Time Machine Error - The backup is too large for the backup disk

I have been using Lion (currently 10.7.1) on my MacBook Pro (13" - early 2011) since it was released. I haven't had any serious problems with it.
All of a sudden, I am getting an error in Time Machine. When it tries to run a backup, the error "This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 7.51 GB but only 630.1 GB are available." What gives? That's plenty of room. I have installed Logic Studio and a few plug-ins, so the 7.51 GB is probably right. The free space is correct as well. I can't understand what the problem is.
The backup disk is an external USB 2.0 drive with no other Time Machine backups on it or any other files. The folder "Backups.backupdb" is the only thing on the root of the disk.
I am reluctant to reset the Time Machine and lose all of the backups, but I will if anyone recommends it.

Hi Linc,
It is not working at the moment, as I have restored the original Lion image again; it has all my work and apps on it.
Many thanks for the info on the log, though. It tells a strange story. Here's the log from the last backup that worked to the first one that failed: --
Sep 12 17:15:55 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[674]: Starting standard backup
Sep 12 17:15:55 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[674]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Backup/Backups.backupdb
Sep 12 17:15:55 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[674]: 100.0 MB required (including padding), 633.72 GB available
Sep 12 17:15:55 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[674]: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
Sep 12 17:16:00 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[674]: Copied 793 files (601 KB) from volume System.
Sep 12 17:16:00 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[674]: 100.0 MB required (including padding), 633.72 GB available
Sep 12 17:16:01 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[674]: Copied 89 files (93 bytes) from volume System.
Sep 12 17:16:01 Johns-MacBook-Pro mds[34]: (Error) Volume: Could not find requested backup type:2 for volume
Sep 12 17:16:01 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[674]: Starting post-backup thinning
Sep 12 17:16:01 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[674]: Deleted /Volumes/Backup/Backups.backupdb/John’s MacBook Pro/2011-09-11-154229 (1.1 MB)
Sep 12 17:16:01 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[674]: Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed
Sep 12 17:16:01 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[674]: Backup completed successfully.
Sep 13 10:34:12 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[287]: Starting standard backup
Sep 13 10:34:12 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[287]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Backup/Backups.backupdb
Sep 13 10:34:52 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[287]: 7.51 GB required (including padding), 630.11 GB available
Sep 13 10:34:52 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[287]: No expired backups exist - deleting oldest backups to make room
Sep 13 10:34:52 Johns-MacBook-Pro mds[32]: (Error) Volume: Could not find requested backup type:2 for volume
Sep 13 10:35:03 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[287]: Backup failed with error: Not enough available disk space on the target volume.
I don't understand. For starters, I think it's a little wasteful that 3.5 GB has been used to back up 601 KB. That's the difference in free space on the backup volume between the two backups. That can't be normal, surely.
The only error is that mds[32] error, and from what I've read on forums, that seems to appear on backups that work perfectly.
Too weird. It looks like I'll have to reinstall Lion and all my applications again to get Time Machine working, or find another backup solution.

Similar Messages

TIME MACHINE Error: This backupup is too large for the backup volume ...

Hi Folks !
I have also my first problems with TM. It was running, the first time nicht&day to make the first backup and now seems the device to be full! This TimeMachineError was displayed:
This backup is too large for the backup volume. The backup requires 127.5 GB but only 46.5 are available. To select a larger volume, or make the backup smaller by excluding files, open System Preferences and choose Time Machine.
END OF ERROR Message
First thing > if I choose SystemPrefs/TM there is no chance to exclude file or folders the only dialog is for Volumes
Any Idea ?
Are the TM Preferences corrupted or why I cannot choose to define my backup ?
Ciao
Massimo

When my Time Machine disk had only 50GB left, I got the message that it couldn't back up because it required 118GB to do so. Because there was, for some reason, only one day backed up, I deleted the backup files to start fresh. Now I am getting the message:
"This backup too large for the backup volume. The backup requires 1056.6 GB but only 929.4 GB are available."
Well, the backup only require 118GB a little while ago, and the initial full backup that I deleted was 880 GB. Nothing has been added to the startup disk, and a 400GB disk has been excluded to try to make this work, so this message can't be right.
How do I make this work? Do I have to keep reinstalling Time Machine every time I want to backup?

