Preparing ibook for backup

I need to send my ibook in for repair, so I'm trying to backup my hard drive. I have an external USB 2.0 drive. I know that its not bootable, but I'm still able to make a clone of the ibook drive using carbon copy cloner.
If I boot my ibook from my OSX dvd and use disk utility, can I restore my hard drive back to normal from the extenal that way?

Carbon Copy Cloner did not function for me.
Rsync did the job well for me.
http://www.samba.org/rsync/
About your question, I think that would work-thankfuly I have never needed to test what your are attempting...
The important thing is not if your backup is bootable, it is if you have your data or not. Because it is easy to reinstall the os but not get your data if all copies of it are destroyed.

Similar Messages

Time Machine hangs 'preparing items for backup'

Time Machine continually spinning 'preparing items for backup'
TM Logs say:
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/MyBook TimeMachine/Backups.backupdb
Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x100190560 "The file “bzdone_20090128_1stats.xml” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=5 UserInfo=0x100177910 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error")
Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x100521200 "The file “bzdone_200901311.bzff” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=5 UserInfo=0x100177910 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error")
Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x100521fa0 "The file “bzdone_20090131_1stats.xml” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=5 UserInfo=0x100177910 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error")
Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x100521200 "The file “bzdone_200902041.bzff” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=5 UserInfo=0x100177910 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error")
Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x1001d5530 "The file “bzdone_20090204_1stats.xml” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=5 UserInfo=0x100177910 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error")
Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x1001d5510 "The file “bzdone_200902051.bzff” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=5 UserInfo=0x100177910 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error")
Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x100522610 "The file “bzdone_20090205_1stats.xml” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=5 UserInfo=0x100177910 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error")
Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x1005220f0 "The file “bzdone_200902061.bzff” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=5 UserInfo=0x100177910 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error")
Can't find anything relevant googling the error message - seems to appear on damaged software install CDs so possibly the files are corrupt on my harddrive? I think .bzff file are from 'Backblaze' online backup, but given the date in the file name they have previously backed up successfully.

chassa wrote:
I think .bzff file are from 'Backblaze' online backup, but given the date in the file name they have previously backed up successfully.
Try excluding them from Time Machine, per #10 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).
If that doesn't help, it may be something else on your internal HD. Verify it, per #A5 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

Photoshop elements 11 freezes when I try to back up the catalogue. i get a message "Please wait while Elements Organizer prepares for backup". what do i do?

Photoshop elements 11 freezes when I try to back up the catalogue. i get a message "Please wait while Elements Organizer prepares for backup". what do i do?

Thank you for responding. Nothing actually worked! After reading the posts online, I called Apple. They indicated they have seen problems with some software after their upgrades. The technician was able to fix the problem on my computer remotely, but I have no clue what he did! But, it was definitely related to their recent upgrade to my computer.

I went on Itunes to install new software and backup. I has been running all night and still saying preparing Iphone for restore. How long is this suppose to take?

I went on Itunes to install new software and backup. It has been running all night and still saying preparing Iphone for restore. How long is this suppose to take?

Preparing your iPhone for restore its supposed to be about 1-2 minutes! Do you see any errors the time you plug in the wire from your iPhone to iTunes?

Leopard applications all hang while Time Machine prepares for backup

I'm sure others have posted about this but I can't find a usable solution. I have the most recent version of Leopard, a 1TB external FireWire drive dedicated to Time Machine storage and about 400GB of backups on it. Every day at some point, Time Machine starts a backup, pauses while preparing, and the entire Mac grinds to a halt. New processes won't launch, open applications hang, Finder becomes unresponsive, menus and dock freeze in whatever position they were in at the point of launch, and I can't cancel the backup process.
The only solution is to turn off the backup drive while its running and wait for the Mac to wake up again (which it does in under a minute). I have no virus protection running. I have erased the drive and started fresh at least once to no avail.
Since I am effectively breaking a live connection every time I turn the drive off without unmounting it first (an obvious no-no), the data has great potential to be getting more and more screwed up. What can I do?

