Time machine back up not working

Hi, I recently had to put in new hard drive in my macbook pro because old one failed. I plugged in my external hard drive to get all my files back, then used time machine option because thats what I had been doing before with my external hard drive although I had not backed it up for 2 months. That worked fine and my computer looks the same but when I tried to do a time machine back up like usual it says there is not enough space. When I open time machine there is only one back up. please help?

The backup drive has malfunctioned and corrupted itself. If that has ever happened before, or if it ever happens again, replace the drive. You may want to consider replacing it anyway for the safety of your data.
You should start another backup now, if you don't already have one, on a different drive. One backup is not enough to be safe.
If you choose to keep using the problem drive (which I don't recommend), turn Time Machine OFF temporarily in its preference pane, then unmount and remount the backup volume. Launch Disk Utility, select the volume, and run Repair Disk. That operation may take several hours. If it doesn't solve the problem, you'll have to erase the volume and start over. Don't do that unless you have at least one other complete backup. Remember to turn TM back ON.
If the backup drive is internal or on an eSATA bus, and Disk Utility displays a message about a "S.M.A.R.T. error," the drive has irreparably failed and must be replaced immediately. You can't go on using it. A drive connected via USB, FireWire, or Thunderbolt doesn't show a S.M.A.R.T. status.

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Time Machine options are not working. I am unable to schedule automatic backups.

Time Machine options are not working. I am unable to schedule automatic backups. The On-Off button is grayed out. I can perform a backup manually.

Thanks for responding. I have an external disk with plenty of room. It is used only for backup of my computer. I get a backup by clicking on the Time Machine icon at the top of the page and select "Back Up Now." When I click on Time Machine Preferences, there is a box labeled "Options" which allows me to exclude items from backup and notify after old backups are deleted. There is no option to schedule a backup. The "OFF/ON" box is gray. For "Next Backup:" it says "Automatic backups off." I would like to turn it on.

HT201250 My time machine back has been working perfectly well until yesterday when it failed. The error message I get is Files can't be copied onto the backup disk because it appears to be read-only. How do I fix it?

My time machine back has been working perfectly well until yesterday when it failed. The error message I get is Files can’t be copied onto the backup disk because it appears to be read-only. How do I fix it?

Hello,
http://pondini.org/TM/C6.html

HT3275 time machine back up not completed due to backup disk image "/volumes/data/.....imac.sparsebundle" is already in use. How do I fix?

time machine back up not completed due to backup disk image "/volumes/data/.....imac.sparsebundle" is already in use. How do I fix?

Pull the power cable from the back of the Time Capsule
Wait a few minutes
Insert the power cable back in the back of the Time Capsule
This will fix the problem 90% of the time. If no luck, see #C12 in this great support document by Pondini:
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

Time machine automatic backup not working.

I have just setup my time machine backup and it works fine when I initiate manual backups. but i have noticed that, after every hour auto backup doesn't start. i can always do a manual backup, but for some reason next backup time is increased by an hour every time for auto backups. there are no error messages. Can you please help me with this. I am on os X mavericks.
I also checked the system logs after seeing some other topics and I only see messages about manually started backups there.

These instructions must be carried out as an administrator. If you have only one user account, you are the 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.
The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select
SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages
from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar at the top of the screen.
In the top right corner of the Console window, there's a search box labeled Filter. Initially the words "String Matching" are shown in that box. Enter the word "Starting" (without the quotes.) You should now see log messages with the words "Starting * backup," where * represents any of the words "automatic," "manual," or "standard."
Each message in the log begins with the date and time when it was entered. Note the timestamp of the last "Starting" message that corresponds to the beginning of an an abnormal backup. Now
CLEAR THE WORD "Starting" FROM THE TEXT FIELD
so that all messages are showing, and scroll back in the log to the time you noted. 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 to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.
☞ If all you see are messages that contain the word "Starting," you didn't clear the text field.
☞ The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of which is irrelevant to solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.
☞ Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

Time machine back up- not enough space so can't back up?

hi my computer entire hard drive is 2TB and only 1Tb used. and my external hard drive(time machine back-up) is 2TB. and right now Time machine back up failed. and keep saying that hard drive don;t have enough space....
i erase all from external hard drive ,, back up NEW. and still saying that not enough space on back up drive, weird thing is and i have 2.8 TB to back up.. but my entire hard drive is only 2TB .. what is that? and i only used 1.1 TB ish..
somebody help me? how can i use time machine back up with this issue?

