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From: David Empson on 15 Mar 2010 19:21
Norm <NOSPAM(a)nospam.invalid> wrote:

> In article <slrnhpt76n.4v6.g.kreme(a)cerebus.local>,
> Lewis <g.kreme(a)gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:
>
> > In message <LMydnYmjLJcbBwPWnZ2dnUVZ_vOdnZ2d(a)speakeasy.net>
> > Norm <NOSPAM(a)nospam.invalid> wrote:
> > > I recently upgraded from a Powerbook G4 15" 1.33GHz to a 15" MBP.
> >
> > > Originally I was thinking about keeping the PB G4 for some types of
> > > travel but more so as a backup Mac. However given my MBP is on Snow
> > > Leopard (as well as Intel vs. PPC), I'm not sure if using the PB G4 as a
> > > backup makes any sense.
> >
> > Not really. Not unless by 'backup' you mean a spare machine that you can
> > check email on, load up websites, etc. I have a G4 backup I use for that
> > (and posting to USENET).
>
> OP back.
>
> What I meant by backup was a machine to use if (no... when) my MBP
> crashes.

It depends on how you intend to do this.

You can't simply clone your MBP's hard drive and expect it to work on
the PBG4. The system won't even boot, because Snow Leopard requires an
Intel Mac.

You also can't clone your home folder onto the PBG4 and expect it to
work.

As a rule, the Library folder inside the home folder contains a lot of
stuff which is specific to a particular version of Mac OS X. Newer Mac
OS X versions can import or update the Library data from an older
version, but an older version of Mac OS X will not be able to make sense
of some parts of the Library data from a newer version.

What you can do is set up the PBG4 with the applications you might need
to use (licences permitting), copy any documents you need, and possibly
use synchronization software (such as ChronoSync) to maintain backup
copies of important documents on the PBG4.

Some applications which store their data inside the Library folder can
be synchronized between different system versions via a MobileMe
account. The main examples here are Mail (account configuration only,
not messages), Address Book and iCal. You can't use simple file copy
mechanisms to synchronize these.

Mail can import messages from another computer, but this is more likely
to encounter problems if you are importing into an older version from a
newer one.

You would be much better off if your "backup computer" was able to run
the same system version. You can then clone your MBP onto it (disk space
permitting), or restore a Time Machine backup onto it.


Your first priority should be an external hard drive which you can use
to do a backup of the MBP. Time Machine is the easiest option and also
gives you multiple backup generations (e.g. you can go back to an
earlier version of a file which may have been modified with some
important data lost, prior to your most recent backup).

The only significant disadvantage of Time Machine is that you can't boot
a computer from the backup or otherwise work with it directly - it has
to be restored somewhere first.

A minor variation would be to set up the backup hard drive as a clone of
the MBP. If done correctly, the resulting backup can be used to boot a
replacement computer, as long as the system on the backup drive is
compatible with the replacement computer (so your PBG4 is out).

The disadvantage of a clone backup is that you only have one generation
of backups. If you do something like delete an important file by
accident and don't discover until after you have updated your clone
backup, then the file is gone. The usual solution to this is to keep
multiple clone backups, which reduces the risk at least for frequently
used files.

I use a combination of the two - a regular Time Machine backup and an
occasional clone backup (to a different hard drive).

--
David Empson
dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz
From: Tom Harrington on 15 Mar 2010 19:42
In article <slrnhptf5a.1o73.g.kreme(a)cerebus.local>,
Lewis <g.kreme(a)gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:

