Can't stop OS X indexing the Time Machine drive

I have a dedicated drive for time machine connected via FW800.
I've gone to spotlight preferences and made sure it is excluded from the spotlight search.
But the drive spends hours each day thrashing, even when TimeMachine is not actually backing anything up. Seems wasteful, and (as it is a noisy drive) a bit of a distraction.
So I looked in Activity Monitor, and saw that there is a process running called buildhdindex when the thrashing is occuring, and it is using loads of processor power. Here is a clip from my Activity Monitor display:
1108 buildhdindex root 40.5 1 529.96 MB 1.20 GB
Should I be concerned?
Is there any way to stop this?
Any advice / help / suggestions most welcome.

I think it is a leftover from Panther days... If you find that preference in /Library/Preferences/com.apple.ARDAgent.plist you can trash it and restart.
-mj
Message was edited by: macjack

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  • Lost the ability to Spotlight Index my Time Machine drive

    I have an external, Firewire Time Machine drive which has been working without problems up to now. This evening I had a backup which hung up in the "preparing" stage (no file transfers begun yet). When I went to look in the console, there was a device error apparently related to trying to detect the powered-on state of my Time Machine drive. Apparently Time Machine did not handle this gracefully. In the course of trying to clear that I got into a state where I had to force shutdown of the system (holding the power button). (I accidentally clicked on the Time Machine icon which got hung up trying to display the histories, and left me with no access to the Desktop....)
    Things appeared to check out fine when I brought the machine back up (including Verify Disk of both the main and Time Machine drives and Repair Permissions of the main drive), and I finally did a Back Up Now in Time Machine. Due to the forced shut down, this became a "Deep Traversal" "preparing"stage. We'll I've seen those before, so no worries. However it lasted quite a bit longer than it should, at which point I noticed that Spotlight was indexing the Time Machine drive.
    So at this point I dragged the Time Machine into the Spotlight Privacy list. Rather than going away completely as I expected, the indexing of the Time Machine drive apparently went into some sort of clean-up phase that said it was still indexing for another 5 minutes (where it had, just prior, said it was going to be indexing for another 2 hours). The progress bar advanced normally as if it really did do 5 minutes more of indexing of the Time Machine drive. I've not seen this before
    When that finished, the backup which had been "preparing" during all of this also finished "preparing", transferred the several MB of files I expected, and finished normally. There were no errors in the console related to any of this.
    I rebooted, and once again did a pair of Disk Verifies and a Repair Permissions without problems. Opened up the console to track things, and poked around in the Time Machine. All was normal as far as I can tell. I also explored the Time Machine drive via the Finder. No problems.
    So I now went into Spotlight Privacy and removed the Time Machine drive from the privacy list expecting it to do the re-indexing I had stopped above. Spotlight started indexing the drive and a couple seconds later it stopped. I tried again -- into and out of privacy -- same result, a couple seconds of indexing and then it stopped.
    At this point I noticed the console was saying I had some bus errors in the I/O system, and that's what was terminating the md worker process and stopping the indexing.
    So I shut down, unplugged the Time Machine drive, and went through my maintenance ritual.
    I reset the PMU (this is a powerbook), reset PRAM, booted once in Safe Mode, booted normally, and ran Disk Utility again to Verify and Repair Permissions on the main hard drive. All of that went without a hitch. No failures, faults or funnies.
    I ran through the list of Applications I use, keeping an eye on the console. Again no problems.
    So I shut down, plugged the Time Machine drive back in and booted back up. I put the drive into Spotlight Privacy and turned off Time Machine backups. I then did a Verify Disk on that drive. No problems. I went into the Time Machine history display. No problems. And no problems looking at it in the Finder either. In particular, no bus errors or anything else funny in the console.
    I rebooted and did a new Back Up Now. It completed without problems. It was another Deep Traversal backup due to the Safe Mode Boot, but it went without a hitch. I rebooted and did another Back Up Now and got a normal speed incremental backup again without a hitch. The bottom line is that as far as I can see that Time Machine drive is working just fine.
    So I went into Spotlight Privacy and removed it from the list. Once again it started to index and stopped in a couple seconds. But this time there were NO Console error messages.
    I moved my main hard drive into Spotlight Privacy and removed it and it re-indexed from scratch just fine. Tried again with the Time Machine drive -- indexing stopped in a couple of seconds with no message in the Console. Spotlight searches find all the right stuff in the main drive. Spotlight and finder searches find only the top level Time Machine folders in the Time Machine drive.
    I also tried removing the Spotlight plist from my account's Library / Preferences. Spotlight created a new plist as expected but it still won't index that darned Time Machine drive.
    Apparently there is something left over from when I originally aborted the Spotlight indexing of that drive which is causing Spotlight to think it has no work to do. I'm not seeing any I/O errors of any sort any more (I think my maintenance pass took care of that) and Time Machine backups and history access continue to work just fine. And again, the Time Machine disk Verifies just fine.
    So I've run out of things to try.
    Is there a hidden file that I need to remove from that drive so that Spotlight no longer thinks it already has it indexed?
    --Bob

