Time capsule keeps failing backups

it seems I must be insane. I have a new wireless 2TB TC, i use it to back up, well I try to. It seems once in awhile with no set pattern, it will not back up. it says cannot and brings up a window with a folder in it called "backup.backups" something like that. I am trying to get it to give the error right now exactly. Except now it seems the reandomness has struck and it is backing up. . .It is just arduous. . .I ahve three other new TCs that I could try but that is not desirable.
I know it is going to fail as it is spinning in task bar "looking for backup disk" I am tired of reinitializing this, as it take HOURS to rebuild.
OOOOPS HERE WE GO, this is the error: The backup disk image “/Volumes/dwillis/David’s MacBook Air.sparsebundle” could not be accessed (error -1).
LOVE APPLE STUFF!!! I want to be able to say "my TC just works!" I can't though. . .
HELP!!??
Dave
I appreciate the help. . .

Welcome to Lion.. and TC bug heaven.
Restart the TC.. that is the easiest way.. it will then work. A previous backup has not ejected properly.
But there are slower albeit neater solutions.. login to the TC (not using the toy v6 airport utility in Lion.. download the TOOL version utility.. 5.6)
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1482
Go to the disk page, manual setup and disconnect all users. Then it will be able to start.
Pondini is always the resource to help you.
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
C17 as there are a few odd exceptions to the above.

Similar Messages

HT3275 My Time Capsule keeps saying "backup failed" due to the network password not being correct. I have not changed my password and every day I have to type the same one in and then it works. But then the same thing happens the next day. Can anyone help

My Time Capsule keeps saying "backup failed" due to the network password not being correct. I have not changed my password and every day I have to type the same one in and then it works. But then the same thing happens the next day. Can anyone help? This only started doing this about 2 weeks ago.

Hello,
Mac OS X 10.4 Help, I forgot a password in my Keychain
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.4/en/mh1960.html
Resetting your keychain in Mac OS X...
If Keychain First Aid finds an issue that it cannot repair, or if you do not know your keychain password, you may need to reset your keychain.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1544
Open Keychain Access in Utilities, use Keychain First Aid under the Menu item, then either check the Password under that item, change it, or delete it and start over.

Time Capsule keeps disconnecting while trying to backup or copy files, can someone please help me?

I have a MacBook Pro, a Desktop PC running Windows 7 and a wifi router connected to the Broadband Internet. All devices share the same local network.
My Time Capsule (early 4th Generation) is connected via ethernet directly to the modem, I'm also able to connect wirelessly.
I also have an external seagate 3t drive connected to the time capsule.
For some strange reason, my Time Capsule keeps disconnecting form the Network after I try to access the data either in the tc or the hd, however the light is always green.
The problem mainly happens when copying data either from my Windows PC or my MacBook Pro: eventually, the connection between it and the Time Capsule is lost, interrupting the copy. It keeps happening every time, after a while, and only gets fixed rebooting Windows and the Time Capsule. I can't copy my PC data.
I've tried soft and hard reset, the time capsule it's discoverable again and able to connect either via ethernet or wirelessly, however if I try to copy something to it or do a backup, it immedialty disconnects itself.
Can someone please try to help me solve this issue?
Thanks

