My disappointment with Time Machine

I was really looking forward to Time Machine. But having set it up, I'm somewhat disappointed. Why? Because once again, Apple gets us so close to nirvana, then we hit the brick wall. The software is awesome. I love the interface. It really does make backup easy.
So what do I not like about it? Lets start with the lack of network storage. I was willing to let this go for now since I don't even have any network storage yet. I have an external 320GB FW800 drive. Perfect, right? Not so fast. Since I just installed Leopard, I haven't even copied all my data back to my desktop. I started up Time Machine on my external drive and immediately it said I didn't have enough room to backup. Thats not good. I haven't even copied video back to my system yet. Thats about 200GB's by itself. So now if I want to use Time Machine with the amount of data I have, I will need to probably get a 750GB external hard drive. Prices start around $300. Wonderful. I'd really rather spend that money on network storage than another external drive. I'm starting to think Amazon's S3 storage isn't so bad after all. 300GB of storage per month will run about $45 a month not including bandwith. And its offsite.
Ultimately, I'm waiting for some consumer network storage that uses ZFS instead of RAID.

If it's a MS-DOS filesystem then it's not going to work with Time Machine. You need a HFS (partitioned or not) drive. I have an internal 250G drive that I back up my 80G drive to. Even then you can always use the extra space for other stuff like my video projects (Final Cut Pro).
As for the network backup: there are hacks to it already (look around) but the problem (I think) is that the network layer abstracts the 'raw' volume information so if Time Machine uses specific HFS functionality then the network layer will abstract that into NFS and SMB which those protocols don't understand those functions.
It's possible that you can repartition your drive without losing your data but you'll need special tools for that. I wouldn't risk it, invest in a decent firewire drive and use it as a Time Machine drive. Time Machine will detect automatically when it's connected and start a backup in the background. It's really smooth, you don't notice anything about it.

Similar Messages

  • Can I replace hard drive with Time Machine backup?

    I couldn't phrase this right to see if some already asked. I have MacBook with a 250gb HDD and I have a new 500gb HDD. I bought a USB Hard Drive enclosure and have been backing up with Time Machine. So my question is, can I take out my 250gb HDD and put in my Time Machine Backed Up 500gb, and boot up like normal? Or are there some steps I need to do?

    No, you cannot do what you've asked.
    What you can do is this.
    1) using your install DVDs or an install USB, install OSX on the external 500GB drive.   When setup assistant starts, point it to your 250GB drive so all your settings and files get migrated over.
    2) now you can swap drives and it should work.  Have your install USB handy incase something goes wrong.  Put the 250GB drive in your external enclosure so you can access it if needed for a reinstall.
    good luck

  • How does this work with multiple systems backing up with time machine

    I was wondering as Apple states that this will do multiple time machine backups as in multiple computers, how does this do this? I am assumng that it will require me to partition the srive in the unit as multiple partitions. 1 for each time computer with time machine running.

    I'm sorry, I'm not quite sure how to interpret your answer so I'll ask for clarification.
    Do you mean that the backup belonging to each user will be protected by filesystem perms? In other words Alice's backup will be owned by Alice and only readable by her, ditto for the hyperthetical Bill?
    I guess in other words, does Time Machine preserve file ownership perms?

  • Time Capsule Not Working With Time Machine

    I'm trying to backup to my Time Capsule, which I haven't used in over two years. It had been displaced because of a change in internet service providers. The new provider came in with a Linksys router, setup a sub-network, and left the Time Capsule/Airport out of the mix.
    So I want to return to using my Time Capsule and have since pulled out the Linksys router, and got the Airport functionality working with the existing, primary network. In other words, the Time Capsule/Airport is working to extend the range of the network.
    Problem is this: I cannot backup to the Time Capsule. Even if I'm connecting to the Time Capsule via ethernet, I cannot get it past the 'preparing' phase when running Time Machine. It stays at the phase for what seems to me an inordinate amount of time (30-45 minutes). If I go into System Preferences, the Time Capsule disk doesn't make itself available when using it with Time Machine. If I choose to go into the Star Wars display of Time Machine, I can sort of see the various backups, but I can't roll back to them, and the backup indicator on the right looks sort of ghosted, like it's there but it's not there.
    How do I know if the disk within the Time Capsule is failing? Could that be what's going on? How would I test it? I get a green light on the front of the TC, but not everything is hunky dory since I'm not able to backup.
    Is part of my problem that I'm using a not up-to-date version of Airport Utility? –I'm using 5.4.2

    Oh and here it is, on this page, Section D, #1:
    "Section D.  OTHER  PROBLEMS  RUNNING  BACKUPS
    D1.  Stuck in "Calculating changes" or "Preparing""
    and then the Apple supporting doc, as well:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1516
    Fabulous. Thank you.

