My time capsule has been "preparing" for days--what to do???

See # D1 in Pondini's excellent Time Machine - Troubleshooting guide.
http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html

Similar Messages

HT3275 My Time Capsule has been backing up without any problems and all of a sudden it stops reading on my computer. The external hard drive beeps three times and the motter wont run within. What happened?

My Time Capsule has been backing up without any problems and all of a sudden it stops reading on my computer. The external hard drive beeps three times and the motter wont run within. The light that usually blinks while in use is no longer blinking and is on constant. What happened?

abailey46 wrote:
My Time Capsule has been backing up without any problems and all of a sudden it stops reading on my computer. The external hard drive beeps three times and the motter wont run within. The light that usually blinks while in use is no longer blinking and is on constant. What happened?
Sorry we are unclear as to the external hard drive and its connection to the TC..
For instance the light that blinks.. is that the TC or external hard disk or what.
Did you try just rebooting / restart the whole network in correct order.. modem.. router / TC.. external drive.. clients with 2min gap between each.
Are you actually running Snow Leopard as the profile states?
How old is the TC?

My iPad 1st generation, has been charging for days......

My iPad 1st generation, has been charging for days and still shows dead battery... Tried to restore (which I was able to do in the past and was successful) and received an error saying something went wrong can not restore and went back to showing dead battery again. The battery is not dead... Any suggestions?

"The battery is not dead"
How did you ascertin that?

I have more ethernet devices than my time capsule has ethernet output ports. What do I do?

I have more ethernet devices than my apple time capsule has ethernet output ports. What do I do?

Just to add to Bob's comment.. it is much better to move all the connections to the switch..
Don't leave two connections on the TC and then connection to the switch plus the rest.. plug everything into the switch. The only line running to the TC is to connect switch to TC.
The sweet spot for most people is 8 port switches which are now consumer items.. go into any big computer shop.. buy whatever brand you want.. they are not alot different.. but I have noticed smart switches are coming down in price.. to the point cheap end 8 port smart (managed sort of). are the price of dumb switches a year ago.. they also will have better controls and more details. ie discover what is using bandwidth in the network.. some basic QoS .. lots of stuff that Apple routers missed out on.
eg d-link DGS-1100-08
I just bought one to replace my power hungry managed 16 port switch.. although I haven't unboxed it .. sometimes things don't work 100% on Macs but most have simple browser type access. Not all browsers work is my experience but something always does.

ICal on my MacBook Pro has been "updating" for days...??

I have an iMac, MacBook Pro, iPad and iPhone. I have been using iCloud since it came out (running Lion). iCal on my MacBook Pro has been "updating" for several days. Also - when I add an event on the MacBook, it does not show up on any of my other devices (they are all set up with the same iCloud calendars). When I add events from my other devices, they DO show up in iCal on my Macbook Pro.
I am at a loss -- any help would be VERY much appreciated!
Thanks
Kim

Hello
Chance upon your post and yes, immediately after upgarding to Mountain Lion, my "new" Calendar (Desktop, formely known as 'iCal') keeps having the pop up window saying "Updating Calendar..." (I set my Calendar to auto-launch after Startup)
After restarting it will still be the same, but if I quit and launch again, everything will be fine. Will try the method you posted (the thread) tonight. Although I deleted the iCal preferences, thinking/hoping it will help
However, I don't seem to have a problem with sycning of al events, my sync with iCloud and all my macs and iOS devices seem OK.
If events are not syncing into some of your iOS devices, why don't you try deleting the entire iCloud account on it and re-set a new one? I've done that before when events or other data don't properly sync
Cheers

Airport Time capsule has been making its first back up for 3 days and still going

Been having problems with airport time capsule (its a 2TB model my iMac is 1TB), when first used it backed up OK then wouldn't back up after a few months operation. Spoke to support on Thursday 3 days ago, they got me to delete disc from airport utility and had me check all my connections were correct then started a new first backup again.
All seemed to be ok as it showed there were 840 gb to back up. so slowly this reduced friday night to 300 gb remaining. Then Saturday it showed 150 GB of 350 GB now today it is showing 485 Gb of 534 GB but as the target figure keeps increasing just checked now it shows 535 GB!
I have entered time machine to see what is there and all file seem to have copied across but haven't checked then individually. There is only one TM folder saying Today now, so it is still on the first back up.
The other strange thing the available space on the TC is now showing 864 GB free of 2TB how can this be if my imac has only 1TB!

