Time Capsule and Time Machine can't back up

Time Machine can't backup my Mac Book Pro with Time Capsule and show me a window with this error: "Time Machine could not complete the backup. The backup disk image "/Volumes/German-Time Capsule/German's MacBookPro_001f5be7ffd1.sparsebundle" could not be accessed (error-1)"
I can't back up and I can't access to my old backups via Time Machine.
What can I do to solve this problem. Here in Argentina, nobody at Apple knows what to do with this problem.

The best guide to Time Machine and the Time Capsule on the internet is linked at the Time Capsule main forum page.
You can also click here to locate Pondini's Using Time Machine with a Time Capsule.

Similar Messages

"Time Machine can't back up - sparsebundle error 1" question

Hi,
I'm getting the "Time Machine can't back up - sparsebundle error #1" message, and am trying to see if the fix posted below is the answer:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2048
So, when I installed Time Capsule, I gave it a password ("network password").
Fairly recently, I renamed the Airport. Now the Airport disk password and Airport base station password are the same as the network password, and the Airport network password is different.
Is this what the Apple support message I referenced is getting at? Are these passwords supposed to be the same... ???
Thanks for any help,
reluctantuser

I'm not sure what you mean by "We also used the Time capsule as a hard drive for backing up." after you've already mentioned that you use Time Machine to back up three Macs to the Time Capsule.
Check this Web page for advice on the space issue.

Time Machine can't back-up because MBP overheats and shuts down

I LOVE my 2006 MBP! However, almost since the first time I tried making movies on it, it has crashed. Just suddenly went black. Thankfully, I've always (knock on wood!) been able to re-start when this happens. This would also occur when I set it up to do a Time Machine back-up.
It was only in the last couple years that I realized that the computer was truly overheating, and after doing some research, installed SMC fan control. With SMC, I learned that my fans were barely moving at all. Now, when I know I'm doing something that requires a lot of energy, I boost the fans to their max 6000rpm. And when I see that the temp has climbed over 200°F I quit whatever program I'm in and wait for it to cool down. LOVE that SMC!!!
BUT, that means I've never been able to do a complete back-up, which is really starting to make me nervous. This baby is no spring chicken! I bought a new Seagate external drive, maxed out the fans and started my TM backup. Within a few minutes, the temp was over 200 and I'd backed up maybe 8GB out of the 256GB. I started several more backups but was forced to stop them because of the temps. (I've seen them over 230 before the computer goes black.) At this rate, it will take months of my babysitting it while TM runs and I monitor the temp.
I should say that I always use the MBP on a well ventilated wire stand. I don't play games or watch movies. Photo editing and digital scrapbooking can ramp up the heat, but I try hard to keep an eye on the temp and stop what I'm doing if it gets over 200.
So what can I do to get a complete backup of this machine? What's the coolest (literally!) way to back up a hard drive? I'd rather not invest in iCloud and I realize it is not infallible, so should still have another method of retrieving my data, but maybe it's the least heat generating? I have quite a few photos in online storage, but not all and my iTunes library is HUGE and unbacked up.
I don't consider myself a techie (though I adore those of you who are!) in any sense of the word and get REALLY nervous if someone would tell me to go into the "guts" of my computer, so any suggestions should take that into account.
All that said, what would you suggest I do to make a complete backup? I would REALLY appreciate some assistance! Thanks in advance!
D

The best guide to Time Machine and the Time Capsule on the internet is linked at the Time Capsule main forum page.
You can also click here to locate Pondini's Using Time Machine with a Time Capsule.

Time Machine can't back up new MacBookPro

I've used a Time Capsule for network and Time Machine backups for a long time with my iMac, but have just added a MacBook pro, and it connects to the network fine, but I can't get it to work with the Time machine for backups. Keep getting an error " Time Machine could not complete the backup. The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/My MacBookPro.sparsebundle" could not be accessed (error-1).
The old iMac that used to back up fine also gets an error.
Thanks for any help.

That is fun Lion bug.. maybe linked to issue with latest firmware in TC as well.
Solution is easy... but annoying.. you need to reboot the TC..
The more sophisticated but in the end just as annoying way is login via airport utility.. use v5 if you still have SL running on the imac.. or download 5.6 if you have only lion now.
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1482
The required setting is missing from v6 utility.
Go to manual setup, disk page, disconnect all users.
It will then work.. what seems to be happening is that after a backup one of the computers is holding the TC disk open and not allowing further backups.
See also pondini as there are some other rather unusual causes.
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
Look at C17.. I refer you to his FAQ and troubleshooting as a whole, as worthwhile skim read and resource.