Wow! Thanks so much for such a prompt reply and for trying to help me, I really do appreciate it.
Your reply is so detailed because, unlike me, you are an expert, so I’ll try to answer the questions you are asking, however I’m not that good at computers so please be patient and excuse me.
1. Network layout.
What is the wifi router you have??
Answer: I’m connected to the internet through my ISP (centurylink formely Qwest) modem, ZyXel Q1000Z, I went to my modem page and copied this for you, it hope it helpsModem Status
Modem Parameter
Status
Firmware Version:
QZZ001-4.4.015.1-Q1000Z
Model Number:
Q1000Z
Serial Number:
S110Y12050750
WAN MAC Address:
40:4a:03:f4: I deleted some #s to post it
Downstream Rate:
20127 Kbps
Upstream Rate:
892 Kbps
ISP Protocol
PPPoE
Encapsulation:
ATM - LLC Bridged
I presume this is modem as well.. please give all the details of the modem router .. make and model and what role it has in the network.. ie main router or bridged. If wireless is running what you do with it. Are devices connected to the modem router and so some devices are connected only indirectly to the TC?
Answer:
Make and model listed above, not sure about the bridge thing but in the image above it says something about encapsulation, does that help? If the wireless is running, (I assume you are talking about TC) I usually backup my MBP and my Windows PC, I also have a Seagate 3T Connected to the TC and I save music, photos and files on it to share within my network. Yes there are tons of devices connected to the modem, eg. Mac, MBP, MAir, Ipads, AppleTVs, iphones, printers, etc. Although when I first set-up time capsule (about 1 ½ years ago) I created a wireless network connection, Nobody ever connects to that network to access the internet, the only person that connects to the TC is me and that will be either through my MBP or my pc.
I think I should mention that my ISP modem is connected to my PC through and Ethernet cable, although I connect wirelessly to it and my TC is also using an Ethernet cable to connect to the modem, however I sometimes connect to TC wirelessly. Not sure if you needed to know that be just in case.
What setup and role does the TC have.. ie is it router or in bridge. If the main modem is also router than the TC must be bridged.
Answer: Not sure??
What firmware is the TC running?
Answer: 7.6.4
Has this been stable in the past and now has failed.. or was it always bad?
Answer: Yes!, it used to be stable before, I really never had issues, this has happened since last November I think.
2. Initial changes to get the ball rolling.
Let me strongly recommend you do these thing...
Comment:
I’m about to do your recommendations after I finish typing this, however I thought I should mention that while on Windows 7, I am only able to see the TC on Airport Utility as soon as I unplug the TC and plug it back in, other than that TC doesn't show up on it, I am only able to see the TC through Windows Explorer/Network. Also sometimes while I’m doing something else, like being on the net, I notice the HD connected to the TC seems to be reading something
All SMB compatible names.. that is for windows to work properly.. so short.. 2-10 is plenty of characters.. but make 20 the limit, no spaces and pure alphanumeric. (This is narrow, but easy to remember).
Comment:
When doing the factory reset do I need to this SMB thing? I’m a bit confused here, you are talking about me doing manually, so I can type something like this right?
Good TC name. TCGen4
Good 2.4ghz wireless name. TC24ghz
Good 5ghz wireless name TC5ghz
Exactly what format is the USB drive? Is it partitioned GUID and formatted HFS+ on the Mac?? this is the only way really.
Answer: The Hard Drive connected to the TC is a Seagate 3t, I did do a partition GUID and half of it is to be used in my mac and the other in pc, I had no issues in the past with these partitions, I was able to save files from my MBP to the HD and from my PC to the HD, and then later able to see either files on both my mac or pc.
I use my TimeMachine to Backup on the TC and it backs up both the TC and the HD connect it to it, I then have another HD connected to my MBP and do another backup there, I have lost information in the past and that’s is why I do so many backups.
I also wanted to mention that most of the time the TC disappears from the network is when I try to copy something to it.
I'm also enclosing a couple of photos of my windows airport utility, I am not sure if they will help you know something, I deleted my name and Ip address.
Thanks again LaPastenague

The light on my time capsule keeps blinking yellow. ! mark in toolbar time capsule and it says it was unable to finish backup because back up disk couldn't be found but it also says last back up was successful.

The light on my time capsule keeps blinking yellow. ! mark in toolbar time capsule and it says it was unable to finish backup because back up disk couldn't be found but it also says last back up was successful.

Hi jon88906,
If you are seeing a flashing amber light on your Time Capsule, you may find the following articles helpful:
AirPort base stations: About AirPort base station status lights (LED)
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4600
Wi-Fi base station: Understanding and resolving a blinking amber status light
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1589
If you are still seeing an alert message about Time Machine being unable to find your backup disk, then this article may be useful as well:
OS X Mavericks: If Time Machine can’t find your backup disk
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14170
Regards,
- Brenden

Can time capsule keep backup files that are removed from my computer

Can time capsule keep backup files that are removed from my computer? I am a photographer and have a ton of files that take too much space on my computer. I'd like to have a backup of them but keep them off of my computer. Does time capsul allow this?

files you remove from your computer will be removed from your time machine backups sooner or later.
better store important files on an external HD which, if connected directly to your computer and given enough space on your TC, can be backed up using time machine.

Time Capsule just for backups, not for wifi.

I used to use my Time Capsule for both backups and wifi but constantly had issues, so I just disconnected it in favor of a simple Airport Express. No issues since switching, but now I have this Time Capsule just sitting here and don't do automatic backups any longer...I would like to use solely for back ups, I don't need these backups to be wireless, just for use with Time Machine. I can't find the answer by google, any suggestions?

