Normal Time Machine Log?

My Time machine backup seems to be hanging on "finishing backup"; just want to check if my log looks normal;
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb
Detected system migration from: /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb/newmacimac-2/2010-11-30-041401/New_HD
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:must scan subdirs|new event db|

Yes, what you posted is normal. For some reason the UUID associated with your source volume did not match the one embedded in the TM backup, so the TM is undertaking a deep traversal to rebuild the index to match the volume with backup.

Similar Messages

  • Errors in Time Machine Log

    Hi
    I've just upgraded from Lion to Mountain Lion and started my first Time Machine backup to an external drive which I was previously using under Lion.
    The backup took longer than usual what I expected since besides the OS X upgrade there were also many application updates.
    Normally I don't care for the Time Machine logs, but in this case (first backup under Mountain Lion) I opened it and was shocked about 19 errors, all of the following kind:
    03:09:46 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5eeeeb0d0 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Add%20Color%20Profile.a ction/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Add Color Profile.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5eeef2410 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
    Could anyone please explain what this means and if I can confidently ignore it?
    Many thanks!
    Below is the FULL log:
    02:46:53 - Starting manual backup
    02:46:53 - Backing up to: /Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb
    02:46:53 - Ownership is disabled on the backup destination volume.  Enabling.
    02:46:56 - Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
    02:46:56 - Deep event scan at path:/ reason:must scan subdirs|new event db|
    02:49:50 - Finished scan
    02:52:37 - Found 431916 files (20.88 GB) needing backup
    02:52:37 - 26.13 GB required (including padding), 247.93 GB available
    03:09:46 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5eeeeb0d0 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Add%20Color%20Profile.a ction/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Add Color Profile.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5eeef2410 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
    03:09:57 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5eeef4ed0 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Enable%20or%20Disable%2 0Tracks.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Enable or Disable Tracks.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5eeef4d60 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
    03:09:58 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5efe06dc0 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Encode%20Media.action/C ontents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Encode Media.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5efe06b20 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
    03:10:08 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5f010d400 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Hint%20Movies.action/Co ntents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Hint Movies.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5efccf440 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
    03:10:12 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5eeeeefa0 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/New%20Audio%20Capture.a ction/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/New Audio Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5eeef8730 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
    03:10:12 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “objects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5e8c11950 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/New%20Audio%20Capture.a ction/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/New Audio Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5efccf360 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
    03:10:16 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5f004c5c0 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/New%20Screen%20Capture. action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/New Screen Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5f004c070 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
    03:10:16 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “objects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5effa3e10 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/New%20Screen%20Capture. action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/New Screen Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5eeef6020 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
    03:10:17 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5eeef66e0 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/New%20Video%20Capture.a ction/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/New Video Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5effa3bb0 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
    03:10:17 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “objects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5f004dc00 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/New%20Video%20Capture.a ction/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/New Video Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5f0201400 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
    03:10:18 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5efe51d70 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Pause%20Capture.action/ Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Pause Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5efe12fd0 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
    03:10:18 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “objects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5ee5df560 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Pause%20Capture.action/ Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Pause Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5efe08ac0 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
    03:10:20 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5efd11880 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Play%20Movies.action/Co ntents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Play Movies.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5efd50370 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
    03:10:20 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “objects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5efd364d0 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Play%20Movies.action/Co ntents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Play Movies.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5f0201b70 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
    03:10:23 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5f014ed40 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Resume%20Capture.action /Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Resume Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5f014e980 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
    03:10:23 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “objects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5f004ce70 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Resume%20Capture.action /Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Resume Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5efd06d90 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
    03:10:29 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5f004a550 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Start%20Capture.action/ Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Start Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5f004a190 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
    03:10:29 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5f010d2b0 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Stop%20Capture.action/C ontents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Stop Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5f01068d0 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
    03:10:29 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “objects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5efd5d9b0 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Stop%20Capture.action/C ontents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Stop Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5f004ce70 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
    03:26:00 - Copied 503625 files (13.95 GB) from volume Macintosh HD.
    03:26:00 - Using file event preflight for Macintosh HD
    03:26:01 - Will copy (3.2 MB) from Macintosh HD
    03:26:01 - Found 124 files (3.2 MB) needing backup
    03:26:01 - 1.3 GB required (including padding), 235.77 GB available
    03:26:48 - Copied 948 files (3.2 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
    03:26:50 - Created new backup: 2012-11-22-032648
    03:26:56 - Starting post-backup thinning
    03:27:33 - Deleted /Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-10-23-043003 (272.7 MB)
    03:27:33 - Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed
    03:27:34 - Backup completed successfully.

    The error messages are benign and result from folders being replaced by regular files with the same name. Ignore. The backup succeeded.

  • Where Are Time Machine Logs Kept?

    When using TimeMachineEditor you can select "Show Time Machine Logs" to see details of past backups.
    However, when using just Time Machine there is no similar option.
    How can I access these logs when using TM?

    Click here to download the +Time Machine Buddy+ widget. It shows the messages from your logs for one TM backup run at a time, in a small window.

  • What does error 19 on a Time Machine log mean?

    I get this error number in the Time Machine log. I am having trouble with my back up drive and this is a piece of the puzzle as I don't know what it means.

    Read https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4276915?start=0&tstart=0
    Allan

  • After restore time machine log in twice

    After moving files and programs from Mac Air to new Mac Pro, I have to login twice.  I assume that this means the file restore occurred "inside" a logged in user, but how do you fix it? 
    Also curious is that even while I am typing something, the machine will time out due to inactivity and I'll have to log back in.  This requires only one login screen. 

    The external drive does not seem to be the problem.  I've tried the following:
    - Deleted the /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist file and reconfigured TM.
    - Do Time Machine backups on another disk.  After initial full backup, the same behavior persisted.
    - Exclude the external drive ("Synk_Archive" in the logs above) from TM backup.  The behavior persisted.
    - Unmount the external drive.  The behavior persisted.
    - Exclude Macintosh HD from TM backup.  TM behaved normally and only backed up a few files per run!
    - Repaired disk permissions on Macintosh HD.  The behavior persisted.
    So, there is something about Macintosh HD that is fooling TM into thinking there have been a million files changed every hour.  Wiping and restoring my hard drive would be a desperate last resort and might not even solve the problem (since the trouble began right after replacing and restoring this drive).  Anyone have another suggestion?

