Time Machine Backup Keeps "Preparing"

So I just reconnected my Time Capsule after a long period of not having access to it, and it has been "Preparing Backup" pretty much all day. Is this normal, and will it eventually decide that it's done preparing and actually move on to the actual backup? Firmware is version 7.4.2 and the status light is green, and I have no problem browsing the internet connected to this device. Thanks for any advice.

Hi, and welcome to the forums.
How long a period are you talking about? If it's over 10 days, and especially if you've made a lot of changes since the last backup, Time Machine may be doing a new, full backup. But if your Time Capsule is near full, it must delete old backups to make room, and that can take quite a while on a Time Capsule, especially via WIFI.
Click here to download the +Time Machine Buddy+ widget. It shows the messages from your logs for one TM backup run at a time, in a small window.
See #7 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of the +Time Machine+ forum, for details.
If in doubt, copy and post them here.

Similar Messages

Upgraded to Mavericks and time machine backups keep failing.

I upgraded to Mavericks a few days ago and now I find my time machine backups keep failing. I first tried turning off the power to the time machine then turning it on again and I managed to get one complete backup but that took over 20 hours to complete.
The time machine backup mode never seems to get beyond " preparing backup" then showing the message "backing up failed, disc already in use"
The time machine backup worked fine before I upgraded, is there a way round this problem or will I have to go through reloading the time machine as if it were a new piece of equipment?
My wife's iMac is still on mountain lion 10.8.5 and the backups on the same Time Machine work fine.
Any help would be gratefully received
Greg

Hi,
I have exactly the same problem.
MBP 2011 running 10.9 named "ebook"
MacMini running 10.8.5 server with TM share
everything works fine UNTIL for some reason the MBP is interrupted during a TM backup ...
After that I get the disk already in use error !
Rebooting the MBP wont help, but I narrowed the problem down ...
Looking on the Mini server I noticed :
- the TM backup user stays connected over AFP, even after several hours of inactivity and a couple of reboots of the MBP. Killing the AFP connection works, But problem stil continues !
- looking on the MBP with "lsof | grep ebook" showed me that the SparseBundles were still in use by the AFP process ... Using the Server control panel and restarting AFP solved that ...
After restarting the AFP process the remote TM Backup started to work again !
A couple of days later, the same problem occurred again, fixed it by this work around ...
I hope there will be a more permanent solotiun for this !

My Time Machine backup keeps failing...how do I find out why?? MacBook Pro 5,1 OS 10.5.8, 6GB ram backing up to new OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro 2TB

Forgive my clumsiness ---
My Time Machine backup keeps failing...how do I find out why?? MacBook Pro 5,1 OS 10.5.8, 6GB ram backing up to new OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro 2TB

Have you formatted the disk to Mac OS Extended (Journaled)?
Caio.

My Time Machine backup keeps failing. I get a message the "Volume has the wrong case sensitivity for a backup". Please advise.

My Time Machine backup keeps failing. I get a message the "Volume has the wrong case sensitivity for a backup". Please advise.
Thanks, Howard

You can change the case sensitivity of the sparsebundle.. but I really doubt the error is real.
See A8 here.
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
The sparsebundle should have case sensitivity turned on.
I cannot even fathom how it could have changed.
Let me recommend before you start fooling around with the sparsebundle.
Do a full network start.
Power everything off.. start up modem.. wait 2min.. power up the TC.. wait 2min.. power up any other network gear like switches.. wait..
Now power up the computer and try it.
If the error is the same.. I would do a factory reset of the TC.. give it all short names, no spaces and pure alphanumeric. Then reset TM .. see A4 in the same reference as above.. and do a verify of the backups.. A5 above and try the backup again..
No luck..
Then erase the TC and start over.. it is sometimes necessary as TM does get itself in a knot.

My time machine backup keeps failing

My Time Machine Backup keeps failing . Does anyone know what I should do

Launch your console program (located in the utilities folder) and click on all messages in then left column then type "backupd" in the filter box in the upper right. Read the messages, it may give you a clue as to what's causing the problem.