Time Machine Error. Backup is too large for the backup disk. Backup requires 289.28 GB but only 177.01 GB are available.

My Mac has not been backing up for some time. Tried Apple Support, but couldn't figure out problem.
Receive the following error...
Time Machine Error
This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 289.28 GB but only 177.03 GB are available.

See #C4 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
If that doesn't clarify the situation, post back with:
How much data is on your internal HD (and any others being backed-up)?
How large is your Time Capsule?
Is there anything else on the TC besides these backups? If so, what and how large?

Time Machine Error This backup is too large for the backup disk

Hi, I have a 1TB Time Capsule which backs up my Mac. I was having some issues with my mac so I decided to perform an erase and install and then use Migration Assistant to transfer everything back to my Mac.
After I reinstalled Snow Leopard and restored my Mac using Migration Assistant, Time Machine says that the backup has failed. It says " Time Machine Error This backup is too large for the backup disk. The Backup requires 663 GB but only 255 GB are available.
What do I do? Is my only option to erase my Time Capsule and have it back everything up from scratch?

Hi, thanks for the help. I erased everything off of the Time Capsule and it's backing up my Mac from scratch. It's almost finished backing up my whole mac. It's now at 641.86gb of 646.54gb but it's now backing up very slowly. It's backing up .1 every few minutes. Is this normal?
Here's the log from Time Machine Buddy:
Starting standard backup
Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://Stuart%[email protected]/Time%20Capsule
Mounted network destination using URL: afp://Stuart%[email protected]/Time%20Capsule
Creating disk image /Volumes/Time Capsule/StuartsMacPro.sparsebundle
QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
Disk image /Volumes/Time Capsule/StuartsMacPro.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups
Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb
Ownership is disabled on the backup destination volume. Enabling.
Detected system migration from: /Volumes/My Book
Backup content size: 850.0 GB excluded items size: 606.5 GB for volume Stuart's Drive
Backup content size: 425.9 GB excluded items size: 67.3 GB for volume Macintosh HD
No pre-backup thinning needed: 722.56 GB requested (including padding), 928.68 GB available
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
Copied 28.3 GB of 602.1 GB, 29340 of 1478089 items
Copied 55.0 GB of 602.1 GB, 41596 of 1478089 items
Copied 82.9 GB of 602.1 GB, 55899 of 1478089 items
Copied 110.7 GB of 602.1 GB, 63347 of 1478089 items
Copied 138.8 GB of 602.1 GB, 83831 of 1478089 items
Copied 166.8 GB of 602.1 GB, 94574 of 1478089 items
Copied 194.7 GB of 602.1 GB, 102854 of 1478089 items
Copied 222.8 GB of 602.1 GB, 114388 of 1478089 items
Copied 129159 files (242.5 GB) from volume Stuart's Drive.
Copied 248.4 GB of 602.1 GB, 130414 of 1478089 items
Copied 265.5 GB of 602.1 GB, 355699 of 1478089 items
Copied 293.6 GB of 602.1 GB, 382912 of 1478089 items
Copied 322.1 GB of 602.1 GB, 387974 of 1478089 items
Copied 349.8 GB of 602.1 GB, 399204 of 1478089 items
Copied 378.3 GB of 602.1 GB, 399358 of 1478089 items
Copied 406.9 GB of 602.1 GB, 399441 of 1478089 items
Copied 434.5 GB of 602.1 GB, 415817 of 1478089 items
Copied 461.5 GB of 602.1 GB, 471528 of 1478089 items
Copied 488.2 GB of 602.1 GB, 537277 of 1478089 items
Copied 515.1 GB of 602.1 GB, 580446 of 1478089 items
Copied 541.3 GB of 602.1 GB, 590386 of 1478089 items
Copied 566.8 GB of 602.1 GB, 602496 of 1478089 items
Copied 593.3 GB of 602.1 GB, 649575 of 1
Message was edited by: Stuart Lawrence
Message was edited by: Stuart Lawrence

My time Machine keeps saying, "Time Machine could not complete the backup. This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 345.74 GB but only 289.80 are available." I have already excluded files. I have a 1tb external drive. HELP!!!