  • Time Machine log query plus advice on SystemUIServer logs

    Recently I repartitioned my USB 500 GB drive used with Time Machine after unsatisfactory performance post installation of Yosemite 10.10. Disk Utility verifies the drive as OK.
    I noticed the first entry in the Time Machine widget after every start up is:
    Property list invalid for format: 200 (property lists cannot contain NULL)
    Property list invalid for format: 200 (property lists cannot contain NULL)
    usually as above but at times just the one line.
    A successful backup has followed anywhere between 7 and 33 mins later.
    On checking the Console after entering “backupd” in the Filter field and selecting “system.log” from the log list I can see the earliest entry is:
    Oct 24 00:53:27 com.apple.backupd-helper[44]: Attempt to use XPC with a MachService that has HideUntilCheckIn set. This will result in unpredictable behavior: com.apple.backupd.status.xpc
    Followed by:
    Oct 24 00:53:57 com.apple.backupd [2925]: Starting automatic backup
    Oct 24 00:53:58  com.apple.backupd [2925]: Backing up to /dev/disk1s2: /Volumes/My Passport/Backups.backupdb
    Oct 24 00:54:03  com.apple.backupd [2925]: Will copy (15.1 MB) from Macintosh HD
    Oct 24 00:54:03  com.apple.backupd [2925]: Found 208 files (15.1 MB) needing backup
    Oct 24 00:54:03  com.apple.backupd [2925]: 934 MB required (including padding), 309.74 GB available
    Oct 24 00:54:13  com.apple.backupd [2925]: Copied 446 items (15.1 MB) from volume Macintosh HD. Linked 2268.
    Oct 24 00:54:17  com.apple.backupd [2925]: Created new backup: 2014-10-24-005417
    Oct 24 00:54:18  com.apple.backupd [2925]: Starting post-backup thinning
    Oct 24 00:54:18  com.apple.backupd [2925]: No post-backup thinning needed: no expired backups exist
    Oct 24 00:54:18  com.apple.backupd [2925]: Backup completed successfully.
    Oct 24 00:56:20  SystemUIServer [863]: Attempt to use XPC with a MachService that has HideUntilCheckIn set. This will result in unpredictable behavior: com.apple.backupd.status.xpc
    Logs confirm I performed a successful manual backup - Oct 24 01:29:37
    Since then manual and automatic backups have been running seemingly successfully, removing expired backups or not, I presume accurately as required.
    Time Machine is certainly backing up although the interface is not always as smooth as prior Yosemite.
    On searching for the message indicating unpredictable behaviour I discovered this thread:
    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6620539?start=0&tstart=0
    The unpredictable behaviour with “backup.status.xpc” has continued. As of today recent logs read as follows:
    Oct 27 14:38:16  com.apple.backupd[2535]: Backup completed successfully.
    Oct 27 14:40:17  SystemUIServer[735]: Attempt to use XPC with a MachService that has HideUntilCheckIn set. This will result in unpredictable behavior: com.apple.backupd.status.xpc
    Oct 27 15:38:17  com.apple.backupd-helper[44]: Attempt to use XPC with a MachService that has HideUntilCheckIn set. This will result in unpredictable behavior: com.apple.backupd.status.xpc
    Oct 27 15:38:47  com.apple.backupd[3982]: Starting automatic backup
    Oct 27 15:38:47  com.apple.backupd[3982]: Backing up to /dev/disk1s2: /Volumes/My Passport/Backups.backupdb
    Oct 27 15:38:53  com.apple.backupd[3982]: Will copy (8.8 MB) from Macintosh HD
    Oct 27 15:38:53  com.apple.backupd[3982]: Found 164 files (9.1 MB) needing backup
    Oct 27 15:38:53  com.apple.backupd[3982]: 928.1 MB required (including padding), 307.93 GB available
    Oct 27 15:38:57  com.apple.backupd[3982]: Copied 243 items (8.9 MB) from volume Macintosh HD. Linked 1768.
    Oct 27 15:39:01  com.apple.backupd[3982]: Created new backup: 2014-10-27-153901
    Oct 27 15:39:02  com.apple.backupd[3982]: Starting post-backup thinning
    Oct 27 15:39:05  com.apple.backupd[3982]: Deleted /Volumes/My Passport/Backups.backupdb/***REDACTED*** iMac/2014-10-26-151157 (8.8 MB)
    Oct 27 15:39:05  com.apple.backupd[3982]: Post-backup thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed
    Oct 27 15:39:05  com.apple.backupd[3982]: Backup completed successfully.
    Oct 27 15:41:06  SystemUIServer[735]: Attempt to use XPC with a MachService that has HideUntilCheckIn set. This will result in unpredictable behavior: com.apple.backupd.status.xpc
    NB: ***REDACTED*** is owners name.
    Added to this I've filtered system.log using "SystemUIServer" and recently found these logs corresponding to startup.
    Oct 27 09:01:30  com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.systemuiserver.ServiceProvider): The HideUntilCheckIn property is an architectural performance issue. Please transition away from it.
    Oct 27 09:01:30  com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.systemuiserver.screencapture): The HideUntilCheckIn property is an architectural performance issue. Please transition away from it.
    Oct 27 09:01:43  SystemUIServer[735]: Cannot find executable for CFBundle 0x7f87aa429a00 </System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/Clock.menu> (not loaded)
    Oct 27 09:01:43  WindowServer[185]: disable_update_timeout: UI updates were forcibly disabled by application "SystemUIServer" for over 1.00 seconds. Server has re-enabled them.
    Oct 27 09:01:44 WindowServer[185]: common_reenable_update: UI updates were finally reenabled by application "SystemUIServer" after 1.29 seconds (server forcibly re-enabled them after 1.00 seconds)
    Oct 27 09:01:45  SystemUIServer[735]: Could not find image named 'greenmarker'.
    Any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated. System running well.
    Thanks in advance
    iMac Late 2009, OS X Yosemite (10.10), 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 12 GB 1067 MHz,
    2nd display connected via mini display port as extended desktop used to varying degree.

    That's very welcome feedback Linc.
    Thanks for reading through the post.

  • Time Machine LOG file, does one exist

    I'm getting errors saying that the time machine backup has failed, but there seems to be no detail as to how it failed. Yet, when I look at the Time Machine status, it will show that backups are completing. I just no longer can find out if they are really any good or not.
    I need a LOG file or something where I can see the actual error message and diagnose the real problem. Telling me there is an error but not what is going on is just not at all helpful.

    You are asking in the wrong forum.
    http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1227

  • Understanding Time Machine logs

    I posted a similar question earlier, but retracted it when I realized I didn't know enough about how Time Machine worked, and hard links in particular. Having done my research, I still have my questions. Looking at the log below:
    Dec 22 13:00:50 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: Backup requested by user
    Dec 22 13:00:50 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: Starting standard backup
    Dec 22 13:00:50 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Desktop Backup/Backups.backupdb
    Dec 22 13:01:06 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 113.3 MB requested (including padding), 399.90 GB available
    Dec 22 13:01:43 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: Copied 2576 files (20.0 MB) from volume Wintermoot.
    Dec 22 13:01:45 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: Copied 2588 files (20.0 MB) from volume Feezmoe.
    Dec 22 13:01:46 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 100.0 MB requested (including padding), 399.87 GB available
    Dec 22 13:01:50 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: Copied 683 files (7 KB) from volume Wintermoot.
    Dec 22 13:01:51 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: Copied 695 files (7 KB) from volume Feezmoe.
    Dec 22 13:01:55 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: Starting post-backup thinning
    Dec 22 13:02:10 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Desktop Backup/Backups.backupdb/Feezmoe/2007-12-21-090046: 399.91 GB now available
    Dec 22 13:02:10 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed
    Dec 22 13:02:10 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: Backup completed successfully.
    Dec 22 13:49:50 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: Backup requested by automatic scheduler
    Dec 22 13:49:50 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: Starting standard backup
    Dec 22 13:49:50 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Desktop Backup/Backups.backupdb
    Dec 22 13:50:01 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 2.07 GB requested (including padding), 399.91 GB available
    Dec 22 13:59:39 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: Copied 20841 files (1.7 GB) from volume Wintermoot.
    Dec 22 13:59:49 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: Copied 20853 files (1.7 GB) from volume Feezmoe.
    Dec 22 13:59:52 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 115.4 MB requested (including padding), 398.14 GB available
    Dec 22 14:00:14 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: Copied 1870 files (12.8 MB) from volume Wintermoot.
    Dec 22 14:00:16 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: Copied 1882 files (12.8 MB) from volume Feezmoe.
    Dec 22 14:00:25 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: Starting post-backup thinning
    Dec 22 14:00:25 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: No post-back up thinning needed: no expired backups exist
    Dec 22 14:00:25 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: Backup completed successfully.
    I have several questions.
    The first is why Time Machine is backing up so much data. As you can see, on Dec 22 at 13:59:39 Time Machine backed up 1.7 GB of data. I know for a fact that I did not add anywhere near 1.7 GB of data to my machine in the time between the last backup and that one. Where did Time Machine get that number? Is it backing up files I'm not aware of but which need backing up, like system files or the swap files from /private/var/vm?
    Second, in the list are two drives, Wintermoot and Feezmoe. Wintermoot is my main drive, while Feezmoe is a storage drive. Because of this, the contents of Feezmoe do not change very often. However, Time Machine always seems to back up the same amount of data from both, even when nothing has been added to Feezmoe. Is Time Machine actually wasting space in this way, or is there something I don't know about how Time Machine presents information in the log which is confusing me?
    Third, there always seem to be two backup cycles for each timestamp. Is the second cycle perhaps related to the Spotlight database, or do I have a setting in my Time Machine set up which needs to be changed?
    I want to say that, overall, I am delighted with Time Machine's performance, but I want to make sure it is working properly and that I have set it up properly.

    Is there actually a problem, ie is your backup folder growing too quickly?
    I have just looked at my TM log and in the same line as you are quoting my latest backup said 214.7 MB. Now my entire backup folder is not much greater than 40 MB so the numbers being produced by the log are clearly wrong. Could be the log is confused by the multiple hard links used by TM but I'm guessing.
    TM seems to working fine for me (not that I've restored anything hugely complicated to date).

  • Time machine logs

    Does anyone know where the Time Maching backup logs are with OS-X 10.10.2? They don't show up in the Console window but do show in the widget for the Time Machine. It would be nice if Apple posted some of the minor changes and tweaks they make with versions.

