Time machine backup blocked; disc image sparse bundle needs ejecting

Team, I cannot backup to 2Tb time machine; error message as above. How do I 'eject' this disc image and what exactly is it?
Thanks
Nick B

OK, we fixed this for now with the simple, but common Mac way of
throwing something in the trash.
In this case it seems to be a temporary network connection to the remote Time Machine partition. When Time Machine balks, the icon for the temporary mount gets stuck on the Desktop. We threw it in the trash (unmounting it) and then Time Machine can resume.
Apple networking is annoying, but then on the other, it's easy. We lose printing in a similar way.
Anyway, although we seem to be OK, I'd like to understand this a bit better. I can see in the "/Volumes" folder (in Terminal) three Time Machine mounts, not one as I would have expected, and they all appear to point to the same place:
drwx------   9 root                   wheel 264   Jun 22 10:23 TM-2
drwx------   9 root                   wheel 264 Jun 22 10:23 TM-1
drwx------   9 MYUSERNAME staff   264 Jun 22 10:23 TM
On the remote machine, the disc TM appears only once.
If you look at the listing of all three, they are identical. What gives?
Is this a consequence of the fact that we are putting the time machine backups on a remote machine (that is not a Mac OS server). We have to mount the remote disc before Time Machine will run, but from that point it works perfectly -- or as perfectly as any mac networking thing seems to work.

Similar Messages

Time machine has created a new sparse bundle

I have booted my new Macbook from my time machine back up. Time machine has created a new sparse bundle and I cannot access the previous backups. Is there any way to make time machine to use the previous sparse bundle? Thanks, Karl

Use the old backups to continue backups or use them for migration etc..
If you have a new Mac then continuing to use the same backup is not recommended..
Info you can see here..
B5 and B6 http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
I do not think it is good idea.. however you can access the old backup to get files if you need them.
See Q17 here.
http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html

Time Machine Error cannot write to sparse bundle -- file in use.

We're having trouble with a Time Machine backup. Twice in the last three days, the backups failed with the error message that the backup disk image is already in use. I noticed that the partition containing the backup sparse bundle is mounted twice in /Volumes -- /Volumes/X and /Volumes/X-1. The error message refers to /Volumes/X-2.
The icon that appears on the desktop has not cleared as if it's still doing a backup.
Looking at the sparsebundle directly gives me the "verificationstate" as 1 -- I recall reading that this is supposed to 0. Other values:
verificationdate == 2012-06-05, and VerificationExtendedSkip == false.
Note that the backup drive is attached to another Mac still running Leopard. This is run fine for years over a gigabit network.
Any ideas?

OK, we fixed this for now with the simple, but common Mac way of
throwing something in the trash.
In this case it seems to be a temporary network connection to the remote Time Machine partition. When Time Machine balks, the icon for the temporary mount gets stuck on the Desktop. We threw it in the trash (unmounting it) and then Time Machine can resume.
Apple networking is annoying, but then on the other, it's easy. We lose printing in a similar way.
Anyway, although we seem to be OK, I'd like to understand this a bit better. I can see in the "/Volumes" folder (in Terminal) three Time Machine mounts, not one as I would have expected, and they all appear to point to the same place:
drwx------   9 root                   wheel 264   Jun 22 10:23 TM-2
drwx------   9 root                   wheel 264 Jun 22 10:23 TM-1
drwx------   9 MYUSERNAME staff   264 Jun 22 10:23 TM
On the remote machine, the disc TM appears only once.
If you look at the listing of all three, they are identical. What gives?
Is this a consequence of the fact that we are putting the time machine backups on a remote machine (that is not a Mac OS server). We have to mount the remote disc before Time Machine will run, but from that point it works perfectly -- or as perfectly as any mac networking thing seems to work.

HT201250 If time machine backups hourly. Why does it need to backup daily, weekly and monthly

If time machine backups hourly. Then why does it need to backup daily, seekly, and monthly?

It doesn't.
What it does is discard intermediate backups at the end of 24 hrs and keep just three spaced backups from the previous day.
At the end of the next day, that day's will be reduced to 3, and the previous 3 trimmed to one; the last backup of that day.
Daily backups are kept for a month, then trimmed to the last backup of the week.
The weekly backups are kept until the disc runs out of space and TM starts deleting the oldest ones.