    Well unfortunately the command
    sudo mdutil -E /Volumes/MyDiskName
    didn't help.
    The command itself echoed the name of the volume and then said "Indexing Enabled", which looked good. But the Spotlight indexing stopped after a couple seconds. The Console reported the Terminal sudo command and nothing else.
    I tried moving the Time Machine drive in and out of Spotlight privacy and once again the indexing started and stopped a couple seconds later with no Console messages.
    I then tried another trick I've learned to make Spotlight indexing happen which is to do a Finder search for, say, all folders (limited to the one drive) via Command-f and while Including both System Files and files both Visible and Invisible. And indeed Spotlight indexing started but again stopped a few seconds later.
    However, this time there were console messages and a crash report.
    The Console shows (with personal information x'ed out):
    12/31/07 1:30:38 PM mds[28] (/)(Error) IndexCI in openindex_filelazy:open file error: 2, 0.indexGroups
    12/31/07 1:30:41 PM ReportCrash[146] Formulating crash report for process mds[28]
    12/31/07 1:30:42 PM com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.metadata.mds[28]) Exited abnormally: Bus error
    12/31/07 1:30:42 PM com.apple.launchd[1] (0x10ba40.mdworker[96]) Exited: Terminated
    12/31/07 1:30:42 PM com.apple.launchd[1] (0x1004a0.mdworker[108]) Exited: Terminated
    12/31/07 1:30:42 PM mds[147] (/Volumes/Xxxxxx Time Machine/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V1/Stores/80F3EC85-D77A-49FE-8BDC-BB7C3B3EC1CF)(E rror) IndexCI in ContentIndexOpenBulk:Unclean shutdown of /Volumes/Xxxxxx Time Machine/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V1/Stores/80F3EC85-D77A-49FE-8BDC-BB7C3B3EC1CF/0. ; needs recovery
    12/31/07 1:30:43 PM ReportCrash[146] Saved crashreport to /Library/Logs/CrashReporter/mds2007-12-31-133038Xxxxxx-Xxxxxx-Computer.crash using uid: 0 gid: 0, euid: 0 egid: 0
    The Crash Report reads as follows (again with personal information x'ed out):
    Process: mds [28]
    Path: /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/Metadata.framework /Support/mds
    Identifier: mds
    Version: ??? (???)
    Code Type: PPC (Native)
    Parent Process: launchd [1]
    Date/Time: 2007-12-31 13:30:38.746 -0500
    OS Version: Mac OS X 10.5.1 (9B18)
    Report Version: 6
    Exception Type: EXCBADACCESS (SIGBUS)
    Exception Codes: KERNPROTECTIONFAILURE at 0x0000000000000030
    Crashed Thread: 15
    Thread 0:
    0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92ed39d8 machmsgtrap + 8
    1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92eda8fc mach_msg + 56
    2 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x90214664 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 1828
    3 mds 0x00059ab8 0x1000 + 363192
    4 mds 0x0000cfa0 0x1000 + 49056
    5 mds 0x00005580 0x1000 + 17792
    Thread 1:
    0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92ed39d8 machmsgtrap + 8
    1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92eda8fc mach_msg + 56
    2 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x90214664 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 1828
    3 mds 0x00059ab8 0x1000 + 363192
    4 mds 0x0005987c 0x1000 + 362620
    5 com.apple.Foundation 0x969c5d9c _NSThread__main_ + 1004
    6 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92f15bf8 pthreadstart + 316
    Thread 2:
    0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92ed39d8 machmsgtrap + 8
    1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92eda8fc mach_msg + 56
    2 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x90214664 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 1828
    3 mds 0x00059ab8 0x1000 + 363192
    4 mds 0x0005987c 0x1000 + 362620
    5 com.apple.Foundation 0x969c5d9c _NSThread__main_ + 1004
    6 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92f15bf8 pthreadstart + 316
    Thread 3:
    0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92ed39d8 machmsgtrap + 8
    1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92eda8fc mach_msg + 56
    2 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x90214664 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 1828
    3 mds 0x00059ab8 0x1000 + 363192
    4 mds 0x0005987c 0x1000 + 362620
    5 com.apple.Foundation 0x969c5d9c _NSThread__main_ + 1004
    6 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92f15bf8 pthreadstart + 316
    Thread 4:
    0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92ed39d8 machmsgtrap + 8
    1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92eda8fc mach_msg + 56
    2 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x90214664 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 1828
    3 mds 0x00059ab8 0x1000 + 363192
    4 mds 0x0005987c 0x1000 + 362620
    5 com.apple.Foundation 0x969c5d9c _NSThread__main_ + 1004
    6 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92f15bf8 pthreadstart + 316
    Thread 5:
    0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92ed39d8 machmsgtrap + 8
    1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92eda8fc mach_msg + 56
    2 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x90214664 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 1828
    3 mds 0x00059ab8 0x1000 + 363192
    4 mds 0x0005987c 0x1000 + 362620
    5 com.apple.Foundation 0x969c5d9c _NSThread__main_ + 1004
    6 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92f15bf8 pthreadstart + 316
    Thread 6:
    0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92eda3ec _semwaitsignal + 12
    1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92f16fa0 pthread_condwait + 1580
    2 mds 0x00009648 0x1000 + 34376
    3 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92f15bf8 pthreadstart + 316