    The Time Machine backup logs are in the system.log file in the Console window, but the messages are displayed in the "All Messages" window now. Something new they should fix since the link is all messages.

  • Time Machine - Log with errors

    Hi, Does anyone know what these errors (in red) mean:
    00:40:28 - Starting standard backup
    00:40:29 - Backing up to: /Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb
    00:40:32 - Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
    00:40:32 - Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:must scan subdirs|new event db|
    00:45:26 - No pre-backup thinning needed: 49.34 GB requested (including padding), 577.75 GB available
    01:30:32 - Copied 57395 files (37.9 GB) from volume Macintosh HD.
    01:30:35 - No pre-backup thinning needed: 951.7 MB requested (including padding), 539.27 GB available
    01:30:48 - Copied 647 files (3.0 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
    01:30:51 - Starting post-backup thinning
    01:30:59 - Deleted backup /Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/zome’s iMac/2012-02-06-000304: 539.28 GB now available
    01:30:59 - Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed
    01:30:59 - Backup completed successfully.
    And then a bit later:
    23:33:07 - Starting standard backup
    23:33:07 - Backing up to: /Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb
    23:33:14 - No pre-backup thinning needed: 1014.3 MB requested (including padding), 539.28 GB available
    23:33:35 - Copied 1045 files (55.2 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
    23:33:36 - No pre-backup thinning needed: 948.0 MB requested (including padding), 539.23 GB available
    23:33:36 - Waiting for index to be ready (100)
    23:33:45 - Copied 570 files (93 bytes) from volume Macintosh HD.
    23:33:47 - Starting post-backup thinning
    23:34:38 - Deleted backup /Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/zome’s iMac/2012-02-06-001417: 539.64 GB now available
    23:34:38 - Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed
    23:34:38 - Backup completed successfully.
    Many thanks!

    I thought the red colour doesn't mean any good.
    You're viewing the log in a third-party application. The red color represents the developer's opinion as to the importance of the message. You'd have to take that up with him or her.
    Why then this message at all?
    That message is normal when the source volume has been unmounted since the last snapshot was taken, and perhaps under other conditions.
    If you overread your logs and search for an explanation for every cryptic message, you'll quickly lose your sanity. Log messages are only significant in the context of solving a problem.

  • Time Machine Log?

    Is there a way to see your past data backups? I was just curious of how big my last few backups have been. Thanks guys.

    Hi evan127,
    This is a pretty good widget that I stumbled across a while back and have been using. It's much easier than trying to scan through console log files looking for "backupd" files.
    http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/28392

