Time Capsule, Looking for backup

Since the recent software update my timecapsule isnt backing up anymore, my drive seems to mount and appear on the desktop and i can see the drive but all i get is looking for backup, in the time machine prefrences i have tried re selceting disks and a few other things but still no joy, does anyone know if this a a bug in recent software and if so how to report to apple, if not any ideas to fix this world be great.
in finder i can see the time capsule drive and drag and drop files in and out with no problem
I have macbook 2GHz intel core 2 duo 4GB Ram running Mac OS X 10.7.3
Time Capsule is running 7.6.1

I have had a similar problem with Time Capsule, Time Machine and Mac OS 10.7.
In french, Time Machine was telling "Recherche du Disque de Sauvegarde" which seems to be similar to "Looking for Backup Disk" and couldn't backup anything.
I've resolved it (while keeping the last backup) with following what is described there :
https://discussions.apple.com/message/17239743#17239743
Below, what I have done in details :
To your own risks... (risk of erasing everything on the mac and of deactivate some functions... and to be unable to recover anything)
It has worked for me but it couldn't for you.
1/ Deactivate Wifi on the Mac
2/ disabled the backup from the preferences panel
No pending backup.
Open "Terminal" app
3/ disabled spootlight:
sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist
(described here : http://osxdaily.com/2011/12/10/disab...mac-os-x-lion/)
4/ delete the following hidden folders from the diskboot and external drive backup (.Fseventsd and. Spootlight-V100)
4.1/ delete .Fseventsd on the mac, enter :
cd /
ls -l
(you must find .fseventsd and .spotlight-vt100)
sudo rm .fseventsd/fseventsd-uuid
sudo rmdir .fseventsd
4.2/delete spotlight-vt100 of mac :
sudo rm -dR .Spotlight-V100
4.3/ delete .fseventsd of Timecapsule :
cd /Volumes
ls -l (you have to look for the backup directory)
cd Cop* (because for my computer : the name is 'Copies de sauvegardes de Time machine' and it is the single directory name begining by Cop)
sudo ls -l (check presence of .fseventsd et Spotlight-vt100)
sudo rm -dR .fseventsd
4.4/ delete .spotlight-vt100 :
sudo rm -dR .Spotlight-V100
5/ Restart Time Capsule and mac
6/ spootlight rehabilitated (details here :http://osxdaily.com/2011/12/10/disab...mac-os-x-lion/) :
sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist
and index launch (found here : http://www.printedbyerik.com/2011/08...index-on-os-x/) :
sudo mdutil -i on /
It took 4 hours for 500Go
7/ at the end : put an internet cable between Mac and Time Capsule (it is mandatory)
Launch a backup in Time Machine preferences.
For my computer : 15 hours for 70Go.
3 backup since without any problem.

Similar Messages

Time Capsule "looking for backup disk" problems, running Lion on 24" iMac

Hi,
I'm having problems with my Time Capsule. I can't get the backups to run for about a week. The backup just says "looking for backup disk" for ever. This is a first gen Time Capsule, and it's still working fine for two MacBooks in the house. I have all the Apple updates installed, and I'm running 10.7.2. In Preferences, Time Capsule, I can see the available/of space and there is plenty left. It's not showing any Oldest and Latest date info for backups.
If I go to "select disk" and choose the Time Capsule, I'm prompted for the password. When I press "Connect", the message changes to "Stopping Backup" and this will run for ever. I have plenty of disk space available, have repaired permissions, have booted in safe mode, reset pram and nvram and probably a few other options to no avail. I can enter the Time Machine and see all of my backups without problem.
As a side note, I have also noticed instability whereby various programs have been 'not responding' of late, and need to be force quit. Once that happens, the iMac won't properly shut down and restart; I usually need to how down the power button.
Thanks in advance for your help.

I'm having the same problem. Anyone have a fix?
Nozz

Internal Time Machine "looking for backup disk" (not time capsule)