    Thread 7:
    0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92ee0ea0 read$UNIX2003 + 12
    1 mds 0x000091b4 0x1000 + 33204
    Thread 8:
    0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92f15438 kevent + 12
    1 mds 0x0007e584 0x1000 + 513412
    Thread 9:
    0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92ed39d8 machmsgtrap + 8
    1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92eda8fc mach_msg + 56
    2 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x90214664 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 1828
    3 mds 0x00059ab8 0x1000 + 363192
    4 mds 0x0005987c 0x1000 + 362620
    5 com.apple.Foundation 0x969c5d9c _NSThread__main_ + 1004
    6 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92f15bf8 pthreadstart + 316
    Thread 10:
    0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92ed39d8 machmsgtrap + 8
    1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92eda8fc mach_msg + 56
    2 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x90214664 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 1828
    3 mds 0x00059ab8 0x1000 + 363192
    4 mds 0x0005987c 0x1000 + 362620
    5 com.apple.Foundation 0x969c5d9c _NSThread__main_ + 1004
    6 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92f15bf8 pthreadstart + 316
    Thread 11:
    0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92ed39d8 machmsgtrap + 8
    1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92eda8fc mach_msg + 56
    2 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x90214664 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 1828
    3 mds 0x00059ab8 0x1000 + 363192
    4 mds 0x0005987c 0x1000 + 362620
    5 com.apple.Foundation 0x969c5d9c _NSThread__main_ + 1004
    6 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92f15bf8 pthreadstart + 316
    Thread 12:
    0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92ed39d8 machmsgtrap + 8
    1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92eda8fc mach_msg + 56
    2 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x90214664 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 1828
    3 mds 0x00059ab8 0x1000 + 363192
    4 mds 0x0005987c 0x1000 + 362620
    5 com.apple.Foundation 0x969c5d9c _NSThread__main_ + 1004
    6 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92f15bf8 pthreadstart + 316
    Thread 13:
    0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92ed39d8 machmsgtrap + 8
    1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92eda8fc mach_msg + 56
    2 com.apple.spotlight.index 0x00207f0c _handleExceptions + 208
    3 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92f15bf8 pthreadstart + 316
    Thread 14:
    0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92ed39d8 machmsgtrap + 8
    1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92eda8fc mach_msg + 56
    2 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x90214664 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 1828
    3 mds 0x00059ab8 0x1000 + 363192
    4 mds 0x0005987c 0x1000 + 362620
    5 com.apple.Foundation 0x969c5d9c _NSThread__main_ + 1004
    6 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92f15bf8 pthreadstart + 316
    Thread 15 Crashed:
    0 com.apple.spotlight.index 0x002046cc ContentIndexContainsContentByDocId + 204
    1 com.apple.spotlight.index 0x00164358 QueryFunctionCallbackContext::findContent(db_obj*, __CFString const*, char*, int) + 244
    2 com.apple.spotlight.index 0x001634d0 qpContentIndexMatch(datastoreinfo*, dblazyobj*, query_piece*, void*, int) + 328
    3 com.apple.spotlight.index 0x0015587c comparefile_againsttree + 828
    4 com.apple.spotlight.index 0x00155d30 comparefile_againsttree + 2032
    5 com.apple.spotlight.index 0x00155d5c comparefile_againsttree + 2076
    6 com.apple.spotlight.index 0x001e307c -[SISearchCtx isObjectInQuery:withQuery:shortcut:] + 144
    7 com.apple.spotlight.index 0x001fa268 -[SISearchCtx_FSWalk performSearch:] + 996
    8 com.apple.spotlight.index 0x001e2cbc -[SISearchCtx executeSearchContextCracked_2:jobNum:] + 136
    9 com.apple.spotlight.index 0x00177e80 siwork_queueprocess + 752
    10 com.apple.spotlight.index 0x0017811c sischeduleronce + 356
    11 com.apple.spotlight.index 0x0017816c sischeduleronce + 436
    12 com.apple.spotlight.index 0x001784f8 sischeduler_run_waitingtimeout + 640
    13 com.apple.spotlight.index 0x0016529c runLoop + 72
    14 com.apple.spotlight.index 0x00165308 query_runLoop + 32
    15 libSystem.B.dylib 0x92f15bf8 pthreadstart + 316
    Thread 15 crashed with PPC Thread State 32:
    srr0: 0x002046cc srr1: 0x0200f030 dar: 0x00000030 dsisr: 0x40000000
    r0: 0x002046a4 r1: 0xf09a4380 r2: 0x00000000 r3: 0x00000000
    r4: 0xf09a43c0 r5: 0x00000000 r6: 0x000074d1 r7: 0x00000000
    r8: 0x003fc080 r9: 0x00000000 r10: 0x00000000 r11: 0x44000444
    r12: 0x92ede094 r13: 0x00000000 r14: 0x00000000 r15: 0x00373410
    r16: 0x00000000 r17: 0x00239e98 r18: 0x00000001 r19: 0x00227b9c
    r20: 0x00000000 r21: 0x00245554 r22: 0x00000001 r23: 0x00000001
    r24: 0x00000000 r25: 0x00000005 r26: 0x00000000 r27: 0x00000000
    r28: 0x00000000 r29: 0x00000005 r30: 0xf09a43c0 r31: 0x00204610
    cr: 0x24000444 xer: 0x20000004 lr: 0x002046a4 ctr: 0x92ede094
    vrsave: 0x00000000
    Binary Images:
    0x1000 - 0xc1ffb mds ??? (???) <af9cc958b4b030835101ff024186c7d3> /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/Metadata.framework /Support/mds
    0xde000 - 0xe0ffd com.apple.MDSChannel 1.0 (1.0) /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MDSChannel.framework/Versions/A/MDSChannel
    0x139000 - 0x23fffb com.apple.spotlight.index 10.5.0 (398.1) <5843125c709dd85f22f9bd42744beea5> /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SpotlightIndex.framework/Versions/A/Spotlight Index
