My time machine back up failed because it says the backup volume could not be mounted

My time machine back up failed because it says the backup volume could not be mounted. What does that mean and how do I fix it so that it backs up?

A whole lot about Time Machine for help with TM problems. Also you can select Mac Help from the Finder's Help menu and search for "time machine" to locate articles on how to use TM. See also Mac 101- Time Machine.
Use Disk Utility to repair the TM drive. If that doesn't help, and you don't find help from the above, then erase the drive and start a new TM backup.

Similar Messages

Time Machine and update to 10.5.3: The backup volume could not be mounted

I have the same problem reported by many others. Read all the posts, tried all the suggestions and nothing is working.
Western Digital 1Tb MyBook connected to an Airport Extreme. I can see the sparsebundle file created previously, open it and see the previous backups, and even Time Machine can see them. It just won't back up to the drive after the update from 10.5.2 to 10.53. No problem, however, having Time Machine backup to a FireWire WD MyBook connected to the iMac after updating to 10.5.3.
I hope Apple is keeping track of this issue. It was working really nice and I was impressed how easy it was to set up.

Having same problem here, 17" 1.67Ghz Powerbook G4, after update to 10.5.3 I get "Backup could not be mounted" with Time Capsule(w/ user accounts).
Attempted, to no avail:
  Deselecting Drive.  Would not let me reselect. Able to after deleting keychain items.
  Restarting with no drive selected, then reselecting.
  Repaired system permissions.
  Mounted Sparse image, and repaired image.
  Choosing backup now
When the sparse image is mounted, i am able to enter it through time machine's view other backup disks, so i think the image is fine.
the console lists the following entries:
5/29/08 5/29 | 11:32:10 PM /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[148] Backup requested by user
5/29/08 5/29 | 11:32:10 PM /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[148] Starting standard backup
5/29/08 5/29 | 11:32:10 PM /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[148] Network mountpoint /Volumes/sean not owned by backupd... remounting
5/29/08 5/29 | 11:32:12 PM /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[148] Failed to remount network volume.
5/29/08 5/29 | 11:32:17 PM /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[148] Backup failed with error: 19
Iv'e tried everything ive seen recommended, does anyone have any ideas?
Thanks, Sean

Time Machine - "The backup volume could not be mounted" alert

This is a heads-up for anybody suffering from this error when performing Time Machine backups:
"The backup volume could not be mounted"
I had been using this facility fine for months until a few days ago when backing up mysteriously failed. The Apple support KB articles didn't help (eg, reset time machine drive setup, etc).
Apple Support didn't want to help me because they don't "support backups over networks" - sheesh! What happened to "Think Different!"??
Drag and drop your SPARSEBUNDLE file from your backup drive to the Disk Utility.
Perform a Verify Disk operation by clicking on the button.
A normal backup should be able to perform this procedure, but a corrupted one won't.
When trying to perform this on my backup, the Disk Utility would simply return to the original screen without performing anything a second after pressing the button.
In this case, I found deleting the old backup file and starting from scratch restored my computers ability to perform automated Time Machine backups.
I have concluded that the backup file became corrupted in some way - several previous posts have pointed to systems going into standby while backing up files as the cause of this.
Hopefully someone finds this useful one day.

There is a Time Machine preferences file at
<your startup drive root>/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist
Note: This is be main Library folder, not the one in your user folder.
You might try moving that to the Desktop so that the system creates a new one.

