First Time Capsule Backup Failed - Time Machine Error

I bought my Time Capsule yesterday because I needed to backup my MacBook (which I bought 6 months ago). My plan was to backup the MacBook to the TC and then do an Erase and Install of my MacBook because of problems I'm having with the MacBook (it constantly hangs for a minute or more - sometimes up to 20 times a day). I thought an erase and install might fix the problem.
After setting up the Time Capsule and connecting it to the MacBook with a Cat 6 ethernet cable for the first backup I went to bed. I noticed that, when the backup started, it was taking approximately 5 minutes to backup the first Gb of data. As TC noted there was 80GB to backup I assumed this would take 6 or 7 hours to complete.
This morning when I checked the MacBook I discovered a message on the screen of my MacBook as follows -
Time Machine Error
Unable to complete bacup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume.
Nothing else! When I check the Time Machine in Finder, under Data there is the following -
Patricia Henwood’s MacBook_002332b6d076.sparsebundle and this is 50.82GB.
Can anyone suggest what I should do?
I bought the TC yesterday because all my other backup drives are Firewire and, of course, the MacBook doesn't have a Firewire port.
Should I just 'give up'? The MacBook is covered by Apple Care (and anyhow, even if it weren't it's only 6 months old so, presumably, it's still covered by Apple warranty). I understand from the salesman where I bought my TC that it, too, is covered by my Apple Care for the MacBook because I bought it to use with the MacBook.
Would the simplest solution be to make an appointment to take the MacBook and the TC to the genius bar and see if they can help?

Hi dealbata, happy to hear that yours is now up and running. My fourth TC backup attempt last night failed yet again (at 50.8GB) - I read in a previous thread (which I can no longer find but which was more than 5 pages long and went back to 2007) about many people who have had the message
Time Machine Error
Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume.
From that thread, 'famouswolf' posted a solution which involved checking the system.log using Console.app (Utilities folder). In his case (and in mine) the problem was caused by corrupted files in iPhoto. The solution was to actually delete the files (all those that had an ERROR (-36) message next to them in the system.log. To delete them you have to locate them in your iPhoto Library file and delete them in the Finder. As you can imagine, this is a long and tedious process (I have over 8000 images in my iPhoto library) - frankly, I've already wasted two days on this - and the TC was bought so I could back up my MacBook and then discover what the REAL problem is with my MacBook (it hangs and/or crashes between 10 and 20 times a day :-((
So, I've bitten the bullet and re-partitioned my MacBook's hard drive and done a fresh install of OS X and the applications that came on the install DVD. I've then run Software Updater until everything is up to date and I am now in the course of doing a backup of the MacBook to the TC of the 'bare bones' of my system - it's only 14.3GB so I hoping it will work. Then I'll copy across what I need from my iMac and hope that tonight TC will backup everything.
Here's hoping!
Cheers
Tricia

Similar Messages

Time Capsule backup failed error -43?

Hi and Thanks to Anyone in Advance!
Below is the Time Capsule Error Log I get when doing a Time Machine Backup, wirelessly, on my 2T Time Capsule HD/Router.
Initial Setup and Backup done via ethernet, flawlessly, two months ago. Subsequent backups worked until about three days ago (Why, I have not a clue!)
Often, using Airport Utility, the Time Capsule does not appear. Turning off Computer Airport and on again, the disk becomes magically available for backup. Similar problem with wireless LAN printer...truly a pain. the printer needs to be deleted, and then added again in Print/Fax Preferences. (HP PhotoSmart C7250)
I used Disk Utility" on my Computer HD with a repair permissions, then performed a TC reset, physically, and reconfigured the TC on the LAN, trying a new name "gotyourback" for the backup. Backup begins every time, but keeps failing after about five minutes.
Hope this helps others with similar problem...
Again,
Thanks!
Starting standard backup
Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://Suz%20Tim%20Abri%20and%[email protected]/Data
Mounted network destination using URL: afp://Suz%20Tim%20Abri%20and%[email protected]/Data
QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
Disk image /Volumes/Data/Rogers Rocks Home.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups
Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb
Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x102f20b60 "The file “CM” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=5 UserInfo=0x100194860 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error")
Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x1001c76a0 "The file “std” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=5 UserInfo=0x100194860 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error")
Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x1001dfc50 "The file “js” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=5 UserInfo=0x100194860 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error")
Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x1001e06c0 "The file “en” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=5 UserInfo=0x100194860 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error")
Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x1001e11e0 "The file “disofactor.swf” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=5 UserInfo=0x100194860 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error")
Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x1001e1320 "The file “diso.sol” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=5 UserInfo=0x100194860 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error")
Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x100527ec0 "The file “Download” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=5 UserInfo=0x100194860 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error")
No pre-backup thinning needed: 1.19 GB requested (including padding), 1.38 TB available
Stopping backup.
Error: (-43) SrcErr:NO Copying /Applications/The Learning Company to /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb/Rogers Rocks Home/2011-09-08-114311.inProgress/A0EF34AF-A412-4268-B48E-1FD4BF77C8BA/ROGERS LOVE/Applications
Copied 177 files (33.0 MB) from volume ROGERS LOVE.
Copy stage failed with error:11
Backup failed with error: 11
Ejected Time Machine disk image.

