Sparse bundle access

I have a Mac with an external drive that I use as a backup target for another Mac. Everything works OK with Time Machine and the networked computer but I cannot gain access to the sparse bundle from the Mac that the drive is attached to. The sparse bundle folder has a red minus sign on it and any attempts to open the folder are met with a dialog that says I do not have enough access privileges to open the folder. The account has administrator access, is there for me to gain access to the folder?

No, you do not want to enable root access as that is a major security risk, and with root access you could easily render the system unusable by a simple mistake or doing something you should not do.
Does this other account belong to you or to another user? It would be improper for us to help you gain access to another user's data without knowing there is no objection from that user.
If you need only occasional access then have the other user drop the files and/or folders to which you need access into the /Users/Shared/ folder. Anyone can access files that have been placed in the Shared folder.

Similar Messages

  • My time machine cannot complete my back up saying the "sparse bundle could not be accessed" error -1  Help please

    My time machine cannot complete my back up.  The message I receive says the "sparse bundle cannot be accessed.  (error -1)  Help please.

    GG,
    Please read over Pondini's Time Machine Troubleshooting guide, specifically C17.

  • Time machine is giving me this error;sparse bundle could not be access (error-1)

    The time machine is giving me this error; Disk Image"/Volumes/Data/adminstration Mac Book Pro (2).sparse bundle" could not be access (error-1)

    Restart the TC.. ie pull out the power.. count to 10.. plug in power.
    Still have issues restart the whole network in correct order.. modem.. TC.. clients. 2min gap. Any other network clutter.. restart in order it is connected..
    See C17 for more info if you still have issues.
    http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
    C12 is most popular problem.. but C17 is close second.
    I would also read C9 as your naming is perhaps a cause of the problem.

  • How to access a TimeMachine Backup (non sparse bundle)

    I have a TM backup on a QNAP device. What I see is a folder with the computer name. The next level is a folder bands and two files - Info.plist and Info.backup.
    Neither TimeMachine nor the Migration Tool recognizes the backup. The backuped computer was accidently erased.
    I'm desperately looking for a solution!

    That IS a sparse bundle disk image. 
    The data (including the normal directory structure)  is spread over a huge number of 8 MB "band" files. 
    See the pink box in How Time Machine works its Magic for details.   It shows one on a Time Capsule;  the setup is the same on a NAS like your QNAP, but of course some of the names will be different.
    As noted there, if you can mount and open the disk image inside the sparse bundle, you'll see your backups, as in the green box in the same link. 
    But if it's damaged, double-clicking it won't open it -- instead (after a few moments) you'll get an error message --  no recognizable file system, or unavailable, or the like.  I don't think there are any data recovery tools that can examine the bands and extract data files from them. 

  • Safari won't open. Firefox disappeared, only question mark. Mail doesn't have content. Time Machine won't turn on because sparse bundle is in use. Please help.

    I had this issue about a month in a half ago and it was fixed by a local technician. I no longer have access to him and I really need some help. The issues are as follows:
    Safari will not open.
    Firefox disappeared. No icon, just a question mark in it's place.
    When I open mail it shows I have new messages but the content is blank.
    Time Machine cannot turn on because sparse bundle is in use.
    New files that were made are no longer available. It's almost as if the computer jumped back in time.
    The Mac Mini is running Mavericks 10.9.5

    I'll assume that you have some way of connecting to this website from the affected machine. If not, ask for other instructions.
    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.
    The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select
              SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages
    from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select
              View ▹ Show Log List
    from the menu bar at the top of the screen. Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Then try to launch Safari. Select any messages that appear in the Console window. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.
    The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of which is irrelevant to solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.
    Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
    Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.
    Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

  • Why won't my MacBook Pro backup to Time Machine (on my 1TB Time Capsule) when I'm running Lion OSX 10.7.5.? What does it mean when this error pops up: MacBook Pro.sparse bundle could not be assessed (error - 1).???? Please help me fix this!

    Apparently I am not the only person having this problem as I have seen many threads about it. If ANYONE OUT THERE CAN HELP ME, I WOULD SINCERELY APPRECIATE IT.
    I try and run my backup as I always have, but it HAS NEVER COMPLETED SINCE I UPGRADED TO LION. As many mentions, I updated from 10.7.4 to 10.7.5 hoping that would fix my issue and it didn't help at all. I also unistalled WD SmartWare to no avail. It's really starting to annoy me since I have as much money invested in my MacBook Pro and Time Capsule as I do in my car....
    I have more than enough space on the Time Capsule, but Time Machine is still failing and coming up with an error message: MacBook Pro.sparsebundle could not be assessed (error - 1).
    Someone, anyone, please help!