Time Machine backups fail after initial drive connection, cannot eject drive

I have a Macbook Pro 13" Retina Display, 8GB running OS X Mavericks 10.9.4 and have set Time Machine backups to a 1TB WD My Passport. When I first connect the drive the backup will run fine, but subsequent backups always fail. In addition I typically cannot eject the drive. I've scoured online forums and have completely reformatted the drive, and have even deleted some backup settings files from the hard drive, none of these has resolved my issue.

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 backups blocked by malware

Hello all. I have just used AdwareMedic to effectively remove from my iMac a version of the malware Genieo that I picked up a few days ago. However, I am still unable to use Time Machine to revert to my older files because the Restore button in the lower righthand corner of the screen no longer lights up when I am in Time Machine mode. It would seem something has been turned off, or blocked. I have already reset my Time Machine settings. Advice please? I would like to once again have the capacity to revert to an older saved version of my data and programs.

Are you trying to restore everything, or just certain items? If the latter, you have to select a snapshot behind the frontmost window and then select at least one file before the Restore button will become active.

Is there a way to copy a time machine backup to a second drive?

I'm in a foreign country and someone wants to buy my laptop, for a price where I can upgrade to the newest model, and have some $$ left over. I have an external drive at home with a time machine backup I did right before I left, but that's it. What if I have someone at home buy a new drive? If they copy all the data on my existing backup drive, will the time machine backups copy and be useable to set up a new laptop? If not, could they use the disk utility on another mac to duplicate my current time machine backup, and would that second mac need to be running 10.5 Leopard? Would also appreciate any advice about how to create another back up using dvd's. I probably can't get another external drive to make another backup to bring with me. I have internet so I can send the latest data from my trip to my idisk. My goal is to have two, independent backups, so if something happens to one, I can still set up a new machine. Also, how can I securely erase my data and programs? Thanks!

SeannX wrote:
If not, could they use the disk utility on another mac to duplicate my current time machine backup, and would that second mac need to be running 10.5 Leopard?
Yes, but only if it's done using the procedure in item #18 of the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip* at the top of this forum, or SuperDuper!. Otherwise they won't be copied properly and won't work.
Would also appreciate any advice about how to create another back up using dvd's. I probably can't get another external drive to make another backup to bring with me.
If you have much data, DVDs aren't going to work well. But if the main things in your home folder aren't too large, just copy them to DVDs. If there's more than will fit a single DVD, divide it up so you can put, say, documents on one and photos on another.
Can you get a portable external? They tend not to be lighting fast, but for your purposes, might be sufficient.

Check Time Machine Backup Contents

I have been manually backing up my MacBook Pro contents via drag and drop to my NAS box and have now switched to wireless Time Machine backups after an initial wired backup.
I would now like to remove my previous manual backups from the NAS so that I am not doubling up on the content that has been backed up.
My question is:
Is there a way to check the contents of the Time Machine backup on my NAS, so that I can ensure everything has been backed up and if my NAS fails then I won't lose everything?
I am currently running:
2012 MacBook Pro with fully updated Mavericks
Buffalo Linkstation LS421DE with fully updated firmware (RAID1)
Nothing has been specifically excluded from the backup by myself.
I have entered Time Machine from the MacBook and it appears that there are previous copies of all the folders that I have checked so far.
I am sure that you can appreciate how important data is.
I will then be looking at an off site backup in the form of an external hard drive that will be kept at my workplace.
Please let me know if you need any more details or if you have any recommendations regarding my set up.

Sorry to say, but from what I've read here, countless numbers of times, is that Time Machine and a NAS NEVER play well together, no matter what a NAS supplier may say.
The backups are not usually the problem - the problems seem to occur with restores. I'm hoping that those with some real-world experiences will jump in here - you may want to include the fact that you're using a NAS in your subject line.
The best way to create wireless Time Machine backups (that will actually restore, if needed) is to purchase the newest Airport Extreme and hang drives to it. Only the newest one will work.
It's fine to use a drag and drop method of backup to your NAS, but don't count on using Time Machine with it. It simply is not reliable or recommended, as I've read so many times.
As I said, you may want to compose a new header for your message - you're sure to get responses from folks who have used a NAS with varying results. But PLEASE don't just take my word on it - reach out to those who have used a NAS and Time Machine. You may find that there's better software to use with your NAS: my information is strictly second-hand.
Good luck,
Clinton

Defrag an old Time Machine backup to save space for archiving?

