Very long time preparing for backup to Time Capsule

Hi folks,
Long time reader, first time posting a question. I got my new Time Capsule and set it up yesterday as my wireless router and backup system for two computers-a new iMac running 10.5.2 and an older MacBook laptop (~ 2 yrs old) also running 10.5.2. The wireless networking worked fine, I was able to print, and the full backup of the iMac worked. It's even done several incremental ones today, and I'm able to access the backups using Time Machine. So far, so good, BUT the laptop is still "preparing" the backup- more than ten hours later! I've got it in the same room as the Time Capsule, hooked up via an ethernet cable right now. It's not a particularly big hard drive (~75 Gb, about half used). What gives? Should I start over and, if so, what can I do to get it past the preparing stage?
Marca

If you double-click on your time capsule icon in the Finder and open the folder therein, you should see a file
called something like "computername_xxxx.sparsebundle. If your first attempt to backup that computer failed
(as mine did) and then you fixed the problem and tried again, the second attempt at backup may also fail if you don't remove that sparsebundle file. The second backup attempt should then work and a good sparsebundle file will be recreated.
It's been a few weeks now, and my Time Capsule seems to be working fine-backing up both my computers. I'm also able to access and retrieve files from the backups. What I learned from this setup attempt is 1) fix your permissions before trying the initial backup and 2) do your first backup via an ethernet connection, subsequent backups can then be done wirelessly.
Hope that's "ladybird book" enough for you-not sure what that means here on the other side of the pond! It's sounds intriguing though.

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After Maverick installation I find I am unable to get a Time Capsule backup started to my WD My Passport for Mac. It just stays in preparing for backup, then times out.

I have a 2009 Mackbook Pro. Have about 124gb left on the 500 gb WD My Passport. Thanks!

Just checked Time Machine and found that the backup is happening, but the icon for time machine does not go in circles any more, like it used to to show that the backup is in process. FYI

HT203177 very long 'preparing for backup' for Time Machine

None of the issues discussed in the apple support page on this issue seem to apply to me (except one below regarding not completing the 'prepare for backup'). It still takes way too much time (a night is not enough) to prepare for time machine backup, even though there was a backup recently, and it is not a one-time event but a recurring problem, and there are no big changes to my files or disks.
And of course because most days it does not complete the backup before I have to leave to work, the condition on 'not interrupting the backup' cannot be respected. This looks like plain poor design.
The only thing that helps is to connect my laptop directly to the Time Machine by Ethernet but it is very inconvenient.
This is really annoying. I wish I had bought another disk back-up solution.

saggybaggy wrote:
The Mac Pro I'm backing up is Leopard 10.5.8, could this be the issue?
No, Time Machine works on 10.5.8.
I'm trying to back it up before I upgrade my operating system.
Good plan!
Also, for the backup I'm using the same external drive that I used to backup my MacBook Pro already... not sure if this would cause any issues in preparing.
Not in preparing, but it's usually not a good idea to use the same partition on the same drive for both. See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #4 for an explanation.

Time Capsule stuck at Preparing for Backup, and internet TC latency issue

I have an iMac that backs up to my 1TB Time Capsule. I have had it since March. Suddenly it stopped backing up. It get's stuck at "preparing for backup" and never actually completes a backup.
I am also experiencing a HUGE latency issue with my internet connection. I am constantly having to use the 'refresh' page button in Safari.
help....

