Time Machine backups take ~20 minutes

I have had ongoing problems with TM since installing a new HDD in late May. The problems have been varied, and for a while all backups were taking about 2 hours. Now things have "stabilized" and backups take between 15 and 20 minutes, tending towards the latter. It always runs two loops according to each backup log, which creates two files each time. Assume the time is 10:35-ish a.m., and I will have one as "in progress" with a time stamp of, say, 10:25 a.m., and a "completed" with a time stamp of 10:30 a.m. That is not a typo - the "in progress" is always older than what is listed as the most recent backup. I'm out of troubleshooting ideas, including zeroing out my TM drive, losing lots of precious backups.
I have read Pondini's excellent site exhaustively, and am at my wit's end. I am about to reinstall 10.6 at this point, but would rather not.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
-Howard

As an update, here are my logs for backupd since reinstalling Snow Leopard last night. Unfortunately, this made the problem worse, and now instead of 20 minutes, backups take about 50 minutes, giving me 10 minutes to unplug the drive if I need to go somewhere!
As a note, this actually excludes a massive logfile from the first post-install backup with the following message repeated several dozen times, with the "UserInfo" field changing each time:
Sep 4 23:07:49 Howard com.apple.backupd[2823]: Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 UserInfo=0x1034653a0 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." Underlying Error=(Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=20 UserInfo=0x1033b6ea0 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory")
Sep 5 06:01:39 Howard com.apple.backupd[3811]: Starting standard backup
Sep 5 06:01:40 Howard com.apple.backupd[3811]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Cortical/Backups.backupdb
Sep 5 06:05:13 Howard com.apple.backupd[3811]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 153.3 MB requested (including padding), 285.32 GB available
Sep 5 06:15:11 Howard com.apple.backupd[3811]: Copied 46534 files (230 KB) from volume Metal.
Sep 5 06:19:09 Howard com.apple.backupd[3811]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 153.3 MB requested (including padding), 285.26 GB available
Sep 5 06:29:28 Howard com.apple.backupd[3811]: Copied 46533 files (146 KB) from volume Metal.
Sep 5 06:37:07 Howard com.apple.backupd[3811]: Starting post-backup thinning
Sep 5 06:39:38 Howard com.apple.backupd[3811]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Cortical/Backups.backupdb/Howard/2012-08-06-084845: 285.39 GB now available
Sep 5 06:43:13 Howard com.apple.backupd[3811]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Cortical/Backups.backupdb/Howard/2012-09-03-234756: 285.41 GB now available
Sep 5 06:43:13 Howard com.apple.backupd[3811]: Post-back up thinning complete: 2 expired backups removed
Sep 5 06:43:14 Howard com.apple.backupd[3811]: Backup completed successfully.
Sep 5 09:10:15 Howard com.apple.backupd[5614]: Starting standard backup
Sep 5 09:10:16 Howard com.apple.backupd[5614]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Cortical/Backups.backupdb
Sep 5 09:14:09 Howard com.apple.backupd[5614]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 286.0 MB requested (including padding), 285.41 GB available
Sep 5 09:24:52 Howard com.apple.backupd[5614]: Copied 47414 files (110.5 MB) from volume Metal.
Sep 5 09:28:52 Howard com.apple.backupd[5614]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 153.5 MB requested (including padding), 285.24 GB available
Sep 5 09:39:51 Howard com.apple.backupd[5614]: Copied 47716 files (19.3 MB) from volume Metal.
Sep 5 09:47:42 Howard com.apple.backupd[5614]: Starting post-backup thinning
Sep 5 09:51:22 Howard com.apple.backupd[5614]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Cortical/Backups.backupdb/Howard/2012-09-03-230943: 285.24 GB now available
Sep 5 09:51:22 Howard com.apple.backupd[5614]: Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed
Sep 5 09:51:23 Howard com.apple.backupd[5614]: Backup completed successfully.
Sep 5 10:10:17 Howard com.apple.backupd[6539]: Starting standard backup
Sep 5 10:10:18 Howard com.apple.backupd[6539]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Cortical/Backups.backupdb
Sep 5 10:14:39 Howard com.apple.backupd[6539]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 218.5 MB requested (including padding), 285.24 GB available
Sep 5 10:26:53 Howard com.apple.backupd[6539]: Copied 58809 files (54.9 MB) from volume Metal.
Sep 5 10:30:56 Howard com.apple.backupd[6539]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 158.7 MB requested (including padding), 285.11 GB available
Sep 5 10:41:50 Howard com.apple.backupd[6539]: Copied 47446 files (4.4 MB) from volume Metal.
Sep 5 11:00:23 Howard com.apple.backupd[6539]: Starting post-backup thinning
Sep 5 11:00:23 Howard com.apple.backupd[6539]: No post-back up thinning needed: no expired backups exist
Sep 5 11:00:24 Howard com.apple.backupd[6539]: Backup completed successfully.
Sep 5 11:10:16 Howard com.apple.backupd[7467]: Starting standard backup
Sep 5 11:10:16 Howard com.apple.backupd[7467]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Cortical/Backups.backupdb
Sep 5 11:14:11 Howard com.apple.backupd[7467]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 226.3 MB requested (including padding), 285.11 GB available
Sep 5 11:25:56 Howard com.apple.backupd[7467]: Copied 58810 files (60.8 MB) from volume Metal.
Sep 5 11:30:01 Howard com.apple.backupd[7467]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 163.0 MB requested (including padding), 284.97 GB available
Sep 5 11:40:55 Howard com.apple.backupd[7467]: Copied 47447 files (145 KB) from volume Metal.
Sep 5 11:50:17 Howard com.apple.backupd[7467]: Starting post-backup thinning
Sep 5 11:52:31 Howard com.apple.backupd[7467]: Backup deletion was canceled by user
Sep 5 11:52:33 Howard com.apple.backupd[7467]: Backup completed successfully.
Sep 5 13:45:09 Howard com.apple.backupd[9347]: Starting standard backup
