Can't back up my game

old fat bald guy · 02-03-2016, 12:35 AM

My save game seems to be rolling along just fine, but if I try to use the in-game utility to back it up it hangs and eventually crashes while the screen tells me it's backing up messages.

If I try to back it up by simply copying the save game's folder to an external hard drive (the way I back up Football Manager saves) it similarly hangs -- I've let it sit for an hour -- then if I hit cancel, it seems to do a little more work before closing.

Anybody else have this problem and rise above it with a brilliant workaround?

bwburke94 · 02-03-2016, 10:02 AM

Copy and paste it to a folder not on your external hard drive, without having OOTP running in the background. If that fails, it's a corrupted file.

Matt Arnold · 02-03-2016, 12:35 PM

Could be one of the files Windows has failed to clean up a lock. I'd suggest grabbing 7z and trying to zip the entire folder - I'd say that's more likely to work.

And yes, for sure, make sure OOTP is closed while doing it. I know it can be hard to shut down the game, but just to be safe

RchW · 02-03-2016, 01:25 PM

7 zip is ideally suited to OOTP with or without the built in backup. The best part is once you have zipped the file transferring to external (network) drives is way faster.

Lucky for me I haven't had the issue of the OP so I use the OOTP backup incrementally then 7zip with the game date as the file name.You can even collect backups inside another archive. I do 5-10 seasons as of Dec 31 per set. This means I can restore a complete season archive (all box scores game logs etc) in a few minutes from external storage.

old fat bald guy · 02-04-2016, 01:43 AM

Huh ... tried both of those. 7z seems to be telling me I've got one box score that is the problem. That's where it hangs. When I tried to start over I kept getting an error. Now I have a stray folder just hanging out by itself in my documents folder that looks like a backup, but idk.

Meanwhile, the save game still plays just fine.

Innnnteresting.

RchW · 02-04-2016, 02:34 AM

Why not delete the box score?

beorn · 02-04-2016, 07:34 AM

I do backups for my online leagues automatically every night using WinZip, but I just back up:
the dat files
the settings folder
the txt subfolder

That would be sufficient to recover the league if I got a corrupted file, and it's extremely likely that any sort of file corruption would leave the other folders unscathed in any case. Plus, it avoids the complications that can come from trying to back up a gazillion little files like boxscores.

TGH-Adfabre · 02-04-2016, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beorn

I do backups for my online leagues automatically every night using WinZip, but I just back up:
the dat files
the settings folder
the txt subfolder

That would be sufficient to recover the league if I got a corrupted file, and it's extremely likely that any sort of file corruption would leave the other folders unscathed in any case. Plus, it avoids the complications that can come from trying to back up a gazillion little files like boxscores.

I rename the last game created archive that I uploaded. It works as a good backup.

old fat bald guy · 02-04-2016, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RchW

Why not delete the box score?

Yeah, that was my next move, but it was bedtime.

Thanks for all the help, folks.

02-03-2016, 12:35 AM	#1
old fat bald guy Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 220	Can't back up my game My save game seems to be rolling along just fine, but if I try to use the in-game utility to back it up it hangs and eventually crashes while the screen tells me it's backing up messages. If I try to back it up by simply copying the save game's folder to an external hard drive (the way I back up Football Manager saves) it similarly hangs -- I've let it sit for an hour -- then if I hit cancel, it seems to do a little more work before closing. Anybody else have this problem and rise above it with a brilliant workaround?

02-03-2016, 01:25 PM	#4
RchW Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Toronto ON by way of Glasgow UK Posts: 15,629	7 zip is ideally suited to OOTP with or without the built in backup. The best part is once you have zipped the file transferring to external (network) drives is way faster. Lucky for me I haven't had the issue of the OP so I use the OOTP backup incrementally then 7zip with the game date as the file name.You can even collect backups inside another archive. I do 5-10 seasons as of Dec 31 per set. This means I can restore a complete season archive (all box scores game logs etc) in a few minutes from external storage. __________________ Cheers RichW If you’re looking for a good cause to donate money to please consider a Donation to Parkinson’s Canada. It may help me have a better future and if not me, someone else. Thanks. “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition …There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.” Frank Wilhoit

02-04-2016, 02:34 AM	#6
RchW Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Toronto ON by way of Glasgow UK Posts: 15,629	Why not delete the box score? __________________ Cheers RichW If you’re looking for a good cause to donate money to please consider a Donation to Parkinson’s Canada. It may help me have a better future and if not me, someone else. Thanks. “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition …There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.” Frank Wilhoit

02-04-2016, 07:34 AM	#7
beorn All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: near Rochester, NY Posts: 1,269	I do backups for my online leagues automatically every night using WinZip, but I just back up: the dat files the settings folder the txt subfolder That would be sufficient to recover the league if I got a corrupted file, and it's extremely likely that any sort of file corruption would leave the other folders unscathed in any case. Plus, it avoids the complications that can come from trying to back up a gazillion little files like boxscores. __________________ Commish of Dog Days Baseball Commish Pennant Chase Baseball League (PCBL) Commish and Blue Jays GM Extra Innings Baseball

02-03-2016, 10:02 AM	#2
bwburke94 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Belchertown, MA, USA Posts: 4,504	Copy and paste it to a folder not on your external hard drive, without having OOTP running in the background. If that fails, it's a corrupted file.

02-03-2016, 12:35 PM	#3
Matt Arnold OOTP Developer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Here and there Posts: 15,825	Could be one of the files Windows has failed to clean up a lock. I'd suggest grabbing 7z and trying to zip the entire folder - I'd say that's more likely to work. And yes, for sure, make sure OOTP is closed while doing it. I know it can be hard to shut down the game, but just to be safe

02-04-2016, 01:43 AM	#5
old fat bald guy Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 220	Huh ... tried both of those. 7z seems to be telling me I've got one box score that is the problem. That's where it hangs. When I tried to start over I kept getting an error. Now I have a stray folder just hanging out by itself in my documents folder that looks like a backup, but idk. Meanwhile, the save game still plays just fine. Innnnteresting.