Skip to main content
Frannie@Cartoonfun
Frannie@Cartoonfun
Known Participant
September 8, 2021
Answered

Google Drive for Desktop Issue with Ch files

  • September 8, 2021
  • 1 reply
  • 866 views

Hi... I don't know if anyone knows of any handy fixes and/or workarounds for the following?

I've just recently switched from Google Drive's 'Backup & Sync' to its new incarnation 'Google Drive for Desktop'. Unfortunately the switch appears to have thrown up a major problem. Not one of Ch's making, it should be noted, but I was wondering if there's an awareness of it and maybe a workaround?

THE ISSUE
Despite the fact that the files I'm working on are using Google Drive's 'available offline' feature... i.e. being synced on Google Drive in the cloud and also existing locally on my hard drive... whenever I try and open one of my Ch projects (the one shown here being 'AeroFeedback02_Ch00') I get the following error message onscreen.

 

I know this is specifically a Google Drive problem rather than a Ch one, per se, but I just wondered if maybe anyone else had experienced similar and found a fix?

Hope someone can help 🙂

Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeers,
Frannie x

 

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer alank99101739

This has always been the case - with most of the cloud sync technology (including Adobe's). The cloud sync software sits there looking for changes to files on disk, pouncing on files immediately when it thinks there is a change (frequently locking the file, especially on Windows, making CH fail to write to the file if it tries to do so before the cloud sync finishes). Many applications write a file sequentially to disk and close it - which works fine with the cloud sync software. CH uses the files more like a database, jumping around inside files, which works badly in conjunction with cloud sync software watching file changes. (This is bad from a performance perspective, a network bandwidth perspective as it will keep uploading files for every minor change, and the corruption perspective.)

 

Excutive summary: don't use cloud sync for CH files on disk.

 

If you want backups, always exit CH before making backups. One backup approach is to copy the whole project directory over to your cloud synced directory area (e.g. once a week) ... but you need to be careful as if you copy files over the top of the previous set of files it won't delete files no longer needed. (And I dislike deleting the previous backup before making a new backup, in case things go wrong.) So I normally copy and paste the whole directory tree over, then rename the top directory to add the date of the backup, and after a while if running low on disk space I delete some old backups.

1 reply

Frannie@Cartoonfun
Frannie@CartoonfunAuthor
Known Participant
September 8, 2021

Sorry, I meant to also mention... if I do as advised by the onscreen message, and copy the file, or any other similar Ch file, to (another part of) my local hard drive, it's still unopenable. I get the following thrown up...

 

Frannie@Cartoonfun
Frannie@CartoonfunAuthor
Known Participant
September 8, 2021

Additionally, I've just discovered through running a couple of tests, that any new Ch files that are created and saved to the local/cloud-synced Google Drive aren't re-openable once they've been closed. That original-post error comes up.

So, as said, quite a major problem 😕😕

alank99101739
alank99101739Correct answer
Legend
September 8, 2021

This has always been the case - with most of the cloud sync technology (including Adobe's). The cloud sync software sits there looking for changes to files on disk, pouncing on files immediately when it thinks there is a change (frequently locking the file, especially on Windows, making CH fail to write to the file if it tries to do so before the cloud sync finishes). Many applications write a file sequentially to disk and close it - which works fine with the cloud sync software. CH uses the files more like a database, jumping around inside files, which works badly in conjunction with cloud sync software watching file changes. (This is bad from a performance perspective, a network bandwidth perspective as it will keep uploading files for every minor change, and the corruption perspective.)

 

Excutive summary: don't use cloud sync for CH files on disk.

 

If you want backups, always exit CH before making backups. One backup approach is to copy the whole project directory over to your cloud synced directory area (e.g. once a week) ... but you need to be careful as if you copy files over the top of the previous set of files it won't delete files no longer needed. (And I dislike deleting the previous backup before making a new backup, in case things go wrong.) So I normally copy and paste the whole directory tree over, then rename the top directory to add the date of the backup, and after a while if running low on disk space I delete some old backups.

    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
    Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices