used for CD installation)
      are standard 1.44 megabyte files.  Therefore, if you have installed from
      CD, the XDFLOPPY.FLT driver will not be of any benefit to you and may
      be remarked out or deleted.

    - OS/2 WARP has increased the standard sizes of the HPFS cache.  On an
      8 - 12 megabyte system, you may see some problems trying to use a 1024K
      cache with your HPFS.  The HPFS cache was set to 64K standard in OS/2
      version 2.1 and 2.11, and reducing the size, or even eliminating, the HPFS
      cache under WARP may free up the necessary memory. Optionally if you
      16 megabytes of memory or more use a 1024K to 2048K cache.

    - OS/2 WARP has also increased the DISKCACHE statement from 512K to
      1024K in some cases.  You may want to consider lowering this cache to the
       standard 256K that was used in OS/2 2.1 and 2.11 or even lowering this to
       64K if you have only 8 - 12 megabyte's.  Optionally if you 16 megabytes of
       memory or more use a 512K to 1024K cache.

    - In some cases, increasing the default size of your SWAP file can improve
       system performance.  By preallocating disk space for the swap file, you
       can improve virtual memory performance by assuring the virtual memory
       is available immediately when needed thus reducing the number of times
       the SWAP file must be extended and therefore reducing SWAP file fragm-
       entation. To change your default SWAP size, you will want to modify the
       SWAPPATH statement in your config.sys.  The SWAPPATH statement has
       two numbers directly after the statement.  These numbers are, respectively,
       the amount of room to leave free on the drive,  and the second number is
       the default swapper file size. Increasing the default size of the SWAP file to
       about 12-16 megabytes will make sure that the SWAP file is less fragmented.
       This will also insure that the system will have the resources it needs upon
       bootup and will not need to expand the SWAP file as often.



Q: What is the highest version of BackMaster ?
A: Currently BackMaster is at version 2.0 (build level 2.02)
     (Version 2.01 is a free update to 2.0 that equals 2.02)

Q: Does BackMaster Support the Verbatim EXtra Cartridges
A: The Verbatim cartridges were not available when version 2.0 was rel-
    eased. We are working on enhancements to BackMaster and hope to
    offer an updated by the end of the year that will allow support..

Q: Does BackMaster Support my new drive ?
A: New hardware in terms of tape drives. computer CPU's and peripherals
    are always a challenge for backup software providers. We are contin-
    ualy investigating ways to improve BackMaster and increase compat-
    ibility with hardware that was not available when version 2.0 was
    released. At the bottom of this document is a listing of known and
    tested drives that BackMaster 2.0 currently supports.

Popular devices that we are working to add support for:

    - Iomega 2.gig tape device
    - Verbatim EXtra tape carteraiges
    - Conner 4000, 8000 ide and scsi tape devices
    - Colorado T100e tape device
    - Exabyte Eagle tape devices

    - We do not preannounce products before they are ready to ship.  We are
      working on enhancements to BackMaster and do plan an update by the
      end of the year .

Q: Does BackMaster work on IBM OS/2 Warp 4.0 ?
A: Yes, BackMaster has been tested on Warp 4.0 durring it's complete beta
    cycle and also on the general release.

    BackMaster has proven to be very stable and reliable under Warp 4.0.
    Some of the changes in Warp 4.0 may prompt you to make some addit-
    ional changes to your system settings and BackMaster to solve some
    problem issues:

1. Sharing Violations: Due to some new files in OS/2 Warp 4.0 that are in use
   or locked, BackMaster might error with a "Sharing Violation". To correct
   this you can use BackMasters Forced Read List option. The Forced Read
   List enables BackMaster to read files that are locked.  You may select,
   via complete filenames or wildcards, files which are to be read even if
   locked.  The filenames or wildcards may be added or deleted from the list
   with this control.  On the backup page in BackMasters configuration enter
   " *.* " by it's self into the entry field, then select the "Add" button to add
   this to the drop down list of file extentions and wild cards for files to be
   forced read.

2. Create Recovery Diskettes Utility: Warp 4.0 now requires 3 boot diskettes,
   this in effect makes the current Create Recovery Diskettes Utility program
   in the BackMaster folder to fail durring creating the diskettes. As a temp-
   orary way to provide you this support we have made a custom set of
   BackMaster Disastery Recovery Diskettes. These diskettes are currently
   available from MSR Development.

