Backup Memory Cards with BlueSync

Posted By: Ed Wednesday, December 12, 2001 3:10:18 PM

Many owners of handhelds with expansion cards are nervous about the fact that the Palm Desktop backs up the contents of the handheld's internal memory but not the card. If the memory card is lost, so are its contents. As applications become more expansion card aware, this is becoming even more critical.

Enter BlueSync, a new app that makes a backup of the contents of all memory cards onto the PC during each HotSync.

The application also works both ways. It does a full synchronization with a folder on the PC, allowing the user to copy files into a PC folder, HotSync, and automatically transfer the files to the Memory card.

In order to speed up the synchronization, after the first HotSync, BlueSync transfers only the changed or new files.

It works with all Palm models with VFS support and 8 MB of RAM. It requires a Windows PC; there is no Mac or Linux version.

It comes with a free browser that shows the contents of memory cards.

It is available now for an introductory price of $16.

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Differences?

I.M. Anonymous @ 12/12/2001 3:31:35 PM #
Is this soft different (better or worse) than SyncWizard?
Which are the differences?

RE: Differences?
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/12/2001 3:48:16 PM #
First difference I saw was BlueSync was half the cost.

RE: Differences?
fleegle @ 12/12/2001 4:11:14 PM #
Another difference is that BlueSync automatically backs up the memory card when you HotSync. With SyncWizard, you manually backup the memory card and not during a HotSync.

Poor choice of name

I.M. Anonymous @ 12/12/2001 4:00:19 PM #
Since people will likely soon be syncing via Bluetooth, BlueSync is an awful name for a product that has nothing to do with Bluetooth.


RE: Poor choice of name
PFloyd @ 12/12/2001 4:59:50 PM #
Sounds a lot like BlueNomad too. Makers of BackupBuddy.

RE: Poor choice of name
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/12/2001 6:02:45 PM #
> Since people will likely soon be syncing via
> Bluetooth, BlueSync is an awful name for a product
> that has nothing to do with Bluetooth.

I totally agree - they should change the name of Bluetooth to Redtooth or something.

-W

RE: Poor choice of name
Coyote67 @ 12/12/2001 6:09:44 PM #
Never understood the name bluetooth anyway. Whats that aboot?

---------------------------------------
When you have a Clie shoved up your mouth, you can only talk in vowels.
RE: Poor choice of name
djr @ 12/12/2001 6:42:50 PM #
The word Bluetooth is derived from a tenth century Scandinavian King Harald Blatand Gormsen (940-981). The two words, bla-tand when translated mean blue-tooth. Harald Bluetooth is credited to have united several unruly Scandinavian kingdoms. I wouldn't say that the 21st century technology now brings together 'unruly' companies in its fold in the form of SIG. In effect, Bluetooth technology is supposed to bring together--connect together-- consumer electronics of varying nature and applications

For Dutch Palm-users: http://www.palmclub.nl
RE: Poor choice of name
ardiri @ 12/12/2001 8:32:01 PM #
bla-tand

blå-tänd :)

// az
aaron@ardiri.com
http://www.ardiri.com/

RE: Poor choice of name
mtg101 @ 12/13/2001 4:46:06 AM #
All very well... but doesnt' that sort of get pronounced "bloat-end" ?

Now hoever unpopular Bluetooth is, calling it Bloat-end surely wouldn't help! :-P


Cheers
Russell


---
russ@russb.fsnet.co.uk
---
Diga ao Falante pelos Mortos
---

RE: Poor choice of name
huggy @ 12/13/2001 6:51:53 AM #
You english speakers allways thought the world is made in english *sigh*

-------------- huggy ---------------
RE: Poor choice of name
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/13/2001 11:35:39 AM #
I checked and Blue Squirrel was around a long time before BlueNomad. In fact, maybe BlueNomad tried to copy Blue Squirrel???

Blue Squirrel also has other Blue... programs such as BluePaste.

RE: Poor choice of name
ardiri @ 12/13/2001 12:10:19 PM #
All very well... but doesnt' that sort of get pronounced "bloat-end" ?

bloah-taend :)

// az
aaron@ardiri.com
http://www.ardiri.com/

RE: Poor choice of name
djr @ 12/13/2001 3:29:44 PM #
Sorry Aaron,

I was just copying and pasting and missed the a-å conversion :-)

No offense to our Scandinavian fellows ;-)

- djr

For Dutch Palm-users: http://www.palmclub.nl

Takes too long?

