TeraByte Unlimited

Where can I find a listing of which types of file system are supported in TBIView? I have noticed that I can read the file contents of typical Windows formats such as ntfs or fat32, for example, but not of Linux formats such as ext3 or ext4; though I can read ext2. I have changed parts of my system configuration now that I have begun using a few additional devices, and I have to make decisions in regard to which file systems to make use of in some cases, both in Windows and Linux. So, for instance, if I use exfat on a device, which allows me to utilize it in both OSs, would I be able to read the files in TBIView?

In some cases these are fairly large directories, and I would like to have confidence that the backed up image files are valid and recoverable. One easy way I normally do so currently is simply to open the image in TBIView to browse its contents. This method of verification has never failed me in the past, and it seems more efficient than other ways when the file system is one that TBIView can peruse easily enough. In the case of file systems that cannot be read by it, I use other means such as validation during the backup procedure, which is however rather less efficient. Does this kind of approach seem valid generally? Thanks.

P19 wrote:
> Where can I find a listing of which types of file system are supported in
> TBIView? I have noticed that I can read the file contents of typical
> Windows formats such as ntfs or fat32, for example, but not of Linux
> formats such as ext3 or ext4; though I can read ext2. I have changed parts
> of my system configuration now that I have begun using a few additional
> devices, and I have to make decisions in regard to which file systems to
> make use of in some cases, both in Windows and Linux. So, for instance, if
> I use exfat on a device, which allows me to utilize it in both OSs, would I
> be able to read the files in TBIView?
>
> In some cases these are fairly large directories, and I would like to have
> confidence that the backed up image files are valid and recoverable. One
> easy way I normally do so currently is simply to open the image in TBIView
> to browse its contents. This method of verification has never failed me in
> the past, and it seems more efficient than other ways when the file system
> is one that TBIView can peruse easily enough. In the case of file systems
> that cannot be read by it, I use other means such as validation during the
> backup procedure, which is however rather less efficient. Does this kind of
> approach seem valid generally? Thanks.

TBIView supports EXT2/3/4, FAT, FAT32 and NTFS.

If having problems with some of those file systems, make sure that you're using the latest TBIView versions (1.25 Linux, 4.34 Windows).

If that's not the problem, another possibiity is the file permissions issue covered by this KB article:
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/kb/article.php?id=581

.... also make sure you're talking TBIView and not TBIMount - TBIMount only
mounts the drive, whatever file system drivers you have for windows will
make it available.


"P19" wrote in message news:[email protected]...

Where can I find a listing of which types of file system are supported in
TBIView? I have noticed that I can read the file contents of typical Windows
formats such as ntfs or fat32, for example, but not of Linux formats such as
ext3 or ext4; though I can read ext2. I have changed parts of my system
configuration now that I have begun using a few additional devices, and I
have to make decisions in regard to which file systems to make use of in
some cases, both in Windows and Linux. So, for instance, if I use exfat on a
device, which allows me to utilize it in both OSs, would I be able to read
the files in TBIView?

In some cases these are fairly large directories, and I would like to have
confidence that the backed up image files are valid and recoverable. One
easy way I normally do so currently is simply to open the image in TBIView
to browse its contents. This method of verification has never failed me in
the past, and it seems more efficient than other ways when the file system
is one that TBIView can peruse easily enough. In the case of file systems
that cannot be read by it, I use other means such as validation during the
backup procedure, which is however rather less efficient. Does this kind of
approach seem valid generally? Thanks.

> "TBIView supports EXT2/3/4, FAT, FAT32 and NTFS. "

I have a logical partition with ext4 file system. If I have made the backup of it from IFL CD, I cannot see its contents when trying to open it with TBIView in Windows. Instead I get the popup message about "...unsupported file system, etc." However, if I have made the backup of it from within IFW, then I can see it fine with TBIView. In both cases I start TBIView with admin privileges.

validate it to check permissions or just check permissions. There is no
difference creating the file from IFL or IFW. However, you should be
creating it using the IFL boot disk and not an active mounted linux
partition or it will probably be marked dirty and not allow you to open it.


"P19" wrote in message news:[email protected]...

