SUDDENLY "the backup disk image could not be mounted"

I have been using an external hard drive over my wireless network for months to back up with Time Machine. Now it seems suddenly it is unable to back up to the drive. I think I recently had an airport update, but I'm not sure if that is related.
I did some searching and found that Apple claims that an external HD will not work over wifi (which i think is BS and just an attempt at selling more time capsules). Anyone know a fix for this? Did my airport update disable my ability to use this external HD now?
Thanks!

After disconnecting the drive and connecting it to my laptop, I cannot connect to it through file sharing either. I go to click on it and I get "an unexpected error occurred (error code -43). I also checked the drive with disk utility and everything was ok...

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Time machine - "the backup disk image could not be mounted"

SInce a few days, I am unable to backup via Time Machine.
I always get the message:
TIME MACHINE ERROR
The backup disk image could not be mounted
I use an Apple Time Capsule and still have more than enough free space on it.
Use OS X 10.5.5
Help.....
Tks

Rosy,
*_"The Backup Disk Image Could Not Be Mounted" (Console - “Failed to mount disk image”)_*
First, it is important to distinguish this error message from another, similar Time Machine error that states “The backup volume could not be mounted”. This is important as the causes and cures for these two errors can be very different.
Consider each topic below separately. When one option does not resolve your issue, then move on the next one.
*Unmount the Backup Disk Image* (TC)
If, for some reason, you have manually mounted the Time Machine backup disk image (sparsebundle), or Time Machine failed to eject it after the previous backup, subsequent backups may fail. (Console - “Failed to mount disk image”… “Backup failed with error: 21”)
Eject the backup disk image (white drive icon) by either clicking the little Eject icon to the right of the disk image in the Finders’ Sidebar, or Ctrl-Click the drive icon on the desktop and select “Eject” from the contextual menu. Now try backing up again or launching Time Machine to view previous backups.
*“Disconnect All Users…”:*
If your Time Machine backup drive (“Backup of Users Computer”) is mounted on your desktop or in the Sidebar of the Finder window. then Time Machine may think the drive is already in use. Alternatively, if the Time Capsule hard disk has been recently accessed by a Windows machine, it may not have fully relinquished control. Do the following:
Open Airport Utility and select the Time Capsule on the left.
Click “Manual Setup”.
Select “Disks” at top of window.
Click “Disconnect All Users…” at bottom of window.
Close the Airport Utility.
Now try Backing up again.
“I got it resolved. Apparently it had to do with one of the files being open on the disk from the drive. I had browsed the disk with one of my windows boxes here and it must have left one of the folders "open". Anyway, I rebooted the TC and we are good to go now.”
*Proper Computer Name* #
Make sure your computer has a proper name. Go to System Preferences --> Sharing. Time Machine needs to differentiate your computer from others on your network (i.e. "Bills MacBook" or "Office iMac"). If the "Computer Name" field is blank, create a name. Realize that if this step is necessary, you will likely have to start the Time Machine backup process over again and do another full initial backup.
According to this article, [http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1760], Time Machine may experience problems if your computer name includes certain characters. Make sure the computer name only includes ASCII characters from the following set.
(0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ)
Once a change in the computer name occurs, you should stop and restart Sharing on the affected computer. Uncheck and then recheck Sharing in the Services list on the left.
Let us know if any of the suggestions above resolves your issue.
Cheers!

Time machine error: The backup disk image could not be mounted

Time Machine worked OK for several months. Now I get this error every 10 minutes or so.
I unplugged Time Machine capsule and "Change Disk" in Time Machine options.
Nothing helps, I continue to get this error.
I cannot Enter Time Machine either. "Connecting to Server, Connecting to backup" does not work.
Help please because I will probably have to archive and reinstall Leopard. I need the backups,
Christine

