HT201250 My time machine keeps failing to backup due to space not available.

I have a 500 gb external that I use for backups, but for some reason there is only 208gb available for backup. When I open up my time machine, I have deleted all of my old backups. For some reason, I can not get at the other available space. Everytime I open up time machine, there is nothing there now. I don't know how to access the other space. Where did the other space go & how do I get it back?
I did recently take this machine in to have a new hard drive installed & they used the time machine to back up all of my files. Now I don't know how to access that other space. Any thoughts?

I'm not certain that I fully understand you situation.
I surmise that you have deleted all of the files from the external HDD that you use for Time Machine. If that is the case, I would I would erase and reformat the Time Machine Disk in Disk Utility and reinstall it as your Time Machine disk.
Ciao.

Similar Messages

I recently upgraded to Mavericks and the time machine is failing to backup. Time Machine began only backing up twice a day and now has stopped.

I recently upgraded to Mavericks and the time machine is failing to backup. Time Machine began only backing up twice a day and now has stopped.

This is the error message I got:
2014-03-18 17:02:30 -0400 com.apple.backupd[4971]: Error: (22) setxattr for key:com.apple.backupd.HostUUID path:/Volumes/TOSHIBA EXT/Backups.backupdb/Quincy‚Äö√Ñ√¥s iMac size:37
2014-03-18 17:02:30 -0400 com.apple.backupd[4971]: Backup failed with error 2: 2

Time Machine deleted my first backup to make space for a new one, is there anyway to recover it?!?!

So I had all my stuff backed up to December 23 on an external hard drive with Time Machine, then I deleted it all so that the next automatic backup didn't have any of these older files. Today Time Machine deleted my original backup to make space for a new one and so I lost Decemer 23, now I am screwed..HELP?? I accidently let it delete or something, I don't really know, I know this was just a series of mistakes and now I'm desparate ):

Have a look at this article http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427 and section "backup drive fills up".
It's a normal behavior that Time Machine is deleting oldest backups when drive is filling up.

My time machine keeps saying the backup disk cannot be mounted. how do I fix it?

my time machine keeps saying that the backup disk cannot be mounted. we cannot figure out why this is happening. We have a 500GB time capsule /wireless router and using a Macbook . any ideas?

Try deleting your iPod Photo Cache folder. See:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1314

Time Machine keeps re-creating backups

I'm having an issue with Time Machine on SL and wondered if theres a solution?
I'm running SL and use Time Machine to back up to a Western Digital NAS. All seems good and the backups seems to be fine, however every couple of days I get a message from time machine saying:
Time Machine completed a verification of
your backups. To improve reliability, Time
Machine must create a new backup for you.
Click "Start New Backup" to create a new backup. This will
remove your existing backup history. This could take
several hours.
Click "Back Up Later" to be reminded tomorrow. Time
Machine won't perform backups during this time.
I've checked the Apple support pages and it just says that this is an identified issue, but doesn't give a solution..
Has anyone else got any suggestions how to stop this? Obviously if I say 'Backup later', I don't get any more backups? As i'm am writing this, Time Machine is deleting a 310Gb backup file which is perfectly good, only to re-create it again and render me without a backup until the new one is created..

According to this Web page, what you're doing "may work as a destination for Time Machine backups, but it’s not recommended."

