Retrospect Backup Software

Retrospect Backup Software

Troubleshooting in OS X
This document lists general steps to troubleshoot problems when running Retrospect under OS X. It is divided into the following categories:
1. Startup Issues
2. Device Issues
3. Network Troubleshooting
4. Software Conflicts or Corruption
5. If you are receiving a specific error, please search the Dantz Knowledgebase for the error code or message for more specific information.

Startup Issues
Apple's Tech Info Library Article no. 106464 gives detailed instructions on how to troubleshoot various startup problems:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106464
If you are unable to start up in Mac OS X, try the following steps:

1. Start from your Mac OS X install CD by holding down the C key while restarting. Once you have started from the CD, you may run the OS X Disk Utility from the Installer Menu at the top of the screen. Use this to examine, and possibly repair, your OS X volume(s).

2. Mac OS X reviews fonts in the Mac OS 9 System Folder during startup. A damaged Mac OS 9 font file may contribute to this issue. Start up from your Mac OS 9 System Folder, a Mac OS 9 CD-ROM disc, or the Bootable Retrospect CD. Drag the Fonts folder in the Mac OS 9 System Folder (not the Mac OS X System folder) out of the System Folder into the root level of the hard disk, or to the desktop. Try to restart the computer from your Mac OS X volume.

3. Remove third-party startup items:
* Start up from your Mac OS 9 System Folder, a Mac OS 9 CD-ROM disc, or the Bootable Retrospect CD.
* Navigate to your Mac OS X volume.
* Temporarily remove third-party items from the /Library/StartupItems and /System/Library/StartupItems folders. You may wish to temporarily store items in your Mac OS X Users folder. If you are unsure whether an item is a third-party item or an Apple-installed item, do not remove it.
* Restart from your Mac OS X volume.

4. Disconnect peripheral devices, except for the Apple keyboard and mouse. This includes ADB, serial, USB, FireWire, SCSI, and PCMCIA devices. If this resolves the issue, add back one device at a time, restarting after each, to isolate the issue.
Internal OS X Maintenance/Troubleshooting tools

OS X has several diagnostic and repair tools for operating system problems. Fsck and Single-user mode can both be used to diagnose or fix startup problems when the above actions do not help.

For details on these troubleshooting tools, please see Apple's documentation:
Technical Document 106214, "Mac OS X 10.0: Why, When, and How to Run fsck for File System Maintenance," with information on fsck and Single-User mode, is at:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214

Device Issues
In general, FireWire, USB and ATAPI (internal) support in OS X is more seamless that in previous operating systems. SCSI support requires that the device and any hardware used to access the device (such as the SCSI card) be fully supported by the OS X operating system before it is supported by Retrospect.
Retrospect has drivers for all supported devices built in. Generally, if a drive is fully compatible with Mac OS X, Retrospect should be able to see and write to the drive with little or no intervention from the user. Please check with the vendor of your drive to ensure that the device is fully OS X compatible.
Dantz maintains a list of drives and SCSI cards known not to work under OS X. Please see this information, at:
http://www.dantz.com/index.php3?SCREEN=kbase&ACTION=KBASE&id=27381

Troubleshooting your backup device
If Retrospect doesn't see a drive, check that the computer sees it. Apple System Profiler, almost identical to the one under OS 9, is available at Applications/Utilities/Apple System Profiler. If a device is not visible here, that means that the computer cannot see it, and it will not be visible to Retrospect.

Dantz maintains a list of drives and SCSI cards known not to work under OS X.

Please see http://www.dantz.com/index.php3?SCREEN=compatibility_list for an updated list.

To use a supported SCSI CD-R/RW drive with Retrospect 5.0 on Mac OS X, you must update your operating system to Mac OS 10.1.3. If you are running an earlier version of Mac OS X, Retrospect will not recognize your SCSI CD-R/RW drive.

Mac OS 10.1.3 will only support MMC compliant CD-R/RW drives. This means that some older SCSI CD-R/RW drives are not supported in Retrospect at this time.

