New Drive Snapshot build released.

Discussion in 'backup, imaging & disk mgmt' started by Aaron Here, Dec 10, 2010.

  1. Alexhousek

    Alexhousek Registered Member

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    Forgive my ignorance, but how do you find the change log on the Drive Snapshot website? I can't find the most current version number? I have version 1.45 and I think it's the most recent?!
     
  2. Wendi

    Wendi Registered Member

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    Hi Alex, I guess you haven'f read the many prior posts regarding DS changelogs. The DS developers only release changelogs for major version changes (http://www.drivesnapshot.de/en/news.htm), but not for interim builds which are typically released every month. Whenever those interim builds do not show a change in DS' executable file sizes (which seems to be the case most of the time) I can only presume that there hasn't been any functional changes in that release and that its sole purpose is to simply extend DS' 30-day free period for 'trial users'. There are times when the executables of an interim build do reveal small file-size changes, but apparently the developers do not believe that such minor changes warrant a changlog. o_O

    Re finding the DS version number; hovering your mouse arrow over the DS executable (snapshot.exe or snapshot64.exe) should reveal the exact version number, file creation date and file size.

    Hth,
    Wendi
     
    Last edited: Jun 25, 2017
  3. Alexhousek

    Alexhousek Registered Member

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    Thank you for the explanation!
     
  4. Wendi

    Wendi Registered Member

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    You're welcome Alex. I have been using DS for several years and have found it to be reliable and simple to use (in its Windows format). If you are adept at DOS it becomes even more versatile. Finally, the developers have always been responsive to my questions.
     
  5. natZONE

    natZONE Registered Member

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    I like DS because, amongst other things, it's one of the few reliable and fast backup solutions for ReFS v3.2 formatted devices.
     
  6. EASTER

    EASTER Registered Member

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    Couldn't have said it any better.

    DS is always been awesome for me too and to this day continues to bat a .1000. Remembering back when it first came out not many gave it very much of chance than flash-in-the-pan expectations but boy has this thing ever stood the test of time.

    Something else I only now just found out to the affirmative. Apparently it has some very happy "Protogon" campers as well.
     
  7. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    I use a Win10 v1703 TBWinRE boot disk created by Terabyte IFW, which has OS built-in ReFS v3.2 support. As a results IFW can also save disk images to ReFS disks. I copied snapshot64.exe to the TBWinRE boot USB and run OS backup with both IFW and DS. Double guarantee.
     
  8. natZONE

    natZONE Registered Member

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    I guess you misunderstood me, oliverjia. I make images from ReFS formatted partitions and volumes. Is Terabyte IFW capable to backup from ReFS formatted volumes?
     
  9. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    Never tried that, as I only use IFW to image OS drives (ReFS is not supported in OS drives yet), and store the image in a ReFS formatted drive. However, if IFW have the ability to write to a ReFS drive, it should have no problem reading from ReFS file system, hence should be able to make an image of a ReFS formatted drive. However it would probably require you to use Windows 10 v1703 and later as I understand it it relies on the OS built-in support for ReFS.
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2017
  10. Wendi

    Wendi Registered Member

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    DS builds 17643 (x64) and 17640 (x86), were posted on July 14th... http://www.drivesnapshot.de/en/down.htm

    No change-log of course. Both executables are the very same size as the June (and May) builds so I doubt that they contain any functional changes. This appears to be their usual monthly release.
     
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2017
  11. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    It appears Drive Snapshot has regressed again. Today I tried to image a Ubuntu OS whole disk using Drive Snapshot from Terabyte TBWinRE boot USB. Ubuntu is installed in UEFI mode with secure boot enabled, and the disk has three partitions: EFI, Ubuntu, and Linux SWAP partitions. Drive Snapshot performs OK when imaging the EFI and Ubuntu OS partitions (FAT and EXT4, respectively), however, instead of ignoring the contents of Linux SWAP partition, DS tried to perform a bit-for-bit backup as unrecognized file system. Only the partition layout needs backup IMO.

    Terabyte Image for Windows backed up the whole disk of Ubuntu installation without any problem. I hope Drive Snapshot will fix this bug soon.
     
    Last edited: Jul 21, 2017
  12. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

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    @oliverjia, is that to say yesterday's release has a bug which was not present in the May-June builds?
     
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2017
  13. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    Not sure if this bug is present in May-June builds, as I haven't backup a Linux OS for quite a while. But if I remember correctly, last year's builds should work fine.
     
  14. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

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    @oliverjia, have you, or do you intend to reported this to the developer?
     
  15. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    Yes I already reported to the developer. Normally they'll respond within 1-2 business days.
     
  16. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

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    :thumb: ...please update this thread with their response.
     
  17. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    No response yet. Not sure if they care about Linux users any more. They used to be quite responsive.
     
  18. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    Finally get their response. They said that because of Linux SWAP partition is shown as "RAW" in DS, they it means 'no file system'; so the behaviour is correct and expected. They simply stated case closed.

    My counter points: First off, DS used to behave differently when backing up Linux SWAP. It use to back it up in a few seconds.
    Second, all other disk imaging software, IFL, Clonezilla can back up Linux SWAP in a few seconds, only DS does a bit-for-bit backup of this temp partition. I don't see the point backing up a Temp partition such as Linux SWAP, or a Windows temp file such as pagefile.sys.