  • Time Machine- Frequently Asked Questions

    This post contains answers to many common, general questions about Time Machine.
    It does not, however, cover diagnosis and correction of specific problems or errors. See the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip* at the top of this forum for such help.
    General problems with Time Capsules are covered in the separate TimeCapsule forum, in the +Digital Life+ section, including the Using TIME MACHINE with a TIME CAPSULE *User Tip* also at the top of that forum.
    *C o n t e n t s*
    *1. How big a drive do I need for Time Machine?*
    *2. What can TM back up, and where can it put it's backups?*
    *3. Can I use my TM disk for other stuff?*
    *4. Can I use one TM disk to back up 2 or more Macs?*
    *5. I just bought an external drive. How do I get it to work with Time Machine?*
    *6. Can I use a drive with other data already on it?*
    *7. How can I tell what Time Machine is doing during (or after) a backup?*
    *8. How can I tell what Time Machine is backing-up?*
    *9. Why are my backups so large?*
    *10. Can I tell Time Machine not to back up certain things?*
    *11. What should I exclude, and what should I not exclude?*
    *12. Should I delete old backups? If so, How?*
    *13. How can I change TM's schedule of hourly backups?*
    *14. How do I restore my entire system?*
    *15. How do I restore selected items?*
    *16. How can I restore a file/folder to an alternate location?*
    *17. How can I see my backups, or the backups for a different Mac, via +Time Machine+ ?*
    *18. How can I copy my TM backups to a different location?*
    *19. How do I set up a new Mac from my old Mac's backups?*
    *20. Once my Mac is backed-up, can I delete some stuff to save space?*
    *21. How do I set up Time Machine to an internal or directly-connected external HD?*
    *22. How do I set up Time Machine to a shared drive on another Mac?*
    *23. How do I set up Time Machine to a Time Capsule or Airport Extreme?*
    *24. What do the Time Machine icons in my Menubar and Dock do?*
    _*1. How big a drive do I need for Time Machine?*_
    A general "rule of thumb" is, TM needs 2 to 3 times as much space as the data it's backing-up (not necessarily the entire size of your internal HD).
    But this varies greatly, depending on how you use your Mac. If you frequently add/update lots of large files, then even 3 times may not be enough. If you're a light user, 1.5 times might do. Unfortunately, it's rather hard to predict, so if in doubt, get a bigger one!
    Also, there are some OSX features and 3rd-party applications that take up large amounts of backup space, for various reasons. See question #9 for details.
    This is a trade-off between space and how long TM can keep it's backups, since TM will, by design, eventually use all the space available. But it won't just quit backing-up when it runs out: It starts deleting the oldest backups so it can keep making new ones. Thus, the more space it has, the longer it can keep your backups.
    +Go to Top+
    _*2. What can TM back up, and where can it put it's backups?*_
    |
    _*Time Machine can back up FROM*_ any internal or +directly connected+ drive/partition formatted with any variation of *Mac OSX Extended* (HFS+). Thus it cannot back up a +Boot Camp+ partition.
    It cannot back up any network drive, including a Time Capsule, or a USB drive connected to a Time Capsule or Airport.
    It will back-up your entire system (OSX, configuration, applications, user data, settings, preferences, etc. (less most caches, logs, trash, etc.), unless you specifically exclude things (see items 10 and 11).
    In fact, by default, it will back up any such drive/partition (except the disk/partition where it's putting backups), unless you specifically exclude it.
    |
    _*Time Machine can back up TO:*_
    _*Local Drives:*_
    |
    A directly-connected external disk (USB or FireWire)
    A secondary internal disk or partition (but not your boot/OSX partition)
    _*Network Drives:_*
    |
    A Time Capsule
    A USB disk connected to a Time Capsule
    A "shared" disk/partition connected directly to another Mac running Leopard or Snow Leopard on the same local network
    An available Mac OS X Server version 10.5 or 10.6 volume
    Any such drive must have either the +Apple Partition Map+ or GUID *Partition Map Scheme,* and either the +Mac OS Extended (Journaled)+ or +Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, journaled)+ Format (except a Time Capsule, which has a fixed format).
    Time Machine may back up to some 3rd-party network drives (NAS or Network Attached Storage devices), but only those that meet the criteria specified by Apple: Disks that can be used with Time Machine.
    Be very careful here: just because a 3rd-party vendor claims to support Time Machine doesn't necessarily mean that Apple supports that configuration, or that it will work in all circumstances.
    In some cases, Time Machine may back up to a USB drive connected to an Airport Extreme, but it's often unreliable and is not supported, as specified in the link above.
    |
    You may find some "hacks" that might make other things work, in some cases, to a degree. But use them at your own risk.
    First, since it's *unsupported by Apple,* there's nowhere to go when there's trouble.
    Second, you're risking a future update preventing it from working, and perhaps rendering your backups useless just when you need them the most.
    |
    *_Step-by-step setup instructions for:_*
    An internal or directly-connected external HD: Question 21.
    A shared drive on another Mac: Question 22.
    A Time Capsule: #Q1 in the Using TIME MACHINE with a TIME CAPSULE *User Tip,* also at the top of the +Time Capsule+ forum.
    A USB drive connected to a Time Capsule: #Q2 in the Using TIME MACHINE with a TIME CAPSULE *User Tip.*
    A USB drive connected to an Airport Extreme: #Q2 in the Using Time Machine with a USB drive connected to an Airport Extreme *User Tip,* also at the top of the +Airport Extreme+ forum.
    +Go to Top+
    _*3. Can I use my TM disk for other stuff?*_
    Yes. TM will not delete anything you put there.
    But it's much, much better to partition an external drive into 2 (or more) parts, also called volumes. Assign one to TM, for it's exclusive use for backups; use the other partition(s) however you want. To use a new drive, or one you don't mind erasing, see question #5. To add a partition to an existing drive that already has data on it, see question #6.
    (Unfortunately, though, you can't partition a Time Capsule's internal disk. See #Q3 in the Using TIME MACHINE with a TIME CAPSULE *User Tip,* also at the top of the +Time Capsule+ forum.)
    There are two reasons for this: first, TM will, eventually, fill all the empty space available to it before it begins deleting old backups. When it gets near full, you may not be able to put anything else there.
    Second, if you ever want or have to delete all your old backups and start over (when you get a new Mac, or have certain problems), you can just erase the partition via Disk Utility; if there's other data there, it would be erased too. It is possible to delete individual backups via the TM interface, but it's one-at-a-time, so rather tedious (see question #12). But don't be tempted to just delete them via the Finder -- that can take a very long time, and hopelessly corrupt them.
    For most purposes, each partition is treated as if it were a separate disk drive: each will be shown separately on your desktop and/or Finder sidebar, for example, using the name you assign to it.
    Note that TM can be used to back-up any internal or directly-connected disk/partition that's formatted Mac OS Extended, including any "other" partitions on it's drive (but no network drives). But it's usually not a good idea to have your originals and backups on the same physical drive. If you don't want it to do that, exclude those disks/partitions from TM via TM's System Preferences > Options. (see question #10).
    +Go to Top+
    _*4. Can I use one TM disk to back up 2 or more Macs?*_
    Yes, if it's big enough (see question #1). TM keeps track of which computer is which (by a hardware identifier, not computer name), so it will always keep it's backups for each Mac separate from each other.
    It is advisable, though, to partition an external disk that will be connected to your Macs into one volume for each Mac (see question #5 or #6 for instructions). You can't partition a Time Capsule's disk, but each Mac will have a separate +sparse bundle+ on a Time Capsule, so it's not as big an issue.
    There are two reasons for this:
    |
    First, TM will, eventually, fill all the space available to it before it begins deleting old backups. When multiple Macs are "competing" for the same backup space, TM might have room for several months of backups for one, but only a few weeks for another. This is especially likely to happen if you start backing-up a new Mac to a drive that already has a lot of backups from another Mac. TM on the new Mac will not delete backups from the other Mac, so when it needs space for new backups, it will delete the oldest backups from the new Mac instead.
    Second, if you ever want or have to delete all the old backups for one Mac and start over, you can just erase the partition via Disk Utility; if there are other Mac's backups there, they would be erased also. If you replace one of the Macs, TM on the new one won't delete the backups from the old one. And sometimes it's advisable after certain problems.
    |
    If you're backing-up to a USB disk connected to a Time Capsule or Airport Extreme, you can use separate partitions if desired, but it's less of an issue, since the backups for each Mac will be in separate +sparse bundles.+ Those can be deleted via the Finder if necessary.
    If you're backing-up to a shared disk connected to another Mac on the same local network, there should be a separate partition for the Mac that the disk is connected to directly; the other Macs can share a partition or have their own, as you desire, since these will each be in separate +sparse bundles.+
    It is possible to delete individual backups via the TM interface, but it's one-at-a-time, so rather tedious. See question #12. (And don't be tempted to just delete them via the Finder -- all sorts of things may go very wrong.)
    See question #17 for how to view/restore from another Mac's backups.
    +Go to Top+
    _*5. I just bought an external drive. How do I get it to work with Time Machine?*_
    First decide if you're going to put other data on the drive. If so, see question #3 before proceeding. If you're making two or more partitions, it's usually a good idea to put your TM partition first, so you can adjust it later.
    Second, consider whether your backups should be case-sensitive. That is the default if Time Machine formats it for you (and if you're backing up to a Time Capsule or other network device, TM will use a case-sensitive +sparse bundle,+ which you can't change.)
    If any disk being backed-up is case-sensitive, then your backups must be case-sensitive also. There's no choice: TM can only back up that way. So if you think you might add a case-sensitive disk in the future, make your backup disk case-sensitive now.
    But if all the disks/partitions being backed-up are case-ignorant, you may want your backups to be the same. If the backups are case-sensitive, TM can't restore an item if there's an item already in the same location with a conflicting name.
    Example: you save a file named MYFILE, then later on change it to Myfile. You cannot restore the older MYFILE to replace the newer Myfile. Worse, if this happens, TM will not provide a list or log of the conflicting item(s)-- it just says "some items cannot be restored" and gives you the option to stop or continue.
    |
    Most new disks come with various things on them that you don't need, and may even conflict with Time Machine. So even if the drive says "Mac Ready" or the like, you should erase and format it with the Disk Utility app (in your Applications/Utilities folder):
