Backup file adds size to existing folder size

orgazmojedi

A self created backup file question which I presume is for Peter as I couldn’t see this question in the forum search.

My master iPad Pro and backup iPhone have loads of storage so I’ve never realised this was a thing but…
I have an older iPad 4 which hardware wise is perfectly capable and I use it as a backup. It is only a 32Gb model, however my current backup file is just shy of 6Gb so with 16Gb of space I didn’t foresee an issue.

I’ve been using this setup for a while now and I regularly backup my master iPad and share that backup file with my iPhone and smaller iPad.
*At this point I’m sure someone will start thinking iCloud backup. Let’s not go there… I’ve had issues. I’m not a fan and only on a free 5Gb account that I’ve surpassed.

Anyway…
I did my usual backups yesterday and I found that The small iPad could not restore my backup file because the iPad was full?
When I checked the system settings I could see that my ST3 folder was at around 14Gb but my backup file was less than 6Gb.

I just presumed that since a full backup contained “everything” that if you restored from that file it would override all previous files… obviously not the case. I deleted the ST3 folder and all files within freeing up the 14Gb space. where I could then open up a blank version of ST3, restore from my 6Gb backup file and everything seems to work as it should.

So before I do this to my master iPad files I need to check that I’m not missing something here?

Is there a reason that this happens across all devices if all files and multitracks are the same and are just backups and restores respectively?

Slightly confused why my backup devices (iPhone and small iPad) did not have the same amount of space used even though they have only ever received a backup file from the master iPad? Between 14-16Gb of storage.
At the same time why does my master iPad have a folder size of over 26Gb???

Many thanks

peter

Not sure I understand the question correctly but ST3 checks the available space on your device before trying to restore a backup. It does not check whether the files in the backup are the same as the ones on your device or not. So if you are short on space, you could delete all songs in ST3 which will remove all audio files and then restore the backup.

Also make sure that when you delete files in the Files app that you also clear out the deleted items folder. Without this step the space will not be freed.

orgazmojedi

Thanks Peter, yes I understand that.

I take it the backup file is heavily compressed in a zip format?
Why do none of my devices use the same storage space?

-Master at 26Gb
-Backup 1 at 14Gb
-Backup 2 at 16Gb

Why do the existing files in a backup not get deleted before performing a restore?
Understand if it’s a database restore

It looks like a device needs double the amount of used space to transfer the .ST3 backup and then extract to restore… or am I wrong?

Just trying to workout if I should be looking at a larger storage backup for the future when my file size gets to a certain point
👍

peter

orgazmojedi I take it the backup file is heavily compressed in a zip format?

Lightly compressed as compressed audio files like mp3 can not be compressed further.

orgazmojedi Why do none of my devices use the same storage space?

I don't know. Open the Stage Traxx 3 folder in the Files app and see for yourself. I guess there are old backups stored on the Master. Don't forget to check the Deleted Items folder in the Files app.

orgazmojedi Why do the existing files in a backup not get deleted before performing a restore?

Because then in certain cases all your existing songs would be deleted and the restore could still fail as there is still not enough space available.

orgazmojedi It looks like a device needs double the amount of used space to transfer the .ST3 backup and then extract to restore… or am I wrong?

Correct because iOS apps are not allowed to open files directly on, say, a USB drive.

davedroug

orgazmojedi delete all your old backups from the stagetraxx folder .then go to your ipads folders and delete the recently deleted items that will clear up the space on your ipad or phone . if you don't delete the files from your recently deleted folder 📂 they just stay in the memory of the ipad etc