Ok, if it is only 2months old it shouldn't be a problem..internally at least.
? (10.0.1.1) at b8:c7:5d:c6:3c:db on en1 ifscope [ethernet]
It doesn't have a name.. although it has registered the MAC address and IP .. that is the TC unless you changed it the ? indicates there is an issue with device name. All the entries should have a name.
ray-hs-mac-pro:~ Ray$ arp -a
tc2.bigpond (192.168.2.104) at 60:33:4b:2e:91:77 on en1 ifscope [ethernet]
andrew-gigabyte.bigpond (192.168.2.130) at 0:25:22:16:43:c7 on en1 ifscope [ethernet]
bigpond.bigpond (192.168.2.254) at 0:24:17:71:ad:6d on en1 ifscope [ethernet]
bigpond.bigpond (192.168.2.254) at 0:24:17:71:ad:6d on en0 ifscope [ethernet]
? (192.168.2.255) at ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff on en1 ifscope [ethernet]
I have the TC in bridge and it is picking up the domain from my router.. if your using the TC as the main router then you should have entries for gotbackup.local
You are running SL still?? Or lion?
I thought of simply restoring the computer's settings to what they were 4-5 days ago, via Time Machine.
The issue is network.. so restoring will not fix it.
But so is my overdue dentist appointment...really not looking forward to either!
My condolances to your dentist.
I think you need to dig a bit harder to get the cause.
Most importantly are you getting IP via dhcp from the TC?
Do you have ethernet and wireless connected at the same time?

Time Capsule backup fails with MobileMe synchronization

Update: this should have been posted to the Snow Leopard discussion area - was put here by accident. Posted as question to:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16560106#16560106
After working flawlessly for some time, my Time Capsule has stopped completing backups (automatic or manual) whenever MobileMe syncing is enabled - Time Machine finds the Time Capsulse, scans my files for updates and starts the upload, but then it always hangs partway through. I've tried giving it as much as a day to see if it will continue to conclusion but it does not. I have to re-start my system just to clear the hangup, and I've had to disable automatic Time Machine backups to stop the issue happening all the time.
Curiously though, if I go into System Preferences --> MobileMe --> Sync and disable "Synchronize with MobileMe", reboot my computer and then still ensure the MobileMe icon in the top menu bar isn't swirling, I can then initiate a manual backup which runs all the way to conclusion without problem. I can then re-enable synchronization with MobileMe until I wish to do another Time Machine backup.
(If I disable Synchronize with MobileMe, but fail to reboot my computer, Time Machine still hangs. Also, sometimes after disabling synchronization and rebooting, the MobileMe sync icon in the menu bar may start showing activity - if I start a manual backup during that, or if it happens during a manual backup, the backup hangs and fails.)
After many repeated failures, Time Machine prompted me about an error and recommended wiping all the backups from the Time Capsule and starting with a fresh backup. I did that, but it did not resolve the issue.
Has anyone else seen this behaviour? Does anyone have any recommendations on how one can fix this?
Thanks very much!