> In message <UqmdnaJWdJLEOwPWnZ2dnUVZ_rudnZ2d(a)speakeasy.net>
> Norm <NOSPAM(a)nospam.invalid> wrote:
> > In article <slrnhpt76n.4v6.g.kreme(a)cerebus.local>,
> > Lewis <g.kreme(a)gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:
>
> >> In message <LMydnYmjLJcbBwPWnZ2dnUVZ_vOdnZ2d(a)speakeasy.net>
> >> Norm <NOSPAM(a)nospam.invalid> wrote:
> >> > I recently upgraded from a Powerbook G4 15" 1.33GHz to a 15" MBP.
> >>
> >> > Originally I was thinking about keeping the PB G4 for some types of
> >> > travel but more so as a backup Mac. However given my MBP is on Snow
> >> > Leopard (as well as Intel vs. PPC), I'm not sure if using the PB G4 as a
> >> > backup makes any sense.
> >>
> >> Not really. Not unless by 'backup' you mean a spare machine that you can
> >> check email on, load up websites, etc. I have a G4 backup I use for that
> >> (and posting to USENET).
>
> > OP back.
>
> > What I meant by backup was a machine to use if (no... when) my MBP
> > crashes.
>
> My MBP hasn't crashed once since I got it last... erm, June? May?

I suspect he meant in case of a catastrophic system failure, such as the
hard drive going to the great bit-bucket in the sky one day.

--
Tom "Tom" Harrington
Independent Mac OS X developer since 2002
http://www.atomicbird.com/
From: Steve Hix on 15 Mar 2010 20:23
In article <LMydnYmjLJcbBwPWnZ2dnUVZ_vOdnZ2d(a)speakeasy.net>,
Norm <NOSPAM(a)nospam.invalid> wrote:

> I recently upgraded from a Powerbook G4 15" 1.33GHz to a 15" MBP.
>
> Originally I was thinking about keeping the PB G4 for some types of
> travel but more so as a backup Mac. However given my MBP is on Snow
> Leopard (as well as Intel vs. PPC), I'm not sure if using the PB G4 as a
> backup makes any sense.
>
> Interested if others have crossed this bridge and what conclusions they
> reached.

With the exception of some intel-only applications, most of what you'd
want to do on your main machine could be done, albeit likely more
slowly, on the backup.

My MBP, for example, won't be going with me in a couple of weeks camping
and taking pictures north of Mendocino; the old TiBook will. It won't
run Aperture 3, but I can nonetheless sort through and prune the daily
take, saving time when I get back.

Upgrading the TiBook's 60GB drive to a 250GB drive is about the only
thing left to do to bring up to what's going to be its last upgrade.
It'll still do the job.
From: Steve Hix on 15 Mar 2010 20:24
In article <UqmdnaJWdJLEOwPWnZ2dnUVZ_rudnZ2d(a)speakeasy.net>,
Norm <NOSPAM(a)nospam.invalid> wrote:

> In article <slrnhpt76n.4v6.g.kreme(a)cerebus.local>,
> Lewis <g.kreme(a)gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:
>
> > In message <LMydnYmjLJcbBwPWnZ2dnUVZ_vOdnZ2d(a)speakeasy.net>
> > Norm <NOSPAM(a)nospam.invalid> wrote:
> > > I recently upgraded from a Powerbook G4 15" 1.33GHz to a 15" MBP.
> >
> > > Originally I was thinking about keeping the PB G4 for some types of
> > > travel but more so as a backup Mac. However given my MBP is on Snow
> > > Leopard (as well as Intel vs. PPC), I'm not sure if using the PB G4 as a
> > > backup makes any sense.
> >
> > Not really. Not unless by 'backup' you mean a spare machine that you can
> > check email on, load up websites, etc. I have a G4 backup I use for that
> > (and posting to USENET).
>
> OP back.
>
> What I meant by backup was a machine to use if (no... when) my MBP
> crashes.

Don't forget to dust the old one off periodically. It's not likely to
see much use otherwise. :}
From: Norm on 15 Mar 2010 22:36
In article <tph-7A6AA2.17425715032010(a)localhost>,
Tom Harrington <tph(a)pcisys.no.spam.dammit.net> wrote:

> I suspect he meant in case of a catastrophic system failure, such as the
> hard drive going to the great bit-bucket in the sky one day.

That is correct. He, make that I, did. ;)

--
Norm
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