Time Machine backup fails if you are synching your iPhone?

Time Machine has been running fine on my 10.5.4 system, but today a backup failed
with the message "...error occurred while copying files..." Looking through the
forums, I saw a mention that one should not use iTunes during a backup. In fact,
I was synching my iPhone during the failed backup. Looking at the log using
"sudo grep backupd /var/log/system.log", I saw that it failed to back up
/Users/levoy/Pictures/.DS_Store. My iPhone has lots of photos on it, which are
stored in Pictures/. This comes close to a smoking gun. Lesson: don't synch your
iPhone during a Time Machine backup. Apple should track down and fix this bug.
By the way, my iPhone software is version 2.0.2, and my backup drive is a 1TB WD
drive from Apple. I have disabled sleeping the drive, as suggested elsewhere in
these forums, to avoid hangs.

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Time machine backup fails; error creating folder. Western Digital drive requires password which is perhaps/likely the issue. I can't eliminate the password/encryption.

Time Machine backup fails on new WD external drive (My Passport Studio); error creating folder (after several hours of Time Machine apparently working).
Background: I purchased a Western Digital drive from an Apple Store to use for Time Machine backup. I followed the Western Digital instructions that came with the drive for Mac. I didn't get the Time Machine prompt which the instructions indicated I would receive--namely to select whether I want to encrypt my Time Macine backups. (I already have a Time Machine backup I use at another location, which is perhaps why I didn't receive a prompt.)
I decided to install the Western Digital utilities and security software that comes on the disk--with a view to potentially encrypting the disk (since I still wanted to have an encrypted backup since I was mobile). I forgot that (from experience 2-years previous) that I shouldn't install Western Digital software because it just makes life really complicated.
I tried several times to do a Time Machine backup with failures each time (error creating the backup folder). I tried to get help from WD but I don't think the technicians were following what my issue was. Potentially I was not helpful in explaining it. I deleted the WD applications from my system after the first contact with WD. However the problem persisted--I still had an encrypted hard drive. After three phone sessions with three different WD techs I still could not get a solution. (By the second call I was not at all interested in having an encrypted drive--I just wanted to format and restore the drive to an unencrypted state so that I could have SOME kind of Time Machine backup.)
I still don't have a solution--either to get Time Machine working with the WD encryption/password on the drive, or to remove the encryption so I can backup. Right now my options are to return the drive to the Apple Store -- or get a return authorization from WD. Seems crazy since the drive is fine and I have the working password.

Never install "helpful software" provided by WD and Seagate (or any HD mfg.)
All such stuff is fluff and nonsense that interferes with normal HD operation.
Always when you buy a new HD, format it for Mac and then use it to TM backup or clone a HD, or archive data.
Less is more on HD new out of box. A "blank brick", no fluff and cotton candy software

Time Machine backup fails because "volume could not be found".

I just had my logic board replaced in my Macbook Pro and went to do a backup (yeah, I didn't do this right before it crashed) and now Time Machine backup fails with the message "volume could not be found" Under Time Machine/Choose Disk, it appears that the drive is the one selected. The computer "sees" the drive and I can read files on it. The only other thing that has happened in the meantime is that a friend helped pull a file off the hard drive that I needed for a project. No apparent issues there. Any suggestions?

You might try going to /Library/Preferences, then drag the file com.apple.TimeMachine.plist to the Desktop. Reboot your Mac, then try declaring the backup disk for Time Machine. It might help if you mount the backup disk first.
Are you using Time Machine to write its backups to the disk of a Time Capsule? If not, since this discussion section is for Apple's Time Capsule AirPort base station, a discussion involving Time Machine should be held on the discussion section for whatever version of OSX that you're using.

Time machine backup fails in my seagate 3tb external drive

Time machine backup fails in my seagate 3tb external drive

Without any specifics it's impossible to assist you, however the best tool for debugging TM failures is using Pondini's Time Machine Troubleshooting guide.
Good luck.

