External HD Mayhem -- Time Machine + Permissions

Hi there,
I recently bought a Toshiba Canvio 1TB hard drive (USB 3.0). It's attached to my MacBook, running on Mac OS 10.5.8.
2 partitions on the disk: one for Time Machine backups, the other for all the other stuff.
It turns out both partitions have strange issues I can't manage to solve.
- Time Machine partition:
Time Machine is very unstable with this HD. It manages to save a few times per day, until the point when it suddenly tells me "Time Machine failed, unable to create backup directory."
I followed the detailed instructions on http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html...
Disk Utility repair: sometimes detects a "minor bitmap error": "Erroneous number of empty blocks on the volume." Repair successful; after an hour or so, the problem is back. But this time, Disk Utility doesn't detect the bitmap error anymore.
Deleting com.apple.TimeMachine.plist : same thing, the problem comes back soon afterwards.
Another interesting thing is that after the problem occurs, I'm unable to eject the disk, and have to reboot the laptop to do so.
Disk Utility detects no problem with this partition, and neither does Techtool Pro (6.0.1).
- Other Files partition:
Most of the time, no problem. But then sometimes (once every 10-15 days during the last month or so) permission issues: impossible to copy files from/to this partition. Like tonight.
Sometimes, the "minor bitmap error" ("Erroneous number of empty blocks on the volume") is also detected on this partition. I can repair the disk - but the permission issue still occurs
TechTool Pro (6.0.1) HD tests fail to detect a hardware issue.
AND THE MOST PUZZLING (worrying?) THING IS: all those issues happened more or less in the same way in the first few days after I bought the HD. Since then, I've had to format it for other reasons -- but the problems still occur.
Have I been doing things wrong with my partitioning? Is this drive just rotten?
Thanks in advance for all advice.
Dorian

Thanks for your kind reply, BDAqua!
However, the USB ports on my MacBook are 2.0 compatible, and I'm connecting this external HD directly to one of these ports (not going through a hub). Are you sure such a hub would provide more power than my Mac does at the moment?
A reason for skepticism on my side would be that I've actually been using another Toshiba Canvio 1TB for more than a year now, and I found it a really great piece of hardware (not a single issue in all this time). Therefore, I decided to buy a second one, in order to clone my Time Machine saves and all the Other (important) stuff.
The problematic HD is actually the newer one I bought. Considering it hadn't been used at all yet, I decided to make it into my "default" TM drive, and use the first Canvio I bought to make clone copies of both TM and Other Stuff partitions (and it seems to be working pretty well through Carbon Copy Cloner).
So given my first Canvio never had those issues, do you think Toshiba changed something in the manufacturing process, and my new Canvio should be using a special hub...?
Cheers,
D