Time machine can not back up

Every time I try and back up to an external drive in time machine on Lion it starts the back up and then ejects the drive and I get a message that the back drive can not be found. When this happens the drive does not even appear in Drive setup. However if I mount the drive on the computer and do not use it fro time Machine it sits there quite happily.
Help!

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. Clear the text field and scroll back in the log to that time. 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 (command-C) to the Clipboard. Paste (command-V) into a reply to this message.
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.

Time machine can't back up

Hi,
We have three laptops backing u to the tthe time capsule. The time machine sends the message that it can't back up because there isn't enough space left. We also used the Time capsule as a hard drive for backing up. I am wondering what would be a smart solution now. buying a new time capsule? havin a hard drive conected to the Time Capsule , or should each user have it's own back up harddrive for the time machine?
Thanks for any suggestions

I'm not sure what you mean by "We also used the Time capsule as a hard drive for backing up." after you've already mentioned that you use Time Machine to back up three Macs to the Time Capsule.
Check this Web page for advice on the space issue.

HT1338 MacBook Pro OSX I keep getting a message, "The back disk image, "/Volumes/Data/Don's MacBook Pro. sparse baundle is already in use so, apparently my Time Machine can't back up my compute for about 2-3 weeks now. What do I do?

Time Machine cannot backup my MacBook Pro because: THe back disk image "/volumes/data/don'sMaBook oro.sparsebundle is aready in use/
What do I do to fix this?

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

Time Machine Can't Back Up to Samba NAS

Hi,
I have a Samba NAS on my local network which I can mount manually, copy files to/from etc. quite OK. However, I can't get TM to use it! Here's the log:
06/01/2009 12:09:32 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[687] Starting standard backup
06/01/2009 12:09:36 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[687] Mounted network destination using URL: smb://[email protected]/admin
06/01/2009 12:09:36 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[687] Backup destination mounted at path: /Volumes/admin-1
06/01/2009 12:09:36 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[687] Creating disk image /Volumes/admin-1/Oberon_002241326ac3.sparsebundle
06/01/2009 12:10:26 kernel hfs: Initializing the journal (joffset 0xe51000 sz 0x2800000)...
06/01/2009 12:11:04 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[687] Error 45 creating backup disk image
06/01/2009 12:11:04 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[687] Failed to create disk image
06/01/2009 12:11:09 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[687] Backup failed with error: 20
NB - because I need to access another Samba server for work via VPN, I do have a file called nsmb containing:
[default]
minauth=none
Thoughts anyone...?

Thanks - that worked - although the solution requires a little updating which was mentioned further down that post. In summary it is now this:
1. Create a sparsebundle image manually on your local system. Open a terminal window and enter:
hdiutil create -size $SIZESPEC -fs HFS+J -type SPARSEBUNDLE -volname "Backup of $MACHINENAME" $MACHINENAME_$MACADDRESS.sparsebundle
Where $SIZESPEC is the size of the backup volume (followed by the lowercase letter g if Gigabytes, e.g. 100g), and $MACHINENAME_$MAC_ADRESS is your Mac's name followed by an underscore and then your Mac's MAC Address (otherwise known as its Ethernet ID; visible in the Network System Preferences panel), but without the colons. So if your Mac is named MyMac, and the Network System Preferences panel lists your Ethernet ID as 00:18:b3:11:84:dd, then you would use MyMac_0018b31184dd for the name of the sparsebundle.
The -size parameter can probably be as large as you want, now that Apple has evidently fixed the sparsebundle issues that were causing all but the most recent backup to be dumped. However, you can also specify a smaller size if you (like me) want to create a hard limit for the amount of space your Time Machine backups will take on your network drive. hdiutil does have a -resize option if you need to utilize that later.
2. Create and set permissions on your network share. Just make sure you have read/write permissions set on whichever SMB/AFP share you're going to dump this to.
3. Copy the sparsebundle to the network share root. Easy enough. Mount your network share and copy it over. I used this Terminal command after the MyBackup share was mounted: cp -r mymachine_0017f2c8426b.sparsebundle /Volumes/MyBackup/. Or just use the regular UI to copy and paste (it worked for me).

