OS X :: Time Machine Not Working Fine / Unable To Complete Backup
Feb 13, 2009
So I finally got around to getting a 1tb drive to hook up to my airport extreme to do TM backups. I have ~420gb to backup on my mbp's hard drive. To avoid an absurdly long backup, I did the initial backup via usb (took the better part of the day).
Just now I was excited because it finished - I hooked the drive up to the extreme, mounted the drive so that it would show up as an option in the TM pref pane for a backup disk, and thought I was good to go. However, when I tried to get TM to do a backup so I could see it work (by selecting Back Up Now from the menubar), it took a ridiculously long time "preparing" and I saw that it was trying to create a whole new TM backup on the drive based on my computer's network name. It even had the audacity to think that the previous backup file was ~2gb, which freaked me out because I thought it had deleted it. But sure enough when I canceled the new backup and hooked it up to my mbp again, the backup was the correct size.
I have an Imac 24" and a Mybook external HDD. ever since Leopard came out Ive been doing backups with time machine, then one day I start time machine for my weekly backup and this message comes up: "Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume." Now I notice that my external HDD was almost not spinning while time machine was trying to backup the status bar of time machine saying how much files need to be copied and the total amount of space needed was super slow and stoped at something like maybe 10 mb I started time machine again same message. I though maybe Mac OSX needed some permission repaires. So I did just that and after that did time machine again same problem. then I said to myself maybe my External HDD has problems so I even formated the HDD, then stated Time machine again this time it was running smoothly just like before I had the problem but the problem came back after 6 gig being copied out of the 25 gig needed to complete the backup process. Now hope I dont need a clean install of my Mac OSX or maybe its my external HDD. maybe my USB having problems?
I have an Imac 24" and a Mybook external HDD. Ever since Leopard came out Ive been doing backups with time machine, then ...one day..I start time machine for my weekly backup..and this message comes up: "Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume."
Now I notice that my external HDD was almost not spinning while time machine was trying to backup ... the status bar of time machine saying how much files need to be copied and the total amount of space needed was super slow .... and stoped at something like maybe 10 mb ...
I started time machine again ... same message.
I though maybe Mac OSX needed some permission repaires. So I did just that and after that did time machine again ... same problem ....
Then I said to myself ... maybe my External HDD has problems ... so I even formated the HDD, then stated Time machine again ... this time it was running smoothly just like before I had the problem ... but the problem came back after 6 gig being copied out of the 25 gig needed to complete the backup process.
Now ... I hope I dont need a clean install of my Mac OSX ... or maybe its my external HDD ... maybe my USB having problems?
iMAC with OSX10.9.4 ; 8GB ram ; two partitions external disk formatted MAC jurnaled ; connected via Fire Wire or USB2 .
During Backup the sistem get stack and display into the "details window" Time machine was unable to complete the backup because unable to complete the backup folder.
This problem happens with USB and Fire Wire. The file backups.backupdb is excluded from virus scanning.
Also happens time to time that (without doing things) both the partitions of the external disk disappaire from the desk-top and a message "the disk must be ejected properly" is displayed.
This two problems are independent une to the other. I have change the backup disk but both the problems persist.
Info: iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.4), 8GB ram ; external backup HD
I have a mid-2008 (June) MBP 15". Just upgraded to SL last night. I am having a serious issue with time machine. I've been using it with the same external HD since I bought my mac last year. No issues up until I installed SL last night. This morning (my first backup since upgrading), time machine started backing up (~ 9Gb) but just stops at around 300Mb. The clock keeps spinning, but there is no change in the amount backed up.
I'm reading that other folks are having this issue as well. Has anyone figured something out?I've run disk repair (nothing found), restarted my mac & external HD (several times each), and cancelled and restarted the time machine backup (several times). Each time it freezes at a different amount (i.e. 34Mb, 284.2Mb, etc...).
MacBook Pro mid-2012, 8GB RAM, 750GB hard drive, Mac OS X 10.8.5
One Time Capsule at home
One Time Capsule in vacation home
MBP backs up everything on internal hard drive to Time Capsule at home, where we live during summer and spring. When moving to vacation home in fall and winter, MBP backs up everything to Time Capsule in vacation home.