    0x1ca9000 - 0x1caaffc liblangid.dylib ??? (???) <5f078ac1f623f5ce432ea53fc29338c0> /usr/lib/liblangid.dylib
    0x2198000 - 0x22bdffb libmecab.1.0.0.dylib ??? (???) <cd875e74974e4ec3a0b13eeeb236fa53> /usr/lib/libmecab.1.0.0.dylib
    0x8fe00000 - 0x8fe309d3 dyld 95.3 (???) <a7be977c203ec5c76b2f25a7aef66554> /usr/lib/dyld
    0x90123000 - 0x9016effb com.apple.Metadata 10.5.0 (398) <b6bb1fd5a7a9135f546b2d8cbd65eafc> /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/Metadat a.framework/Versions/A/Metadata
    0x901ab000 - 0x902d0ff3 com.apple.CoreFoundation 6.5 (476) <9073c2bfdf6842562c8b7f0308109c02> /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreFoundation.framework/Versions/A/CoreFoundation
    0x9060a000 - 0x90612fff libbsm.dylib ??? (???) <c1fca3cbe3b1c21e9b31bc89b920f34c> /usr/lib/libbsm.dylib
    0x90683000 - 0x90688ff6 libmathCommon.A.dylib ??? (???) /usr/lib/system/libmathCommon.A.dylib
    0x90757000 - 0x907d2fff com.apple.SearchKit 1.2.0 (1.2.0) <1b448fbae02460eae76ee1c6883f45d6> /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/SearchK it.framework/Versions/A/SearchKit
    0x9088a000 - 0x9090ffff libsqlite3.0.dylib ??? (???) <7b379cb4220346e99c32c427d4539496> /usr/lib/libsqlite3.0.dylib
    0x90aa7000 - 0x90ab5fff libz.1.dylib ??? (???) <1a70dd3594a8c5ad39d785af5da23237> /usr/lib/libz.1.dylib
    0x90b50000 - 0x90be2fff com.apple.framework.IOKit 1.5.1 (???) <591b8b0cc4261db98a6e72e38eef5f9a> /System/Library/Frameworks/IOKit.framework/Versions/A/IOKit
    0x91105000 - 0x9116cffb libstdc++.6.dylib ??? (???) <a4e9b10268b3ffac26d0296499b24e8e> /usr/lib/libstdc++.6.dylib
    0x9116d000 - 0x912b5ff3 libicucore.A.dylib ??? (???) <250daed2fb2e6bf114480e2e4da0728b> /usr/lib/libicucore.A.dylib
    0x91c3c000 - 0x91d32ffc libiconv.2.dylib ??? (???) <05ae1fcc97404173b2f9caef8f8be797> /usr/lib/libiconv.2.dylib
    0x91d3a000 - 0x91db4ffd com.apple.CFNetwork 220 (221) <00b882d3d3325526b78ded74880759fe> /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/CFNetwo rk.framework/Versions/A/CFNetwork
    0x9236a000 - 0x92382ffb com.apple.DictionaryServices 1.0.0 (1.0.0) <fe37191e732eeb66189185cd000a210b> /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/Diction aryServices.framework/Versions/A/DictionaryServices
    0x92383000 - 0x9238effb libgcc_s.1.dylib ??? (???) <ea47fd375407f162c76d14d64ba246cd> /usr/lib/libgcc_s.1.dylib
    0x92742000 - 0x92769fff libxslt.1.dylib ??? (???) <3700d04090629deddb436aa2d516c56d> /usr/lib/libxslt.1.dylib
    0x92777000 - 0x92860fff libxml2.2.dylib ??? (???) <6f383df1e1e775be0158ba947784ae13> /usr/lib/libxml2.2.dylib
    0x928aa000 - 0x928b9fff com.apple.DSObjCWrappers.Framework 1.2 (1.2) <2411674c821a8907449ac741ce6a40c3> /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DSObjCWrappers.framework/Versions/A/DSObjCWra ppers
    0x92a17000 - 0x92afafeb libobjc.A.dylib ??? (???) <4a90e315bd1718c3f5ae09ee6c23e36c> /usr/lib/libobjc.A.dylib
    0x92afb000 - 0x92bc9ff7 com.apple.CoreServices.OSServices 210.2 (210.2) <bad4943629f870d305f2bc7c6dfffe2d> /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/OSServi ces.framework/Versions/A/OSServices
    0x92bde000 - 0x92dbfffb com.apple.security 5.0.1 (32736) <15632bf9bbdb223194b3d79a2e48e02d> /System/Library/Frameworks/Security.framework/Versions/A/Security
    0x92e9a000 - 0x92ec5ff7 libauto.dylib ??? (???) <c1f2bd227817ad7c7bf29ec74729ac7c> /usr/lib/libauto.dylib
    0x92ed2000 - 0x9306bfe3 libSystem.B.dylib ??? (???) <8a6cd873dfa7ada786efac188f95ed1b> /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib
    0x931a7000 - 0x934a7ff3 com.apple.CoreServices.CarbonCore 783 (783) <fd2acaf23e95472f78b8a077fa039986> /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/CarbonC ore.framework/Versions/A/CarbonCore
    0x946f2000 - 0x9472afff com.apple.SystemConfiguration 1.9.0 (1.9.0) <d925dde7699e6231c88a41b0254a7591> /System/Library/Frameworks/SystemConfiguration.framework/Versions/A/SystemConfi guration
    0x94933000 - 0x9494eff3 com.apple.DirectoryService.Framework 3.5 (3.5) <3246a5d1c6a3d678798a90e8c5cd3677> /System/Library/Frameworks/DirectoryService.framework/Versions/A/DirectoryServi ce
    0x9494f000 - 0x9494fffa com.apple.CoreServices 32 (32) <42b6dda539f7411606187335d9eae0c5> /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/CoreServices
    0x94c68000 - 0x94c9dfff com.apple.AE 402 (402) <a4b92c8ac89cc774b85fb44c48b9d882> /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/AE.fram ework/Versions/A/AE
    0x96831000 - 0x9683afff com.apple.DiskArbitration 2.2 (2.2) <9c8f8ade43fa25b32109ef9dcc0cb5d5> /System/Library/Frameworks/DiskArbitration.framework/Versions/A/DiskArbitration
    0x9683b000 - 0x968d1ff7 com.apple.LaunchServices 286 (286) <a3a0b2af862e9a8945072f8cb523678f> /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchS ervices.framework/Versions/A/LaunchServices
    0x969bc000 - 0x96c00ffb com.apple.Foundation 6.5.1 (677.1) <4152239382fb0f48abbcbf35bd04afa6> /System/Library/Frameworks/Foundation.framework/Versions/C/Foundation
    0xfffec000 - 0xfffeffff libobjc.A.dylib ??? (???) /usr/lib/libobjc.A.dylib
    0xffff8000 - 0xffff9703 libSystem.B.dylib ??? (???) /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib
    Apparently the mdutil command didn't actually delete the Spotlight index file which is causing the problem, or at least didn't leave the indexing files in a consistent, empty state to start indexing over again. I may have to Erase this Time Machine disk and start over.
    I should point out that except for Spotlight indexing this disk is otherwise working just fine. It passes Verify Disk with no errors and both new Time Machine backups and viewing and restoring via Time Machine and Finder work without problem.
    Any suggestions before I just Erase the disk and start over with a new backup?
    --Bob