    a. When Disk Utility starts, select the new drive in the sidebar (the line with the size and make/ID).
    b. Select the Erase tab, then confirm. This will erase the entire disk. (If you want, you can select +Security Options,+ then +Zero-Out Data+ to physically erase the entire disk by writing over everything. This will take quite a while, and shouldn't be necessary, especially on a new disk. This may not work if the drive is already set up with a non-Apple *Partition Map Scheme,* such as is used on Windows. If that happens, just continue with item c.
    c. Select the Partition tab, then set the number of partitions from the drop down menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more). Sometimes you can't change a MBR drive to GUID or APM and change the number of partitions at the same time; if that happens, make a single partition with GUID or APM first, then re-format with the desired number.
    d. Click Options, then choose either GUID or +Apple Partition Map.+ For Time Machine, either will work, but GUID is usually preferred for other purposes on an Intel Mac; +Apple Partition Map+ for a PPC Mac.
    e. For each partition, click on it (it will then be outlined in blue), then supply a name (this is the name that will appear on your desktop and/or Finder sidebar) and size (either by typing in the box or dragging the dividers in the diagram), and set the *Format type* for your Time Machine partition to either +Mac OS Extended (Journaled)+ or +Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled)+ as you decided above. Set any other partitions to the desired format.
    f. When you've got everything the way you want it, click Apply and wait a few moments for the process to complete.
    +Go to Top+
    _*6. Can I use a drive with other data already on it?*_
    Maybe. First, verify that it has the correct *Partition Map Scheme* using Disk Utility (in your Applications/Utilities folder). Select the top line of your drive (with the size and make). Down towards the bottom of the panel will be the *Partition Map Scheme.* It should be either GUID or +Apple Partition Map.+ If this is not correct, the only way to use this disk for TM backups is to copy the data off somewhere else temporarily and reformat it into at least 2 partitions with the correct Partition Map Scheme per question #5 above, then copy the data back.
    Also, partitions must use contiguous physical space on a disk, so just because your disk has enough total available space on it, there may not be enough contiguous space available for a new partition. The only way to tell is by trying -- if there isn't enough space, the partitioning will just fail without actually changing anything.
    Before doing this, back-up the data you want to keep, just in case.
    Here's how to partition without erasing:
    a. When Disk Utility starts, select the drive in the sidebar (the line with the size and make/ID).
    b. Click the Partition tab. DU will show a chart of the current partition(s), with the amount used in each shaded in light blue.
    c. Click the partition you want to split. DU will outline it in blue.
    d. Click the plus sign at the bottom. DU will split the partition into two parts, and name the new one the same as the old, but with "_2" appended.
    e. Click the new partition; DU will outline it in blue.
    f. Give it a name (this is the name that will appear on your desktop/Finder sidebar).
    g. Adjust it's size, either by dragging the divider between the new and old partitions, or typing the desired size into the box.
    h. Set the Format to +Mac OS Extended (Journaled)+ or +Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, journaled).+ See the pink box in question #5 to determine which you need.
    i. When you have it the way you want it, click Apply.
    j. The drive will be re-partitioned, unless DU can't get enough contiguous space; then it will send you an error message, and not change anything.
    |
    There are some 3rd-party apps that will move data around so you can do the partition even when Disk Utility can't. But they all strongly recommend that you back-up the data first, "just in case" something goes wrong. Well, if you're going to do that, you might as well simply do the copy, then erase and reformat the disk, then copy the data back.
    +Go to Top+
    _*7. How can I tell what Time Machine is doing during (or after) a backup?*_
    If you press the TM icon in your Menubar, or right-click the TM icon in your Dock, and select +TM preferences,+ you may see "Preparing" (Leopard) or "Calculating Changes" (Snow Leopard); or a progress message ("xxx MB/GB of yyy MB/GB"), or a number of other messages; plus a progress bar (Preferences pane only; sometimes there's also a separate window with a progress bar).
    For more detail, click here to download the +Time Machine Buddy+ widget. It shows the messages from your logs for one TM backup run at a time, in a small window. (If it doesn't seem to work, see #A1 in the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.)
    See the yellow box in #C2 in the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip,* for explanations of common messages.
    If you see messages that seem to indicate an error, or if your backup fails, you should be able to find the message there, or in the Contents, along with one or more possible fixes. If that doesn't help, post a new thread in this forum with details, including all the messages, your setup (especially the destination for the backups), what you've done, and the results.
    +Go to Top+
    _*8. How can I tell what Time Machine is backing-up?*_
    Click here to download the TimeTracker app. It shows most of the files saved by TM for each backup, except the first (excluding some hidden/system files, etc.).
    Some prefer the BackupLoupe application.
    +Go to Top+
    _*9. Why are my backups so large?*_
    There are some OSX features and 3rd-party applications that cause large Time Machine backups. Some common ones are any virtualization software, P2P or Torrent-type apps, and the Directory Protection feature of Tech Tools.
    FileVault (System Preferences > Security) converts your entire Home Folder into a single, encrypted disk image. So any change to anything in your Home Folder is treated as a change to the encrypted image, and the whole thing is backed-up. TM minimizes the impact, though, by only backing it up when you log out, but it's still going to eat up a lot of space on your TM disk. Also, you can't view or restore individual items from your Home Folder via Time Machine; just the whole thing.
    Some apps, such as Entourage, sometimes use a single file, often a database, to store their data. With Entourage, for example, every time you send or receive a single message, the whole database is changed, and will be backed-up the next time. Apple mail, of course, stores messages individually, so this doesn't happen.
    If in doubt, use the +Time Tracker+ app to see what's taking-up the space. See question #8.
    One solution is to simply exclude the item from TM so it isn't backed-up regularly, then when you do want it backed-up, just copy it somewhere that's not excluded. See question #10.
    +Go to Top+
    _*10. Can I tell Time Machine not to back up certain things?*_
    Sure. Go to TM's Preferences and click Options.
    In the next panel, click the plus sign at the bottom.
    In the sidebar of the next panel, select your computer, drive, or home folder as appropriate; then navigate to the file/folder you want to exclude. If you can't find it, and it's name starts with a dot (period), or it's in a top-level folder that doesn't appear when you click your internal HD in the sidebar, it's a hidden item. Click the +Show invisible items+ box to make it show up.
    Select it, click Exclude, then Done.
    +Go to Top+
    _*11. What should I exclude, and what should I not exclude?*_
    First, TM automatically excludes most caches, work files, logs, trash, etc., so you don't need to worry about those (see below for the gory details).
    You may want to exclude some special files/folders that cause extra-large backups (see question #9.)
    Some folks exclude their Desktop and/or Downloads folders, as they use these for "working storage" and put the finished product in a permanent location that does get backed-up.
    If you do a lot of step-by-step processing of large files, such as video processing, you might want to do it on a "scratch" disk, partition, or folder that you exclude from TM, so the intermediate steps won't all be backed-up. When done, be sure to put the finished product somewhere it will be backed-up.
    Some people exclude their /System and/or /Library and/or /Applications folders, to save space. Generally this is unwise, as it won't save very much disk space, but will make recovery from a disk failure *very, very* tedious and time-consuming. You'd have to install OSX from your disc; migrate or restore your data; download and install the "combo" Software Update to bring your OS current; and reinstall all 3rd-party software and re-enter any license codes; then hope you didn't miss anything. Major hassle for minor space saving (usually 14-20 GB).
    |
    *Details of automatically-excluded items:*
    |
    Sometimes, changes to your iPhoto and/or Aperture libraries may not be backed-up if those apps are open.
    Most things omitted are listed in a special "plist" on your system. See this file:
    /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd.bundle/Contents/Resources/StdExclusions.pli st
    A few others are excluded via special "extended attributes" on certain items, mostly in the iTunes and iPhoto libraries. These are automatically rebuilt or re-indexed when restored, so don't need to be backed-up.
    To see which ones are excluded, open the Terminal app (in your Applications/Utilities folder). Be *very careful* with this app. It's a direct link into UNIX, the underpinnings of OSX, but without the protections of OSX.
    In Terminal, the prompt looks like this: user-xxxxxx:~ <your name>$
    (where <your name> is your short user name). It's followed by a non-blinking block cursor (unless it's been changed via Terminal > Preferences).
    Copy the following after the prompt exactly, then press Return.
    sudo mdfind "comapple_backupexcludeItem = 'com.apple.backupd'"
    You'll be prompted to enter your Admin password (it won't be displayed). That will list the items excluded this way.
    If you use Xcode, the "build" folders are not backed-up.
    |
    +Go to Top+
    _*12. Should I delete old backups? If so, How?*_
    Under normal circumstances, you shouldn't have to. TM automatically "thins" (deletes) backups every time it does a new backup, on the following schedule:
    "Hourly" backups after 24 hours (except the first of the day, which is a "Daily" backup).
    "Daily" backups after a month (except the first of each week, which is a "Weekly" backup.)
    "Weekly" backups are kept until TM needs the space for new backups; then one or more of the oldest weeklies will be deleted.
    However, TM will never delete the backup copy of anything that was on the disk being backed-up at the time of any remaining backup. So all that's actually deleted are copies of items whose originals were changed or deleted before the next remaining backup.
    But if you want or need to, you can delete either all backups of a particular file or folder, or an entire backup (sort of). Do not attempt this via the Finder. First, if you're on Leopard, be sure you have the "action" or "gear" icon in your Finder's toolbar +(Finder > View > Customize Toolbar).+ If there's no toolbar, click the lozenge at the upper-right of the Finder window's title bar.
    Use the TM interface: +Enter Time Machine.+ (To delete backups for a different Mac, see question #17).
    |
    Locate the backup or item you want to delete via the "cascade" of Finder windows.
    If you want to delete all backups of a particular item, select it in the window.