> "TBIView supports EXT2/3/4, FAT, FAT32 and NTFS. "

I have a logical partition with ext4 file system. If I have made the backup
of it from IFL CD, I cannot see its contents when trying to open it with
TBIView in Windows. Instead I get the popup message about "...unsupported
file system, etc." However, if I have made the backup of it from within IFW,
then I can see it fine with TBIView. In both cases I start TBIView with
admin privileges.

TeraByte Support wrote:
> validate it to check permissions or just check permissions. There is no
> difference creating the file from IFL or IFW. However, you should be
> creating it using the IFL boot disk and not an active mounted linux
> partition or it will probably be marked dirty and not allow you to open
> it.
>

Maybe I am doing something wrong in the method of backup, but I cannot for the life of me see what it would be. Still, when I try to open and look at a Linux file system formatted as ext3 or ext4 by using TBI View, whether I have it opened in Windows or in the CD environment of IFL, I cannot get it to mount or view the files. I do not really think it is a permissions issue because when I do these backups, I always include not only the partition with the Linux file system but also the small System partition from Windows, which I am able to mount and view in TBI View. Since these two partitions were backed up simultaneously, it seems to me, surely they must have the same permissions assigned to them. They certainly appear to have the same permissions when i look at them in Linux normally. What I see when looking at these partitions in Linux by using, for example, "ls -la /dev/sdx":

brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 33 Aug 27 03:49 /dev/sdc1 # this is the System Partition

brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 35 Aug 27 03:49 /dev/sdc3 # this is a primary partition with Linux ext4 file system

I don't know that it matters, but I might mention that these Linux partitions are data only, not bootable. The Linux partition with the OS to which they belong is located not on this same disk. However, it is also ext4, and it too cannot be mounted or viewed with IFL after backing it up.

Here is the set of permissions on the partition of the disk on which these backups are put:

brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 1 Aug 27 03:49 /dev/sda1

Finally, here is the set of permission on theTBI files of the backups, which include the System partition and a data-only Linux partition, the former of which I can view and the latter of which I cannot:

-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8536248320 Aug 27 03:49 Backup-w0-0x1-0x3-2014-08-24-0025.TBI

P19 wrote:

> Maybe I am doing something wrong in the method of backup, but I cannot for the life
> of me see what it would be. Still, when I try to open and look at a Linux file system
> formatted as ext3 or ext4 by using TBI View, whether I have it opened in Windows or
> in the CD environment of IFL, I cannot get it to mount or view the files. I do not
> really think it is a permissions issue because when I do these backups, I always
> include not only the partition with the Linux file system but also the small System
> partition from Windows, which I am able to mount and view in TBI View. Since these
> two partitions were backed up simultaneously, it seems to me, surely they must have
> the same permissions assigned to them. They certainly appear to have the same
> permissions when i look at them in Linux normally. What I see when looking at these
> partitions in Linux by using, for example, "ls -la /dev/sdx":
>
> brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 33 Aug 27 03:49 /dev/sdc1 # this is the System
> Partition
>
> brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 35 Aug 27 03:49 /dev/sdc3 # this is a primary
> partition with Linux ext4 file system


These permissions (Linux device file permissions) will not matter, as far as whether TBIView will be able to open the TBI image file.


>
> I don't know that it matters, but I might mention that these Linux partitions are
> data only, not bootable. The Linux partition with the OS to which they belong is
> located not on this same disk. However, it is also ext4, and it too cannot be mounted
> or viewed with IFL after backing it up.
>
> Here is the set of permissions on the partition of the disk on which these backups
> are put:
>
> brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 1 Aug 27 03:49 /dev/sda1


These permissions (Linux device file permissions for partition being backed up to) also don't matter.


>
> Finally, here is the set of permission on theTBI files of the backups, which include
> the System partition and a data-only Linux partition, the former of which I can view
> and the latter of which I cannot:
>
> -rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8536248320 Aug 27 03:49 Backup-w0-0x1-0x3-2014-08-24-0025.TBI

You're always running as root on the IFL boot disk (and permissions are all enabled on that file anyway), so not being able to open this file in TBIView from the IFL Boot Disk would have nothing to do with permissions or ownership. If I understand correctly, that image file contains both an NTFS partition image that you can view, and an ext4 partition image that you can't? If so, what happens when you try to open the ext4 image from TBIView?