For over two weeks now I have been frustated and not having my TIme Machine back up to my 1tb external drive. I dont understand why now its a problem. It keeps saying
"This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 345.74GB but only 289.80GB are avialable. Time Machine needs work space on the bakup disk, in addition to the space required to store backups. Open Time Machine preferences to select a large backup disk or make the bakup smaller by excluding files." So I have already excluded almost all of my files, and even deleted the backup disk yet, that quote still keeps popping up. I am truly at a wall with this. I have a Mac OS X version 10.7.5. CAN SOMEONE HELP ME PLEASE????

If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator.
Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.
Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar.
Enter the word "Starting" (without the quotes) in the String Matching text field. You should now see log messages with the words "Starting * backup," where * represents any of the words "automatic," "manual," or "standard." Note the timestamp of the last such message. Clear the text field and scroll back in the log to that time. Select the messages timestamped from then until the end of the backup, or the end of the log if that's not clear. Copy them (command-C) to the Clipboard. Paste (command-V) into a reply to this message.
If there are runs of repeated messages, post only one example of each. Don't post many repetitions of the same message.
When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Some personal information, such as the names of your files, may be included — anonymize before posting.

Used Time Machine Backup Today- Now This backup is too large for the backup

Hey Everyone!
Some advice please,
My Hard Drive recently crashed. Fortunately, I've been using Time Machine. Apple Store gave me a new Hard Drive (for free), and I came home and restored to Time Machine. I am very impressed, and have lost no data or applications.
So now I have a problem. I can no longer back my hard drive, presumably because there were so many changes to the software today. I am getting This backup is too large for the backup volume. What is the easiest way to delete my old time machine backup and start from scratch with my computer in its current state? Everything seems to be working smoothly, so I don't see any reason to keep my old backups. Any suggestions? Is there any logical reason why I would keep the old backup?
Message was edited by: David Selevan

Thanks Barry!
I called Apple (had to anyway for a new OS Leopard DVD) and he had me go into Disk Utility and choose Erase Disk (as you suggested). I didn't have to do any formatting.
The next step was to go into System Preferences and select Change Disk and set it to None. After that, he had me choose Change Disk again, and select the USB drive, and click Use For Backup.
Now it's backing up the new version of my computer. Problem solved. Thank you.
After having to get an brand new Hard Drive today, I highly recommend that everyone purchase some kind of external hard drive and run Time Machine regularly. Although the backups get large, I've never experienced such a pleasant experience getting my files back after a hard drive failure. This is awesome technology. I can't believe 95% of my applications still worked.
David

The message I get is: Time Machine could not complete the backup. This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 111.27 GB but only 42.1 GB are available.

I have a problem with my Time Capsule. The message I get is: Time Machine could not complete the backup. This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 111.27 GB but only 42.1 GB are available. As a result, my backups are no longer running. My umderstanding was that the Time Capsule would automatically delete old backups to make space. Can anyone help me figure out how to get my backups to run again?

If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator.
Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.
Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar.
Enter the word "Starting" (without the quotes) in the String Matching text field. You should now see log messages with the words "Starting * backup," where * represents any of the words "automatic," "manual," or "standard." Note the timestamp of the last such message. Clear the text field and scroll back in the log to that time. Select the messages timestamped from then until the end of the backup, or the end of the log if that's not clear. Copy them (command-C) to the Clipboard. Paste (command-V) into a reply to this message.
If there are runs of repeated messages, post only one example of each. Don't post many repetitions of the same message.
When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Some personal information, such as the names of your files, may be included — anonymize before posting.