Time Machine Backup Failed even though I still have 1.9TB of a 2TB Time Capsule. I am using Yosemite.

Time Machine Backup Failed even though I still have 1.9TB of a 2TB Time Capsule. I am using Yosemite 10.10.3 on an iMac (mid 2010)

The recent update in Yosemite (10.10.3) is causing some issues for some users.
Try a complete network power cycle as follows:
Power off each and every device on your network......modem, Time Capsule, computers, printers, etc......in any order that you want
Wait a minute
Power up the modem and let it run 2-3 minutes
Then, power up the next device that is connected to the modem an let it run a full minute
Then, continue to power up devices one at a time about a minute apart until everything is back up
Check the network
Wait for a backup to occur and report on your results

Time Machine backup fails in extended network

Dear all,
I've recently setup an extended network using 2 additional AirPort Express units connected to the main Airport Extreme modem (all working well). I'm using the Extreme for Time Machine Backups, which used to work just fine as well.
However, when connected to the Expresses, the Time Machine Backups fail with the message that the backup file is already in use. I'm guessing the Express modem tries to connect to the backup file, while the Extreme is keeping the file stand-by or something.
Does anybody know a fix to this problem?
Kind regards,
Dennis

It took a Snow Leopard a while but after 2 days it started working again. I've checked whether the connection was directly to the Extreme, but the connection actually went through one of the bridged Expresses.
I guys one just has to hope for the best ;-)
I've upgraded to Lion last week and backup works fine with the new operating system as well.

Time Machine backup fails about once a week

I'm backing up to an external firewire drive.
About once a week, a Time Machine backup will fail.
I have no other information on the failure. There are no errors in any of the log in
Console.app. Time Machine simply reports "Last Backup Failed", and that's it.
I looked through system.log, and found this;
system.log:Nov 25 08:59:51 kilroy-3 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[3897]: Error: (-43) SrcErr:NO Copying /Users/mauroj/Notebook/.DS_Store to /Volumes/TimeMachine/Backups.backupdb/kilroy/2008-11-25-085528.inProgress/D2D3A 24A-4AC2-4BBE-B95B-70F6C122AA07/MacIntosh HD/Users/mauroj/Notebook
Nov 25 08:59:51 kilroy-3 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[3897]: Copied 1132 files (90.0 MB) from volume MacIntosh HD.
Nov 25 08:59:51 kilroy-3 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[3897]: Copy stage failed with error:11
Nov 25 08:59:56 kilroy-3 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[3897]: Backup failed with error: 11
I'm not 100% sure this is the reason Time Machine failed and aborted, but it correlates
time-wise. So it appears backupd (aka Time Machine) is reporting it can not or will not
copy one particular file. There is no indication as to why.
This is buggy behavior for backup software. The message is broken, because there's no
"why" to the failure mode, and the software is broken, because it should be able to
recover from this, complete the backup, and simply report that a specific file was not
backed up.
If I can, I'll file a bug. Note to Apple - We RELY on backups. Stuff like this in the backup
software does NOT make us feel warm and fuzzy.
/jim

this is a known bug introduced by 10.5.3 update. lots of people have it (including myself). it's been acknowledged by apple. there is nothing you can or should do about it yourself. we have to wait for a fix from apple.

Time machine backups failing

Hi,
I have been backing up my iMac wirelessly to an external network drive using Time Machine without any problems.
Just recently I have bought a Western Digital My Passport for Mac USB drive and tried to set up Time Machine to use that too. The initial backup worked fine but subsequent backups fail every time. I removed the backup from the drive and repeated the process and got the same results.
The error log from Time Machine Buddy is:
Starting manual backup
Backing up to /dev/disk2s2: /Volumes/My Passport for Mac/Backups.backupdb
Couldn't create backup directory for computer name Ramon-iMac, error: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=512 "The file “Ramon-iMac 99” couldn’t be saved in the folder “Backups.backupdb”." UserInfo=0x7fbb205129f0 {NSFilePath=/Volumes/My Passport for Mac/Backups.backupdb/Ramon-iMac 99, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fbb205127e0 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Input/output error"}
Backup failed with error 2: 2
Starting manual backup
Network destination already mounted at: /Volumes/TimeMachine
Any help appreciated. I haven't ben able to find anything from a search of the community and Western Digital tech support have been useless.

