# WTH HAPPENED TO H-M?



## HMF (Jan 26, 2020)

*WTH HAPPENED TO H-M?

After accidentially deleting a folder, we asked our web host for a backup. As nearly as we can figure, the backup did not contain any attachments (over 250000 or avatars for our members). We asked them for a backup to January 1, 2020, and THAT backup had no attachments or avatars, etc. Their backups were incomplete apparently, and overwrote our files with empty attavchment files. We are very sorry for this. We are doing everything and anything we can to right this. HM*


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## mikey (Jan 26, 2020)

Thanks for the update, Nelson. While the loss of those files is bothersome, the main thing is that you got the forum back up. We can go on from here.

Thanks also for the many hours that I KNOW you've spent on this. Maybe you can get some rest now?


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## Aukai (Jan 26, 2020)

Thank you Nelson.......


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## HMF (Jan 26, 2020)

Aukai said:


> Thank you Nelson.......




For what? For coming back and f--ing things up here?
I feel like shyt. I am sorry to everyone for my stupidity.


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## mikey (Jan 26, 2020)

For trying to make things better. Shyte happens ...


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## Cheeseking (Jan 26, 2020)

We all screw up now and then. No humans were harmed it was just words and photos Life will go on!!


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## buffdan (Jan 26, 2020)

Its a good thing the rest of us are perfect !  I say that with jest of course. This reminds me of an time when I corrupted a customers entire database.. So I can feel your pain.   Stuff happens.. We groan, we learn, we move on with life..


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## Cooter Brown (Jan 26, 2020)

we need monthly backups......


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## DavidR8 (Jan 26, 2020)

Thanks to all that have spent so my unpaid time resolving this problem. 
I’m very happy to have everyone back!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Reddinr (Jan 26, 2020)

I think many of us have had those holy sht. moments.  My worst one (that I'll admit to) was ~1982, fairly new with a new employer and I deleted all the files on the accounting computer.  After changing to a subdirectory I typed "del *.*"    Instead of deleting the files in the subdir, it took EVERYTHING!.  I ran out and bought norton utilities, ran "undelete" and got most everything back but I thought I was going to be sent packing.  My boss's reaction?  Sht. happens...

Cheer up.


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## WCraig (Jan 26, 2020)

A humble suggestion...









						International Verify Your Backups Day - TidBITS
					

What better day than Friday the 13th to check that your backups are actually working by restoring some critical files?




					tidbits.com


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## HMF (Jan 26, 2020)

Cooter Brown said:


> we need monthly backups......




We HAD monthly backups and daily backups.
Neither one had the files in it, apparently.


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## francist (Jan 26, 2020)

Big round of applause for all the bosses, admins, and moderators who I’m sure sweated some pretty big bricks getting the board back and running. Your efforts are truly appreciated.

-frank


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## vtcnc (Jan 26, 2020)

Cooter Brown said:


> we need monthly backups......


We have them. That is why we are getting photos restored as we speak (type). Sit tight everyone. Jake at Xenforo found the files and is currently repopulating the site. Keep your fingers crossed...


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## Cooter Brown (Jan 26, 2020)

vtcnc said:


> We have them. That is why we are getting photos restored as we speak (type). Sit tight everyone. Jake at Xenforo found the files and is currently repopulating the site. Keep your fingers crossed...



PICTURES ARE COMING BACK!!!!!


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## vtcnc (Jan 26, 2020)

I got the following explanation from Jake @Xenforo:

"The internal_data directory in the backup is setup as a linked directory which is a little weird.  But I can open it using my SFTP program."

I will follow up with him tomorrow and get an understanding of what we need to do differently to prevent this from happening again.

Look for an announcement tomorrow on next steps for members. Priority one will be determining where we are in time with the backup and restoring upgrades that were reverted prior to payment. Member upgrade priority will be the following:

Sponsors
Commercial
Diamond
Platinum
Gold
Silver
Registered

Thanks everybody for your extreme patience and understanding. Nelson, there is no need to fall on your sword here, let's regroup this week after you have had a couple of days to shake this off and then talk about next steps to fortify the system.


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## vtcnc (Jan 26, 2020)

Cooter Brown said:


> PICTURES ARE COMING BACK!!!!!


...and don't count your chickens yet.


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## Cooter Brown (Jan 26, 2020)

vtcnc said:


> ...and don't count your chickens yet.











						Bridgeport CNC with Masso Controller/Clearpath
					

This is going to be my first CNC build and my First build log. I've decided that a build log on this forum might be a good idea for this project so the next guy to take on this project doesn't have to deal with the stupid stuff I'm already running into.  This is my Masso Controller  I will be...




					www.hobby-machinist.com
				




My thread is Fixed!!!!!


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## darkzero (Jan 26, 2020)

Cooter Brown said:


> Bridgeport CNC with Masso Controller/Clearpath
> 
> 
> This is going to be my first CNC build and my First build log. I've decided that a build log on this forum might be a good idea for this project so the next guy to take on this project doesn't have to deal with the stupid stuff I'm already running into.  This is my Masso Controller  I will be...
> ...



