Home Forums Mac Software Mac Applications TTP & Directory Backup, MMT Please Help

On my wife’s DP 800, 10.4.11, TTP 5.0.6, she too was experiencing the problem with TT Protection>Directory Backup eating up her HD.

I read This Link though there is much of it I don’t understand.

But to the issue…
I turned Directory Backup “off” in the preferences/settings and deleted the contents of Library/Application Support/Techtool Protection.

But when I revisit the TTP/Directory Backup folder, the directory backup is still noted as being in the “on” position.

So, are backups being made or not? Or do I need to constantly monitor the situation? What have I done wrong?

Harv,

I looked in Library/Application Support/Techtool Protection and didn't see any Directory Backup folder. Did you uninstall TTP and reinstall as per Micromat's recommendation? Another thing is to check the size of the TTP Protection folder to see if it is growing. Mine is not (I have the Directory Backup feature turned off).

Jon,

I have been monitoring the TT Protection>Directory Backup folder, and so far, no new backups. Still, I'll continue to monitor the situation for the next few days.

But should I see any unsolicited "growth", I will indeed go the Uninstall route. But as I am now a bit gun-shy, I may wait for the MM fix/updater to be released before I reinstall.

And of course, the wisdom of MMT is (also) held dear.

Just so everyone knows, I found that Directory Backup folder. The complete path is /Library/Application Support/TechTool Protection/(name of hard drive)/Directory Backup. Inside my main drive's Directory Backup folder, I have Directory Backup 2009-12-14-12-18-56 and DirectoryBackup (ON). My three other drives have only DirectoryBackup (ON) but not the other. Directory Backup is turned OFF via TTP's preference pane, just as in your case. The last modification date for all of them is December 14, which is when I reinstalled TTP.

Hopefully, MMT3 will be able to explain.

If the folder that contains the directory backups for a particular volume contains both DirectoryBackup (ON) and DirectoryBackup (OFF), the backups continue to be made and accumulate.

The backups get made because of the presence of the DirectoryBackup (ON) file. As new ones are made, old ones are not deleted, because of the presence of DirectoryBackup (OFF). Clearly, both files should not be present. I do not know how one acquires both files, but the problem will be fixed in the next release.

If only DirectoryBackup (ON) is present, new backups are made and only the three most recent ones are kept.

If only DirectoryBackup (OFF)is present, new backups should not be made.

To reiterate: Directory Backup is turned OFF via the TTP preference pane. Yet, DirectoryBackup(ON) shows up in the TT Protection folder. No new backups are being made: The last time the file was modified was December 14, when I uninstalled TTP and reinstalled.

Try deleting DirectoryBackup(ON), then go to the preference pane and reselect whether you want the backups to be on or off for that volume. See if only the correct file, DirectoryBackup(ON) or DirectoryBackup(OFF), appears in the folder containing the backups.

DirectoryBackup(ON) re-appeared when I turned it ON (via the preference pane) but it never changed to OFF when I turned it OFF (via the preference pane). It remained DirectoryBackup(ON).

If you want the feature to be off for that volume, try changing the name of the file from DirectoryBackup(ON)to DirectoryBackup(OFF).

OK, I did it. Directory Backup was apparently off despite the fact that ON was in the file name. I base that upon the last modification date. Am I missing something?

Wait a few hours, and see if the feature works as it should, keeping only the last three backups and not making any new ones if the feature is off, and making a new one onschedule and deleting the oldest one if the feature is on, keeping only a total of three backups for each volume.

Right now, the DirectoryBackup (OFF) file is there (and it should be, since I renamed it) but so is a DirectoryBackup (ON) file (this one is new). The first was last modified Dec. 14 (and that is as it should be because I merely renamed the file) and the second was last modified today at 1:38 PM, EST. Both files are 0 Kb in size.

Inside the main drive folder is a file named Directory Backup 2010-01-22-12-08-30 that was last modified today at 12:09 PM and it takes up 727 MB. Also, there is a file named Directory Backup 2009-12-14-12-18-56, last modified December 14 and also occupying 727 MB. How do I know if there are only three backups? Why are these backups being made when I turned this feature off?

Please use the TechTool Pro installer to uninstall the program, and then reinstall it and choose whether you want the Protection feature to be active for the various volumes.

After you have reinstalled the program, if you do not want the Protection feature to be on for a particular volume, please make sure that DirectoryBackup (ON) is not present in the folder containing the backups for that volume.

There is more than the presence of the DirectoryBackup (ON) and DirectoryBackup (OFF) files controlling this feature. The relevant plist file is not something I can support editing. I am sorry for the trouble. This should be fixed in the next release.

I wonder if putting that protection folder inside the /Library/Caches/ folder instead might offer an advantage over the /Library/Application Support/ folder. [i.e., at least in the Caches location, Time Machine would exclude those large (and frequently-changing) data items from its backup routine automatically.]