Message logs:
October 12, 2009, 1:43:25 AM
Volume at path /Volumes/Racer BU does not appear to be the correct backup volume for this computer. (Cookies do not match)
Backup failed with error: 18
October 12, 2009, 11:32:32 AM
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Racer X
Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:kFSEDBEventFlagMustScanSubDirs|kFSEDBEventFlagReasonEventDBUntrustable|
No pre-backup thinning needed: 984.2 MB requested (including padding), 443.72 GB available
Copied 21948 files (368.1 MB) from volume Racer X.
No pre-backup thinning needed: 548.2 MB requested (including padding), 443.35 GB available
Copied 961 files (965 KB) from volume Racer X.
Starting post-backup thinning
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-215828: 443.35 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-205855: 443.36 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-195856: 443.40 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-185908: 443.46 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-175907: 443.51 GB now available
Post-back up thinning complete: 5 expired backups removed
Backup completed successfully.
October 12, 2009, 12:18:32 PM
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb
No pre-backup thinning needed: 954.4 MB requested (including padding), 443.51 GB available
Unable to rebuild path cache for source item. Partial source path:
Copied 16717 files (339.6 MB) from volume Racer X.
No pre-backup thinning needed: 569.5 MB requested (including padding), 443.17 GB available
Copied 634 files (18.7 MB) from volume Racer X.
Starting post-backup thinning
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-225832: 443.24 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-165828: 443.25 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-155855: 443.30 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-145857: 443.36 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-135852: 443.38 GB now available
Post-back up thinning complete: 5 expired backups removed
Backup completed successfully.
October 12, 2009, 4:46:51 PM
Starting standard backup
Volume at path /Volumes/Racer BU does not appear to be the correct backup volume for this computer. (Cookies do not match)
Backup failed with error: 18
etc...
The long periods between backups are when it is "preparing for backup" and nothing is happening. Sometimes this is while I'm not using it and the machine is asleep.

HT203177 very long 'preparing for backup' for Time Machine

None of the issues discussed in the apple support page on this issue seem to apply to me (except one below regarding not completing the 'prepare for backup'). It still takes way too much time (a night is not enough) to prepare for time machine backup, even though there was a backup recently, and it is not a one-time event but a recurring problem, and there are no big changes to my files or disks.
And of course because most days it does not complete the backup before I have to leave to work, the condition on 'not interrupting the backup' cannot be respected. This looks like plain poor design.
The only thing that helps is to connect my laptop directly to the Time Machine by Ethernet but it is very inconvenient.
This is really annoying. I wish I had bought another disk back-up solution.

saggybaggy wrote:
The Mac Pro I'm backing up is Leopard 10.5.8, could this be the issue?
No, Time Machine works on 10.5.8.
I'm trying to back it up before I upgrade my operating system.
Good plan!
Also, for the backup I'm using the same external drive that I used to backup my MacBook Pro already... not sure if this would cause any issues in preparing.
Not in preparing, but it's usually not a good idea to use the same partition on the same drive for both. See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #4 for an explanation.

STILL Preparing For Backup!

Hi,
Time Machine seems to be taking DAYS to "prepare for backup". Yes it will be the first backup to my new external firewire drive. I guess it's preparing to backup the 117gb of stuff.
Is there any way to speed up this process and should I just leave me laptop on until this first backup process completes no matter how many days it ends up taking?
Thanks.

Preparing your iPhone for restore its supposed to be about 1-2 minutes! Do you see any errors the time you plug in the wire from your iPhone to iTunes?

Always 'Preparing for Backup' message

My Time Capsule was working fine till yesterday. But from today, I see it is always 'Preparing for Backup' for quite a long time.
I normally switch on the Time Capsule once a week and back up, which would take about 8 hr and then switch it off.
But today I see the icon revolving always 'Preparing for Back up' but the actual back up never starts.
Is there a way to trouble shoot this problem?

Yes Sir, OneOrangeTree
Thank you for your interest.
When I switch on the TC during the weekends (week days it is switched off) it takes 2 or even 4 hr under 'Preparing for Back up' and then finally it does back up fine. So this is okay now.
My new observation is that when i switch off and switch on, then next back up is indicating as 10 GB and it takes a whole night for back up. Even when I don't load any data into the computer, except safari browsing, it always indicates 10 GB to back up. I wonder if this is a known problem. If so I hope it will be taken care in the next 10.5.5?
Thanks once again.

