"Both sides have changed" problems with backups

[Kannmann97]

I am on a Mac M3 Pro running Sonoma14.4

I am a video editor trying to backup my Final Cut Pro (.fcp bundle) files to two ssds (SSD1 and !SSD2)

Even when I haven't opened a file on either of the hard drives, when I go to sync via an Update protocol I always get the error code "both files have changed"

I manually go to each file in the ffs comparison chart and change the lightning bolt to "Update" but this is becoming tedious.

My question is 2 fold.
1) why does ffs do this when nothing has actually changed? It has prevented me from having an ul to date FCP project file on my backups and everything is correct (filters, settings, files have been untouched etc) is it the nature of the .fcp bundle automatically and independently changing on its own? I know some file bundles can be funny with FFS
2) can I just run the Update protocol with the "use database" box unchecked? Will this create issues for me?

All I need is to be able to backup my most current FCP project files automatically to both SDD from computer or from one SSD1 to the backup (!SSD2)

Any help would be great

[Plerry]

The "Both sides have changed" notification only can occur when using a database.
In previous versions of FreeFileSync (FFS), by default the database was only used in the Two-way sync variant, in which it is mandatory. Since FFS version 13.x, the database is by default also used in the Mirror and Update sync variant.
The benefit for the Mirror variant is that renaming or moving of files and folders at the source-side will simply result in a renaming or move at the target-side, rather than a (generally much slower) delete and recopy.
For the Update variant, it has the same effect, so at the target side you will not be stuck with two copies, one under the old name or in the old location, and one with the new name or in the new location.

For the Mirror and Update sync variant you can however still disable the use of the database.
If you don't rename or move files or folders in your source, that may be your way to go.
And if all else fails, you can always define your own Custom sync variant.

P.S.:
The fact that "Both sides (seem to) have changed" is most commonly the result of some software, e.g. an AV or indexing tool, making such changes.

[Kannmann97]

I figured it had to have been the complicated folder structure of the .fcp bundle since FFS is a very straight forward and simple software.

So ultimately you are saying if I am not renaming or moving anything turning off the database function should be OK?

Also making custom sync variants confuses me. Is there a link you can share to help me understand how to create one for my needs? I am not very knowledgeable about specific folder paths, scripts etc

[Zenju]

My question is 2 fold.
1) why does ffs do this when nothing has actually changed?

The file on the target side obviously *has* changed. Whether this is a problem, or not, only you know. If you don't care that changed files on the target side will be overritten, you could tell the program that by slightly changing the config as follows:

Update variant.PNG (28.97 KiB) Viewed 215 times

Since FFS version 13.x, the database is by default also used in the Mirror and Update sync variant.

"Database" is the new default for "Update", but not for "Mirror".

For the Mirror and Update sync variant you can however still disable the use of the database.
If you don't rename or move files or folders in your source, that may be your way to go.

This may be the case for "Mirror", but "Update" is significantly different when database is used vs when not: See "New Sync Concept and Multi-File-Rename" topic on https://freefilesync.org/

[Kannmann97]

This is only so helpful since my whole issues is the files were not changed based off of needs I have.

It's clearly a characteristic of apples .fcpbundle file changing even when not opened by me.

So I just want !SSD2 to truly be a backup/clone of my SSD1 (my actual working drive that I edit off of). However mirroring seems to not be a good fit since it will overwrite every single file right? And can't mirroring be a more destructive move than just UPDATE? Or in my scenario does it seem as though mirror would be the way to go since I want to overwrite these "useless background" changes to these files which are causing me issues in the first place?

[Plerry]

> And can't mirroring be a more destructive move than just UPDATE?

Mirror and Update can both be equally "destructive" if you accidentally made changes (other than deletions) in the source location and then run one or more syncs. Only if you made accidental deletions in the source location, Update is less "destructive" because it will then retain the copy in the target location, whereas Mirror will then also delete it there.

The best defense against any such accidental changes (including deletions) is to make use of the FFS Versioning feature.
FFS will then save files it deletes or overwrites during a sync to a user defined location, retaining as many previous copies as the user selects for as long as the user selects.

[Plerry]

> Why does FreeFileSync show that both files have changed?

Because the file-ID of both the left- and right-side file has changed compared to what it was at the end of the previous sync, as stored in the left-, respectively right-side database file.

[Zenju]

> Why does FreeFileSync show that both files have changed?

Because the file-ID of both the left- and right-side file has changed compared to what it was at the end of the previous sync, as stored in the left-, respectively right-side database file.

It's not the file ID that FFS is checking in this case, but file modification time and size. Or if the file was created or deleted, then this is also considered a "change".

The above case is almost certainly about a changed file modification time on the target side that FFS detected.