Not much experience with either TM or MM, but...
At this point I think you should get Applejack...
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/15667/applejack
After installing, reboot holding down CMD+s, (+s), then when the DOS like prompt shows, type in...
applejack AUTO
Then let it do all 6 of it's things.
At least it'll eliminate some questions if it doesn't fix it.
The 6 things it does are...
Correct any Disk problems.
Repair Permissions.
Clear out Cache Files.
Repair/check several plist files.
Dump the VM files for a fresh start.
Trash old Log files.
First reboot will be slower, sometimes 2 or 3 restarts will be required for full benefit... my guess is files relying upon other files relying upon other files! :-)
Disconnect the USB cable from any Uninterruptible Power Supply so the system doesn't shut down in the middle of the process.

Time Capsule backup failed, volume read-only, can't delete

I've only been using Time Machine and Time Capsule for 2 months. This week it stopped working. First error message:
"Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume."
Checking the Time Machine preferences, "Last backup" would read "backup failed"
When I got this error, all the wireless functions went offline, even thought the TC light was still green.
I would shut down, shut down the Time Capsule, shut off my modem reboot everything in order.
I would come back online, but after about 20 minutes to 1.5 hours into the next backup, same thing would happen again.
Next error message:
"Disk repair. The disk 'Backup of [my computer]' was not repairable by this computer. It is being made available to you with limited functionality. You must backup your data and reformat the drive."
Then: "Time Machine Error: The backup volume is read only. To select a different volume ... Time Machine preferences ... "
I spoke to someone at Apple, who sent me the Time Machine Troubleshooting page:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3275?viewlocale=en_US
Steps I went through:
1. updated my system software
2. updated the TC firmware to 7.4.1
3. dragged the sparsebundle to DiskUtility. It took a while (more than an hour?) but said the disk could not be repaired. When I tried again, the repair function wouldn't run.
4. tried to delete the sparsebundle, but it would choke at almost the end, sometimes it would just crash the finder, sometimes say "Sorry, an unexpected error occurred," sometimes "Operation cannot be completed because the item 'bands' is in use." I even tried to Stuff the bundle with 'delete original' checked, but the stuffing, after about 15 hours, jammed near the end (stuffed 20 gigs of 35 gigs).
5. tried to reselect the TC, and run backup anyways ... now it can't find the volume, back to the error messages and crashing Finder
6. checked password in Keychain, all ok.
Now what??
Do I use Airport Utility to erase it? At least TC is still showing up there. Or press the rest button on the back of the Time Capsule to reset to factory defaults?
I've resigned myself to losing my backups. Now I would just like to get it up and running again.
In hopes,
Linda

Now what??
Do I use Airport Utility to erase it? At least TC is still showing up there. Or press the rest button on the back of the Time Capsule to reset to factory defaults?
Yes, open Airport Utility and erase the drive. Once the sparsebundle is corrupted beyond repair there's little more you can do. However, do not reset the TC. Doing so will not erase the drive, but it will remove any custom configurations you may have setup for the router. Only if that part of the TC is also misbehaving should you use the reset button.

Time capsule backups failing - backup disk not available

All of a sudden I’m getting:
Time Machine could not complete the backup.
The backup disk is not available.
Time machine buddy’s log gives me:
Starting standard backup
Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://*.local/Data
NetAuthConnectToServerSync failed with error: 89 for url: afp://*.local/Data
Backup failed with error: 19
I’m connected to the Time Capsule right now (it’s how I connect to the web). I can see it in the shared list in Finder, although connection fails when trying to access it from Finder. What can I do?

