Time Capsule spends about 30 minutes "preparing" for each backup.

My Time Capsule has two MacBooks backing up to it. One of them backs up fine; the other has a problem. It goes into "preparation" mode before each backup and it stays there for ridiculous lengths of time -- even if the machine was not used therefore nothing needs to be backed up. The TC hard disk just spins and spins.

You have continual messages.. No space left on device
Is your TC full..?? Are you using wireless to connect to the TC?
The time capsule has been stuck in the "preparing for backup" stage indefinately: like months and months.
Note that Time Capsule is the hardware device.. Time Machine is the software that prepares the backup.. They are completely different.. !!
Open either the TM preference or the airport utility and tell us how much space is reported left on the drive.. or is the local hard disk full??
If you upgraded OS on the computer it can fail to properly clean up old backups and you will need to step in and erase the TC yourself. Or plug in a USB drive and set that as a new destination for the backup.

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Time capsule will not move beyond "preparing for backup."

The time capsule has been stuck in the "preparing for backup" stage indefinately: like months and months.
I tried deleting the preference file and also installed the time capsule widget. Here is the information that the widget is displaying about the attempted back up:
Starting standard backup
Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://James%[email protected]/James%20Palmer's%20Time%2 0Capsule
Mounted network destination at mountpoint: /Volumes/James Palmer's Time Capsule using URL: afp://James%[email protected]/James%20Palmer's%20Time%2 0Capsule
Running backup verification
QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
Backup verification passed!
QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
Disk image /Volumes/James Palmer's Time Capsule/James Palmer’s iMac.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Backup of James Palmer’s iMac
Backing up to: /Volumes/Backup of James Palmer’s iMac/Backups.backupdb
Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: No space left on device
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: No space left on device
Exception writing exclusions cache. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: No space left on device
Unable to create exclusions cache data.
Failed to write exclusions cache. Continuing anyway.
Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: No space left on device
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
Waiting for index to be ready (101)

You have continual messages.. No space left on device
Is your TC full..?? Are you using wireless to connect to the TC?
The time capsule has been stuck in the "preparing for backup" stage indefinately: like months and months.
Note that Time Capsule is the hardware device.. Time Machine is the software that prepares the backup.. They are completely different.. !!
Open either the TM preference or the airport utility and tell us how much space is reported left on the drive.. or is the local hard disk full??
If you upgraded OS on the computer it can fail to properly clean up old backups and you will need to step in and erase the TC yourself. Or plug in a USB drive and set that as a new destination for the backup.

Hello, how would I go about using my time capsule as an external hard drive for my Mac book pro?

Anybody know if I can use my time capsule as an external hard drive for Mac book pro?

Just recognise the following.
Store files on the TC.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/24380694#24380694
This is asked several times a day.. obviously people are struggling with their latest SSD being too small.
The TC is not suitable for network file server.. but many people having no choice press it into service as such.
It cannot be partitioned. It was and is and ever shall be a backup device for Time Machine.
Major issues.
1. No backup.. no way Time Machine can backup a network drive. No place to backup to.. So all your files will be at risk. And you will need to buy a third party like CCC to do backup.
2. The TC cannot be partitioned and mixing TM backups and data is not great.
3. The drive is slow to spin up and quick to spin down.. there is no controls.
4. iPhoto in particular can easily corrupt its entire library with wireless networking causing a disconnection to one photo. Even if you do this;;; do not move your photo library... you have been warned!!
5. iTunes will constantly lose connection to the library. The disk is too slow to respond.. itunes on the computer will constantly spit out errors. Even in the midst of streaming the TC can spin down the disk due to caching.
6. Do not use any live files on the TC no matter what else you do.. if you edit files in whatever program the file must be on the local hard disk.
7. The only suitable location for most libraries is a computer. You can plug in an external hard disk.
Read pondini for some work arounds.
Q3 here. http://pondini.org/TM/Time_Capsule.html