Time machine backup keeps running, total rising

Hi all,
My Macbook Pro (late 11, osx 10.8.2, everything updated) has suddenly started having a roblem with time machine. I'm using an external harddisk (Western digital Passport, 500 Gb) to backup my 250 GB Internal SSD. It's been working fine for the 5 months I've had them both. Now it has suddenly developed a problem where the Time Machine backup looks like it will go on for an infinite amount of time:
When the backup starts, after teh "Preparing backup..." cycle, it starts off displaying a sensible amount of backup to run (e.g., "backing up 0 MB of 980 MB"). Then after hitting or getting close to that total, the target amount rises contantly to always be ahead of the backup amount, i.e., it will start:
backing up 1.2 GB of 1.7 GB
backing up 2.3 GB of 2.5 GB
backing up 4.6 GB of 4.8 GB
etc
The longest I've left this for is about 25 minutes and it has no signs of stopping. Is there a solution to this problem? I noticed some similar questions on the forum but from 2 years ago, and some links that were suggested as possible answers are now no longer working. Any help gratefully received!

I did find a solution which appears to be working, at least in my case. Here is what I discovered was happening on my Mac Pro:
On one of my internal hard drives, I had created 4 different folders, and those folders contained various sub-folders. Just for the sake of this discussion, We'll call them folders 1-4. When I checked Get Info on the HD as a whole, it told me 1.12 of 2.0 TB was used, which was accurate. When I checked folders 1-4, their totals all added up to 1.12 TB used. However, When I went into certain SUB-folders within folders 1-4, and added up their totals using the Get Info command, it did not equal the total HD space used when I checked the main folder as a whole.
In other words, if I had 3 sub-folders in the "Main" folder #2 - and folder #2, using Get Info, said it contained a total of 450 GB, when I add up the 3 sub-folders contained within folder #2, it would equal 750 GB.
These extra GB, located in only a couple of places on sub-folders of the HD, were confusing Time Machine. It would act as stated above... it would take the total of 1.12 TB for that drive, attempt to back it up, but when it reached that total, suddenly, OS X ML would realize there was more data in folder #2's sub-folder, and the numbers would continually rise until the external backup drive was full, thus creating an error on Time Machine's backup.
Now, I don't know why this happened. Apparently when I deleted certain files and emptied the trash, it didn't completely erase them. I've tried using "Secure Empty Trash," but with the large video files I use, the empty procedure freezes before it can finish. I cannot explain this phenomenon because I'm not well-versed on the inner-workings of OS X.
My solution was simple, albeit a pain. I went into the sub-folder, selected all the items inside (folders, documents, videos, audio, etc.) and moved them out of that sub-folder. Now, they are all floating freely in folder #2. Then, I deleted that sub-folder, emptied the trash, and then re-created that sub-folder with the same name. Finally, I moved all the items from that sub-folder back into the newly created one, and voila!!!! When I added up all the sub-folders totals via Get Info, they matched exactly what Get Info proclaimed for folder #2!
Again, don't know why this happened, but I was able to successfully back up everything, and have had no troubles in the week and a half since.
If any of this doesn't make sense, please feel free to ask questions. But this is how I solved the problem.

Time machine backup keeps going up - slow over via airport extreme

I have a 2tb external drive that ive just connected to my airport extreme, purely to use for time machine backups.
I realise the first backup will take a while, my hard drive currently has 810GB of data on it according to the mac itself. When i first started the backup time machine said the backup was 865GB, however its now been going for over 4 days and still hasnt completed, its on about 830gb now, but it keeps going up, its now saying 830gb of 920gb completed.
So why does the backup take a ridiculous amount of time (the MBP is plugged into the airport via ethernet, then the drive to airport via usb) i thought using ethernet directly to the airport would speed it up, its purely over cable so why is it so slow?
And why is my backup now saying its 920gb when my hard drive only has 810gb in total of data?

That's one Apple's more infuriating messages, but there's usually another phrase after "Time Machine Error."
Most likely, Time Machine is having a problem with a file, but they don't bother to tell you that.
See #C2 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting. It will probably lead you to #C3.
It will show you how to locate the message(s) that describe the problem, then help you fix it. If that doesn't help, post back with details, including all the messages, what you've done, and the results.

10.5.5 Update - Time Machine Backup Stuck "Preparing" (How do I fix?)

I gave up on it with 10.5.4. Thought I would try since Apple fixed...it's still not working.
Background
1. This is my first backup. I've never been able to do a complete backup.
2. I have my laptop plugged in via ethernet to the TC.
3. I'm backing up about 90 gigs.
4. The firmware on my TC is 7.3.2.
5. Read/write access to the TC is working fine. I can access folders, create folders, copy files, delete files when accessing through finder.
Not sure what other info I can provide.
Please help. Thanks!

