HT201250 Time Machine trouble

I'm having trouble with time machine backups on lion. I set up one of my external drives as my backup in snow leopard weeks ago, it was working fine, now in lion it shows in the preferences that the external I was using for tm is on the exclude from backups list and my backup is not on my computer, as a matter of fact when I look in the backups folder the only backup TM is today's. Does anyone know what the problem is?

photokit wrote:
Thanks Pondini, Its all very confusing. My imac drive has about 1TB of data, my time machine drive BFBUD is a 2tb external, and the other items on that drive add up to 1.7tb
That means there's only 300 GB available for backups? No wonder there isn't room to back up your 1 TB internal HD!
Time Machine needs considerably more space than the data it's backing-up, to be able to keep a reasonable "depth" of backups for you. See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #1.
And, it's not a good idea to keep other data in the same partition as your backups. See #3 in the FAQ.
I'm trying to exclude some of the 1.83TB from the time machine bu drive from backup...
The Time Machine drive is already excluded (automatically).
One more issue, I connected my Iomega TM backup drive from my other computer to move some files and I think time machine thought it was looking at the backup drive. I cannot select either BFBUD (big friggin back up drive) or Documents drive from the exclusion list.
Again, it's already on the exclusion list. And since it's listed in gray, that means it's not formatted for a Mac and Time Machine cannot back it up, so you can't remove it.
Sounds like you need a 2 TB drive to dedicate to your backups.

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HT201250 time machine keeps shutting off

My time machine keeps shutting down.

Shutting off is a problem..
Certainly check the cord.. pull it out of the TC and inspect the pins in the TC and the contacts inside the cord end.. unplug it for safety .. you are looking for burn marks where the contact hasn't been good. If all is good I really doubt cords are a major issue.. Apple supply good quality ones and other than a pet chewing on it or the cord being bent and handled a lot, which is unlikely with a TC.. it should be fine.
The A1409 is gen 4 and you have an early model which is great.
You need to use the v5 utility so you can see the logs. I am not sure what OS you run, but if you are on Lion download the utility.
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1482
If you are on ML tell us and I can give instructions to install it.. it will not install simply due to the out of date installer.. not incompatibility.
Once you can access the logs you can see a bit more detail of what is happening and track it .. if it keeps dying see if it has popped up temperature warnings or any kind of indication of trouble.
Apple used a WD green drive in them.. certainly I have seen more dead drives lately than on any of the early models. I don't know how apple has the cheek to call the cheapest green drive on a market server grade.. but they do. A dead or dying drive can have all kinds of effects.
If you have the skills open it and inspect it.
http://www.ifixit.com/Device/Apple_Time_Capsule

HT201250 Time Machine and Mavericks

Time Machine under Mavericks won't allow me to add or change my Time Machine drive. I click the Select Drive button, and nothing happens. Any ideas?

Back up all data. Don't continue unless you're sure you can restore from a backup, even if you're unable to log in.
This procedure will unlock all your user files (not system files) and reset their ownership and access-control lists to the default. If you've set special values for those attributes on any of your files, they will be reverted. In that case, either stop here, or be prepared to recreate the settings if necessary. Do so only after verifying that those settings didn't cause the problem. If none of this is meaningful to you, you don't need to worry about it.
Step 1
If you have more than one user account, and the one in question is not an administrator account, then temporarily promote it to administrator status in the Users & Groups preference pane. To do that, unlock the preference pane using the credentials of an administrator, check the box marked Allow user to administer this computer, then reboot. You can demote the problem account back to standard status when this step has been completed.
Enter the following command in the Terminal window in the same way as before (triple-click, copy, and paste):
{ sudo chflags -R nouchg,nouappnd ~ $TMPDIR.. ; sudo chown -R $UID:staff ~ $_ ; sudo chmod -R u+rwX ~ $_ ; chmod -R -N ~ $_ ; } 2> /dev/null
This time you'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before you can run the command. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
The command will take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear, then quit Terminal.
Step 2 (optional)
Take this step only if you have trouble with Step 1 or if it doesn't solve the problem.
Boot into Recovery. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select
Utilities ▹ Terminal
from the menu bar. A Terminal window will open.
In the Terminal window, type this:
res
Press the tab key. The partial command you typed will automatically be completed to this:
resetpassword
Press return. A Reset Password window will open. You’re not going to reset a password.
Select your boot volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) if not already selected.
Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.
Under Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs, click the Reset button.
Select
 ▹ Restart
from the menu bar.

HT201250 Time machine and parallels

I need to replace the iMac 1TB Seagate drive. I run parallels with Win 8 and the latest Mac OS.
Will I have trouble restoring from Time Machine?