Time Machine Contradiction: "The backup volume could not be mounted"

(This is only one wireless issue I've had this year, but I'm trying to keep this brief -- hoping clarity will instigate some help.)
Recently I bought a Western Digital 500GB drive to go with my AEBS. I was intent upon using the drive as an Airdisk for Time Machine backups, but it isn't working. (I also have the WD drive partitioned in halves, but there is no reason to believe that is an issue.) When wired, the disk backs-up quickly and easily. After the initial backup, and attempting to do so wirelessly, however, it doesn't work. I get the message: "The backup volume could not be mounted."
And there's the contradiction: the disk is mounted, I'm looking at the mounted disk as I type -- I even have no problems reading and writing from the Airdisks independent of Time Machine. I have all the latest software updates and am running Leopard. I've been going at this for hours, but I would really appreciate some help.
Here are some of the things I've tried:
-checking all connections
-erasing the Airdisk and starting from scratch
-repairing disk permissions(on my internal harddrive, the one I boot on, not the WD)
-attempting to "Connect to Server" in the Finder, only to get this:
And if you look, you can see that while the Airdisks are there, they are grey and can't be selected. It
never becomes possible to select them, and "Connecting to Server" never connects.
-I've toggled every Airport Utility setting to no avail(I will admit I might have missed something though).
-I've done everything I can think of
-banged my head into walls...
-and pulled my hair out, but nothing.
I really would like to get this working. This is my worst Apple experience yet, and it is literally making me sick. You will be my God if you can help me with this. Let me know if you need anymore information. Thanks in advance.
<Edited by Moderator>

Okay, so it seems you need to do initial Time-Machine-ing over WiFi if you intend to use it that way. Why nobody at Apple mentioned this baffles me; why this is even a problem, makes me wonder if Time Machine went through adequate testing.
So my problem is solved! I am my own God!
<Edited by Moderator>

Time machine has stopped working - 'the backup volume could not be found'

i'm not sure what happened, but my macbook pro hasn't been able to backup to my time machine for the past few weeks. i get a 'delayed' message, then in time machine prefs it says 'the backup volume could not be found.' i can manually mount the backup image, but it still won't backup. my wife's 12" powerbook is backing up perfectly. we both have 10.5.4. i was having the problem before the 7.3.2 firmware update, so that doesn't seem to be the cause. has this happened to anyone else? could my computer somehow lost track if the backup? is there prefs that can be trashed? i don't mind losing my old backups if i need to start over, but i can't figure out how to force it to backup because i keep getting the 'backup volume can't be found' no matter what i do.
my setup: dsl modem into time machine / my macbook pro, my wife's powermac 12", and our apple tv are the only clients.

There is a Time Machine preferences file at
<your startup drive root>/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist
Note: This is be main Library folder, not the one in your user folder.
You might try moving that to the Desktop so that the system creates a new one.

Time Machine Error - The backup image could not be mounted

Bought two new MacBooks.
Put first MacBook on LAN connected to TC.
1. Selected Use Time machine Backup
Selected TC
It then sat there for 3 hours "Checking Time Machine Backup.....
The only way out was to power off and power on again
Did 1 again, and again , and again
By now the two iMacs are now reporting either the backup image is Read Only followed by The backup image could not be mounted!!!!
So it seems that the two new MacBooks cannot use TM backups and c]have corrupted our backups!!
Tried calling Apple Care, which I paid for both MacBooks - but they had closed. That was a very useful £400 spent!!!!!!
Arrrrrrgh I had just been bragging about how easy Macs made things
Very frustrating
If I cannot get these going tonight they are back in the box and back to the store in the morning

OK
Called Applecare - took out the £195 Applecare option when I purchased the MacBook.
The AppleCare guy told me said first:-
The TimeCapsule is broken take it in for repairs.
I pointed out the TC was working fine.
Then :-
After explaining again that the Macbook had been sitting for several hours saying it had 1 minute to go before finishing.
"My supervisor says Macs take longer to do things than PCs, give it another two hours then if it still hasn't finished it's last minute call us back.
I challenged him on this he put me on hold again for 10 mins and eventually hung up on me.
That was why I paid and extra £195 for telephone support!!!
Called back again and very helpful guy walked me through some options and escalated to Tier 2, couldn't get anywhere so the only thing left now is to return the MacBooks to the store.
It Appears that Macbooks are incompatible with the Time Capsule.
Never mind Windows 7 is coming soon and I am hearing good things about it.