Christ1ne,
Before you reformat the disk, consider these causes of this error.
*_"The Backup Disk Image Could Not Be Mounted" (Console - “Failed to mount disk image”)_*
First, it is important to distinguish this error message from another, similar Time Machine error that states “The backup volume could not be mounted”. This is important as the causes and cures for these two errors can be very different.
Consider each topic below separately. When one option does not resolve your issue, then move on the next one.
*Unmount the Backup Disk Image* (TC)
If, for some reason, you have manually mounted the Time Machine backup disk image (sparsebundle), or Time Machine failed to eject it after the previous backup, subsequent backups may fail. (Console - “Failed to mount disk image”… “Backup failed with error: 21”)
Eject the backup disk image (white drive icon) by either clicking the little Eject icon to the right of the disk image in the Finders’ Sidebar, or Ctrl-Click the drive icon on the desktop and select “Eject” from the contextual menu. Now try backing up again or launching Time Machine to view previous backups.
*“Disconnect All Users…”:*
If your Time Machine backup drive (“Backup of Users Computer”) is mounted on your desktop or in the Sidebar of the Finder window. then Time Machine may think the drive is already in use. Alternatively, if the Time Capsule hard disk has been recently accessed by a Windows machine, it may not have fully relinquished control. Do the following:
Open Airport Utility and select the Time Capsule on the left.
Click “Manual Setup”.
Select “Disks” at top of window.
Click “Disconnect All Users…” at bottom of window.
Close the Airport Utility.
Now try Backing up again.
One poster reported: “I got it resolved. Apparently it had to do with one of the files being open on the disk from the drive. I had browsed the disk with one of my windows boxes here and it must have left one of the folders "open". Anyway, I rebooted the TC and we are good to go now.”
*Proper Computer Name* #
Make sure your computer has a proper name. Go to System Preferences --> Sharing. Time Machine needs to differentiate your computer from others on your network (i.e. "Bills MacBook" or "Office iMac"). If the "Computer Name" field is blank, create a name. Realize that if this step is necessary, you will likely have to start the Time Machine backup process over again and do another full initial backup.
According to this article, [http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1760], Time Machine may experience problems if your computer name includes certain characters. Make sure the computer name only includes ASCII characters from the following set.
(0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ)
Once a change in the computer name occurs, you should stop and restart Sharing on the affected computer. Uncheck and then recheck Sharing in the Services list on the left.
# Try removing the apostrophe from the disk images name (sparsebundle).
*A Stalled .inProgress Files:* #
It may be that the previous backup attempt was ungracefully interrupted leaving remains that Time Machine can’t deal with.
Stop any current backup attempt. Choose “Stop Backing Up” from the Time Machine menu.
Open the Time Machine Preferences and turn “OFF” Time Machine.
Open your Time Machine drive.
Open the folder labeled “Backups,backupdb”.
Now open the folder containing backups of the computer in question.
Are there any “.inProgress” files there. Delete them by dragging the file to the Trash. Or Ctrl-Click the file and select "Move to Trash" from the contextual menu. (Give this time as deleting a large file on an external disk can take a while.)
Turn Time Machine back “ON”. Now try backing up again.
NOTE: If the above procedure becomes impossible to perform, try accessing the disk image from another Mac. Some have discovered that attempting a repair from another computer succeeds where the original computer failed.
Let us know if any of the suggestions above helped to resolve your issue.
Cheers!

The Backup Disk Image Could Not Be Mounted

I've successfully installed Time Capsule on my network and it is working correctly. I can access it via wireless and choose it from Time Machine. The initial backups go well, and I can access them if I enter Time Machine. However, at some point, it creates a disk image on my desktop and then returns the error The Backup Disk Could Not Be Mounted. The only way to restore everything to normal is to reboot.
I've already dismounted and remounted the drive, so permissions don't seem to be the problem.
Can anyone tell me what's going on and how to fix this??
Thanks!

I have a similar problem. At first, TM worked with both my machines. Now it works with the mac air but not the ibook. I get the Backup Disk Image Could not be mounted error message.
Here's what conole say:
4/22/08 11:56:33 AM /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[855] Starting standard backup
4/22/08 11:56:34 AM /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[855] Mounting disk image /Volumes/Fran's Time Capsule/Fran's Desktop_000d93460426.sparsebundle
4/22/08 11:56:51 AM /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[855] Failed to attach to disk image, returned: 109
4/22/08 11:56:51 AM /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[855] Failed to mount disk image /Volumes/Fran's Time Capsule/Fran's Desktop_000d93460426.sparsebundle
4/22/08 11:56:51 AM /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[855] Backup failed with error: 21
4/22/08 12:04:54 PM com.apple.launchd[72] ([0x0-0xd00d0].com.apple.systempreferences[815]) Stray process with PGID equal to this dead job: PID 824 PPID 1 check_afp
4/22/08 12:05:05 PM Disk Utility[878] ********
4/22/08 12:05:05 PM Disk Utility[878] Disk Utility started.
4/22/08 12:05:24 PM mdworker[805] CFPropertyListCreateFromXMLData(): Old-style plist parser: missing semicolon in dictionary.
4/22/08 12:06:37 PM mdworker[805] CFPropertyListCreateFromXMLData(): Old-style plist parser: missing semicolon in dictionary.
4/22/08 12:08:25 PM Disk Utility[896] ********
4/22/08 12:08:25 PM Disk Utility[896] Disk Utility started.
4/22/08 12:08:40 PM mdworker[805] CFPropertyListCreateFromXMLData(): Old-style plist parser: missing semicolon in dictionary.
4/22/08 12:09:04 PM /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[899] Mounting disk image /Volumes/Fran's Time Capsule/Fran's Desktop_000d93460426.sparsebundle
4/22/08 12:11:31 PM kernel SetCryptoKey R: len 32, idx 1

TC Error "The backup disk image could not be mounted."