OK, uninstalled and reinstalled but this will be the second time that I have done this. When will the updated version of TTP be released?
Sorry to be obtuse, but does this mean that I should trash that file? It is present (after reinstallation) in all the folders for all my volumes.

Feedback for MicroMat (not MMT3)

Truly, this is meant to be constructive and I hope MM senior management does not conclude I skipped my meds.

FWIW, my 2¢:

This problem caused me needless expense. I foolishly thought my external HD was failing so I bought a new, larger HD. It was only after I recalled a month old post that referred to the problem that I (finally) learned that the genesis of the problem was MM. (I had over 100 GB worth of repetitive Directory Backups.)

Like most others, I frequent several other forums and do not recall every post I read, or even comment on.

What I (really) think MM should have done.

1. Made a public announcement (to all the major Mac news sites) acknowledging this serious problem, the fix/workaround, and an estimated resolution date.
2. Include the above in bold font on the MM home Page and in the ReadMe.
3. Send an appropriate email to all registered users of TTP.

No doubt there are hundreds (thousands?) of Noobess and Converts suffering needless frustration because they have not happened upon this thread, or one like it.

First, do no harm. Second, if you have a problem, get in front of it.

Well, you get the idea and I’ve spent my 2¢.

There are in fact very few people who have had this problem of accumulating disk directory backups. I was fortunate to have it myself, and was able to give the programmers detailed information that made it possible to fix the problem in the next version.

Sending announcements by email is ineffective, because so many people have changed their addresses since they registered the software.

We have our own forums, which are checked frequently.

Forums are now the major means by which software publishers provide information to their customers. If you did not suspect that the problem was related to TechTool Pro, you could have posted one of the frequent “where did my disk space go” questions, and someone would have suggested using Baseline. It would have shown the large size of the folder containing the disk directory backups. In my case, the Volume Usage feature of TechTool Pro itself warned me that my startup volume was becoming full, and Baseline showed where the unusually large folder was.

I am sorry that you made what might have been a needless purchase, but if you do not already have an off-site backup, this would be a good time to add one to your backup strategy.

I do have TTPro 5 running on OS 10.6.2 and have without flaw. I do see the "Volume Usage feature of TechTool Pro itself warned me" every time I start up one of my external drives with 6 partitions. I have one partition pretty full and it's not because of TTPro so I know that the Volume feature works.

That being said, I don't think the solution is to fill the Clouds with needless backups generated by a faulty software program, nor do I disagree with Pendragon when he suggest that a Heads Up was in order. You have no idea how many problems this issue has generated or how many you could have avoided by a simple courtesy.
It is the responsibility of the software owner to keep the contact info up-to-date and I know very well if you had sent a Heads-up to me I would have received it, as I suspect Pendragon would have as well.

This is not a good sign, nor a responsible solution from a company that we depend on. My 2¢

As far as I can tell, only a few people out of thousands have had this problem. A visit to our forums would have provided people with the workaround.

I have asked about sending out email notices of problems, and have been told that too much of the email is undeliverable. I have also had people scream at me at trade shows that email sent by us was “spam”.

Without jumping into the fray, let me ask you to answer the question in my previous post. I added it as an edit so you may have seen the original but not the edited version.

Here's another question: Do you know why some people have the problem but not others? FWIW, I started having this issue after upgrading from Leopard to Snow Leopard. I don't recall any problem with TTP and Leopard.

I do not know why a few people, myself included, have had this problem while thousands have not. My own instance of the problem arose after I did an erase and install of Snow Leopard, but that may be irrelevant.

There is one more report of it in our forums today. In this report, the DirectoryBackup (OFF) file gets rewritten after the user deletes it. I have asked the user to uninstall and reinstall the program.

If you want the feature to be on, then only DirectoryBackup (ON) should be present. If you want the feature off, then only DirectoryBackup (OFF) file should be present. If deleting the unwanted file does not work, then the program should be uninstalled and reinstalled, using the TechTool Pro installer. The Uninstall feature is the other choice in the pop-up menu that defaults to Easy Install.

I do not know when the next version will be available, and would not be able to post it if I did. All I can say is that it is coming along.

Thank you. DirectoryBackup (ON) is present even though it is turned off. That was the case the first time that I uninstalled and reinstalled as well. It appears that no directory backups are being made, so it is, apparently, really OFF. Uninstalling and reinstalling does not change this.

I used the Upgrade method to install Snow Leopard, unlike you, so the method of installation of the OS seems to be irrelevant to this situation, as you surmised. In the meantime, I am keeping TTP installed since nothing untoward appears to be happening. I will install the update as soon as it is available.

You are welcome, and I hope that the update will solve this problem completely.