I'm aware of all the reasons not to defragment an OSX volume, as well as Time Machine volumes, but hear me out on this one...
I bought a new iMac and will be starting a brand new Time Machine backup. I would like to keep the old Time Machine backup around just in case I need access to some old files. I will not be adding anything further to this old backup, and I will not be using this old backup to restore any system. I will only be browsing and restoring files from this backup, but only rarely. I have removed (via the Time Machine interface's "Delete all backups of...") a number of large files and unecessary directories to reduce the backup size. I then ran the hdiutil compact command to reclaim free space from the sparsebundle.
I read, however, that the hdiutil compact command will only delete unused bands of the sparsebundle, and that defragmenting the contents of a sparsebundle will likely produce more "empty" bands that can be removed with another run of compact to further free up space.
Will it be okay to defragment the sparsebundle under these circumstances?

I've looked over Pondini's site and it's an awesome resource. I've learned a lot from it over the years. But my specific question isn't answered there.
The Time Machine software is complex and I understand that there's a lot of things to know to keep it running smoothly. However, my particular situation isn't commonly discussed. In scenarios not involving Time Machine, defragging a sparsebundle before running hdiutil compact is known to help free up more disk space by creating more unused bands within the sparsebundle that can be removed by compact. Makes sense. Why would this affect Time Machine's process? And could it be that it won't cause a problem for a sparsebundle that will only be used to browse and restore files? ... As opposed to a sparsebundle that one intends to continue backing up to? Are there defregmenting options that I should avoid, or be sure to use?

Due to NAS issues, when I started a new time machine backup it did not have the old backups available. My question is do I need to delete them or will time machine automatically reclaim the space? Only one Sparse Bundle, same name.

Due to NAS issues, when I started a new time machine backup it did not have the old backups available. My question is do I need to delete them or will time machine automatically reclaim the space? There is only one sparse bundle but when I enter time machine I don't see my historic backups. I use a synology DS212 for my time machine. Started a new backup which is 218gb but it says 618 gb is occupied therefore it looks like 2 or 3 backups are still on the disk. Before my NAS issues the last backup was in 2014. As you can see there is a second sparse bundle from 2012. Not sure what that is.

This is an old message now, but what happened to me similarly was:
I had a major computer crash and through complicated pathways ended up reinstalling (Mavericks) as a new user (long story).
At least I had good Time Machine backups on an NAS drive (Synology DS212j), or so I thought - when I started Time Machine up again, the old backup file was gone, replaced by a new one using my "new computer" name. The old file was gone both by directly mounting the NAS drive and by clicking "Enter Time Machine".
It's like I had {OldShareName}.sparsebundle and then it was replaced by {NewShareName}.sparsebundle, all of the old info vanished.
(I have spent a week finding old files elsewhere and have completed a satisfactory self-restore. It pays to "archive" [my own variation of] as well as "back-up".)
My belief is that if this were a wired-netword-drive, e.g. plugged right into my iMac with a USB cable, then the old file would have remained.
But this is an NAS drive, connected directly to my Airport wireless router, and I don't know the significance of the fact that it stores its Time Machine backups as "sparsebundle" files rather than simply as plain(er) files.
As usual when things get complicated with computers (not just Apple computers) there was never a warning message. Something like "YOU'RE ABOUT TO DELETE A TIME MACHINE BACK-UP FILE!!!" would have made my life a lot simpler.
BTW, I did try a "restore from Time Machine" option the first thing I had my "new computer" (old hardware, 2009 iMac) up and running, using Migration Assistant, and it ran for many hours and then failed in the wee hours - what that has to do with anything I'm not sure.
I'm not sure that I have a question about this other than "why do these things happen to me?", but it's a warning. Apart from that I've been very happy with the stability and reliability (but not the cost or set-up complexity) of NAS vs. directly-cabled external drives.
Charles

Time machine backups continue to fail. I keep getting the message Sparse bundle in use

My time machine backups continue to fail. I keep getting the message: sparse bundle occupied. Any suggestions?