I.M. Anonymous @ 12/12/2001 6:09:45 PM #
Hmmmm PalmOS 4.x hotsyncing a file/program to the external media ALREADY takes YEARS....

Now, backing up stuff from the external media to the pc DURING hotsync, wouldn't that take a millenia?

The Clie's MSImport is way fast using the USB.. it's weird that hotsynching files into external media takes a long time, but sony's MSImport doesn't..

Does this BLUESYNC work like hotsync's 4.x? cuz then, it'd just be a pain in the arse.

RE: Takes too long?
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/12/2001 7:19:33 PM #
I can see it a now in an episode of Star Trek... The captain and crew stumble upon a remote colony where they find corpses in a dust-covered room, gathered around a Palm which... has just finished a hotsync.

Seriously, I found both normal Hotsync and SyncWizard too slow for really big files (over 5Mb), even slightly slower than installing something to the card using the normal install tool. If you use USB, it's not bad, but serial was so slow I would try to sync a 2Mb video to my laptop on the way home, and the laptop battery would die before it was finished!

I found a better solution in a small card reader which lets me do a full card backup (about 50Mb) in about two minutes. I can also throw software in an archive folder on the card and install the programs when I have the time to play. The card reader cost about the same as SyncWizard.

Altema

RE: Takes too long?
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/12/2001 7:46:32 PM #
Yeah.. It's easier to run MSIMPORT/audioplayer Transfer from the Clie and simply copy the directory over, and since it doesn't go though HotSync, it's full USB speeds, just like using a memory stick reader/writer. I'm glad Sony implemented this feature.

Get An SD card reader

I.M. Anonymous @ 12/12/2001 8:19:50 PM #
The fastest and easist way to back up files from an SD card is to get an external SD card reader for your PC if you have an extra USB port. Then the SD card is a removable disk.
Especially with SD cards increasing in capacity, I do not want to have to go through hotsynching to back up the card.
I watch alot of movies on Teal Movie and PalMooVid. I download files >5MB directly to appropriate folders via my SD card reader (Can't wait for a Firewire SD reader, USB seems so slow on big files).

RE: Get An SD card reader
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/12/2001 8:47:09 PM #
This feature is built-in on the Clies (all except s320, i think). when you place the device in the cradle and enable the file transfer mode, the PC recognizes the clie as a removable drive.

i don't own a PC with a memory stick slot, so this comes in handy if i ever decide to buy a sony camera or camcorder.

Not too shabby.

aardvarko @ 12/12/2001 9:31:17 PM #
It copies a LOT faster than SyncWizard as far as I can tell; not quite sure why, but it backed up my USB m505 in about half the time of SyncWizard. (Hey, half the time, half the cost - it makes sense... right. ;-)

One HUGE bug, though - if you don't have a card in the Palm whenst HotSyncing, it crashes the HotSync Manager. It doesn't quietly barf an error message to the log - it CRASHES the HotSync Manager. Poor programming.

Just the same, though, I'm not sure that I'd drop $20 on it. I'm sure that it'd be more useful for other people, but I don't really change the contents of my MMC much.

-aardvarko
webmaster at aardvarko dot com
http://aardvarko.com

RE: Not too shabby.
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/13/2001 12:46:49 PM #
This bug has been fixed in the latest version. Just hit UpdateNow on the desktop app and you will be automatically updated to the latest version.

BackupBuddy has this feature...

I.M. Anonymous @ 12/13/2001 3:13:57 AM #
BlueSync is not offering anything new. BackupBuddy has had this feature for a long time. It is called: "Backup applications and data on expansion cards", in the main options window. Or did I miss something here?

Ta4n,
Cornelis Steinitz
Basel, Switzerland


RE: BackupBuddy has this feature...
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/13/2001 3:39:26 AM #
This feature supports only TRG pro Cards, nothing else right now!

RE: BackupBuddy has this feature...
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/13/2001 4:12:04 AM #
Yes you're right, excuse me. I have never used it. Blue Nomad should update this feature. It would be useful for other moedels if it would work on other cards.

Ta4n,
Cornelis

RE: BackupBuddy has this feature...
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/13/2001 11:17:00 AM #
Blue Nomad assures me they are updating this soon. Even sooner now that Blue Squirrel beat them to it.

RE: BackupBuddy has this feature...
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/13/2001 11:24:03 AM #
The "expansion cards" mentioned is currently only for Handspring Visor modules. The files are backed up on the PC under their own directory (under the user name). - ml

RE: BackupBuddy has this feature...
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/13/2001 11:44:27 AM #
FROM FAQ:

I have selected to backup data in expansion cards. Why doesn't BackupBuddy backup my SD/MM card or MemoryStick?