Time Machine keeps failing even with new HD

I recently bought an external HD (Western Digital 1T) that I have been using to keep some files on and back up my Macbook Pro 15" (2010 model). Suddenly it recieved an error message stating that the back up failed. So I restarted my computer and tried it again and this time I the back up would fail because the computer would suddenly eject the HD. Whatever the problem was it rendered my external HD useless and completely unreadable. So I chalked it up to faulty software on the external. I just bough a new one (same as the previous) and on my first backup it go the same message. Now I know that I have a corrupted file if not many of them that are causing this to happen. I have no idea how to fix this problem and have already spent more then enough money on new HD's.
I copied my log below if this helps anyone. Please help me figure out what I need to fix.
Jun 14 07:54:28 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Starting standard backup
Jun 14 07:54:28 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Backing up to: /Volumes/My Passport 1T/Backups.backupdb
Jun 14 07:54:28 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Ownership is disabled on the backup destination volume. Enabling.
Jun 14 07:54:41 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Backup content size: 167.7 GB excluded items size: 38.0 GB for volume Macintosh HD
Jun 14 07:54:41 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 155.67 GB requested (including padding), 930.54 GB available
Jun 14 07:54:41 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Waiting for index to be ready (101)
Jun 14 07:54:41 MacBook-Pro-15 mds[32]: (Normal) DiskStore: Creating index for /Volumes/My Passport 1T/Backups.backupdb
Jun 14 08:54:30 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Copied 20.8 GB of 129.7 GB, 175897 of 958977 items
Jun 14 09:54:30 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Copied 96.7 GB of 129.7 GB, 243746 of 958977 items
Jun 14 10:12:29 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Device not configured
Jun 14 10:12:29 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Error: (-36) SrcErr:NO Copying /Users/johnhanna 1/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Masters/2010/006/DSC_0344.JPG to /Volumes/My Passport 1T/Backups.backupdb/MacBook Pro 15"/2011-06-14-075429.inProgress/16876F77-9EFE-4B94-A8E1-744321E42707/Macintosh HD/Users/johnhanna 1/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Masters/2010/006
Jun 14 10:12:29 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Stopping backup.
Jun 14 10:12:29 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Device not configured
Jun 14 10:12:29 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Error: (-8062) SrcErr:NO Copying /Users/johnhanna 1/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Masters/2010/006/DSC_0344.JPG to /Volumes/My Passport 1T/Backups.backupdb/MacBook Pro 15"/2011-06-14-075429.inProgress/16876F77-9EFE-4B94-A8E1-744321E42707/Macintosh HD/Users/johnhanna 1/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Masters/2010/006
Jun 14 10:12:30 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Stopping backupd because the backup volume was ejected!
Jun 14 10:12:30 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Input/output error
Jun 14 10:12:30 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Copied 244464 files (115.1 GB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Jun 14 10:12:30 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Input/output error
Jun 14 10:12:30 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Copy stage failed with error:11
Jun 14 10:12:30 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Input/output error
Jun 14 10:12:32 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Backup failed with error: 27
Jun 14 10:14:23 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Starting standard backup
Jun 14 10:14:23 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Backing up to: /Volumes/My Passport 1T/Backups.backupdb
Jun 14 10:14:24 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 22.03 GB requested (including padding), 814.27 GB available
Jun 14 10:16:45 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Copied 53 files (16.5 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Jun 14 10:16:45 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Backup canceled.
Jun 14 10:16:45 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Starting standard backup