    Right-click the item (if you're on Leopard, Click the "gear" icon in the toolbar) and select either +Delete Backup+ (the entire backup) or +Delete all Backups of <item selected>.+
    |
    You'll see a confirmation prompt, then one for your Administrator's password. This may take a while, especially over a network.
    If you delete an entire backup, it will disappear from the timeline and the "cascade" of Finder windows, but it will not actually delete the backup copy of any item that was present at the time of any remaining backup. Thus you may not gain much space. This is usually fairly quick, but sometimes quite lengthy (if you exit TM, you may see a progress bar for it). Unfortunately, you cannot predict which will be fast and which won't.
    |
    If you're backing-up over a network, there's an additional complication: Those backups are in a +sparse bundle,+ not a normal folder. A sparse bundle doesn't shrink automatically when things are removed from it, so you won't see how much space you've gained. TM will automatically "compact" a sparse bundle when it needs room for new backups, but you can do it manually via a command in the Terminal app (in your Applications/Utilities folder.
    Be extremely careful when using Terminal. It is a direct interface into UNIX, the underpinning of OSX. Unlike the Finder, there are few protections against making a mistake, which can cause untold damage.
    In Terminal, the prompt looks like this: user-xxxxxx:~ <your name>$
    (where <your name> is your short user name). It's followed by a non-blinking block cursor (unless it's been changed via Terminal > Preferences).
    At the prompt, type +*hdiutil compact+* followed by a space.
    Then drag the Sparse Bundle to the Terminal window, and press Return.
    |
    If you delete all backups of an item, TM will not back it up again unless/until it's changed, or TM does a "deep traversal" (see the yellow box in #C2 in theTime Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum).
    +Go to Top+
    _*13. How can I change TM's schedule of hourly backups?*_
    It's usually best to let TM do it's hourly backups. It was designed to protect you best that way.
    If they're using too much time or disk space, see item #9.
    If they're slow or hanging, see item #D2 in the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.
    If you still want to do this, you can use the free Time Machine Editor.
    It may change the following files, in your /System/Library/LaunchDaemons folder:
    com.apple.backupd-attach.plist
    com.apple.backupd-auto.plist
    com.apple.backupd-wake.plist
    com.apple.backupd.plist
    It's a good idea to copy these somewhere safe before using the Editor. Then if there's a problem, you can delete the corrupted ones and put the copies back. Do not attempt to edit these yourself.
    Also note that if you ever want to resume hourly backups, use Time Machine Editor to change back to that schedule before deleting the app. Otherwise, Time Machine will keep using the last schedule set by Time Machine Editor.
    +Go to Top+
    _*14. How do I restore my entire system?*_
    You can restore your entire system from it's backups, unless you excluded System folders (see item #11).
    But do not try this full system restore from a *different Mac's* backups. If it boots at all, many things will likely go wrong. See these Apple articles for details: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2186 and http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3243 Instead, boot from your Install disc, erase your internal HD, install OSX, then use +Setup Assistant+ (see item #19 ).
    To restore your entire system, you need the Leopard or Snow Leopard Install disc that came with your Mac (gray), or any retail Leopard (black) or Snow Leopard (white) disc. It doesn't matter what version it is (and doesn't violate the license if you borrow one), since you won't be loading OSX from it, just using the Installer utility. You can use either a Leopard or Snow Leopard disc to restore a Leopard backup, but only a Snow Leopard disc to restore a Snow Leopard backup.
    If you backed-up multiple drives/partitions, note that this procedure will restore one OSX drive/partition at a time. Use the normal Time Machine "Star Wars" interface to restore data-only drives or partitions (see item #15).
    If your backups are on a Time Capsule, connect to it via an Ethernet cable if possible; it will be much faster than WIFI. If your backups are on a disk connected to a Time Capsule or Airport Extreme, or a shared drive on another Mac on the same local network, connect it directly to your Mac if possible. It will be much faster than Ethernet or WIFI.
    |
    a. Boot from the Leopard/Snow Leopard disc. Insert it and either wait for the +Mac OS X Install DVD+ window and double-click the "Install" icon; or power down, then start up normally while holding down the "C" key. That takes a few minutes.
    b. Select your language from the list shown. On the next screen, select Utilities from the top menubar.
    c. If you're restoring to a new disk, or one that may not be formatted properly, select +Disk Utility+ from the list of Utilities in the menubar, and format the drive: Select the top line (with the make and size), click the Partition tab and select +1 Partition+ from the the pop-up menu under *Volume Scheme.*
    Give it a name (probably +Macintosh HD)+ under *Volume Information,* and select +Mac OS Extended (Journaled)+ for the Format unless you're certain you need +Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled).+ Click the Options button below the box, and select GUID for an Intel Mac, or +Apple Partition Map+ for a PPC Mac and click the OK button, then Apply. That should only take a few moments. Quit Disk Utility and you should see the Utilities menu again.
    d. Select +Restore from Backups+, and follow the on-screen instructions:
    e. You'll be prompted to select the disk where your TM backups are (or search for a Time Capsule). If you're restoring from a network drive (instead of connecting it directly), click the Airport icon in the Menubar and join the network.
    f. You'll next be prompted to select which of the backups you want, and, if you backed-up multiple OSX drives/partitions, which one to restore from. There will be a list showing the date & time of each completed backup of the disk selected, and the version of OSX on that backup. Note that the times on the list may not match your current time zone: they may be shown in *U.S. Pacific Time.*
    g. You're also prompted to select a destination (probably your internal HD), then a confirmation, then the process starts.
    h. If you want to monitor the installation, select Window, then +Show Log+ and +Show All logs+ from the menubar.
    |
    This is, naturally, a lengthy process, but your Mac will be restored exactly as it was at the time of the backup you selected (unless, of course, you excluded things from TM backups). Then your Mac will start up normally.
    When it does, you should immediately turn Time Machine off, as it's next backup will probably be a full one -- everything it just restored is considered changed and will be backed-up again. You cannot prevent this, only delay it. It will of course take quite a while, and a lot of space on your TM disk, so you may wish to wait until you're sure your system is the way you want it, or even erase your TM disk with Disk Utility and let your backups start anew.
    +Go to Top+
    _*15. How do I restore selected items?*_
    Time Machine has special handling for the data in these Apple applications: *Address Book, Mail,* and iPhoto. See below.
    All other data (including apps) is handled via the Finder. There's a demonstration of two ways in the Time Machine Tutorial. With a Finder window open, +Enter Time Machine.+ Locate the item you want to restore in the "cascade" of Finder windows, select it, click Restore in the lower right, and TM will put the selected version in the same place it was saved from.
    Note that what you see once you're in Time Machine depends on how your Finder window appeared before you clicked the TM icon. If you were on your Desktop, you'll see a Finder window showing only your desktop; if on your home folder, when you get into TM, that's what you'll see. Once there, you cannot add a sidebar for other selections, or the toolbar (you may need the "gear" icon) by clicking the lozenge in the upper right. If you need these, select them before entering Time Machine.
    |
    *Address Book*
    Start with the +Address Book+ application, then click the Time Machine icon in your Dock.
    Navigate to the desired backup, select whatever you want to restore, and click the Restore button.
    Note that you cannot restore Address Book data to an alternate location via this method.
    *Apple Mail*
    Start with the Mail application, then click the Time Machine icon in your Dock.
    Navigate to the desired backup, select the mailbox you want to restore from (and individual messages if desired), and click the Restore button.
    TM will make a new folder named +Time Machine+ in the +On My Mac+ section, containing a +Recovered Messages+ mailbox. This avoids duplicating messages in the selected mailbox; you can move or delete individual messages wherever you wish.
    If you restore additional mailboxes or messages, Time Machine will make a separate +Recovered Messages-n+ mailbox for them.
    Note that you cannot restore Mail data to an alternate location via this method.
    iPhoto
    Start with the iPhoto application, then click the Time Machine icon in your Dock (or +File > Browse Backups+ from the menubar.
    Navigate to the desired backup. Select the photo(s) you want to restore , and click the Restore button (or, to restore them all, click +Restore All).+
    Note that you cannot restore iPhotos to an alternate location via this method.
    |
    In most cases, if you +Enter Time Machine+ with an item selected that wasn't present (or was excluded) when some of the backups were done, those backups will be grayed-out in the Timeline on the right, and you can't select them. For example, if you recently created a new mailbox, and +Enter Time Machine+ from Mail with that mailbox selected, only backups made since that mailbox was created will appear normally; earlier ones will be grayed-out.
    +Go to Top+
    _*16. How can I restore a file/folder to an alternate location?*_
    First, if you're on Leopard, be sure you have the "action" or "gear" icon in your Finder's toolbar +(Finder > View > Customize Toolbar).+ If there's no toolbar, click the lozenge at the upper-right of the Finder window's title bar.
    Then locate and select the desired item as above, click the "gear" icon in the Finder window (or, on Snow Leopard, right-click it), then +Restore <item selected> to ...".+
    Then you'll see a prompt where you can select a location, and TM will place it there.
    To use the backups from a different Mac, see item #17.
    +Go to Top+
    _*17. How can I see my backups, or the Backups for a different Mac, via +Time Machine+ ?*_
    TM keeps the backups for each Mac separate, and normally only shows the ones for the Mac it's running on, even if there are other Macs' backups on the same disk/partition.
    Also, sometimes TM will start a new "sequence" of backups, as if they were from a different Mac.
    To see these "other" backups, you need the (badly named) +*Browse Other Time Machine Disks*+ option. It's available by holding down the Option key while selecting the TM icon in your Menubar, or by right-clicking the TM icon in your Dock.
    You'll see a selection screen showing all the disks/partitions that have TM backups on them. Select the one you want, and you'll be taken to the normal TM "Star Wars" display, where you should see all the backups on that disk/partition.
    If the backups you want were made over a network, you may have to manually mount the +sparse bundle+ they're in, by double-clicking it via the Finder, for them to show up in the selection screen.
    You may not be able to restore such items normally, to their original location; you'll need to restore them to an +alternate location+ per item #16.