    . . . sparse bundle could not be accessed (error -1)

  • How do I convert TC sparse bundle to disk image?

    Ok, this question could be cross-listed under a number of threads, so I had to just pick one...
    A few months ago, the HD in my MB was clearly dying, so I replaced it with a larger, faster drive. All good, until I realized I had been close to maxing out my Time Capsule before I upgraded my MB's HD, so I upsized that, too.
    Fast forward 2 months.
    I have a weird problem where iPhoto events start going dark. The database had these previously imported files listed, but the files themselves were nowhere to be found! The event in iPhoto showed black squares where the images used to be, but even looking in finder... No pics!
    I want to go back into my old (saved) HD that I pulled from my Time Capsule. I stuck it in an external USB enclosure, and hooked it up. I told Time Machine to use it as the backup, but after it 'verified' it, it didn't show me the archived files. It does show a 'sparse bundle' in finder, which I understand is similar to a disk image. So is there a way to convert the sparse bundle to a disk image? Do I need to plug my old TC HD back into the TC to get to that archive?
    Help! Among the lost photos are ones from a trip to Australia and my grandmother's memorial service. I need to get these back!
    Thank you in advance.

    tgilk wrote:
    I've already done the TC surgery once before and the hardest thing was loosening the adhesive on the rubber pad / gasket on the bottom of the unit. After that, I completed the HD replacement in about 15 minutes... piece of cake. There's actually a good tutorial on AppleFritter. But I digress...
    It's not too much of a digression. Remember that if you are just firing up the Time Capsule with the old hard drive, you don't have to reassemble it. Just swap out the plugs from the old drive to the new and turn it on. A true PC geek never runs with the cover on.
    However, messing around with adhesives and thermal paste introduces a new element of risk. If you know the dates that have good data, and you are comfortable merging the newer photos back in, accessing the data via the Finder on an external enclosure would be faster and safer.
    So, can I turn the TM backups off and still enter 'TM' to browse through the backups on the drive? I've ID'd the specific dates of my missing photo events, so as long as I can get into the backup, I will know just what folders to search for in the 'Originals' folders in the backup.
    Yes. That is probably one of the most important and least known tips about Time Machine. You can still use it even if the backups are turned off. Furthermore, if you ever start to have problems on your machine, you should turn off Time Machine to avoid further corruption of your backups.

  • Why is the sparse bundle so much smaller than the backed up computer...can I be confident all files are backed up?

    Hey gang,
    iphoto folder became big so I have moved it to an external drive. I made sure the external disk is not excluded from timemachine backup in tm preferences. Backup seemed to take forever (it actually said "preparing for backup" the whole time with a spinning progress bar) ie 24 hours and still the same pogress bar.
    i stopped the process as i had no confidence anything was actually happening
    When i open up time machine, an earlier version of my imac is there, but the external drive is kind of greyed and i cannot access it.
    When  I check the sparse bundle size, it is under 200 gb, when my imac is around 600 gb, 900 with the external drive.
    Why is the sparse bundle so small relative to the imac? are there hidden data files outside of the sparse bundle? when checking the preferences, it states total included is 921 gb...yet that is not reflected in the sparse bundle size.
    I want to be sure iphoto is actually backed up before deleting it from my imac.
    thanks anyone!

    marten berkman wrote:
    I am wondering whether the "processing" progress bar was due to the time capsule freeing up space for the additional data on the new external drive. When I cancelled it, available space on the tc incresed from 200 to 500 gb.
    Yes, quite possibly.  Especially on Leopard and Snow Leopard, that process on network backups is excruciatingly repetitive and slow.    It's improved greatly in Lion and later, but still isn't exactly quick.
    The backup complete, i checked the contents of the backed up version of the external drive, and the iphoto folder was the same size as original, so I have confidence that iphoto is backed up. Now I could delete the iphoto from the imac, freeing up tons of space.
    Yay! 
    Still curious why the imac sparsebundle is only 160gb, while my macbook pro sparsebundle is about 700 gb...as though they are inversely named from the computers they back up.
    Oh, I didn't realize you had two Macs backing-up to the TC.  Which one is the external HD connected to? 
    Unless you've specifically excluded things, after the initial backup, the sparse bundle should be nearly the size of the data it's backing-up (TM does exclude some things like system work files, most caches and logs, and trash, so the backups are a few GBs smaller).  As you do more backups, of course, it will grow.
    So please clarify how much data is on each drive, Mac, and sparse bundle.
    Also, the 2tb time capsule has 258 gb of 1.8 tb available....am I to suppose that there is hidden backup data not in the sparse bundles?
    Sparse bundles are odd critters.  They don't automatically shrink when things are deleted from them.  Instead, the vacated space is used for new files until it's full, then it begins to grow again.  Time Machine will "compact" them when necessary, to reclaim the empty space, but doesn't take the time to do it unless it's out of room.
    You can do that manually if you want, per the pink box in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #12. 
    Message was edited by: Pondini