During the 6 months at each residence, the backups work great to the Time Capsule at that particular house. However, after some time (maybe a week?), Time Machine displays an error in Notification Center: "Time Machine can't complete backup to Home Time Capsule" (when in vacation home) or "Time Machine can't complete backup to Vacation Time Capsule" (when at home).
It's obvious that this occurs because Time Machine was set to back up to 2 Time Capsules and expects both of them to be reachable. Is there a way to suppress these Time Machine errors for the time that we're away from one of the Time Capsules?
Can someone tell me how to configure Time Machine so it doesn't do a complete backup every time?I seem to get constant errors because my disk space fills up quickly. For some reason I don't think it did this when I first started using it. I use SuperDuper also, but have a drive connected to my iMac all the time for Time Machine.
Files can’t be copied onto the backup disk because it appears to be read-only. You may need to repair or reformat the disk using Disk Utility. If the disk can’t be repaired, you must use a different disk for backups. Open Time Machine preferences to select a different backup disk. Why is Time Machine insisting my drive is Read-only, when in fact it isn't? This is becoming a routine occurrence. What's troubling is the problem is easy enough to resolve by simply unmounting/mounting the Time Machine drive and selecting Back Up Now from the menu and it purrs like a kitten.
After performing the step outlined above, my latest Time Machine backup is tucked neatly away and everything is fine once more.
Info: 24-inch iMac 2.8GHz (early 2007), Mac OS X (10.7.2)
Backup to Time Capsule will not complete. This just started happening about a month ago. It used to work fine. I have tried deleting prior backups and reformatting the Time Capsule.
Info: MacBook Air (13-inch Late 2010), Mac OS X (10.7.3)
have a MacBook Pro 15" 10.7.4 which isn't working with TimeMachine any more When starting a backup, Time Machine tells me to backup 112kB (for example) .... an running and running, and after a short time "2kB from 112kB" ... and runnig and running and then "5kb from 112kB" and so on. The progress status is updating very slowly.
The weired thing is: the ".inProgress" file on the external hard drive (tried FireWire and USB connection) is growing to 85GB (the total used space on the hard drive) while Time machine status tells me it has saved some kB. And every backup is running in that way. Instead of backing up only the difference, all files where backuped - although the status is displaying a few 100kB - which should be the right size to backup.
- Repaired permissions > Same error
- Tried installing combo update > Same error
- Tried another external hard drive > Same error
- Tried cloning system to different hd > Same error
I have moved a network time machine backup disk to a new computer. Now when the time machine starts a backup it produces an error message: "Time machine could not complete the backup. An error occured while creating the backup folder."
I'm using Time Machine which makes periodic backups of my data to Time Capsule a couple times a day. If I had a problem with my computer would I be able to completely restore all of the data like the way it was?
I am getting the following error from Time Machine when doing my first backup. The startup disk being backed up, and the TM disk are both the same size.
Macintosh HD: 465.44 (total); 393.99 (free); 71.45 (free) Time Machine: 465.44 (total); 465.29 (free)
The Time Machine error is: Quote:
"This backup is too large for the backup volume. The backup requires 472.7 GB but only 465.3 GB are available." why would this be? Other disks are excluded from the backup, and Time Machine is telling me that it needs more space than it actually needs. What should I do?
I have time machine running as well as Parallels installed. Every time Time Machine backs up it does a minimum of 18.4GB. I 100% do not have that many changes each hour. BTW, running Snow Leopard. I have a screen shot of all the items I have excluded, but it still is doing it.
Well TM is acting up. I get an error that reads: "This backup is too large for the backup volume."
Both the internal boot disk and the external baclup drive are 1TB. The internal one has a two partitions, the OSX one that is 900GBs and a 32GB NTFS one for Boot Camp. The external drive is a single OSX Extended part. that is 932GBs.
Both the Time Machine disk, and the Boot Camp disk are excluded from the backup along with a "Crap" folder for temporary large files.
Time Machine says it needs 938GBs to backup only the OSX disk, which has 806GBs in use with the rest free. WTFFF?
This happened after moving a large folder (128GB in total) from the root of the OSX disk over to my Home Folder.
I have reformated the Time Machine drive and have no backups at all of my data and it refuses to backup!!
Why would it need 938GBs of space to backup if the disk has "only" 806 GBs in use??? Is there anyway to reset Time Machine completely???
