I just lost 4 hours of work, and there was no auto-save file in the DocDelta folder. Grrrr
What do I have to do to ensure that the auto-save (DocDelta) is working? The file was opened from an existing score then saved as another file name before I started working on it (i.e. it was not a new file). Yes, I should know by now that I should be saving frequently regardless of the claimed auto-save feature. But that shouldn't be necessary in any modern app. I sent the crash report when prompted by Notion. |
I have a Computer Science degree; and after working on mainframe computers for a while, I switched to doing Windows application software engineering starting with the first version of Windows; and then skip forward about 15 years and I switched to the Mac, where among other things I am a registered Apple Developer . . .
Over the years I have decided on a few rules for ensuring that I don't lose work: (1) I don't trust anything--hardware or software . . . (2) I don't trust "autosave" software (Mac or Windows), and the primary reason is that if an application crashes when it's in the middle of an autosave, then the autosave file will be corrupt . . . (3) I don't allow autosave files to be opened . . . (4) I do frequent "Save" and "Save As . . . ", sometimes doing a "Save" every five minutes or so . . . (5) I make copies of everything regularly, which includes cloning the complete primary hard drive and then replacing it with a new hard drive (or reusing a spare hard drive) . . . (6) I make regular copies of important files and folders to auxiliary hard drives, usually at least two separate hard drives, since the Mac Pro here in the sound isolation studio has three hard drives, two of which I use for archiving; and I have a few more hard drives that aren't in the Mac Pro . . . (7) I have a website and use it to keep encrypted copies of important files and folders as an additional backup, but the website folks only do one-day backups, so they can restore from yesterday but not from two days ago . . . (8) I don't use iCloud or any of that stuff . . . (9) I don't use Time Machine (Apple), because it can interfere with real-time music when recording . . . THOUGHTS As an example, if this post has a few more paragraphs, then I will copy it and paste it into a text file and save the text file, since if the cable modem crashes or Safari crashes, I don't have to write this post from scratch . . . If you use VSTI virtual instruments and VST effect plug-ins, then even though NOTION is following all the rules, a misbehaving VSTI virtual instrument or VST effects plug-in can cause NOTION to crash . . . This also is the case on the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) side on the Mac with Audio Unit (AU) virtual instruments and effects; so it happens with both VST and AU virtual instruments and effects plug-ins on the MAC; but AU is solely a Mac thing, so it's not a Windows thing . . . Digital Performer (MOTU) is my primary DAW application, but I also use Reason (Propellerhead Software), Logic Pro X (Apple), and Studio One (PreSonus) . . . All of them will crash every so often . . . Sometimes they crash because the electric power company has a problem . . . Even if all hardware and software were flawless and you have a flawless uninterruptable backup power source, stuff happens . . . If your work is important--and it is very important, of course--then you need to ensure it's protected and archived reliably using more than one backup device, which includes keeping backups in protected locations . . . In Utopia things might be different, but the only way to ensure that you don't lose more than a few minutes of work is to save your work frequently, which as noted (see above) can be as frequently as every five minutes or so . . . Sometimes, if I find a nice set of notes for one measure, which might be as simple as four quarter notes, I will do a "Save" and perhaps a "Save As . . . ", since I don't want to zone-out and be unable to remember what the four quarter notes were, just that they were fantastic . . . SUMMARY The autosave concept sounds great, but (a) it doesn't work all the time and (b) there are scenarios where it cannot work . . . I don't use it, and if a message about there being a more recent autosave appears, then I cancel it . . . In this regard, my favorite absurd Windows message is the one that appeared occasionally on a PC that had a flaky hard drive and was displayed in a message box that only had an "OK" button . . . Paraphrasing, it read something like "Your hard drive has malfunctioned. Click 'OK' to reformat your hard drive. All your data will be lost." . . . When I got that message, I immediately unplugged the electric power cord; banged on the PC metal case a few times with a hammer; plugged the power cord back into the electrical outlet; and then booted the computer . . . If this didn't work the first time, then I would repeat the procedure until either (a) it worked or (b) I was so annoyed that I switched to using a sledge hammer . . . I never had to resort to using a sledge hammer . . . And it didn't matter anyway, because I had several copies of everything on more than one hard drive . . . Nothing has changed in this regard since the mid-1980s . . . Your work is protected only when you protect it diligently . . . It's the rule, and it's a good rule . . . Lots of FUN!
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Good post. I'm not quite that prepared, but after losing a big notation project a couple of years ago that I had spent weeks on, I did become a lot more diligent about backups. I now have three backups for every file:
1. Hard drive is synced with OneDrive (also lets me easily share files and access them from any device). 2. Windows File History backs up all files to an external hard drive. 3. A cloud backup service also backs up all files. All these options have versioning turned on, although OneDrive versioning only works with Office files. I'm a strong believer in cloud services for file archiving (although I understand that some people have privacy and security concerns, so we can agree to disagree on that). Note that it was an older version of Notion (4 I think) that corrupted the big notation project that I was not able to recover. And yes, Notion was autosaving but that didn't help. The backups with versioning now allow me to recover any file at any point in time. Unfortunately, in the latest case of file loss I hadn't saved for a few hours, and the autosave didn't work at all. |
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