Time Machine: The backup volume could not be found?

I keep getting the message "The backup volume could not be found" when I try to back up my Macbook Pro using an external Lacie USB harddrive. I have tried reformatting the harddrive, and restartet the computer. The external harddrive works normal in Finder, I am able to write and read it, but Time Machine still get this error message. Can anyone help me here?
When I look in the console log, it sais: Volume at path /Volumes/MBP Backup does not appear to be the correct backup volume for this computer. (Cookies do not match)
Where can I delete this cookies?

There is a Time Machine preferences file at
<your startup drive root>/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist
Note: This is be main Library folder, not the one in your user folder.
You might try moving that to the Desktop so that the system creates a new one.

Backups failing with error 19: the backup disk could not be resolved, or there was a problem mounting it

Hello all,
Doubt this issue relates to a recent and ugly issue but sharing anyways (resolved thanks to a user here: LaPastenague)
Time Capsule won't backup if Modem (Motorola SB6121) attached
This was on Feb 10th resolved. Few days later I upgraded to Yosemite. Backups were working fine since.
Yesterday I happen to notice my last backup was 5 days ago. I looked in the console logs and saw:
2/25/15 3:55:06.127 PM com.apple.backupd[2777]: Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://Paul;AUTH=SRP@Time%20Capsule._afpovertcp._tcp.local./Data
2/25/15 3:55:17.778 PM com.apple.backupd[2777]: NAConnectToServerSync failed with error: 2 (No such file or directory) for url: afp://Paul;AUTH=SRP@Time%20Capsule._afpovertcp._tcp.local./Data
2/25/15 3:55:17.792 PM com.apple.backupd[2777]: Backup failed with error 19: The backup disk could not be resolved, or there was a problem mounting it.
2/25/15 3:57:18.808 PM com.apple.prefs.backup.remoteservice[2021]: Attempt to use XPC with a MachService that has HideUntilCheckIn set. This will result in unpredictable behavior: com.apple.backupd.status.xpc
I called Apple. Their front line was clueless. He suggested resetting the TC (latest "tower" model btw") which then a backup kicked off YEAH
But the next hour it failed
Called Apple again, this time to Sr Advisor. He suggested factory reset of the TC and set up again. Also first backup worked then rest failed
Third call to Apple useless also. He was asking questions I didn't feel relevant. He also was asking me to reset the TC which I told him was done 2 hours prior. He asked me to reboot which I could NOT at that time.
I begged him to collect data to submit to engineering, which will take days to get a reply.
So I thought I would throw this out to the community....
TC Is NEW (replaced from last issue). Mac is 8 months old (iMac 27"), Os is Yosemite, TC also new (latest model)
Thanks...

