Please improve the backup system for MTP

Bome Products
1

Hi,

I love Bome products, but the backup system really needs an update.
I know I asked for this before, but I lost a lot of work today, again.

Last backup, a couple hours before.

So not everything was lost, but a lot of work can happen in the timeframe of an hour or more.
Can we please have an option to save every X amount of minutes?
:pleading_face:

3

Hi @DreamXcape , I’m very sorry to hear of your data loss.
The current backup system is only designed for data loss while saving your project. If the computer looses power or if the OS crashes during saving, this system ensures that you will have at least the previously saved file.

An improved backup system is on our list, but I cannot promise if and when it will be available in MT Pro.

But maybe, it will be possible to prevent the need in the first place?

  1. The most important question: do you know why you suffered from data loss?
  2. As said, the current backup system should create a new backup file every time you save. Does that mean you haven’t saved your work for hours?

Let me know. Thanks!
Florian

1 Like
4

Hi @DreamXcape,

Are you on a Windows or Mac System? If on Windows, I could probably write a short AutoHotkey script that will periodically save your file for you. It would be unsupported but maybe the workaround you need.

It would every say 5 minutes:

  1. Switch focus to your currently opened project file
  2. Send a F12 (Save As) keystroke to it
  3. Add a filename with perhaps a time stamp and click enter.

It might be a bit aggravating however as it might interrupt your work flow while you are editing.

Or a simpler solution is to just send you a popup reminder every 5 minutes to save your file (Control S) and then rely on the backup files that are automatically created every time your save.

Maybe just send a Control S every 5 minutes would suffice.

Steve

1 Like
5

This AutoHotKey Script simply sends a Control-S every 5 minutes to MT Pro to save the project file. We rely on MT Pro Backup methodology to keep saved copies of the file. You need to download and install AutoHotKey which runs on Windows computes only.

/*
Title:
Description: Save Bome MIDI Translator Pro file every x minues
AutoHotKey_L Version: 1.1.09.00
Written by: Steven J. Caldwell
Last Update: 2022-05-19
Other Notes:
If more than 2 instances of MT Pro are running, it may not save the correct instance.
If you are busy entering text, it may interrupt your work flow. We are not checking to
see if the user is Idle or anything else is happending on the computer
Donations accepted if you like this program.  Send to PayPal bome@sniz.biz
Users can modify as desired, please be courteous and list me as the original author

*/

; Command Line Options go here Modify as necessary
/* Uncomment this section if you will be using arguments

if 0 < x  ; Change x to the number of required arguments
{
MsgBox 0,Usage,Usage is:`n
}
else
{
; Do something here
}
*/
;Start Code below this line
; time between saves in milleseconds 5 minutes times 60 seconds (6000 milliseconds)
#Persistent
; for testing -  Set to 10 seconds 
; Period := 1000*10
Period := 5*1000*60
; msgbox, Period = %Period%
SetTitleMatchMode, 2
DetectHiddenWindows, On

SetTimer, AutoSave, %Period%
return
; Control-Alt-Q to quit this program
^!q::
ExitApp

AutoSave:

WinActivate, Bome MIDI Translator Pro
WinWaitActive, Bome MIDI Translator Pro, , 5
if ErrorLevel
{
	MsgBox, Error Bome MIDI Translator Pro could not be found,,,5
	return
}
CoordMode, Mouse, Window
;; move Mouse to Save Control Location
;MouseMove, 99,73
;Send {Ctrl}s
SendInput ^s
; Click, 99 73
; Uncomment the below to get notified when saved
; MsgBox, ,Timer %Period%, AutoSave, 2
return

;End Standard Code here

Enjoy!

Steve Caldwell
Bome Customer Care

Also available for paid consulting services: bome@sniz.biz
1 Like
6

Thanks for the reply, that explains a lot.
I never got what the backup system exactly does and when.

To your questions:

  1. No written data was lost, the system blue-screened and I hadn’t saved in a while. Only things in system memory got lost.
  2. Yes, it was probably between one and two hours before.
More info

What happened was me forgetting about the iffy powerswitch on the Launchpad Pro, if I plug it in when switched on it’s ok but if I switch it on while plugged in it can take the USB controller down.

I traced the previous crashes I had to the MOTU usb midi driver. I can’t leave the Midi Express XT or the Micro Express plugged in when going into sleep otherwise the system won’t go to sleep and crash.

So since the only problems I’m having with unstability come back to the Intel USB controller or a device plugged into that, I’m probably gonna replace it with something like a Sonnet Allegro.

But I would still like a more idiot-proof backup system(I’m an idiot).
I really like the way FL Studio does this:
image
FL Studio has a separate folder where it saves backups, every file that gets written to that folder has the project name with the time appended at the end. In my case, every 5 minutes the whole project gets written to that folder. When it reaches the set limit of 100 files it overwrites the oldest one.

After an unexpected shutdown, it asks if I want to load the latest backup or not.

Backup file names look like this:
image
When the limit is reached, they get renamed like this:
image
I would suggest something similar.

Windows.

Thanks for the workaround, I’m probably gonna take some of that idea and use it for the time being.
Sending a Control+S might do the trick.

Do you know if there is a way to inject keystroke events into windows using python?
I could also use MTP to send save to itself but that would be kind of weird.

7

Wow, thanks Steve! :smiley:

I’m gonna try this out.

8

Probably, however since it is so simple with AutoHotKey and I don’t need to load any Python Libraries, I just use that instead.

Steve Caldwell
Bome Customer Care

Also available for paid consulting services: bome@sniz.biz
1 Like