Jun 14 10:16:45 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Backing up to: /Volumes/My Passport 1T/Backups.backupdb
Jun 14 10:16:45 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 22.03 GB requested (including padding), 814.26 GB available
Jun 14 10:18:09 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Error: (-36) SrcErr:NO Copying /Users/johnhanna 1/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Masters/2009/NYE in NYC/MVI_0303.MOV to /Volumes/My Passport 1T/Backups.backupdb/MacBook Pro 15"/2011-06-14-075429.inProgress/B984DF39-452A-4E56-833C-64BB020972DD/Macintosh HD/Users/johnhanna 1/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Masters/2009/NYE in NYC
Jun 14 10:18:09 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Stopping backupd because the backup volume was ejected!
Jun 14 10:18:09 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Stopping backup.
Jun 14 10:18:09 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Input/output error
Jun 14 10:18:09 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Error: (-8062) SrcErr:NO Copying /Users/johnhanna 1/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Masters/2009/NYE in NYC/MVI_0303.MOV to /Volumes/My Passport 1T/Backups.backupdb/MacBook Pro 15"/2011-06-14-075429.inProgress/B984DF39-452A-4E56-833C-64BB020972DD/Macintosh HD/Users/johnhanna 1/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Masters/2009/NYE in NYC
Jun 14 10:18:09 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Input/output error
Jun 14 10:18:09 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Copied 53 files (479.6 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Jun 14 10:18:09 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Input/output error
Jun 14 10:18:09 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Copy stage failed with error:11
Jun 14 10:18:09 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Input/output error
Jun 14 10:18:10 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Backup failed with error: 27
Jun 14 10:26:12 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[279]: Starting standard backup
Jun 14 10:26:13 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[279]: Backing up to: /Volumes/My Passport 1T/Backups.backupdb
Jun 14 10:26:13 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[279]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 22.03 GB requested (including padding), 814.02 GB available
Jun 14 10:28:46 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[279]: Error: (-36) SrcErr:NO Copying /Users/johnhanna 1/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Movies/anatomy abdomen 3 (12)/anatomy abdomen 3 (12).MP4 to /Volumes/My Passport 1T/Backups.backupdb/MacBook Pro 15"/2011-06-14-075429.inProgress/51B49CDB-44AE-48D4-BC40-BD52DDFB39C2/Macintosh HD/Users/johnhanna 1/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Movies/anatomy abdomen 3 (12)
Jun 14 10:28:46 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[279]: Stopping backupd because the backup volume was ejected!
Jun 14 10:28:47 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[279]: Stopping backup.
Jun 14 10:28:47 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[279]: Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Input/output error
Jun 14 10:28:47 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[279]: Error: (-8062) SrcErr:NO Copying /Users/johnhanna 1/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Movies/anatomy abdomen 3 (12)/anatomy abdomen 3 (12).MP4 to /Volumes/My Passport 1T/Backups.backupdb/MacBook Pro 15"/2011-06-14-075429.inProgress/51B49CDB-44AE-48D4-BC40-BD52DDFB39C2/Macintosh HD/Users/johnhanna 1/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Movies/anatomy abdomen 3 (12)
Jun 14 10:28:47 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[279]: Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Input/output error
Jun 14 10:28:47 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[279]: Copied 2044 files (1.8 GB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Jun 14 10:28:47 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[279]: Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Input/output error
Jun 14 10:28:47 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[279]: Copy stage failed with error:11
Jun 14 10:28:47 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[279]: Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Input/output error
Jun 14 10:28:47 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[279]: Backup failed with error: 27