Sep 5 13:45:09 Howard com.apple.backupd[9347]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Cortical/Backups.backupdb
Sep 5 13:49:24 Howard com.apple.backupd[9347]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 204.6 MB requested (including padding), 284.98 GB available
Sep 5 14:00:54 Howard com.apple.backupd[9347]: Copied 57991 files (33.1 MB) from volume Metal.
Sep 5 14:04:58 Howard com.apple.backupd[9347]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 163.3 MB requested (including padding), 284.88 GB available
Sep 5 14:16:19 Howard com.apple.backupd[9347]: Copied 46623 files (369 KB) from volume Metal.
Sep 5 14:24:14 Howard com.apple.backupd[9347]: Starting post-backup thinning
Sep 5 14:24:14 Howard com.apple.backupd[9347]: Found partially deleted backup - trying again to delete: 2012-09-04-103636
Sep 5 14:25:30 Howard com.apple.backupd[9347]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Cortical/Backups.backupdb/Howard/2012-09-04-103636: 284.88 GB now available
Sep 5 14:28:51 Howard com.apple.backupd[9347]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Cortical/Backups.backupdb/Howard/2012-09-04-124937: 284.91 GB now available
Sep 5 14:28:51 Howard com.apple.backupd[9347]: Post-back up thinning complete: 2 expired backups removed
Sep 5 14:28:53 Howard com.apple.backupd[9347]: Backup completed successfully.
Sep 5 20:51:19 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: Starting standard backup
Sep 5 20:51:19 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Cortical/Backups.backupdb
Sep 5 20:55:28 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 251.9 MB requested (including padding), 284.91 GB available
Sep 5 21:06:50 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: Copied 58035 files (66.0 MB) from volume Metal.
Sep 5 21:10:50 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 163.4 MB requested (including padding), 284.77 GB available
Sep 5 21:21:11 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: Copied 46658 files (265 KB) from volume Metal.
Sep 5 21:29:02 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: Starting post-backup thinning
Sep 5 21:30:17 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Cortical/Backups.backupdb/Howard/2012-09-04-161253: 284.78 GB now available
Sep 5 21:33:06 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Cortical/Backups.backupdb/Howard/2012-09-04-151230: 284.81 GB now available
Sep 5 21:36:41 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Cortical/Backups.backupdb/Howard/2012-09-04-141300: 284.84 GB now available
Sep 5 21:36:41 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: Post-back up thinning complete: 3 expired backups removed
Sep 5 21:36:43 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: Backup completed successfully.
Sep 5 21:51:44 Howard com.apple.backupd[14171]: Starting standard backup
Sep 5 21:51:45 Howard com.apple.backupd[14171]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Cortical/Backups.backupdb
Sep 5 21:54:51 Howard com.apple.backupd[14171]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 164.1 MB requested (including padding), 284.84 GB available
Sep 5 22:05:53 Howard com.apple.backupd[14171]: Copied 58041 files (688 KB) from volume Metal.
Sep 5 22:09:58 Howard com.apple.backupd[14171]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 475.1 MB requested (including padding), 284.76 GB available
Sep 5 22:20:43 Howard com.apple.backupd[14171]: Copied 46664 files (259.9 MB) from volume Metal.
Sep 5 22:28:48 Howard com.apple.backupd[14171]: Starting post-backup thinning
Sep 5 22:28:48 Howard com.apple.backupd[14171]: No post-back up thinning needed: no expired backups exist
Sep 5 22:28:49 Howard com.apple.backupd[14171]: Backup completed successfully.
Sep 5 20:51:19 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: Starting standard backup
Sep 5 20:51:19 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Cortical/Backups.backupdb
Sep 5 20:55:28 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 251.9 MB requested (including padding), 284.91 GB available
Sep 5 21:06:50 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: Copied 58035 files (66.0 MB) from volume Metal.
Sep 5 21:10:50 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 163.4 MB requested (including padding), 284.77 GB available
Sep 5 21:21:11 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: Copied 46658 files (265 KB) from volume Metal.
Sep 5 21:29:02 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: Starting post-backup thinning
Sep 5 21:30:17 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Cortical/Backups.backupdb/Howard/2012-09-04-161253: 284.78 GB now available
Sep 5 21:33:06 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Cortical/Backups.backupdb/Howard/2012-09-04-151230: 284.81 GB now available
Sep 5 21:36:41 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Cortical/Backups.backupdb/Howard/2012-09-04-141300: 284.84 GB now available
Sep 5 21:36:41 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: Post-back up thinning complete: 3 expired backups removed
Sep 5 21:36:43 Howard com.apple.backupd[13133]: Backup completed successfully.
Sep 5 21:51:44 Howard com.apple.backupd[14171]: Starting standard backup
Sep 5 21:51:45 Howard com.apple.backupd[14171]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Cortical/Backups.backupdb
Sep 5 21:54:51 Howard com.apple.backupd[14171]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 164.1 MB requested (including padding), 284.84 GB available
Sep 5 22:05:53 Howard com.apple.backupd[14171]: Copied 58041 files (688 KB) from volume Metal.
Sep 5 22:09:58 Howard com.apple.backupd[14171]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 475.1 MB requested (including padding), 284.76 GB available
Sep 5 22:20:43 Howard com.apple.backupd[14171]: Copied 46664 files (259.9 MB) from volume Metal.
Sep 5 22:28:48 Howard com.apple.backupd[14171]: Starting post-backup thinning
Sep 5 22:28:48 Howard com.apple.backupd[14171]: No post-back up thinning needed: no expired backups exist
Sep 5 22:28:49 Howard com.apple.backupd[14171]: Backup completed successfully.