A third-party NAS is unsuitable for use with Time Machine, especially if it's your only backup. I know this isn't what you want to hear. I know that Time Machine accepts the NAS as a backup destination. I know that the manufacturer says the device will work with Time Machine, and I also know that it usually seems to work. Except when you try to restore, and find that you can't.
Apple has published a specification for network devices that work with Time Machine. None of the third-party NAS vendors, as far as I know, meets that specification. They all use the incomplete, obsolete Netatalk implementation of Apple Filing Protocol.
If you want network backup, use as the destination either an Apple Time Capsule or an external storage device connected to another Mac or to an 802.11ac AirPort base station. Only the 802.11ac base stations support Time Machine, not any older model.
Otherwise, don't use Time Machine at all. There are other ways to back up, though none of them is anywhere near as efficient or as well integrated with OS X. I don't have a specific recommendation.
If you're determined to keep using the NAS with Time Machine, your only recourse for any problems that result is to the manufacturer (which will blame Apple, or you, or anyone but itself.)

Time Machine Backup Failed, don't have old backups

Last night I ejected my external hard drive to use that USB port to plug in a card reader and download a bunch of videos and images. This afternoon, when I plugged my external drive back in, I got a Time Machine Error: "This backup is too large for the backup volume". When it tries to back up, I get the more detailed message that this backup needs 6.7 GB of space but there are only 6.2 GB available.
This is the only computer I've ever attached to this external hard drive, so the 49.38 GB that are currently being used should be being used by Time Machine to back up this computer (and so Time Machine should delete old weekly backups to make room for the most recent backup). However, when I open Time Machine to go look at my backups, it says I only have one backup, from last night.
I do like the fact that I can go restore old stuff I've deleted or disastrously edited, so, if possible, I'd like to get my old backups back. Failing that, I guess I need to clear the external drive and just do a new back up.
If someone can help me 1) get my old back ups back or 2) get Time Machine do a successful completely new backup, I'd be really grateful.

My first reaction was that that couldn't possibly be the problem (because I've had no problems at all backing things up for the past year and a half), but it appears that you are correct.
Apparently, all of the pictures and videos are, in fact, too much for my Time Machine external hard drive. I don't have anything else on the external hard drive, but my TM drive is, in fact, much, much smaller than my internal HD.
Time Machine Backups
Capacity: 55.57 GB
Available: 6.19 GB
Used: 49.38 GB
Macintosh HD
Capacity: 232.57 GB
Available: 175.45 GB
Used: 57.12 GB
I see the problem. I guess I'll move all of the videos to a folder that I can exclude from backups. (I much prefer to have excel spreadsheets I put data on every day backed up than blizzard videos shot with my spouse's camera: those I can lose.)
I was so certain that I wasn't running out of space that I didn't check, so I was thinking that I should still have old backups. Since they've been deleted, that's fine with me.
Thanks for asking me to check the relevant sizes!

Restore from Time Machine Backup fails half-way through...