For CD drives, Apple System Profiler must indicate "Apple Disc Burning Supported." If it does not say this, you will not be able to use this burner with Retrospect.

USB Drives must be Mass Storage Compliant. Some drives require a driver update from their vendor to gain functionality under Mac OS X; check with the vendor if you have questions.

Try powering the computer and devices down, checking that all cables are securely connected, and then restarting.
If you are still having problems, check the Dantz website or with your device vendor for more detailed troubleshooting specific to your device and interface.

Network Troubleshooting
AppleShare Troubleshooting
If AppleShare volumes are not visible from OS X's Connect to Server window (from the GO menu), make sure AppleTalk has been enabled in the Network Control Panel:
1. Open the System Preferences from the Apple Menu.
2. Click Network.
3. Go to the AppleTalk tab and click the checkbox to enable AppleTalk.
4. Click the Apply Now button.
If you know the IP address of the computer you are trying to connect to, just type afp:// and the IP address in the Connect to Server box. For example, to connect to a machine at 192.168.6.1, type:
afp:// 192.168.6.1
If you are having problems with servers that are mounted with afp, try connecting through SMB instead, by typing:
smb://servername/sharename/.TCP/IP and Client Troubleshooting
If you do not see any clients on your network, check the following:

Check the Retrospect Client
1. First, select a single client and open the client control panel to check the status. Make sure the client control panel is "on".
2. If it is an older Mac client, make sure that it is a TCP/IP client. If it's an AppleTalk client, uninstall it by dragging the Retrospect client control panel to the trash and restarting. Using the Retrospect client installer, reinstall the client, specifying TCP/IP.
3. For any Mac or Windows client, check that the machine has a valid IP address from the computer's Network Control Panel.
4. Check that the status is Ready or Waiting for First Access. If there is an error listed on the client control panel, check the Knowledgebase for the error code or message.
5. If it is an OS X client, go to the System Preferences (from the Apple Menu) and click Network. Change the pull-down menu to Show Active Network Ports. Make sure that the port that you wish to use with Retrospect is listed first in this window. If not, you may change the order by dragging the desired item to the top of the list. This may be needed if you have two network cards.
6. For OS X clients, check that the client service, pitond, is running. Open Process Viewer, at Applications/Utilities. Look for pitond in the list of processes. If it is not listed, restart the computer and check again.

Check the Retrospect Server
1. In the Network Control Panel, make sure that the port you wish to use with Retrospect is listed first, as described above. This may be needed if you have two network cards.
2. Check that the computer is obtaining a valid IP address from the Network Control Panel.
3. Check that you have the adequate edition of Retrospect to access the client. Workgroup or Server is required to access a client in another subnet.
4. Check that there is TCP/IP communication between the server and the client by pinging the client. To do this, open up the OS X Network Utility, located at Applications/Utilities. Click the ping tab, enter in the IP address of the client that you are testing, then click Ping. If there are errors in the ping, this means that there is something blocking TCP/IP communication between the server and the client.

Check Third Party Factors
1. If there are firewalls on your network, or if any of the machines that you are accessing have a built-in personal firewall, be sure to enable incoming and outgoing TCP/IP and UDP packets through Retrospect's port 497.
2. Ensure that your network hardware is configured to pass UDP and TCP packets on the network. Also ensure that Subnet Broadcast and Multicast are not being blocked or prevented by the router. Subnet Broadcast is blocked by default on some routers.Software Conflicts or Corruption
If you are having problems that other troubleshooting steps don?t seem to fix, create another user in OS X. This can eliminate software conflicts as much as possible, and can also help pinpoint problems with preferences or other files associated with a specific user. Since Retrospect is installed as root, it will be available to any user that logs in, and you won't need to reinstall it.
To create another user:
1. Open the System Preferences from the Apple Menu.
2. Click Users.
3. Click New User to create a new user.
4. Enter a full name and a short name.
5. Click the Password tab and enter a password.
6. Try giving this new user administrative rights by clicking the "Allow user to administer this computer" checkbox.
Try to reproduce the problem while logged in as this user.

If you are unable to find a solution here, try Dantz Software's, Retrospect Support pages.