Solution - I had the same thing happen to me with a Backup failed with error: 19 and what I did was this.
Stop any time machine backup in Time Machine preferences.
Go into Keychain Access in Utilities.
Go to search field and type "Local"
Delete any files that are of the kind "Time Machine Password". They should end in something like afpovertcp._tcp.local
Now turn on Time Machine back up in Preferences.
Click Select Disk and choose the volume.
You will be requested to enter the password and then it will take some time to establish the link and mount the backup volume. From there it will do a full back up.
Hope it works for you as well as it did for me.
Message was edited by: gfilev

Time Capsule Backup Fails on one Mac, fine on second Mac

Old MBP backs up fine to TC.
Newish MBA was working, now fails. All other network functions OK. Setup includes second APE (for AirTunes only), doesn't seem relevant/troublesome. Active users are administrators and are variously sharing in/out to other machines, screensharing enabled, B2MM enabled. Both machines running OSX10.5.5 & updated frequently, connected to same WLAN / same TC. Interrupts have occured (shutdowns, crashes, sleeps, and WLAN-switch to 2nd Windows WLAN to exploit W-printer). None of foregoing bothers MBP.
Attempted backup of MBA: TC menu icon displays what looks like letter "A" inside the rotating clock logo. Re-setup of TC via network settings doesn't resolve matters.
Clicking "backup now" results in long delay displaying "preparing" then failure message: Disk Repair / The disk "Backup of MBA was not repairable by this computer + a warning to backup asap & an instruction to re-format TC. Yet - no problem with MBP backup. MBA times out if I attempt to "enter time machine".
Examining Console Logs, I see immediately following MBA bak failure:
0811/30 11:54:19 AM kernel AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect: doing reconnect on /Volumes/Beluga-1
0811/30 11:54:19 AM kernel AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect: connect to the server /Volumes/Beluga-1
0811/30 11:54:19 AM kernel AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect: Logging in with uam 10 /Volumes/Beluga-1
0811/30 11:54:20 AM /usr/sbin/ocspd[481] starting
0811/30 11:54:25 AM kernel AFP_VFS afpfs_Reconnect: soft mounted and hidden volume so do not notify KEA for /Volumes/Beluga-1
0811/30 11:54:33 AM kernel AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect: Restoring session /Volumes/Beluga-1
0811/30 12:09:21 PM /usr/sbin/ocspd[527] starting
0811/30 12:13:31 PM ntpd[25] time reset +0.238612 s
0811/30 12:16:22 PM [0x0-0x11011].com.skype.skype[197] Main starting
0811/30 12:16:22 PM [0x0-0x11011].com.skype.skype[197] Starting the process...
0811/30 12:16:22 PM [0x0-0x11011].com.skype.skype[197] Starting the process...
0811/30 12:16:22 PM [0x0-0x11011].com.skype.skype[197] Starting the process...
0811/30 12:21:43 PM diskarbitrationd[42] unable to repair /dev/disk1s2 (status code 0x00000008).
0811/30 12:21:43 PM hdiejectd[548] running
0811/30 12:21:45 PM /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[231] Backup requested due to disk attach
0811/30 12:21:46 PM /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[231] Disk image /Volumes/Beluga-1/SVETAMAC_001f5bd2a062.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Backup of MBA
0811/30 12:21:46 PM /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[231] Backing up to: /Volumes/Backup of MBA/Backups.backupdb
0811/30 12:21:46 PM /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[231] The target volume is read-only.
0811/30 12:21:46 PM /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[231] Network volume mounted at: /Volumes/Beluga-1
0811/30 12:21:48 PM /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[231] Disk image /Volumes/Beluga-1/SVETAMAC_001f5bd2a062.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Backup of MBA
0811/30 12:21:56 PM /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[231] Backup failed with error: The target volume is read-only.
0811/30 12:21:56 PM /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[231] 33 days since last backup
0811/30 12:21:56 PM /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[231] Ejected Time Machine disk image.
0811/30 12:21:56 PM kernel AFP_VFS afpfs_unmount: /Volumes/Beluga-1, flags 0, pid 563
0811/30 12:21:56 PM /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[231] Ejected Time Machine network volume.
I find the above daunting, but can see that (1) it doesn't look much like the messages the MBP generates during successful bak, and (2) the target TC "beluga" seems to have been suffixed "-1" by the MBA and (3) seems to have declared itself read-only.
Now what?
Thanks,
SchoonerTMM

I am having a similar problem. I have my 'old' MacBook backed up on my time machine, since long, and it still backs up on a regular basis.
Every back I try for my 'new' MacBook fails.
I wonder if I need to change something in the set up of the time machine, to have two computers backed up on it?
Anyone can offer me some help?
Thanks