If you still have issues.. and you well might.. i recommend you start over..
Unplug the TC from the network and plug it by ethernet into the computer..
Do factory reset of the TC.. and do a simple setup.. leave it in router mode.. ignore all the problems.
Make absolutely sure ipv6 is set to link-local only for ethernet.
Turn wireless right off.. and start the backup again.. It might even be worth erasing the TC and start over.. It can do 60GB/hr by ethernet.. so should do the disk in around 12-15 hours. although to be generous it can take a long time when it does loads of small files.
Still got issues then tell us exactly what TC model it is.

Somehow - My Time Capsule Has Insufficient Memory For A Back Up

I have a 1 TB Time Capsule.
I recently got an email from apple stating that my mac is affected in a batch that has hard drive issues and was advised before taking it in to back up my mac. Before the email came through out of the blue, my Mac had lost about 300-450 GB of space overnight on something which was fairly worrying. So when I went to back up today, I got a message stating that my time capsule didn't have enough memory to back up my mac which is odd because I always thought that it deleletd the oldest back ups to make room for the new ones. Anyway after now wiping the time capsule clean so it has 1TB free again (which matches my Macs memory of 1TB) I thought I would give the back up another try and to my surprise no such luck. I got this message:
"This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 1.01 TB but only 997.05 GB are available.
Time Machine needs work space on the backup disk, in addition to the space required to store backups. Open Time Machine preferences to select a larger backup disk or make the backup smaller by excluding files."
Now, by checking my Macintosh HD disk, it states that I have approximately 150GB free at this present moment in time. Another thing about that message that conceres me is that it says 1.01TB which is impossible because I only have a 1TB machine!!
It's all rather worrying and the best thing is I can't sort my hardrive out until I back it up which is proving to be quite the task. If anyone could shine some light on the siuation I will be very greatful.
Thanks
Matt

So based on what i understand, you have less than, 900 gigs of data and time machine is telling you otherwise. Obvious question to ask you is whether or not you emptied out your trashcan.
If you did empty it out and there is STILL some kind of "phantom like prescence" claiming your hard disk i would look to hidden files as holding the key to your answer.
There is a hidden folder on the top level of your boot disk named ".volumes" which sometimes may contain data that you sent to the trash, without actually deleting it.
In my experience this is caused by sending items to the trash on (typically) EXTERNAL mounted volumes that have not yet been "deleted" or emptied. i encourage you do a little more reserach before you go ahaed and "show all files" and start deleting random crap, and i would STRONGLY encourage that in the MEAN TIME, forgo time machine and do a finder copy of the things that you cannot live without.
Or do a time machine backup to a 1.5 or 2tb something. I know this is all a little overwhelming, but with the potential failure of the internal drive on your mac, the BEST option for you right now is to backup to a larger volume. If you cant afford a new drive right now, perhaps maybe you can buy it now and return it within a 14 day return policy or something like that. THe important thing is, if your hard drive in your iMac fails, your looking at a VERY costly procedure to recover data from a 1000gb volume.
Better safe than sorry.

Z10 hub has been preparing for 24 hours but mostly blinking

Has anyone figured out how to fix the issue with the Z10 hub getting stuck in the preparation phase? Mine started blinking a day ago on a restart and nothing appears to correct the issue. Can I get some support on the issue?

Hi and Welcome to the Community!
Anytime random strange behavior or sluggishness shows up, the first thing to try is a proper reboot:
Pre-BB10 Devices ONLY. With power ON, remove the back cover and pull out the battery. Wait about a minute then replace the battery and cover. Power up and wait patiently through the long reboot -- ~5 minutes.
BB10 Devices. Hold the top button down until the counter reaches zero. Wait for the device to be fully shut down (e.g., nothing at all displayed on the screen, no LED lights, etc.). Hold the top button until the red LED is lit. Wait through the full boot-up process. If this fails, you can attempt the battery-pull method above, but it is normally NOT recommended unless nothing else works.
See if things have returned to good operation. Like all computing devices, BB's suffer from memory leaks and such...with a hard reboot being the best cure.
Good luck!
Occam's Razor nearly always applies when troubleshooting technology issues!
If anyone has been helpful to you, please show your appreciation by clicking the button inside of their post. Please click here and read, along with the threads to which it links, for helpful information to guide you as you proceed. I always recommend that you treat your BlackBerry like any other computing device, including using a regular backup schedule...click here for an article with instructions.
Join our BBM Channels
BSCF General Channel
PIN: C0001B7B4 Display/Scan Bar Code
Knowledge Base Updates
PIN: C0005A9AA Display/Scan Bar Code

