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

--
moto

[ChaosLord]

There are NO 100% versions of lzx in existence anywhere. I and others in Team Chaos have done many many tests with lzx and lost tons of data.  You should never use lzx to backup important data.  You have been warned.

Use lha.

[orange]

if you, by any chance, want 1:1 copy, you could use dcp
but, I don't know how would you restore from backup..

when I want to archive something important with lha, I use
-a -r -e -x

and if you're short on RAM, redirect work directory to HDD

[nOw2]

I learned the hard way in 1996 about this, so I'll tell you now before you go too far: don't use LZX for backups. If you must use an archiver, use LhA.

The big issue (which affected me) is a 255 character path limit. See here:
http://xavprods.free.fr/lzx/limitations.html

This lost half my work partition with 32 character file names, it'll be a file massacre with SFS and 127 char files.

[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?

--
moto

[ChaosLord]

@now2

Wow, I totally forgot about that path limit!

I never tried to backup a whole partition with lzx.  I was only trying to archive 1 single game for Aminet (Total Chaos).  This was way back in the 90's when the game was much smaller, probably 20 MB or less.  And lzx just couldn't make a proper archive.  It always corrupted some files.  It is a bug that is triggered by having a dir with many files which are very very similar, maybe even a few that are identical.  This always triggered the "corrupt archive" bug for me.

lha 1.x is highly reliable.  You can't go wrong with it.

And be sure to install TLSFmem unless you want to wait 2 weeks for the backup to complete.  I assume you are backing up 4 gigs or more?

[ChaosLord]

More info about many lzx bugs Click here.

[LoadWB]

I sent moto down the path of LZX.  I've used it exclusively in the past for backups and never lost a byte of data.  ::shrugs::

Also, the page shows v1.21... I'm pretty sure I'm using v1.22 or something like that... I'll double-check tonight when I get home.

[Im>bE]

Have you boys been doing LZX?

Drugs are bad, m'kay..

[jasper]

Have you considered using Quarterback instead?

I've always used it for backing up my workbench partition

[rkauer]

 Every version of lha after 1.38 is buggy (except for 1.5 - registered). But lzx is worse.

 My own experience!

 For backups I use Quarterback & lha (1.5...).

[ChaosLord]

I use lha 1.38 for all my archiving needs.  :-)

[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.

--
moto

[motorollin]

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

--
moto

[A4000_Mad]

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

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

This is the command for backing up your existing icons before installing Kens Icons:-

Lha a -a -e -r -x  Icon_Backup Sys:#?.info

(This will put an archive called 'Icon_Backup' in your System partition)


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