I'm using 10.5.8 and Time Machine on a time capsule which should have enough space. I've unchecked the "ask before deleting" option in Time Machine but no dice. I suspect that the problem stems from when I copied my iTunes folder into my public folder so that I can share among user accounts. It's not a copy of the folder but rather I moved it. Still, I think that time machine is trying to hold onto two copies.
Info: iMac (24-inch Early 2009), Mac OS X (10.5.8)
I was a PC user who recently moved to mac. I have a macbook (intel 2.2GHz, 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD). When I was using PC, I backed up all my data to a network storage device (Buffalo LinkStation 250 GB connected to a 802.11g netgear router which is supplied by Sky) using a program called SmartSync Pro, which worked very well. Although I can connect to and mount the Share folder on this drive when the macbook is connected to the network, Time Machine will not back up to it. It wouldnt even recognise the disk on the network.
So I went onto the trusty internet, and found that you can get time machine to recognise the Share folder. (This was obtained from: http://blog.imulus.com/george/software/using-leopard-time-machine-to-backup-of-a-network/)See my comment on their page at the bottom, number 66.
It recommended entering the following in to the Terminal: defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1
Before attempting backup I have to go into "Network" and select the Share folder by double clicking on it. This seems to mount the volume. After this, it can be seen in Time Machine as a potential backup destination.
However, this method does not work for me. Time Machine "prepares" for a while, then gives the following message: Time Machine error. The backup disk image could not be created.
More internet searching took me to macosxhints which suggests creating something called a sparsebundle image on my local system. (http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20080420211034137) Have not tried this yet as I thought it would be prudent to seek some help first.
Apple have deliberately disabled the ability for Time Machine to back up to network attached storage, (except of course to their proprietory Time Capsule):
Is this because time machine requires a network faster than 802.11g?
Is this because a time machine backup to a network attached storage device is unreliable and the data is corrupted?
I dont want to shell out more cash for a time capsule. I would prefer not to have to hardwire to an external drive (which I will also have to go out and buy). Any thoughts?
I have a 1tb external for time machine back up and have about 750 gb of stuff to back up. I was under the impression that when time machine backs up my stuff it will automatically delete the oldest backup to create room for the newer backup.
My problem is that i did a back up a couple weeks ago and then today i go to back up and it tells me back up failed only 718gb available for 740gb of stuff to back up
i have got an Apple minimac 80gb 10.5.7 with leopard and i bought a small drive of i think it is 116gb and time machine seemed to work ok,but i kept getting msg saying full,i did an erase on small drive and in finder i can see a drive called untitled,but if i click on time machine there are no backup dates?
I'm in the midst of moving from a 2011 imac to a 2014 - I have/had 3 TM backups 1) before the 2011 crashed and was repaired - 2) from the interim 2014 imac that I restored and updated for the new computer and 3) a "carbon copy clone" of my current drive because the apple tech made me wipe the drive and start over and it failed.
My computer will be here next week and I wanted to prepare. However since the restore of the repaired 2011 NO TIME MACHINE will back up on ALL 3 drives the same error happened. It would start fine and say it needed 17-22 hours to "create new" or "inherit" and would start fine and then freeze somewhere around 15-20GB????? I left it more than 6-7 hours and the freeze remained.
Need a TM expert...... this HAS to be a Mavericks OSX issue and I do not want to wipe another drive.
I have been trying to backup my computer for the longest time. It has been stuck on (53.4MB of 62.5MB) for about 45 minutes now. Any ideas? It is on an ethernet connection.
It just says "Preparing Backup..." It stays like this forever until I stop it and I tried re-connecting the hard drive. Why won't this work? I tried re-starting...
I'm trying to restore my files from time machine and I chose only to transfer my files and it seemed to do that but how do I access them now and put my pictures in iphoto and music in itunes?
I recently used time machine for the first time in a long time. I use my external HD USB for the backup. After the back up was complete, I unplugged the USB cable. I got an error that I needed to put the HD away first (I wasn't thinking). And I didn't pay attention to the error either.
I thought the data was gone, when I didnt see the data in the back up file. I do see the back up file with that date on it. In the file is the .InProgress file. In that file, on right clicking, I see the contents of one folder. This folder has a very long name of numbers and letters. It shows no contents in the finder. THough I know the files must be here. The HD has capacity of 100 Gig. There is only about 20 gigs showing on it. Though there is only 20 gigs available. So, my back up data is there on the HD, and I assume it's in this "empty" file.