I am trying to do the same thing but I am having an issue.
I, too, was having issues with using the Time Capsule (new one-2T) as a router and for backup (the Internet was dropping all the time). So I bought a separate router (ASUS RT-N56U) and have that plugged into my Motorola modem. The Time Capsule I have plugged into the router.
Airport Utility and I have become best friends as of late with all the problems I am having and my TC keeps getting lost-AU says that it was part of my network and now can't be found. Strangely, if I go to Open Network Settings from the menu bar and select Assist Me--->Diagnostics--->Select my network--->Continue and when the window pops up about Always Allow Keychain, I click on Always Allow. And that seems to correct the problem with my TC not being found/part of the network. This happens all the time lately.... Ever since I got the new router.
So if you or anyone have any insight into what is going on.... I will try it! Thanks for the help, Judy

External drive conntected to Time Capsule keeps losing connection

I've been having this problem since I bought my TC over one year ago. Other than this everything works fine (aside from the occasional need for a restart).
I have an external 500GB drive attached to my 500GB TC via usb. I use the TC strictly for backups and the other drive to host my media files. When I want to use those files I switch on the drive. Only about half of the time does that work. When it does work everything is fine. I see the drive in the finder as expected.
When it doesn't work, I can see the drive name in the finder. But if I click to go into the folder, I get an error saying that the connection cannot be found.
It shows up in the Airport Utility as normal.
Powering the drive off and on does not help.
Relaunching the finder doesn't help either.
The only way I can connect to the drive again is to either logoff and log back into my mac, or restart the TC.
It seems that my computer is remembering some kind of network disk mounting settings that don't get refreshed when I turn on the drive, but then do get refreshed when I logoff and back in. Does anyone know how I could force that refresh to happen? Has anyone had this problem before?
Any suggestions would be much appreciated
PS all my software and firmware are the latest.
Thanks.

OS X fan
This helped meRe: Time Capsule keeps losing connection in Finder
Dec 17, 2013 4:08 AM (in response to whootang12)
Left click on the Finder icon from the Dock and click "Connect to server...", go to recent server and click on your Airport Time Capsule.
THANK YOU!!!!
This solved it for me!

HT3728 My Time Machine tells me it cannot complete the backup to my Time Capsule because the backup disk image sparsebundle is already in use.

The 2GB hard drive on my iMac failed and has just been replaced under warranty.
When I got it back I restored my Time Capsule and started back ups of the iMac and the MacBook Pro.
Now 2 days later it is telling me that Time Machine couldnt complete the back up to my Time Capsule as the backup disc image sparsebundle is already in use. It is saying this for both machines which presumably means a problem within the Time Capsule.
What does this mean and what should I do about it?

See # C12 in Time Machine --- Troubleshooting
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

Time machine keeps preparing backup..

Hi, my Time Machine linked to a 1TB Time Capsule keeps preparing the backup but no backups are done.
I had a look at the 'backupd' in the console messages and here is what i have:
26/07/2009 22:11:13 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[214] Disk image /Volumes/Data/The MacBook_0023df8ceb34.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Backup of The MacBook
26/07/2009 22:11:48 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[214] Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
26/07/2009 22:11:51 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[214] Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:kFSEDBEventFlagMustScanSubDirs|kFSEDBEventFlagReasonEventDBUntrustable|
Anyone could translate this for me?
Thanks,
S.

Hi thezedhongkong,
My understanding of the "node requires deep traversal" is one of a few things:
The "backupd" process has lost track of what's contained in your backup and how much has changed since the last backup. As a result it needs to verify the integrity of the sparsebundle image, unpack it, check each file against what's on your machine currently and then run the backup again.
Every file has a "flag" that the backupd file is looking for when it scans the drive. If the flag is "on" then that means the file has changed since the last backup. If the flag is "off" then that means the file has not changed since the last backup.
Flag On - Backup
Flag Off - Don't backup
It's why Apple recommends against backing up large database files. Because if one piece of information is changed the entire database file will need to be backed up every single time. Entourage and Aperture are common offenders of this issue, iPhoto is not because it's a package (a gloried zip archive).
Based on how large the sparsebundle is, I've seen deep traversals take as little as 1 hour to as long as 8 hours (I had a 178GB image). Unfortunately, if you stop/cancel/quit the process it has to start over again each time. So you pretty much just need to let it sit and do its thing, even if that means overnight.
Now my understanding of the entire process could be totally wrong, so someone please correct me if that's the case.

