Second Computer won't back-up to Time Capsule

Installed a new 1TB Time Capsule and backed-up my wife's MacBook immediately. Everything worked perfectly. I then tried to back up my MacBook Pro and received an error message saying that the backup had failed, saying "the backup disk image could not be created". Any idea what I might be doing wrong?

i was just pointing you in the right direction but the credit for the tip goes to Pondini, who put a lot of effort into working it all out for us mere mortals !
thanks for the star and ... happy computing !

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I have two Macs that won't back up to time capsule, says The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/Douglas Chalmers's iMac.sparsebundle" is already in use.

I have two Macs that won't back up to time capsule, says The backup disk image “/Volumes/Data/Douglas Chalmers’s iMac.sparsebundle” is already in use.

Please look over to the right of this page for the heading of More Like This.
There are multiple answers and solutions there.

Time Machine won't back up onto Time Capsule

I upgraded to Mountain Lion last week, and Time Machine won't back up to my Time Capsule. When it fails, I get the message:
Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to "Tom's Time Capsule".
The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/TomsMac.sparsebundle" could not be created (error 60)
I sometimes get the same message, but with "error 17"
I also get the following error message popup (even though the disk is the one in my Time Capsule):
The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer.
The popup offers three choices: Initialize, Ignore, Eject.
My local Apple Store Genius concluded that the problem must be with the Time Capsule, so I bought a new one. That didn't fix the problem.
Time Machine Buddy messages:
Starting manual backup
Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://Tom%[email protected]/Data
Mounted network destination at mount point: /Volumes/Data using URL: afp://Tom%[email protected]/Data
Creating disk image /Volumes/Data/TomsMac.sparsebundle
Error 60 creating backup disk image
Failed to create disk image /Volumes/Data/TomsMac.sparsebundle, status: 60
Backup failed with error: 20
Failed to eject volume /Volumes/Data (FSVolumeRefNum: -108; status: -47; dissenting pid: 0)
I did Repair Disk Permissions and Verify Disk and everything's OK.
I erased the Time Capsule using AirPort Utility and did a hard reset on the Time Capsule.
I did a re-install of Mountain Lion and that didn't fix anything.
My MacBook Pro is accessing the Time Capsule wirelessly, as it always has.
Help!

Just to be sure, we're talking about a Time Capsule -- not an AirPort Extreme connected to an external hard drive. Right?
If so, proceed as follows.
Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
The purpose of this exercise is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Boot in safe mode* and log in to the account with the problem. The instructions provided by Apple are as follows:
Be sure your Mac is shut down.
Press the power button.
Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold the Shift key. The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone, but not before the tone.
Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple icon and the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).
*Note: If FileVault is enabled under OS X 10.7 or later, or if a firmware password is set, you can’t boot in safe mode.
Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem(s)?
After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

Messed up Utilities Folder, can't access system info, won't back up from time capsule

My iMac has 2 harddrives. 250 start up and 1tb HD2. I was trying to make room on the 250 drive, and moved the Utilites folder to HD 2. Couldn't get system info, so tried moving Utilites folder back. Still can't get info, and there's an empty long bar under the size column beside the Utilities folder, even though the items in each sub folder have a size reading. There's a size reading in the HD 2 where I had moved it to. There are probably other things I have now messed up. Also, when I tried backing up the computer from the time capsule to predate the changes, I got a case sensitive error and it won't restore...what have I done???

Can't connect to Sonos now that I've switch Time Capsule from Bridge Mode to DHCP and NAT.
There was a reason why AirPort Utility either configured the Time Capsule in Bridge Mode automatically, or told you to set up the Time Capsule in Bridge Mode.
Bridge Mode is the correct setting for the Time Capsule on your network.
If you want to run the Time Capsule in DHCP and NAT router mode, then your Comcast modem/router must then be configured to act as if it were a simple bridge mode modem. Whether that is even possible is a question for the support folks at your ISP, since providers in general seem to be locking down the settings on the devices that they provide to prevent users from changing the basic operation of the device. ISPs do this to make things simpler for the their support folks, as you might imagine.
The simplest and best option......if possible......would be to swap the current modem/router for a simple bridge mode modem.......the kind of device that will have only one Ethernet port.
The worst option......Double NAT.....is in my opinion not worth fooling with, since it can cause unpredictable things to occur on your network. Sure, some users can get away this setting.....on a very simple home network.....but yours does not meet this qualification.
Strangely, we have seen some posts from users who claim to have been told by Apple Support to "ignore" a Double NAT error. That is hard to believe.