HT201250 This backup is too large for the backup disk /Time machine

This backup is too large for the backup disk /Time machine

You can go into options on the time capsule setup and select a few things you dont want to backup to make your backup small enough. You might have to wipe the time capsule if you have another backup on there and trying to do a new machine backup or something like that

Error: "This backup is too large for the backup volume."

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 as well as the EyeTV temp folder.
Time Machine says it needs 938GBs to backup only the OSX disk, which has 806GBs in use with the rest free. WTFFF? The TM pane says that "only" 782GBs are going to be backed up. Where did the 938GBs figure come from?
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???
Some screenshots:
http://www.xcapepr.com/images/tm2.png
http://www.xcapepr.com/images/tm1.png
http://www.xcapepr.com/images/tm4.png

xcapepr wrote:
Time Machine says it needs 938GBs to backup only the OSX disk, which has 806GBs in use with the rest free. WTFFF? The TM pane says that "only" 782GBs are going to be backed up. Where did the 938GBs figure come from?
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???
TM makes an initial "estimate" of how much space it needs, "including padding", that is often quite high. Why that is, and Just exactly what it means by "padding" are rather mysterious. But it does also need work space on any drive, including your TM drive.
But beyond that, your TM disk really is too small for what you're backing-up. The general "rule of thumb" is it should be 2-3 times the size of what it's backing-up, but it really depends on how you use your Mac. If you frequently update lots of large files, even 3 times may not be enough. If you're a light user, you might get by with 1.5 times. But that's about the lower limit.
Note that although it does skip a few system caches, work files, etc., by default it backs up everything else, and does not do any compression.
All this is because TM is designed to manage it's backups and space for you. Once it's initial, full backup is done, it will by default then back-up any changes hourly. It only keeps those hourly backups for 24 hours, but converts the first of the day to a "daily" backup, which it keeps for a month. After a month, it converts one per week into a "weekly" backup that it will keep for as long as it has room
What you're up against is, room for those 30 dailies and up to 24 hourlies.
You might be able to get it to work, sort of, temporarily, by excluding something large, like your home folder, until that first full backup completes, then remove the exclusion for the next run. But pretty soon, it will begin to fail again, and you'll have to delete backups manually (from the TM interface, not via the Finder).
Longer term, you need a bigger disk; or exclude some large items (back-them up to a portable external or even DVD/RWs first); or a different strategy.
You might want to investigate CarbonCopyCloner, SuperDuper!, and other apps that can be used to make bootable "clones". Their advantage, beyond needing less room, is when your HD fails, you can immediately boot and run from the clone, rather than waiting to restore from TM to your repaired or replaced HD.
Their disadvantages are, you don't have the previous versions of changed or deleted files, and because of the way they work, their "incremental" backups of changed items take much longer and far more CPU.
Many of us use both a "clone" (I use CCC) and TM. On my small (roughly 30 gb) system, the difference is dramatic: I rarely notice TM's hourly backups -- they usually run under 30 seconds; CCC takes at least 15 minutes and most of my CPU.

"Backup is too large for the backup volume" error

I've been backing up with TM for a while now, and finally it seems as though the hard drive is full, since I'm down to 4.2GB available of 114.4GB.
Whenever TM tries to do a backup, it gives me the error "This backup is too large for the backup volume. The backup requires 10.8 GB but only 4.2GB are available. To select a larger volume, or make the backup smaller by excluding files, open System Preferences and choose Time Machine."
I understand that I have those two options, but why can't TM just erase the oldest backup and use that free space to make the new backup? I know a 120GB drive is pretty small, but if I have to just keep accumulating backups infinitely, I'm afraid I'll end up with 10 years of backups and a 890-zettabyte drive taking up my garage. I'm hoping there's a more practical solution.

