Synchronizing Directories With Windows?

[daniel3000]

Hello,

after encountering problems when using Excel, Word and Textmaker files over Samba from a Windows XP computer, when the files are stored on an ext2-formatted SD card partition, I'm now considering another approach:

I'd like to synchronize one directory on the Windows XP box with one directory in that SD card ext2 file system over WLAN.

What approach is the simplest and safest?

I'd like to just "click" one icon on the Windows box OR on the Zaurus to do that.

Thanks a lot
daniel

P.S.: or is there a definitive solution for the file write / rename problems via WLAN / Samba on an ext2 partition of the Zaurus?
I'm always encountering error messages such as "cannot write to file" when in Word / Excel / TextMaker on the desktop, although I have adjusted the owner information in samba.conf so that the access rights should not be a problem anymore.

[clofland]

I use a program called webdrive. What webdrive ( http://www.webdrive.com/ ) can do is connect to a host via SSH, FTP, or WebDAV and present it to Windows as a hard drive. It is not free, or even cheap, but I find it invaluable. I use it for many things, including using it daily to edit files on my Zaurus from Windows. I also synchronize files between my Windows box and my Zaurus using webdrive along with a program called Synchronize It! ( http://www.grigsoft.com/winsin.htm ) which I registered years and years ago and still use daily (along with its companion program Compare It!).

Just thoughts.

[plcg]

Hello,

after encountering problems when using Excel, Word and Textmaker files over Samba from a Windows XP computer, when the files are stored on an ext2-formatted SD card partition, I'm now considering another approach:

I'd like to synchronize one directory on the Windows XP box with one directory in that SD card ext2 file system over WLAN.

What approach is the simplest and safest?

I'd like to just "click" one icon on the Windows box OR on the Zaurus to do that.

Thanks a lot
daniel

P.S.: or is there a definitive solution for the file write / rename problems via WLAN / Samba on an ext2 partition of the Zaurus?
I'm always encountering error messages such as "cannot write to file" when in Word / Excel / TextMaker on the desktop, although I have adjusted the owner information in samba.conf so that the access rights should not be a problem anymore.
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=125684\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

Maybe you could give a try to rsync or unison ?
But they are console tools...

plcg

[daniel3000]

I use a program called webdrive. What webdrive ( http://www.webdrive.com/ ) can do is connect to a host via SSH, FTP, or WebDAV and present it to Windows as a hard drive. It is not free, or even cheap, but I find it invaluable. I use it for many things, including using it daily to edit files on my Zaurus from Windows. I also synchronize files between my Windows box and my Zaurus using webdrive along with a program called Synchronize It! ( http://www.grigsoft.com/winsin.htm ) which I registered years and years ago and still use daily (along with its companion program Compare It!).

Just thoughts.
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=125757\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

Thanks! Synchronize It seems to be what I need. I'll try the demo, and buy it if it proves to be useful.

Webdrive seems to be an FTP client which maps the FTP server contents to a drive letter in Windows and provides all the services the OS / file systems provides to the applications, right? Actually I hoped that Samba / SMB on XP would do the same... Not sure why this didn't work. I'll try the eynchronize approach before. Nice side effect is that I have always a current backup then.

daniel

[aki]

Maybe you could give a try to rsync or unison ?
But they are console tools...

plcg
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=125759\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

Regarding unison, you're right about the Z version, but there is a gui for both Windows and Linux.
I have been using unison to synch w2k, Linux and the Z for quite awhile and recommend it highly! Give it a try before spending $$.

[daniel3000]

Maybe you could give a try to rsync or unison ?
But they are console tools...

plcg
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=125759\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

Regarding unison, you're right about the Z version, but there is a gui for both Windows and Linux.
I have been using unison to synch w2k, Linux and the Z for quite awhile and recommend it highly! Give it a try before spending $$.
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=125812\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

Ah, I didn't know unison is also supported well for Windows even with GUI!
So I'll try it.
I once had unison on the Zaurus for homepage synchronization, but switched to sitecopy because I changed the provider and the new one didn't support running unison on the server side.
Good idea! Will have a look!

thanks!
daniel

[daniel3000]

Maybe you could give a try to rsync or unison ?
But they are console tools...

plcg
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=125759\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

Regarding unison, you're right about the Z version, but there is a gui for both Windows and Linux.
I have been using unison to synch w2k, Linux and the Z for quite awhile and recommend it highly! Give it a try before spending $$.
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=125812\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

Two questions:

1. Do you use the remote server feature via ssh, or do you use it "locally" and zaurus being made acessible via Samba?
For simplicity of the setup I'd prefer the second option, but the first one is better in performance probably.
Is there anything to be done on the Zaurus (despite from installing unison) in order to make the remote server feature work? AFAIK in Cacko 1.23 the ssh service is available already. How about password entry on the Windows box, if I invoke the sync from Windows? Do I have to enter the user password? I'd prefer if I had not to.