My new time machine was working fine for a couple of weeks now I am getting this error message constantly. Does anyone have any suggestions what to do?
"The backup disk image could not be mounted."

I posted the same thing a couple of threads down, I deleted the back up then went into the time machine options and choose the time capsule option again and did another full backup and now it seems to be working properly.

My Time Machine / Time capsule gets the error: The backup disk image could not be mounted

My time machine / time capsule gets the error: The backup disk image could not be mounted.

Reboot the TC.
If you normally have multiple computers backing up, under Lion there seems to be some issues.. you need to force other users off the system. You can do that through the Airport utility, manual setup, disks, disconnect all users. Note carefully if you use Lion you probably need to download the real airport utility.. 5.6 to accomplish anything useful.

Time Machine Error Message: "The backup disk image could not be mounted"

I just installed Time Capsule and the initial back up was going smoothly. Now
all I get is a and the Error message "The backup disk image could not be mounted". Can anyone help me troubleshoot this problem? Thanks.

This works, if there is no corruption in the sparse image. But after weeks of backups, my sparse image on a USB disk attached to an Airport Extreme was corrupted.
I am right now repairing it by connecting the USB disk directly and using disk utility. It recovered the file system and is not rebuilding the B-Tree. I hope that works, otherwise it will have to be disk warrior...
On Time Capsule, I have heard folks having success with attaching the image, and then repairing it:
hdiutil attach -nomount -readwrite /path/to/sparse/image
Your mileage may vary, but you do not have a lot to lose in this circumstance...
This functionality should really be in the Airport or Time Capsule, or at least Disk Utility or Airport Utility.

The backup disk image could not be mounted - I found the cure?!

Hi all,
being a recent Windows to Mac convert I was very happy about my new MBP together with a brand new 1 GB TimeCapsule. First time, worked like a charm backup and restore. Then, last backup with 10.5.2, install 10.5.3, "Backup now" - nothing. I was pretty p*ssed and thought: that is exactly why I didn't want to use Windows anymore. I thought, Apple can't be doing the same cr@p as the Redmond dudes. Well, they did. Soon after 10.5.3 was out word had it that 10.5.4 as already around the corner so I figured, I'll wait for it. Just to be disappointed. After hoping for a solution in these forums none of the just re-assign the backup drive solutions worked for me.
Having found a solution somewhere about mounting the TC manually I managed to run backups again which clearly showed that the fr@cked it up as it indicated a stupid permission issue. I then took a look at the error message again:
"Network mountpoint /Volumes/Time Capsule not owned by backupd... remounting"
So I went and looked for that backupd and found it within /System/Library/CoreServices. Knowing that it did work last with 10.5.2 I figured, let me grab the 10.5.2 combo update and restore the backupd + the backup.bundle from the old version and give it a shot (making backup copies of them first).
Sure enough, told it to install them 2 to the default location, re-selected the TimeCapsule as backup target, hit "Start Backup" et voilà: currently "Backing Up: 1.4 GB of 5.1 GB"
Bottom line: Apple messed up the backupd binary somehow - way to go, QA team!
Anywho, seems to be working now. Also access is working at this point. Have to recheck if Time Machine still works if the TC is not mounted due to the running backup.
Maybe someone else can verify this to see if it helps them too?
Cheers!

Actually the path is shown in the system log. (My log had just rolled over and I didn't see the exact error message anymore - had used "locate" to find it)

I am getting a Time Machine error "The backup disk image could not mount"

Time Machine message "The backup disk image could not be mounted"

Go to Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for assistance.