Time Capsule stuck at Preparing for Backup, and internet TC latency issue

I have an iMac that backs up to my 1TB Time Capsule. I have had it since March. Suddenly it stopped backing up. It get's stuck at "preparing for backup" and never actually completes a backup.
I am also experiencing a HUGE latency issue with my internet connection. I am constantly having to use the 'refresh' page button in Safari.
help....

TB,
*_Time Machine May Report "Preparing..." For a Long Time_*
Consider these factors regarding an extended period of "Preparing...". Consider each topic separately and do not attempt to act on all of them at once.
*Recent Crash or Other Major System Event* (Deep Traversal)
The reasons for this process are described in an article by George Schreyer. “During the preparation step it checks the FSEvents log for consistency. If it determines that something isn't quite right it has to rescan the whole disk. This can take quite awhile. A full rescan is always triggered by a crash, an unplanned shut down event or by booting from some other bootable disk between backups…. After a crash, Time Machine must scan the whole disk to determine what it has to do because it cannot trust the information that it left behind. Connected via an Ethernet connection, this phase would typically take 20 minutes on an older PowerBook. Being connected wirelessly stretches this phase out to over 3 hours.” [http://www.girr.org/mac_stuff/backups.html]
According to the following KB article it can sometimes take a very long time if Time Machine begins this “deep traversal” and has to compare data inventories. This may apply to your situation, particularly if many Gigs of data are involved. (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1516)
*Anti-Virus Software*
Running anti-virus software can interfere with the backup process. Either disable it altogether, or try the suggestion outlined here, “If you use third-party anti-virus scanning software and have issues, make sure your Time Machine back up folder (Backups.backupdb on the Time Machine disk) is excluded from virus scanning.” (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1516)
*Software Updates* #
Installing new software, upgrading existing software, or updating Mac OS X system software can create major changes in the structure of your Macs directories. Time Machine will backup every file that has changed since the installation.
If you take a look at the Console logs Time Machine may be reporting that your backups need "deep traversal". That's fine. Time Machine knows what is wrong and how to fix it. If you have a great deal of data, it may take quite awhile.
After an OS update (like 10.5.5) Time Machine realizes the system no longer matches what it looked like during the previous backup. So it has determined that it's earlier catalogue of what-should-be-where is 'untrustable'. So it is going to go item-by-item comparing the before and after of your system. If you have just performed an OS Update then Time Machine knows what it's doing - let it do it!
*Spotlight Keeps Indexing Backup Drive* #
It may be that Time Machine can’t proceed or complete a backup due to a Spotlight indexing error. During this period, take a look at the Spotlight icon in the upper right corner of your screen. Is there a tiny dot pulsating in the center of the spyglass? Click on the icon. Is there a progress bar displayed? Generally Spotlight indexing is a good thing. But at time it may hang and never progress, preventing backups from taking place.
Go to System Prefs --> Spotlight --> Privacy Tab.
Drag your Time Machine disk into the window. It should now be among the items to exclude from indexing.
Now quit System Prefs.
Reopen System Prefs and remove ("-") the Time Machine disk from the window.
This should clear out Spotlights cache. Naturally, Spotlight should begin indexing again (maybe even for a few hours depending on how much data there is), but it should eventually stop.
*Reboot Time Capsule* #
Stop the backup from the Time Machine menu.
When the Time Machine icon stops spinning, unplug the TC from the wall outlet.
Wait 10-15 seconds.
Re-plug it in again.
After it has restarted (30-60 seconds), attempt another backup.
Time Machine will report “Preparing…” again, but it shouldn’t be lasting more than a couple of hours.
Let us know if any of the suggestions above helped in your case.
Cheers!