Also, is that ext4 partition that you are backing up encrytped? If so, IFL would back up the partition sector by sector, and the image would not be viewable from TBIVIew. If it's just plain ext4, have you checked the file system on it with 'fsck -f /dev/sdXX ' (which should be done with the partition not mounted).

As a double check, I ran a test here where I backed up an ext4 partition and an NTFS partition to one TBI image file (2 images in one file) from the IFL boot disk. After the backup, and still running from the IFL boot disk, I mounted the partition I backed up to (I tested backing up to both an ext4 partition and an NTFS partition) and was able to open and view both images in TBIView from the IFL boot disk. Note: FWIW, the permissions/ownership on the TBI file were the same as you are showing above.

From TVIView in Windows, I was able to open both images (on the NTFS partition), provided I ran it as Administrator. That issue is covered in the KB article:
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/kb/article.php?id=581

and ensure you're not backing up an in-use partition or it will be
(correctly) flagged dirty and unable to open.

"After the backup, and still running from the IFL boot disk,..."

My attempts were not made during the same session while still connected. I normally run the backups at night, and I have it set to turn off the machine after completion. All of these tests from which a problem arises occur on a particular machine, a laptop, and the backed up data comes from its internal disk, which has three primary and one logical partition. The first two partitions are NTFS, consisting of the System and the Windows partitions; and the third primary partition, as well as the fourth logical partition, is Linux ext4. It is a fairly large disk, and I normally make use of either Windows or Linux at one time but not at same time. So I usually back up the partitions separately. Even so, when doing so, I back up the small System partition always at the same time as one of the others. I have noticed that I can always view the System partition in TBIView although I cannot view the ext4 partitions either in Windows or in IFL's CD environment. I do these backups from the internal disk to another, large disk attached to a USB port on this machine.

Last night I did it differently so that I could test it. Instead of backing up to this same external USB device, I attached a different USB enclosure and backed up the same partitions to it, using the System partition and the primary partition with ext4. I got the same result when I tried to look at it: I can see only the System partition in TBI View. Nevertheless, I know that these backups are succeding because even recently I have used one of the ext4 images to restore, and it ended up working perfectly.

When I select the ext4 partition, which are not encrypted, I get a popup error about the reasons why it might not be working, etc. What exactly is this: "...incorrect partition file system identifier..."? I mean, how can I check it? I want to see whether TBI View recognizes it right, or that I have it set to the right type. Thanks.

are you backing up from linux itself? if so, that file system will be
dirty, try backing up from windows or from the boot disk.

the partition file system id should be Linux Native (0x83) - you can use
partinfg (partinfo) to look at the partitions and their file system IDs

"P19" wrote in message news:[email protected]...

"After the backup, and still running from the IFL boot disk,..."

My attempts were not made during the same session while still connected. I
normally run the backups at night, and I have it set to turn off the machine
after completion. All of these tests from which a problem arises occur on a
particular machine, a laptop, and the backed up data comes from its internal
disk, which has three primary and one logical partition. The first two
partitions are NTFS, consisting of the System and the Windows partitions;
and the third primary partition, as well as the fourth logical partition, is
Linux ext4. It is a fairly large disk, and I normally make use of either
Windows or Linux at one time but not at same time. So I usually back up the
partitions separately. Even so, when doing so, I back up the small System
partition always at the same time as one of the others. I have noticed that
I can always view the System partition in TBIView although I cannot view the
ext4 partitions either in Windows or in IFL's CD environment. I do these
backups from the internal disk to another, large disk attached to a USB port
on this machine.

Last night I did it differently so that I could test it. Instead of backing
up to this same external USB device, I attached a different USB enclosure
and backed up the same partitions to it, using the System partition and the
primary partition with ext4. I got the same result when I tried to look at
it: I can see only the System partition in TBI View. Nevertheless, I know
that these backups are succeding because even recently I have used one of
the ext4 images to restore, and it ended up working perfectly.

When I select the ext4 partition, which are not encrypted, I get a popup
error about the reasons why it might not be working, etc. What exactly is
this: "...incorrect partition file system identifier..."? I mean, how can I
check it? I want to see whether TBI View recognizes it right, or that I have
it set to the right type. Thanks.