Time Machine restores case-sensitive backup to a case-insensitive FS

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Time Machine restores case-sensitive backup to a case-insensitive FS

Hi,

I am having trouble restoring a case-sensitive Time Machine backup. The problem apparently occurs because:

- TM restores my system to a case-insensitive filesystem (HFS+), while my original system and its TM backup are on case-sensitive filesystems (HFSX).

- My system has one directory which contains, amongst others, SSL.3ssl.gz and ssl.3ssl.gz (note the case difference).

When trying to restore the second file (ssl.3ssl.gz), the TM restore process (started from the install DVD) exits with an error.

This happens with the install DVDs of MacOS X 10.6.0 and MacOS X 10.6.3.

The files that caused problems for me are in /usr/share/man/man3:

HMAC.3ssl.gz
MD5.3ssl.gz
MDC2.3ssl.gz
PEM.3ssl.gz
RC4.3ssl.gz
SHA.3ssl.gz
SSL.3ssl.gz
hmac.3ssl.gz
md5.3ssl.gz
mdc2.3ssl.gz
pem.3ssl.gz
rc4.3ssl.gz
sha.3ssl.gz
ssl.3ssl.gz

I unfortunately don't have the logs anymore. When the TM restore process stops, it opens a log window. This window doesn't say much. Going to the Console app gave more details on what happened, which allowed me to see which file was causing a problem.

I removed the uppercase files (HMAC.3ssl.gz, etc.) from my system & TM backup. Restoring then works, except that the restore system is again on a case-insensitive FS.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Oct 24, 2010 6:41 AM

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Answer 1

RenaudDetry Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 24, 2010 6:56 AM in response to RenaudDetry

One more thing: here's a small script that checks whether a filesystem has case-conflicting files:

http://tinyurl.com/2ereggw

(it checks all subdirs of the current working directory)

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Answer 2

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Oct 24, 2010 7:26 AM in response to RenaudDetry

RenaudDetry wrote:
Hi,

I am having trouble restoring a case-sensitive Time Machine backup. The problem apparently occurs because:

- TM restores my system to a case-insensitive filesystem (HFS+), while my original system and its TM backup are on case-sensitive filesystems (HFSX).

Did you format your internal HD to be case-sensitive? If not, that's the reason.

When you do a full system restore, the first thing that Time Machine does is to erase the destination volume -- it does not change the format.

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Answer 3

RenaudDetry Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 24, 2010 12:21 PM in response to Pondini

Yes, my system, which is on the internal HD, is on a an HFSX volume.

Although both the system volume and the TM volume are HFSX, TM formats the destination volume to HFS+. In my case, it does unfortunately change the format.

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Answer 4

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Oct 24, 2010 3:40 PM in response to RenaudDetry

HFSX doesn't necessarily mean case-sensitive; it just means it can be case-sensitive.

You might be able to format the drive to case-sensitive, install OSX on it, then use +Setup Assistant+ when it reboots to transfer your apps, users, data, etc.

I'm assuming you really need a case-sensitive disk; OSX generally doesn't much like it.

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Answer 5

RenaudDetry Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 25, 2010 9:11 AM in response to Pondini

Pondini wrote:
HFSX doesn't necessarily mean case-sensitive; it just means it can be case-sensitive.

Right, I stand corrected on this 🙂

Let me rephrase:

All the partitions of my internal HD, and all the partition of my external HD are case-sensitive.

When I try to restore the system to an empty partition, TM starts by formatting it to case-INsensitive, hence the title of this post.

Renaud.

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Answer 6

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Oct 25, 2010 9:41 AM in response to RenaudDetry

RenaudDetry wrote:
. . .
All the partitions of my internal HD, and all the partition of my external HD are case-sensitive.

When I try to restore the system to an empty partition, TM starts by formatting it to case-INsensitive, hence the title of this post.

Yes, I understand (I'm very surprised for it to do that, and haven't tested it myself to see if it's something unique to your setup).

Have you tried formatting to case-sensitive, installing OSX from a disc, then using +Setup Assistant+ (not a full system restore)? That may work.