I'm trying to fix my mom's 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo 24" Aluminum iMac (w/ 2GB of RAM). It was stuck on the white screen with the Apple logo and a spinning wheel. I tried a few things to get it to boot up but nothing worked, so I booted up using my OX 10.5 Leopard disk (the retail box version) and tried to repair the disk using Disk Utility. Disk Utility couldn't un-mount the disk so I decided to erase the disk and start from scratch.
So I erased the disk and formatted in OS Extended (Journaled). Then I ran the repair disk function and the disk checks out OK. So, here is my problem:
When I tried to restore from a Time Machine backup, everything worked normally until it got about 20% through the restore process. At that point it froze for a while and then gave me an error message that the restore failed and asked if I would like to restart?
I've tried this a few times, all with approximately the same result (it either freezes or gives me the error/restart message).
What's wrong with my mom's computer?

c.d.stone wrote:
The restore process is just spinning it's wheels and the log says "erasing" drive name.
Is the drive name your internal?
UPDATE: When I stopped the restore function I checked the error log again and it said "could not un-mount disk for erasure" Not sure what that means. Anyone know how to fix that?
I'm pretty sure something is wrong with the hard drive installed on the iMac at this point. I tried to do a clean install of 10.5.0 from the Leopard retail DVD and that stalled early in the process as well.
Yes, it sure sounds like it. It now sounds like both the TM restore and Erase and Install are unable to erase your internal HD. It's not even getting to your TM backups, or installing OSX.
Let's double-check and try again. Boot from the Install disc again, and completely reformat the internal HD. Be sure to use the GUID Partition Map scheme if it's an Intel Mac, or the +Apple Partition Map+ scheme if it's a PPC. And use the +Mac OS Extended (Journaled)+ format.
It might be worth taking the time to then do a +Zero Out.+ Select Erase, then +Security Options,+ then +Zero Out Disk+ (the one-pass option is sufficient). That will, obviously, write zeros to the entire disk. If this fails, the disk is dying and likely the cause of the whole mess. If it passes, it isn't necessarily ok, but it's a pretty good sign, and you may be able to proceed with the restore.

Time Machine backup fails linking files

I recently had a external disk fail that was still under warrenty, so I dually went to the Apple store and got a replacement. After plugging it in I went into Time Machine and performed a restore (I was backing up the external disk to another external time machine managed disk). All worked perfectly so far. However, come the next backup I got
"Time Machine Error Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while linking files on the backup volume"
Searching the forums I don't see any obvious solution. In the system log I also see 'Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: MyBigDisk' every time there is a backup.
Anyone got any ideas how to fix this?

Ok, I finally figured this out. The problem is that the old and new disks both had the same name (MyBigDisk) and time machine was getting consused. To fix
Complete the restoration of the drive via timemachine
Rename the drive (on Leopard in finder under devices ctrl-click / right-click on the name and rename)
Go into time machine preferences and remove the drive from the exclusion list
Perform a Time Machine backup
This will re-backup the freshly restored external drive but this isn't a big issue as older files will be deleted from Time Machine as necessary.
Restoring files on the external disk from before the failure: Now the drive is renamed the older backups seem to have disappeared. Actually, they are there, just tricky to find. To find an old file on the old named disk:
Go into finder and make sure show path bar is selected
Go to you home directory in finder
Enter Time Machine
Select the date you want to go back to
In the path bar find the directory with the name like 2011-11-12-202011, click on folder
The old drive will be in that directory - use the normal restore process
Why is it broken
My guess is that to avoid accidentally backing up the wrong disk (after all every WD My Book is called MyBook when plugged in) they use the UUID (Universally Unique ID) to identify the drive. But, we see the MyBook name in Finder and Time Machine so they need to link the UUID to the MyBook name. This is a one shot, once done, never undone.
So, now when it tries to check that link with the new disk it will have a different UUID (that's the UU bit!) and complains. Renaming that disk breaks the link (there's no MyBook now, so no link to check)

Time Machine backup fails - any suggestions?