Time Machine-"preparing for EVER/backup"

i read an earlier post, saying that after mac crashes, its likely TM wants to do an initial backup again, and something in Console..
I hadnt crashed, only change was hadnt backed up in 2 weeks while traveling...so after coming home, my Time Capsule and Time Machine went to back up, and 4 hours of "preparing back up", it never backed up..And i guess my question is, why is the response from TM to want to do its initial backup as opposed to just backing up to whatever is new or had changed. Does this mean, after a day or two of not connecting with TimeCapsule or whatever External Drive I choose, that this will happen? As for now, how long would you say is a normal time, for the "preparing" to...prepare, and start to backup? And if its doing its initial, isnt it wanting to do everything, so there will be duplicates?
thank you for any help!!!

JGcalifornia wrote:
i read an earlier post, saying that after mac crashes, its likely TM wants to do an initial backup again, and something in Console..
If that's what it said, it was wrong. After a crash, TM can't be sure where everything was when "the lights went out", so it will likely do a "deep traversal", examining every file and folder on your system to see what needs to be backed-up. It will send explanatory messages to your logs. This process takes quite a while, of course, and much more with a Time Capsule, but TM won't do a full backup just because of a crash.
I hadnt crashed, only change was hadnt backed up in 2 weeks while traveling...so after coming home, my Time Capsule and Time Machine went to back up, and 4 hours of "preparing back up", it never backed up..And i guess my question is, why is the response from TM to want to do its initial backup as opposed to just backing up to whatever is new or had changed. Does this mean, after a day or two of not connecting with TimeCapsule or whatever External Drive I choose, that this will happen? As for now, how long would you say is a normal time, for the "preparing" to...prepare, and start to backup? And if its doing its initial, isnt it wanting to do everything, so there will be duplicates?
You have about three questions there.
First, TM will do a full, complete backup after certain hardware repairs, a full restore, or going several days without a backup. Just how many days is unclear, but it seems to be a combination of days and the volume of changes: 10 days seems safe, 2 weeks may not be.
And yes, this is another full backup of everything on your system. So it will take a very long time and a lot of disk space. Depending on how much space is available, you may want to erase the disk and let TM start over.
You say TM "never backed up" after the lengthy "preparing" phase. Did the backup fail, or did you cancel it?
If it failed, we need to look at the messages in your logs. Download the +Time Machine Buddy+ widget from: http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/status/timemachinebuddy.html. It shows the messages from your logs for one TM backup run at a time, in a small window. Navigate to the failed backup, then copy and post the messages here (be sure to get them all, as sometimes they overflow the small window).

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

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

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

Downloading the 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1 and it seems stuck at "registering updated components". It's running but I've had "about a minute" left for 30 minutes now

Trying to download the 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1 and it seems stuck at "Registering updated components". It's been saying it has "about a minute" left for at least a half hour. What do I do?

Try downloading it from the Apple site. Set Safari to download to the desk top:Safari preferences>general>save downloads to desktop. Download to desktop, and run the installer:
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1399

I am using a macbook pro with system 10.6.8. I just discovered that no recent files have been backed up to the external disk using Time Capsule. There is a long list of backups including most recent but no recent files, for some weeks, have been backed u

I am using a macbook pro with system 10.6.8. I just discovered that no recent files have been backed up to the external disk using Time Capsule. There is a long list of backups including most recent but no recent files, for some weeks, have been backed up. I did a full reset of Time Machine. I disconnected the external drive and reconnected it. It is not a matter of file types, no files and no folders have gotten backed up. Everything looks normal though unless one goes hunting for recent files on the back up.

Many thanks.
With those symptoms, I'd try the following document:
Apple software on Windows: May see performance issues and blank iTunes Store
(If there's a SpeedBit LSP showing up in Autoruns, it's usually best to just uninstall your SpeedBit Video Accelerator.)

Does Airport time capsule work well as a storage for large files, such as RAW Photos and HD Video?

If Airport time capsule can work as a storage device, how reliable is it? Are downloads into Airport dependent on internet speed, or on the time capsule wifi?