  • Does Time Machine still ignore mounted disk images? Specifically, encrypted sparse bundle disk images?

    My Time Machine backs up to Time Capsule which cannot be encrypted. I also have confidential data in an encrypted sparse bundle disk image in my home folder. When TM backs up and the encrypted sparse bundle disk image is mounted and I'm accessing the data, does TM back up the data "in the clear" decrypted form or does it exclude the disk image because it's mounted? I've done a little research, but there's conflicting information. Not sure what happens in Lion now...

    Time Machine does not backup mounted disk images! The encrypted sparse bundle disk image was mounted, I updated a doc and did a TM backup - the file was not listed in the TM repository and the doc remained unchanged in the encrypted sparse bundle disk image on TM. Then I ejected the disk image and did a TM backup - the updated doc was backed up in the encrypted sparse bundle disk image! Thank you!

  • Best approach for Time Machine / Entourage / FileVault / sparse bundle disk

    I am looking to set up Time Machine belatedly on my G5 to provide hassle-free backup for me and my family. I use Entourage. I also want to provide a small amount of encrypted storage. I’ve scoured the obvious places which have plenty of ideas, but nothing which pulls it all together.
    My thoughts so far have been:
    1. Time Machine doesn’t work well with Entourage as Entourage uses a monolithic single file (which in my case is several GB big) – backing this up every hour will bring my machine to its knees, fill up the backup disk and will possibly give a corrupt backup as the file could be accessed by Entourage or the MS daemon process during the backup.
    2. I thought of turning FileVault on which would automatically contain the Entourage file. This would mean:
    a) the sparse bundle format (8 MB bands) of FileVault would limit the volume of changed Entourage data which would be backed up each time by Time Machine and
    b) the backup would only occur during logout (which is fine with me) when Entourage and the MS daemon are not running so that the backup won’t be corrupt.
    3. However I am not hearing good things about the reliability of FileVault (comments?) and don’t want all the data in my Home folders lost – I don’t need that much encryption anyway.
    4. So I thought about setting up a couple of encrypted disk images made of sparse bundles – one for the Entourage data (symbolically linked to the right place for Entourage to pick the folder up) and the other for the other small number of files I need encrypted. This could be auto-mounted at login.
    5. However I think that using disk images rather than FileVault loses the automatic backup by Time Machine at logout. Maybe there is a way to get Time Machine to automatically backup these disk images during logout.
    6. Perhaps there is another way to get the disk images backed up at logout other than using Time Machine.
    So my questions are:
    A. What is the best overall approach to providing a low-maintenance reliable backup which deals appropriately with Entourage and provides a small amount of encrypted space?
    B. Can Time Machine be made to backup disk images other than FileVault disk images at logout? (for example is there a particular location / filename format for FileVault images which I could emulate with the other disk images to fool Time Machine into backing them up?)
    C. When Time Machine runs at logout, have MS Entourage and the daemon process already been shut down and the disks unmounted, to prevent corruption?
    D. Is there another way of backing up the sparse image disks at logout?
    C. Is this all going to get magically fixed in Snow Leopard?
    D. Will MS come up with a sensible storage format for Entourage?
    Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

    I don't know if there is a complete solution, but here are some things you could consider.
    1. TM does not run automatically at logout unless FileVault is enabled.
    2. You can change the backup period using third-party utilities like TimeMachineEditor - VersionTracker or MacUpdate.
    3. You can exclude the Microsoft User Data folder from the TM backup and back it up separately using third-party backup software.
    4. You can use third-party backup software instead of TM, such as:
    1. Retrospect Desktop (Commercial - not yet universal binary)
    2. Synchronize! Pro X (Commercial)
    3. Synk (Backup, Standard, or Pro)
    4. Deja Vu (Shareware)
    5. Carbon Copy Cloner (Donationware)
    6. SuperDuper! (Commercial)
    7. Intego Personal Backup (Commercial)
    8. Data Backup (Commercial)
    9. SilverKeeper 2.0 (Freeware)
    10. Tri-Backup (Commercial)
    11. Apple Backup (requires a .Mac account with Apple both to get the software and to use it.)
    Apple's Backup is a full backup tool capable of backing up across multiple media such as CD/DVD. However, it cannot create bootable backups. It is primarily an "archiving" utility.
    Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.
    Third-party backup utilities can run backups on schedules you set up. Thus, you can schedule your backups to occur at a time when you do not use the machine such as early in the AM for example.