TB,
*_Time Machine May Report "Preparing..." For a Long Time_*
Consider these factors regarding an extended period of "Preparing...". Consider each topic separately and do not attempt to act on all of them at once.
*Recent Crash or Other Major System Event* (Deep Traversal)
The reasons for this process are described in an article by George Schreyer. “During the preparation step it checks the FSEvents log for consistency. If it determines that something isn't quite right it has to rescan the whole disk. This can take quite awhile. A full rescan is always triggered by a crash, an unplanned shut down event or by booting from some other bootable disk between backups…. After a crash, Time Machine must scan the whole disk to determine what it has to do because it cannot trust the information that it left behind. Connected via an Ethernet connection, this phase would typically take 20 minutes on an older PowerBook. Being connected wirelessly stretches this phase out to over 3 hours.” [http://www.girr.org/mac_stuff/backups.html]
According to the following KB article it can sometimes take a very long time if Time Machine begins this “deep traversal” and has to compare data inventories. This may apply to your situation, particularly if many Gigs of data are involved. (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1516)
*Anti-Virus Software*
Running anti-virus software can interfere with the backup process. Either disable it altogether, or try the suggestion outlined here, “If you use third-party anti-virus scanning software and have issues, make sure your Time Machine back up folder (Backups.backupdb on the Time Machine disk) is excluded from virus scanning.” (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1516)
*Software Updates* #
Installing new software, upgrading existing software, or updating Mac OS X system software can create major changes in the structure of your Macs directories. Time Machine will backup every file that has changed since the installation.
If you take a look at the Console logs Time Machine may be reporting that your backups need "deep traversal". That's fine. Time Machine knows what is wrong and how to fix it. If you have a great deal of data, it may take quite awhile.
After an OS update (like 10.5.5) Time Machine realizes the system no longer matches what it looked like during the previous backup. So it has determined that it's earlier catalogue of what-should-be-where is 'untrustable'. So it is going to go item-by-item comparing the before and after of your system. If you have just performed an OS Update then Time Machine knows what it's doing - let it do it!
*Spotlight Keeps Indexing Backup Drive* #
It may be that Time Machine can’t proceed or complete a backup due to a Spotlight indexing error. During this period, take a look at the Spotlight icon in the upper right corner of your screen. Is there a tiny dot pulsating in the center of the spyglass? Click on the icon. Is there a progress bar displayed? Generally Spotlight indexing is a good thing. But at time it may hang and never progress, preventing backups from taking place.
Go to System Prefs --> Spotlight --> Privacy Tab.
Drag your Time Machine disk into the window. It should now be among the items to exclude from indexing.
Now quit System Prefs.
Reopen System Prefs and remove ("-") the Time Machine disk from the window.
This should clear out Spotlights cache. Naturally, Spotlight should begin indexing again (maybe even for a few hours depending on how much data there is), but it should eventually stop.
*Reboot Time Capsule* #
Stop the backup from the Time Machine menu.
When the Time Machine icon stops spinning, unplug the TC from the wall outlet.
Wait 10-15 seconds.
Re-plug it in again.
After it has restarted (30-60 seconds), attempt another backup.
Time Machine will report “Preparing…” again, but it shouldn’t be lasting more than a couple of hours.
Let us know if any of the suggestions above helped in your case.
Cheers!

Leopard applications all hang while Time Machine prepares for backup

I'm sure others have posted about this but I can't find a usable solution. I have the most recent version of Leopard, a 1TB external FireWire drive dedicated to Time Machine storage and about 400GB of backups on it. Every day at some point, Time Machine starts a backup, pauses while preparing, and the entire Mac grinds to a halt. New processes won't launch, open applications hang, Finder becomes unresponsive, menus and dock freeze in whatever position they were in at the point of launch, and I can't cancel the backup process.
The only solution is to turn off the backup drive while its running and wait for the Mac to wake up again (which it does in under a minute). I have no virus protection running. I have erased the drive and started fresh at least once to no avail.
Since I am effectively breaking a live connection every time I turn the drive off without unmounting it first (an obvious no-no), the data has great potential to be getting more and more screwed up. What can I do?