John,
Please review the following article as it might explain what you are encountering.
*_“This Backup is Too Large for the Backup Volume”_*
First, much depends on the size of your Mac’s internal hard disk, the quantity of data it contains, and the size of the hard disk designated for Time Machine backups. It is recommended that any hard disk designated for Time Machine backups be +at least+ twice as large as the hard disk it is backing up from. You see, the more space it has to grow, the greater the history it can preserve.
*Disk Management*
Time Machine is designed to use the space it is given as economically as possible. When backups reach the limit of expansion, Time Machine will begin to delete old backups to make way for newer data. The less space you provide for backups the sooner older data will be discarded. [http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/15137.html]
However, Time Machine will only delete what it considers “expired”. Within the Console Logs this process is referred to as “thinning”. It appears that many of these “expired” backups are deleted when hourly backups are consolidated into daily backups and daily backups are consolidated into weekly backups. This consolidation takes place once hourly backups reach 24 hours old and daily backups reach about 30 days old. Weekly backups will only be deleted, or ‘thinned’, once the backup drive nears full capacity.
One thing seems for sure, though; If a new incremental backup happens to be larger than what Time Machine currently considers “expired” then you will get the message “This backup is too large for the backup volume.” In other words, Time Machine believes it would have to sacrifice to much to accommodate the latest incremental backup. This is probably why Time Machine always overestimates incremental backups by 2 to 10 times the actual size of the data currently being backed up. Within the Console logs this is referred to as “padding”. This is so that backup files never actually reach the physically limits of the backup disk itself.
*Recovering Backup Space*
If you have discovered that large unwanted files have been backed up, you can use the Time Machine “time travel” interface to recovered some of that space. Do NOT, however, delete files from a Time Machine backup disk by manually mounting the disk and dragging files to the trash. You can damage or destroy your original backups by this means.
Additionally, deleting files you no longer wish to keep on your Mac does not immediately remove such files from Time Machine backups. Once data has been removed from your Macs' hard disk it will remain in backups for some time until Time Machine determines that it has "expired". That's one of its’ benefits - it retains data you may have unintentionally deleted. But eventually that data is expunged. If, however, you need to remove backed up files immediately, do this:
Launch Time Machine from the Dock icon.
Initially, you are presented with a window labeled “Today (Now)”. This window represents the state of your Mac as it exists now. +DO NOT+ delete or make changes to files while you see “Today (Now)” at the bottom of the screen. Otherwise, you will be deleting files that exist "today" - not yesterday or last week.
Click on the window just behind “Today (Now)”. This represents the last successful backup and should display the date and time of this backup at the bottom of the screen.
Now, navigate to where the unwanted file resides. If it has been some time since you deleted the file from your Mac, you may need to go farther back in time to see the unwanted file. In that case, use the time scale on the right to choose a date prior to when you actually deleted the file from your Mac.
Highlight the file and click the Actions menu (Gear icon) from the toolbar.
Select “Delete all backups of <this file>”.
*Full Backup After Restore*
If you are running out of disk space sooner than expected it may be that Time Machine is ignoring previous backups and is trying to perform another full backup of your system? This will happen if you have reinstalled the System Software (Mac OS), or replaced your computer with a new one, or hard significant repair work done on your exisitng Mac. Time Machine will perform a new full backup. This is normal. [http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1338]
You have several options if Time Machine is unable to perform the new full backup:
A. Delete the old backups, and let Time Machine begin a fresh.
B. Attach another external hard disk and begin backups there, while keeping this current hard disk. After you are satisfied with the new backup set, you can later reformat the old hard disk and use it for other storage.
C. Ctrl-Click the Time Machine Dock icon and select "Browse Other Time Machine disks...". Then select the old backup set. Navigate to files/folders you don't really need backups of and go up to the Action menu ("Gear" icon) and select "Delete all backups of this file." If you delete enough useless stuff, you may be able to free up enough space for the new backup to take place. However, this method is not assured as it may not free up enough "contiguous space" for the new backup to take place.
*Outgrown Your Backup Disk?*
On the other hand, your computers drive contents may very well have outgrown the capacity of the Time Machine backup disk. It may be time to purchase a larger capacity hard drive for Time Machine backups. Alternatively, you can begin using the Time Machine Preferences exclusion list to prevent Time Machine from backing up unneeded files/folders.
Consider as well: Do you really need ALL that data on your primary hard disk? It sounds like you might need to Archive to a different hard disk anything that's is not of immediate importance. You see, Time Machine is not designed for archiving purposes, just as a backup of your local drive(s). In the event of disaster, it can get your system back to its' current state without having to reinstall everything. But if you need LONG TERM storage, then you need another drive that is removed from your normal everyday working environment.
This KB article discusses this scenario with some suggestions including Archiving the old backups and starting fresh [http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/15137.html]
Let us know if this clarifies things.
Cheers!