  • Time machine has created a new sparse bundle

    I have booted my new Macbook from my time machine back up. Time machine has created a new sparse bundle and I cannot access the previous backups. Is there any way to make time machine to use the previous sparse bundle?  Thanks, Karl

    Use the old backups to continue backups or use them for migration etc..
    If you have a new Mac then continuing to use the same backup is not recommended..
    Info you can see here..
    B5 and B6 http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
    I do not think it is good idea.. however you can access the old backup to get files if you need them.
    See Q17 here.
    http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html

  • Help!  Empty home folder, vanished sparse bundle, and now I can't log in -

    I was trying to free up space on my MacBook Pro and looking into the biggest space-eaters on my hard drive, and ran across something huge called a sparse bundle. I did some research, and at first thought this was a backup of my home folder, and with space so tight decided to delete it, figuring I'd backup externally later. Luckily it wouldn't empty from trash, and I pulled it back onto my desktop. I then learned that it was my own user home folder compressed into a sparse bundle by File Vault. (Yikes!) I tried to return it to my user folder but couldn't. I thought that maybe if I turned off File Vault it would work, so I tried. Instead my account logged out and I got an alarming message saying I couldn't log back onto this account due to an error.
    I tried to access my account from the outside, as a root user, and saw to my shock that my home folder is now completely empty. The last I saw the sparse bundle was sitting on my desktop - where is it? Was it somehow deleted? If so, is there any way to recover it? I didn't make a backup, stupid me. I've seen other forum postings but they're not quite on point- Any help would be hugely appreciated!!!

    I don't use File Vault, but have experimented with it a bit.
    Are you on Tiger or Leopard? You've posted in the Leopard forum, but your signature says you're running Tiger.
    The reason I ask is, I understand File Vault is handled somewhat differently on Tiger vs. Leopard; if you're really on Tiger, you might do better in the Tiger forum: http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=758
    But I suspect nobody in the forums will be able to answer this one -- it's quite unusual. You're probably going to have to either make an appointment at the Genius Bar of your local Apple Store, or call AppleCare.

  • Time capsule sparse.bundle restore w 24 char recovery key

    Mid 2012 MacBook Pro.  HD failure.  Replaced HD... up and running.  Time Capsule (4th Gen) has back up file *.sparse.bundle.  Able to log into TC with correct password.  Cannot open back up file, however, despite trying multiple passwords.  Have 24 character recovery key.  Typed that in at the password prompt.  Still no access.  Was using File Vault.  Had upgraded to OS 10.9.2 at time of last back up.  New HD/system does not have FV turned on.  What now?

    Whew, see if these help...
    http://pondini.org/TM/25.html
    Encrypt existing time capsule sparse bundles in Mountain Lion ?

  • Copying, and using, sparse bundles across OS X systems

    I have a laptop that I use for work, a MacBook Pro 17", on which I have two folders full of data that needs to be secured. I set up two SparseImage files using Disk Utility and copied all data into these file systems, deleting the originals. This worked fine.
    I synchronize my laptop with my home iMac which I use when working at home, I can open these sparse image files, enter the password, and have access to the files as needed. Subsequent synching puts changes back onto the laptop where I can open them at work. All is well.
    This however is suboptimal as both machines use Time Machine and this is best used with Sparse Bundle file systems. Accordingly I created a couple of Sparse Bundle file systems and copied all the Sparse Image files over to the bundles. Again, all worked fine - at least on my laptop where I created them.
    However, when I synch, I get all the bundle files over on my home iMac as I would expect, and the Sparse Bundle files, which is a package and I can open and view the contents - it all looks good. However, when I open the Sparse Bundle on the iMac, instead of getting the password window, I get a little window saying "The following disk images could not be opened, Image: "name.sparsebundle" Reason: "No such file or directory".
    The two file systems, on the iMac and MBP appear identical in all respects, down to the "Open with: DiskImageMounter" app in the GetInfo window. Yet the secured SparseBundle image cannot be opened on my iMac, whereas the SparseImage can. Is there some setting or something that the Bundle needs to work when copied to another machine?
    Thanks - Lawrence

