#PAR CORRUPT;<
9 messages in this thread
OK…so I have a PAR, a TBCIV, version 1.51 PAR drivers and 1.81 TBC drivers
This is my story… I bought the PAR about 6 months ago, and the TBCIV 2
weeks ago. The PAR scrambled my first project (for who knows what reason!) and
all the other ANI files I had on the drive — POOF!! 2 weeks down the tubes!.
I recovered slowly from that mishap and HAD since regained my faith in the
thing.
It gets worse… Last night I was doing a Stop Frame animation using the TBCIV
board (Alt-A Play and Grab) and after 350 agonizingly long, arduous frames (or
4 hours) I stopped to take a look at my creation. I loved it – except for
frame 255 (out of focus) I did a delete, frame, 255 to 255, waited for a
minute while the PAR did its thing and played the ANI again…GASP!!! :{ My
entire ANI file went south….the whole thing turned into some multicolored
garbage. I nearly cried. ;<
I have absolutely no faith in my PAR anymore and Im getting ready to call my
dealer and him come pickup the mangled remains (after I throw it through my
window!)
Whats going on here guys? DPS or G. Pyros do you have the answer??? (other
than make sure you have the current driver or right hardware setting, backup
your PAR drive all the time or whatever..etc.– I didnt pay for these problems
but I did pay nearly $4000 for everything)
In defense of the PAR, I think it is a wonderful product (its paid for itself,
so many times!) but Im really reluctant to place any trust in the thing.
Please help!
Ian C.
3DS/Softimage Animator (RGA/LA)
Ian,
Welcome, I guess, to the PAR Survivors Society.
Although it may not be a comfort, you are not alone. There are many of us. We
walk at night. We are everywhere but, in the eyes of DPS, we don't exist.
Ian, the truth is that PAR disasters are a common occurance — particularly
when a disk gets rather full. If you call DPS and report your problem, you will
find that they pretend that you are the only person who has ever had such a
problem. At best, the will blame the hard disk.
The susceptability of the PAR to crash-and-trash is, I believe, due to the
PAR's very fragile and inadequate FAT system which simply cannot handle complex
file structures. Unlike a standard hard disk which has two separate FAT's, the
PAR only has one and when it gets messed-up, everything is gone.
The only way to deal with the PAR is to accept it for what it is and to know
that it cannot be trusted. For, in spite of its high-tech exterior and often
beguiling performance, it is only a weak, insecure little techno-child prone to
break down and sob when stressed. One you accept this, you have taken the
first step toward peaceful coexistence with the PAR.
Here's what you must do:
1. Back up all your PAR .ani files before you do any work with the PAR.
Hard disks are pretty cheap now, you might want to get a HD at least as large
as your PAR drive just for .ani file backups. I also use a DAT tape to directly
backup and restore the .ani files (using Tapedisk).
2. Format the PAR drive often and PROPERLY. Very few people know this
but the PAR software has three _different_ format protocols: One is found in
the PAR preferences menu; another in the Partest utility; and the third is the
ONLY method of actually formatting your PAR drive: use the command line FORMAT
command which Gus wrote that actually overwrites all sectors with zero's. The
top-secret, undocumented (and unknown to most DPS personnel) is:
PARDRV /FORMAT:M
(M for Master drive; S for slave drive)
3. Always use the full eight characters for .ani file names. Don't use
the numerals after identical letters for different files: the PAR will think
they are all part of the same file (e.g.'s, don't use "new1" and then "new2" or
"house" and then "house2".)
4. Keep a fan blowing directly on the PAR drive (especially if its a
Micropolis).
5. Try not to have the PAR drive full. Before a big job, backup all the
ani's you need to keep and format the drive and then work with just the files
you need for that job. Don't try to store old .ani files on the PAR drive, use
it only for active projects. Remember that deleted PAR files are not really
deleted. If you load new ones with the same name as the old "deleted" files,
occasionally some "deleted" frames will get mixed up with the new ones: boom.
May Your .ANI's Ever Be Together, my son.
Alec Jason
Hi Alec,
many thanks from Germany for your lines!
A few minutes ago I lost two long-and-heavy-rendered Animations (colored
garbage) for my TV-station (snief!). I thank God, that I record it before to a
beta tape – but these anis are lost (after I optimized the disk – seems to be a
dangerous tool!).
Stefan
Ian,
Alec Jason has some good suggestions (and commentary). Quirky little
things they is.
Kevin Krell – Computer Support Associates
Thanks for your insight Alec. Im glad that Im not only one in this PAR
Love-Hate thing :}. I guess thats what happens when your standing on the
bleeding edge of techno-gadgetry.
Has anyone with a PVR experienced these problems? Also as Alec mentioned, if
the PAR only has one FAT isnt it possible to add some code (or whatever) to
mirror the first FAT and place it somewhere (either on the PAR drive or
preferrably off of it) to CYA just in case the inevitable becomes evitable?
From the copyright info, looks like Greg or Gus might have the answer to
this….Gus?
All for now.
Regards,
Ian Coony
P.S. Thanks to Kevin Krell for all his help tracking down some of the 3DS SGI
render questions we've been conjuring up over here.
Ian:
>> From the copyright info, looks like Greg or Gus might have the
>> answer to this….Gus?
Well, anything is possible! DPS wanted to just duplicate the Amiga PAR file
system on the PC version, although we told them that this would cause trouble.
Yes, it would be possible to mirror it for all DOS activity (our driver), but
if you ever accessed it through PAR.EXE (direct calls), we'd have no way of
knowing, and the two versions of the FAT would get unsynchronized. Not good.
Greg Pyros
Thanks for the info Greg,
Would you know if there is a way for me to capture (using DOS) the PAR FAT (and
save) prior to loading PAR.EXE
This could be a good failsafe measure.
-Ian
Ian:
>> Would you know if there is a way for me to capture (using DOS) the PAR FAT
>> (and save) prior to loading PAR.EXE This could be a good failsafe measure.
Yes, it would, but no, there isn't! :^)
Greg Pyros
Ian:
Alec has passed on a few of the PAR problems, an excellent summary. I felt
exactly as you did one night when my drive went haywire and I got crazy plaid
animations. Sometimes, when a drive is near full you can recover what may
appear to be a fried animation by deleting a few files and then doing an
optimize. About 85% full is about as far as I'll go with animations. Don't
hesitate to fill up the drive with .stl files as they have yet to cause any
problems. The worst disaster I had occured when I deleted a directory. Although
DPS says that this is fixed now I waited several PAR software versions before I
attempted this again. I still feel the PAR is a terrific product for the money
but learning its limitations firsthand can make your blood boil.
– Bob Ritger