Not as long as you have selected to include your Parallels in Time Machine backups.
Probably better to phrase it this way: as long as you did not exclude the VM in Time machine back up preferences;
>SystemPreferences>TimeMachine>options
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.8.2) 2.4GHz IntelCore i5 320 HD 8GB RAM ParallelsDesktop8.0 iPhone5_iOS6.0.2

HT201250 Time Machine can no longer back up files

I was using Time Machine to back up files to a WD Elements hard drive. Lately I started to get error messages the back-up failed. Previously Finder would list back-up files for that drive, but now it only shows empty folders. Get Info still shows 60 GB of used space on the external drive. Can I retrieve those files, or is all lost and I must reformat the hard drive?

I would connect the Time Machine HDD to your Mac and open Disk Utility and select First Aid, Verify the disk and run a Repair if necessary. If that does not solve the problem, I suspect that the HDD is failing. Then I suggest transferring the backup data to another HDD, or perhaps just start from square one with a new HDD and back up the entire internal HDD.
Ciao.

HT201250 Time machine does not recognize WD external drive

Time machine and back-ups worked fine on my MacBookPro. It stopped working, no I believe it is still working but the MackBookPro does not recognize it and when clicking "Back up" I receive the message that the external drive is not available. Thanks to Bootcamp the computer also has a Windows side which I use mainly to run a soaring flight simulator called Condor. When I turn on the MacBookPro and click on "Choice" the window I receive shows the Mac and Windows operating systems, the Back-up and "My Passport." When I click on "My passport" it actually opens...When I turn the computer off and reboot it again there is no sign of "My Passport."
Now, I have a second WD My Passport which I bought for the Windows side of the computer. When I attach it before turning on the computer, I shows up on Finder, however, when I click "Back up" here it seems like it is starting back-up but only for a few seconds and then I get the message that the drive is a Windows formatted drive and that a back-up cannot be completed.
Why does the Windows formatted drive show up in Finder and also when I run the Windows side, however, the driver for the Mac does not show up on Finder?
I now have only the Mac formatted external drive attached and I just received the following messages: Can't back up. Reformat the disk. Files can still be read but the drive can no longer be used for back-ups. Get a new external drive. Run back-ups as soon as possible.
Can anyone help?
Thank you.

OK, so it sounds like you have a Mac formatted drive that you have used previously for Time Machine, and disconnected it for a few weeks, and you can now see files on it OK from your Mac. However, when the system tries to run a Time Machine backup, you get an error message "Can't backup. Reformat the disk. Files can still be read but the drive can no longer be used for back-ups. Get a new external drive. Run back-ups as soon as possible."
I have not seen this problem before, and would recommend that you look through the Time Machine troubleshooting information at http://pondini.org/TM/Home.html
For instance, http://pondini.org/TM/B1.html or http://pondini.org/TM/B6.html could help in your situation. I'm assuming (but probably shouldn't) that you've verified that your hard drive doesn't need repair (another Disk Utility function) and that there is still a Time Machine backup on that drive - look for the directory Backups.backupdb.
I hope that helps. If not, perhaps someone with more Time Machine knowledge will pop along soon to help you further.

Time Machine -- trouble restoring a file

I need to restore a Quicken data file (GorfFinances.qdfm) that was saved by Time Machine to my backup drive about a month ago.
Whenever I try it, a window pops up with this message: "The operation can't be completed because you don't have permissions to access "GorfFinances.qdfm."
Yet, when I check permissions on the backup file from within Time Machine and compare that with permissions of the current file as checked in the normal Finder window, they are exactly the same -- as follows:
     Name                              Privilege
     Gorf (Me)                         Read & Write
     wheel                              Read & Write
     everyone                         Read & Write
Why am I getting that message and how can I fix the problem?
Thanks,
Gorf

I just had this problem with testing restoring a Quicken file from Time Machine. (I'm on OS 10.6.8 with Quicken Essentials 1.7.4.) Although I found lots of advice online about changing file permissions in different places, the less-extreme methods didn't work for me. Then I found a comment about restoring the directory/folder that contains the Quicken file rather than just the fil, and that worked like a charm. I test restored the entire Documents folder to my Desktop, and all 3,000+ files restored successfully with no complaint about insufficient permissions for any of the files, including the Quicken file.
I've since moved my Quicken file into a subfolder so that, if I ever need to restore the Quicken file for real, restoring that subfolder will take much less time than it took to restore the entire Documents.

HT201250 Time machine back up using a external hard drive connected to the Airport extreme

How can I setup a time machine back up using a external hard drive connected to the Airport extreme? Even better for time managment purposes I want to use the Eithernet Thunderbolt connection for the first back up and then through the wifi there after for daily routine Time Machine back ups.