pope123 wrote:
Jun 14 10:12:29 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Error: (-36) SrcErr:NO Copying /Users/johnhanna 1/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Masters/2010/006/DSC_0344.JPG
Jun 14 10:12:30 MacBook-Pro-15 com.apple.backupd[337]: Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Input/output error
Time Machine is having trouble with some files on your internal HD, but also writing to the (hidden) log file it keeps on the external HD.
That looks like a problem with the external HD, or the connection to it.
First, be sure it's formatted properly; see #C1 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
If that doesn't help, see #C3 there. Start by excluding the files(s) in the messages; if that doesn't help, see the pink box there.

Time machine keeps duplicating my backup

I tried searching the forum for this topic but didn't have any luck...
I've got my time machine backing up to a 1TB hard drive connected to my airport extreme. This seems to work just fine, but every couple days time machine will start entirely backing up my system again adding a "1" in front of the backup file. I'm not sure why it keeps doing this, as there is already a backup file on the hard drive, not to mention it re-backs up over 150 gb of stuff again, which takes forever and is using unnecessary space on my external drive. Anyone know why time machine is doing this, and more importantly how do I get it to stop?

Stereo..Sympathy wrote:
I tried searching the forum for this topic but didn't have any luck...
I've got my time machine backing up to a 1TB hard drive connected to my airport extreme.
You need to know, that's "iffy" and +*not supported by Apple+* See Using Time Machine with a USB drive connected to an Airport Extreme *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.
This seems to work just fine, but every couple days time machine will start entirely backing up my system again adding a "1" in front of the backup file. I'm not sure why it keeps doing this, as there is already a backup file on the hard drive, not to mention it re-backs up over 150 gb of stuff again, which takes forever and is using unnecessary space on my external drive. Anyone know why time machine is doing this, and more importantly how do I get it to stop?
Usually the problem with backing-up via an Airport is, the sparse bundle will occasionally be corrupted, often beyond repair. You may be having a similar problem, or it may be something else.
A clue may be lurking in your logs. Click here to 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. Navigate to one of the backups where it made a new sparse bundle, then copy and post all the messages for that run here.

Time machine keep last N backups

is there a way to configure time machine to only keep the last, lets say, 5 backups instead of every backup ever done?

zeroelink wrote:
is there a way to configure time machine to only keep the last, lets say, 5 backups instead of every backup ever done?
TM does not keep every backup ever done.
Your very first backup, and the first of that same day of every week, is kept as long as there's room on your TM disk/partition.
The first backup of all other days is kept for a month.
All other backups are kept for 24 hours.
If you want to limit the amount of space TM uses, you can partition the drive, so TM has it's own, exclusive space. See items 3 and 6 of the Frequently Asked Questions post at the top of this forum.

Time Machine keeps failing

Hello,
This is the most annoying problem I've run into in a while. Somewhat discouragingly, I've found a couple of other posts of similar problems — and none have answers. But let's try it.
Previously, I had the following setup, and it was working reliably: My iMac is my main system. I had a 2TB WD FW800 drive attached, using an adapter out of my T'bolt port. The iMac is cable-connected to my router (sadly an AT&T router, but that's another issue entirely). My Mini is used mostly as a media center, and it is also cable-connected to the router. The drive was partitioned into two partitions, both shared on my home LAN. I used one of the partitions as my Time Machine volume, and the other as utility storage. Both computers used that volume for TM; the iMac used a Backups.backupdb folder, the mini used a .sparsebundle. As I said, it was operating reliably.
Then I knocked the WD drive off my shelf. It no longer powered up. I decided to just replace it. I purchased a G-Drive 2TB (FW800), connected it, and attempted to configure it as I had the WD, i.e., with two partitions, and use the larger for TM. What seems to be happening is that after some fooling around that I feel I oughtn't need to do, I'll get one apparently-successful full backup on the iMac. Then when a subsequent backup is attempted (either waiting for one to start by itself, or invoking "Back Up Now"), it fails with one of those generic "Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while creating the backup folder".
The mini has similar issues. Often (not always) the backup fails with "the network backup disk doesn't support the required AFP features". When I check the permissions of the external drive, the owner has been changed from "me" and "staff" (or maybe "admin") to "system" and "wheel" (never understood that one). If I add myself and admin to the permission, give them r/w privileges, I'll get one apparently-successful full backup, as with the iMac. Then, when invoking "Back Up Now" from the TM menu, it fails. (Actually now, I'm not getting a failure message, but nothing seems to be happening; the "latest backup" is still the original. It goes thru "Preparing backup..." but never copies anything.)
I have tried reformatting and repartitioning the drive (GUID), I've tried using only one partition, I've reinstalled the 10.9.4 combo updater (on both computers). I also note that if I select the current TM Backup and click "Remove Disk", it doesn't reappear in the list below (ought it?), so I've tried using the other partition for my TM volume, I've tried new volume names. Sometimes after various flailing about TM will ask me for logon credentials, sometime not. Sometimes reformatting is a challenge, it won't let me unmount the disk unless I turn off file sharing — again, something I didn't used to have to do, I believe, and even then that doesn't always allow me to dismount it.
I have the feeling that by now everything is really screwed up. How might I totally reset Time Machine, as if I had never ever used it at all (and sharing, for that matter)? Is it even possible? Looking at another approach, is "Archive and Install" of OSX still an option is these disk-free days? Is there something I can do or examine regarding the drive? Disk First Aid finds nothing (although it did find problems at one point, then, feeling hopeful, I reformatted and started over, but the problems still recurred).
I just tried reformatting and starting again, but I didn't see anyplace where I might do anything different. The mini gave me the "AFP Features" error as above; I added myself and administrator to the permissions list and gave them r/w privileges, after which I got the "your backup disk has changed identity, do you still want to use it" message. I clicked "Use Disk", and it seems to be proceeding. Both systems are now going thru a first backup. Problem is it'll be hours before I get any results. The iMac is going thru an apparently-normal first backup.
Any advice would be helpful. I can't even figure out how I might present this to the Genius Bar or a One-on-One session.
Jeff