As are all of mine in my projects section!  Just checked the photo gallery & some random old threads. Looking good so far!

Great news, thanks Bryan, Nelson, & everyone else who were involved at fixing the issue.


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## Aukai (Jan 26, 2020)

Nelson, you did your best with no malicious intentions, something went ooops, and it's coming back around. Don't get bent out of shape, it's good.


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## MontanaLon (Jan 26, 2020)

I was a member of a board once that was doing a hardware upgrade and a software upgrade at the same time. They switched the hardware, transferred the files over to the new software and checked things out. When they saw it was working the old hardware was used to take out some frustrations it had been causing and was destroyed. And then they realized what they thought was evidence of a working website on the new software was cached copies of pages. What was supposed to be an overnight shutdown for improvement turned into the loss of years of work of the other members. 

It gutted the membership with some going off on their own trying to do their own thing and others just giving up on it altogether. It was quite a bit worse than this, I mean I was just starting to get the eye twitch of withdrawals and repeated episodes of Mr Pete and Abom.


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## darkzero (Jan 26, 2020)

vtcnc said:


> ...and don't count your chickens yet.



Heck, I've already started eating them! I love chicken.


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## ttabbal (Jan 26, 2020)

Glad to hear you guys are getting things back up and running. These things happen with every site. The important thing is to learn from it and make sure that the backups are 100% for next time. Thanks for all the hard work getting things fixed up!


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## mmcmdl (Jan 26, 2020)

While we grow of course we have growing issues . This site is growing at an an alarming rate for good reason . We're the friendly site !


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## Aukai (Jan 26, 2020)

Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day


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## ThinWoodsman (Jan 27, 2020)

vtcnc said:


> The internal_data directory in the backup is setup as a linked directory which is a little weird. But I can open it using my SFTP program."



If I had a dollar for every time a poorly-written backup program ignored a symlink, I'd have ... well, at least five bucks.

Even Dropbox only just now figured out how to do symlinks, after a decade or so. It ain't a mystery, and it ain't hard, but for some reason the problem persists.


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## vtcnc (Jan 27, 2020)

ThinWoodsman said:


> If I had a dollar for every time a poorly-written backup program ignored a symlink, I'd have ... well, at least five bucks.
> 
> Even Dropbox only just now figured out how to do symlinks, after a decade or so. It ain't a mystery, and it ain't hard, but for some reason the problem persists.


This is something that was new to us. Every other time we utilized a backup, NO problem. This time though, the symlink stopped the show. I have to research this more and learn how it works. With that said, we have been reassured that the issue will not happen again. I'll be working with the host this week to test this assertion and make sure they know what they are talking about.


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## WCraig (Jan 27, 2020)

vtcnc said:


> This is something that was new to us. Every other time we utilized a backup, NO problem. This time though, the symlink stopped the show. I have to research this more and learn how it works. With that said, we have been reassured that the issue will not happen again. I'll be working with the host this week to test this assertion and make sure they know what they are talking about.


I'm not an expert but I believe the issue is generally that symlinks can easily create an 'infinite loop'.  Say, directory 'A' contains a symlink to directory 'B'.  If 'B', or any of it's child directories, contains a symlink to back to 'A', the backup software may get stuck traversing around and around a loop.  I believe some backup solutions avoid this potential problem by not following symlinks.  Obviously, more sophisticated solutions are available that can avoid such looping issues.

Craig


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## Janderso (Jan 27, 2020)

I miss you guys.
I couldn’t log in most of the day.
What happened today?
I think I have a problem. I look forward to reading new posts and opinions, I’m a HM junkie.


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## Aukai (Jan 27, 2020)

You too?


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## DavidR8 (Jan 27, 2020)

Me too!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## graham-xrf (Jan 28, 2020)

You are not alone!
There are lots of us who are suffering HM-fix withdrawal symptoms.


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## finsruskw (Jan 28, 2020)

graham-xrf said:


> You are not alone!
> There are lots of us who are suffering HM-fix withdrawal symptoms.



Same here!
I checked in twice last evening and all I got was a bunch of lines full of gobbledygook and immediately thought things had really gone down the tubes after all!
Are we outta the woods yet?


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## mmcmdl (Jan 28, 2020)

finsruskw said:


> Same here!
> I checked in twice last evening and all I got was a bunch of lines full of gobbledygook and immediately thought things had really gone down the tubes after all!
> Are we outta the woods yet?



Lets hope we are fin . I ventured over to the OCC site for an hour the other day . The last of my Cubs ( I swear ) is the 126 which I'll do this summer . I know where 2 of the 5000 made reside !


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## finsruskw (Jan 28, 2020)

mmcmdl said:


> Lets hope we are fin . I ventured over to the OCC site for an hour the other day . The last of my Cubs ( I swear ) is the 126 which I'll do this summer . I know where 2 of the 5000 made reside !


Make that 3 of 'em.
I have 2!!


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## mmcmdl (Jan 28, 2020)

You da man !


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## kev74 (Jan 28, 2020)

Aukai said:


> You too?


#me too!


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