Hello,
I have the infamous "looking for backup disk" issue. My Time Machine drive is an internal drive, NOT a time capsule. It is mounted and visible, and the backups show up on it in the Finder. When I select to enter the Time Machine "starfield" UI, all my previous backups are browsable. But when it comes time to actually back up... it just says "looking for backup disk" forever. I've tried leaving it like that for something like 40 minutes, no joy. This is not a huge disk, there are about 700 GB of backups on it. The HDD activity light on my computer is NOT showing any activity when I am idling but it is "looking for backup disk," so I don't think it's scanning the drive or anything.
I have tried turning TM off and on, removing the drive and re-selecting it, unmounting it and remounting it, deleting the TM preference plist file from the library, rebooting, and all manner of combinations thereof. Nothing seems to work.
Anyone have any advice? This is on OS X 10.8.2 by the way. The TM backup worked fine through 10.8.1 and 10.8.2 with no problems until now. I don't recall doing anything specific to mess up TM or the disks in any way, although I may have turned TM during a reboot cycle prior to this happening (don't recall if this is actually the case, but in any case it shouldn't have caused such an error, no?).
Thanks in advance,
—Gabriel

[Just a note, TM only works on OS X Journaled drives (i.e. HFS+ drives). TM does not back up your FAT drive.]
Isaac:
If you unloaded the NTFS and FAT kexts, your TM backups might (might!) work again, but of course in that case you would not be able to see your FAT or NTFS drives in OS X, and if you removed the FAT kext then a lot of USB keys would be unreadable in OS X - not a good solution.
The kexts are specific to OS X, so removing them should not affect Windows... but may affect boot camp, I don't know how boot camp is programmed (which would be a problem). Luckily if your Windows drive became inaccessable from boot camp with removed kexts, it should be easy enough to simply boot back into OS X, restore the kexts, and then Windows should work again.
I would recommend not mixing partition types on drives with shared OSX/Win functions, it seems to "tempt fate" as it were with possible errors. I don't know what has precipitated this error in your case, if it was the MSE or disk error or something else, and unfortunately I don't have a real fix to offer beyond trying things with the kexts removed and seeing if they work.
NOTE THAT THIS IS AT YOUR OWN RISK, messing with kexts is not a very recommendable practice since these files enable core functionality in the OS. Make a backup before if you can, and consider your options carefully. In OS X, navigate to /System/Library/Extensions and you'll find a bunch kext files. The two you need are msdosfs.kext and ntfs.kext. Copy ntfs.kext into a backup folder (e.g., on your desktop). Delete the original ntfs.kext from the S/L/E folder. Reboot and see if you can still access windows. If so, reboot into OS X and see if Time Machine works again. If you're good on both those points, then consider going without ntfs.kext on a permanent basis – it is rare that you need to read an NTFS drive while in OS X. On the other hand, if this does not fix your problem, you may try restoring ntfs.kext, and backing up / deleting msdosfs.kext to see if THAT is the culprit. Unfortunately, if msdosfs.kext is causing the TM error, you're kind of out of luck, since going without FAT access will be pretty annoying any time you need to use a drive to swap files between Windows and Mac (using a USB key).
Ultimately I don't have a solution, as I have noted, so much as I've narrowed down where the error is occuring in some peoples' cases (like my own). Good luck!

Time Machine looking for backup disk/not finding

Time Machine backed up the HD on my 2009 20" iMac up till Feb. 4 when I downloaded Since then there have been no new backups of my HD and there have been problems wihen I have Time Machine "on" with other applications (TextEdit, Pages, Adobe Bridge CS4) opening or not responding after being open and with Finder not responding. I have also had grey screen freezes multiple times so that I have to use the power button to shut the computer down. When I take TM off of the Automatic backups, most of the problems with applications quitting and the grey screen freezes stop happening. (Although I believe I've had at least one or two grey screen freezes even then.)
Today I've run Verify Time Machine Backups. It completed that. Then I turned on Automatic Backups again. But then it showed "Looking for Backup Disk". So I selected the Backup Disk. Then I checked back in a while and it still showed Looking for Backup Disk. I removed the selected backup disk, shut down and rebooted, and reselected the backup disk. It is still showing Looking for Backup Disk.
The Time Machine is a 1 Terabyte size. My iMac is using 203.6 Gigabytes of its 319.21 G space.
In looking at what my Finder is showing as the name of my Backup Disk, I see that it is showing my Backup Disk as Virginia's Computer (3). It should be showing my Backup Disk as Virginia's Computer. If this is the source of the problem, how do I get my Backup Disk named back to Virginia's Computer? Is it possible to get it changed back?
My TM is used as a router for two iMacs and up through Feb. 4 I was sharing files between both computers. When the problems started, I turned off File Sharing in the other computer (Jim's iMac). I had noticed that frequently my computer's name as shown on the other computer would be changed to Virginia's Computer (2) or Virginia's Computer (3) and I would change it back when I noticed. Perhaps this is how the problem started.