HT4522 Multiple computers on Time Capsule. "Backup is too large for the backup disk" ???

I am getting the following error:
"Time Machine Error
This backup is too large for the backup disk. The
backup requires 15.38 GB but only 3.94 GB are
available."
I have a two MacBook Pros that I have been backing up to my 1 TB Time Capsule using Time Machine. Recently, I have started getting errors saying that there is not enough space to complete backups. Between the two MacBook Pros, there is a max of 400 GB that I am trying to backup. I thought that old backups were deleted to make room for new ones - so what gives?
I used Migration Assistant to migrate everything from the old MacBook Pro (2009) to a new MacBook Pro (2011). I also used Migration Assistant to Migrate everything from an old MacBook to the old MacBook Pro (2009). So, I am now only using the two MacBook Pros (2009 and 2011).
Is it possible that there are old backups on the Time Capsule from the MacBook and the MacBook Pro (2009) from before the Migration? If so, how do I find them and delete them?
My goal is to create more space on the Time Capsule so I can continue backups of the two Pros. Thanks for the help in advance. Sorry if this is confusing. Please ask questions to clarify.

The time machine does not work as well when there are multiple computers using the TC.
It really does not seem able to dispose of the old backups.
Pondini may help..
http://pondini.org/TM/C4.html
IMHO.. The best bet is to plug in a USB drive large enough to save everything on the TC and do a back directly from the airport utility.. disk, archive..
Then wipe the TC using erase.. and do a fresh TM backup on both computers.
Keep the USB drive in a draw for a year and a day.. after that you can assume anything on it is no longer required wipe it and do another backup of the TC.

Time Machine completes once, then says "too large for backup disk"

Hello all,
I'm a very experienced, certified Apple tech, with over 15 years' experience working on Macs, having used them since 1984.
Client's iMac (27-inch, Late 2009)
Mac OS X 10.6.8, fully up to date
12 GB RAM
History: Internal 1 TB hard drive was failing. Mac out of warranty, so HDD was replaced with a new 1 TB hard drive.
Data was cloned from old drive using SuperDuper!
Now, Time Machine will not back up more than once.
The error reads:
"Time Machine could not complete the backup.
This backup is too large for the backup disk.
The backup requires 728.32 GB but only 568.57 GB are available."
The backup drive is 1.5x the size of the internal drive. There are no other hard drives attached that would be included in the backup.
Internal hard drive: 1 TB
Available: 392 GB
Used 608 GB
External backup drive 1.5 TB
Available 568.57 GB
Used 931.39 GB
I have tried many steps from the pondini.org site and other blogs and internet forums, including this one.
External hard drive has been reformatted/erased several times.
We have disabled indexing, deleted the Spotlight index, and re-enabled indexing.
I can't determine why the Time Machine backup is 1.5 times the size of the data on the internal boot drive.
This was never a problem before the internal hard drive was replaced, so I think it's related to that.
I had the client install BackupLoupe. Her computer is not at our office, but I can get more info from her if needed.
If there's something obvious I'm missing, let me know.
Thanks in advance,
Dave