Time Machine can't back up to Time Capsule because disk is not found

Hello all. I have been using TC as my router for a few years and backing up to it. I got a new router through my IP which I think might be faster so just want to use TC as backup. However, I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I connected the TC to the new router via Ethernet cable but the message says TM can't find it. I guess I don't understand the logic of what is happening with TC and router. Is there something special I should be doing. I have always had the TC configured as I was using it both ways. Should I be changing the configuration?
Macbook Pro. Running Mavericks. Thanks

You must reset the TC to factory regardless.. in any new situation it will be lost.. it need to full factory reset and start over.
A factory reset of the TC is the start.. it is required so you can find it again.
Factory reset universal
Power off the TC.. ie pull the power cord or power off at the wall.. wait 10sec.. hold in the reset button.. be gentle.. power on again still holding in reset.. and keep holding it in for another 10sec. You may need some help as it is hard to both hold in reset and apply power. It will show success by rapidly blinking the front led. Release the reset.. and wait a couple of min for the TC to reset and come back with factory settings. If the front LED doesn’t blink rapidly you missed it and simply try again. The reset is fairly fragile in these.. press it so you feel it just click and no more.. I have seen people bend the lever or even break it. I use a toothpick as tool.
N.B. None of your files on the hard disk of the TC are deleted.. this simply clears out the router settings of the TC.
Setup the TC again.
ie Start from a factory reset. No files are lost on the hard disk doing this.
Then redo the setup from the computer .
1. Use very short names.. NOT APPLE RECOMMENDED names. No spaces and pure alphanumerics.
eg TCgen5 and TCwifi for basestation and wireless respectively.
Even better if the issue is more wireless use TC24ghz and TC5ghz with fixed channels as this also seems to help stop the nonsense. But this can be tried in the second round.
2. Use all passwords that also comply but can be a bit longer. ie 8-20 characters mixed case and numbers.. no non-alphanumerics.
3. Ensure the TC always takes the same IP address.. you will need to do this on the main router using dhcp reservation.. or a bit more complex setup using static IP in the TC. But this is important.. having IP drift all over the place when Yosemite cannot remember its own name for 5 min after a reboot makes for poor networking. If the TC is main router it will not be an issue.
4. Check your share name on the computer is not changing.. make sure it also complies with the above.. short no spaces and pure alphanumeric.. but this change will mess up your TM backup.. so be prepared to do a new full backup. Sorry.. keep this one for second round if you want to avoid a new backup.
5. Mount the TC disk in the computer manually.
In Finder, Go, Connect to server from the top menu,
Type in SMB://192.168.0.254 (or whatever the TC ip is which you have now made static. As a router by default it is 10.0.1.1 and I encourage people to stick with that unless you know what you are doing).
You can use name.. SMB://TCgen5.local where you replace TCgen5 with your TC name.. local is the default domain of the TC and doesn't change.
However names are not so easy as IP address.. nor as reliable. At least not in Yosemite they aren't. The domain can also be an issue if you are not plugged or wireless directly to the TC.
6. Make sure IPv6 is set to link-local only in the computer. For example wireless open the network preferences, wireless and advanced / TCP/IP.. and fix the IPv6. to link-local only.
Not all of that is necessary.. but at least the factory reset and new naming.. then reset the TM again and select the TC as the location for the backup.
It will say it is going to start a new backup but it should discover the existing one and after a bit of verification continue from where it left off.

Time Machine Won't Back up Completely

When I insert an external drive, Time Machine does not back up my whole computer. It only backs up around 4 GBs. Any solutions/tips on why that is the case? It is a brand new hard drive

jcwong15 wrote:
Actually, the issue is my "Untitled" hard drive is on the excluded list.
I somehow thought it was normal to have the hard drive there, and anything else that isn't there should be deleted. I can't remove my hard drive from the excluded list though.
What happens when you try to remove it?
If it's listed in gray, and you can't remove it, that means it's not formatted for a Mac (any variant of Mac OS Extended) and Time Machine can't back it up.
If so, you must have an SSD with OSX on it (since OSX won't install or run on a drive like that).
Even so, the system folders (Applications, Library, and System) alone on your OSX drive should add-up to at least 14 GBs.
Let's see just what's what. Start the Disk Utility app (Applications/Utilities) and screenprint the display. For each partition (indented) with a gray icon, select it and screen print that, too. Then post them all here.