    Disk imaging experts, please share your thoughts here. @Brian K please help test the current build of DS to backup a Linux SWAP partition under UEFI/Secure boot installation, and let us know if DS also does bit-for-bit backup of a Linux SWAP partition.
     
  19. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    oliverjia,

    Weird. I saw the reversed results and I'm sure I was using the correct DS files.

    The SWAP partition was on a GPT disk, HD1 (Disk 2 in DS) and was 1000 MB in size.

    DS 1.45.0.17643 (current version) Time to backup partition was 13 seconds and backup image was 1 MB. Also created were 3 other SNA files. One of which was 1 GB.

    DS 1.43.0.17922 (Jan 2016 version) Time to backup partition was 2 minutes and backup image was 5 GB. Also created were 3 other SNA files. One of which was 1 GB.

    The two DS were run from Win10 and from TBWinRE. I don't understand this at all.

    IFL (and IFW) takes less than 1 second and the image is 8 KB.
     
    Last edited: Jul 21, 2017
  20. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    Thank you Brian for your test!

    So to me it does appear there has been some problems with different DS builds. The 1GB SNA files could very likely be the bit-for-bit backup of the Linux SWAP partition. So even though the current DS version completed the back of SWAP partition fairly fast, the partition image size is still not right. IMO, in both versions of DS you tested, DS should not have backed up the SWAP partition this way, but rather, it should have produced a very small image file for SWAP, just like what IFW/IFL does.

    https://askubuntu.com/questions/846163/does-swap-space-have-a-filesystem

    From the above link, it makes sense to just backup the partition/disk layout of the SWAP partition but not the actual contents.

    I'll forward your feedback to the developer. Hope they can correct this behavior. But I felt some reluctance from Tom in his initial response. I'll forward to him anyway.
    I'll keep you updated on their response.
     
    Last edited: Jul 21, 2017
  21. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    The other 3 SNA files were images of 3 other partitions. Not requested.

    ESP
    IFL
    WinPESE

    The WinPESE was the 1 GB SNA file.
     
  22. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    I noticed that in IFW/IFL (and just for the test, Acronis TI), the Linux SWAP partition was detected and shown correctly as "Linux Swap" while in DS it was shown as "RAW". Clearly, there is something wrong with the handling of SWAP partition by DS.

    Also, just for the seek of testing it, Acronis TI still takes ~5-10 times longer backing up an whole disk of Linux OS installed under UEFI/Secure boot, while clonezilla and IFW/IFL only needed ~2 minutes to backup the whole disk. The disk image size of the Linux OS disk is ~2GB for IFW/IFL and Clonezilla, while it's 4.3GB for Acronis TI image. Judging from the time it spent, clearly, there is something not correctly handled by Acronis in such situation as well, maybe it's doing the same bit-for-bit backup of the Linux SWAP, but I am not sure this is the cause. This bug in ATI has been around for more than 2 years at least since I reported it to them, and they have no interest fixing it.

    So right now, only IFL/IFW and Clonezilla can correctly backup a Linux installation installed under UEFI/Secure boot (maybe there are more but I did not test them). Acronis TI and Drive Snapshot still have some annoying issues. For now I also removed Drive Snapshot from my collection of disk imaging software (Acronis has long gone).

    Such scenario (Linux under UEFI/Secure boot) is a fairly common situation, while Acronis and DS still have such kind of bugs in their new releases. This makes me wonder if they do any sort of QC before they release a new version. Even when this bug was reported to them they show no interest to fix it and DS claimed it's normal behavior. Bugs are not a problem as long as the developers are willing to work with customers to fix them. It's a big problem and the product will surely go downhill once the developers decide to "defend" their products. Again, it's not the bug itself, but once I sense some arrogance and attitude from the developers when they are dealing with bug reports, I drop the software like a plague.
     
    Last edited: Jul 22, 2017
  23. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

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    @Brian K, @oliverjia, I've always been under the impression that Drive Snapshot is a DOS/Windows backup program. Do the DS developers claim that it supports the Linux environment in question?
     
    Last edited: Jul 22, 2017
  24. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    It runs from Windowns/PE/DOS, but the developers claims it supports the backup and restore of Linux EXT3/4 and Linux Swap:


    V1.36 20 July 2005: Drive Snapshot 1.36
    older versions of Drive Snapshot (1.35 and earlier) do NOT work with Windows 2003 SP1
    new features:

    backup:

    • partitions without a drive letter (mounted at mount points)
    • unrecognized partitions (Compaq/HP/Dell service partitions)
    • Linux Ext2/Ext3/Reiser/Swap partitions
    V1.40 - 20 Feb 2010: Drive Snapshot 1.40
     
  25. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    Instead of begging the reluctant DS developers to improve their product, I now rely on IFW and Paragon Hard Disk manager which I managed to put on the same boot USB based on TBWinRE. I boot TBWinRE and back up my Linux installation using IFW and Paragon sequentially. Both worked perfectly.

    It's funny some company pay for bug reports (such as Google), while some companies such as DS now starts to ignore voluntary bug reports.
     
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