New HD Backup to Time Machine
I have been using Time Macine for a long time to backup my HD. My HD was dieing, so I used Carbon Copy Cloner to make a bootable backup. I replaced the internal HD and using CCC again copied back to the new HD. I gave the new HD the same name as the old one, I foolishly assumed that Time Machine would just pick-up where it left off. It didn't.
So the question is can I force Time Macine to continue using the backup it had been using before the HD swap?
Thanks to everyone who spends time helping us who just can't find the correct answers.
Keith Kaiser1 wrote:
2012-02-26 23:08:32.204 tmutil[4941:707] *** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInvalidArgumentException', reason: '*** -[NSURL initFileURLWithPath:]: nil string parameter'
Sounds like you missed a space or something in the command. You should be using the "associatedisk" verb, per the pink box in that link.
Try it again, being very careful about the spaces (it's a bit hard to see in the samples, I know), and/or copy the Terminal window's contents and post it here.
Similar Messages
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HT203177 how do i clear old backups from time machine to make more space
My 2TB Time Machine is nearly full. I am trying to back up a drive in a Mac Min that is starting to fail and wanted to do so on Time Machine. Unfortunately since my Time Machine is nearly full it will not back up drive without eliminating nearly all of the files on this Mini. I am okay overwriting the other backups already on the Time Machine but do not know how to force Time Machine to do so. Please any clues on how to make Time Machine overwrite other backups would be greatly appreciated.
About TM "Backup Drive is Full" Alert
TM only deletes older files if they have been deleted from the source and when TM needs space on the backup drive for a new incremental backup. Time Machine "thins" it's backups; hourly backups over 24 hours old, except the first of the day; those "daily" backups over 30 days old, except the first of the week. The weeklies are kept as long as there's room.
So, how long a backup file remains depends on how long it was on your Mac before being deleted, assuming you do at least one backup per day. If it was there for at least 24 hours, it will be kept for at least a month. If it was there for at least a week, it will be kept as long as there's room.
Note, that on a Time Capsule the sparsebundle grows in size as needed, but doesn't shrink. Thus, from the user's view of the TC it appears that no space has been freed, although there may be space in the sparsebundle.
Once TM has found it cannot free up enough space for a new backup it reports the disk is full. You can either erase the backup drive and start your backups anew or replace the drive with a larger drive.
As you can see Time Machine does prune old backups to make space, but eventually it may no longer succeed. Then you will get the alert. You can delete old backups if you wish, but only using the Time Machine application. -
I bought a new external hard drive for backups, but time machine won't do a full back up.
I think it is remembering backing up onto previous external hard drives, which I don't own anymore. How do I do a new full backup?
When I bought the new (used) iMac, I also bought an external hard drive for backups. It worked fine, but my husband stole it.
Then I bought a new external hard drive (Seagate) and it worked fine for three weeks, then died.
So I just got a new external hard drive, which was put together from an internal hard drive and a hard drive enclosure.
Time machine did the first backup today, and it should have taken 9 hours like it did on the previous first time full back up. Instead, it took 30 minutes. That can't be right. I want to start over and do a full backup to make sure everything gets onto my new external hard drive, but I can't figure out how to do that. Please help.Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:
tmutil compare -E
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).
The command will take at least a few minutes to run. Eventually some lines of output will appear below what you entered.
Each line that begins with a plus sign (“+”) represents a file that has been added to the source volume since the last snapshot was taken. These files have not been backed up yet.
Each line that begins with an exclamation point (“!”) represents a file that has changed on the source volume. These files have been backed up, but not in their present state.
Each line that begins with a minus sign (“-“) represents a file that has been removed from the source volume.
At the end of the output, you’ll get some lines like the following:
Added:
Removed:
Changed:
These lines show the total amount of data added, removed, or changed on the source(s) since the last snapshot. -
Old computer I had is OSX Snow Leopard with Entourage. New one is OSX Mavericks. Using Mail where are my addresses and old address book. Transferred old computer backup by Time Machine and other things work? Can;t see a symbol for address book.
