# Mfsbackup never finishes



## das335 (Feb 8, 2006)

I'm trying to backup my HDVR2 DirecTivo drive for the first time in order to upgrade the hard drive. I have printed out both the Hinsdale and Weakness upgrade instructions and attempted to follow then without any success.

Here is my config

hda - FAT32 drive (I've used several different ones - currently a Seagate 120GB)
hdb - empty
hdc - Original Tivo drive (Maxtor Fireball 3 - 40GB)
hdd - CD rom

I have the same problem using either set of instructions. After I issue the Mfsbackup command, everything goes fine for about 2 or 3 minutes. I see the

Scanning source drive. Please wait a minute
Source drive size is 40 hours
Backup image will be 40 hours
Uncompressed backup size: 1466 megabytes
Backing up xxx of 1466 megabytes (xx.xx%)

The backup stops for a short time at "204 of 1466 megabytes (13.91%)"
Then it appears to stop for good at "219 of 1466 megabytes (14.93%)"

The commands I entered (using the Weakness instructions) were

mkdir /mnt/dos
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/dos
mfsbackup -f 9999 -6so /mnt/dos/tivo.bak /dev/hdc

My original Tivo drive is a Maxtor Fireball 3. I changed the jumper to make sure I had it set for master. It was set for cable select when I started.

I reviewed the output from the Linux boot and it shows the drive size correctly (41000 MB) so I did not think I had a locked drive.

I switched to a different PC last night and I changed the destination drive just to eliminate them as the source of the problem.

The partition check for the Tivo drive showed this:

hdc: [mac] hdc1 hdc2 hdc3 hdc4 hdc5 hdc6 hdc7 hdc8 hdc9 hdc10 hdc11 hdc12 hdc13

I restarted the backup again this morning and it has been running for about 90 minutes with no progress.

The boot disk I'm using is the latest "free" version from PTVUpgrade.

I tried searching the threads last night but I did not find anything that seemed to match my problem.

Thanks in advance for your help. I'm sure I'm missing something very simple.


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## wscannell (Dec 7, 2003)

1) When you mounted the FAT32 drive, did you get any errors or did it say nothing. It should say nothing if the mount succeeded.

2) try this command: mfsbackup -f 9999 -1so /mnt/dos/tivo.bak /dev/hdc
This changes the compression factor to less compression. It may work better.

3) You do have enough space available on the FAT32 drive.


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## das335 (Feb 8, 2006)

Thanks for the tip. I had tried using the -1so setting before but not since I switched to the Seagate 120GB as my FAT32 drive.

When I rebooted, I noticed some messages on the screen that said something about about a read or seek error on hdc. I think I am having a problem with the Tivo drive. I do not know how to capture or review the error before the system reboots. The drive has worked fine in the Tivo but I have noticed a few pixelations from time to time. 

The Tivo drive is a Maxtor Fireball 3. Is it safe to run standard disc utilities against the drive? Any recommendations on which to use?

Assuming that the Tivo drive has problems, can I still try and do some type of backup or do I need to get a fresh/clean image?

Thanks,
DAS335


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## wscannell (Dec 7, 2003)

It may be that your drive has errors that are causing the backup to stop. Get the bootable utilities from Maxtor and run them on the drive. That will tell you if there are problems. The utilities will tell you whether the particular test writes to the drive.

Caution: Do not boot to Windows with the TiVo drive in the PC, otherwise it will no longer boot in the TiVo.

Try searching this forum for dd_rescue. This will allow you to make a exact copy of the drive to a new TiVo drive.

If that does not work, you will need a fresh image. The easiest is Instantcake from ptvupgrade.com.


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## das335 (Feb 8, 2006)

I just wanted to thank wscannell for his suggestions. I found some very good info on using dd_rescue at this thread (can't post links yet - see next reply or search on dd_rescue - thread t=298508)

I was able to use dd_rescue to copy my original 40gig drive to a new 120gig drive. I was able to backup the new 120gig drive using the standard Hinsdale instructions. 
Next, I used mfsadd to create new partitions and use all the space on the drive.
My HDVR2 now shows 105 hours.

I think I'll wait a few days before I do any celebrating but it looks good so far.

Thanks,
das335


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## das335 (Feb 8, 2006)

Now that I have 5 posts - here is the link for the info on dd_rescue

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=298508&highlight=dd_rescue


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## rocketman74 (Dec 7, 2006)

Thanks for the info folks... By following this thread and the other thread posted within, I successfully copied my current drive to a new drive on my HR10-250 with no issues. I've spent hours searching the net for a decent solution which wouldn't take days to copy, and the information within here was dead on.

Many, many thanks!


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## das335 (Feb 8, 2006)

Rocketman74,
Glad to help. I was only passing along the info that others had previously provided. It's amazing how much help this forum provides.

Good Luck.

das335


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