Time Machine Won't Back Up to Time Capsule

I have an iMac 11.2 which was working really well with Time Machine and a 500GB Time Capsule when I was using Moutain Lion. I then Update my machine to Mavericks (10.9.1) and my problems started. It wiped everything in my backup and tried to start a new one. So far it has stalled either in the prep phase or has managed start but is extremely slow - it took over a week to back up 300GB, but could not complete the last 50GB because it kept getting a sparsefile error. I have tried the following in isolation or in combination :-
1/ Deleting the plist file
2/ Running disk utility on the sparse file - no issues found
3/ Backing up in safe mode
4/ Deleting the hard drive content and starting again
5/ Backing up through my LAN rather than WAN - can't even find the drive.
I have thought about buying a new Time Capsule, but I cannot be sure the problem lies with my current one. If anybody has any ideas they would be gratefully received. If not then I can only hope Apple read this and they do something to restore my faith in their operating system.
Many thanks

Before you do anything else, if you now have no current backup, back up all data to a USB hard drive.
If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator.
Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.
Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar.
Enter the word "Starting" (without the quotes) in the String Matching text field. You should now see log messages with the words "Starting * backup," where * represents any of the words "automatic," "manual," or "standard." Note the timestamp of the last such message that corresponds to an abnormal backup. Now
CLEAR THE WORD "Starting" FROM THE TEXT FIELD
so that all messages are showing, and scroll back in the log to the time you noted. Select the messages timestamped from then until the end of the backup, or the end of the log if that's not clear. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste (command-V) into a reply to this message.
If all you see are messages that contain the word "Starting," you didn't clear the text field.
If there are runs of repeated messages, post only one example of each. Don't post many repetitions of the same message.
When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Some personal information, such as the names of your files, may be included — anonymize before posting.

I am not much of a computer technician. I bought a time capsule thinking I could use this for an external hard drive and keep my MAC hard drive free. Was I mistaken? One I back everthing up on the TC, can I delete everything off of my MAC?

I am not much of a computer technician. I bought a time capsule thinking I could use this for an external hard drive and keep my MAC hard drive free. Was I mistaken? Once I back everything up on the TC, can I delete everything off of my MAC and then use my TC as my hard drive??

Once I back everything up on the TC, can I delete everything off of my MAC and then use my TC as my hard drive??
TC was designed to backup your Mac. The TC literature is pretty clear about this:
If your Mac's hard drive has a problem....it will sooner or later....you can use your backup on the TC to rebuild your Mac.
But.....if you move all of your data to the TC from your Mac....you only have one version of that data now, and it is on the TC.
Have you thought about what will happen when....not if....the TC has a problem? Since the only version of your important data was on the TC, and the TC has failed......you lose all of your data.....because you have no backup.
A much better plan would be to add a USB or FireWire hard drive and connect it directly to your Mac. Move the data on your Mac over to the hard drive.
Then, the TC will backup both your Mac and the hard drive. So, you have original data on on one drive and backups on another drive.
That would be a minimum backup plan. Most of us have more than one set of backups.

Replaced HD yesterday Was able to restore from Time Machine Now, it won't back up to Time Machine. I removed the TM and tried to add it- the error is "The disk image for "computername.sparsebundle" is in use. Try ejecting the disk image - How do I do?

Replaced HD yesterday Was able to restore from Time Machine Now, it won't back up to Time Machine. I removed the TM and tried to add it- the error is "The disk image for "computername.sparsebundle" is in use. Try ejecting the disk image - How do I do?

Hello jfilbey,
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Power cycle the disk Time Machine is backing up to.
For more information on this, take a look at:
Time Machine: Troubleshooting backup issues
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3275?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
Best of luck,
Mario

HT1449 I moved my itunes library to the time capsule. Everytime I put the computer to sleep, I have to change the location back to the time capsule. I cannot get the iTunes library to stay located in the time capsule.

My itunes library does not stay in its new location in the time capsule. Every time I put the computer to sleep or leave it alone for awhile, the itunes location goes back to the original location in the macbook. Then I have to change the location back to the time capsule and wait for it to reorganize all the files again. So the question is how to keep my itunes in its new location the time capsule?

Welcome to the discussion area!
+Can someone please provide a definite answer, or at least warn against using the TC as a shared media device on a network. The whole point of getting such a device is to be able to offload large multimedia libraries from the laptops, yet access a shared library when networked. N'est ce pas?+
We're all users here...not pros...so you'll get few definitive answers on a forum with varying opinions about almost every subject.
My opinion would be this: Apple designed the Time Capsule for Time Machine to automatically backup all the files on your Mac and other Macs in the household on a regular basis and provide a way to retrieve a file that had been deleted recently by mistake. It's a pretty good router as well.
If you check the info about the Time Capsule on Apple's site, the main features mentioned are backup of your Macs and a dual band wireless network capability.
The Time Capsule was never designed to be a media server housing audio, video and other multi-media files and has never been promoted as such. Nevertheless, some users seem to have adopted the stance that this should be one of the benefits of the device, if not a main feature.
There may be a need for media server type device, but the Time Capsule, at least at this time, is not the answer. If you feel otherwise, you might want to speak directly to Apple and let them know via Time Capsule Feedback.

Time Machine stalls when trying to back up to Time Capsule or an external hard drive.

TIme Machine stalls when trying to back up to Time Capsule or an external hard drive. Time Machine shows a message such as "Backing up 4MB of 9.00GB" but nothing happens for hours.

