4GB / 4096MB - Issue with FAT32

[MichelG]

Hello everyone, it seems to be a major bug in the way Backup4All Pro 9.9 860 when you need to split the ZIP files to 4GB in order to fit into a FAT32 drive.

Usually the maximum file size in FAT32 is : 4 294 967 296 bytes - 1 byte (according to Microsoft) => 4 294 967 295 bytes, but Backup4All creates 4 294 967 296 bytes files, which can not be saved to a FAT32 drive. I tried a workaround using 4096MB, but the problem remained the same.

Could you please fix this issue, as it is a real problem. I do backups remotely, and currently unable to proceed with the 4GB size (I currently use 4095MB as a workaround, and it works fine).

Thanks, Michel

[Adrian (Softland)]

Hi,

We could not reproduce the problem here.
Please send us the last backup log for that job to support[at]backup4all[dot]com

[MichelG]

Hello Adrian ! After extensive testing during all the day, I think I have an explanation :

USB FAT32 32GB locally connected on the PC is seen correctly by Backup4All, automatic split and manual at 4096GB.
But when connected on the LAN, through a Router FritzBox 5490 acting as a NAS, it is seen as an NTFS drive, which makes a confusion either on W10 / W11, or to Backup4All creating a file with the wrong size (I saw when correct, it ends with 294 bytes, when wrong with 296).

Difficult to know at which level the problem arises but it is impacting for sure. It could be interesting to see if with a Windows Server it also happens when the USB FAT32 is a drive available on the LAN. If it is the case, I presume nothing can be done to fix the issue on Softland's side.

When using the LAN transfer, Backup4All starts over again to write the file as it detects an error, and ends into a loop. When using FTP, the drive crashes.

Currently, I have changed the partition format to Ext3 (Linux), and a gain of transmission speed by 30%-50% is seen.

Thanks again for your time and support, and if you have the chance to perform a test with a W2Kxyz Server, it could be interesting to see the results.

Salutari din Elvetia !

[MichelG]

Well... Just did a check with the EXT3 drive, and it is also seen as an NTFS through the LAN.

EXT3 and FAT32 : NTFS !

[Adrian (Softland)]

Hi,

Thanks for the new information you provided.
It seems the problem is outside Backup4all.

[MichelG]

Hello Adrian,

Digging deeper into the problem, I have found an explanation which might help other people having such problem.

Fritzbox is using a linux kernel, so in order to share disks, SAMBA is probably used. According to the information from the URL below the situation is as follows :

fstype (S)

This parameter allows the administrator to configure the string that
specifies the type of filesystem a share is using that is reported by smbd
(8) <http://sepp.oetiker.ch/samba-3.0.23c-to ... mbd.8.html> when
a client queries the filesystem type for a share. The default type is
NTFSfor compatibility with Windows NT but this can be changed to other
strings
such as Samba or FAT if required.

Default: *fstype = NTFS *

Example: *fstype = Samba *

When I set fstype = FAT32 in smb.conf, it can show "FAT32" file system in
the Windows side.

https://linux.samba.narkive.com/4udcDg4 ... es-as-ntfs

I hope this will help users of backup4all if they run into the problem.
Thanks again. Michel