Apple Time Capsule Keeps Dropping Internet

My Apple Time Capsule keeps dropping internet or having extremely slow internet. If I run a speed test I am getting 90+mbs. What occurs is if I try to load a page, there will be a very long delay and sometimes the page will eventually load, other times it won't. When I try to stream something from youtube, If I can get to the page of the video, it won't have an issue. When I hard wire to my modem, I don't have an issue at all. Only hardwired through the router or using wireless through the router does this occur. The light on the router never has turned amber and the link light on my modem is constantly flashing. The only thing that will occur is that the Apple Airport utility keeps connecting and disconnecting from my modem.
I've reset the router and modem. I've restored the router to factory settings and reset up my network, all to no success.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Thinking I'll replace the motorola with a Cisco DPC3010
You may find it is not much better..
I do think the problem is more on the Apple side..
If you are a tech.. let me suggest you make yourself up a 100 mbit (ie use only the two pairs) crossover cable..
If that does not work.. try reverse polarity..ie in the ethernet on one end swap + and - .. It is an issue that has cropped up before where ethernet is just wired wrongly.. and it doesn't fail completely but becomes unreliable.
BTW the hardware reliability of the new AC version apple routers.. is definitely on the bottom of the apple list.
I bought an AC TC and the first one had this WAN port issue from day one.. when I replaced it after a week (it died completely which was convenient).. the second one has been much better).
The modems I have heard that works well is the zoom or ubee..
Using another router doesn't need to be expensive.. you can still stick to the apple in bridge.. you only need a router that does routing..
And the TP-Link can be flashed to gargoyle.. a hugely superior firmware btw.. solid .. reliable and it will track usage and do a lot of stuff well beyond Apple's keen.

First Time Capsule HD fail, after exchange, 2nd TC Wifi Failed.

I'm very upset with Apple that such a product with obvious defects would be released to the market. I purchased a TC 500GB last Thursday, setup it up on Friday morning, after 1 hour of use, I plugged in a NTFS HD drive. Obvious, the TC was not compatible with this, so I unplugged it and rebooted the TC. After that, the internal 500 GB drive was no recognized and nothing I did could restore it. I tried restoring factory settings, and power cycling it. Nothing worked. So I returned the unit and exchanged for another one.
The second time around, I was able to get everything set up that way I wanted. All ethernet ports were connected, a USB hub was use to connect to a canon printer and external HD drive. I transferred about 250 GB of windows data to my external HD overnight and use Time machine to back up my mac book pro. The next day, I ran a virus scanner on my external HD from windows vista. After a few minutes, my network went down completely and I had to reboot TC, but this time, I can't get any wireless device to connect to TC. Wired connection worked, but Wireless became useless. I tried everything I could think of to get it to work. I rebooted, check for updated software and firmware from a wire connection, restore factory settings, enable/disable wireless security and I still couldn't get my Macbook Pro to connect.
After much frustration, it became obvious that Wifi is broken. So within 4 days after purchase, I had 2 Time Capsule 500GB fail on me. The first one had a Hard drive failure and the second one had a Wifi failure. I'm an IT admin guy so I have a good idea if the problem is software or hardware, and it is very clear to me the TC has hardware issues.
In the end I returned my TC today to the apple store for a refund. I'm going to wait another month to buy the TC again. It is really a great product with great features for the price, but the initial production of TC is flawed. Please correct this Apple ASAP.

There is a bug in Lion and made worse rather than fixed in Mountain Lion that causes the disk in the TC to disappear.. exactly what you found.. worse by wireless than ethernet.
Apple have not yet acknowledged there even is an issue.
I don't even have a work around.. it simply doesn't happen on Snow Leopard.. which is rock solid network wise.
A few things I can suggest.. clean install much better than upgrade install of the OS.. certainly problems on laptop wireless can be partly attributed to upgrade install.. if that is what you did.
I would reset the TC full factory settings.
Use all SMB compatible names.. short, no spaces, pure alphanumeric.
That is for TC name.. wireless names.. put a different name for 5ghz.. and hard disk name.. which should be data but has sometimes default to Time Capsule.
Lock the radio channels. So use manual settings and try 1, 6 or 11. And using different name for 5ghz you can set the laptop to prefer 5ghz if it is in range.
Use WPA2 personal security only.
Use very short lease time for DHCP.. 20min is good value and will cause almost no extra network traffic but should keep things updated. You can also use dhcp reservation to keep everyything using the same IP.

