#PAR backup?
All,
I spend 4 days and nights on the backup/restore problems of the
PAR, even installing a PAR slavedrive to make my tests possible.
I found out the following things :
Often (but not always) the ANI-files are corrupted at frame 896.
When you restore these files to the PAR you loose everything from 896>> till
the end of the file.
What did i test ?
I had an animation of 7500 frames. After backup/compare of this file i got
the message "file is different". Then i split them in 10 files of 750 frames
each.
When i did a backup/compare of those 10 files, 2 files were different.
I renamed the 2-files on the PAR and restored the 2 files (which were
different) to the PAR. When i played them, there were corrupted after
a certain frame. Then i exported a few frames as TGA's to my DOS-drive.
The TGA's all looked like fractals.
AND NOW THE STRANGE THING
I couldn't find (visual) which were the frames that caused the problem.
So i deceided to split the 2 files of 750 frames into 4 files of 375 frames.
When i did a backup/compare of the 4 files there was no difference anymore.
(I expected ofcourse that 2 files still would give me problems)
Again i renamed the 4 files on the PAR and restored them. They all played
100% ok. All this looks very strange (but it is true !!!).
I noticed the following things.
When an ANI-file is corrupted it always is on a frame numbered X*128.
When the compare program gives a message "files are different" you can
count on it (so you have a problem; when you restore these files all
frames are bad after a certain frame).
(btw i used a Colorado Powertape 4GB SCSI-2, and to make sure it wasn't
my tapedrive or tapesoftware also an Everex Excel 250 tapeunit).
When you split this bad ANI-files again and again, it sometimes solves the
problem.
Sometimes going through your frames one by one you visualy can see the bad
frame, removing this frame solves your problem.
(So i'm sure it has nothing to do with the backup/compare/restore-procedure
itself)
MY SUGGESTIONS : (i learned it the hard way, loosing a lot of stuff)
Backup/compare……….until you don't get the message "files are different"
anymore, try to split and split and split when you have problem-files until
you have a file which is 100% ok, or you have dropped your problem to
a few frames.
Never delete projects, even not empty ones, untill you are at the point
to reformat your PAR (although it looks that the problem is solved in the
1.33B release).
ANOTHER THING I NOTICED
Sometimes when i start the PARTEST.EXE the program tells me i have a
NTSC-board and the next time a PAL-version( which is true). Strange !.
Hope this will be of some assistance to you all.
CIAO FOR NOW
Theo