    +Go to Top+
    _*18. How can I copy my TM backups to a different location?*_
    In many cases, you can copy your Time Machine backups to a new location, with some restrictions:
    If your backups were made to an internal or directly-connected USB or FireWire disk or partition, you must copy all the backups for all the Macs that were backed-up to the same disk/partition that way.
    You cannot pick and choose a group of individual backups to copy -- it's "all or nothing."
    You cannot merge two or more sets of backups, even for the same Mac.
    |
    Part of the complexity here is because Time Machine stores it's backups differently depending on how they were made:
    +*Local backups+* (made to an internal disk or a USB or FireWire disk connected directly to a Mac) are stored in a folder named "Backups.backupdb", at the top level of the drive/partition.
    +*Network backups+* (made over a network, whether via WIFI or Ethernet) are stored inside a +*sparse bundle+* at the top level of the drive, in a folder named "Backups.backupdb".
    Normally, you cannot just switch from one method to the other.
    |
    The method of copying is different for Leopard and Snow Leopard; how the backups were made; and whether you're changing from local to network, or vice-versa.
    Note that below, a "volume" is either an entire disk drive or a partition on a disk drive.
    Unless the new volume is a Time Capsule's internal HD (which is pre-formatted), it must be formatted per item #5, especially the pink box there (with a couple of exceptions noted below).
    Before starting to copy, de-select the old destination via TM Preferences (select "none"). When done, select the new destination.
    Copying backups will take a long time under the best of circumstances; even a small set of backups will contain +several hundred thousand+ files; a large one may number in the millions.
    If the copy fails, and everything else seems correct, try Repairing the old backups, per #A5 in the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip.*
    |
    _*To copy LOCAL BACKUPS from one volume to another LOCAL VOLUME:_*
    *SNOW LEOPARD:* See the *Mac OS X v10.6: How to transfer your back ups from your current hard drive to a new hard drive* section, towards the bottom of this Apple article: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427 Note that if the old volume is formatted +Mac OS Extended (case-sensitive, journaled),+ the new one must be formatted the same.
    Or, use the procedure for Leopard:
    LEOPARD: You cannot copy +*local backups+* properly from one volume to another via the Leopard Finder. But you can duplicate the backups to a different volume via Disk Utility (in your Applications/Utilities folder).
    Note that you must duplicate an *entire volume* to another *entire volume* -- if you have other items on the old volume, they will be copied, too (this is a bad idea: see question #3 above). Also, any data already on the new volume will be erased.
    |
    a. Via Time Machine Preferences, de-select the volume (select "none"). Quit System Preferences.
    b. Be sure to format the new drive correctly. See item #5 for instructions.
    c. Connect both drives to your Mac, via separate ports if possible, then open a Finder window. Make sure both volumes are shown in the sidebar (if not, from the Menubar select Preferences > Sidebar, and check the box to show +External disks+ in the sidebar). Leave the Finder window open.
    d. Start Disk Utility, select either volume (indented under the main drive line), and click the Restore tab.
    e. Drag the old volume to the Source box, and the new volume to the Destination box.
    f. Check the +Erase destination+ box, then the Restore button. This may take a long time.
    g. When the duplication is complete, note that Disk Utility has *+changed the name+* of the destination volume to be the same as the source. You do not want to leave it that way, so immediately rename one of them. In the sidebar of the Finder window opened above, right-click the one you want to rename. When done, look back at the Disk Utility display to be sure you renamed the right one, then quit Disk Utility.
    |
    _*To copy TIME CAPSULE BACKUPS to ANOTHER TIME CAPSULE:_*
    See the *Time Capsule and Mac OS X v10.6: How to transfer your back up from an existing Time Capsule to a new one* section towards the bottom of this Apple article: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427
    _*To copy NETWORK BACKUPS to a USB drive to be used on a NETWORK (or to a Time Capsule):_*
    *SNOW LEOPARD:* First, configure Time Machine to back up to the new network location, and start a backup. As soon as the +sparse bundle+ is created, cancel the backup. Then, if possible, connect the new drive directly to your Mac (or the Time Capsule via Ethernet). Use the Finder to mount the new sparse bundle, and delete the Backups.backupdb folder inside it. Then drag the Backups.backupdb folder from the old +sparse bundle+ to the new +sparse bundle.+
    LEOPARD: If possible, connect the new drive directly to your Mac (or the Time Capsule via Ethernet). Use the Finder to drag the +sparse bundle+ from the old volume to the new one. The problem here is, the copied sparse bundle will have the same +maximum size+ as the old one, so it may not be able to use the entire volume for backups.
    _*To copy NETWORK BACKUPS to be used LOCALLY:_*
    *SNOW LEOPARD:* Connect the old drive directly to your Mac if possible. Use the Finder to mount the old sparse bundle, then drag the Backups.backupdb folder from the sparse bundle to the top level of the new volume. Note that in this case, the new volume must be formatted +Mac OS Extended (case-sensitive, journaled).+
    LEOPARD: Network backups cannot be copied to be used locally.
    _*To copy LOCAL BACKUPS to be used on a NETWORK:_*
    *SNOW LEOPARD:* First, configure Time Machine to back up to the network location, and start a backup. As soon as the +sparse bundle+ is created, cancel the backup. Then, if possible, connect the new drive directly to your Mac. Use the Finder to mount the new sparse bundle, and delete the Backups.backupdb folder inside it. Then drag the Backups.backupdb folder from the old volume to the new +sparse bundle.+
    LEOPARD: Local backups cannot be copied to be used on a network.
    +Go to Top+
    _*19. How do I set up a new Mac from my old Mac's backups?*_
    The easiest way to set up a new Mac if you already have a Mac, is to use +Setup Assistant,+ which starts automatically when you start up your shiny new Mac.
    There's a little demonstration of this towards the end of the Time Machine Tutorial.
    First, you'll see a Welcome video in many languages, then a screen to select your Country, then one to select your Keyboard.
    The next screen says "Do you already own a Mac?" and "Would you like to transfer" followed by four options:
    From another Mac
    From another volume on this Mac
    From another Mac's Time Machine Backups
    Do not transfer
    To transfer directly from another Mac, you must connect them via FireWire cable, Ethernet cable, or an Airport; and start up the other Mac in +Target Disk+ mode (start up while holding down the T key).
    To transfer from Time Machine backups, they can be on an external FireWire or USB drive, or a Time Capsule. If they're on a Time Capsule, connect to it via Ethernet cable if possible. If they were made on a USB drive connected to a Time Capsule or Airport, connect the drive directly to your Mac if possible. If the backups are on an internal HD on another Mac, connect that Mac in +Target Disk+ mode as above.
    If you have a "clone" of your old Mac on an external HD, made via CarbonCopyCloner, SuperDuper, or the like, it's the equivalent of the old Mac: select +From Another Mac+ and connect the drive.
    If you selected +Time Machine backups,+ then select your TM backups on the next screen. (If they're not shown, connect the drive, or click Join if they're on a Time Capsule).
    Next is the selection for what you want to transfer. You'll see four checkboxes:
    Users
    Applications
    Settings
    Other Files and Folders
    These are "yes" or "no" selections: you can select which users to transfer, but otherwise you can't pick and chose individual items in those categories.
    In nearly all cases, select all four and click the Transfer button (as soon as it completes calculating all the sizes). +Setup Assistant+ will then transfer everything; when you restart, your Mac will be just like the old one: users, passwords, configuration, etc.
    Note that +Setup Assistant+ is smart enough not to replace newer Apple apps that came with the new Mac with older versions from the backups.
    In some cases, there may be a few exceptions:
    If transferring from a PPC Mac to an Intel Mac, some PPC applications may not work properly, or at all. See this Apple article: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1963?viewlocale=en_US
    You may have to re-enter serial numbers/purchase codes for some 3rd-party applications.
    Very rarely, complex 3rd-party apps that were installed with special installers, and put files in unexpected places, may need to be reinstalled (using their installer) to work properly.
    +Go to Top+
    _*20. Once my Mac is backed-up, can I delete some stuff to save space?*_
    +*NO, NO, NO !+* That is a +*terrible idea !+*
    First, the whole point of a good backup strategy is to have (at least) two copies of everything important, in (at least) two separate places. If you delete the originals, you no longer have backups! When your TM drive fails (and all disk drives fail, sooner or later), you risk losing your +*only remaining copy.+*
    Second, Time Machine will, eventually, delete the backup copies of anything that's no longer on your system. The timing varies, depending on how long things were on your system before being deleted, how often backups were run, and how much space is on your TM drive: it may be as long as your oldest backup, or as short as 24 hours.
    +Go to Top+
    _*21. How do I set up Time Machine to an internal or directly-connected external HD?*_
    If you connect an external drive to your Mac, and Time Machine is not set up, OSX will ask if you want to use the drive for Time Machine backups. If you click the +Use as Backup Disk+ button, it will set up Time Machine automatically.
    But there may be some problems with that, so we recommend doing it this way:
    First, set up the drive for use with Time Machine. See item #5 for instructions on setting up a new drive, or one without any data you want to keep. See item #6 to add a partition for Time Machine to an existing drive that already has data that you want to keep.
    Next, if the +Time Machine+ application isn't already in your Dock, drag it there from your Applications folder.
    Right-click it and select +(Open) Time Machine Preferences.+ Check the box to +Show Time Machine status in the menu bar+ and click the +Select Disk+ button (on Leopard, this will be either +Choose Backup Disk+ or +Change Disk.)+ Select the desired drive/partition from the list and click the +Use for Backup+ button.
    In the +Next Backup+ area of the TM Preference panel there should be a 120-second countdown until the backup starts.
    Note that the first backup will copy the entire contents of your system, except for a few things that are skipped automatically, such as system work files, most caches, your logs, trash, etc., and anything else you may have excluded (see item #10 and item #11) so it will be rather lengthy, depending on how much data is on your system, how your Time Machine disk is connected, and how busy your Mac is.
    You can continue to use your Mac while TM is backing-up, and you can even cancel a backup if necessary, but to make the first full backup as fast as possible, try not to overload your Mac or cancel the backup.
    See item #24 for information on the two Time Machine icons you just added.
    +Go to Top+
    _*22. How do I set up Time Machi