"Backup disk image could not be mounted"

I have been using time capsule successfully for about 5 months. But now it has suddenly started returning a time machine error "the backup disk image could not be mounted".
Anyone got any suggestions?

towersfamily,
*_"The Backup Disk Image Could Not Be Mounted" (Console - “Failed to mount disk image”)_*
First, it is important to distinguish this error message from another, similar Time Machine error that states “The backup volume could not be mounted”. This is important as the causes and cures for these two errors can be very different.
Consider each topic below separately. When one option does not resolve your issue, then move on the next one.
*Unmount the Backup Disk Image* (TC)
If, for some reason, you have manually mounted the Time Machine backup disk image (sparsebundle), or Time Machine failed to eject it after the previous backup, subsequent backups may fail. (Console - “Failed to mount disk image”… “Backup failed with error: 21”)
Eject the backup disk image (white drive icon) by either clicking the little Eject icon to the right of the disk image in the Finders’ Sidebar, or Ctrl-Click the drive icon on the desktop and select “Eject” from the contextual menu. Now try backing up again or launching Time Machine to view previous backups.
*“Disconnect All Users…”:*
If your Time Machine backup drive (“Backup of Users Computer”) is mounted on your desktop or in the Sidebar of the Finder window. then Time Machine may think the drive is already in use. Alternatively, if the Time Capsule hard disk has been recently accessed by a Windows machine, it may not have fully relinquished control. Do the following:
Open Airport Utility and select the Time Capsule on the left.
Click “Manual Setup”.
Select “Disks” at top of window.
Click “Disconnect All Users…” at bottom of window.
Close the Airport Utility.
Now try Backing up again.
One poster reported: “I got it resolved. Apparently it had to do with one of the files being open on the disk from the drive. I had browsed the disk with one of my windows boxes here and it must have left one of the folders "open". Anyway, I rebooted the TC and we are good to go now.”
*Proper Computer Name* #
Make sure your computer has a proper name. Go to System Preferences --> Sharing. Time Machine needs to differentiate your computer from others on your network (i.e. "Bills MacBook" or "Office iMac"). If the "Computer Name" field is blank, create a name. Realize that if this step is necessary, you will likely have to start the Time Machine backup process over again and do another full initial backup.
According to this article, [http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1760], Time Machine may experience problems if your computer name includes certain characters. Make sure the computer name only includes ASCII characters from the following set.
(0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ)
Once a change in the computer name occurs, you should stop and restart Sharing on the affected computer. Uncheck and then recheck Sharing in the Services list on the left.
Let us know if any of the suggestions above helped to resolve your issue.
Cheers!

Time Machine / Time Capsule Error: Backup disk image could not be mounted

So I'm trying to back up to time machine, which used to be working fine, but I have this problem happening on two computers now (which probably means the error is in my Time Capsule.)
The Time Capsule shows up on my "shared" list in my finder windows.
I can connect to it, and open the folder inside, and SEE my two disk image files in there.
But Time Machine gives me a "The Backup Disk Image Could Not Be Mounted" error. No other information.
If I double-click on the disk image file directly, I get an error "The Following disk images failed to mount" and then it lists the file and says "Resource temporarily unavailable."
Help, please.

I'm caught in the same loop, with no end in sight. I've only been using Time Machine and Time Capsule for 2 months. This week it stopped working. First error message:
"Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume."
Checking the Time Machine preferences, "Last backup" would read "backup failed"
When I got this error, all the wireless functions went offline, even thought the TC light was still green.
I would shut down, shut down the Time Capsule, shut off my modem reboot everything in order.
Next error message:
"Disk repair. The disk 'Backup of [my computer]' was not repairable by this computer. It is being made available to you with limited functionality. You must backup your data and reformat the drive."
Then: "Time Machine Error: The backup volume is read only. To select a different volume ... Time Machine preferences ... "
I spoke to someone at Apple, who sent me the Time Machine Troubleshooting page:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3275?viewlocale=en_US
I went through:
1. updated my system software
2. updated the TC firmware to 7.4.1
3. dragged the sparsebundle to DiskUtility. It took a while (more than an hour?) but said the disk could not be repaired. When I tried again, the repair function wouldn't run.
4. tried to delete the sparsebundle, but it would choke at almost the end, sometimes it would just crash the finder, sometimes say "Sorry, an unexpected error occurred," sometimes "Operation cannot be completed because the item 'bands' is in use." I even tried to Stuff the bundle with 'delete original' checked, but the stuffing, after about 15 hours, jammed near the end (stuffed 20 gigs of 35 gigs).
5. tried to reselect the TC, and run backup anyways ... now it can't find the volume, back to the error messages and crashing Finder
6. checked password in Keychain, all ok.
Now what??
Do I use Airport Utility to erase it? At least TC is still showing up there. Or press the rest button on the back of the Time Capsule to reset to factory defaults?
I've resigned myself to losing my backups. Now I would just like to get it up and running again.
In hopes,
Linda

Time Capsule - Time machine error "backup disk image could not be mounted"

Recently I lost a folder and attempted to resore from my Time Capsule backup (which I started when it first shipped) not only did it fail, but know I get the message "backup disk image could not be mounted" when I try to backup. I have used Airport Utility to try and sort - that shows green light and it is connected by ethernet 9and shows in network (I can see the sparsebundle). I have been trying for a couple of weeks now - any ideas??

