TI 11 with FAT32 USB as destination

I'm using TI 11 Home build 8053. I want to be able to use a 32GB USB memory stick as a backup destination for full image backups so that I don't have to carry around a larger USB hard drive. I want to use FAT32 so that I don't have to worry about data corruption if I forget to eject ("Safely Remove Hardware") before removing the USB stick. Plus, I understand that journalling file systems like NTFS can significantly reduce the life of flash memory.

I know about the 4GB file size limit in FAT32, and my expectation is that TI 11 with default settings should auto-split the TIB into 4GB files (my total compressed image will be about 17-20GB).

But here's what's happening: During the backup routine, when the backup hits a 4GB limit and it ready for the next split, TI 11 STOPS with a dialog box that says "I00640004: Please insert the next volume." If I hit Enter, then the process continues with the next split file on the USB stick. This is forcing what should be a 30-minute unattended operation into a constant monitoring process.

Other than reformatting the USB stick to NTFS to get around the 4GB file size limit (which I can do but would like to avoid), how can I get TI 11 to default to continuing with the next split without user intervention? I can't find any setting that seems to affect this....

 

Have you tried setting TI to split the image at 3GB (or something under 4GB) when the backup is created? In other words, don't rely on the FAT32 auto-split. Instead, force it to the value of your choice.

TI sees the flashdrive as a removable drive and probably thinks it's full when it hits the FAT32 size limit.

 

Yes, actually I did try that. Even if I set the archive split point to something less (I tried 3.8GB), it still stops and forces me to hit Enter at each split point. Oddly enough, it appears to only do this with FAT32 and not with NTFS. With an NTFS destination if you set a small file size in Archive Splitting (I tried 700MB), it will split and continue without intervention. But if I try to do the same thing on FAT32, it stops and requires me to hit Enter on every split even if the split size is less than 4GB.

 

Does it do that on a smaller flashdrives too? For example: If you use a 4GB FAT32 flashdrive and set the splits at 1GB, will TI ask at each split?

I don't have a flashdrive larger than 4GB available for testing.

 

Still running more tests, but I just confirmed that on a 16GB USB stick, I was able to set the archive splitting to 650MB (CD size) and get it to run through without prompting at each split. I'm not sure whether I just didn't make the file size small enough, or if it's stick-dependent, or what.

But for some reason, my ability to change the archive split setting during a backup is no longer there (that option is just gone), and I'm having to change it in the TI 11 default settings. I don't want that (I want the default to be auto-split), since I have other backup tasks in TI 11 with NTFS destinations and I'd prefer not to have everything broken up into small files. I need to reboot to see if I can get that TI option back (shutting down and restarting TI didn't do it).

I've got to drop this for tonight due to a commitment I have to get to, but I'll pick it back up and do some more testing later. I've got 1GB, 2GB, 16GB, and 32GB USB thumb drives as possible test points, so I should be able to check it out more thoroughly with some more time.

But MudCrab, I really appreciate your help and prompt response.

 

A simple if less than ideal solution to avoid monitoring the backup is to do the backup to HD then copy the files to the flash device. You could even look upon it as extra security if you leave the backup on the HD when the copy is done.

You could probably make a DOS .bat file with the copy command setup in it and let it run as a TI Post command avoiding the need to do the copy yourself.

 

Hello jgsouthard,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Please be aware that we have not heard about such problems of Acronis True Image 11 Home before and so we would like to investigate this one with your assistance, if you have time for this of course. Could you please collect the exact vendor and device names of the flash drive in question? Then please submit a request for technical support. Attach all 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.
--
Marat Setdikov

 

Thanks, Marat.

I didn't find the testing time I was hoping for this weekend, so I have reformatted the USB memory stick as NTFS and it appears to now be working fine. I'll just have to make sure and eject before removing.

I realize that I haven't provided enough information for proper diagnosis. That's part of the reason that I posted here rather than contacting support, in the hope that there was a quick/easy solution someone could point me to.

Here's what I can tell you at this point:

- The problem USB memory stick was an OCZ ATV 32GB. I got a big USB flash drive rather than a hard drive since I wanted a small portable emergency recovery backup for my work-related laptop. I wanted to stick with FAT32 under the understanding that this would be safer for removal media.

- Attempts to get TI 11 to write to this USB stick seemed to demonstrate the following problems, as described in the thread above:

1. The backup stops and asked for new media at every split point, whether archive splitting was set to auto-split or to any size smaller than 4GB. Note that although the issue definitely seemed related to FAT32, it did NOT seem related necessarily to the 4GB file size limit -- even if I set the file size to 700MB it would still ask for intervention at each split point.

2. The option to set archive splitting was not available (just disappeared, not there) in setting up the backup. The only way to set it to anything other than the default auto-splitting was to cancel the backup and change the default archive splitting setting for the whole program. This seems to indicate to me that TI 11 was somehow viewing this media differently even before the backup started.

3. If I manually hit Enter at every split point, the backup would complete successfully.

4. I seemed to get intermittent results with other smaller USB flash drives. Sometimes it worked, most of the time it didn't. So the problem is not exclusively with this particular flash drive.

5. Based on some limited testing that I did on another computer (both were running WinXP SP2 with latest patches), these issues MIGHT be computer-specific. I was able to complete at least one split backup on another computer with this USB stick. On the problem laptop, however, the Windows installation is brand new and should be problem-free (famous last words, I know). It does contain some company-specific policy settings, however, so detailed troubleshooting would be difficult due to the number of variables that might be involved.

Let's let this one rest for now, unless someone else sees similar problems and we can confirm that there is a class issue with either TI 11 or this particular USB stick. At this point I can't say that definitively.

Thanks,
Jim