Managing snapshots on the + drive

Elektron Gear Machinedrum
#1

I just lost a song that I had been working on for about 5 days. Loaded a new snapshot to let my son make some beats and play around with some fun samples…and I think I may have saved this new snapshot over the old one. Not entirely sure. Very bummed. But I guess this is a sign that it’s high time that I wrap my head around this system a little better and avoid similar future disasters!

So, I usually load my snapshots via " quick mode" (function + global), and I have my global +drive quick mode set to “change” – according to the manual, this mode will save all pattern, kit, mute data of the battery backed memory to the snapshot +drive location it was loaded from b4 another snapshot is loaded. Not really sure why anyone would want the other (“load”) mode?? This one means that you’ll lose all your data, assuming you haven’t yet saved it via the regular snapshot manager.

So in making this error of probably loading the new snapshot over the one I was working on, I thought I’d look into the option of locking snapshots just to be safer - haven’t locked any yet myself. But looking at the manual, it mentions that if you have a snapshot locked, and you load another one via quick mode, and you have quick mode set to “change”, “the locked snapshot will disregard this and instead function as if quick mode was set to “load”. Hence, no altered pattern, kit, etc. will be saved when changing snapshots”.

This is counter intuitive to me!

So…if you lock a snapshot…I guess you need to unlock it and save it if you’ve made changes you want to keep?

Am I just thick? why is this so confusing to me? Can anyone recommend a workflow or safe practice for switching between projects? Do you use the locks? Do you use the quick mode or the regular snapshot manager? How often do you manually save your snapshot in the snapshot manager? I hadn’t really ever been doing this, as I understood the quick mode loading technique (with the mode set to “change”) would do the saving for me…

#2

Pretty sure locked is as you describe. Think of it as read-only.

Here are some tips that work for me. Save copies of snapshots that have a lot of material. Save your snapshot at the end of a session or more often. Back up externally from time to time. And, be super careful snapshotting when you’ve had something to drink!

I always use the manual save mode and had forgotten there was another. So I am in the habit of saving pretty often.

1 Like
#3

Bummer. I feel ya, I’ve lost patterns this way. Veets has good tips but FWIW as well:

Why lock snapshots? I do it primarily with the ones I use for performance, so I can jam as much as I like without worrying about losing my starting point.

I also keep working copies of all of them in different slots. I don’t lock these, or the scratch snaps that I use for new creation. But I am in the habit of saving them every time I come up with something worthy.

One last thought: Get into the habit of regularly backing up your data with C6. I do it every couple of weeks and it saves a LOT of heartache in the long run.

A bit anal from some perspectives perhaps, but it takes moments and saves hours.

#4

underrated sentiment

#5

Just discovered the hard way that the +Drive QUICK MODE default is ‘LOAD’ rather than ‘CHANGE’. Uck-fay! :sob:

Why something so potentially destructive would be the default is beyond my comprehension. Does anyone know? I wish I had read this thread (and the manual Global section details again and again) before accidently deleting all of my kits and patterns.

At least now I have learned the advantages of making copies of snapshots, and to operate on an unlocked working copy. Oh, and that CHANGE is good.