Are you really running 10.6.4 OS?
What model TC and what firmware?
Wireless or wired?
How is the TC setup?
If TM can work to neither a TC or external hard disk it is more likely the computer is faulty hard disk..
Do a verify of the disk.
See A5 here.
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

How can I back up my time capsule contents to a different hard drive?

I want to back up my time capsule to a different hard drive so I have that extra layer of safety

There are a few ways to do this but none good.
Airport utility will do an archive of the disk.. just open to the disk tab and click archive. The target is USB drive connected to the machine. But it can only do full backup.. no incremental.
You can backup over network but not using Time Machine.. Carbon Copy Cloner is a $40 software that is well worth it. Super slow though doing this.
I recommend you backup using CCC direct from the computer to the target.. otherwise you can be backing up the same problem.

Can't back up to Time Capsule

Trying to backup my computer but getting this message "The backup disk image “/Volumes/Lisa Liberman's Time Capsul/Stuart Liberman’s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle” is already in use." It is not currently backing up my other computers. How do I fix it?

Pull the power cord from the back of the Time Capsule
Wait a full minute
Plug the power cord back in to the back of the Time Capsule
This simple reset will solve the problem about 95% of the time. Expect it to occur again, so you will know what to do next time.
If the simple "fix" does not work, there is more information about this issue here:
http://pondini.org/TM/C12.html

Wirelessly backing up without Time Capsule?

I read that it's possible to wirelessly back up without Time Capsule as long as the external drive is connected to another Mac. Can anyone help please?

1. You can do what you are now doing. You could transfer files via your home network using File Sharing.
2. Partitioning is done using Disk Utility. See:
To resize the drive do the following:
1. Open Disk Utility and select the drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list.
2. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window. You should see the graphical sizing window showing the existing partitions. A portion may appear as a blue rectangle representing the used space on a partition.
3. In the lower right corner of the sizing rectangle for each partition is a resizing gadget. Select it with the mouse and move the bottom of the rectangle upwards until you have reduced the existing partition enough to create the desired new volume's size. The space below the resized partition will appear gray. Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed. (Note: You can only make a partition smaller in order to create new free space.)
4. Click on the [+] button below the sizing window to add a new partition in the gray space you freed up. Give the new volume a name, if you wish, then click on the Apply button. Wait until the process has completed.
You should now have a new volume on the drive.
It would be wise to have a backup of your current system as resizing is not necessarily free of risk for data loss. Your drive must have sufficient contiguous free space for this process to work.
4. This can be done as you are now doing it. You can share the backup drive from the desktop computer if you have a home network. Select the drive. Press COMMAND-I to open the Get Info window. Check the box labeled "Shared." Now open Sharing preferences and check the box, "File Sharing." If the shared drive is not in the list then use the Add [+] button and add the drive to the list. On the other computer you should see your desktop now listed in the Finder's sidebar under Servers. Click on the desktop name then click on the Connect As link in the upper right. Log in as a registered user using your admin account on the desktop and enter your admin password on the desktop account. You should now see an array of folders you can access including the shared drive. Double-click on it and it will mount on the Desktop. You can now use it like any other drive. For more help with this process select Mac Help from the Finder's Help menu and search for "sharing."
Now, you can use a lot of different software for doing backups, syncs, etc. Here are a few:
Backup Software Recommendations
Carbon Copy Cloner
Data Backup
Deja Vu
Silver Keeper
Super Flexible File Synchronizer
Synchronize Pro! X
Synk Pro
Synk Standard
Tri-Backup
Others may be found at VersionTracker or MacUpdate.
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.
All of the above can use a networked drive as a source or destination for backing up or syncing files.

How do i pause a back up on time capsule?

How do i pause a back up on time capsule?
I really need help. I have to take my computer out in an hour and my back up is only 13.30 GB done and its been 4 hours. I thought it would be enough time but it isn't. Is there a way to pause the back up and continue later on?
Please help asap Thank you very much

There is info here on reconnecting to a backup.
B6 http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
BTW although it might show it needs to create a new backup.. until the actual point that it starts.. TM will then reconnect to the old backup. It is generally impossible to know what the outcome will be until the backup actually begins. Fun eh!!

Do applications get backed up on time capsule

do applications get backed up on time capsule

do applications get backed up on time capsule
Everything* is backed up.....unless you specify otherwise.
The idea is that if the hard drive on your Mac failed tomorrow, you would be able to install a new hard drive on the Mac and then restore everything from Time Machine, so your computer would look exactly the same as it did today.
*Except some cache files that are not needed for restoration.

Time machine has stopped backing up to time capsule. message is that sparse bundle is in use

Time machine suddenly stopped backing up to time capsule returning this message:
The backup disk image “/Volumes/Data-1/xxnymacbooknamexx MacBook.sparsebundle” is already in use.

Complex procedure that will almost always solve this bug:
Pull the power cord from the back of the Time Capsule
Count to ten
Plug the power cord back into the back of the Time Capsule
Wait a few minutes, then try a backup again.

Second Computer won't back-up to Time Capsule

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