If Airport time capsule can work as a storage device, how reliable is it?
The Time Capsule was designed to be used for Time Machine backups, but can equally be used for storage. Like any network storage device it is relatively reliable. However, you should always have a good backup strategy for important files.
Are downloads into Airport dependent on internet speed, or on the time capsule wifi?
Data transfer rates "into" the Time Capsule are dependent on a number of factors. Which factors depend on the original source of the files. Regardless, the common factors will be the TC's internal hard drive interface and data write speeds of the drive itself.

Is possible to use Time Capsule as a external hard drive for my MA ?

Hi,
I wondering to know if i can use the time capsule as a external hard drive for my MACBOOK AIR i mean i dont want a backup i just want to be connected when i'm at home and transfer the data to the time capsule or simply uses data from there.
Thanks!

Yes, you can.
(60321)

Can I use Time Capsule as external storage and not for Time Machine?

Can I use Time Capsule as external storage and not for Time Machine?
I want to just use it like a USB drive but wirelessly and so other people in my suite can use it wirelessly to get the files I put on there. Let me know if you need me to explain some more

Will the Time Capsule come with directions on how to set it up as external storage rather then time machine.
Yes, AirPort Utility will walk you through the setup.
Because when I watched the video on it it says that time machine is automatically recognized
You have to turn Time Machine "On" for each Mac separately. By default, it is "Off". Leave it off if you do not want to use Time Machine. If by some chance Time Machine is "On", then turn it "Off"

DAG - Backup failing on 1 DB only with error - The Microsoft Exchange Replication service VSS Writer instance ID failed with error code 80070020 when preparing for a backup of database 'DB012'

Hi Board,
i´ve search across the board, technet and symantec sites but did not found a hint about my problem.
we drive a 2 node DAG (Location1-Ex1-mb1
Location2-exc1-mb1), on SP2 RU4 patchlevel with 40 Databases.
Since some time the backup of one - and only one DB - is failing with these events, logged on the Mailboxserver on which the passive DB is hosted.
Log Name:      Application
Source:        MSExchangeRepl
Date:          28.09.2012 00:37:17
Event ID:      2112
Task Category: Exchange VSS Writer
Level:         Error
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      Location1-Exc1-MB1
Description: The Microsoft Exchange Replication service VSS Writer instance 1ab7d204-609a-4aea-b0a7-70afb0db38de failed with error code 80070020 when preparing for a backup of database 'DB012'.
Followed by
Log Name:      Application
Source:        MSExchangeRepl
Date:
01.10.2012 03:33:06
Event ID:      2024
Task Category: Exchange VSS Writer
Level:         Error
Keywords:      Classic
User:
N/A
Computer:      Location1-Exc1-MB1
Description:
The Microsoft Exchange Replication service VSS Writer (Instance 42916d80-36c1-4f73-86d0-596d30226349) failed with error 80070020 when preparing for a backup.
The backup Application - Symantec Backup Exec 2010 R3 – states, this error
Snapshot provider error (0xE000FED1): A failure occurred querying the Writer status.
Check the Windows Event Viewer for details.
Writer Name: Exchange Server, Writer ID: {76FE1AC4-15F7-4BCD-987E-8E1ACB462FB7}, Last error: The VSS Writer failed, but the operation can be retried (0x800423f3), State: Stable (1).
Symatec suggests within http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH184095
to restart the MS Exchange Replication Service – BUT the mentioned eventID
8229 isn´t present on any of the both Mailboxservers.
The affected Database is active on Location2-Exc1-Mb1 Server and in an overall healthy state. I found during my research, that below Location2-Exc1-Mb1 Server, there are not removed shadow copies present!
This confuses me, since all Backups are normally taken from the passive copy of a Database.
So my questions to the board are:
* Does anyone is facing similar issues?
* Can someone explain why snapshots are present on the Mailboxserver hosting the Active Database, whilst the errors are logged on the passive one?
-          * Does someone know the conditions, why shadows copies remain and
aren´t removed in a proper manner?
What can cause the circumstance, that only 1 DB is facing such issues?
Any suggestion is welcome!
BR
Markus

