LZX version, arguments to backup, and backing up over SMB

[motorollin]

What is the most stable/reliable/safe version of LZX to use when backing up a lot of files (i.e. a whole partition)? I know that some versions of LHA have been a bit buggy and not recommended for use so want to check on the status of LXZ.

Also, since I'm having some SFS errors I'm planning to use LZX to do a complete backup of my A4000 before formatting the partitions and replacing the backed up files. Would somebody who has backed up like this before mind checking my planned arguments to LZX to backup the entire contents of a partition?

lzx
a add
-a preserve file attributes
-e archive empty directories
-r recurse in to subdirectories
-x preserve path names
-9 maximum compression
partition:

Not sure if I have to put #? after partition: or whether it is enough to specify the name of the partition to get it to recurse in to the subdirectories as well as pick up all of the files in the root directory.

Finally, since my SFS partition has become unstable, I would prefer not to write the backup on to it and then copy it somewhere else. Does anyone have any experience creating large (well, huge) archives directly on to an SMB server using SMBFS? Does it work reliably? Can I expect any problems? I know it will be slow, but I don't care as long as my backup is 100%.

Thanks in advance

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moto

[motorollin]

Thanks for the warnings about LZX. I was recommended to use LZX in a different thread. Glad I know better now! Which version of LHA is the best to use? ISTR some of the later versions were buggy. And as for syntax, do the -a -r -e and -x options do the same things as they do in LZX?

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moto

[motorollin]

Ok, already on 1.38 as it happens. Just kicked off an archive using this command:

lha -a -r -e -x a RAM:OS3.9.lha OS3.9:

Will that do the trick? As for using QuarterBack, well ideally I would like my backup to be accessible from non-Amiga systems (without having to set up UAE and install QB). So I'd prefer to stick with LHA.

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moto

[motorollin]

Still hoping for confirmation of the LHA command above, and any advice on backing up over SMB.

--
moto

[motorollin]

A4000_Mad wrote:

moto wrote:
Just kicked off an archive using this command

Ooooooh! This made my brain cell think you had actually started the process mate ;-)

I did, but I stopped it since it didn't seem to be doing anything.

A4000_Mad wrote:
I am unable to confirm it for you as I would just highlight everything and use the 'Lha ADD' function of Dopus 4 myself.

Does DOpus give any idea of progress, or at least that it's doing something?

A4000_Mad wrote:
However, after comparing it to another command line it looks like you have an "a" in the wrong place.

According to the LHA usage, options (-a -e -r -x) come before commands (a). I don't think it matters though.

A4000_Mad wrote:
I think you are very wise to your Ram Disk as the initial destination mate :-)

Unfortunately this will only work for my system partition. My main data partition won't fit in my RAM disk, which is why I need to sort an alternative solution. SMB would be good if it works, but still looking for some feedback there.

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moto

[motorollin]

A4000_Mad wrote:
Well mine most certainly does! It display "Frozen" and the % of compression as it does the task.

That's great - thanks. I'll use DOpus to create my backup.

Cheers mate!

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moto

[motorollin]

Just created an archive of my system partition using DOpus and it seemed to work fine, and much faster than from the command line which seemed to just thrash the disk for hours with no visible progress. I then noticed that the command I'm DOpus only had the -x option. I added some more and now it looks like this:

lha -a -e -x a {d}{RsEnter LHA archive name}" {O}

Kicked off another archive. Fingers crossed the backup is good enough for a format and re-copy!

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moto