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

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

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

Time capsule will not move beyond "preparing for backup."

The time capsule has been stuck in the "preparing for backup" stage indefinately: like months and months.
I tried deleting the preference file and also installed the time capsule widget. Here is the information that the widget is displaying about the attempted back up:
Starting standard backup
Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://James%[email protected]/James%20Palmer's%20Time%2 0Capsule
Mounted network destination at mountpoint: /Volumes/James Palmer's Time Capsule using URL: afp://James%[email protected]/James%20Palmer's%20Time%2 0Capsule
Running backup verification
QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
Backup verification passed!
QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
Disk image /Volumes/James Palmer's Time Capsule/James Palmer’s iMac.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Backup of James Palmer’s iMac
Backing up to: /Volumes/Backup of James Palmer’s iMac/Backups.backupdb
Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: No space left on device
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: No space left on device
Exception writing exclusions cache. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: No space left on device
Unable to create exclusions cache data.
Failed to write exclusions cache. Continuing anyway.
Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: No space left on device
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
Waiting for index to be ready (101)

You have continual messages.. No space left on device
Is your TC full..?? Are you using wireless to connect to the TC?
The time capsule has been stuck in the "preparing for backup" stage indefinately: like months and months.
Note that Time Capsule is the hardware device.. Time Machine is the software that prepares the backup.. They are completely different.. !!
Open either the TM preference or the airport utility and tell us how much space is reported left on the drive.. or is the local hard disk full??
If you upgraded OS on the computer it can fail to properly clean up old backups and you will need to step in and erase the TC yourself. Or plug in a USB drive and set that as a new destination for the backup.

No sound while time machine prepares for backup

something strange happen to my OS. yesterday i updated to 10.5.2, and now, while time-machine started to prepare it's backup, i tried to listen to a mp3 song.
no sound came. in the system preferences, suddenly i don't have any sound input or output devices.
i have a powerbook g4, 1.87 ghz, 1.5 RAM.
what is going on here???.

something strange happen to my OS. yesterday i updated to 10.5.2, and now, while time-machine started to prepare it's backup, i tried to listen to a mp3 song.
no sound came. in the system preferences, suddenly i don't have any sound input or output devices.
i have a powerbook g4, 1.87 ghz, 1.5 RAM.
what is going on here???.

I try to export my Imovie and I always get the error code"Unable to prepare project for publishing...File already open with write permission" it even does it when I am just trying to export to my external hard drive to save the file

I try to export my Imovie and I always get the error code"Unable to prepare project for publishing...File already open with write permission" it even does it when I am just trying to export to my external hard drive to save the file

Thanks!!! I had same error (with -49) and the mac had an external hard drive attached.. and it was doing a backup. Stopped, disconnected and the project exported!

While trying to burn a DVD off IMovie 09 I get the following message while trying to prepare: Unable to prepare project for publishing because an error occurred (-2125)

While trying to burn a DVD off IMovie 09 I get the following message: Unable to prepare project for publishing because an error occurred (-2125) Happened several times even after deleting and starting over.

Hi
Error -49 opWrErr File already open with write permission
Trash the preference files while application is NOT Running.
from Karsten Schlüter
Some users notice on exporting larger projects from within iMovie that this operation is aborted with an 'error -49'
This issue occours only on MacOs machines using 10.7x
try switching-off the Local Mobile Backup
in Terminal copy/paste
sudo tmutil disablelocal
Re-launch Mac
Yours Bengt W

Can anyone say what makes "preparing video for display" take more time?

i searched old threads. the topic has been raised before but there didn't seem to be any satisfying answer... i have noticed that when i have 3 or more active video tracks and i move a shot on the timeline, i get the "preparing video for display" message. it takes about 20 second to display, which is a long time to wait for every little adjustment i try to make... and i'm not using more than 5 tracks (which doesn't seem like that much either...)
i am using FCP 5.0.4. my whole project is 5mb and the sequence is 4 minutes long. got some effects but nothing major at this point. i'm worried it'll get much worse as i add effects and layers.
does anyone know what may be causing this or how can i make this process faster?
is it something that can be adjusted in the settings?
it doesn't seem normal. i've never seen anything like this in AVID...
thanks...