   World Wide Web : http://www.msrdev.com
   Internet FTP : ftp.msrdev.com/pub/backmaster/bmrest40.exe
   CompuServe : Go MSRDEV - filename: bmrest40.exe
   Bulletin Board: [phone] - filename: bmrest40.exe

Q: How do I configure High Speed Adapters card under BackMaster and OS/2 ?
A: High speed adapters are peripheral cards added to the machine to
   increase backup speed. Transfer speeds can be doubled or tripled depending
   on the type of tape drive being used. The standard floppy controller (1.44)
   runs at 500 Kilobits per second. High speed adapters, such as the Colorado
   FC-10 or the Iomega Accelorator can run a tape drive at 1 Megabits per
   second. This usually equates to backing up 6-8 Megabytes per minute. The
   FC-20 and the Iomega Ditto Card can push transfer speeds to 2 Megabits per
   second for 3020 drives. Some standard floppy controllers can support 2.88
   floppy drives at 1Megabit per sec. The tape drive can be attached to this
   type of card also.

Highspeedcard  TransferSpeeds
   TC-15          500K,1M
   FC-10          500K,1M
   FC-20          500K,1M,2M
   Iomega Accel   500K,1M
   Iomega Ditto   500K,1M,2M
   Conner CTC     500K,1M,2M

TransferSpeeds DataThroughput
   500K           2-3 Megabytes/min
   1M             6-8
   2M             10-13

Standard 1.44 Floppy Controller 500Kb/sec, Make sure 'High Speed
   Adapter' box is UNCHECKED and the Tranfer speed is set to 500Kb.
   This forces backmaster to use the standard settings of dma 2,
   irq 6, addr 3F0, when looking for the tape drive.

Standard 2.88 Floppy Controller 1Mb/sec, Make sure 'High Speed
   Adapter' box is UNCHECKED and the Tranfer speed is set to 1Mb.
   This forces backmaster to use the standard settings of dma 2,
   irq 6, addr 3F0, when looking for the tape drive.

High Speed Adapters. 1Mb/2Mb, High speed adapters must use settings
   other that the standard floppy settings of 2 6 3F0. Using the same
   address will cause the desktop to lock up and the user will be
   forced to reboot. This is true for any address that is committed to
   another device such as the network card. Sharing the dma channel
   can appear to work for a short time but can lead to excessive
   shoeshining. The only settings that can be shared would be the
   interrupt, but even this is not recommened for clean performance of
   the tape drive.

   It is highly recommended that the user become familiar with all the
   settings the computer is using. Inexperienced users will claim that the
   software does not work properly and return the product promptly. Users
   familiar with OS/2 and PC Hardware keep notes on each card and device
   driver installed on their system. Some utilities can help provide some of
   this information. Use RMVIEW to check the system settings.

RMVIEW /? displays optional switches for the rmview.exe utility
RMVIEW /IRQ displays some interupts in use on the system.
RMVIEW /IO displays some IO addressed in use on the system.
RMVIEW /DMA displays some dma channels in use on the system.
RMVIEW /HW displays general hardware in use on the system.

NOTE: NOT ALL SETTINGS ARE DISPLAYED BY RMVIEW. YOU WILL NOT FIND
BACKMASTER SETTINGS BY USING THE RMVIEW COMMAND.

Q: BackMaster 2.0 to 2.01 update and what it fixes.
A: We strongly urge all user's to update thier current version of BackMaster
    to version 2.01. This is a freely available update.

    - Fixes shoeshining on many systems
    - Contains 1.231 drivers to fix all sorts of problems with parallel tape
      drives, and with IOmega Ditto 800, 3200, Conner 800, 1700, 3200 drives.
    - Contains new DLL files to fix error #117 when the customer is running
       a system connected to a network.
    - Contains WangDAT drivers for supporting WangDAT tape drives.
    - Contains new updated online information and help files.