BackupBuddy isn't able to backup the SD/MM cards at this time. We are planning on adding this support and hope to release a new version with this feature. The "backup expansion cards" feature was there for use with Visor expansion modules before SD cards came out.

RE: BackupBuddy Hybernating
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/13/2001 12:45:31 PM #
I think theyre sleeping right now. they should update the SD support. Theres just too many conduits right now and i dont wanna addd anything more.

btw Bluesync crashed my m505. it had fatal error when it just started backing up..nothing was backedup. its a useless piece of ****. Syncwizard is no better bcoz it only backsup a specific folder and not the whole card,,,but hey! at least it works.

i dont know if its a conflict with other conduits..but i feel that i have just been betatested.

graphite101

RE: BackupBuddy has this feature...
NRowe @ 12/13/2001 3:12:34 PM #
Hah! I'm glad I bought a Sony Vaio desktop some years back. I just pull out my Clie's Memory Stick and copy it on the desktop using the built-in MS drive. 20MB of data only takes about 20 seconds to backup and incidentally this is also the fastest way to copy data onto my Clie (via MS.) But as my friends cheerfully like to point out I exist in a Sony World. Except for the TV, Toshiba has a better reliability record there. Nigel

RE: BackupBuddy has this feature...
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/15/2001 6:38:40 PM #
We (Blue Nomad) are not hibernating ;-)

We started working on this many months ago and hit a HotSync bug, that has yet to be confirmed by Palm. Instead of waiting for a fix, I went ahead and rewrote the affected parts of HotSync Manager. The added benefit of this is that VFS backup won't require OS 4, nor the latest versions of HotSync.

Progress is now coming very rapidly. We hope to have a beta out "real soon" now. ;-)

Alexander Hinds
Blue Nomad, LLC

Crashed my Clie

qurgh @ 12/13/2001 3:43:38 AM #
I saw this review and thought, great I'll try it. I downloaded it and installed it and then had to manually restart my hotsync manager in order to the the condiut in and running. Poped my clie in the cradle, synced the app an hit hotsync again. It started everything else fine, got to bluesync and my Clie crashed :(

I thought, oh, one of problem. Reset the clie, tried it again. It crashed at the same point. So I restared the hotsync manager, reset the clie and tried again. And guess what, it crashed. So I promptly uninstalled it and deleted the app.

Guess this is one I won't be using.

RE: Crashed my Clie
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/13/2001 7:25:05 AM #
Yes, I agree.. I Don't know why, but My M505 has the same problem as that you described... crashes at the same point...

RE: Crashed my Clie
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/13/2001 8:24:08 AM #
Yep Same here on a clie 610C using a serial cradle

RE: Crashed my Clie
mrscarey @ 12/14/2001 9:47:45 AM #
I also had the crash. Patience pays off but I should not have to have gone thru this.....
I looked at the app on the Palm, exited from it and then ran the hotsync again and it hung on cleaning up phase. Tried again without Afterburner running but crashed again. Then tried with no Hackmaster stuff running and it worked okay.
Get that Squirrel working - release a stable product and we'll all be happy. Does what it says on the tin AFTER a bit of effort from the Beta testers, sorry customers.


mrscarey

palmist and visionary

RE: Crashed my Clie
I.M. Anonymous @ 1/9/2002 6:39:14 PM #
Have you tried version 1.1? It claims to have fixed any Clie problems.

I have a Handera 330, and they claim to be working on the Handera version.

With a name like Blue Squirrel, they better have GREAT software.

Trick your Palm with msmount

I.M. Anonymous @ 12/13/2001 9:29:26 AM #
If msmount is installed and enabled, the HotSync manager will back up whatever is in the msmount directory. So a super cheap solution is to move the files you want backed up to the msmount directory, hotsync, and move them back after the HotSync.

Is this really usefull?

TechSport @ 1/14/2002 10:31:27 AM #
I've done a number of hard resets where data was dumped, and I can't think of an occasion where when I did a recovery sync, any programs or data were lost. I'm curious what others think.

BBVFS is updated to 2.01..

Carlis @ 1/14/2002 3:40:11 PM #
The regged user that have dl BBNG and BBVFS.
Check the ver on BBVFS .. is it 2.0 dl the apps again .. they updated it to ver 2.01.

Just a hint... ;)

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