Half off all problems seem to be solved by simply powering off a device, waiting a few minutes, and then powering it back up again.
What happens when you do this for the Time Capsule?

External usb disc used for Time Machine backup disconnects when Mac has been into sleep mode

I use a 1Tb External usb disc used for Time Machine backup which works fine, but when the Mac goes into sleep mode & powers back on I get a message stating that you should always eject the Drive before removing.
Any suggestions on how to get around this problem would be welcome

Look at the root of your hard drive for a folder called Backups.backupdb.
Or, a sparse bundle disk image for one of mobile computers that might have tried to back up to your Mac.
If you have those, remove them and try again.

Time Machine - "backup disk image could not be created"

I have been successfully using the Time Machine to backup my Macbook Pro to an HP Network Server for about six months. A month ago the the Time Machine setup became corrupted and no backups were conducted until yesterday when I found a solution to Time Machine setup problem. Once I set the Time Machine up again, a backup was unsuccessfully attempted with an error message: "backup disk image could not be created" being generated. I followed several other posts on this issue and confirmed my computer is correctly named in the file sharing setup. Since I am not using a Time Capsule - that other suggestions in that post possibly may not apply. The file image showing all of the previous Time Machine backups is present and accessible on my desktop. The NAS is functioning properly. Any help is appreciated.

gonecoastal wrote:
Once I set the Time Machine up again, a backup was unsuccessfully attempted with an error message: "backup disk image could not be created" being generated.
That sounds like it's trying to create a new sparse bundle for a new set of backups, but can't for some reason.
It's possible that your backups are corrupted; see if you can repair them, per #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
If that doesn't help, try re-selecting them in Time Machine Preferences. If still no help, try a "full reset" of Time Machine, per #A4 in the same link.
If still no help, you may need to reset the NAS, or use it's instructions again to "reconnect" to the backups. Unfortunately, that's different for each NAS, so you may have to work with the maker on that.

Two Discs shown for wireless time machine backup., "Data" and "Extreme"

I have a new 1TB iMAC 24" connected to Time Capsule via ethernet and wireless, one MacBook connected to Time Capsule via ethernet, and another MacBook that uses wireless. The iMAC and the ethernet-connected MacBook backup just fine using Time Machine. When I try a wireless Time Machine backup from the wireless MacBook, the backup fails and I get the "unable to ... image ..." message (don't remember the exact wording). When I try to "Change Disc" in Time Capsule preferences, I see two discs, one labeled "Data" and the other labeled "Extreme." Which one should I choose?

Try a new post in the 10.5 Time Machine forum.
DALE

Time Machine Backups disk image displays the wrong capacity

I have a USB hard drive partitioned and connected as an airdisk on a time capsule. The drive "TIME" is partitioned for 300 GB and serves both my MacBook (MB) and MacBook Pro (MBP).
If I connect to TIME from Finder, it shows 155.68 GB free of 300 GB total.
When MB runs Time Machine, the Time Machine Backups volume mounts and shows 155.68 GB free of 300 GB total.
Here is what is weird - When MBP runs Time Machine, the Time Machine Backups volume mounts and shows 155.68 GB free of 429.5 GB total.
Why does the MBP show a different and inaccurate total?
I tried reconfiguring Time Machine to point to a different backup drive and then back to TIME hoping it would just 'reset' but that did not work.
Something I just thought of - I did move that sparse from a different volume that was larger. I bet the total size is saved in the information in the sparse.
Can anyone confirm this?
Will this cause me any problems in the long run?

redemily wrote:
Something I just thought of - I did move that sparse from a different volume that was larger. I bet the total size is saved in the information in the sparse.
That's possible, depending on how you moved the sparse bundle. If it had a smaller maximum size than the volume it's on, Time Machine would automatically resize it to the size of the volume it's on, making it larger (effective with 10.6.3).
I don't know if it will make a larger one smaller, though.
Will this cause me any problems in the long run?
No. Time Machine will figure out how much space there really is anyway. But if you want to change the size, see #A8 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

Time machine backup blocked; disc image sparse bundle needs ejecting

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