That's been done, and here are the results:
July 13 6:22am
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/a***r/Backups.backupdb
Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:must scan subdirs|
No pre-backup thinning needed: 678.09 GB requested (including padding),
831.97 GB available
Copied 122.0 GB of 564.1 GB, 246633 of 523955 items
Copied 294.4 GB of 564.1 GB, 320260 of 523955 items
CoreEndianFlipData: error -4940 returned for rsrc type open (id 128, length
12, native = no)
CoreEndianFlipData: error -4940 returned for rsrc type open (id 128, length
12, native = no)
Copied 444.4 GB of 564.1 GB, 453652 of 523955 items
Copied 523956 files (554.8 GB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Starting post-backup thinning
No post-back up thinning needed: no expired backups exist
Backup completed successfully.
July 13 6:42am
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/a***r/Backups.backupdb
Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:must scan subdirs|
Starting pre-backup thinning: 678.15 GB requested (including padding),
268.78 GB available
No expired backups exist - deleting oldest backups to make room
Deleted backup /Volumes/a***r/Backups.backupdb/iMac/2013-07-13-021422: 831.05 GB now available
Pre-backup thinning completed successfully: 1 backups were deleted
Backup date range was shortened: oldest backup is now Jul 13, 2013
Copied 69.2 GB of 564.1 GB, 228921 of 523955 items
Copied 231.8 GB of 564.1 GB, 294537 of 523955 items
CoreEndianFlipData: error -4940 returned for rsrc type open (id 128, length
12, native = no)
CoreEndianFlipData: error -4940 returned for rsrc type open (id 128, length
12, native = no)
Copied 379.7 GB of 564.1 GB, 409687 of 523955 items
Copied 543.7 GB of 564.1 GB, 517846 of 523955 items
Copied 523967 files (554.8 GB) from volume Macintosh HD.
July 13 1102 am
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/a***r/Backups.backupdb
Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:must scan subdirs|
Starting pre-backup thinning: 678.15 GB requested (including padding),
268.78 GB available
No expired backups exist - deleting oldest backups to make room
Deleted backup /Volumes/a***r/Backups.backupdb/iMac/2013-07-13-021422: 831.05 GB now available
Pre-backup thinning completed successfully: 1 backups were deleted
Backup date range was shortened: oldest backup is now Jul 13, 2013
Copied 69.2 GB of 564.1 GB, 228921 of 523955 items
Copied 231.8 GB of 564.1 GB, 294537 of 523955 items
CoreEndianFlipData: error -4940 returned for rsrc type open (id 128, length
12, native = no)
CoreEndianFlipData: error -4940 returned for rsrc type open (id 128, length
12, native = no)
Copied 379.7 GB of 564.1 GB, 409687 of 523955 items
Copied 543.7 GB of 564.1 GB, 517846 of 523955 items
Copied 523967 files (554.8 GB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Backup completed successfully.
July 13 307pm
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/a***r/Backups.backupdb
Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:must scan subdirs|
Starting pre-backup thinning: 679.38 GB requested (including padding),
267.58 GB available
No expired backups exist - deleting oldest backups to make room
Deleted backup /Volumes/a***r/Backups.backupdb/iMac/2013-07-13-062230: 829.87 GB now available
Pre-backup thinning completed successfully: 1 backups were deleted
Backup date range was shortened: oldest backup is now Jul 13, 2013
Copied 80.4 GB of 564.1 GB, 235855 of 523977 items
Copied 218.1 GB of 564.1 GB, 289940 of 523977 items
CoreEndianFlipData: error -4940 returned for rsrc type open (id 128, length
12, native = no)
CoreEndianFlipData: error -4940 returned for rsrc type open (id 128, length
12, native = no)
Copied 347.4 GB of 564.1 GB, 395287 of 523977 items
Stopping backupd to allow ejection of backup destination disk!
Copied 395788 files (353.7 GB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Backup canceled.
July 14 11:02am
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/a***r/Backups.backupdb
Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:must scan subdirs|
Starting pre-backup thinning: 680.07 GB requested (including padding),
470.83 GB available
No expired backups exist - deleting oldest backups to make room
Error: backup disk is full - all 0 possible backups were removed, but space
is still needed.
Backup Failed: unable to free 680.07 GB needed space
Backup failed with error: Not enough available disk space on the target
volume.
July 14 12.48pm
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/a***r/Backups.backupdb
Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:must scan subdirs|
Starting pre-backup thinning: 680.07 GB requested (including padding),
470.83 GB available
No expired backups exist - deleting oldest backups to make room
Error: backup disk is full - all 0 possible backups were removed, but space
is still needed.
Backup Failed: unable to free 680.07 GB needed space
Backup failed with error: Not enough available disk space on the target
volume.