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Answer 7

RenaudDetry Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 4, 2010 5:27 AM in response to Pondini

Have you tried formatting to case-sensitive, installing OSX from a disc, then using +Setup Assistant+ (not a full system restore)? That may work.

Restoring through Setup Assistant does not produce an exact copy of the original system.

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Answer 8

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Nov 4, 2010 7:18 AM in response to RenaudDetry

RenaudDetry wrote:

Have you tried formatting to case-sensitive, installing OSX from a disc, then using +Setup Assistant+ (not a full system restore)? That may work.

Restoring through Setup Assistant does not produce an exact copy of the original system.

Exactly; it will get everything +*except OSX.+* That's what it's for! And why it may accomplish what you want.

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Answer 9

Nov 5, 2010 5:52 AM in response to Pondini

Pondini wrote:

RenaudDetry wrote:

...

When I try to restore the system to an empty partition, TM starts by formatting it to case-INsensitive, hence the title of this post.

Yes, I understand (I'm very surprised for it to do that, and haven't tested it myself to see if it's something unique to your setup).

Have you tried formatting to case-sensitive, installing OSX from a disc, then using +Setup Assistant+ (not a full system restore)? That may work.

FWIW, I just found this the hard way. Did a full Time Machine restore onto a filesystem that was previously journaled, case-sensitive, and in the process ended up with journaled, case-INsensitive.

Not sure if setting up the partition as a fresh one with Disk Utility just before starting the TM restore could have changed the behaviour - I suspect it won't, sadly...

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Answer 10

Dec 3, 2010 7:29 PM in response to RenaudDetry

I can confirm this also .The Time Machine restore process reformats a case-sesntive file system to case insensitive when it begins. This causes the restore to crash.

As this is a confirmed bug, does anyone know how this can be formally reported to Apple?

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Answer 11

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Dec 3, 2010 10:03 PM in response to noisymime

See: [Reporting a Problem to Apple|http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/BugReport.html].

In the meantime, have you tried formatting the drive to case-sensitive, installing OSX, then using +Setup Assistant+ to transfer everything else?

Message was edited by: Pondini

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Answer 12

Dec 4, 2010 2:03 PM in response to Pondini

Thanks Pondini, I've logged a detailed bug report up.

I tried the fresh install + Migration Assistant and this has seemed to mostly work. A few apps required reinstalling and the 1.1gb of updates was a little frustrating, but other than that its a good workaround.

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Answer 13

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Dec 4, 2010 2:20 PM in response to noisymime

Ah, good to have that confirmed -- it will probably come up again. Case-sensitive systems are quite rare (OSX really doesn't much like them), but a few folks run them.

Did you use +Setup Assistant+ or +Migration Assistant?+ If you set up a user account, then used +Migration Assistant,+ double-check that the transferred user accounts have the proper permissions to files on other disks, including your backups.

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Answer 14

Dec 4, 2010 2:36 PM in response to Pondini

Pondini wrote:
Ah, good to have that confirmed -- it will probably come up again. Case-sensitive systems are quite rare (OSX really doesn't much like them), but a few folks run them.

Did you use +Setup Assistant+ or +Migration Assistant?+ If you set up a user account, then used +Migration Assistant,+ double-check that the transferred user accounts have the proper permissions to files on other disks, including your backups.

Sorry it probably was Setup Assistant. Whatever the one that is part of the OSX installer process is. ie I didn't create a user and then copy things over.

Interestingly, when I reinstalled I did it onto a case INsensitive filesystem and things still seem to have gone fine with the migration.

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Answer 15

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Dec 4, 2010 2:56 PM in response to noisymime

noisymime wrote:
. . .
Sorry it probably was Setup Assistant. Whatever the one that is part of the OSX installer process is. ie I didn't create a user and then copy things over.

Ah, good. The other way can cause some problems.

Interestingly, when I reinstalled I did it onto a case INsensitive filesystem and things still seem to have gone fine with the migration.

Great!

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