wrong folder timestamps when 40,000+ files, xp to freesbd

mcbmcb0 · Post by **mcbmcb0** » Tue May 05, 2009 10:03 am

hello. i've tried syncronize it 3.4.1640 to backup my xp box to a freenas network storage (freebsd based). When i tested it with a smallish backup all worked very well. i like its speed and that it updates the destination folder timestamps to match the source folder timestamps.

But when i backed up my whole 750G HDD it changed the destination folder timestamps to the backup time for folders where any file was overwritten, even for destination folders that existed before the backup. It completed the job and posted no errors. very strange.

given it worked with the smaller test backup i wonder if this is due to the size of the backup - over 40,000 files - tho less than 10% were actually changed/written the destination.

is this a bug?

TonHu · Post by **TonHu** » Tue May 05, 2009 11:23 am

Maybe a samba hickup on the freenas box?

Post by **grigsoft** » Tue May 05, 2009 12:55 pm

As you have stated, Synchronize It! only modifies folder attributes for new created folders. If folder exists, Synchronize It! does not change anything. So I assume it's system default behaviour to update folder date on copying\updating file there.

mcbmcb0 · Post by **mcbmcb0** » Tue May 05, 2009 10:11 pm

i'm not sure about that. it handles folder timestamps fine when i test it with a smallish backup - like 10 folders with 1G files in them. but with the large backup some folders that existed before the backup had their timestamp changed to the backup time. I note your comments that Syncronize it doesn't do that but thats what happened. If it was a samba problem i can't think why that would change a folder date - i would have thought i'd get a broken pipe error or something.

i would be easy to cast it off as the freenas box's fault tho that wouldn't explain why it worked fine with the small backup, nor why other xp based contenders (e.g. toucan, copysync) generally work (tho with their own gremlins). that's why i'm wondering if its a bug. I don't have another xp box with such a large HDD on it to test similar xp->xp backups. can someone else confirm that large (e.g. 750G) backups work fine (xp->xp or xp-> linux)?

I'll test it again when i get time...
thanks for your ideas

Post by **grigsoft** » Wed May 06, 2009 6:35 am

That's easy to check in fact - copy file manually to existing folder. If folder's date will not be changed - I will search for error. But that's default behaviour for NTFS system, as an example.

mcbmcb0 · Post by **mcbmcb0** » Wed May 13, 2009 10:15 am

ok so i found my problem - its about the ufs filesystem and not syncronize it. i'm posting back for the record... and to say its not a fault in syncronize it.
as far as i can tell ufs does not have the 'date created' attribute like ntfs. so when files/folders are copied to ufs from ntfs (and back) the 'date created' becomes the 'date modified'. and so when updating folders, any folder with contents changed will, when viewed from xp, have the date created attribute set as the date modified date. annoying, and not syncronize it's fault.

i hope this helps someone else

Post by **grigsoft** » Wed May 13, 2009 1:09 pm

Thank you!