Mac and PC Sync

This page explains how to move code, datasets, photos, and models between the Mac and the NVIDIA PC, and how to deploy code to the Raspberry Pi 5, without accidentally deleting documentation or a photo run. Previous reverse-sync failures justify the deliberately conservative rules below.

How It Works

Two directions of sync exist, and they are not symmetric:

  • Push code to the Raspberry Pi 5: sends the local branch's controller/runtime code to the Raspberry Pi 5 after switching and pulling the chosen branch. This is the safe, everyday direction.
  • Pull the whole remote tree back: mirrors a remote checkout onto the local machine. This is the direction that can delete local files when --delete is used and the remote is missing a tree (docs, generated site, a photo run).

Data lives in a few well-known places and is treated as data, not source:

  • ~/logs/ (or RC_CAR_LOG_DIR) — runtime CSV logs, outside the repository by default.
  • media/photos/YYYY_MM_DD_run_N/ — field photo runs, often with a JSON manifest.
  • code/ai_models/*.pth — model checkpoints.

Why This Choice

  • A reverse whole-repository rsync --delete is dangerous: it has deleted documentation and generated-site files when the remote did not contain those trees. For photo pulls, sync only the target media/photos/... folder, or omit --delete entirely.
  • Photos, logs, datasets, and checkpoints are never staged, renamed, or deleted as a side effect of a sync. They are the project's irreplaceable field data.
  • Keeping "push code to Raspberry Pi 5" and "pull tree to laptop" as clearly distinct operations stops the risky direction from being run by muscle memory.

Public-Safe Examples

Use placeholders for private hosts and pull only the folder you actually want:

# Pull ONE photo run from a device, no --delete
rsync -av <user>@<device>:~/rc_car_code/media/photos/2026_07_02_run_1/ \
  ./media/photos/2026_07_02_run_1/

# Push code changes to the Raspberry Pi 5 (safe direction), scoped to the controller
rsync -av ./code/controller/current/ <user>@<pi>:~/rc_car_code/code/controller/current/

Never run a whole-repo reverse sync with --delete.

Failure and Recovery

  • Documentation or generated site disappeared after a pull: a reverse --delete sync removed trees that were absent on the remote. Recover tracked files through Git rather than repeating the sync.
  • A photo run looks truncated: verify the manifest count against the files on disk before assuming loss; do not delete anything to "clean up."
  • Uncertain which direction to run: default to the push-to-Raspberry Pi 5 direction and pull only a named data folder. When in doubt, drop --delete.

Evidence to Attach

  • Dry-run (rsync -avn ...) output before the real run
  • Branch status on both ends
  • File/manifest counts before and after