You can attach a hard drive, but Time Machine backups to a drive at the USB port at the AirPort Extreme are not supported by Apple, so it's not possible to say what your actual results might be.
If you decide to try this, it would be wise to have a secondary backup plan in place as well.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/15139.html

HT201250 Time Machine backup disk not found

I recently reconfigured my external disks, creating a 500GB oartition for Time Machine backup. thefirst time I set up Time machine to use that partition all went well. Seconed time it failed "cannot find backup disk."
This is a 24 inch, mid 2007 iMac OS X 10.8.2. I am using two external backup drives - 1T LaCie with 4 partitions and a BlackX removable adaptor with a WD 1T drive plugged in. Both are formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled) In the view below the top "Time Machine" drive at the top is a duplicate of the last drive in the list.
If I select the top drive - I have the option to "Remove Disk" - NOT to "Use this Disk." So I have to select the bottom "Time Machine" drive. The backup will then run once but on the second try I get "Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to "Time Machine". Unable to complete backup. An error occured while creating backup folder." Whether I remove the top listed disk or not doesn't seem to matter, sometimes it finds the drive, sometimes not!
The BlackX is a USB connected directly to the iMac. The other partition on that drive contains movie clips and they run fine.
There is a backup folder on the Time Machine drive with six backups - however I have to "reset" the Time Machine each time to get it to backup. It craps out on the second try every time. Got me buffaloed! Any ideas?

Assuming you have nothing on your Time Machine volume that you need, erase that volume and Verify it from Disk Utilities. Repair if necessary. Then, go into the Time Machine Preferences and Remove the selected drive to use. Now, reselect it and try a backup.

HT201250 Time Machine backup error message.

I am unable to back up my computer as I get this message -
"This backup is to large for the back up disk. The backup requires 138.28 GB but only 124.10 GB are available. TIme Machine needs work spave on the backup disk in addition to the space required to store backups. Open Time Machiine prefences to select a larger ackup disk or make the back up smaller by exluding files."
I would appreciate any help as I am lost. I opened TM and was unable to adjust the file size.
Thank you for your help!

Take a look here
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2142747?threadID=2142747&messageID=10782279 #10782279

New hard drive-Time machine trouble

I exchanged my hard drive from a 160GB to a 500GB recently. All went well with the installation of the old programs and transferring all my old files back from my time machine.
Now a week has gone by and I want to back up my computer to the time machine and the computer can't find it. It's plugged in and all seams to be on but it just can't to find it.
I really don't want to screw anything up here and loose my old backups in the time machine so figured better ask for help before something goes terrible wrong..
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Thank you
Sophie

Soffan73 wrote:
Now a week has gone by and I want to back up my computer to the time machine and the computer can't find it. It's plugged in and all seams to be on but it just can't to find it.
Eeek! A week? If you make many changes, you really should back up more often.
Are you getting a message? If so, what?
Try just re-selecting the drive via Time Machine Preferences. If that doesn't work, do a "full reset" of TM per #A4 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
I really don't want to screw anything up here and loose my old backups in the time machine so figured better ask for help before something goes terrible wrong..
Good plan!
You may lose some, or many, old backups anyway, though; the new drive will be backed-up in full, so if there isn't room for that, TM will delete old backups trying to make room. If your TM drive isn't at least 2.2 times the size of the data on your system, TM will probably delete all but the last backup, then fail for lack of space. If that's the situation, consider getting a larger external HD for your backups.

HT201250 Time Machine error - backup disk is not available

A new external USB disk was installed and fromatted as per apple and manufacturer instructions. Time machine backup was initated but had to be stopped after 2-3 hours. Upon resuming using "backup now" function an error message reported - Time machine could not complete the backup. The backup dis is not available.

Never mind, I fixed the problem by removing a lock feature from my external drive.

HT201250 Time Machine back up to Cloud?

Can Time Machine be configured to work with Google Drive, SkyDrive, Box, or DropBox?

Though the services you mention can be use to varying degrees for backup purposes, the only service I'm familiar that is actually desinged to work with TimeMachine is something called DollyDrive.
http://www.dollydrive.com/
However, I have no first hand experince with it.
Matt

HT201250 Time Machine Restore

I lost all my playlists in iTunes. How do I restore them from a time machine backup? Didn't lose songs, just the playlists.

No. LCDs are not (or extremely resistant) to such a thing.

HT201250 Time machine include external iPhoto images?

Hi,
I have my iPhoto images held on an external drive. When I use time machine (incidently the same drive) with iPhoto open, will it save the iPhoto files from that library?
Ta

Thats a tricky one...
My time machine settings has the time machine drive excluded under options in the preference pane.
Coincidently it isnt backing up anything on that drive (there other files other than the time machine backup).
My iPhoto Library lives on another external drive and it is happily backing that drive up....
Hope that helps.

HT201250 Time Machine trouble

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