I finally contacted Apple Support. Three support people and seven and a half hours later Time Machine began working correctly. Multiple things were tried. The Time Capsule ended up getting erased. Many files and folders were deleted from several places on my hard drive. It seemed that the final ones that made a difference after the Time Capsule was erased were files that were in my Keychain.
I have to thank Apple's Support people for persistence, especially Jim who is the one who got things back to normal as far as the Time Capsule & Time Machine goes. I have to keep watch to see if anything acts up now on my hard drive and then the solution will go further. But the issue with the Time Capsule and Time Machine appears to be resolved!
Thank you, Apple Support!!!

Time Machine "Looking for Backup Disk...." to Synology NAS

My time machine used to work well connected from my Macbook Pro (10.8.3) connected to my Synology NAS then suddenly stopped working a while ago.
I have finally got around to looking at it but cannot seem to get it to rework
I folloed all instructions on the http://pondini.org/TM/A4.html full reset option but without success.
I can view all the previous backups on the NAS by entering Time Machine but when trying to backup again now continually get "Looking for Backup Disk...."
Any ideas?

This happens when you backup to a non-apple device.. actually a TC in particular is the only apple supported network device for TM.
Did you try a reboot of the whole network.. and you can verify the backups .. see A5 in pondiini.
The same thing happens even on a USB drive plugged into an Airport Extreme. It can work fine for ages and then just suddenly refuses to connect.
See http://pondini.org/TM/Airport.html
Did this happen when you updated to 10.8.3.. does the date of the last backup correspond to the update? It would not surprise me if they did some little tweak that took out your non-authorised backup method.
Now I have not tried it but lots of these issues started with Lion when the security level in AFP was changed. Security for a file protocol is irrelevant on your local network so really only relevant to using BTMM and iCloud.. which was also introduced with Lion.. that is when everything went to pot.
I would look at the Synology as running better at the older level of security and making the adjustments required on your computer.
See http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4700
I have a NAS and I have the same issue happen a couple of times. I am still using Snow Leopard though so the above suggestion is not a cure all.. I think you just have to accept that Apple builds a walled garden.. if you try and step out of the garden.. anything over the wall.. can be expected to behave badly on occasions. Set up another folder on the synology and start a new TM backup. Or use CCC or superduper etc..

We have 3 macs and one pc in our house. will time capsule work for backup?

we have 3 macs and one pc. will time capsule be suitable

If you intend to backup automatically using Time Machine, the Time Capsule will work just fine with your Macs if they are running the Leopard, Snow Leopard or Lion operating systems..
But Time Machine does not exist for PCs, so you will need to look around for a similar application for Windows. I haven't used it, but a neighbor of mine who has both Macs and PCs reports that he has had good luck with Genie Timeline.
A Google search will provide links for the application if you are interested.

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

HT4260 How to add a Mac to time capsule network for backup

I'm trying to add a 4th Mac to our time capsule. The 3 of us are able to do backups at the end of the day and I'd like to add another on. How should I go about it?
Appreciate any help
Thanks

Anguspattie wrote:
I'm trying to add a 4th Mac to our time capsule. The 3 of us are able to do backups at the end of the day and I'd like to add another on. How should I go about it?
As LaPastnague says, that should be no problem.
Unless, of course, the TC's disk is already near full. Then you've got a bit of a problem. See the pink box in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #33 for details and possible workarounds.

Using Time Capsule only for Backup, Not Attached to Modem Network

How do I use the Time Capsule for backup without attaching it to the Internet?
I have a slower Airport already attached to my cable modem. I don't want to slow down the Time Capsule by attaching it to that network, and I don't want the Time Capsule out in my living room by the modem. If someone takes my computer, I don't want them taking my only backup of it too.
I want to put the Time Capsule in a closet or an attic, as many people do now.
How do I get it to function independently of the Internet, though? Would seem easy enough. I want to just use the backup function, but not sure if it can be set up without connecting to a modem. If that's true, why on earth would Apple shoot its backup solution in the foot like that? Hope it's not the case.
Any guidance out there for doing this or confirmation that it's impossible?

Yes, TC will work without an internet connection.
Your issue with not have the TC network connect to your existing network means you have TWO independent networks. However, your Macs have ONE Airport card; therefore, you can only be logged onto either your internet network or your TC network. Therefore, you would need to manually change your Airport settings to log onto the TC network to access it or maybe an additional network card on your Mac (I don't know if this is possible). BTW, you will need to set up the TC to Create a wireless network.

Airport TimeCapsule wireless works fine, but iMac can no longer find the time capsule disk for backups.