*Unmount the Backup Disk Image* #
It seems that one of the keys to successful Time Machine backups is a successful eject/unmount of the hard disk following the PREVIOUS backup. If the Console logs indicate that the previous, though successful, backup ended with something like:
Attempt to eject disk image failed with status: -47, dissenting pid: 0
Then the very next backup is likely to fail with “Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while creating the backup directory.”
A failed eject/unmount event usually means that your backup disk image is still visible on your desktop. If it is still there then unmount the backup disk image by either clicking the little Eject icon to the right of the disk image in the Finders’ Sidebar, or Ctrl-Clicking the drive icon on the desktop and selecting “Eject” from the contextual menu. Now try backing up again.
On the other hand, if after seeing this error message your backup disk image does NOT appear on the desktop, it doesn’t mean that this wasn’t the reason. You see, it is very likely that the current failed attempt to backup DID successfully eject/unmount the disk. In this case another attempt to backup will likely succeed.
*Excluding Primary Drive?*
Open the Time Machine preferences. Click "Options". Is your primary HD listed as one of the items to EXCLUDE from backup. If it is, remove it from the list and try again.
Another poster observed: “Had this myself but it was because for some strange reason my startup disk (the one I wanted to backup) was included in the 'don’t backup these items' list!”
Let us know if any of the suggestions above helped.

Time Machine backups keep failing

My backups to external disk keep failing; it shows only 100 MB of available space. OK; Fine; so I tell it NOT to back up a number of extra folders; in an attempt to add extra space; but I can't change that 100 MB number, no matter what I do. Is there a fix. Should I repair the external disk?
thanks
Message was edited by: raspberryaddiction

Are you running Leopard or Snow Leopard? You've posted in the Snow Leopard forum, but your signature shows 10.5.3, and the handling is different.
If you're on Leopard, go to +Time Machine Preferences > Options+ and remove the check from the +Warn before old backups are deleted+ box, and try again. Time Machine will delete your oldest backup(s) to make room for new ones, if it can.
If it still fails, or you're actually on Snow Leopard, see #C4 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

HT3275 time machine backup keeps increasing

While Time Machine is backing up, the amount of date to be copied keeps increasing. It gets most the way through the backup, then both figures (backing up / to be backed up) increase in tandem.
I'm using a WD My Cloud.

Hello,
The timer isn't all that accurate, but should count up as it finds more needing backup, bit how long has it been now?
Have you looked through Pondini's extensive TM help site?
http://Pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
Can't imagine something not being covered there.

Time Machine Backup Keeps Growing

I'm running Mountain Lion on a MBP and have been backing up to a Time Capsule for the past few months without a hitch.
For the past couple days, every time it tries to back up (projected at ~700mb) it continues to grow and grow, well past 10gb.
I've tried restarting the computer, verifying backups, and performing a full reset of Time Machine (http://pondini.org/TM/A4.html), all to no avail.
It also sees two "Data" Time Capsule discs, even though there's only one.
The Time Capsule itself is shared with another computer, so I'd really prefer to not have to format it if possible. Backups also work fine for the other computer using it.

The double disks is ML bug.. now that you are a beta tester.. you get these things.
Was the ML install clean or upgrade.. I think you can have issues with upgrade.
Keep reading Mr Pondini. D4 for instance.
Install the widget to figure out what it is doing.

Time machine backup keeps failing

I have a WD 2TB my book essential disk for about a year. I've kept it connect to my airport extreme. Starting a few days ago, the AE keeps dropping the connection to the disk -- rebooting solves the problem for a while. So I decided to connect the disk directly (via USB) to my macbook pro 13". In the past this has always worked. However, now when Time machine does it's backup it gets about 10% of the way through and then it quits giving the non-specific message:
Time machine error
The problem may be temporary. Try again later to back up. If the problem persists, use Disk Utility to repair your backup disk.
I've run repair both on disk utility and drive genius 3 on the disk and both say that there is no problem. Any suggestions?

That's one Apple's more infuriating messages, but there's usually another phrase after "Time Machine Error."
Most likely, Time Machine is having a problem with a file, but they don't bother to tell you that.
See #C2 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting. It will probably lead you to #C3.
It will show you how to locate the message(s) that describe the problem, then help you fix it. If that doesn't help, post back with details, including all the messages, what you've done, and the results.

Time machine backup keeps failing on specific folders

Hi,
I have checked the forum and tried all relevenant suggestions, unfortunatly to no avail. I was wondering if any users would have any sparks of genius and point me in the right direction....
I currently run time machine with an apple time capsulae and my Imac, it seems to run for most files and folders ok but will fail on the microsoft user data folder (with the NO copy error in console) as well as a few other random ones (such as the parralell virtual machine). As this stops my backups I have excluded them and it runs fine for now, although its not Ideal as my e-mails or virtual machine is not backuping up (these are the most important). i have check my friends mac and his time machine seems to backup completely and fine.
Any ideas, as the reason I bought the time capsule is to have the best backups available.
Thanks in advance.