Time Capsule: backup failed old backups lost

I'm having serious problems with my Time Capsule.
It is the newest Time Capsule 2TB connected to my new iMac and new installed MacOSLion.
This update already gives me problems with Wi-fi and now my Time Capsule is not working properly either.
I just left my iMac on for 3 days so it could make a backup.. after two days back-uping very slowly the message : back-up delayed appears, followed by the message : back-up failed. Al my previous back-ups made with my Time-Capsule are completly gone and I cannot back-up anything.
Had the problem several times, turning the TC on and of, reset it, reset Airport settings etc does NOT help. I'm having this problem for 2 months now.
Called Apple-Support about my Wi-fi problems, but 1,5 hour later and €30 poor they did not solve my problem. So, I lost faith in the Apple Support.
Any other suggestions for recovering previous back-ups and solving my constant and slow back-up failure problem?
Thanks in advance!

What does this mean
It means Time Machine is confused, and does not know what it is doing.
how do I fix it?
Try power off the Time Capsule
Count to ten
Then power the Time Capsule back on
Wait a few minutes and try a backup

Time capsule backup fail

I have a brand new 4th generation time capsule which just doe not successfully backup. I tried auto-setup and then did not find India in the country of use list. So then I had to reset and do a manual setting after successful setup my time machine floating info window shows the progress of backup but somehow stops for no reason. Can anyone please help....

DecibelCraft.com wrote:
Thanks for your response Pondini. Well, I think I was a bit unclear. My backup does not hangup it is being "interrupted" And I get a message that reads, "The problem may be temporary. Try again later to back up. If the problem persists, use Disk Utility to repair your backup disk."
There should be more to that message. As posted, see #C2 inTime Machine - Troubleshooting. It will show you how to locate the message(s) that describe the problem, then help you fix it. If that doesn't help, post back with details, including all the messages, your setup, what you've done, and the results.
And unfortunately TC does NOT appear in Disk Utility to repair it.
That's correct, as far as it goes. Depending on what you find in #C2, it will lead you to #A5 in the same articlce, which shows how to use Disk Utility to repair your backups.

Time capsule backups fail because disks aren't recognised - how to fix?

Hi, all... I have a 500GB TC with a 2TB Western Digital drive attached, which I use for backing up three computers. My desktop iMac is connected to the TC by Ethernet cable, my laptop and my wife's laptop connect over wifi. The desktop and my wife's laptop back up to the WD drive. My laptop backs up to the TC internal drive.
Every few days (max, min is something like 1 day), I notice that the backups are all failing at the "Looking for backup disk" stage. That's both the iMac connected by Ethernet and the laptops on WiFi. The WiFi _signal_ is fine -- my laptops can see the network, browse to other destinations, download files at a good speed. The TC has a green light, and Airport Utility doesn't detect any issues.
But although the TC appears in the Finder Sidebar, it shows no disks. If I try to "Connect As" nothing happens.
I can resolve the issue by pulling the plug on the TC and re-powering it, and then doing the same with the WD disk. If I do that, both disks appear in the finder (with no need to "connect" to them) and backups proceed normally.
Backups can go on normally for anywhere between 8 hours and four days, but then I have to repeat the whole rigmarole to get them started again.
I'm beginning to suspect something to do with two backup processes over Ethernet and Wifi to two different backup disks "colliding" somehow and locking out the disks. I say this, because if I'm away for a week with my laptop, and my laptop does no backups to the TC in that week, then when I get back, the iMac is still backing up fine, even though five days is a long time compared to how often it seems to fail when all three machines are at home and backing up.
I don't want to have to keep pulling the plug, so does anyone have any ideas?
Many thanks!
bestest,
M.

