Disk Backup (to USB) churns ... for days/weeks!

[jfkelley]

   

I'm about to give up.  My Terastation Live has already burned through a new USB drive and through one of it's hard drives. 

 

When I start a backup job, it runs and runs and runs and runs...  Last job I started ran for like 3 days before I rebooted the TS.  

 

I watch the disk utilization on the USB drive while this is happening and it climbs, and climbs, then drops a bit, drops a bit more, then climbs some, etc.

 

I've tried various TYPES of backup.  I've reformatted the USB hard drive.  I've downloaded the latest firmware to the TS, all to no avail.

 

Has anyone else had a problem like this?  Is it just hopeless?  Should I just devote my computer's CPU (and network bandwidth) to doing periodic backups of my TS to USB "manually"?

 

 

[jfkelley]

   

Incidentally, based on the variety of perplexing attempts to describe different back options in different software programs (the TS help system having one of the more opaque descriptions)[*], I suspect most mainstream users have difficulty understanding the implications of the various approaches. 

 

1. It would be nice to have a more understandable explanation of the the implications of the options for TS.

2. Someone should fix the firmware so the options are not ambiguous.  When I click the pulldown, I get:

 

Normal Backup

Overwrite Backup (Complete/Differential)

Overwrite Backup (Complete/Differential)

Overwrite Backup (Append Backup)

Overwrite Backup (Differential Backup)

 

What is the difference between options 2 and 3???

 

[*] I inadvertantly said something funny here.  I said the TS description in the help was opaque, meaning confusing.  It's funny because one of the usability problems I have with the help system is that the pop-up windows are translucent, NOT opaque, and, hence, difficult to read!

[Jason]

   Is your PCast media server enabled?

[jfkelley]

   Yes, it HAD been enabled.  I had thought it would help with my iTunes, but I don't think it does anything for me, so I just disabled it.

[Jason]

   That should stop the continious disk usage on the linkstation then.

[jfkelley]

   

Yes, turning off the media thing did stop continuous disk churning on the TS itself, HOWEVER...

 

I still cannot get backup to work.  Backup just churns and churns.  If I watch the space available on the USB backup, it goes up, then down, then up, then down, forever (or until I re-start the TS).

 

I have a new USB drive (since this problem apparently burned out the old one).  I even tried re-formatting that new USB drive - same result.

 

Please help.