"backup is too large" warning, yet I can't see old backups in time machine.

I plugged my Firelite drive into my Macbook Pro and was warned that I haven't backed up in 50 days (not so). When I try to back up I get a warning that there's not enough space on the external disk. When I enter time machine there are NO previous restore points visible, yet they are there when I open the backup disk in the finder. It seems it's trying to back up my entire system into the remaining free disk space instead of running the incremental backup it's supposed to be doing.
Is there any way to fix this? I know the simple answer is to buy a bigger backup volume but I don't see why I need to, since I didn't really change much between this and the most recent backup. Restart changes nothing.

Thanks James, great info.
When I hold down the option key I find that there are 2 drives listed. One is the backup with my computer's name "trilobite" and the other is called "trilobite 2". Choosing the proper drive reveals all my previous backups. The finder also shows the a folder on the disk called "trilobite 2" but when I delete it, TM just creates another.
Working through your suggestions, I just realized that the videocard/logic board replacement I had on Jan.12 may certainly have been a factor. I had a lot of video issues on Jan.2 and was restarting and zapping the PRAM etc. over and over (successful backups stopped on that day). Funny, TM never complained of any difficulties.
Since I don't have any recent backups anyway, I guess I'll just try erasing the whole backup disk and reset TM.
Here is the TM widget log:
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/GUMBY/Backups.backupdb
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: POKEY
Backup content size: 139.0 GB excluded items size: 7.0 MB for volume POKEY
Starting pre-backup thinning: 166.90 GB requested (including padding), 26.25 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 166.90 GB needed space
Backup failed with error: Not enough available disk space on the target volume.

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Try reproducing the issue in Windows safe mode with Networking.... I think the guess of a synchronization issue was correct. I just think the blame finger went to the wrong place. Windows safe mode should confirm my guess... Or prove me wrong
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Hi folks
First my setup:
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Then I swapped the former 500TB HDD to the Samsung Evo 840 500TB.
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Everything ok. Til now.
Because everthing works fine in the past, I did not control the Time Machine.
Today I wanna restore a File from my "Pictures" folder.
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Oops.
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Also in the timeline on the right side the only entries are TODAY and NOW.
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All windows behind the current window have a black titlebar.
In Mountain lion the titlebars are grey if there is data available
and the title contains the date of the backup.
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Is there a bug?
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Hi masong517
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I didn't know this page.
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Can't see photos from previous Time Machine backup

Here is my issue:
I had two MacBook Pros (one old, one new).
I bought an external hard drive.
I backed up both the old and the new MacBook.
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I opened the backup of the old MacBook on the external hard drive in an effort to find my old photos.
On the external drive, I went to Backups.backupdb > Users > Pictures.
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Thanks!!
Jim

You do not directly access Time Machine backups - you use Time Machine to restore them - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
For detailed TM questions the TM forum is a much better place to ask
LN

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That is supposed to force all backups to mount, thus letting you go back in time.
Start with A4 in the 1st linked article.
Time Machine Troubleshooting
Time Machine Troubleshooting Problems

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Hi All
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Hello Eric,
unfortunately it is not possible to do it, because I have only remote access to the SAP system.
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If yes --> which logs should I post here?
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Line Text
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Mavericks does really nasty stuff..
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When Time Machine completes the first backup, I use Disk Utility to check for problems.
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Keys out of order
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Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required
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Another error message:
Mac OS X can’t repair the disk “BackupDrive.”
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Update
Changed the cable.
Changed the port
Erased BackupDrive partition
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Used Time Machine to backup MacBook Pro Internal HD
Ran First-Aid. Came back with no errors. "Volume BackupDrive appears to be OK.
Ran First-Aid a second time
Incorrect number of extended attributes
Incorrect number of Access Control Lists
Invalid leaf record count
Invalid volume file count
Invalid volume directory count
Invalid volume free block count
The volume BackupDrive could not be repaired after 3 attempts
Error. Disk Utility can't repair this disk. Backup, reformat and restore your backed up files.
This is driving me nuts. I have been an Apple guy ever since I got a IIE. I have never experienced anything like this. I have trouble believing I purchased two Western Digital external drives that have failed. Since my MBP continually comes back clean, I can only think that the problem is with Disk Repair Utility.
Your advice on next steps?

Can't start with Snow Leopard Time Machine backup in Lion

Hi,
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Pondini's Time Machine FAQ

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zoominnana wrote:
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"backup is too large" warning, yet I can't see old backups in time machine.

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