Message logs:
October 12, 2009, 1:43:25 AM
Volume at path /Volumes/Racer BU does not appear to be the correct backup volume for this computer. (Cookies do not match)
Backup failed with error: 18
October 12, 2009, 11:32:32 AM
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Racer X
Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:kFSEDBEventFlagMustScanSubDirs|kFSEDBEventFlagReasonEventDBUntrustable|
No pre-backup thinning needed: 984.2 MB requested (including padding), 443.72 GB available
Copied 21948 files (368.1 MB) from volume Racer X.
No pre-backup thinning needed: 548.2 MB requested (including padding), 443.35 GB available
Copied 961 files (965 KB) from volume Racer X.
Starting post-backup thinning
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-215828: 443.35 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-205855: 443.36 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-195856: 443.40 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-185908: 443.46 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-175907: 443.51 GB now available
Post-back up thinning complete: 5 expired backups removed
Backup completed successfully.
October 12, 2009, 12:18:32 PM
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb
No pre-backup thinning needed: 954.4 MB requested (including padding), 443.51 GB available
Unable to rebuild path cache for source item. Partial source path:
Copied 16717 files (339.6 MB) from volume Racer X.
No pre-backup thinning needed: 569.5 MB requested (including padding), 443.17 GB available
Copied 634 files (18.7 MB) from volume Racer X.
Starting post-backup thinning
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-225832: 443.24 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-165828: 443.25 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-155855: 443.30 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-145857: 443.36 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-135852: 443.38 GB now available
Post-back up thinning complete: 5 expired backups removed
Backup completed successfully.
October 12, 2009, 4:46:51 PM
Starting standard backup
Volume at path /Volumes/Racer BU does not appear to be the correct backup volume for this computer. (Cookies do not match)
Backup failed with error: 18
etc...
The long periods between backups are when it is "preparing for backup" and nothing is happening. Sometimes this is while I'm not using it and the machine is asleep.

Time capsule will not move beyond "preparing for backup."

The time capsule has been stuck in the "preparing for backup" stage indefinately: like months and months.
I tried deleting the preference file and also installed the time capsule widget. Here is the information that the widget is displaying about the attempted back up:
Starting standard backup
Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://James%[email protected]/James%20Palmer's%20Time%2 0Capsule
Mounted network destination at mountpoint: /Volumes/James Palmer's Time Capsule using URL: afp://James%[email protected]/James%20Palmer's%20Time%2 0Capsule
Running backup verification
QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
Backup verification passed!
QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
Disk image /Volumes/James Palmer's Time Capsule/James Palmer’s iMac.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Backup of James Palmer’s iMac
Backing up to: /Volumes/Backup of James Palmer’s iMac/Backups.backupdb
Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: No space left on device
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: No space left on device
Exception writing exclusions cache. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: No space left on device
Unable to create exclusions cache data.
Failed to write exclusions cache. Continuing anyway.
Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: No space left on device
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
Waiting for index to be ready (101)

You have continual messages.. No space left on device
Is your TC full..?? Are you using wireless to connect to the TC?
The time capsule has been stuck in the "preparing for backup" stage indefinately: like months and months.
Note that Time Capsule is the hardware device.. Time Machine is the software that prepares the backup.. They are completely different.. !!
Open either the TM preference or the airport utility and tell us how much space is reported left on the drive.. or is the local hard disk full??
If you upgraded OS on the computer it can fail to properly clean up old backups and you will need to step in and erase the TC yourself. Or plug in a USB drive and set that as a new destination for the backup.

When ever the power goes out or I restart my iMac the external hard drive that is used by Time Machine for backups is dismounted ?

When ever the power goes out or I restart my iMac the external hard drive that is used for backups by Time Machine is dismounted and all backups are gone. I can reselect it and it will start working again, but I am worried if the iMac hard drive should fail will I be left without a backup ?

fzgy wrote:
"Mac OS X can't repair the disk. You can still open or copy files on the disk, but you can't save changes to files on the disk. Back up the disk and reformat it as soon as you can."
It's possible a heavy-duty 3rd-party disk repair app can fix it, but they're expensive (DiskWarrior is about $100), and there's no guarantee it can do it.
Am prompted to reformat but I don't have a good understanding of what this means and how to do it.
That will erase it. See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #5.
It sounds very much like the disk is beginning to fail, although it's possible there's a bad port, cable, connection or power supply (if it has its own).
I'd suggest getting a new one, and using it for your Time Machine backups; once you have a good backup there, reformat the old one (and select Security Options to write zeros to the whole drive -- if that fails, you know the drive is toast). Use it for secondary backups, per FAQ #27. If it has failed, get a second new one for secondary backups.