    Hi, Nubz!
    Yes, I just saw that, and am still chuckling.
    Maybe that will mollify the Jive gods?
    Thanks again,
    Jim

  • Time Machine Email Notifications

    Does anyone know of a way, or of a third-party app, to get Time Machine to send email notifications of successful or unsuccessful backups and even better a copy of the backup log.
    I realise that for most people this is not a required feature and in the case of Apple philosophy they would think this would over complicate things for their target audience but it would be really hand for support desks who need backup monitoring/reporting.
    Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

    moonpup wrote:
    After manually browsing through the directories as William stated above, I found the sent mailbox from an earlier backup and copied it to the desktop. From there I just imported it into mail and all is well. I'm still stumped as to why nothing after a certain date shows up in Time Machine though...
    Yes, there does seem to be some sort of problem in Mountain Lion with the special handling for Mail, at least in some circumstances.   As you've seen, the data is there (you can also see it via the normal Time Machine interface by looking at the Mail folder via the Finder);  the problem seems to be with the special Mail display only.
    Unfortunately, of course, you can't tell what any particular message is from the Finder display;  that's why the special handling using Mail was developed.
    At first, I thought this was related to converting from MobileMe to iCloud, as it happened to me about the time I did that, while beta testing Mountain Lion.  I reported it in April, and have received no solution yet. 

  • Time Machine same backup size every time

    Anyone have any idea why Time Machine would backup the same amount every time? Every hour mine backs up 1.8 GB, unless I've added more than that to my hd.
    I only back up the internal drive on my macbook to a 500 GB Time Capsule via wifi (802.11n only, 5GHz). Not that I figured it would make a difference, but it still does it if backed up via ethernet.
    I've also noticed that as soon as it completes the backup, it will backup all over again - and not because an hour has passed. I'm not sure if it does this every time (but I think i does), or if it does it more than twice when it happens.
    Thanks in advance!

    See if the following might give you some ideas as to why...
    *_Incremental Backups Seem Too Large!_*
    Open the Time Machine Prefs on the Mac in question. How much space does it report you have "Available"? When a backup is initiated how much space does it report you need?
    Now, consider the following, it might give you some ideas:
    Time Machine performs backups at the file level. If a single bit in a large file is changed, the WHOLE file is backed up again. This is a problem for programs that save data to monolithic virtual disk files that are modified frequently. These include Parallels, VMware Fusion, Aperture vaults, or the databases that Entourage and Thunderbird create. These should be excluded from backup using the Time Machine Preference Exclusion list. You will, however, need to backup these files manually to another external disk.
    If you do a lot of movie editing, unless these files are excluded, expect Time Machine to treat revised versions of a single movie as entirely new files.
    If you frequently download software or video files that you only expect to keep for a short time, consider excluding the folder these are stored in from Time Machine backups.
    If you have recently created a new disk image or burned a DVD, Time Machine will target these files for backup unless they are deleted or excluded from backup.
    *Events-Based Backups*
    Time Machine does not compare file-for-file to see if changes have been made. If it had to rescan every file on your drive before each backup, it would not be able to perform backups as often as it does. Rather, it relies on a process called FSEvents. This is a system log that records changes that occur with all the directories on your Mac. Moving / copying / deleting / & saving files and folders creates events that are recorded in this log. At the beginning of each backup, Time Machine simply looks at this log to determine what has changed since the last backup. [http://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/mac-os-x-10-5.ars/14]
    Installing new software, upgrading existing software, or updating Mac OS X system software can create major changes in the structure of your directories. Every one of these changes is recorded by the OS as an event. Time Machine will backup every file that has an event associated with it since the installation.
    Files or folders that are simply moved or renamed are counted as NEW files or folders. If you rename any file or folder, Time Machine will back up the ENTIRE file or folder again no matter how big or small it is.
    George Schreyer describes this behavior: “If you should want to do some massive rearrangement of your disk, Time Machine will interpret the rearranged files as new files and back them up again in their new locations. Just renaming a folder will cause this to happen. This is OK if you've got lots of room on your backup disk. Eventually, Time Machine will thin those backups and the space consumed will be recovered. However, if you really want recover the space in the backup volume immediately, you can. To do this, bring a Finder window to the front and then click the Time Machine icon on the dock. This will activate the Time Machine user interface. Navigate back in time to where the old stuff exists and select it. Then pull down the "action" menu (the gear thing) and select "delete all backups" and the older stuff vanishes.” (http://www.girr.org/mac_stuff/backups.html)
    *TechTool Pro Directory Protection*
    This disk utility feature creates backup copies of your system directories. Obviously these directories are changing all the time. So, depending on how it is configured, these backup files will be changing as well which is interpreted by Time Machine as new data to backup. Excluding the folder these backups are stored in will eliminate this effect.
    *Backups WAY Too Large*
    If an initial full backup or a subsequent incremental backup is tens or hundreds of Gigs larger than expected, check to see that all unwanted external hard disks are still excluded from Time Machine backups. Time Machine will attempt to backup any hard disk attached to your Mac, including secondary internal drives, that have not been added to Time Machines Exclusion list.
    This includes the Time Machine backup drive ITSELF. Normally, Time Machine is set to exclude its’ own backup disk by default. But on rare occasions it can forget. When your backup begins, Time Machine mounts the backup on your desktop. (For Time Capsule/AirDisk users it appears as a white drive icon labeled something like “Backup of (your computer)”.) If, while it is mounted, it does not show up in the Time Machine Preferences “Do not back up” list, then Time Machine will attempt to back ITSELF up. If it is not listed while the drive is mounted, then you need to add it to the list.
    *Recovering Backup Space*
    If you have discovered that large unwanted files have been backed up, you can use the Time Machine “time travel” interface to recovered some of that space.
    Launch Time Machine from the Dock icon.
    Initially, you are presented with a window that represents “Today (Now)”. DO NOT make changes to file while you see “Today (Now)” at the bottom of the screen.
    Click on the window just behind “Today (Now)”. This represents the last successful backup and should display the date and time of this backup at the bottom of the screen.
    Now, navigate to where the unwanted file resides.
    Highlight the file and click the Actions menu (Gear icon) from the toolbar.
    Select “Delete all backups of <this file>”.
    *FileVault / Boot Camp / iDisk Syncing*
    Note: Leopard has changed the way it deals with FileVault disk images, so it is not necessary to exclude your Home folder if you have FileVault activated. Additionally, Time Machine ignores Boot Camp partitions as the manner in which they are formatted is incompatible. Finally, if you have your iDisk Synced to your desktop, it is not necessary to exclude the disk image file it creates as that has been changed to a sparsebundle as well in Leopard.
    Let us know if this resolved your issue.
    Cheers!

  • File Vault and Time Machine

    Hi, I am new mac users, and I need to know how to secure my time machine drive so if you plug in to other mac should ask for password, by googling some info, I found some trick to set our mac with file vault, so all user data will be encrypted.
    but after my imac sets file vault, time machine only works for shared folders, and not realtime backup my main data and system, it inly backup when I log out or shut down my mac.
    so I assume my backup data from my time machine will not work for restoring file as normal time machine backup
    any solution for this? thanks

    Time Machine and File Vault aren't a particularly good combination.
    See #25 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), for details and some possible alternatives.

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