  • 10.5.6 - spotlight wants to index the Time Machine backup

    Since I upgraded to 10.5.6, spotlight keeps trying to index the Time Machine backup. It won't let me add it to the privacy list - I get an "unknown error". Any ideas how to stop it doing that?
    It seems that while spotlight's trying to index, Time Machine won't go any further than "preparing backup".

    Spotlight does often seem to interfere with large TM backups.
    Apparently it has to do with Spotlight busily indexing things that TM has just put on the drive, but maybe hasn't completely released or finished with. Exact cause unknown.
    But it won't hurt to exclude your TM drive/partition from spotlight -- you'll find several threads in the Time Machine forum where this has helped greatly. After it's done, remove the exclusion if you want. Note that the TM disk may not get indexed until your next restart.
    Also, download the +Time Machine Buddy+ widget. It shows the messages from your logs for one TM backup run at a time, in a small window. Then you'll get a bit more info on what it's doing.
    If you see a message about a "deep traversal," when nothing seems to be happening, just be patient. This means TM must examine ever file and folder on your system to figure out what needs to be backed-up, so it will be a very lengthy process.

  • My MacBook pro won't recognize hard drive I put in it. It boots only to a white screen unless I boot to my recovery USB. If I do that then I can select my USB and my external time machine drive in the disk utility, so no problems there. But what do you

    My MacBook pro won't recognize hard drive I put in it. It boots only to a white screen unless I boot to my recovery USB. If I do that then I can select my USB and my external time machine drive in the disk utility, so no problems there. But what do you think it is? It won't recognize any hard drive I put in the machine, so might it be the sata cable?

