New Version of SuperDuper! and DiskMaker X

[honestone]

A couple of important updates were released earlier today:

1. SuperDuper! V3.2.4, available from here: https://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

For those that own SuperDuper! already, you will most likely be prompted that new version is available, and thus one can upgrade "in place". However, even in those cases (like myself), it is still a good idea to download the V3.2.4 file separately and keep it somewhere.

2. DiskMaker X V8.0.1, available from here: https://diskmakerx.com/

That program is an easy, proven, effective, and excellent way to make a separate bootable flash drive for Mojave. (There are versions of it available for earlier versions of the Mac OS). Of course, one will need the latest Mac OS installation file from the App Store, but that can be done easily enough.

 

[Gus81]

I purchased SuperDuper to automate backups on my wireless network. SuperDuper cannot handle external usb drives larger than 2 TB. See below the discussion I had with Dave at Shirt Pocket. Dave says there is no difference between Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper. We'll have to agree to disagree. Carbon Copy Cloner worked without problem.


SuperDuper has problems:

Dave,

There REALLY IS a difference. I lived through the difference. I’ve been using computers for 30+ years. I know my way around. I don’t know everything, that’s why I emailed you for your help which hasn’t helped. Your response to my specific problem is a bit blind to what others say about SuperDuper and CCC. Even if I could get SuperDuper to work, I don’t want to anymore because I won’t put anymore time into it or these chit chat emails. Your customer service was great right up until your last email. My computer may present challenges to SuperDuper, but you should be willing to admit SuperDuper may not be good at handling this particular challenge. CCC handled it without any problem. I’m not having any chit chat with CCC. It wan’t needed. It worked without any of this fuss. Enough already!

Have a great weekend. I finally will because I stopped trying to get SuperDuper to work.

Have a good life.

js


On 4 TB
-See paragraph 2 in my previous message. Clones are supposed to boot, start, run,…, the computer, right?

Booting a computer refers to the process of powering on the computer and starting the operating system. ... The boot process loads the operating system into main memory or the random access memory (RAM) installed on your computer.

The SuperDuper clone wouldn’t boot. It’s on the 4 TB USB drive but for some reason it isn’t in a form that works whereas CCC on the same 4 TB USB drive does.

On 4 TB
1. Restart with Option key to bring up Startup Manager. Only disk that appears is internal hard disk, doesn’t show SuperDuper Clone on USB disk.
2. Preferences, Startup Disk, SuperDuper Clone on USB disk appears. Select as Startup Disk. Restart, grinds and grinds and then starts ups with the internal startup disk. USB disk not recognize by laptop OS.
3. CCC works with same attempts as 1 & 2 above.

On 1.5 TB
Works with both SuperDuper and CCC.

js

On Apr 27, 2019, at 7:45 AM, Shirt Pocket Support <(e-mail address removed)> wrote:
There really is no difference between what CCC is doing here, and what we're doing. Really.

When you say it "wouldn't boot" with APFS, what exactly happened?

I'm sorry you had to spend time doing this, but there are vagaries involved in how hardware interacts with software and firmware. Sometimes a drive isn't spinning up quickly enough. Sometimes files are *just* outside of a boundary by sheer coincidence.
--
Dave Nanian
Shirt Pocket


-----Original Message-----
Date: Sat, 27 Apr 2019 06:46:14 -0600
To: "Shirt Pocket Support" <(e-mail address removed)>
Subject: Re: (Case 271574) Support Request, clone does not show up in startup manager.

Dave,

I did move it to “the other end” of the drive and it still doesn’t work. As I told you, I already have it on a smaller 1.5 TB drive that works. It won’t work on the 4 TB drive. If I option boot, it doesn’t show up. I see it in Prefs, choose it with Startup Disk, but it won’t when selected.

I wanted to use it on a larger drive to run and backup automatically via my wireless router so it would always be up to date. No joy. I am backing up a laptop that doesn’t have a USB drive plugged into it all the time. I lost some data recently and that is why I want the wireless continuous backup going on as well with SuperDuper auto and TimeMachine auto both running continuously. I also want backup on a drive I carry with me. I travel quite a bit.

After trying it on the 4 TB drive with 3 newly formatted volumes (APFS) with nothing else on the other 2 volumes and it still wouldn’t boot. I erased, reset with 3 partitions and used CCC to make the same clone and it worked. I loaded TimeMachine and it works as well. Yay!

I know I have an old laptop. It works just fine for what I do day in and day out. CCC worked with a lot less time and effort for some reason.

I appreciate your quick followups. Great service! But, as I have said, I burned way too many hours trying to get SuperDuper to work. What you’re talking about you already offer for free, that’s what I have on the 1.5 TB drive. What I want I can’t get to work on the 4 TB drive. That is why I asked about the refund. I’m not getting what I paid for. Believe me, the time I’ve put in to get SuperDuper to work is worth way more than what I paid .

There may be some final solution that proves “there’s nothing wrong with SuperDuper here”, but that’s not a GOOD solution. My old laptop, my middle aged dog Gus and I are done searching for it.

js

On Apr 27, 2019, at 5:52 AM, Shirt Pocket Support <(e-mail address removed)> wrote:

Then you'll want to move the partition to the other end of the drive, Jon.

There's nothing wrong with SuperDuper here. The problem is with your Mac and your drive... note that another option is to install macOS to a thumb drive, along with SuperDuper. You can boot from that and restore the SD! copy in full - you just can't boot to it on a drive where the volume starts past 2TB due to the BIOS limitations in your Mac.
--
Dave Nanian
Shirt Pocket