The PlayBook Paradox

Attachment 126990
Ok, so my 64 GB PlayBook has been acting kind of sluggish as of late and I decided it was time to back it up. Since the BackUp process using the Desktop Manager has been failing for me since sometime this summer, I decided to just connect and transfer the files I really want (Pictures, Videos etc.) over manually. When I did, it told me that I had 91.4 GB to be transferred. Am I missing something here? I have a 64GB PlayBook with 91.4 GB on it?

Yes, I do plan on wiping after the back up ends in about 3 hours :eek:

Enjoy your weekend!

Well something sure isn't right here lol.

It may be the total size once rendered on your PC, which depends on the PC HD block size.
In other words, if you have a very large HD on the PC, which means its minimum blocksize is large, each time you copy a small file it'll use a full block anyway.
So, copying thousands of very small files on a large HD generally ends up with a larger space used (or wasted).
But for this effect to explain the increase, you need first to have a completely full 64 Gb Playbook, and second, to have it filled with very many small files (as opposed, for instance, to few big movies)...
HTH,
Herv�

Think fast it multiplies.

You probably were not selective in copying files from the pb to the computer and did too broad a SELECT ALL. The Windows (mac?) has this uncanny ability not to be able to discern the "ANDROIDS COPIES" that are created or rather mirrored (or shortcutted) in the Misc/Android folder of things like photos, video, music etc. The pb create these duplicate REFERENCES but while the pb knows that they are not real, Windows does not realize this. So, if you copy stuff from the Misc folder, you MAY be copying the same files again. BUT beware - Android does create its own unique files in that folder so you might want to figure out if there's anything in there that is really unique.

And, by the way, while I knew this was the case, I, too, fell for this when I was doing a manual backup - had to abort it when I realized the issue.

maybe your PB was fitted with 128GB, by mistake :p

I think this is due to the android folder which has hard symbolic links to the PlayBook's media directories.

Question for you, is that 7.36MB/sec transfer via USB or via WiFi? If it's the latter, what router do you use?

Yep F2 and thecsman are right. I noticed that same thing then canceled the copy process then selectively chose all but the misc folder and got a more accurate file transfer.

It's RIM mathematics. Your 64g PlayBook is worth over 90g on all other devices. I am surprised that I am the only person that seems to know this.

I got 64GB too... I wonder how you are going to return those "94.1GB" files and data back to 64GB PlayBook... :-)

Originally Posted by F2

Think fast it multiplies.

You probably were not selective in copying files from the pb to the computer and did too broad a SELECT ALL. The Windows (mac?) has this uncanny ability not to be able to discern the "ANDROIDS COPIES" that are created or rather mirrored (or shortcutted) in the Misc/Android folder of things like photos, video, music etc. The pb create these duplicate REFERENCES but while the pb knows that they are not real, Windows does not realize this. So, if you copy stuff from the Misc folder, you MAY be copying the same files again. BUT beware - Android does create its own unique files in that folder so you might want to figure out if there's anything in there that is really unique.

And, by the way, while I knew this was the case, I, too, fell for this when I was doing a manual backup - had to abort it when I realized the issue.

Yes I remember doing this now and figuring out that this was the problem exactly. Thank you for refreshing my memory as I'm about to do a manual back up and wipe to clear out a yr and 1/2 of weirdness that has slowed my PlayBook down.

Originally Posted by axllebeer

Yes I remember doing this now and figuring out that this was the problem exactly. Thank you for refreshing my memory as I'm about to do a manual back up and wipe to clear out a yr and 1/2 of weirdness that has slowed my PlayBook down.

The real problem is trying to find and save the actually unique files that various Android apps create in the Misc/android folder that are NOT duplicated in the "main" pb folders.

I'm sure I will be spending a lot of time doing this, but it will be worth it in the end. Now to find the time...

Might have to stay up pretty late for it on a night when my son goes to bed early :)

Hey thanks, but big files is essentially all I have. (Movies and videos).

USB from PlayBook to SSD.

Originally Posted by thecsman

I think this is due to the android folder which has hard symbolic links to the PlayBook's media directories.

Question for you, is that 7.36MB/sec transfer via USB or via WiFi? If it's the latter, what router do you use?

That was worth a good laugh, thanks!

Originally Posted by madman0141

It's RIM mathematics. Your 64g PlayBook is worth over 90g on all other devices. I am surprised that I am the only person that seems to know this.