I'm at a loss at this point.
2 things...exactly what version of QT are you running? (may/may not make a difference)
Then, here are a couple of links for ways to trash preferences. Since you're on FCP 5.0.4, you should be good with the Anders Holck FCP Rescue 5.
Caveat...once you've trashed your preferences you'll need to reset them...might want to make notes of how they're set now.
If you use FCP Rescue 5, it will enable you to create a backup of your new prefs after they've been reset, then if you ever need to trash prefs again, you simply use the 'Restore' feature to get them back the way you want them quickly.
http://fcprescue.andersholck.com/
http://www.digitalrebellion.com/pref_man.htm
http://www.fcpbook.com/Misc1.html
Hope that helps,
K

Connecting for Backup

Please excuse my ignorance. I am planning on buying a Macbook Air and researched how the best config would be to meet my very simple needs. I will be getting 13" 8gb 128 ssd. Now i am reading backup ,backup, backup. Know this is important cause my toshiba laptop just died and I had never thought of backup.
But all i want to do is backup using a time capsule. I cannot figure out how to connect it. The manual wants to talk about setting it up to be a wireless station that anybody and their grandmother can use and I just want to be able back up my Mac (when I get it). The Mac will be connected to my router wirelessly, I think I have that figured out. I have an Ipad so that helps me somewhat understand this. I also cannot figure out what cable i need to get with the time capsule to connect to the MBA. It doesnt seem as if it comes with any.
Could someone help with steps to connect it to the MBA for backup. I do know that i have to turn Time Machine on in the MBA settings. If you havent already guessed, i am an older user so technology is not second nature to me and I am trying to get as much as I can figured out ahead of my initial setup of everything I will get with my first mac.
Thank you in advance for your patience!

Sorry I gave too much in dose..
Asking specific questions is great.
1. I need to get an ethernet patch cable that is usb to ethernet and plug the MBA to the router (westell 7500). The back of router has 4 ethernet plugs - E1/uplink, E2, E3, E4/data. Which one do I plug the ethernet end of cable into?
You do not need to plug the MBA into the Westell 7500..
You do not need a usb to ethernet cable for the MBA.. all setup can be done over wireless.. it is helpful though if you get into trouble to have this cable.. it is relatively cheap.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC704ZM/A/apple-usb-ethernet-adapter?fnode=51
Don't rush out and buy it, as I would hope you can do the setup without.
You do need to plug the TC into the Westell using a standard ethernet patch cable. Apple do not supply one.
It sounds like your modem is rather ancient.. use E2 or E3 port but it probably makes no difference.. some old modems can need special crossover cables. In that case use the E1 port with a standard cable. Buy a 6foot or 10foot ethernet patch cable at your local large computer store.
3. If i do nothing, the TC will be detected as a network to join just as the Westell usually is? So when I turn wireless on, I could have the 2 choices to join? And you're saying TC might be better? Will i be asked for a password as I was initially to set up the westell router? Not sure what you mean by set the TC up to reinforce the existing westell.
So lets start over.. you have bright shiny TC in the box..
1. you pull it out of the box.. plug it into the Westall modem with your new less shiny ethernet patch cable. Plug in the power to the TC.. wait for all de blinkn lights to slow to a soft amber, slow blink.
2. On the MBA, check for wireless networks. You should see a new one, named apple network and some funny numbers. Connect to this.. there is no password when it is new.
3. Open the airport utility. Go to TC symbol and click on it.. but the utility will probably start an automatic setup wizard.. just follow this and select bridged to existing router.
This should also get you to now setup a wireless password. Once you do that, and update the TC you will need to put that password into the wireless connection.
You are probably over preparing.. some of these things are easier to do in flesh.. so to speak, than in the spirit. Where you do not have anything to look at in front of you.

Preparing ibook for backup

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