Hi,
I have a new Airport TimeCapsule that I set up about two weeks ago in combination with a new iMac running OS 10.9.4. It ran fine until 2 days ago, when the TC disk image disappeared from the iMac and Time Machine was not able to back up. I tried to find the TC in Airport Utility and it states the "Airport Time Capsule was previously part of your network. Check that it is still in range of your network and is plugged into a power outlet..." I've tried restarting the time capsule. I've tried restarting everything in order (modem>TC>iMac) and the iMac still cannot see the TC disk.
I've had two other issues that I will list in case they are all related somehow:
1) The time capsule took several attempts to set up when I first bought it. I had to reset the TC several times before I got all the way through the set up process successfully.
2) I tried hooking up my printer to the USB port on the airport time capsule and although my MacBook could see it and print to it just fine, my iMac was never able to see it.
The TC is hooked up to the iMac via ethernet cable. Does any of this sound familiar to anyone? I'm about ready to send the time capsule back and just resurrect my old airport that worked flawlessly for years. This airport TC has been a huge disappointment so far.
Thanks

There are some real issues between Mavericks and TC .. (or just network bugginess!!)
There is a heap of things you can do but it is easier to just run through the whole lot in order. None is necessarily the cure and that is why doing all is important.
The list is in this thread.
Airport Utility shows "unexpected error - please try again" when connecting to Time Capsule
In your case using ethernet can be a problem.. let me say please make sure you have ipv6 set to link-local only in your ethernet setup. I usually only show it in wireless but for you it must be ethernet. The wireless connection seems to be utterly required now for connection.. and hidden away into the airport utility is a switch over from wireless to ethernet. When I made the manual setup instructions above this particular ability (or stupidity) of the Airport Utility was not apparent to me.
So here is typical Airport Utility (AU) v6.. but it is actually working over wireless only. (The v5 utility was wireless + ethernet).
I have an ethernet client on the network that is completely invisible.
Click on the Other WiFi Devices (wrongly named.. it should say other devices).
And you will see the option to choose ethernet.
Then the AU sees the ethernet client and none of the wireless clients.. brilliant stuff eh??
PS this is just a test setup.. never would I have any TC with such an illegal name.. But I hope it shows you what to do.
Fix the names.. most important.. keep them short.. less than 10 characters all the better.
No spaces and pure alphanumeric.

I keep getting a 'Looking for backup disc' message from my Time Capsule.

I keep getting a 'Looking for backup disc' message from my Time Capsule. I have set it up several times without any apparent problems (I have even done a Hard and Factory reset). Everything seems fine until I ask Timemachine to 'back up', and then the problems start.
Any ideas?

I had the exact same problem. I bought the Time Capsule this past July and it worked fine for about a month then it told me it hadn't backed up in 10 days and was stuck looking for the backup drive. I called Apple and they said the reason was that the Time Capsule was in Bridge mode. I launched Airport Utility and sure enough, it was. I changed it to DCHP and NAT (Airport Utility -> Network tab -> Router Mode). After updating the Time Capsule, I couldn't even get on the Internet, let alone do a backup. A logged into the software for my cable modem and discovered that it too was in Bridge mode.
It turned out (for me) that neither should be in Bridge mode (which is for connecting two networks). Your cable modem only has one IP address. Your Time Capsule should be doing the NAT (Network Address Translation) which translates the internal IP addresses on your network to the one IP address your cable modem has. When I switched my Time Capsule to DHCP and NAT, it conflicted with the fact that the cable modem was also trying to do this. The answer was to turn this off on the modem (allowing all the packets to just go through the modem to the Time Capsule and let IT do the NAT). I did that last week and since then, my Time Capsule has been working perfectly.
1) Go to your cable modem (via a browser, enter "http://192.168.100.1"). Log-in and find the setting that indicates NAT. If you're uncomfortable doing this or can't find it, call your cable company and ask Tech Support to do it for you. They can do it remotely.
2) Launch Airport Utilty. Go to the Network Tab and change the router mode to "DHCP and NAT".
3) You may need to restart your modem and Time Capsule. I can't remember if I had to or not.
I hope this helps. I tried many things but this is the only solution that fixed it for me. And it makes sense. Only one device, the cable modem or the Time Capsule, can be doing the NAT.

