Failure to create backups in TI10 Home

I haven't been able to successfully create an image using the bootable rescue disk. I'm able to create an image while in Windows, but that image can't be read by the rescue disk. Here's what I did:

I imaged my C: drive to a Secure Zone on a firewire external hard drive, verified the backup, then ran restore from the bootable rescue disk. After a few minutes, True Image reported read errors on the external drive. Hoping to correct these errors, I deleted the Secure Zone, ran Scandisk, and defragmented the drive, then re-created the Secure Zone and imaged my C: drive again. This time, I ran True Image from the bootable CD.

Again, True Image reported errors on the external drive, and refused to continue. I clicked on the button to ignore all errors. After about four hours, True Image reported that the image was successfully created. However, when I tried to restore some files from the image, I discovered that no backup had been created!

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Michael

 

Are you using the lastest build of TI 10 (4,942)?

It sounds like the Linux drivers are having a problem with your Firewire drive.

Also, you should not place the SZ on an external drive. It causes all sorts of problems. If you must use the SZ, then it should be created on an internal drive.

Have you tried the quiet acpi=off noapic option detailed in Section II of the PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU POST thread?

Can you successfully save a IMAGE backup to the Firewire drive and then validate it when booted to the CD?

 

As MudCrab said, eliminate the SecureZone.

What happens when you boot from the Recovery CD and attempt to create an image to the external drive? What messages do you get?

This sounds like a problem of the Linux environment of the Recovery CD which is the same as when you restore the boot partition in Windows and the system reboots to the Linux environment not having the right drivers for your Firewire chipset.

Have you tried the Safe mode of the Recovery CD? Can you see the Firewire drive in SAFE mode?

Have you tried using a USB drive?

 

Yes.

I read that in the User's Guide, but the program gave me the option of putting the SZ on the external drive, which I've reserved exclusively for backup. I removed the SZ and tried backing up to a file. It made no difference, as the same errors occurred.

I tried that, and finally succeeded in making an image. I started to verify it, but TI estimated it would take 6 days to complete, so I decided to check in here first. I am able to explore it for files, though. I'll report back later.

(By the way, why are the time estimates so wildly inaccurate in TI? And why, when TI goes into stage 2 to verify a backup, does the "Total Progress" bar jump back to zero?)

An image created in Windows always appears to contain errors and can't be read when booting from the CD. However, I haven't yet tested a Widows-created image using the "quiet acpi" parameter above. What's more, an image created from the CD is about 6 GB larger than an image of the same drive created from Windows. Why would that be?

The "PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU POST" message indicates there's a way to automate the "quiet acpi" parameter. Are there any instructions available online for this?

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Michael

 

TI reports write errors, saying there are defective sectors in the hard drive. However, I've thoroughly scanned the hard drive with Scandisk and PC Tools, so I doubt that it has bad sectors.

No, and no. I figured I'd need the Firewire drivers for the external drive to work, so I haven't even tried Safe mode. This drive runs only half as fast with a USB hookup as with a Firewire connection, so I'd rather keep it Firewire. However, I may try USB if all else fails.

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Michael

 

Scandisk is a Windows 98 facility, not XP.

TI 10 Home requires XP or Vista.

 

XP SP2 to be precise

Xpilot

 

Okay, then it's that "Check Now..." button you get in the "Error Checking..." section on the "Tools" tab for the properties of each hard drive.

 

I agree with you. The hard drive is probably fine, but the Firewire drivers in the Linux environment are not working properly for your hardware. Therefore, errors occurr and it appears as if the drive has bad sectors.

That's probably correct that you'd need the Firewire drivers. Some motherboards support USB now without added drivers, but Firewire support is less likely. None the less, give it a try. If you can see the Firewire drive from the SAFE option, try making an image and validating an image made in Windows.

If that doesn't work, try the USB connection first with the Full option and then with the SAFE option if that doesn't work. Although USB is slower, you will only need to use it to restore as long as you can validate images made in Windows from the Recovery CD with USB.

If USB doesn't provide a reliable backup and restore, you should read about how to make a BartPE boot disk and add the Firewire drivers if necessary. The BartPE disk boots into Windows, so Windows drivers are available.

 

TI fails to see the Firewire drive in Safe mode.

Legacy USB support is enabled in the BIOS, and yet TI again fails to see the external drive in Safe mode. When started in Full mode, TI reports write errors when trying unsuccessfully to create a backup.

My system came with Windows pre-installed. This makes it impossible for me to create a BartPE boot disk, which requires that I have a Windows installation disk. Thanks for your help, nonetheless.

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Michael

 

My Windows XP was also pre installed and the recovery is also in a hidden partition on the drive.

But I wanted to create a BartPE CD, so,

I went to see the merchant who sold me the computer (A Canadian sub of BestBuy) and at the computer repair department, I requested copy of a Windows XP with SP2, explaining it was required for a rescue CD. They copied their CD for me but stated it could not be used to reload this XP as if it was the original.

The rest went like a breeze and I have a Bart PE CD with the Mustang TI plugging. With this, operations are at least twice as fast as with the AT Rescue CD.

 

Hello MichaelRay,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Please see this FAQ article about creating Acronis Secure Zone on an external drive.

Regarding the issue with validation and image creation: could you please collect some information to let us investigate the problem thoroughly?

Please make sure you created Acronis Bootable Rescue Media using the latest build (4942) of Acronis True Image 10.0 Home. To get access to updates you should first register your software.

Please clarify if you can verify an image when you create it on the external drive, and then move to internal one? Were you able to validate the image you created using "acpi=off noapic" under Acronis Bootable Rescue Media? From Windows?

Please also try using the drive in USB mode, as it may be better supported by Linux drivers of the bootable media.

Please create Acronis Report and Linux system information (sysinfo.txt) as it is described in Acronis Help Post. Please keep the drive in question connected and powered on during the creation process.

Please also collect the exact vendor and device names of the hard drive in question.

Then submit a request for technical support. Attach all the collected files and information to your request along with the step-by-step description of the actions taken before the problem appears and the link to this thread. We will investigate the problem and try to provide you with a solution.

Thank you.
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Marat Setdikov

 

Thanks for your advice and instructions. Yes, I had no trouble running TI under the "acpi=off noapic" parameter. I reported this to Acronis Technical Support, and received in return a link to an ISO image. I downloaded the ISO, burned it to a CD, booted into it, and experienced no problems.

Prior to this, I was able to create a BartPE CD using the procedure described on http://www.mechrest.com/plugins/BartPEGuide/BartPEGuide.htm. When launched from BartPE, True Image seems to run much faster. It also returned no errors.

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Michael

 

Hello MichaelRay,

We are sorry for the delayed response.

We are glad to hear that your issue has been solved and you can use Acronis True Image successfully.

If you have any further questions concerning Acronis software, please feel free to submit a request for technical support or post any of them on this forum. We will certainly try to help you in resolving any issues.

Thank you.
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Marat Setdikov