BW Upgrade - Starting Prepare for the First Time

Hi,
I'm starting the prepare for the first time and I received this message "You must be BD2ADM to run this command." I login as BD2OFR.
I'm trying to upgrade our BW 3.1C with kernel 640 to NetWeaver 2004 SR1.
Do you have any solution for this problem I cannot continue with the prepare.
Thanks,
Ramon

Hi Ramon,
I ran into the same error ... (but it was very late night and therefore I don't know if I did something wrong and I forgot to talk to SAP on this)
But:
- For the 7.00 Upgrade you NEED sidofr and not sidadm!
- I used the following workaround - run with sidofr -:
SAPUP UPGDIR('/usr/sap/put') PARMLIST('check')
(instead of prepare - which is the same - with this trick the first error message was "skipped")
Regards
Volker Gueldenpfennig, consolut.gmbh
http://www.consolut.de - http://www.4soi.de - http://www.easymarketplace.de
P.S.: Sorry SAP collegues, that I didn't mention this issue, but I'm always (when it is not midnight) using the SAPup-prepare above and therefore rarely see this problem.

I bought a new external hard drive for backups, but time machine won't do a full back up. I think it is remembering backing up onto previous external hard drives, which I don't own anymore. How do I do a new full backup?

I bought a new external hard drive for backups, but time machine won't do a full back up.
I think it is remembering backing up onto previous external hard drives, which I don't own anymore. How do I do a new full backup?
When I bought the new (used) iMac, I also bought an external hard drive for backups. It worked fine, but my husband stole it.
Then I bought a new external hard drive (Seagate) and it worked fine for three weeks, then died.
So I just got a new external hard drive, which was put together from an internal hard drive and a hard drive enclosure.
Time machine did the first backup today, and it should have taken 9 hours like it did on the previous first time full back up. Instead, it took 30 minutes. That can't be right. I want to start over and do a full backup to make sure everything gets onto my new external hard drive, but I can't figure out how to do that. Please help.

Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:
tmutil compare -E
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
Launch the Terminal 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 Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).
The command will take at least a few minutes to run. Eventually some lines of output will appear below what you entered.
Each line that begins with a plus sign (“+”) represents a file that has been added to the source volume since the last snapshot was taken. These files have not been backed up yet.
Each line that begins with an exclamation point (“!”) represents a file that has changed on the source volume. These files have been backed up, but not in their present state.
Each line that begins with a minus sign (“-“) represents a file that has been removed from the source volume.
At the end of the output, you’ll get some lines like the following:
Added:
Removed:
Changed:
These lines show the total amount of data added, removed, or changed on the source(s) since the last snapshot.

On imac 10.6.8 using current version of Aperture. How can I access the Aperture Library on my external hard drive that I use with time machine for backup? I can only access the application but not the library..

On imac 10.6.8 using current version of Aperture. How can I access the Aperture Library on my external hard drive that I use with time machine for backup? I can only access the application but not the library..

Go into Time Machine (the program not the bundle on the extrnal disk) and using Time Machine's browser go to the Folder where the library lives. You could look in the library bundle in Time Machine but that won't really tell you much,
If you want to make sure it truely has backed up your library you will need to restore it and open the restored library with Aperture.
If all this still has you confused you need to read up on Time Machine in order to get a feel for how it works, for what it is doing and for how to restore files from it.

After install of Lion, secondary internal hard drive used for backup and time machine is not showing on the desktop.

After an install of Lion, my secondary internal hard drive used for backup and time machine is not showing on the desktop. Cannot be located with Disk Utility either. Contains vital files! please help...

