I wish to take back up of MARK V system... What are the resources needed?? Will it need more than one 3.25" floppy or one is enough?? Can the backup be taken online?? will I have to exit the IDOS to take backup or can it be taken from IDOS itself??

Thanks and regards,
Rahul

 

As best I can remember, it takes us about 6 diskettes (zipped) to backup two units. One CT and one ST. I don't think you need to exit from IDOS, just get everything under F: drive.

 

It is assumed you are trying to back-up the unit-specific files on the F: drive. It is easiest to use file compression software, such as PKZIP, which is usually present on most <I>s (sometimes in multiple locations...).

You will need to exit to the command (DOS) prompt. You do NOT need to exit IDOS on an <I> to copy F: drive files to floppy disk(s). (HMI users will usually need to stop TCI to copy files to a CD or compress them.)

IF you have a "clean" F: drive (meaning not a lot of left-over .IMG files or VIEWn data files or a lot of .BAK files or other extraneous files), it is generally possible to copy up the entire F: drive to a single floppy disk using PKZIP.

Start at the root of F: drive with the following command:

PKZIP -ex -x*.bak ROOT.F00

[NOTE: PKZIP is case-sensitive! Type the commands as shown.]
This will compress all the files in the root of F: drive except those with a .BAK filename extension to a single file called ROOT.F00, then copy the file to the floppy.

Change to the RUNTIME directory and type the following command:

PKZIP -ex -x*.bak RUNTIME.FRU

This will compress all the files in the RUNTIME directory except those with a .BAK filename extension to a single file called RUNTIME.FRU, then copy the file to the floppy.

Change to the UNIT1 directory and type the following command:

PKZIP -ex -pr -x*.bak UNIT.FU1

This will compress all the files (except ones with a .BAK filename extension) in BOTH the UNIT1 and UNIT1/PROM subdirectory into a single file called UNIT.FU1--and, the PROM subdirectory files will be stored such that they can be unzipped back to a PROM subdirectory. Copy the file to the floppy.

Again, assuming there are no large .IMG files or VIEWn data files and the like, everything will generally fit onto a single floppy. In some cases, large CSP.PRN and CSP_XREF.PRN files will cause the compressed file to be too large to fit on a single floppy. (If there are also CSP2.PRN and CSP2XREF.PRN or *.FIX files, they will also cause the UNIT.FU1 file to be too large to fit on a floppy.) Also, if there are already compressed files existing in the directory(s), they will not allow the resulting compressed file to fit on a floppy. Use the exclude command ( -x ) to exclude unnecessary files, and use PKZIP to create separate compressed files for .PRN files and copy them to floppy.

You can repeat the unit-specific directory commands for any other units; just change to the next unit directory and use that number in the new filename (e.g., UNIT.FU2 for UNIT2, etc.).

To unzip the UNIT.FUn files into directories with PROM subdirectories, type the following command:

PKUNZIP -d UNIT.FUn, where n is the proper unit number.

[NOTE: PKUNZIP is also case-sensitive.]

If you wish to back up the G: drive stuff, you will need to "span" multiple floppies with PKZIP to get all the G:\EXEC files onto floppy. It usually takes about three floppies to back-up all the G: drive files. If you need the commands for that, add a post to this thread--BUT, specify the version of PKZIP to be used.