Where are addresses kept on MAIL? I don;t like the new format at all. Frances
Begin forwarded message:
From: Frances Topping <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: - Old computer I had is OSX Snow Leopard with Entourage. New one is OSX Mavericks. Using Mail where are my addresses and old address book. Transferred old computer backup by Time Machine and other things work? Can't see a symbol for address book.
Date: August 25, 2014 at 9:46:01 AM EDT
To: discussions-replies <[email protected]>
Old Entourage is POP and new Mavericks MAIL is IMAP I believe. I don;t know how to export in the forms you mention. Frances -
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. -
Purchased a new, larger solid state drive to replace my old drive. I installed OSX then I had Time Machine do it's magic.
Now when I want to do a backup using Time Machine, it tells me that the external HD is full. When I did so prior to upgrade, it would erase old backups and then do a new backup.
Please help. I am worried about losing files, and am tired of seeing the "Time Machine hasn't backed up in xxx days" Error Message.
Thanks.it thinks yours is a new machine so it doesn't want to start deleting another machine's backups
see the bottom of this page
http://pondini.org/TM/19.html -
hi, I have a macbook pro with a new hard drive installed and restored. My WD external drive backup on time machine now wont let me access the files. I get a prompt saying 'you do not have permission to access the files' After my new drive was installed I plugged in time machine and it started backing up. I paused it when I realised that it was running for more than a few minutes. I now realise that it probably started backing up the new hard drive all over again. Which makes me think that the original back up must be on the WD back I cant seem to access it. Any ideas would be helpful.
See E-10 in the first link.
Time Machine Troubleshooting
Time Machine Troubleshooting Problems -
Purchased Seagate network drive, ethernet attached to wireless router, set up went well but attempts at backup with Time Machine failed. "Do I need to erase disk and reformat or is this error message "The network backup disk does not support the required AFP features" indicating some other error?
That means the NAS drive's OS isn't compatible with the version of OSX you're running. See if the maker has an update.
See #C16 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting. -
Multiple iPhone backups in Time Machine
I have my wife's iPhone and she was charging it on our Mac via cable. Our iTunes is instructed not to sync automatically. We have two phones in iTunes. Child comes along and somehow resets or wipes phone: not sure which one.
My question is, if I were to enter into Time Machine is it possible to discern which backup is for which phone? The phone is not synced often and I'm guessing the last one was in September, if she even synced at all during that month .
I'm on os x10.8 which was a recent upgrade. Our previous version residing on Time Machine is SL. I have been told to be careful on the restore just in case we need to resort to other (cough) measures in order to (cough) the data.
Thanxpcp0827 wrote:
Is there a way to delete multiple backups in TIme Machine and not have to delete old files one by one by slow one by one?
Yes, sort of. You can delete indiividual backups, or all backups of selected items,via Time Machine. See #12 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions. You can only select one backup at a time, but they're deleted in a separate process, so you can select another before the first one completes. When you exit from Time Machine, you may see one or more progress bars for the individual deletions. (As noted there, never delete anything from your backups via the Finder.)
But you really shouldn't have to do that. Time Machine will delete your oldest backups automatically, when it needs room for new ones. -
How to delete the old backup in time machine?
Hi all,
As I have use the TM for a year,the backup folder is on a network dirve. HOw can I delete the old backup (eg 6 months ago) in order to release more space?
Thank you
GaryHi, and welcome to the forums.
I'll assume you mean a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device, not a Time Capsule or external HD connected to a Time Capsule or other Mac on your network.
If so, you can delete individual backups via Time Machine. See #12 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum). That may not seem to gain any space, since the backups are in a rather odd container called a +sparse bundle.+ It won't shrink automatically when you delete things, but the space will be reused for new backups.
You may be able to limit the size of the backups by limiting the amount of space available to Time Machine on the NAS, but you'll have to use whatever facilities the NAS supplies, not OSX. Some allow the disk to be partitioned as on a normal disk, or allocate space to shares. -
My external hard drive (1TB WD My Book Essential) suddenly has no room to backup with Time Machine! I am using Maverick OS and wondered if it is because of a bug in the system software. I purchased a new external drive with 3 TB and wonder if I will run into a problem installing it. I don't know how to transfer my files from the previous HD to the New one. I was told to use a cable, but how do I do it? Do I connect them both to the computer and drag the old into the new? How is it done? Why did this happen, the overloading of the Time Machine?