Still not resolved this. However, I'm now absolutely SURE that it's something to do with colliding back-ups locking the TC up somehow.
I was at home for 3 weeks over Christmas, without using my work laptop. All through that time, the iMac continued backing up to the WD with no problems. Since then, though, I've been using my work laptop at home all day for a couple of weeks, and pretty much every afternoon, mid afternoon, the iMac alerts me that the backups could not be completed because the backup could not be found.
The TC shows up in the Finder sidebar still, and if I run Airport Utility I can access it and administer it. Once again, if you click on the TC in the Sidebar, it just says "Connecting" and shows no disks. However (and this is a new discovery), if I use the Airport Utility to "Disconnect All Users" from both the TCs internal disk and the WD external disk, the TC disk reappears in the Finder. The WD disk can only be made to reappear by power cycling it. But once that's done, backup can begin again as normal.
I therefore don't have to power cycle the TC to get the disks back.
So, it seems that something is happening that means that when two "users" are connected to the disks, having attepted a backup, they are locked, and can't be connected to.
Throughout all this, though, the laptop has continued to back-up normally to the TC internal drive, so IT can still see and connect to that drive. It's just the iMac that is somehow locked out of the TC and its external WD backup drive.
I do wish somebody would fix this!!!!
bestest,
M.

Trouble with initial Time Capsule backup

I have just installed Time Capsule, and attempted the initial backup. The initial backup always fails with the error message "disk image cannot be created". After this failure, the "Airport Utility" will not recognise the Time Capsule, although the Time Capsule continues with a green light and the internet connection still works through Time Capsule. I have to reset Time Capsule for "Airport Utility" to recognise it again each time the backup fails with the error message above. Any ideas on how to correct the error and do the intial backup?
Thanks

-New to Mac-
I switched this year after using WIN for years.
I cannot get my Time Capsule to work. I tried everything in the 'forums', re-booted several times, changed the name of the Capsule, re-set, unplugged, used paper clips etc. I thought MAC's just 'worked' too. Not so far. I'm confident I will get it working even if I have to call Apple but I thought I'd read the fixes here first.
I can see the drive in the finder. I have moved iTunes files over to the Time Cap so it's saving other files but I keep getting a 'unable to mount' message when I try to do a backup. Even deleted the 'sparse' bundle file (can't delete one of the files, 'bands' in use message) but still no worky.
Still convinced Mac is a better system. Just put off on not being able to backup my MacBookPro...Not to mention the 300 bucks for the Time Capsule...

HT4522 Time Capsule backups gone.

For reasons unknown, all of my Time Capsul backups (through Time Machine) prior to a certain date have disappeared. It may have been when I updated software in November. Suggestions as to how I can get those files back? They are not in Trash.

Unfortunately they may not be recoverable.. TM is not a long history recovery software.. and large changes can make it delete old backups.. Any file deleted on the computer will be deleted in the TM backup eventually.
See Q14-17 in pondini for various methods to try and recover files from TM.
http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html

First time capsule backup never stops and shows insane progress numbers

We've bought a 1TB time capsule and are trying to get the first backup done.
It's backed up a lot of the first Mac (a MacBook Pro with a 200GB drive with about 170GB used).
Because we did it over the wireless LAN this took a long time, and it went away more than once, requiring a backup restart. (By "went away", the MacBook lost connectivity to the time capsule a few times, requiring a Mac reboot to fix, and our AirPort actually crashed once.)
After a few iterations it gets to apparently being nearly done. However, it now never completes. It says (after a very long indexing period) "backing up 128MB of 128MB" and both those numbers slowly count upward. Forever. We've done tens of GB in this way - there's no indication of what really remains to be backed up or what is actually being backed up, such a log window of filenames.
We are at an utter loss as to what is wrong or whether we're close to success at all.

Hi, and welcome to the forums.
It sounds like your main problem is a bad WIFI connection. Time Machine should be able to recover from a failed or interrupted backup, but it can take a long time, even if your WIFI is working well, as it may have to spend a lot of time figuring out where it was.
I'd suggest cancelling the backup and connecting your Mac to the TC via an Ethernet cable until you can get the first backup completed. It's much faster, even when your WIFI is working well.
Once that's done, you can try to improve the wireless connection, and address the other problem.
The ever-increasing size is likely a result of other changes being made to your Mac during the backup. After the first "pass," TM checks for this, and will do a second pass. Normally, of course, this is very small and quick, but some things can cause what you're seeing. Unfortunately, it's difficult to diagnose until you get that first backup completed -- if it continues to happen on subsequent backups, you can see just what's being backed-up. See #9 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum, for some common apps that can cause this, and a way to determine just what it is.