Hi,
I have checked the forum and tried all relevenant suggestions, unfortunatly to no avail. I was wondering if any users would have any sparks of genius and point me in the right direction....
I currently run time machine with an apple time capsulae and my Imac, it seems to run for most files and folders ok but will fail on the microsoft user data folder (with the NO copy error in console) as well as a few other random ones (such as the parralell virtual machine). As this stops my backups I have excluded them and it runs fine for now, although its not Ideal as my e-mails or virtual machine is not backuping up (these are the most important). i have check my friends mac and his time machine seems to backup completely and fine.
Any ideas, as the reason I bought the time capsule is to have the best backups available.
Thanks in advance.

How come time machine backup keeps failing?

I tried to backup my MacBook Pro yesterday, and this message keeps coming up. I don't know how to find the source of the file so I delete it. PLEASE HELP!
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/TOSHIBA EXT/Backups.backupdb
Backup content size: 71.0 GB excluded items size: 11.4 GB for volume Macintosh HD
71.61 GB required (including padding), 232.24 GB available
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/tuantran/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/22c9458c9a2167d80342d395669a50310c5b8aa4-20120330-231 835/41a6559609c6ec55ef64a890d8aea0a2c1108bdc to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/tuantran/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/22c9458c9a2167d80342d395669a50310c5b8aa4-20120330-231 835/43075daaa3b38f8595cb61b4dd7ea807cecda5ef to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/tuantran/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/22c9458c9a2167d80342d395669a50310c5b8aa4-20120330-231 835/431e876e53d4cb7eb5720f97ce57657d3709525d to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/tuantran/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/22c9458c9a2167d80342d395669a50310c5b8aa4-20120330-231 835/443e0c9ae4b514a2e2734ed6724806a690f64844 to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/tuantran/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/22c9458c9a2167d80342d395669a50310c5b8aa4-20120330-231 835/468e5305bf13330e283971e5ad479fd85bae6910 to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/tuantran/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/22c9458c9a2167d80342d395669a50310c5b8aa4-20120330-231 835/46ae0423167be414ab5fc9ceafc584d255973f2b to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/tuantran/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/22c9458c9a2167d80342d395669a50310c5b8aa4-20120330-231 835/47888fb2cbc9a9775d7cb50a2f9552e954902a1e to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/tuantran/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/22c9458c9a2167d80342d395669a50310c5b8aa4-20120330-231 835/47e7968eb1d9474802371b7b87e91d6fceeeb09a to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/tuantran/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/22c9458c9a2167d80342d395669a50310c5b8aa4-20120330-231 835/48bc96429425dec94a31a1012f9b1c2ec688a997 to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/tuantran/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/22c9458c9a2167d80342d395669a50310c5b8aa4-20120330-231 835/48e464b975903c21c074a18854b947d0c3361880 to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/tuantran/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/22c9458c9a2167d80342d395669a50310c5b8aa4-20120330-231 835/4a5a242bcd4c5df7fea0506d714ec4ee6e34243e to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/tuantran/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/22c9458c9a2167d80342d395669a50310c5b8aa4-20120330-231 835/4bae3b7b9be6f1474b0e4a9546e12728ffbb3705 to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/tuantran/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/22c9458c9a2167d80342d395669a50310c5b8aa4-20120330-231 835/4c199f880e283e28951bc559f09de9ff9304de04 to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/tuantran/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/22c9458c9a2167d80342d395669a50310c5b8aa4-20120330-231 835/4ca5152d34ad4849f523d28a8d1114db2310ed4d to (null)
PLEASE HELP! (also, my MacBook Pro is still under warrenty, should I just bring it to the Genius Bar?) Thanks.

Boot from your recovery partition (command-R at startup), launch Disk Utility, select your startup volume, and run Repair Disk (not Repair Permissions.) If any problems are found, repeat. Then reboot as usual and try again.

I am trying to update my time machine backup on time capsule, but time machine keeps trying to create an entirely new backup (evidenced by the 200GB backup size). How can I get time machine to modify my old backup rather than create a new one?

I am trying to update my time machine backup on time capsule, but time machine keeps trying to create an entirely new backup (evidenced by the 200GB backup size). How can I get time machine to modify my old backup rather than create a new one?

It must have found the old backup corrupt.. so you will more than likely have little choice. You can archive off the old backup if it is still useful.
You can also verify it. See A5 http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
He also has some info on this problem. eg C13.

Time Machine Backup Keeps "Preparing"

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