    Boot the Recvoery USB, use Disk Utility to select the internal drive makers namea and size on the left.
    Now select erase and select the midde option and click erase, it will take a bit to complete but it's best for the drive.
    Now select Partiton tab, click the big box and Options: GUID and then Format: OS X Extended journaled and click apply.
    Quit and you should be able to install OS X now with your Apple ID and password.
    see
    http://osxdaily.com/2011/08/08/lion-recovery-disk-assistant-tool-makes-external- lion-boot-recovery-drives/

  • What happens when the Time Machine drive is full?

    I'm on my second iMac. My first one (G5, 1984) died, and I replaced it early 2010 with an Intel mac. The transition when exceedingly well largely due to Time Machine. I just hooked the Time Machine drive to the new system, and I was soon back up running!
    My home folder has 70GB of data. The Macintosh drive has 105GB of data and 395GB free. The Time Machine drive has 220GB used and 30GB free.
    1. What happens when the Time Machine drive is full?
    2. Do I have control over what backups get deleted?
    3. If lightning strikes twice, will I still be able to restore my Intel mac like my G5 mac, even if backups get deleted?
    4. Is there anyway to control what backups/backup files get deleted?
    5. Any other thoughts?
    Thanks.

    maxseven wrote:
    i have deleted the time machine folders and they are now in my trash. when i try to secure empty my trash it will delete everything but the t/m folders. how do i delete them?
    Do you mean all of them? The entire Backups.backupdb folder?
    That's a large mess. First, even a normal delete will take a very long time, as there are probably hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of files. Your best bet by far is to simply erase them with Disk Utility -- that will only take a few moments. If your TM drive has a single partition, see #1 in [Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks|http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/DU.html]. If there are other partition(s) on the drive, see #2 there.
    If not, and you only deleted some of the folders, you have a different, worse problem. Unfortunately, Apple doesn't do a very good job of warning folks: +*Never move, change, or delete anything in your backups via the Finder or Terminal.+*
    You shouldn't have to delete backups at all, since Time Machine will do that automatically when the disk/partition gets full. But you can do it without harm via Time Machine. See #12 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
    A normal delete will take a very long time, as there are probably tens or hundreds of thousands of items, each of which must be individually deleted. A secure delete will take much, much longer, as each deleted file must be overwritten with zeros.

  • Can I move the time machine drive from being a usb drive

    Hello
      I am not sure whether this fits best in the time capsule or in the time machine forum. I try here as this a issue thar arises only to time capsule users.
    I have a new USB drive that I want to use for time machine backups. Eventually I want it to be attached to the time capsule and make the time machine back up via wifi. However the first backup is 261 Gb and this is too long for the wi-fi. I am doing it right now via the USB and take 12 hours (estimated).
    After the USB backup will be finished, can I move the drive to the time capsule and let time machine make the backups via wifi? I mean, is time machine going to find the backup done via USB or once started with USB I am stuck with that?
    Thanks for answering and for reading
    Roberto
    PS
    maybe  was better on the time machine forum, still don't know.

