* Restore Failure? . . . or perhaps not

[tparkhill]

I had to do a restore on a FH backup I had made a few hours before making a mistake. When the file came back, many photos were "missing". So I clicked on the photos in Media Tab and they either said something like "'corrupt jpg' or 'unable to load'. After panicking, I checked the computer's Media file, and see the photos still appear to be there. Then I read the FAQs and it sounds like the thumbnails don't get stored with the backups.
So . . .
1) Is my restored file OK? and I just need to refresh the thumbnails in some way? If so, does anyone know how?
2) or is there some other problem?

Thanks!
Trent
BTW I am on 7.0.22, and have about 69K people in database. The backup is 17GB

[tatewise]

Trent, exactly how did you restore the backup?
Did you use the File > Backup/Restore > Restore Backup... command?
That should create a new Project with a name like the original but suffixed by (2).

However, bear in mind that such FH backups only include Media files within the Project Media folder and not any files outside the Project.

I don't think missing thumbnails would cause those errors.

What does the Tools > External File Links... command say if Show Broken Links Only is selected?

If you only changed data and not linked Media files consider using the File > Backup/Restore > Revert to Snapshot... command and choose a Snapshot Taken just before the mistakes.

[tparkhill]

1) Correct, I used " File > Backup/Restore > Restore Backup"
2) I have been keeping all Media in the Media folder

Media File use Screenshot 2023-12-30 183742.jpg (6.11 KiB) Viewed 865 times

3) "Show Broken Links Only" just shows about 6 images - does not match the ones that seem missing now.

4) Images missing from FH show like this:

Missing images screenshot.jpg (161.23 KiB) Viewed 865 times

5) any chance the Auto Repair in External Links spot you mentioned fixes these? OR is that just for the ones that show as Broken?

6) the last Snapshots on the list seem to be over a year old. Is Creating snapshots a setting that has "come undone"?

Snapshots.jpg (96.33 KiB) Viewed 865 times

7) On one just opened I got a different 'I can't load' message, that also said Out of Memory.
a) Any chance this is the whole issue?
b) my computer has a lot of memory. Right now I am only using 22%; FH is using 1546.6 MB



thanks
Trent

[tatewise]

1) Correct, I used " File > Backup/Restore > Restore Backup"

Your restored Project name should be PakhillDye__ 8 Aug(2) but your screenshots show no (2) suffix.
So have you deleted the original Project and renamed the restored Project after restoring it?

2) I have been keeping all Media in the Media folder

That is good so all the Media files should get restored.

3) "Show Broken Links Only" just shows about 6 images - does not match the ones that seem missing now.

That confirms that all but 6 media files were restored and are linked correctly.

4) Images missing from FH show like this:

Maybe it is just a thumbnails issue?

5) any chance the Auto Repair in External Links spot you mentioned fixes these? OR is that just for the ones that show as Broken?

Auto Repair will only attempt to fix the 6 Broken Links because the others are all OK.

6) the last Snapshots on the list seem to be over a year old. Is Creating snapshots a setting that has "come undone"?

That suggests you may have disabled Snapshots, but the Project name is the original without a (2) suffix!
Check the Tools > Preferences > General tab Advanced... button Auto. Snapshot Cycles settings:

image.png (22.53 KiB) Viewed 800 times

7) On one just opened I got a different 'I can't load' message, that also said Out of Memory.
a) Any chance this is the whole issue?
b) my computer has a lot of memory. Right now I am only using 22%; FH is using 1546.6 MB

Are your Thumbnail Image Caching settings as shown above?
That Out of Memory error is often associated with the thumbnails cache file, but as you said earlier it is omitted from the backup so should now be a minimal size. However, it might be worth checking the size of the files:
Family Historian Projects\PakhillDye__ 8 Aug(2)\PakhillDye__ 8 Aug(2).fh_data\Cache\ThumbCache.dat
Family Historian Projects\PakhillDye__ 8 Aug\PakhillDye__ 8 Aug.fh_data\Cache\ThumbCache.dat

[tparkhill]

spoiler alert - I think this may have been solved in "4" below.

1) Re: snapshots, I think settings match yours, except I have "Load when needed". I tried changing to the recommended Auto Cache. Then I re-ran a report. Now I see bit white boxes with an "X" instead of just a missing image.

snapshot settings.jpg (91.7 KiB) Viewed 739 times

2) I have not deleted any project. But i have renamed the restored version so that I know what stage it is in. I tried reverting back to a Dec 7th backup, but see the same missing thumbnails issue

3) See images below but . . . it appears that there is now No thumbnail cache file. Is there a way to force FH to rebuild the thumbnails?

Thumnail cache file missing.jpg (84.42 KiB) Viewed 739 times

4) I think that I was having trouble with thumbnails a year ago when creating a Family Tree jigsaw puzzle, and that FH people had me change the recommended thumbnail setting. I just changed it back to the recommended, then closed and then reopened the project. And now all but a couple of thumbnails show !!! Clearly, that setting must have been my main problem. Although, at the moment, I still do not see a thumbnail cache file. Perhaps it does not get saved until I run a backup.

thanks for all of your help. !!
Trent

[tatewise]

FYI:
The extra image was listed in the ATTACHMENTS tab below the text box. I have now deleted it for you.
The clue was that it said ATTACHMENT above the displayed image.

It seems that the Thumbnail Cache setting was the cause of your problems and the ThumbCache.dat file will get created by FH automatically. It does not need a backup.

I'm still a little concerned that Snapshot files are not being created as they offer an extremely useful auto-backup alternative recovery route.
I suspect the problem is that there are more than the standard number of eight Snapshot backup files and that is known to inhibit further Snapshots being taken.
So use the File > Backup/Restore > Revert to Snapshot... command and Delete unwanted Snapshots.
Also, check Tools > Preferences > File Load/Save > Automatic snapshot management is ticked.

[tparkhill]

I just deleted all but the last snapshot.
The "Automatic snapshot management" was not checked. I checked it, and then hit Apply and closed window.
Do I have to do something to create the snapshots? And if they are automatic, how often should I expect to see them?
Thanks!
Trent

[LornaCraig]

They will be created automatically, at most one snapshot per day.

Further information is in the Help file here:
https://www.family-historian.co.uk/help ... nager.html

[tparkhill]

Thanks to you both !