My Time Machine 1TB drive for my iMac (late 2009, 20.5") had started making noises. I did a disk repair and there were no errors, but it was obviously noisy, and probably at the end of its life.
So I got a brand new 1TB drive yesterday, formatted it and made it a new-from-scratch Time Machine drive and started my first backup, which succeeded.
But when I woke up this morning, there was a dialog, "Time Machine could not complete the backup. Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while creating the backup folder."
I looked at the drive contents. It seems to contain a full backup:
Backups.backupdb
          Doug-iMac215
                    2012-05-01-015856
                              Macintosh HD
                                        Applications
                                        Developer
                                        Developer-old
                                        Installer Log File
                                        Library
                                        ... etc
including all the user folder files.
If I open up Time Machine I can "go back in time" to that one backup. So it looks like one initial backup was successful.
But when I tried to "Back up now" I get the same error dialog.
It was properly formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and Disk Verify reports "The volume appears to be ok."
It's a Toshiba Canvio, HDTC610JS3A1 USB3.0/2.0 Portable Hard Disk.
I then turned off Time Machine and tried to eject it via Disk Utility but got this message:
          "The disk“TOSHIBA External USB 3.0 Media” could not be unmounted. Make sure that all applications and files are closed on this disk."
Via the Finder there was a "force eject" option. I tried that and re-mounted, turned Time Machine back on and selected "back up now" again. It successfully finished the 2nd backup and now I have two Time Machine backups on that drive.
So I thought all was well.
But... the automatic backup the following hour failed with the same message.
What could the cause be?
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
doug

Error: (22) setxattr for key:com.apple.backupd.HostUUID
Usually that error indicates a drive malfunction; specifically, the drive is spinning down and not responding to bus signals. Some "Eco" or "green" drives are known for this behavior. The following steps may help:
Select  ▹ System Preferences ▹ Energy Saver ▹ Power Adapter and uncheck the box labeled Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible, if it's checked.
If the drive is connected to a hub, connect it to a built-in port on the computer.
If a firmware update is available for the drive, apply it.
Contact the drive manufacturer to see whether there's a firmware setting you can change.
If you installed vendor software for the drive, uninstall it.
If none of the above steps resolves the issue, try another drive.

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 Backup Failing - error 27

Hi there,
I was backing up my Macbook to my external hard drive using time machine when someone disconnected the hard drive mid-backup. The backup failed and every subsequent backup now fails - time machine buddy spits out an error 27, which I think is a new one to this forum... output below:
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb
No pre-backup thinning needed: 743.2 MB requested (including padding), 26.30 GB available
Waiting for index to be ready (917 > 0)
Stopping backupd because the backup volume was ejected!
Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:* -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Input/output error
Copied 0 files (0 bytes) from volume Mac HD.
Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:* -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Input/output error
Backup failed with error: 27
Can anyone assist? I have a feeling that subsequent backups are working but the backup log needs resetting somehow...
Thanks

greetings Deacs !
have you seen the Time Machine - Troubleshooting user tip ?

Time Machine backups failing under ML 10.8.2

I have a user who has not been able get a complete Time Machine backup since he upgraded to Mountain Lion. He is backing up to an external USB hard drive. We even replaced the external drive with a new one and reformatted it (Mac OS Extended Journaled). What happens is that when starting the first backup, it shows as "preparing for backup" under the TM status windows and "cleaning" on a popup status. After about 20-30 minuutes, the backup starts. The system slows down to a crawl. There is about 271 GB to backup. It will run for a few hours then fail. The error is attached. I've been on the phone with Apple Care and they suggested what we already did - try a different drive, format as Mac OS Journaled, etc. Is there a log file that I can look at to see why it is failing? Any other suggestions?

If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an 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.
Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left.
Enter the word "Starting" (without the quotes) in the String Matching text field. You should now see log messages with the words "Starting * backup," where * represents any of the words "automatic," "manual," or "standard." Note the timestamp of the last such message. Clear the text field and scroll back in the log to that time. Post the messages timestamped from then until the end of the backup, or the end of the log if that's not clear.
Post the log text, please, not a screenshot. If there are runs of repeated messages, post only one example of each. Don't post many repetitions of the same message.
When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into a message.
Some personal information, such as the names of your files, may be included — edit that out, too, but don’t remove the context.

Time Machine backup fails if you are synching your iPhone?

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