    Backup strategy
    Backing up a client computer to Time Capsule hardware with Time Machine software via the network provides ample time for contemplation, and rumination as to why the backup is taking so long. An initial 200Gb backup has an estimated time of "3 days" even on a wired network. Incremental backups following the initial backup are also beset with delays, with various message which can be viewed with the programmer's delight, the "Console" app. Otherwise the System Preference Time Machine interface is mute. The glacial pace of the Time Capsule backup process is exhaustively documented on the internet, but with no solutions - at least that I have found any after too many hours searching.
    The System Preferences->Time Machine interface is always used to start a backup, monitor, or stop a backup, whether the backup drive is present on the network via Time Capsule, or if the backup drive is directly connected to the client computer.
    On the positive side, Time Machine performs quickly and provides hourly backup to external drives directly attached to the client computer. The delay appears in network backups via Time Capsule.
    Another positive is that network backups to Time Capsule are reliable when the client computer is stable, always on, and never detached from the network. In this case, the mute interface offered by system preferences->Time Machine is welcome. For example, my Apple Mac Mini web server (always on) is reliably backed up to a Time Capsule.
    The negative experience is encountered when backing up a laptop when, as laptops do, the laptop wanders from the network. As stopping a backup can take 15 minutes, backups are necessarily interrupted when dashing off to work with your laptop. In the network where I have experience, there are 5 laptops and 1 stationary (Mac Mini) clients living on an all-Apple network. Failing to complete a backup via network for days on end gives no feeling of security.
    Reading from Podini's excellent website
              http://pondini.org/TM/Works.html
    and extracting a summary, files copied from a client computer using Time Machine are stored on the backup drive in one of two formats:  sparse bundle (special file type) when backing up to Time Capsule (or to a drive attached to a Time Capsule), or a folder with the client computer name when the backup drive is Firewire attached to the client. A closer examination of the sparse bundle file on the network with the Finder shows that the same folder appears with the computer name.
    So, Time Machine backups always go to a folder with the client computer name, and this folder is either inside a sparse bundle or not depending upon if the backup drive is mounted on the network via TC or directly attached to the client.
    An external drive mounted on the network via Time Capsule will create a sparse bundle file for the client or add to it if it already exists. Even if backups are present of the same machine, but not in a sparse bundle, Time Capsule will create a sparse bundle if it does not exist for the current backup client computer, and start a new backup.
    An external drive directly connected to the client has a different experience. No Time Capsule is involved. Upon turning on backups via Time Machine, the backups will go to a sparse bundle file with the client computer name, if it exists. If the sparse bundle file does not exist, a folder is created with the computer name.
    A strategy of backing up to an external drive moved between various computers and the Time Capsule might resolve some of the many delays. The strategy is simple, if delays are encountered, directly attach the backup drive to the client computer. If a backup is to be manually deleted in order to begin anew, directly attach the backup drive to the client computer before deleting the sparse bundle file.
    To begin a new backup with this strategy of "drive+TC", initiate (via TM) the backup on the network (via TC), then stop after 10 minutes (with TM), noting that a sparse bundle of zero size is created. Continue the first backup by directly connecting the external backup drive to the client then pointing Time Machine to the newly connected drive. The backups by way of direct connect will go to the existing sparse bundle. Wait three hours rather than three days for a 200Gb backup to complete. Subsequent backups will go to the sparse bundle file on the backup drive, whether the backup drive is on the network (via TC) or directly connected.
    But what of the internal drive on the TC? In this strategy, it is not used for backups unless the client computer is always attached to the network.
    With so little documentation from Apple, we are left to speculate as to the cause of TC largo. Normally, slight documentation means little to know for the user, and the user is spared the complex machinations under the hood, but when the operation is flawed the user is left without resources.
    A secure backup strategy stores a backup offsite, just in case the house burns down, or buglers make a clean sweep of computers and backup drives. Unfortunately, this means doubling the equipment, including two Time Capsules and two external drives attached to the TCs. The offsite copy is rarely mentioned in the same paragraph as the Time Capsule, likely because of the cost. It's an uncomfortable fact that a sole TC is vulnerable to local hazards, along with the local client computers.
    This is the strategy I'm testing now. I'll send an update in a few days.

  • How can create room in icloud for the time machine on the mac

    I don't like to be carrying a time capsule around. Just need some space in the icloud for the Time Machine. Is that too hard to do?

    vcngu wrote:
    Backing up a Macpro in icloud shouldn't be rocket science or is it?
    No, it is very simple really, iCloud does not back up from Time Machine, or any other OSX program come to that. iCloud IS NOT an OSX backup system.

  • Can I back up macbook to external time machine drive attached to my Samba?

    I'm already backing up my macbook with a WD MAc Formatted drive. I want to connect it to a NAS (Samba Server).
    I know that time machine will not work with NAS. Will my existing time machine drive work if I connect it wirelessly to a Samba based NAS device?

    yes. mount the drive remotely on the macbook and choose it as the designated TM drive in TM system preferences.

  • Can you stop a transfer from a Time Machine backup?

    I just bought a new mbpro and am doing a transfer from a time machine backup.  Can I stop and restart it?

    Yes, but the transfer is likely to be corrupted and should not be relied upon. I recommend erasing what was transferred.

  • How can I stop my MBA going into Time Machine every time I restart?

    Every time I restart by MacBook Air, it starts Time Machine and I have to cancel out of it before I can start working.
    My iMac and my wife's MacBook Pro (both also running Lion) do not do this.
    Any suggestions on how to stop this happening?
    I have an MBA running Lion 10.7.2.

    Check that Time Machine isn't in your Login Items:
     > System Preferences > Users & Groups | Login Items
    If it is, highlight it, then press the minus '-' at the bottom.

  • I just backed up my 1TB (mostly full) internal hard drive to an external 1TB Time Machine drive, and it says I'm fully backed up. Why is the Time Machine drive only half full?

    I have a 1TB internal drive in my MacBook Pro (15", mid-2009, running Snow Leopard). A couple days ago I decided to format my unused 1TB external drive and use it for Time Machine, so I could wipe/format my internal drive for the Mavericks upgrade I've been putting off. Time Machine backed up the entire drive, and it appears to have successfully worked! Except that Finder shows 157 gigs free on my internal drive and 463 gigs free on the external... I'm hesitant to erase everything in case some stuff didn't get backed up and might disappear. A Google search tells me that Time Machine doesn't compress files at all... so where the heck did those 300 gigs go? Is there really 300 gigs of stuff on my internal drive that Time Machine just decided didn't need to be backed up?

    By default Time Machine will not back up all files, i.e. temp file, cache, and system files. Also you can set Time Machine to exclude some folders/files, take a look at this link for more information.  http://pondini.org/TM/11.html

  • Can I back up macbook to external  time machine drive attached to my imac?