Why has the TimeMachine drive run out of space?
With the limited amount of information you've provided it is hard to answer this question. TimeMachine should continue making backups until the drive is full and then it should erase the oldest backup(s) to retrieve enough space for the next backup. Unless your computer's hard drive has close to 1TB of space on it, you shouldn't see a message saying TM cannot backup because it is full. However if you do have more than 500GB (1/2 a TB) then I can see how that message might occur. Also, if you are using the TM drive for double duty (backing up more than one computer or storing data other than TM) you could get that message.
Will you have this problem with a 3TB drive?
I always recommend that people look at how much they'll be backing up in total, add a bit extra for the future, and then multiply that by at least 1.5 and even better to double it. That indicates how large the TM backup drive should be. The TM drive should only be used for TM backups. It is ok to use one drive to back up more than one computer but if doing so, add up the contents of all the computer drives, adjust for the future and then double it.
Moving Forward
Disconnect the old TM drive for now. Connect the new drive and let TM do its job. I don't recommend that you try to transfer the TM backup from the old drive to the new one. Keep the old drive around for a couple months just in case you find you need it and then after a few months, if you like, you can erase it and use it for something else. -
What is the easiest way to restore to a previous backup of Time Machine?
I was adding some simple album cover artwork to my iTunes collection when the computer locked up. I got the spinning beach ball and was unable to "force quit." So, I did a re-boot using the power key. I then launched iTunes and it opened properly with all the new Album Artwork. The files were not large in size and the "Album Artwork" folder is only 99.8MB.
I did a Time Machine backup yesterday and the only thing changed on the computer was the artwork. However, when Time Machine launched to do a backup it said there was 30GB(!!!) to back up?!?!?
I am assuming something got corrupted in the iTunes library file during the crash and now it thinks it has to back up part of the music.
So, that is what caused the problem. My question is, what is the easiest way to simply restore the backup the Time Machine had completed yesterday before all this happened?? It doesn't seem like there is a simple way to accomplish this. It looks like TM is used to back up specific files or folders and not to restore the computer to a previous state.
Any help is much appreciated.
Thanks in advance!!Time Machine backs up all files except those you exclude in TM prefs. It doesn't "know" what kind a file is; it just compares info about a file on the source drive to see if it has already been backed up, or if it is new or has changed and needs to be backed up again. For unchanged files or folders, TM simply creates another hard link on the backup drive.
iTunes artwork files are separate files. The assignments of artwork to particular music files are saved in another file within the iTunes application (which is actually a package, a folder containing other files). So if all you did was add album artwork, TM would back up each new artwork file, and a new copy of the hidden file within the iTunes application containing the artwork-music links.
The following is speculation on my part, but it seems logical:
TM uses records in the hidden File System Events log to identify any new or modified files. However, it is possible to have an FSE entry as to a particular file without modifying the file (e.g. open, then close). So TM doesn't "know" until it actually compares the source file with the backup file (if one exists) whether a file is new or has been modified.
Hope this helps. -
Problems starting a completely fresh total backup on Time Machine - Help!
I recently had an iMac which refused to boot. I reinstalled from a combination of Time Machine restore and the original system disc. It still took 7 hours to get all the preferences and odd programmes which didn't seem to restore back to working order.
I wanted to do a complete Time Machine backup starting from scratch using a fresh 500Gb ext hard drive. I did the following as suggested:
1.On the Time Machine Preferences window, click the Options button. Note anything in the exclusions box, then click Cancel to return to the main window. Note the settings of other option(s), then turn Time Machine OFF and quit System Preferences.
2.If you're backing-up to an external HD, eject, disconnect, and power it off for a few moments, then reconnect it.
3.Delete the file /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist (in your top-level Library folder, not your home folder).