I have a 500 GB hard drive and a 1TB Time Capsule running on a MacBook Pro. It was all working well until the MacBook went in for a repair a week or so ago. Since then, TC will not perform a backup; instead, it says the backup is too large for the disk

Since having my MacBook Pro repaired (for a video problem) Time Capsule returns the following message: "This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 428.08 GB but only 192.14 GB are available."
I notice that there is also a new sparse bundle.
Since TC has my ONLY backup (going back about 4 years) I am reluctant to wipe it and start over fresh as I am afraid of losing files.
Is there a way of dealing with this?
I am using Snow Leopard 10.6.8

The repair shop likely replaced a major circuit board on your MacBook Pro, so Time Machine thinks that you have a "new" computer and it wants to make a new complete backup of your Mac.
You are going to have to make a decision to either add another new Time Capsule....or USB drive to your existing Time Capsule....and in effect start over with a new backup of your Mac and then move forward again.
For "most" users, I think this is probably the best plan because you preserve all your old backups in case you need them at some point, and you start over again with a new Time Capsule so you have plenty of room for years of new backups.
Or, as you have mentioned, you have the option of erasing the Time Capsule drive and starting all over again. The upside is that you start over and have plenty of room for new backups. The downside is that you lose years of backups.
Another option....trying to manually delete old backups individually....is tricky business....and very time consuming. To get an idea of what is involved here, study this FAQ by Pondini, our resident Time Capsule and Time Machine expert on the Community Support area. In particular, study the pink box.
http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/12.html
Once you look through this, I think you may agree that this type of surgery is not for the faint of heart. I would suggest that you consider this only if one of the other options just cannot work for you.

Re Time Capsule: I get this message:This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 1.38 TB but only 327.08 GB are available. Any suggestions? Please.

CAn anyone make some suggestions regarding this message. 'This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 1.38 TB but only 327.08 GB are available.'

See #C4 in this terrific document provided by expert Pondini.
http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html

"This backup is too large for the backup volume" - Info

Hi there. I had a problem with my time machine and got an error stating "This backup is too large for the backup volume". I did noticed after logging in that TM was indexing in the upper right corner [magnifier with a flashing dot(spotlight)] for a few seconds. So then I went on to "back up now" and it was preparing and then I got the Error message described above. So I uninstalled my anti-virus (you must disable auto protection/or exclude timemachine.app and its plist file (location below)from Anti-virus preferences in the case you have a anti-virus app, otherwise it will take forever to back up.) though that was not my issue. I then turn off time machine and deleted this .plist file in Macintosh HD > Library > Preferences > com.apple.TimeMachine.plist....STOP here if this fixed your problem after restarting. Time machine External Drive in Disk Utility **THESE STEPS WILL ERASE YOUR ENTIRE BACKUPS** ( "Erase" and rename or "partition" to make more that one partition on the External Drive if you wish, and Rename) (Disk utility> Partition tab> "option" you must - guid=intel / apple partition map=PowerPC)...sorry alot of newbie out there...by deleting the "com.apple.TimeMachine.plist" = when you plug in you TM it will ask you if you want to use the drive as a TM back up automatically. This did the trick. But to let you guys know I also used Cocktail (app) and used a feature it has to erase my computers spotlight index and rebuild it. Also in Cocktail, when you have your time machine plugged in you can erase its index and disable it all together. I recommend you first disable spotlight (before the first initial TM backup) in system preferences > spotlight> Privacy (tab) and plus to add time machine ...which has to be mounted (plugged in) to add from window under "Devices".

http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20090403093528353

Time Machine Error - The backup is too large for the backup disk

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