What's shown for +Estimated size of full backup+ under the exclusions box in TM Preferences > Options?
If that's over the 1.1 TB used, there are a couple of possibilities:
Another internal or external drive, formatted for a Mac, is connected but not excluded, so Time Machine is trying to back it up, too. Exclude it, per #10 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
Something on your internal HD is corrupted, making Time Machine think it's much larger than it really is. Verify your internal HD, per #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

Time Machine back-up not completing

Had bad HD replaced on my iMac by Apple. I updated the OS to Mountain Lion, boot in restore mode, start the restore from the last back up, get the "restoring..." dialog box with the progress bar, but it just keeps running and never finishes. Neither the iMac internal drive nor the external drive I use for Time Machine back-up seem to be doing any read/write activity. I even let it run over night justto see and nothing. Any ideas on what might be going wrong?

Disconnect and connect the external disk again. It happened the same to me and this solved my issue

Kext cleanup, now time machine and itunes not working

I cleaned up all my kext files from Sep 2013 back (as suggested in an article) to address the kernel_task overload, but now itunes won't play (play button works but songs do not move forward), time machine will not restore backup and no audio comes from google chrome. Do I need to reinstall each individual program/application? Will a reinstall of Mavericks work?

The article was written by an idiot.
If you don't already have a current backup, back up all data, then reinstall the OS.* You don't need to erase the startup volume, and you won't need the backup unless something goes wrong. If the system was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you may need the Apple ID and password you used.
If you use FileVault 2, then before running the Installer you must launch Disk Utility and select the icon of the FileVault startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) It will be nested below another icon with the same name. Click the Unlock button in the toolbar and enter your login password when prompted. Then quit Disk Utility to be returned to the main Recovery screen.
There are ways to back up a computer that isn't fully functional. Ask if you need guidance.
If you installed the Java runtime distributed by Apple and still need it, you'll have to reinstall it. The same goes for Xcode. All other data will be preserved.
*The linked support article refers to OS X 10.9 ("Mavericks"), but the procedure is the same for OS X 10.7 ("Lion") and later.

Photos gone and Time Machine Backup does not work.

I did a rebuild of my thumbnails at iPhoto's suggestion, then left the room because it took too long. When I came back all the photos and albums etc were gone, not exclamation points but missing.
I thought iPhoto could not find the library so I tried the option + open and chose the proper library. Still opened to an empty library. According to the library file it was 102 GB in size but oddly had no information. I did not panic because I back up ALL the time. When I tried the TimeMachine backup (each of them back to March) they also said over 100GB but when I started to transfer them it totaled only 1019 MB and now I have exclamation points and no photos. So I need help getting back the photos. TimeMachine is the ONLY backup I have. Is this an iPhoto problem or a problem with TM? In older versions of iPhoto there was a folder of folders that had all my pictures by roll number did that change in this version, because I can't find that either? FYI all photos, and library, are (were) on an external drive.
Not gonna lie I am in a bit of a panic at this point. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I can clarify anything that does not make sense, I tried to keep the explanation as short as possible so people would read it!
Thanks in advance,
FatherTime

Do you still have your original library that started this problem? If so use Time Machine to bring forward the last backup before the problem happened. Do not replace the current library with the backup but select the option to keep both.
Open the recovered library and drag out the Library6.iPhoto file to the desktop and move the rest of the recovered library to the trash. Open your original library and replace the Library6.iPhoto with the file from the recovered library. See if iPhoto will open and recognize your photos now.
If you had any imports between the time of the last backup and your current library they will not be recognized in the library but will be inside the library non the less. You can find their event folder in the Originals folder, move it to the desktop to reimport.
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier) database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger or later), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 6 and 7 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.

Time machine backup is not working

I have tried three different times to restore my computer from a time machine backup. Each time it gets stuck on the Apple logo screen once it it is done restoring the information. Not sure what to do.. every time I restart it by holding the power button it gets stuck on the same screen.

Read all the info about restore in Pondini.. I am not sure what you are looking at but he goes through the different methods here.
http://pondini.org/TM/Home.html
See info for setup assistant and migration assistant.
More particular info from inside the OS.
http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
Q14-17
The backup could be corrupt.. and it can take a long time to work over wireless .. it is really important to use fastest possible connection.. if you are talking Time Capsule that is ethernet.. if you are talking external drive that is whatever is the best external drive system you have available.
Pondini also has info on how to verify the backup is working and to fix minor issues.
See A5 here. http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
Let me add.. TM is great when it works .. and it is a dog when it fails.. Of late.. it fails alot. Yosemite being the worst possible. If you are trying to restore a computer having loaded Yosemite it is probably no longer possible to recover back to what you were running.