Yosemite is problematic on two fronts.. Networking and Time Machine.. so the combo of doing both with a Time Capsule is like bugs on bugs.
Here is my standard list.. but your problem maybe difficult to resolve.. and my suggestion is simple.. until Apple get their act together and fix TM.. buy Carbon Copy Cloner and use that for your backup. It is solid and reliable.. even better if you use USB drive plugged into the computer and do a bootable clone.. because then you have a backup that is able to be tested for full functionality 2min after the end of the backup.
This also starts from a factory reset.. but the reason for it is to change the configuration which is much more easily handled with factory reset to begin.. the instructions are there.. because this is my standard reply.. this is not uncommon!!
Factory reset universal
Power off the TC.. ie pull the power cord or power off at the wall.. wait 10sec.. hold in the reset button.. be gentle.. power on again still holding in reset.. and keep holding it in for another 10sec. You may need some help as it is hard to both hold in reset and apply power. It will show success by rapidly blinking the front led. Release the reset.. and wait a couple of min for the TC to reset and come back with factory settings. If the front LED doesn’t blink rapidly you missed it and simply try again. The reset is fairly fragile in these.. press it so you feel it just click and no more.. I have seen people bend the lever or even break it. I use a toothpick as tool.
N.B. None of your files on the hard disk of the TC are deleted.. this simply clears out the router settings of the TC.
Setup the TC again.
ie Start from a factory reset. No files are lost on the hard disk doing this.
Then redo the setup from the computer with Yosemite.
1. Use very short names.. NOT APPLE RECOMMENDED names. No spaces and pure alphanumerics.
eg TCgen5 and TCwifi for basestation and wireless respectively.
Even better if the issue is more wireless use TC24ghz and TC5ghz with fixed channels as this also seems to help stop the nonsense. But this can be tried in the second round.
2. Use all passwords that also comply but can be a bit longer. ie 8-20 characters mixed case and numbers.. no non-alphanumerics.
3. Ensure the TC always takes the same IP address.. you will need to do this on the main router using dhcp reservation.. or a bit more complex setup using static IP in the TC. But this is important.. having IP drift all over the place when Yosemite cannot remember its own name for 5 min after a reboot makes for poor networking. If the TC is main router it will not be an issue.
4. Check your share name on the computer is not changing.. make sure it also complies with the above.. short no spaces and pure alphanumeric.. but this change will mess up your TM backup.. so be prepared to do a new full backup. Sorry.. keep this one for second round if you want to avoid a new backup.
5. Mount the TC disk in the computer manually.
In Finder, Go, Connect to server from the top menu,
Type in SMB://192.168.0.254 (or whatever the TC ip is which you have now made static. As a router by default it is 10.0.1.1 and I encourage people to stick with that unless you know what you are doing).
You can use name.. SMB://TCgen5.local where you replace TCgen5 with your TC name.. local is the default domain of the TC and doesn't change.
However names are not so easy as IP address.. nor as reliable. At least not in Yosemite they aren't. The domain can also be an issue if you are not plugged or wireless directly to the TC.
6. Make sure IPv6 is set to link-local only in the computer. For example wireless open the network preferences, wireless and advanced / TCP/IP.. and fix the IPv6. to link-local only.
There is a lot more jiggery pokery you can try but the above is a good start.. if you find it still unreliable.. don't be surprised.
You might need to do some more work on the Mac itself. eg Reset the PRAM.. has helped some people. Clean install of the OS is also helpful if you upgrade installed.
Tell us how you go.
Someone posted a solution.. See this thread.
Macbook can't find Time Capsule anymore
Start from the bottom and work up.. What I list here is good network practice changes but I have avoided Yosemites bug heaven.
This user has had success and a few others as well.
RáNdÓm GéÉzÁ
Yosemite has serious DNS bug in the networking application.. here is the lets say more arcane method of fixing it by doing a network transplant from mavericks.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/01/why-dns-in-os-x-10-10-is-broken-and-what-yo u-can-do-to-fix-it/

Time Machine Error: "The backup volume could not be found"

Here's my problem: I click on "Back up now" and it "Prepares to backup" for a few seconds then fails.
I have been here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3275#4 and it didn't help at all as I'm using Time Machine, not Time Capsule. I only noticed the problem now, but it has been over a week since it was last backed up. (The computer was getting its logic board replaced)
Has anyone got a clue as to a fix to this situation? I really don't want to reformat my external HD as it has stuff that I'd love to keep on it - not to mention I don't want the hassle.
Thanks