OK, a little bit more...
If, on the mini, in TM prefs, I click Select Disk... my TM volume appears twice, once at the tom, the current disk, and once in the list below. However, when you hover the pointer over each of these entries, it shows the URL; the "current" disk displays afp://Andomeda._afpovertcp_._tcp.local/Aphrodite but the one in the "choose me" list displays afp://Andomeda.local/Aphrodite . Now, if I Remove the current disk (the afpovertcp volume), and Use the other one, the one that then shows at the top, the current one, is again afp://Andomeda._afpovertcp_._tcp.local/Aphrodite .
So now I'm completely confused.

Time machine keeps performing full backup to my new time capsule

After years of perfect time machine function to a local usb drive, I bought a time capsule and reconfigured time machine to backup there for my wife's macbook air and my macbook pro.
The macbook air time machine is running perfectly. However after a week or so the time machine on my macbook pro has repeatedly performed a full backup and lost all the backup history. I clearly cannot keep on like this and find it very worrying that this piece of technology, even if it loses connection for some reason, is not robust enough to recover the incremental backup?
Is this a weakness of time machine design? or is there something obvious I need to check?

try if this user tip helps.

Time Machine keeps failing during a full system restore.

I have an iMac from 2009 for some reason my HDD's got corrupted so my Mac wasnt able to boot from the HDD, though it was being recognized. I read online the way to fix this was to reformat the HDD so I did that using the Disk Utility under the recovery disc.
Made sense to me, until I started to try to use Time Machine and restore my backed up files. I'm using the snow leopard recovery disk and choosing restore under the utilities. My external HDD comes up fine. I select the date of my last backup and the destination of where I want to download it. The restore then starts. The restore gets to around 30% (aka the point that the OS finishes installing) and says it's completed installing the OS and would like to restart, problem is I'd like it to finish the backup completely not just the OS. When it trys to restart the screen goes grey and the whole thing fails. I'm trying it again now and will have a log of what went wrong soon. After it fails I actually have a working Mac, I can log into it and all our User Accounts are there but once we log in it's missing so many applications and everything else. Worst case scenario I'll just reinstall everything using time machine actually in the OS, but I'd like to just do a full restore. Any ideas how to fix this?

I have an iMac from 2009 for some reason my HDD's got corrupted so my Mac wasnt able to boot from the HDD, though it was being recognized. I read online the way to fix this was to reformat the HDD so I did that using the Disk Utility under the recovery disc.
Made sense to me, until I started to try to use Time Machine and restore my backed up files. I'm using the snow leopard recovery disk and choosing restore under the utilities. My external HDD comes up fine. I select the date of my last backup and the destination of where I want to download it. The restore then starts. The restore gets to around 30% (aka the point that the OS finishes installing) and says it's completed installing the OS and would like to restart, problem is I'd like it to finish the backup completely not just the OS. When it trys to restart the screen goes grey and the whole thing fails. I'm trying it again now and will have a log of what went wrong soon. After it fails I actually have a working Mac, I can log into it and all our User Accounts are there but once we log in it's missing so many applications and everything else. Worst case scenario I'll just reinstall everything using time machine actually in the OS, but I'd like to just do a full restore. Any ideas how to fix this?

