Re Time Machine "You do not have appropriate access privileges to save file ".002332b7be8a" warning preventing backups--this may help temporarily

Question

My TM is often giving me the "You do not have appropriate access privileges to save file “.002332b7be8a” in folder “Time Machine Backups”" message when I go to select my backup drive. I've reviewed past archived discussions on this and, like many other people, gotten completely flummoxed trying to find a permanent solution.  Tried the suggested fixes via Terminal and it didn't help because I couldn't get through the entire process without Terminal telling me it couldn't find a file or drive.  When I can find the time, I'm going to try Tinker Tool to reveal where that numbered file actually is and give it another go.
In the meantime, for those who are desperate to get their TM working again to get at least one backup done, I can offer people a temporary solution that's worked for me.
I've found that restarting my iMac somehow resets TM and usually allows it to do at least one of its automatic backups, sometimes several, before it reverts back to failing and producing that same darn warning message.  I only want a backup done once a day, so it's not that inconvenient to go this route.
There's another even quicker  method (perhaps a little more risky but hasn't been a problem for me yet) that I've been using more recently, and that is to simply unplug the external while the iMac is on (I close system preferences first though, and make sure TM isn't actually doing anything at the time) then plugging it back in and choosing the backup drive again in the TM system preferences window once that drive has shown up again in the Mac's list of devices.  I don't get that warning message when I do this.  It works every time for me and so far it hasn't lost or corrupted any data on the external, despite the warning message you get on Macs when you unplug a USB device without ejecting it first.  However, do this at your own risk--don't flame me if it backfires on you.  If you're of the opinion that it's not wise to unplug the device this way, then fine, go ahead and state such in this thread, but be polite about it.
Hope this helps anyone who's frantic to make a backup without having to start from square one with a whole new complete initial backup (can take many hours to make one) on a fresh external drive.
By the way, I've read somewhere that this problem was fixed with Snow Leopard.  Whether that's true is another matter.  I'm not quite ready to update to 10.6 for other reasons, even though I bought it, and I figure some other people are also still using 10.5.8 out of fear and loathing around the unknowns of installing a new OS too, so that's why I thought I'd post this message (couldn't find a discussion around this that was still active and not archived).

Answer 1

noodlenose wrote:
My TM is often giving me the "You do not have appropriate access privileges to save file “.002332b7be8a” in folder “Time Machine Backups”" message when I go to select my backup drive.
Wow, I haven't seen that in a looooong time!
Tried the suggested fixes via Terminal and it didn't help because I couldn't get through the entire process without Terminal telling me it couldn't find a file or drive.
Do you mean in #C5 of Time Machine - Troubleshooting?
When I can find the time, I'm going to try Tinker Tool to reveal where that numbered file actually is and give it another go.
It should be at the top level of the drive.
By the way, I've read somewhere that this problem was fixed with Snow Leopard.
Yes.  I'm not sure if it was 10.6.0 or one of the early updates, but I haven't seen any reports of this in quite a while.