I have a TB internal drive, but this is what it shows for memory slots:
Memory Slots:
ECC:    Enabled
DIMM Riser B/DIMM 1:
Size:    2 GB
Type:    DDR2 FB-DIMM
Speed:    800 MHz
Status:    OK
Manufacturer:    0x0000
Part Number:    0x000000463732353642363145353830304600
Serial Number:    0x00000000
DIMM Riser B/DIMM 2:
Size:    2 GB
Type:    DDR2 FB-DIMM
Speed:    800 MHz
Status:    OK
Manufacturer:    0x0000
Part Number:    0x000000463732353642363145353830304600
Serial Number:    0x00000000
DIMM Riser A/DIMM 1:
Size:    1 GB
Type:    DDR2 FB-DIMM
Speed:    800 MHz
Status:    OK
Manufacturer:    0x80AD
Part Number:    0x48594D5035313241373243503844332D5335
Serial Number:    0x42076007
DIMM Riser A/DIMM 2:
Size:    1 GB
Type:    DDR2 FB-DIMM
Speed:    800 MHz
Status:    OK
Manufacturer:    0x80AD
Part Number:    0x48594D5035313241373243503844332D5335
Serial Number:    0x4207631E
DIMM Riser B/DIMM 3:
Size:    Empty
Type:    Empty
Speed:    Empty
Status:    Empty
Manufacturer:    Empty
Part Number:    Empty
Serial Number:    Empty
DIMM Riser B/DIMM 4:
Size:    Empty
Type:    Empty
Speed:    Empty
Status:    Empty
Manufacturer:    Empty
Part Number:    Empty
Serial Number:    Empty
DIMM Riser A/DIMM 3:
Size:    Empty
Type:    Empty
Speed:    Empty
Status:    Empty
Manufacturer:    Empty
Part Number:    Empty
Serial Number:    Empty
DIMM Riser A/DIMM 4:
Size:    Empty
Type:    Empty
Speed:    Empty
Status:    Empty
Manufacturer:    Empty
Part Number:    Empty
Serial Number:    Empty

My mac can't connect to my time machine for backup

My mac wont connect to the time capule for backup - any ideas why this may happen and how to fix?

Hello stianlo
There are a few things that you can try that are located in the articles below to get you backing up again.
Time Machine: Troubleshooting backup issues
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3275
AirPort Time Capsule: Time Machine backups may not mount; "Backup volume cannot be found" may appear
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1170
Regards,
-Norm G.

When installing maverick mailboxes disappeared, only have current emails. All the folders and content missing. Could anyone be of help. I do have Time Machine for backup.

When installing maverick mailboxes disappeared, only have current emails. All the folders and content missing. Could anyone be of help. I do have Time Machine for backup.

Solved the problem by clicking the gray triangle next to "On My Mac" and drilled down!

I need help with setting up time machine for backup

I would like help with setting up time machine for backup.

You will need an external hard drive (formatted for a Mac).
Then you plug it in and go to system preferences>time machine and select the external HD and turn it on.
The backups are automatic.
Barry

I am going to back up to Time Machine for the first time

which I know sounds nuts. I was manually doing it for the past 6 months- don't ask why.
Do I have to completely wipe out my Lacie and do any formatting to it? Or do I just delete everything from it and set my Time Machine to default backup to that drive and go from there as if I'm doing it for the first time?
Also, I don't keep my EHD attached constantly to my laptop- I assume that is not a problem and whenever I hook it up, I can then ask TM to go to work?
Sorry for the basic questions- appreciate the help!
Thanks,
Bernice

I haven't burned a CD in years. My old MacBook doesn't have a DVD burner.
The biggest issue is the size of your various drives. For Time Machine, your Time Machine drive should be three times the size of the drive you are backing up. If you don't quite have that (and I don't), you can get away with three times the amount of data you are backing up. Whichever configuration gives you that equation should be the one you use for Time Machine. You can partition one of the external drives so that one partition is big enough for Time Machine and the other is used for other purposes, such as archives. I have one external drive configured like that. If you don't have enough room to partition, then dedicate one drive to Time Machine and the other to archives and/or clones.
Some people feel it is very important to maintain a long Time Machine history and migrate that to new drives. I don't quite understant that. I use Time Machine for backups, nothing more. I blow away all my backups on a fairly regular basis and start a fresh one. I don't need six month old versions of files. If I accidentally delete a file, I will notice sooner than that. If I have a hardware failure, I only need the last backup.
I currently have those bootable clones only because my MacBook is in a funky state right now (long story) and my MacBook Pro is a work machine bound to an Active Directory domain. I can't rebuild that system by myself without IT from work and that would be difficult for me (longer story). I don't consider bootable clones to be a regular part of my backup strategy. They are useful snapshots and archives for specific times when I feel I need them.

Very long time preparing for backup to Time Capsule

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