APU102 Auto-Recovery Quick Start Guide (LX800)

The auto-recovery software is designed to automatically detect and recover a corrupted file system. This functionality is possible by installing a mirror image of the AEI drive into a hidden storage area on the CF card. When corruption is detected, the AEI drive is automatically reimaged based upon the hidden “mirror” backup image.

The Compact Flash for the LX800 is divided into 2 partitions or drives. The “D” drive is the AEI Drive. It contains all the AEI software, parameters, settings, train and log data, etc. 

The operating system is the “C” drive. This partition is protected and can not be altered. The mirror image of the AEI drive is stored on this partition.

The mirror image is created manually using “Shell IBackup” command, which can be run from the APU102 supervisory menu. Everything on the AEI drive is saved, including parameters, settings, and all loaded software. This document details the procedure. 

Requirements: 

Any version of the LX800 CPU Board supports Auto-Recovery. 

Mirror Operations 

Once you have the software configured for a site and all parameters are set the way you want, the parameter backup (BP command) and the mirror should be updated. Once the mirror is created, the software will automatically restore the disk exactly as you set it up in the event a system corruption occurs. 

Creating or updating the backup mirror image

To update (or create) the mirror, issue the command “SHELL IBACKUP” from the APU102’s supervisory menu. The following screen will be seen.

APU102XP:Change 1>shell ibackup IBACKUP < y.dat > dosshell.txt An IMAGE BACKUP operation is ready to start. This will create a "Mirror Image" of your existing AEI drive. .  To start, reboot (use the 'R' command). This will start the image backup operation. Unit will reboot to ROMSHELL to carry out this operation.  .  On a LPM-TX system, this will take up to 20 minutes to complete. During that time, the unit will be inaccesssible. The 'SYS' LED will flash rapidly during the operation. .  On a LX800 system, the backup will take a few seconds. .  When complete, verify the image backup succeeded by issuing the  command "type \mirror.txt". .  To cancel this operation, delete the "mirror.me" file. -----------------------------------------------------------

Once you reboot the unit (using the “R” command, NOT the “R,F” command!) the unit will begin creating the mirror. During the mirror operation, the unit will not be accessible. The process takes less than a minute. During the mirror operation, the “SYS” LED on the front panel of the APU may flash rapidly. When the backup operation is complete, the unit will automatically reboot itself and you will be able to log back in. 

Checking the mirror status using “\Mirror.txt"

Every time the software boots, a file is created in the root of the AEI drive named “\Mirror.txt”. It contains the information regarding the state of the mirror. 
To view this information, simply type “TYPE \MIRROR.TXT” from the supervisory menu. The following screen will be seen.

----------------------------------------------------------------------- LX800 - Backup and Restore tools v1.0  ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .  Backup function is present  Use command shell ibackup to initiate a backup  .  Restore function is present and backup files DO exist  Use command shell irestore to initiate a restore

Optionally Verifying the state of the Mirror

To be sure the mirror is intact and ready to be used to restore the system a verify operation can optionally be performed. This is done by issuing the command “SHELL IVERIFY” from the APU102 supervisory command prompt. Just like the backup operation, the command will instruct you to reboot the unit for the verify operation to complete. 

Performing a manual restore

If a valid mirror exists, it is possible to manually restore the D: drive with the data from the mirror. This is done using the “SHELL IRESTORE” command. Just like the backup operation, the command will instruct you to reboot the unit for the restore operation to complete. The process takes less than a minute on the LX800. When complete, the unit will automatically reboot and the status of the restore operation can be reviewed by inspecting the \Mirror.txt file (described above).