I have an IMAC and I'm running OSX 10.9.2. I'd like to store my Aperture /IMovie Libraries to an external hard drive. In addition, I'd like to partition the external hard drive so that Time Machine can use it to both back up my IMac and the externa

I have an IMAC and I'm running OSX 10.9.2. I'd like to store my Aperture /IMovie Libraries on an external hard drive. In addition, I'd like to partition the external hard drive so that Time Machine can use it to both back up my IMac and the external library drives. Is this possible? Can I set up a RAID 5 format for redundancy?

I'd like to store my Aperture /IMovie Libraries on an external hard drive.
That is fine and recommended.. use the fastest disk you can afford.. ie Thunderbolt>USB3>FW800>USB2.
In addition, I'd like to partition the external hard drive so that Time Machine can use it to both back up my IMac and the external library drives.
Let me be clear.. you want to partition the one disk.. use it for TM and move your files to the external disk.. and then backup to the same disk.. You can do it.. but that is not a backup.. that is an experiment in how long you can get away with running files and backups on the same disk before you lose everything.. like Russian Roulette.. pull the trigger enough times and laws of probability will do you in.
You must have backups on a different disk .. otherwise it is pointless.
Can I set up a RAID 5 format for redundancy?
No.. you can buy special USB and Thunderbolt external drives that support RAID..
BUT that is still not a backup.. let me show why.. you make a silly move and corrupt your file in aperture.. it is not that rare.
Raid will corrupt all copies of the files.. it is replicated across all disks.
Delete a photo it is deleted across all disks.. you have no recovery.
Alway, always consider RAID system one disk.. backup onto another disk.. and if the photos or movies are at all important to you.. ie your family .. make another copy and store in a relatives house.. There is no such thing as too much redundancy.

Time Machine, Time Capsule and File Vault Profile Not Backing-up

Hi,
After the last update to 10.5.6 time machine is not backing up my filevaulted profile.. I know there is more people out there with the same problem and was wondering if anyone has found a fix?... I'm doing a clean backup with a brand new time capsule, called support spoke to 4 different people and no solution.. most of them are even surprise when they hear me say that I expect TM to back up my filevaulted profile when I log out.. they are sending it to their engineers .. could be a week before I hear from them.
Thanks.

Maybe this: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1550?viewlocale=en_US

HT201250 My Time Machine is not backing up and gives me this error report, 'The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/Valarie'siMac.sparsbundle" is already in use. Time machine could not complete backup. Can anyone help me?

My Time Machine is not backing up and gives me this error report:
The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/Valarie'siMac.sparsbundle" is already in use
Time Machine could not complete backup
Can anyone help me?

Look at the discussion on the following forum:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3882138?start=0&tstart=0
The responses given there may help.

Time Machine won't back up external drive to Time Capsule

I recently got a Time Capsule, and successfully set it up to back up my iMac's primary drive, but for some reason Time Machine won't back up my external drive to the Time Capsule.
I removed the external drive from the exclusion list in System Preferences > Time Machine > Options, and from what I've read this should be sufficient to make Time Machine back up the drive.
The external drive is connected to my iMac via Thunderbolt > Thunderbolt-to-Firewire adaptor > Firewire 800 input, and the Time Capsule is connected via Ethernet to my LAN.
Since I'm using Ethernet, I've disabled Wi-Fi on the Time Capusule by going to AirPort Utility > My Time Capsule > Edit > Wireless > Network Mode > Off.
The reason I believe the external drive is not being backed up is because when I click the Time Machine icon in the upper-right status bar and choose "Enter Time Machine", none of the folders on external drive show any older versions.
Furthermore, when I click Finder > Time Machine Backups > Backups.backupdb, I can see only one sub-folder which has the name of my iMac's primary drive. I can't see any equivalent folder for my external drive.
Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

I don't see anything you have done wrong.. perhaps it does backup in a different way.
Load the widget.. A1 here... http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
That will allow you to track the log of TM to see what it is doing.
I would also try rebooting the computer.. exclude the drive again.. reboot.. and remove the exclusion.
You should be able to check the actual settings of TM in plist file.
And you can do a full reset of TM as well.. See A4. Check what is in the file. Pondini lists the location for you.
Nothing surprises me with Mountain Lion ...!!

Time machine will not back up to time capsule

Time machine will not back up to my Time Capsule on my MacPro running SnowLeopard. Error message says it cannot access the backup file. I have reset the TC, and erased the drive and I get the same error on initial backup. I can see the volume and drag files to it, so the disk appears OK. What's going on here?

Depending on exactly what message you get, you might need #C17 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting
If not, please post the message (a screenshot would be fine).

Time Capsule and Time Machine can't back up

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