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For TM help post in the forum for your OS - and see https://www.apple.com/support/timemachine/ and http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html and http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
Depends on undisclosed information
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Cumby
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Bad idea, thats putting everything in once place. Worst premise for data protection
Methodology to protect your data. Backups vs. Archives. Long-term data protection
Everything is about 1. redundancy, 2. redundancy and 3. multiple storage platforms (DVD, multiple HD, online server archives ala a personal website etc.)
The first realization is that your data on your computer is highly vulnerable
The second realization is that you need a HD backup of your OS and data
The third realization is that you need at the very least a secondary HD backup
The fourth and final realization is understanding the fragility of any and all HD & ferromagnetic storage, and that vital data needs to be “frozen” on unassailable redundancies across multiple storage platforms including multiple HD, online backup, archival DVD burns comprising at the very minimum triple platform redundancy of data you have been working on for years or decades that cannot be replaced.
The B.A.R. “rule” (backup-archive-redundancy)
Backup: Active data emergency restore. Backups are moved from backups to archives; or from backups to the computer for restore or data retrieval.
Archive: Active and static data protection with the highest level of redundancy. Archives are only moved from itself to itself (archived copies). Generally a “long-term retention” nexus.
Redundancy: A fail-safe off-site or protected and “frozen” copy of your vital data and foolproof protection against magnetic degradation and HD mechanical failure. A likewise failsafe from theft, house fire, etc.
Redundancy has two points of premise:
A: redundancy (copies) of data archives.
B: redundancy of data on different platforms (optical, online, magneto-optical, HD).
Send your backups to your archives (as often as possible), and your archives to self-same redundancies.
*When referring to backups and archives here, this is in reference to your data saved/ created/ working on,... not your OS, your applications, and your system information / settings,...which is the idealized premise for use of Time Machine as a system-backup after internal data corruption or HD-failure.
Here we are referring to data backups and archives, not system-backups for restoring your OS-system.
If your data on your hard drive is the cash in your wallet, a backup is your bank account/debit card, and an archive is a locked safety deposit box.
Its easy to get your wallet emptied (corrupted) or stolen, your backup checking account is somewhat easy to get corrupted/drained or damaged, but your bunker security is in the lockbox inside the vault, where your vital data and archives reside. In the premise of preventing data loss, you want as often and as much as possible one-way transfers from your “wallet” to your safety deposit box archives; and further still a minimum of two copies of those archives.
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Bergers wrote:
new computer
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This is a re-post with additional background information requested by several responders:
I recently added a G-Speed Q RAID array to my MAC PRO to use exclusively for back-up with Time Machine. I purchased this RAID array from the Apple store, so assume that means it's acceptable to use for this purpose. Maybe that's a bad assumption on my part. In any event, it worked great with Time Machine on my MAC PRO. The G-speed array is connected to my Mac Pro via Firewire 800 port for now. I am awaiting delivery of an eSATA expansion card for the Mac Pro which I intend to switch to when it arrives. In any event, it is not configured or capable of acting as an NAS device. It is a shared external drive on the MAC PRO.
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In my "dispute" with Pondini in the other thread, I came across some information that will certainly explain things, but not in a good way.
Apparently you cannot use an external drive as a Time Machine repository. People who use Snow Leopard and Lion Server to provide Time Machine services have already discovered this.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3327294
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2472139
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While I'm a big fan of Time Machine, I still consider it Apple Black Magic. You can use it, but don't get too clever. I don't like to take chances with backups. Simple is usually better. Time Machine isn't simple, but it is so convenient that I like to ignore the incredible complexity of it.
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Perilous to us all are the devices of an art deeper than we possess ourselves.
- Gandalf

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I'm using Time Machine now with
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Isn't there many versions of the OS on the Time Machine backup taken at different times?

pitou wrote:
P.S. Stupid question: If my computer crashes, and I reboot from Time Machine
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Isn't there many versions of the OS on the Time Machine backup taken at different times?
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But you can restore your entire system from any one of them, per the procedure in #14 of the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.
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You might want to review these:
Time Machine Tutorial
Time Machine 101
How to back up and restore your files
Time Machine Features
Apple - Support - Mac OSX v10.5 Leopard Time Machine
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hirogliffix,
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kat.hayes wrote:
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I accidentally combined all of my photos on iphoto to be one event. i have it the way i want it saved on my external harddrive from time machine. how do i make my computer go back to that

i accidentally combined all of my photos on iphoto to be one event. i have it the way i want it saved on my external harddrive from time machine. how do i make my computer go back to that

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http://pondini.org/TM/15.html
Ciao.

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(58364)

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I backup to an external hdd with Time Machine, when it ran out of space it did not delete old backups, now my internal hdd says its full when before it had heaps of space. I have searched for extra files but cant find any. Can anyone help, please.

First, empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. Then reboot. That will temporarily free up some space.
To locate large files, you can use Spotlight as described here. That method may not find large folders that contain a lot of small files.
You can also use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) to explore your volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can delete files with it, but don't do that unless you're sure that you know what you're deleting and that all data is safely backed up. That means you have multiple backups, not just one.
Proceed further only if the problem hasn't been solved.
ODS can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To see everything, you have to run it as root.
Back up all data now.
Install ODS in the Applications folder as usual.
Triple-click the line of text below to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C):sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
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). You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything while running ODS as root. If something needs to be deleted, make sure you know what it is and how it got there, and then delete it by other, safer, means.
When you're done with ODS, quit it and also quit Terminal.

External HD Mayhem -- Time Machine + Permissions

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