I would like to see if my time capsule has been successfully with, pictures, music, files from my mac

Hi Guys,
I stall my my time capsule and the wifi is working quite well.
My problem is that I am not sure if my files, pictures and musics has been sync and safe.
How could see it?
Thanks

http://pondini.org/TM/8.html
and http://pondini.org/TM/7.html
http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html

Time capsule has been disconnected when move files

I have a home network with a imac and a samsung ultrabook with windows7, and always when i try to move any bigger file from the time capsule to the ultrabook the network crashes, than i have to reconfigure the network adapter. What could i do to solve this problem?
P.S. with the imac everything works perfectly.

If it is intel wireless, try different version..latest might not be the best but worth a try.. download direct from intel.
I don't know how the major manufacturer of wireless chips has so much trouble but Intel cards seem to be the number 1 for these issues.

Keynote has been updating for days, how do i cancel?

I haven't changed anything on my computer but Pages and Keynote will not open and it says they are updating. I have tried restarting and shutting down completely andit is not working. How do I cancel the update?

Hi CayleighSydney,
Welcome to the Apple Support Communities! I understand that you are attempting to update Pages and Keynote but the process will not complete. This has been going on for days and when you try to open them it says they are still updating. There may be a few different steps I would suggest in this situation to get this resolved for you. The first thing I would do would be to check the Purchases pane of the Mac App Store and make sure Pages and Keynote updates are not paused. If they are, you can resume the updates. The following article has information on resuming updates if you need it for reference.
Mac App Store: How to resume interrupted downloads
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4485
If necessary, you may need to uninstall the applications and re-download them fresh from the Mac App Store. The following article has information on how to uninstall. Once they are uninstalled and the trash is emptied, you can go back to the Purchased pane of the Mac App Store and re-download them fresh.
OS X Mountain Lion: Install, update, and uninstall apps
http://support.apple.com/kb/ph11356
Uninstall apps
To uninstall apps you purchased from the Mac App Store, hold down an app’s icon in Launchpad until all the icons begin to jiggle. Click an app’s delete button (x) to uninstall the app.If an icon doesn’t have a delete button, that app can’t be uninstalled. For example, apps that come with OS X can’t be uninstalled.
To uninstall other apps, drag the app to the Trash (the Trash is located at the end of the Dock), and then choose Finder > Empty Trash.If you change your mind, before emptying the Trash, select the app in the Trash, and then choose File > Put Back.
I hope this helps,
-Joe

HT4060 my ipad has been charging for days and not taking the charge what else can be wrong.?

i have an apple i pad 16 gb...i have it charging for days and its not taking the charge what else can i try...