(You may have to navigate to it; a Spotlight search won’t show it, and a Finder search won’t, either, unless you include System Files. If you have a problem finding the file, see item #A7.)
4.Go back into Time Machine Preferences, re-select the drive, re-enter any exclusions and other options you noted in step 1. Note that the oldest and latest backup dates won't appear on this window until the next backup is done.
5.A 120-second countdown to a backup should appear. If you close the window, it should begin immediately.
The Mac HD has a used space of 150 Gb, but before the new TM backup started it counted thousands of files which were 'excluded' even though I hadn't asked for this. When the actual backup started it was saying that it was backing up a total of 68 Gb. Surely this can't be correct. I know that TM automatically omits a number of system files but surely not 82GB worth? I have a feeling that despite trashing com.apple.TimeMachine.plist it may be picking up from where the 'old' external hard drive (which contained the previous total TM backup) left off?
All I want to do is start afresh using this new 500Gb EHD but ensure that the whole of drive is backed up. How do I do this or is there a better way of backing up the whole drive on a regular basis?
Thank you.Colin Cadle wrote:
I recently had an iMac which refused to boot. I reinstalled from a combination of Time Machine restore and the original system disc. It still took 7 hours to get all the preferences and odd programmes which didn't seem to restore back to working order.
I wanted to do a complete Time Machine backup starting from scratch using a fresh 500Gb ext hard drive. I did the following as suggested:
You didn't really need to do all that. Those instructions (from #A4 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html]) are for a "full reset" of Time Machine, such as, when there's a problem with the preferences file, to get Time Machine to continue backing-up to existing backups.
When you back up to a new or erased drive, Time Machine starts fresh.
The Mac HD has a used space of 150 Gb, but before the new TM backup started it counted thousands of files which were 'excluded' even though I hadn't asked for this.
When you did this, was the old TM drive connected? If so, that's probably what was being excluded. Time Machine will automatically exclude the +*currently selected+* backup drive, but if it finds a different volume containing TM backups, it won't exclude the entire drive, since there might be other data on it; so it excludes just the backup files on the drive. Your best bet is to eject and disconnect the old drive; otherwise, specifically exclude it.
When the actual backup started it was saying that it was backing up a total of 68 Gb. Surely this can't be correct. I know that TM automatically omits a number of system files but surely not 82GB worth?
It's possible. Depending on exactly went wrong, and exactly what you did, some things may not have been restored to the proper places, or the sizes being reported are inaccurate.
Exactly what did you do? Did you, for example, select your internal HD in the "Star Wars" display, and tell TM to restore it?
How much data was on your system before all this started? Was it about 150 GB, or was it more like 70 GB? -
HT3275 can't backup with time machine
I can't backup with time machine and I do not receive any errors, time machine just stays in the 'looking for backup disk' mode and will not go any further. I went as far as buying a new usb backup disk to replace the old one and still the same issue occurs. I've tried using different usb ports on my mb pro and that doesn't work. No amount of restarting, ejecting discs or checking preferences helps. Disk utility states the drive is fine (even the new one), the permissions or sharing haven't changed.
My system is up to date with the latest updates, and this all just happened out of the blue one day. I suppose I could do a system restore but I'm afraid of losing my data; and I'm not 100% sure how to do that.
I'm running OSX 10.8.2, 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5, 4GB memoryThere is good advice available about Time Machine. Go to Pondini's paper(s) before you do anything so drastic as a system restore.
Time Machine - Troubleshooting
Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions -
I recently bought a WD My Book Live to backup using Time Machine, now that I've upgraded to and my old NAS won't support Mountain Lion. The WD drive appears in the Finder, but it doesn't appear as an option when setting up the backup disc in Time Machine. Any ideas please?
" now that I've upgraded to and my old NAS won't support Mountain Lion. "
Do you have a few words missing in the original question ?.
When i upgraded from LION to MOUNTAIN LION it made NO difference at all to my MyBook Live !!!
reading the original post again and again, do you in fact have two My Book Live units, an old one and a new one ?
tim
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