2. The "Synchronize it!" solution suggested by clofland seems to work fine, but there is one thing I don't like. Does unison handle it in a better way?:
If I delete a file on one of the two replicas, the synchronizing process marks it as "new" for the place where I deleted it, so the first suggestion is to duplicate it.
I'd prefer it to be deleted on the other side by default (as there is usually a reason why I delete a file <g>). How does Unison handle this situation?

Thanks

daniel

[bluedevils]

I haven't used it for a while, but if I remember correctly it will delete the other file.  The way unison works is to compare on each computer what has changed since last synch.  If one file is deleted and the other has not changed, then it should consider the deletion as a change and delete the other.

[aki]

Two questions:

1. Do you use the remote server feature via ssh, or do you use it "locally" and zaurus being made acessible via Samba?
For simplicity of the setup I'd prefer the second option, but the first one is better in performance probably.
Is there anything to be done on the Zaurus (despite from installing unison) in order to make the remote server feature work? AFAIK in Cacko 1.23 the ssh service is available already. How about password entry on the Windows box, if I invoke the sync from Windows? Do I have to enter the user password? I'd prefer if I had not to.

2. The "Synchronize it!" solution suggested by clofland seems to work fine, but there is one thing I don't like. Does unison handle it in a better way?:
If I delete a file on one of the two replicas, the synchronizing process marks it as "new" for the place where I deleted it, so the first suggestion is to duplicate it.
I'd prefer it to be deleted on the other side by default (as there is usually a reason why I delete a file <g>). How does Unison handle this situation?

Thanks

daniel
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=125850\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

I don't use samba, but have used both remote and local methods to synch.  It works equally well (root = /dir or root = ssh://user@host/dir).  When using the ssh method under Windows, unison opens a command window to allow you to enter the passphrase.  Running it without having to enter a passphrase or password is also possible, but it needs to be configured through ssh-add.  On the Z, you can use zkeychain (see my zaurus page below).

As for deleted files, I believe the default would be to delete it on the second root.

[clofland]

2. The "Synchronize it!" solution suggested by clofland seems to work fine, but there is one thing I don't like. Does unison handle it in a better way?:
If I delete a file on one of the two replicas, the synchronizing process marks it as "new" for the place where I deleted it, so the first suggestion is to duplicate it.
I'd prefer it to be deleted on the other side by default (as there is usually a reason why I delete a file <g>). How does Unison handle this situation?

[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=125850\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

Play with the settings. Try a "backup" sync and see if you like the way it looks. It has a lot of options, and I've always been able to make it do what I want. The main thing I like about Synchronize It! is that it gives me such a nice colorful graphic display of what it is about to do before it does it. I've made a real mess with syncing before. Whether the default is to DELETE non-existent files or to ADD them to the other side, either way, I like making the final decision. There are also command line options for SyncIt. I have my sync between my laptop and Z scripted. It does it all automatically right up to the point where it is done comparing and ready to sync. Then I get to push the bottom myself after I've reviewed it.

Web drive can use FTP, WebDAV or SFTP (SSH). I found that Samba with my Z was A: SLOW; B: Syncing via Samba between an NTFS and an EXT2 drive REALLY messed up things on my Zaurus.  Webdrive seems to handle it better. and C: I use it over the Internet too for other things. (I am VERY GLAD to be able to use it to Sync to my Z, but I don't know if I would have bought Webdrive ONLY for that purpose. It sure works though.) I also use Webdrive and Synchroize It! to sync my files up to a folder on a web server where I can then grab them from any computer in the world on the Internet. I'm kind of a fanatic about having access to my files everywhere. I also consider it a good backup scheme to have my files replicated to several places.

In short, I would choose Samba over Webdrive due to price IF it worked for me. So if you can make Samba do what you want, GREAT!

All that said, I would be interested to see if the Unison program works for you. I am always interested in more open solutions. If you get something going that you like, post a copy of your command line. (Unless it is all GUI.)

[daniel3000]

I don't use samba, but have used both remote and local methods to synch.  It works equally well (root = /dir or root = ssh://user@host/dir).  When using the ssh method under Windows, unison opens a command window to allow you to enter the passphrase.  Running it without having to enter a passphrase or password is also possible, but it needs to be configured through ssh-add.  On the Z, you can use zkeychain (see my zaurus page below).

As for deleted files, I believe the default would be to delete it on the second root.
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=125954\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

Question:
What ssh program did you install on the Windows computer?
I tried the client from ssh.com, but that installed an ssh2.exe and even renaming it to ssh.exe did not make it work with Unison (from memory the erro rmessage was something like "malformed target directory ssh://192.168.0.201\home" or similar)

Synchronizing a half-full 2GB SD card via Samba (i.e using Unison remotely and letting Samba handle the Zaurus access) is really too slow!

Thanks
daniel



Thanks
daniel

[clofland]

Synchronizing a half-full 2GB SD card via Samba (i.e using Unison remotely and letting Samba handle the Zaurus access) is really too slow!
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=126373\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

Yeah, I also find Samba to be dreadfully slow on the Zaurus. Not sure why.

[DaemonsGR]

Sorry but SD writes (with small file) is slow not SMB!
try scp a 100M file and 100 files of 1M to see the deference!

For ssh you can use cygwin!