5 Error recovery and the options menu

Contents of this section

Here is a list of errors that are detected by the floppy write method.

If an error occurs when writing a backup, tbackup prints an error message and then displays the options menu, so that you can choose what to do next. With some floppy-related errors, it can take a long time for the error to be `noticed'. This is caused by the Linux floppy driver, it may spend large amounts of time retrying an operation if it fails.

Here is what happens if you forget to insert a floppy disk:

--Insert an empty, formatted disk for part 1
  in drive 1 and press enter. (Type o for options.) 
                                                     ^(pressed enter)
Writing part 1 to drive 1 (i interrupts) .......

**ERROR**: no disk inserted, disk is not formatted, or disk is not
           formatted with the right density.
Now comes the options menu:
 Enter one of the following commands:
                           (You may want to insert a new disk first.)
 r  : retry writing part 1 to drive 1
 f  : do a low-level format on the disk in drive 1
 fn : do a low-level format without verify on the disk in drive 1
 c  : change format/verify options
 q! : quit trying to write this part, continue with the next part
-->
The options should be pretty much self-explanatory.

There is no option for aborting the entire backup. You can do this by pressing ctrl-C if you want to. After pressing ctrl-C you may have to kill some processes and clean up some temporary files left by tbackup.

You can also get to the options menu by typing o and enter if you are asked to insert a new disk. Suppose that you run out of preformatted disks when doing a backup. You can then type o:

--Insert an empty, formatted disk for part 5
  in drive 1 and press enter. (Type o for options.) o
                                                    ^

and use the c command of the options menu to change the settings for formatting and verifying disks:

Enter one of the following commands:
                          (You may want to insert a new disk first.)
r  : retry writing part 5 to drive 1
f  : do a low-level format on the disk in drive 1
fn : do a low-level format without verify on the disk in drive 1
p  : write the previous part (number 4) again
c  : change format/verify options
q! : quit trying to write this part, continue with the next part
-->c
   ^
Always format inserted disks?---> (y/n) [n] y
                                            ^
Verify format?---> (y/n) [y] y
                             ^
Check if disk is already formatted (with the right density)
before formatting?---> (y/n) [n] n
                                 ^
Verify after write to disk?---> (y/n) [n] n
                                          ^

After having changed the format/verify options you get back to the options menu again. Note the change in the r command and the disappearance of the f and fn commands.

  Enter one of the following commands:
                            (You may want to insert a new disk first.)
 r  : retry format and writing part 5 to drive 1
 p  : write the previous part (number 4) again
 c  : change format/verify options
 q! : quit trying to write this part, continue with the next part

 -->r
    ^ 

You can now use the r command to format a floppy and write part 5. Note that this r is not really a retry, as tbackup has not yet tried to write part 5.

If all goes well when writing part 5, you will be asked to insert the next disk for part 6. If there is another error, you will get back to the options menu.

5.1 The p command

Suppose the floppy with part 5 on it self-destructs the moment you eject if from the drive. If this happens, you can use the p command in the options menu to make a new part 5:

--Insert an empty, formatted disk for part 6
  in drive 1 and press enter. (Type o for options.) o
                                                    ^
  Enter one of the following commands:
                            (You may want to insert a new disk first.)
 r  : retry format and writing part 6 to drive 1
 p  : write the previous part (number 5) again
 c  : change format/verify options
 q! : quit trying to write this part, continue with the next part
 -->p
    ^ 

I doubt you will need the p command very often. Apart from self destructing floppies, you can use it if you have second thoughts about the quality of the floppy a part was just written to. Tbackup has no perfect way of detecting bad floppies, and sometimes you may know something that tbackup doesn't.

The p command is only enabled just after part 5 is written, once you start writing part 6 there is no way to go back to part 5.

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