  • Can I use any external hard drive with Time Machine?

    I have a 1TB external hard drive and also a 16GB flash drive. Is it possible to use either of these with Time Machine?

    IMO Time Machine should be on its own Dedicated External Drive... one that is twice the size of the drive that it is backing up... the 16 GB Flash Drive is not appropiate for the task.
    See Here
    TM 101
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427
    You may also find this Link of Interest...
    Time Machine vs. Clones and Archives

  • On imac 10.6.8 using current version of Aperture.  How can I access the Aperture Library  on my external hard drive that I use with time machine for backup?  I can only access the application but not the library..

    On imac 10.6.8 using current version of Aperture.  How can I access the Aperture Library  on my external hard drive that I use with time machine for backup?  I can only access the application but not the library..

    Go into Time Machine (the program not the bundle on the extrnal disk) and using Time Machine's browser go to the Folder where the library lives. You could look in the library bundle in Time Machine but that won't really tell you much,
    If you want to make sure it truely has backed up your library you will need to restore it and open the restored library with Aperture.
    If all this still has you confused you need to read up on Time Machine in order to get a feel for how it works, for what it is doing and for how to restore files from it.

  • How can I set up an external harddrive with time machine that already has data on it without losing the data?

    I have an external hard drive that I use to hold photos and other files on that no longer fit on my macbook. I also use the external hard drive for back ups set up with time machine. I don't believe I ever did anything to partition it, I've just always had separate folders (Photos, Music, etc) with one being called "Back Ups" (or Backups.backupdb) that my time machine back ups would automatically go into. Recently, I made the switch from my HDD in my macbook to a new SSD of the same size. I used the back ups on the external hard drive to restore all my content, which all worked out fine. My problem now is in using my external hard drive. When I plug it in, it no longer seems to be working with time machine. Also, I was organizing some files within the external hard drive, and when I dragged one into a folder, it took a while to load. Before, it was instantaneous moving a file already on the external hard drive to another location within it. Can anyone help me in getting the external hard drive to work with my new SSD? I don't want to delete any of the folders or back ups that are already on it, since that's the only place I have some of those files. Please let me know if you need anymore details. Thanks! (sorry if this is posted in the wrong forum)

    First, she has to be logged in to the same iTunes account as she used on the old computer.
    Second, when she plugs the iPhone in to iTunes, right click on the phone name and select transfer purchases.
    Third, enter one contact and one calendar entry into the new computer's addressbook/calendar.
    After that, she should be fine.

  • I have just upgraded to Mavericks and have been using Time Machine on an external disk with Snow Leopard.  Can I continue to backup with Time Machine on the same external disk or do I need a new disk since the operating system has changed?

    I have just upgraded to Mavericks and have been using Time Machine on an external disk with Snow Leopard.  Can I continue to backup with Time Machine on the same external disk or do I need a new disk since the operating system has changed?

    Hi there,
    I found that Time Machine in Mavericks will sort it all out for you. You shouldn't need to buy another backup drive, unless you have insufficient space left and can't afford to delete whats on there. It should just work fine.

  • Problem using a WD hard Drive with Time Machine

    A couple weeks ago I bought a 1TB Western Digital "Elements" Hard Drive and configured it with Time Machine on my MacBook Pro (running Mountain Lion OSX version 10.8.3). The drive was working fine until last night, when it was in the process of backing up and it got the following error:
    Time Machine Error
    Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while creating the backup folder.
    Now whenever I try to unlock the drive, it freezes up like this:
    I've tried restarting the computer and reconnecting the drive several times, and it always gets stuck in the same place. I know my password is correct, because I've tried incorrect ones, and it shakes and rejects them like it should. It's only when I enter the correct password that it freezes.
    I went into the disk utility to try to verify the disk, but it gave me these two popups:
    I notice it says the drive is almost full, though last night it was somewhere around a third full. I don't know what to make of that.
    I had to eject the disk and reconnect it before I could try to repair it. When I did try to repair it, it worked for several minutes, then gave me this:
    I notice here that the disk utility looks to have ejected the disk when it couldn't repair it. After that, I don't know what to try.
    The one thing I did differently last night that may have contributed to the problem was that before I got the initial Time Machine error, I added a couple of folders to the WD drive and backed up some pictures and music manually. Does Time Machine not work if you have other things on the external drive you're using?
    At any rate, I'd rather not erase the drive and start over. Is there anything else I can do at this point? Thanks.