Stuck in "Looking for Backup Disk" in Time Machine with Time Capsule

I too am having a "Looking for Backup Disk" message going on forever . . . .
I have the following showing in my log (which is for a backup that started almost 6 hours ago . . .)
Starting automatic backup
Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://Toni%20Way;AUTH=[email protected]/Data
Mounted network destination at mount point: /Volumes/Data using URL: afp://Toni%20Way;AUTH=[email protected]/Data
Disk image /Volumes/Data/Toni’s iMac.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups
Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb
I am not getting successful backups. I first thought it was a problem with the WD hard drive I had so I invested in a Time Capsule thinking maybe it would work better with the Mac (i.e. Apple to Apple). I got a few successful backups when I got the Time Machine on June 12th but none since. I only just noticed that I wasn't having successful backups as there was no notification. I have tried a Full Reset as per these instructions with no success:
http://pondini.org/TM/A4.html
Help!

I've successfully changed the name of the Time Capsule to "Toni TC" but still no success. It is still sticking at Looking for Backup Disk.
Still have a space in the name.. No spaces. No non-alphanumeric.
Not that I think that is your problem.
From the log the actual unit is mounted and you have everything working but not actually able to copy packets across the network.
I have an ethernet cable running from my cable provider's router to the Time Capsule and then an ethernet cable running from the Time Capsule to the iMac.
This is good... also turn off wireless in the computer to force connection by ethernet only.
But when I go into Disk Utility, it isn't listed in the left hand side.
Only the sparsebundle will list and only when it is mounted.. TC is a network drive not a local drive. It will not show up in disk utility.
Let me suggest you erase the TC and start over.. sometimes it is the only way to get things going again.
A4 reset of TM. http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
And do a verify of the local disk.. A5.
I would also like you to test copying a single large file to the TC.. create a new directory in the TC from finder.. and copy a single large file.. 1GB sort of size and get actual speed measurement from Activity Monitor.

My time capsule worked for several weeks and is now telling me backup disk not available? What to do?

My time capsule worked for several weeks and now is not backing up. Tells me backup disk not available? Any suggestions?

This is a lion bug..
Generally just rebooting the TC will get it back. Otherwise you need to reset the TC and redo its setup.
Tell us a bit more.. but there is as yet no work around or fix for lion.
Certain things help.. but wireless is also a weak link. It will generally work better by ethernet.
Try and get back if it is still bugging you.. I can suggest some other things.. but I do not know of or read a bullet yet.
(Snow and TC firmware 7.5.2 which I run do not have this issue.. so the bug was introduced with Lion and 7.6 firmware)

Time Machine stuck at "Looking for backup disk" after installing Windows 8 via Boot Camp

I've been backing up via Time Machine to an external USB drive and it's been working fine. I recenty installed Windows 8 via Boot Camp and now TM gets stuck forever at "Looking for backup disk...".
I've tried the following, to no avail:
Using "Select Disk" in TM preferences to re-select the disk
Deleting /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist
Running system maintenance via Onyx
Resetting PRAM
Formatting the drive and setting it up for TM backups again
The Boot Camp partition is on the same drive as OS X (on a 180GB Intel 330 series SSD). During the Windows installation I re-formatted the partition as NTFS.
If I start OS X in Safe Boot mode, TM backups work. In Safe Boot mode, the NTFS partition isn't loaded so I suspect it has something to do with this. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I installed Paragon NTFS for Mac and it started working all of a sudden.

Time Machine stuck at "Looking for backup disk"

I've been backing up via Time Machine to an external USB drive and it's been working fine. I recenty installed Windows 8 via Boot Camp and now TM gets stuck forever at "Looking for backup disk...".
I've tried the following, to no avail:
Using "Select Disk" in TM preferences to re-select the disk
Deleting /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist
Running system maintenance via Onyx
Resetting PRAM
Formatting the drive and setting it up for TM backups again
The Boot Camp partition is on the same drive as OS X (on a 180GB Intel 330 series SSD). During the Windows installation I re-formatted the partition as NTFS.
If I start OS X in Safe Boot mode, TM backups work. In Safe Boot mode, the NTFS partition isn't loaded so I suspect it has something to do with this. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I'm going to assume during the install setup of Windows, you deleted the partition made by Apple and created your own and formatted in NTFS. This is probably the cause as to what happened.
Try this:
1. backup anything you did in Windows 8.
2. In Boot Camp, remove the Windows Partition. Reboot when prompted.
3. Try and see if Time Machine works again.
If its working, create a bootcamp partition and re-install Windows. Do not delete the partitions that Boot Camp created. See if TM works again after that.

Time Capsule, Looking for backup

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