Time machine keeps trying to backup

I recently installed Yosemite on my Macbook Pro. I have Time Machine set to off, because it keeps trying to do backups, even though it's turned off.
I removed Time Machine Editor because I kept getting a conflict notification. But now I keep getting notifications that say, "Time Machine couldn't back up to Seagate Backup Plus Drive".
Is this a Yosemite problem? I haven't had this happen before.

These instructions must be carried out as an administrator. If you have only one user account, you are the administrator.
Launch the Console 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 Console in the icon grid.
The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select
SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages
from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar at the top of the screen.
In the top right corner of the Console window, there's a search box labeled Filter. Initially the words "String Matching" are shown in that box. Enter the word "Starting" (without the quotes.) You should now see log messages with the words "Starting * backup," where * represents any of the words "automatic," "manual," or "standard."
Each message in the log begins with the date and time when it was entered. Note the timestamp of the last "Starting" message that corresponds to the beginning of an an abnormal backup. Now
CLEAR THE WORD "Starting" FROM THE TEXT FIELD
so that all messages are showing, and scroll back in the log to the time you noted. Select the messages timestamped from then until the end of the backup, or the end of the log if that's not clear. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.
☞ If all you see are messages that contain the word "Starting," you didn't clear the text field.
☞ The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of which is irrelevant to solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.
☞ Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

Time Machine keeps deleting the backup

I was having stability issues with Safari after updating to 6.0.2, so it looked like the only remedy was going back to 6.0.1. Following the complete system restore using recovery mode Time Machine has continued to delete the backup on a daily basis and then start again from scratch, so last night I took the step of completely formatting the drive and starting fresh but I've just looked and yet again Time Machine has just deleted the existing backup to start from the beginning. Does anybody know how to fix this? I'm running 10.8.2.
Thanks
Ashley

If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator.
Launch the Console 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 Console in the icon grid.
Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left.
Enter the word "Starting" (without the quotes) in the String Matching text field. You should now see log messages with the words "Starting * backup," where * represents any of the words "automatic," "manual," or "standard." Note the timestamp of the last such message. Clear the text field and scroll back in the log to that time. Post the messages timestamped from then until the end of the backup, or the end of the log if that's not clear.
Post the log text, please, not a screenshot. If there are runs of repeated messages, post only one example of each. Don't post many repetitions of the same message.
When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into a message.
Some personal information, such as the names of your files, may be included — edit that out, too, but don’t remove the context.

TIme Machine keeps saying "The backup disk image "/Volumes/Phillip Haines's Time Capsu/Phillip Haines iMac.sparsebundle" is already in use."

How do I get the time machine to work again. It's been dong this for 3 days, over and over again.

This is stock standard issue.. report 5-10 times a day here.
Solution is good old.. "Did you turn it off and on again??"
Unplug the TC.. count to 10.. plug the TC power back in again.
This fixes 98% of problems.. and shows the advancement in Mac OS and Apple firmware.. to be just like that other OS we love to hate.
If you cannot get satisfaction.. reboot the whole network.. never a bad idea.. Everything off and start in correct order. Modem.. wait 2min.. TC.. wait 2min.. Clients.
Tell us if you still have issues or read the master wizard of all things TM/TC
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
C12

I'm having trouble backing up my second macbook to a new time capsule. continue to get an error message -- "Time Machine Error. The backup disk image could not be created." Is there something I need to change in my time capsule or time machine?

I just set up a new time capsule. it worked fine on my first macbook. But now I cannot backup my second macbook. Getting "Time Machine Error" "The backup disk image could not be created." Do I need to change settings on my time capsule to allow the second computer, or do I need to change something on the computer to allow time machine to work right?

Try #C9 in Pondini's Time Machine Troublshooting
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

HT201250 My time machine keeps failing to backup due to space not available.

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