Time Machine Failed Backup
After being without a backup for 3 months, I now have my backup program working again.My backup drive is a Western Digital 1TB drive connected by firewire. I'm not a tekkie but this worked painlessly for me and took only about 2 minutes from start to finish.
I had the same problem of being unable to launch a backup (although I could restore files. In retrospect the ownership privileges were pooched; although I could read, I couldn't write.) The 10.5.6 updated didn't provide the solution I had hoped to see and has even caused all kinds of similar problems for other people.
Cheers and good luck!
Rob
I found the thread here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1827243&tstart=15
and this is the important part:
Using Terminal (found under utilities) type the following and be sure to include spaces where they occur.
$ cd /Volumes/Backup
$ ls -alF
$ sudo chown Username .001b63b6df97
"Backup" is the name of your TM drive
"Username" is, well, your username
.001b... is the name of the file TM states (also shown after the ls command)
For the ‘cd’ command, replace “Backup” with your volume name, e.g. My Time Machine (hint, you can type the first few characters and press TAB and the shell should auto-complete). For the ’sudo’ command, replace “jfoster” with your account name and use the file name shown in the error dialog (or the file listing given with ‘ls’).* The ’sudo’ command allows you to run the ‘chown’ (change owner) as root, but you will need to give your password to authenticate this action.
(*I also found the file name by clicking on the lowercase "i" in the red circle next to where it said Failed:)
credit for his goes to James Foster:
http://programminggems.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/mac-10-5-6/

Airport Extreme/Time Capsule backup volume could not be found?

I am having problem with Time Machine. When I try to backup using Time Machine, I get an error message, " The backup volume could not be found." Strangely, Time Machine recognized the drive when setting the Time Machine preferences, but not when I backup.
If i select from the 'select disk' again and try again i get Keychain Access error 25299 and have to delete that in the Keychain for it to even get to the point of counting down to start back up
I have erased my Time Capsule recently and was starting fresh but now i cannot get time machine running again...
In the shared section of the finder the time machine backup is only appearing in the network area rather than directly there...
Any ideas?
Many thanks.

Hi there.
I would suggest First Aid of your Keychain, but that hardly ever works (especially in this situation).
What I would do first, is go to ~/Library/Keychains/, grab the login.keychain and move it to the desktop. Log out, and log back in again. If that fixes it, then get the old login.keychain from the desktop and put it in the trash. (You will lose all your saved passwords for networks etc.)
If that doesn't work, unfortunately the only option would be to do an Archive & Install.
So you just need to put your 10.6 disk in again and install over the system.
Your personal data/files should still remain intact. Although I would still suggest making a backup (ironic considering the situation)
Cheers
Taylor

Brand new Mac, had to erase drive through disk utility as time machine back up failed. Now disk utility only has the option to install Mountain Lion which my Mac won't allow. Anyone any ideas as my Mac won't load anything up but disc utility!

Brand new Mac, had to erase drive through disk utility as time machine back up failed on initial setup, USB cable popped out Now can only access disk utility as won't load to log in screen. The only has the option in disc utility is to re-install Mountain Lion which my Mac won't allow or loading another time machine back up but after an hour of it processing, that didn't resolve the issue either! The time machine back up is the latest back up of my Mac Book Pro which was using OS X Maverix. I'm guessing I'm going to have to take my Mac to the store but that would be a hassle so does anyone have any ideas?

Follow this guide using another Mac.
Insert your newly created Mavericks USB into you Mac, press the power button and then hold down 'option,' until it gives you an option to boot from the USB. You will then be able to erase the internal disk with Disk Utility and reinstall Mavericks straight after.
After that you should be able to use Migration Assistant to restore your applications and user data.

HT1338 Attempt to install Mountain Lion has highlighted need for internal disk repair. Even after "repair" ML still says disk is damaged. Attempt to restore from Time Machine back-up failed - cannot 'see' internal HD to restore to. Help!

Attempt to install Mountain Lion has highlighted need for internal disk repair. Even after "repair" ML still says disk is damaged. Attempt to restore from Time Machine back-up failed - cannot 'see' internal HD to restore to. Help! Has attempt to install ML caused these problems or just highlighted existing need to Repair Disk? Even so, why can back-up from Time Machine not see the internal drive to restore to?

