How to back up PP Software?
I've had PP about 2 yrs now, bought a new controller from Tormach with PP already installed on the hard drive.
But I'm wondering how to re-install PP from a backup onto a new PC if this controller should fail.
Buying a new controller from Tormach (if it happens) is not an option anymore, but as this came pre-installed without any program CD or thumb drive to re-install the program onto another computer, how would I do it?
Is it possible to make a backup of the program, or how would I install again from scratch onto an empty drive?
Re: How to back up PP Software?
I think install from scratch with usb is always best. And restore backup data and settings if possible. A new box would almost require this.
I replaced my controller about same time as you and my unit arrived with no cd rom :) . After reading this I remembered having PP on usb from first release and all the updates, so it would be possible.
Not easy tho.
Re: How to back up PP Software?
If you're not afraid of using some software there is a product called Clonezilla (free) that will do the job. I keep a live version of it on a USB drive and use it to backup/restore my machines to a NAS location - Quick and easy...
Using Clonezilla you can make your backup to just about anything such as a SD card, USB drive or another HD drive right on your machine. If your machine is networked then you could make backups to another computer, NAS, or even your router if it has some storage on it.
Re: How to back up PP Software?
The easy way is to use teh PP backup routine to backup teh important stuff . IF you do not have a PP 2.0 install USB stick then buy one. They are cheap. TO use on a new PC insert teh usb stick and boot teh PC let it install teh PP2.0 then update teh PC to the latest verion of PP found on teh Website. Then run teh restore function to recover your backed up data.
This can save you the hardship of dealing with permissions in Linux as teh Installs setup everything properly.
This does assume that you are already running the teh PP 2 version software.
Just a thought, (;-) TP
Re: How to back up PP Software?
My old puter used as controller had front load ssd drive bays. Used one for pp and one for Mach. Going to pull it and install on new controller make it easy to setup a backup ssd for use and swap out if required.
Re: How to back up PP Software?
Thank you for the replies.
I guess I'll have to buy the USB install stick for a backup. Which is a pain, as it'll end up costing me twice as much as the sticker price to get it delivered to the UK
Does make you wonder why they don't give you an install CD when you buy the original controller though.
Re: How to back up PP Software?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Peter Neill
Does make you wonder why they don't give you an install CD when you buy the original controller though.
PP v2 will no longer fit on a CD ...
So the standard PP v2 install does include some routines to help save user settings & tool tables. However, unless you move them off your controller they are subject to be lost if your installation fails to boot for whatever reason. Also, hidden from the user, there are some options for backing-up your installation to a reserved partition on your HD via the GRUB menu.
Code:
Start PathPilot by Tormach
Alternative Linux Kernels (Tormach Use Only)
PathPilot Disk Restore (Advanced Use Only)
Code:
Option 1: Restore to PathPilot Factory Default (Caution! erases settings, tool table, and gcode)
Option 2: Backup PathPilot Installation to Restore Partition (including settings, tool, table and gcode)
Option 3: Restore from PathPilot backup created via Option 2
Note: Unless you actually use Option 2, Option 3 is not going to get back any settings and/or gcode.
So under the hood these options are really being carried out by CloneZilla via some scripts that Tormach wrote.
As far as I know Tormach does not document any of this but as far as I'm concerned it's a moot point because none of this really helps you when your controller will not boot. Also, it does not allow you to duplicate the installation on to another device or allow you to back it up to a secure location.
In order to access the GRUB menu you can try pressing the "ESC" or "Shift" key during boot. If that fails, like on my machines, you will need to edit the GRUB file as follows. While PP is running open a terminal window using the keys "Ctrl+Alt+x". In the terminal we need to perform the following commands:
Code:
sudo nano /etc/default/grub
Code:
GRUB_TIMEOUT=0 to GRUB_TIMEOUT=10
The GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0 should be commented out with #
Save your changes then run then reboot the controller.
I've have never used these functions but I would assume they work. I instead use the LIVE Clonezilla USB stick because it offers more functionally allowing you to make useful backups to a secure location. This way if the controller does not boot I can fix the problem or replace the controller & be back running exactly where I left off.
If you're running a standalone controller without any networking I would make a LIVE CloneZilla stick & use it to create a duplicate HD (SSD preferably), or, create an image of your controller onto another USB drive.
Since my machines are networked, and I have a NAS on that network, I use CloneZilla to make a backup image to my NAS. These backups only consume about 5 GB each.
There is plenty of information on how to use Clonezilla on the internet.
Re: How to back up PP Software?
In general, the only things you need to back up are the files in the /home/operator directory.
You can put a USB stick in, and copy all the files from /home/operator onto there. You can't do this in PathPilot itself, though; you have to do it in the shell.
If you ever need to restore on top of a new install of PathPilot, you should be able to just copy it all back in place, replacing whatever is there by default, and all your tool tables and files should be present.
Making sure to have occasional backups is important.
(Personally, I add a crontab that uses "rsync" to copy a copy of the operator home directory to my regular file server. Easy to set up if you know Linux; not something you could do on your own without that knowledge, though.)
Re: How to back up PP Software?
ADMIN BOOTMENU ON seems to do all the grub stuff for you right from the MDI line.
Re: How to back up PP Software?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
old-cnc-geek
ADMIN BOOTMENU ON seems to do all the grub stuff for you right from the MDI line.
That does indeed work and is good to know. Unless I'm not reading in the right places I will certainly add that to my book of undocumented things ...
Thanks!