    Sounds like your drive may be failing.  Test it on another system first, but if the problem persists, get it replaced under warranty.

  • Using the same external drive with Time Machine on new mac?

    I recently got a new mac because my old one broke. Thankfully, I had a fresh backup on Time Machine ready to restore onto my new computer. But when I try to use Time Machine with my new computer, it keeps wanting to do a whole new backup. It won't recognize the latest backup to only add new or changed files.
    Here's a breakdown of my events:
    new computer
    restore Time Machine on new computer at install
    want to continue using the external drive with Time Machine from where I left off (only adding new files since the last backup) on my new computer
    Time Machine wants to do a whole new backup
    Question: How can I continue to use my existing external hard drive with Time Machine on my new computer, picking up where I left off (not a new, complete backup)?
    My old computer was Snow Lepoard, my new one is Lion.

    Bergers wrote:
    new computer
    restore Time Machine on new computer at install
    That should have left a "trail" in your SystemMigration log, so Time Machine can figure out what happened and automatically "inherit" the old backups.  But sometimes, obviously, that doesn't work.
    Since it didn't, there's a chance you can do it manually.  See #B6 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

  • I have had a series of Macs.  They have been backed up with Time Machine. I am trying to restore TM backup files from the older Macs using my new MacBook Pro.  No go.  What do I do ?

    I have had a series of Macs.  They have been backed up with Time Machine. I am trying to restore TM backup files from the older Macs using my new MacBook Pro.  No go.  What do I do ?

    I am trying to restore TM backup files from the older Macs using my new MacBook Pro.  No go.
    Migration Assistant (Finder > Applications > Utilities > Migration Assistant) is the tool that you would use to restore backups from older Macs to another Mac.
    Details are here:   http://pondini.org/OSX/MigrateLion.html   The same info applies for Mavericks and Yosemite.   If you are saying that this is a "no go".....where are you getting stuck?  What error messages do you see?

  • How can I split a backup on two hard drives with Time Machine ?

    Back-up of my Imac with time machine is 1,3 TB. I have two 1 TB external hard drives but even if I had both as available in Time machine, it seems it doesn't allow to split the backup between the two hard drives. Any way to resolve this without buying another hard drive with more space?
    Thanks in advance

    You cannot directly split a backup. Your only option would be to open the TimeMachine preferences from System Prefs. and add things to the exclusion list for one of the backups. Then, when you go to do the other backup you would reverse the process and add everything else to the exclusion list and remove the things you had on there in the first place.
    Seems fairly intensive though when you could just go and buy a 2 or 3TB external drive and do it all in one...Black Friday is coming up
    Regards,

  • Is it possible to configure Time Capsule to work with Time Machine (MBP) and Genie Timeline (PC)

    I have an Apple Time Capsule (2TB) and I need to configure it to work with my MBP and Time Machine and also back up my a PC with Genie Timeline Pro 2013 (or any other suggested PC back up software).
    Setting it up to work with Time Machine is simple enough but the PC access is proving to be difficult.
    http://www.genie9.com/support/KB/KnowledgeArticle.aspx?KBID=198
    I followed the above steps but still can't connect to the network drive.  I have reformatted the TC and will be walking through the steps again.  My concern is that the two different operating systems (Win8 and Mavericks) can't share the same destination drive.
    I have created two user accounts with drive sharing activated.  One in my name for my MBP and the other in the name of my partner for her Dell laptop.
    Should the Time Capsule be partitioned?  Can it even be partitioned?  When I use Drive Utility it can't see the TC.  The only way to connect to it seems to be via Airport Utility.
    On a seperate note the TC Router Mode is set to OFF (Bridge Mode).  I have connected it to the ADSL modem/router (WiFi Off) via the WAN port.  All seems to be well.  Am I loosing any useful functionality by doing this?
    The internet settings are set Connect Using DHCP.  I have no issues but I am not really sure what it means and if I should be using other settings.  The ADSL modem/router seems to have all the PPP0E settings.
    The WiFi on the TC has been set up with a 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz network as well as a Guest Network.  I then plan to introduce 2 Airport Express (MB321LL/A). One will be an access point for AirPlay and the other a wireless extender with AirPlay.
    There is also a Canon WiFi printer that accesses the 2.4Ghz network.  It has an Ethanet port so I am wondering if I should disable the wifi connection and cable it and if so to the TC or the DSL modem/router.