Time Machine Restore Interface not working (all else seems fine)

I needed to get into Time Machine the other day to restore a file I acccidentally deleted. I entered Time Machine to resore interface. The timeline on the right shows all the past backups but the I was not able to call on any of the backup dates and times. The two arrows to the bottom right of the screen did not allow me to sift through the windows either. I know that the Time Machine is working and creating backups, and when I go through Finder to the disk, all the backups are there. I was able to restoree the file I need using Finder and that was no big deal. But that still leaves non-working restore interface which is something of a nuisance. Does anyone have the same problem?
I am using MacPro 4.1 running OS X 10.9.3. My TM setup is to internal dedicated HD, RAID1 set up via disk utility. The disk size is 2TB and currently has about 1.6TB of data (400GB free).
Any help would be appreciated,
Thanks in advance,
Heidi

I feel exceptionally stupid.
The default window that appears on the restore interface was set to a particular folder from a drive that I do not backup on Time Machine. I was trying to go to the date that I wanted to restore from first instead of navigating to the file I needed to restore. Once I chose one of the drives/folders that I back up on Time Machine, all was fine. I wish Time Machine would make the distinction obvious by graying out excluded items right away (when you go back in time, that does happen but not in the 'present' screen).
Hope above helps in the future for those who may encounter the same problem before having had their first cup of morning coffee.
It is good to know that Time Machine is working as it should, and I count myself one of those fortunate ones who do not have to use Time Machine to restore files that often (hence this elementary question: file under "my computer's not working because I didn't check to see if it's plugged in before calling customer service").

Time Machine Back Up Not Enough Space

I just tried to back up my Mac Book Air and I use OS X 10.7.3.
I got a message which said that there was not enough space on my external hard drive. The message said that I needed 50 GB and the external drive only has 43 of space... Note, when I check out the hard drive, it says: ""Available 43.63 of 249.93".
The sole purpose of my hard drive is for back up purposes. So, there isn't anything other data or information on the drive...
So, what do I do?

To be clear--is this a drive you have been using with the MacBook Air previously with Time Machine? Or is this the first time you've tried to use Time Machine with this drive on this computer?
If it's not the first time, I suspect you're just getting Time Machine's warning which everyone eventually will get (unless you've turned it off or really don't change many files) that it is going to need to delete something from the drive outside of its normal scheduled elimination of backups (normally it lengthens out the period between saved backups as the backup ages, figuring you don't need every hour's snapshot for the last three years). By its nature Time Machine's needs tend to grow over time and it will eventually consume all available space on a drive that it is given access to.

Time Machine backups have not worked since upgrade to Lion OS X

I get the following error message when trying to use Time Machine - "The backup was not performed because an error occurred whilecopying files to the backup disk. The problem may be temporary. Try again later to back up. Ifthe problem persists, use Disk Utility to repair your backup disk."

Not one of Apple's better messages.
It's having a problem with a particular file, but there's no hint of that.
See #C3 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

Time Machine password does not work.

Hi all,
I have just bought a 2TB WD mybook external hard drive and now need to set time machine to use it as my backup. This is the first time I have used time machine and it will not accept my password. PUBLIC doesn't work either.
Is there a way I can reset or recover my time machine password?

Time Machine doesn't have a password.
That must be a password on the external HD. If you haven't put anything on it yet, your best bet is to erase and reformat it, per #5 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.

Time machine Auto Backup not working with Maverick OS

When I boot up my iMac Desktop my Time Machine desktop icon stays yellow and doesn't auto backup and turn green like before. I have reset the Preferences several times to try and fix the problem but it still has to be manually backed up. Is there a fix available?

I have had success with the following.
I removed the backup drive from the Time Machine system preferences.
Shutdown
Disconnect the drive from the Mac
Reboot
Connect the drive to the Mac
An automatic dialogbox came up asking me if the drive I just connected should be used for Time Machine.
I selected Yes (or whatever the affirmative was)
I let the backup run.
Ever since then I have been whatching the automatic backups work successfully.
YMMV but I wish you the best of luck.

Time machine back up not working

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