Could be the charger, cable or the iPad.
Try this first - Reset the iPad by holding down on the Sleep and Home buttons at the same time for about 10-15 seconds until the Apple Logo appears - ignore the red slider - let go of the buttons. (This is equivalent to rebooting your computer.)
And this - Unplug the charger from the iPad and then replug. May resume charging.
Or - Recalibrate the battery. See link below.
The quickest way (and really the only way) to charge your iPad is with the included 10W or 12W (5W on Mini) USB Power Adapter. iPad will also charge, although more slowly, when attached to a computer with a high-power USB port (many recent Mac computers) or with an iPhone Power Adapter (5W). When attached to a computer via a standard USB port (2.5W, most PCs or older Mac computers) iPad will charge very slowly (but iPad indicates not charging). Make sure your computer is on while charging iPad via USB. If iPad is connected to a computer that’s turned off or is in sleep or standby mode, the iPad battery will continue to drain.
Apple recommends that once a month you let the iPad fully discharge & then recharge to 100%.
How to Calibrate Your Mac, iPhone, or iPad Battery
http://www.macblend.com/how-to-calibrate-your-mac-iphone-or-ipad-battery/
At this link http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/galaxy-tab-android-tablet,3014-11.html , tests show that the iPad 2 battery (25 watt-hours) will charge to 90% in 3 hours 1 minute. It will charge to 100% in 4 hours 2 minutes. The new iPad has a larger capacity battery (42 watt-hours), so using the 10W charger will obviously take longer. If you are using your iPad while charging, it will take even longer. It's best to turn your new iPad OFF and charge over night. Also look at The iPad's charging challenge explained http://www.macworld.com/article/1150356/ipadcharging.html
Also, if you have a 3rd generation iPad, look at
Apple: iPad Battery Nothing to Get Charged Up About
http://allthingsd.com/20120327/apple-ipad-battery-nothing-to-get-charged-up-abou t/
Apple Explains New iPad's Continued Charging Beyond 100% Battery Level
http://www.macrumors.com/2012/03/27/apple-explains-new-ipads-continued-charging- beyond-100-battery-level/
New iPad Takes Much Longer to Charge Than iPad 2
http://www.iphonehacks.com/2012/03/new-ipad-takes-much-longer-to-charge-than-ipa d-2.html
Apple Batteries - iPad http://www.apple.com/batteries/ipad.html
Extend iPad Battery Life (Look at pjl123 comment)
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3921324?tstart=30
New iPad Slow to Recharge, Barely Charges During Use
http://www.pcworld.com/article/252326/new_ipad_slow_to_recharge_barely_charges_d uring_use.html
Best Practices for iPad Battery Charging
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/best-practices-for-ipad-batte ry-charging/
Tips About Charging for New iPad 3
http://goodscool-electronics.blogspot.com/2012/04/tips-about-charging-for-new-ip ad-3.html
How to Save and Prolong the battery life of your new ipad
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4480944?tstart=0
Prolong battery lifespan for iPad / iPad 2 / iPad 3: charging tips
http://thehowto.wikidot.com/prolong-battery-lifespan-for-ipad
iPhone, iPod, Using the iPad Charger
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4327
Install and use Battery Doctor HD
http://itunes.apple.com/tw/app/battery-doctor-hd/id459702901?mt=8
To Extend a Device’s Battery Life, Get to Know It Better
http://tinyurl.com/b67c7xz
iPad Battery Replacement
http://www.apple.com/batteries/replacements.html
In rare instances when using the Camera Connection Kit, you may notice that iPad does not charge after using the Camera Connection Kit. Disconnecting and reconnecting the iPad from the charger will resolve this issue.
 Cheers, Tom

Iphoto has been uploading for days and won't let me close program

A few days ago I attempted to upload my photos on my iPhone 5s to free up storage on my phone. I connected phone and it appeared they were being imported. Not because I could see them but every time i clicked on import it said it was already importing. i finally used Icapture i think it was called and i can see pictures but they are not in my library like the ones imported from my Nikon camera are. I am not able to shutdown iPhoto because it still says photos are being imported.

force quit - apple menu ==> force quit and then restart your Mac
Then if you did not have Image Capture import directly into iPhoto use the iPhoto file menu ==> import command to import from where every you had Image Capture put the photos
LN

Time Capsule gets stuck "preparing for back up

Can anyone help? Here's my log info:
4/8/13 10:27:15.960 PM com.apple.backupd[66682]: Starting manual backup
4/8/13 10:27:15.977 PM com.apple.backupd[66682]: Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://Daryl%20Phillips;AUTH=[email protected]/Data
4/8/13 10:27:16.572 PM com.apple.backupd[66682]: Mounted network destination at mount point: /Volumes/Data using URL: afp://Daryl%20Phillips;AUTH=[email protected]/Data
4/8/13 10:27:34.933 PM com.apple.backupd[66682]: Disk image /Volumes/Data/DPcomputer (2).sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups
4/8/13 10:27:34.945 PM com.apple.backupd[66682]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb
4/8/13 10:27:38.720 PM com.apple.backupd[66682]: Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
4/8/13 10:27:39.235 PM com.apple.backupd[66682]: Deep event scan at path:/ reason:must scan subdirs|new event db|
4/8/13 10:27:42.017 PM com.apple.backupd[66682]: Finished scan
4/8/13 10:27:46.692 PM com.apple.backupd[66682]: Found 506 files (3.16 GB) needing backup
4/8/13 10:27:46.799 PM com.apple.backupd[66682]: 3.79 GB required (including padding), 1.43 TB available
4/8/13 10:28:55.828 PM com.apple.backupd[66682]: Copied 700 files (Zero KB) from volume Macintosh HD.
4/8/13 10:28:56.838 PM com.apple.backupd[66682]: Backup canceled.

Try doing a verify of the backup and source disk.
A5 here.
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
Use ethernet.. and if you don't get anywhere, I would delete the backups and start over.. something strange is happening in UUID don't match. You have replaced the disk or something at some point.

My time capsule has been "preparing" for days--what to do???

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for