Csound1, William & Sig .... thanks for taking the trouble to reply. I fear you are right - I'll need a new disk. I'm booked in at the Apple Genius Bar in Bordeaux, France on Wed ... quite a challenge as my French isn't great! The current internal disk is 500gb, does anyone know whether I can upgrade my 21.5" iMac (circa Oct-2009 vintage) to a larger size internal disk, 1Tb or even 2Tb? I already have one external 2Tb drive and another one on order (I have masses of media stored and more planned as I've just taken up photography). Seems a bit of a pain managing with only 500gb internal storage. OR, can you advise me on how I can store all my photos on my new 2Tb external drive - I can't seem to figure out how to set the path for iPhoto to see them (I can't even figure out where they are stored right now!). Same with iTunes, how do I set the default storage to the external drive (I moved everything manually and then imported them all from the new drive - it worked but seemed very convoluted). Any advice on how to manage multiple drives gratefully received. And thanks again for previous replies.

Trying to restore Time Machine back-up from WD MyBookLive - whats the Password?!

Hi all,
my son has a Macbook Pro running Lion. Yesterday it hung when downloading the 10.7.3 update and wouldn't reboot properly.
We logged in via safe mode and managed to sort this out, however I was initially looking at doing a restore from his time machine back-up. I had booted the recovery partition and chosen the 'restore from a time machine back-up' - then it had prompted me for a username and password to gain access to the back-up...
When I set up the Time Machine Back-ups I always have selected (as recommended by Apple and Western Digital) the Guest user. Therefore I have no idea what the username or password should be??? I've hunted on the web for any kind of answer however theres no certain answer...
I'm hoping someone out there will know what username and password it is expecting? Is this from Time Machine, or a default username/password set by the Western Digital NAS???
I hope someone can help - my time machine backs up both my own, my wifes and my sons macbooks, its all very well having the back-ups but not worth it if I can never get access to them when I need to!
thanks in advance

I think you are not restoring your files in the correct way.
If what you want to do is to restore a complete Time Machine backup, you have to do it in OS X Recovery, so first hold Command and R keys while your Mac is starting up. Then, choose the option to restore a Time Machine backup, and follow its steps.
If you want to restore individual files, you cannot restore that type of user files because you are using them. Instead, you can restore individual files in your user folders. Read > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427

When using Time Machine, if I delete items from my computer, will they still be backed up to access later on my external hard drive? In other words, when time machine backs up again, will it delete the files from the back up?

When using Time Machine, if I delete items from my computer, will they still be backed up to access later on my external hard drive?
In other words, when time machine backs up again, will it delete the files from the back up that I have deleted from my computer?

No, I do not believe so. Time Machine would keep all those now-deleted files in previous backups, and as time goes by those backups might be deleted if you needed room, but it would still keep one backup from each day in last month, as well as one from each week forever, as long as you don't start running out of room, then just the oldest would be deleted to make room if needed.
I use a backup drive about double the size of my drive to be backed up, so I would guess it will never get to the point where deleted files being replaced by new ones being backed fill up that drive to the point where backups actually have to get deleted.

TS2529 I am unable to backup my iphone 5 iOS 6.0.1 (connected directly to laptop USB) with my itunes 11 for Win 7 64bits. The process starts and fails to complete giving the error: itunes could not complete backup of iphone because iphone disconnected.

I am unable to backup my iphone 5 iOS 6.0.1 (connected directly to laptop USB) with my itunes 11 for Win 7 64bits. The process starts and fails to complete giving the error: itunes could not complete backup of iphone because iphone disconnected.
I have restarted the PC, the iphone, changed the lightining cable and nothign resolves it: backup never completes.

Hi, I disabled the antivirus and the firewall. Same result
I even deleted the backup folder inside C:\Users\...\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup to eliminate any corruption in the old backup files.
Nothing changed: Session either times out or i get the same error message: itunes could not back up iphone because iphone disconnected. It always happens during step 3 out of 4 which is "transfering purchased apps from iphone to PC" and comes after step 2 which is backup.
My iphone 5 is not jailbroken, and is a factory unlocked phone.
Any other suggestion?
Pls help

My time machine back up failed because it says the backup volume could not be mounted

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