Wildly inaccurate progress meter

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Bexer
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2020 2:30 am

Wildly inaccurate progress meter

Post by Bexer »

New to B4A. I'm really struck by how bad the progress metering is. You can see how the file count is way off and the estimated time left is useless. The percentage meter (not shown here) on the jobs list is usually only showing 0%. Jobs do get finished, but what's the point of all the progress monitoring if it doesn't give me any kind of real idea of when the job will finish? I'm backing up to OneDrive, btw.
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Adrian (Softland)
Posts: 1914
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:46 pm

Re: Wildly inaccurate progress meter

Post by Adrian (Softland) »

Hi,

The estimated time is calculated based on the instant progress (upload speed for example).
If the upload is not working or it's very slow, the estimated time will be very long.
As soon as the upload speed returns to normal, the time will also be normal.

Bexer
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2020 2:30 am

Re: Wildly inaccurate progress meter

Post by Bexer »

Thanks, but that doesn't explain the file count discrepancy, which I figured would be a better way to assess progress.

Also, my upload speed is currently 20mbps. Shouldn't that be fast enough? What else might be causing the issue?

EDIT: I should note that on smaller backup sets, this problem doesn't occur: I get accurate file counts, the estimated completion time makes sense, and the progress meter is working. Does B4A tend to choke on large backup sets?

Thanks!

Adrian (Softland)
Posts: 1914
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:46 pm

Re: Wildly inaccurate progress meter

Post by Adrian (Softland) »

Hi,

As the progress went over 100% that means there were some upload retries.
If OneDrive server no longer responds, it doesn't matter you have 20 mbps speed as the files won't be uploaded and there is no progress.
You can send us the entire backup log to support[at]backup4all[dot]com, to see more information about that job.

Bexer
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2020 2:30 am

Re: Wildly inaccurate progress meter

Post by Bexer »

Thanks for the explanation about going over 100% and retries. It went over 200% (!) and now I'm thinking part of the problem is the poor OneDrive responsiveness. It's really slow! I noticed that in general. Is that a typical issue that crops up with OneDrive? Will send the backup log.

Adrian (Softland)
Posts: 1914
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:46 pm

Re: Wildly inaccurate progress meter

Post by Adrian (Softland) »

Hi,

The upload to OneDrive involves multiple requests and wait for responses for each file.
If you have many files and you use the Mirror backup type, there will be a lot of requests. OneDrive will probably respond slowly after a while.
It is recommended to use the Smart of Incremental backup type as a larger zip file will be uploaded and less requests are made.

Bexer
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2020 2:30 am

Re: Wildly inaccurate progress meter

Post by Bexer »

Thank you, yes I did notice when I left OneDrive alone for a while things improved. I am doing mirror backup with zip, an I understand the pitfalls.

JerryB
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2021 3:50 pm

Re: Wildly inaccurate progress meter

Post by JerryB »

I have experienced the exact same thing with backing up to Google Drive. The backup progress statistics are very inaccurate, and it often hits 200% of the actual number of files in the backup before finishing.

Adrian (Softland)
Posts: 1914
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:46 pm

Re: Wildly inaccurate progress meter

Post by Adrian (Softland) »

Hi,

If there are upload retries during the backup, the percent will increase over 100%.
Do you know you can monitor your backups remotely with Backup4all Monitor? You can read more here: https://www.backup4all.com/backup4all-monitor.html

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