Time Machine issues (16030) sparsebundle" is already in use for Time Capsule backup

Time Machine issues (16030) sparsebundle” is already in use for Time Capsule backup process. Just started happeing been using it for over two years.

First, restart the computer and the Time Capsule. In most of the cases, this solve the problem.
If it doesn't work, see > http://pondini.org/TM/C12.html

First Time Capsule HD fail, after exchange, 2nd TC Wifi Failed.

I'm very upset with Apple that such a product with obvious defects would be released to the market. I purchased a TC 500GB last Thursday, setup it up on Friday morning, after 1 hour of use, I plugged in a NTFS HD drive. Obvious, the TC was not compatible with this, so I unplugged it and rebooted the TC. After that, the internal 500 GB drive was no recognized and nothing I did could restore it. I tried restoring factory settings, and power cycling it. Nothing worked. So I returned the unit and exchanged for another one.
The second time around, I was able to get everything set up that way I wanted. All ethernet ports were connected, a USB hub was use to connect to a canon printer and external HD drive. I transferred about 250 GB of windows data to my external HD overnight and use Time machine to back up my mac book pro. The next day, I ran a virus scanner on my external HD from windows vista. After a few minutes, my network went down completely and I had to reboot TC, but this time, I can't get any wireless device to connect to TC. Wired connection worked, but Wireless became useless. I tried everything I could think of to get it to work. I rebooted, check for updated software and firmware from a wire connection, restore factory settings, enable/disable wireless security and I still couldn't get my Macbook Pro to connect.
After much frustration, it became obvious that Wifi is broken. So within 4 days after purchase, I had 2 Time Capsule 500GB fail on me. The first one had a Hard drive failure and the second one had a Wifi failure. I'm an IT admin guy so I have a good idea if the problem is software or hardware, and it is very clear to me the TC has hardware issues.
In the end I returned my TC today to the apple store for a refund. I'm going to wait another month to buy the TC again. It is really a great product with great features for the price, but the initial production of TC is flawed. Please correct this Apple ASAP.

There is a bug in Lion and made worse rather than fixed in Mountain Lion that causes the disk in the TC to disappear.. exactly what you found.. worse by wireless than ethernet.
Apple have not yet acknowledged there even is an issue.
I don't even have a work around.. it simply doesn't happen on Snow Leopard.. which is rock solid network wise.
A few things I can suggest.. clean install much better than upgrade install of the OS.. certainly problems on laptop wireless can be partly attributed to upgrade install.. if that is what you did.
I would reset the TC full factory settings.
Use all SMB compatible names.. short, no spaces, pure alphanumeric.
That is for TC name.. wireless names.. put a different name for 5ghz.. and hard disk name.. which should be data but has sometimes default to Time Capsule.
Lock the radio channels. So use manual settings and try 1, 6 or 11. And using different name for 5ghz you can set the laptop to prefer 5ghz if it is in range.
Use WPA2 personal security only.
Use very short lease time for DHCP.. 20min is good value and will cause almost no extra network traffic but should keep things updated. You can also use dhcp reservation to keep everyything using the same IP.

Ow can I use my time capsule as a time machine backup without using it wirelessly and not as a wireless router?

How can I use my time capsule as a time machine backup without using it wirelessly and not as a wireless router?

bzb888 wrote:
I have a wireless transmitter already, would like to use the capsule just as a back up drive, I tried hooking up from the ethernet port on the imac to the one of the ports on the capsule but then my Wifi would not work. do I hook the cable to the port with the circle or the arrows?
It is better to have the TC as part of the main network in bridge. You do not need to run wireless.
If you want to use the TC plugged in by ethernet and still use wireless for internet, that is possible but the setup is rather more complicated.. the computer must not get confused about which device to use as a gateway or dns server.
See info in this thread on setting this up.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4817218?tstart=30
I need to add.. a USB drive would be cheaper, faster and more reliable. It is really poor use of a TC.

First Time Capsule Backup Failed - Time Machine Error

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