Q: Wheres the drive settings for the  Microsolution 800 TD ?
A: Select the Iomega Ditto 800 parallel device from the configurations
    notebook under BackMaster "Options".  Make sure the drive is selected at
    1Mb/sec transfer rate.  It will not operate at 500Kb/sec. This also occurs
    with the Microsolution 800 TD which is manufactured at the same location
    as the Iomega 800 Easy

Q: When I booted from floppy's, and ran BMREST.EXE I got a error message
    that said "Cannot load physical format DLL.". How do I fix this ?
A: Copy \backmast\*.dll to the third boot recovery diskette.

Q: Can I use my Promise controller as a floppy tape adapter ?
A: Promise Caching Controllers can cause problems with shoeshining and other
    issues.  They can cause bad offsets and other problems.  To fix these
    problems, insure you are using the Promise drivers for OS/2. The /f switch
    must be on the driver statement. The Promise controller must run in fast
    mode ( /f parameter ) in order to work with floppy tape drives.
    Refere to Promise doc's for more info.

Q: BackMaster works but how can I stop the SHOESHINING !!! or General
    Trouble-Shooting Hints.

A: Timing or software problems are caused by a software or hardware
    component of your system interfering with the flow of data between the
    backup program and the floppy controller.

  Some of the symptoms are:

    - Tape drive seems to start normally but fails to read data from any tape.
    - Tape drive is very slow (normal data rate is 4MB per minute) and may
       exhibit continual back and forth tape motion.
    - Your system or the program may halt or "lock up" during a tape operation.

     SOFTWARE.  If you are not able to resolve an error after following the
     suggestions given in BackMaster's Manual, BackMaster Online Information
     Presentation Facility (book icon in the BackMaster folder) it is recom-
     mended to do the following:

    - Move drivers to bottom of config.sys
    - Shut down all other background applications.
    - Change the Cache option on the Motherboard to Write-Through
    - Make sure you have the current drivers from our BBS.
    - Try changing the memory aperture on your video card.
    - If you are using a High Speed Adapter, make sure it is not sharing
      the dma channel with another device. This can appear to work but
      can cause problems later on.
    - Try changing the DISKCACHE line in your config.sys
    - Clean you tape drive and retention it.
    - Add the /S option to your driver in the config.sys
    - Enable TIME CRITICAL in the configuration notebook.
    - Try another tape.  Make sure your tapes are on the Approved Tapes
       List in the BackMaster manual and or Manufacture's manual.
    - Check the hard drive for lost clusters, bad sectors, and fragmentation.
       If errors occur, correct by running a OS/2 disk utility or use `CHKDSK /F'
       See your OS/2 manual for more information.

     HARDWARE.  If the drive does not respond when you try to access it with
     the software, do the following:

    - Remove the tape from the drive and examine it.  If the tape is damaged
      or unspooled, try another tape.
    - Close down all programs, exit OS/2 and turn the power off on the
      computer.  If your tape drive plugs directly into the wall outlet, discon-
      nect it from the wall outlet, wait a few seconds and then re-connect it.
      Turn the power back on, reboot, and try again.
    - Place a tape in the drive and look to see if the LED is functioning normally.
      The tape drive LED should not be on after the tape stops spinning.


Q: Some times I get Error 59 - Tape is not formatted, and Im using a new pre-
   formatted tape or tape known to be good tape ?
A:
    - Possible causes:
      1) Unformatted tape.
      2) Dirty Read/Write head.
      3) Insufficient memory or a software conflict with tape software.
      4) Hardware conflict with DMA, IRQ, or Base Address.
      5) Loose tape media or carteraige not seated in drive firmly.
      5) Motor Jam or Read/Write head failure.
      6) FDC (floppy disk controller) or System Timing.

    - Possible solutions:
      1) Make sure all your settings are correct in BackMaster, enable
          Time critical settings in BackMasters configuration.
      2) Clean the tape device (every 8-10 hours of usage)
      3) Add the /M switch to the device driver BackMaster use's
      4) Retention the tape, add /J2 to force a full rewind
      5) Reconfigure your system to not have any conflicts with DMA, IRQ 's
      6) Try anouther CMOS parallel port mode (Pentiums)
      7) Format or re-format the tape in the tape device it will be used in.
      8) If the tape has never been formatted, or if the tape is pre-formatted
          for a different type of drive, it will need to be formatted before use.