    I have an external hard disk attached to my iMac, which it uses for Time Machine backups. Can I configure Time Machine on my Macbook to use that same drive, and to connect to it over my network? Thanks.

    yes. mount the drive remotely on the macbook and choose it as the designated TM drive in TM system preferences.

  • I have an external Time Machine drive that I want to reformat. I can't remember the password. How can I do this. Disk Utility won't let me. Thanks.

    I have an iMac that had drive problems last winter. Took the iMac to the Apple Store and they reinstalled everything and now it works again. Only thing is that my external Time Machine drive is screwed up now. Its 1.5 TB.
    I had the Time Machine drive partioned into two parts. One partion was for an emergency bootup using carbon copy cloner. That partion I can open and mounts on my desktop. The other partion was Time Machine. It once upon a time opened and mounted without a password.
    It requests a password to unlock even though I never had it password protected before the iMac drive problems. And so now it won't mount the drive.
    I can go to Disk Utilities and I can see Time Machine with both partions. The Carbon Copy partion is mounted. The Time Machine partion is not mounted. For this reason I can't select it and erase it.
    What the heck am I supposed ot do now to erase it and start over. Any help would be appreciated. I really don't want to go and buy another drive.
    Kevin

    Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:
    { diskutil list; echo; diskutil cs list; } | open -f -a TextEdit
    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).
    A TextEdit window will open with the output of the command. Post the contents of that window, if any — the text, please, not a screenshot. The title of the window doesn't matter, and you don't need to post that.
    If any personal information appears in the output, anonymize before posting, but don’t remove the context.

  • Must the Time Machine volume be Spotlight indexed?

    There are conflicting forum posts on this issue. Some say Time Machine requires that the Time Machine backup volume be included in the Spotlight indexing prefs. Some say TM works fine when excluded from Spotlight indexing.
    I've also not found a definitive answer by searching Support.
    Any advice would be appreciated!

    I'm happy to find this thread, because for a few weeks I (and others in various threads) have been experiencing a bug where Spotlight continuously indexes *_for days and weeks on end._*
    Thanks to this thread, I now believe that the root of this issue is that for some reason, Spotlight has started to index my Time Machine drive. I'm glad to read, here, that it's not necessary for Spotlight to index one's TM drive. However, what was not mentioned here is exactly how one excludes the TM drive from being indexed!
    When I attempt to do so via Spotlight's preference pane (in the "Privacy" tab), I get an error saying the drive "couldn't be added."
    UPDATE: Before posting this I tried dragging the TM drive's icon to the Spotlight preference pane, and that worked. Technically there's no difference between doing it that way or clicking the "plus" sign and navigating to the drive to be excluded, so I'm not sure why that didn't work. But I'm just reporting my experience. Hopefully this will solve my never-ending spotlight-indexing problem.
    UPDATE #2: Problem not solved. Spotlight is still indexing the TM drive. Apparently, adding that drive to the the Privacy pane only affects search results, not indexing.
    _How does one prevent a drive from being indexed?_

  • Can't force quit applications problem during Time Machine backups

    I've run into a frustrating problem with Time Machine. I'm using an external 750gb USB hard drive as a backup disk with my Mac Mini; the connection is visa the Firewire 400 port.
    When I'm doing anything that's CPU-intensive while a Time Machine is backing up, it is a 50-50 chance that one or more applications will crash. It is impossible to Force Quit them, which means that it is impossible to log out or shut down. The user is faced with a choice: Kill the whole system, and risk corrupting the system hard drive, or yank out the Time Machine disk's connector, and risk corrupting the Time Machine backup. Of course the latter is preferred, and that's what I've done. Thus far, I haven't seen any corruption on the Time Machine drive, fortunately, but in order to work with my system, I have had to disable Time Machine backups while I am working. (I reconnect the Time Machine drive overnight.)
    I know from some Google searching that others are experiencing this problem. My question is, has anyone figured out why this is happening, or developed a workaround?
    Regards,
    Bryan

    In the process of restoring my MacBookPro from an external TM drive as we speak. I can say with almost 100% certainty that force restarting (holding the power-button down until the book shuts off) will corrupt your start up disk to some extent.
    My problem is that I was away from my network when TM tried to do an update. I'm not sure if TM was actually able to connect to my server but none the less I was on a verizon wireless card and so even a minor backup would have been slow.
    I needed to shut the computer down and leave. I have had TM hang when trying to shut down and tried to tell it to stop the back-up (which it tries to do for hours on end and have had to force quit before... had to run disk first aid that time) So this time I figured Id leave the computer on (though unplugged) while I drove home.
    I did not close the case until the screen went dark. Unfortunately, it had just gone to sleep (a half hour later) instead of shutting off but I did not know that at the time so I shut the case then.
    When I plugged it in in the AM it was dark but not black... I could just see the screen and could see it was frozen. Force restart completely screwed my startup disk. Luckily I have a BU from the night before.
    Maybe TM should also be linked to the location, and or connection you are using. So, if I am away from my LAN it will automatically turn off. I also wish I could set it to back up every x hours instead of every hour.
    Good idea... just needs some work on the routines. (only an hour left on my restore now)

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