    Lion, 7.6.1 firmware and iCloud offers remote access.
    http://www.apple.com/au/support/icloud/back-to-my-mac/
    To do it without the iCloud service your issue is static public IP address.. if you have one this is simple to the point of trivial. If not it is very hard, as Apple did not put in a standard dynamic DNS service.. (ensuring you were roped into their cloud accounts). Static IP from your ISP is the best solution.. if it is possible go for it.
    Then the actual protocol for access is AFP, so the only device you can do this on is a Mac.
    Do you have the TC as the main router?
    If you want any other kind of access, or to avoid icloud use vpn.. which teamviewer is a kind of.. but buy a real vpn router, and bridge the TC.. you can then vpn into your network with full security and get windows access via smb..

  • Time Machine spends hours partially backing up and then fails with "Time Machine couldn't complete the backup due to a network problem."  Tried suggestions I've seen on the forum.

    Time Machine spends hours partially backing up and then fails with "Time Machine couldn't complete the backup due to a network problem."  I've tried various suggestions I've seen on the forum but nothing has worked.  TIme Machine worked fine for the last two years and just suddenly started having this problem every time.  The only thing that was a little different is that the computer was off for a week while on vacation and then I added a large amount (20 GB) of photos. Now the requested backup size is 82GB, which is large, and process proceeds very slowly for 2-3 hours before failing with the message mentioned.  I have more than enough available backup storage space for it.  Before failing, Time Machine has backed up no more than 12GB or so of the backup.  It fails during different files each time.
    I've turned off the computer sleep feature, and I've checked that the NAS is set to never automatically power down. I normally backup over Wi-Fi, but I've also tried connecting to Ethernet and it still has the same problem.  It's odd because I also have a MacBook Pro that is still backing up fine to the same NAS using the MacBook's Time Machine. 
    I am using an iMac with OS X 10.6.8 and an Iomega StorCenter ix2-200 NAS.
    I have system logs that I can share if helpful.  The logged messages vary a bit from run to run, but here are some messages that I've been seeing:
    I always get this message near the beginning of the backup:
    Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
    I've gotten this messsage a number of times:
    Bulk setting Spotlight attributes failed.
    One Day
    Stopping backupd to allow ejection of backup destination disk!
    Another day
    1/7/12 10:44:20 AM
    mDNSResponder[18]
    PenaltyTimeForServer: PenaltyTime negative -112916, (server penaltyTime -1132397006, timenow -1132284090) resetting the penalty
    1/7/12 10:46:37 AM
    kernel
    ASP_TCP Disconnect: triggering reconnect by bumping reconnTrigger from curr value 0 on so 0x1106be94
    1/7/12 10:46:37 AM
    kernel
    AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect started /Volumes/TimeMachine prevTrigger 0 currTrigger 1
    Another Day
    1/6/12 8:03:22 AM
    Google Chrome[164]
    Cannot find function pointer CMPluginInFactory for factory 3487BB5A-3E66-11D5-A64E-003065B300BC in CFBundle/CFPlugIn 0x16f99e20 </Users/smarmer/Library/Contextual Menu Items/Google Notifier Quick Add CM Plugin.plugin> (not loaded)
    1/6/12 8:04:02 AM
    com.apple.backupd[193]
    Copied 7.5 GB of 67.0 GB, 8866 of 8866 items
    1/6/12 8:06:58 AM
    /System/Library/CoreServices/CCacheServer.app/Contents/MacOS/CCacheServer[1013]
    No valid tickets, timing out
    1/6/12 8:29:44 AM
    mDNSResponder[19]
    PenaltyTimeForServer: PenaltyTime negative -148702, (server penaltyTime 2056822773, timenow 2056971475) resetting the penalty
    1/6/12 8:59:22 AM
    kernel
    ASP_TCP Disconnect: triggering reconnect by bumping reconnTrigger from curr value 0 on so 0xa5ac380
    1/6/12 8:59:22 AM
    kernel
    AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect started /Volumes/TimeMachine prevTrigger 0 currTrigger 1
    1/6/12 8:59:22 AM
    kernel
    AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect:  doing reconnect on /Volumes/TimeMachine
    1/6/12 8:59:22 AM
    kernel
    AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect:  soft mounted and hidden volume so do not notify KEA for /Volumes/TimeMachine
    1/6/12 8:59:22 AM
    kernel
    AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect:  Max reconnect time: 30 secs, Connect timeout: 15 secs for /Volumes/TimeMachine
    1/6/12 8:59:22 AM
    kernel
    AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect:  connect to the server /Volumes/TimeMachine
    1/6/12 8:59:22 AM
    kernel
    ASP_TCP asp_SetTCPQoS:  sock_settclassopt got error 57
    Another day
    1/5/12 3:48:55 PM
    mdworker[2128]
    CFPropertyListCreateFromXMLData(): Old-style plist parser: missing semicolon in dictionary.
    1/5/12 4:24:54 PM
    mDNSResponder[19]
    PenaltyTimeForServer: PenaltyTime negative -42698, (server penaltyTime 1148718961, timenow 1148761659) resetting the penalty
    1/5/12 4:29:58 PM
    com.apple.backupd[2074]
    Copied 586.4 MB of 67.0 GB, 9891 of 9891 items
    1/5/12 4:39:00 PM
    kernel
    ASP_TCP Disconnect: triggering reconnect by bumping reconnTrigger from curr value 0 on so 0xa1c0380