Hi Lenora,
I´ve encreases VSS / Exchange Backup Log levels to expert, before starting
those things i´ve all tried now:
- Backup from passive DB (forced within Symantec Backup Exec)
- Backup from active DB (forced within Symantec Backup Exec)
- Backup from passive DB without GRT enabled (forced within Symantec Backup Exec)
- Backup from active DB without GRT enabled(forced within Symantec Backup Exec)
All those attempts failed.
But brought some more details - the backup against the active DB states, that there is still a backup in progress and therefore this backup is cancelled by VSS.
The Solution was, that i´ve needed to restart the Exchange Replication Service on the Mailbox Server hosting the passive DB.
Backups are working again on all DBs!
THX for your replys.
Best regards
Markus

What does the message mean time capsule already in use when it refueses to backup?

What does the message mean time capsule already in use when it refueses to backup?

Just the network is cranky..
Simple first step.. restart the TC.. ie unplug the power cord.. count to 10.. plug it back in.
Second step if that fails.. restart the network.. off everything.. restart in order.. modem.. TC.. clients 2min gap.
Finally if you are prepared to fight you can load 5.6 utility onto Mountain Lion and do a disconnect all users.. or a few other ways.. turn off file sharing and turn it back on.
The issue being TM did not dismount the sparsebundle correctly.
C12 http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
For more info.

Purchased a new Macbook Pro 13". I used migration assistant to transfer. I can't backup to time capsule. I am getting on error The backup disk image "/Volumes/Herb's Time Capsul/Herb MacBook Pro.sparsebundle" could not be created (error 17). Help

Purchased a new Macbook Pro 13". I used migration assistant to transfer. I can't backup to time capsule. I am getting on error "The backup disk image “/Volumes/Herb's Time Capsul/Herb MacBook Pro.sparsebundle” could not be created (error 17). Help!

Launch the Keychain Access 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 Keychain Access in the page that opens.
Select the System keychain in the list of keychains in the sidebar of the window. If you don't see the list, click the down-arrow icon below the sidebar.
Then select Passwords in the Category list at lower left. Click the Kind heading in the list of keychain items to arrange it by Kind.
Locate the AirPort Disk Password with the name of your Time Capsule. Double-click the item and check the box marked Show Password in the inspector window that opens. You'll be prompted for the administrator login password. Make a note of the AirPort password, then close the inspector window and delete the item.
Also delete any other AirPort DIsk Password items for that same Time Capsule, which may have had a different name in the past.
Quit Keychain Access and try again to back up.

TS1550 Time Machine worked fine w. new HD for 16 backups, but started giving this mssg: [TIME MACHINE COULDN'T COMPLETE THE BACKUP TO "TOSHIBA EXT" ...An error occurred while creating the backup folder]

Time Machine worked fine w. new HD for 16 backups, but started giving this mssg: [TIME MACHINE COULDN'T COMPLETE THE BACKUP TO "TOSHIBA EXT" ...An error occurred while creating the backup folder]

Make sure your hard drive is formatted properly for the operating system installed. Go to Apple menu -> About This Mac to determine what it is. You posted to the 10.5 forum, but your signature says you have 10.9. Here is the tip on what formatting supports what operating systems:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3003

Time Capsule reboots about every 20-30 minutes

Hey all,
I have a Time Capsule (about 6 months old) with a cable modem plugged into it. My wifi is being extended by a brand new Airport extreme. I have 4 computers connecting via wifi to it. About every 20-30 minutes the wifi signal drops from the TC, confirming this with iStumbler, and the TC has to reset. I haven't gotten a back up to complete in quite a few days due to this. Any ideas?
I have unplugging all ethernet devices, hard reseting it to factory defaults, and of course power cycling it.

I would firstly go back to 7.6.1 firmware.. the latest firmware has some horrible bugs .. especially in cases of extend wireless.
To go back you simply hold down the option key whilst selecting version.

Time Capsule spends about 30 minutes "preparing" for each backup.

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