    LawrenceHare wrote:
    I have a laptop that I use for work, a MacBook Pro 17", on which I have two folders full of data that needs to be secured. I set up two SparseImage files using Disk Utility and copied all data into these file systems, deleting the originals. This worked fine.
    I synchronize my laptop with my home iMac which I use when working at home, I can open these sparse image files, enter the password, and have access to the files as needed. Subsequent synching puts changes back onto the laptop where I can open them at work. All is well.
    This however is suboptimal as both machines use Time Machine and this is best used with Sparse Bundle file systems. Accordingly I created a couple of Sparse Bundle file systems and copied all the Sparse Image files over to the bundles. Again, all worked fine - at least on my laptop where I created them.
    However, when I synch, I get all the bundle files over on my home iMac as I would expect, and the Sparse Bundle files, which is a package and I can open and view the contents - it all looks good. However, when I open the Sparse Bundle on the iMac, instead of getting the password window, I get a little window saying "The following disk images could not be opened, Image: "name.sparsebundle" Reason: "No such file or directory".
    The two file systems, on the iMac and MBP appear identical in all respects, down to the "Open with: DiskImageMounter" app in the GetInfo window. Yet the secured SparseBundle image cannot be opened on my iMac, whereas the SparseImage can. Is there some setting or something that the Bundle needs to work when copied to another machine?
    no, there is no special setting. this should work. try deleting the copied sparse bundle and copying it again. also, make sure that you have sufficient privileges to the sparse bundle when you are copying it. how exactly are you syncing the imac with the mbp?

  • Missing iPhoto library - replaced by MacFort with sparse bundle image

    Hello to everyone!
    I am new to the community and to Apple in General! Got my new Macbook Air abouth a month ago and one the first thing I did was to transfer all my pictures to iPhoto (about 18k or 55Gb). I sorted them in Events, Albums, etc - all cool. Then, I decided to password protect my iPhoto library using MacFort. I guess thhis was a big mistake from my part as I didn't really understand how this software really worked...
    Anyway, here's what I did step by step and what was the rather unpleasant outcome:
    1) Installed MacFort; found my iPhoto Library there and started encrypting it straight away
    2) Once the encrypting was finished, iPhoto started to request a password everytime it was launched - so far so good
    3) After the trial of MacFort expired I decided to uninstall the App. Stupid as I am, I did it with CleanApp and not using the uninstall option through MacFort
    4) When decided to launch iPhoto it couldnt find any libraries as if none really existed before .. :X
    5) I then restored MacFort as it was still in my Trash and tried to load the encrypted file.. Unfortunately the App doesn't find any files and I cannot decrypt the vault I had previously created for iPhoto...
    - even worse: it doesn't find iPhoto nor its library when scanning for files to encrypt
    - the only thing that MacFort recognises is the a vault which I can lock or unlock:
    6) I then did some searches and found out that all my pictures (about 50gb) are considered as 'Other' storage (i.e. the sparse bundle disk image) and I have nothing considered as photos in Iphoto
    7) Right then I found out that I approached the entire encrypting process in a very wrong way. I did not create a copy of my iPhoto library and then encrypt it but insted I worked directly on my original iPhoto library file.
    Now I have a single file called Valentin.sparsebundle that contains my entire iPhoto library. I thought I had lost everything when mis-uninstalling MacFort but I can still access my photos when selecting the sparse bundle file when iPhoto asks to 'Choose Library'
    So my question now is: Is there a way I can change this Sparse Image and return my original iPhoto library in order then to unistall MacFort and delete any encrypted disk images? In other words, put back everything the way it was before installing MacFort?
    Sorry for the long post but I wanted to give you as much detail as possible. Any help will be greatly appreciated!
    Many thanks,
    Valentin 

    Not sure how I can do this.
    So I can see the image file is located in Users->MacFort (again no storage allocated to Iphoto...) :
    The file itself:
    I can open my entire library and as you can see all of my pictures/events/albums are visible under Media in the open file command:
    However in the Pictures folder there is barely anything:
    I think the second file (45bytes) is only an alias(shortcut) to the sparsebundle image.
    So in fact I can access my iPhoto library but it doesn't really exist :/

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