    bokon0n wrote:
    1/11/12 8:53:30 AM
    com.apple.backupd[1169]
    Warning: Destination /Volumes/TimeMachine does not support TM Lock Stealing
    1/11/12 8:53:30 AM
    com.apple.backupd[1169]
    Warning: Destination /Volumes/TimeMachine does not support Server Reply Cache
    Those indicate that your NAS is not fully compatible with Snow Leopard. 
    1/11/12 8:53:35 AM
    kernel
    jnl: disk2s2: replay_journal: from: 67182592 to: 78680064 (joffset 0xa7b8000)
    1/11/12 8:53:39 AM
    kernel
    jnl: disk2s2: examining extra transactions starting @ 78680064 / 0x4b09000
    1/11/12 8:53:39 AM
    kernel
    jnl: disk2s2: Extra txn replay stopped @ 79056896 / 0x4b65000
    1/11/12 8:53:49 AM
    kernel
    jnl: disk2s2: journal replay done.
    1/11/12 8:53:49 AM
    fseventsd[41]
    event logs in /Volumes/Time Machine/.fseventsd out of sync with volume.  destroying old logs. (253512 14 253512)
    1/11/12 8:53:50 AM
    kernel
    hfs: Removed 1 orphaned / unlinked files and 0 directories
    That looks like a problem was found with the file system (data) on the TM disk.  I don't know the details, but OSX tried to recover it from the journal, and found extra data on the drive.    Likely a result of the incompatibility mentioned above.
    1/11/12 9:47:40 AM
    com.apple.backupd[1169]
    Bulk setting Spotlight attributes failed.
    That's a problem writing to the NAS drive.
    But the backup continued after all this.
    1/11/12 1:25:07 PM
    kernel
    ASP_TCP Disconnect: triggering reconnect by bumping reconnTrigger from curr value 0 on so 0x9d00b44
    Something caused a disconnect.  Can't tell from the log what it was.
    I doubt it's a problem with something in OSX being damaged or corrupted, but reinstalling OSX isn't a major hassle, so might be worth a try.
    To be incompatible with Snow Leopard, this NAS must be at least a couple of years old.  It may be beginning to fail.
    Contact the maker.  See if there's an update to make it compatible with Snow Leopard.  If so, that might fix it.
    If not, or if that doesn't fix it, see if they have any diagnostics that will shed any light.

  • HT3275 Since updating OS to Mountain Lion from leopard, I get the following error message when trying to backup with time machine on external drive.  Could not complete backup to media share.  The network backup disk does not support the required AFP feat

    Since updating OS to Mountain Lion from leopard, I get the following error message when trying to backup with time machine on external drive.  "Could not complete backup to media share.  The network backup disk does not support the required AFP features."  What are AFP features and how do I get Time Machine to backup to my current external backup?

    This means that your NAS does not support the required encryption. Update your NAS to the latest firmware or ditch it and buy a Time Capsule (they are the most reliable when using TM).

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