Time capsule keeps losing internet connection

I seem to keep losing the internet connection, and this seems to be when Time Capsule is doing backups. It is fine most of the time, it seems to have an IP address, but I can't connect to the internet. This seems to happen when it is doing backups. Have I got the time capsule set up correctly? I am using it with BT Home Hub which is also a wireless router, and I have set up Time Capsule to join the same wireless network. Most of the time it works fine. It also works fine when connected via ethernet, so I don't think there is anything wrong with the Time Capsule, maybe just the way it's set up. Or does it always behave like that? Can anyone offer any suggestions?

I have Snow Leopard 10.6.3, I don't have 10.6.4 yet though am just about to install it, so it can't just be related to 10.6.4.
This morning when I booted up, I had lost my desktop background picture, the clock was wrong and my keychains seemed to be messed up. Nothing else seemed to be wrong, but I restored a backup anyway, and repaired the keychains. I don't know whether this had anything to do with Time Capsule or not, but I have my suspicions. At the moment I have connected the Mac to the Time Capsule by ethernet, and that seems to be OK, but I'd like to be able to put the Time Capsule in another room, to extend the range of the wireless network. I did wonder if there could be interference between Time Capsule and the Home Hub, as they are quite close to each other.
I do not seem to have any problems when using my Macbook Pro.

Can i use my time capsule to wirelessly backup my macbook and its external hard drive, which up until now was it's time machine and storage? How?

Can i use my time capsule to wirelessly backup my macbook and its external hard drive, which up until now was it's time machine and storage? How?

The external drive must be connected to the Mac using either USB or FireWire
You must remove the external hard drive from the list of items that are "excluded" from backups in Time Machine Preferences.
Here's how:
Open System Preferences (gear icon on the dock)
Open Time Machine
Click Options
Look for the name of the hard drive in the list of "excluded" items and click on it to highlight it
Click the -- (minus) button at the bottom of the list to remove the hard drive from the list of "excluded" items....so it will now be backed up
Strongly recommend that you do the first backup using Ethenret from your computer to the Time Capsule since the entire contents of the external drive will be copied on the first pass. Ethernet will be 3-5 faster than wireless.
Once you have the first backup done, you can use wireless for subsequent backups since they will nornally be much smaller....unless you add large files to the external drive.

Can I use my Time Capsule as a backup disk and storage?

Can I use my Time Capsule as a backup disk and put files from my other USB external hard drive on it, using the TC as an external as well?

Actually, there is a way to limit the amount of space Time Machine uses for backup so that it won't eat up all your disk space...for example, I have mine set to only use 65GB, and then it starts to overwrite older backups...Google it for more info. To begin with, I deleted my Sparse Disk Image Bundle from Time Capsule, and used Disk Utility to create a Sparse Disk Image Bundle (turn off backups first!!!) with a capacity of 65GB in HFS Journaled, Case Sensitive...The Image must be named as follows "Full Computer Name_Ethernet MAC Address" (The ethernet MAC address is used even if you plan to solely use wifi for backups). for example, my Sparse Disk Image Bundle name is "Ahmad Atiya's MacBook Pro_00254b9d8f72.sparsebundle" Move this image to your time capsule's main directory (if you didn't create it there to begin with). Go to your Time Machine preferences, turn it on, and set it to use your Time Capsule. It should start using the image you created. If you click "get info" on the disk image, it'll show a capacity of whatever you created.

Time machine keeps losing backups

Time machine keeps losing backups on 10.8 machine.
I do Verify Backups or Enter Time Machine or Browse Other Time Machine Disks and all I can see is an older, concurrent machine.
While I can tell it to run a backup, and it will complete apparently successfully (and I'll be able to view it) the backups won't be there tomorrow. This makes Time Machine unusable at best.
What gives? Why are the backups vanishing?
WD MyBookLive
2010-mid MacBook Pro
This maching is also having trouble with scp, and other secure connections. But why would Time Machine report that it works, only to throw everything away?
Need help.
-Crissa

Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:
tmutil listbackups | awk -F/ '{print $NF}'
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
Launch the Terminal 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 Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).
Post any lines of output that appear below what you entered — the text, please, not a screenshot.

Time capsule keeps failing backups

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