John & Joel,
I've done some research and put together some ideas.
"The backup disk image could not be mounted"
*“Disconnect All Users…”:*
If your Time Machine backup drive (“Backup of Users Computer”) is mounted on your desktop or in the Sidebar of the Finder window. then Time Machine may think the drive is already in use. Alternatively, if the Time Capsule hard disk has been recently accessed by a Windows machine, it may not have fully relinquished control. Do the following:
Open Airport Utility and select the Time Capsule on the left.
Click “Manual Setup”.
Select “Disks” at top of window.
Click “Disconnect All Users…” at bottom of window.
Now try Backing up again.
*Stalled .inProgress Files:*
Select the TC in the SideBar of the Finder window.
Click "Connect as...". Enter your TCs password.
Double click the blue folder that appears in the finder window. The sparsebundle should now be visible.
Double click the sparsebundle and then click “Skip” in the checksum message.
Once “Backup of (Users Computer)” mounts in the Sidebar open the folder containing past backups. Are there any “.inProgress” files there. Delete them.
Unmount the backup drive and try backing up again.
*Permissions Issue:*
Select the TC in the SideBar of the Finder window.
Click "Connect as...". Enter your TCs password.
Double click the blue folder that appears in the finder window. The sparsebundle should now be visible.
Highlight the sparsebundle and “Get Info” (Cmd-I). At the bottom of the Get Info window open the “Sharing & Permission” section. Beside “Everyone” it should say “Read & Write”. If it does not, change it.
Now try performing a backup again.

I am having issues with Time Machine. Error message "The backup disk image could not be created.

Error message "The backup disk image could not be created." I have tried everything I have found online in the community from TM full reset to changing my computers name. Anything else I can try? I am using a Seagate external HD with a connection through my router. I spent an hour on the phone with seagate and everything is ok on the HD end.
TM sees it and it is mounted but cannot go any further. HELP?!!!!
Thanks
-A

How should it be connected? It has a usb port and ethernet. The USB on the ExHD looks like the port on the back of my computer, so I would need one wth the same ends? Do they make those?
I can usually fix most my comp problems myself, but this new ExHD has stumped me.
Thanks for your help.
-A

I'm having trouble backing up my second macbook to a new time capsule. continue to get an error message -- "Time Machine Error. The backup disk image could not be created." Is there something I need to change in my time capsule or time machine?

I just set up a new time capsule. it worked fine on my first macbook. But now I cannot backup my second macbook. Getting "Time Machine Error" "The backup disk image could not be created." Do I need to change settings on my time capsule to allow the second computer, or do I need to change something on the computer to allow time machine to work right?

Try #C9 in Pondini's Time Machine Troublshooting
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

Time Machine error "The backup disk image could not be created"

I'm trying to back up to an external hard drive on a home network (not Time Capsule). Time Machine appears to recognize the drive, and the correct amount of free space on it, but fails with the error "The backup disk image could not be created" after a lengthy "Preparing" wait. What's going on? Other applications are able to access this drive with no problems.

I know Apple won't support other makes of NAS, but this post I found from Pondini worked for me.
Hi, and welcome to the forums.
Check your Computer Name at the top of the System Preferences > Sharing panel.
It must not be blank; it should not be more than 25 characters long; and you should avoid punctuation, spaces, and special characters.
After changing it, click the Edit button and make the corresponding change to the Local Hostname.
If that doesn't help, apply the same rules to the name of your Time Capsule and Network, via Airport Utility.
It was really as simple as that (after I had done such things as delete the sparsebundle file, created a new one, zeroed-out the new one, nightmare!)
Problem seems to be with OS X's naming of Macs when you first set it up, as it creates a hostname "<yourName>'s Mac Book." When the NAS software (mine anyway) creates the sparsebundle image it replaces the spaces of the hostname with hyphens and strips out the apostrophe, which is never gonna work.

SUDDENLY "the backup disk image could not be mounted"

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