Similar Messages

Time Machine Backups Taking 20 Minutes

Hi everyone.
Starting yesterday, my time machine backups are taking 20 minutes, when they used to only take 5. I'm backing up to an AirPort Extreme, via a wireless home network. Here's the latest code from the Console.
3/10/12 10:26:11.581 AM com.apple.backupd: Starting standard backup
3/10/12 10:26:11.600 AM com.apple.backupd: Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://Michael%20Payne@Extreme%20Pleasantville._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Time%20Mac hine%20Backups
3/10/12 10:26:20.103 AM com.apple.backupd: Mounted network destination at mountpoint: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups using URL: afp://Michael%20Payne@Extreme%20Pleasantville._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Time%20Mac hine%20Backups
3/10/12 10:26:25.308 AM com.apple.backupd: QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
3/10/12 10:26:28.358 AM com.apple.backupd: Disk image /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Michael’s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1
3/10/12 10:26:28.366 AM com.apple.backupd: Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1/Backups.backupdb
3/10/12 10:29:15.785 AM com.apple.backupd: 328.7 MB required (including padding), 11.01 GB available
3/10/12 10:29:15.786 AM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
3/10/12 10:30:15.939 AM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
3/10/12 10:31:16.045 AM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
3/10/12 10:32:16.319 AM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
3/10/12 10:33:25.124 AM com.apple.backupd: Copied 2103 files (4.0 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
3/10/12 10:33:25.490 AM com.apple.backupd: 326.2 MB required (including padding), 11.01 GB available
3/10/12 10:33:25.491 AM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
3/10/12 10:34:27.545 AM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
3/10/12 10:35:28.849 AM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
3/10/12 10:36:30.823 AM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
3/10/12 10:37:32.956 AM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
3/10/12 10:38:34.958 AM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
3/10/12 10:39:36.563 AM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
3/10/12 10:40:37.309 AM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
3/10/12 10:41:38.786 AM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
3/10/12 10:42:57.782 AM com.apple.backupd: Copied 740 files (1.3 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
3/10/12 10:43:02.358 AM com.apple.backupd: Starting post-backup thinning
3/10/12 10:44:05.835 AM com.apple.backupd: Deleted /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1/Backups.backupdb/Michael’s MacBook Pro/2012-03-08-223328 (1.8 MB)
3/10/12 10:44:05.835 AM com.apple.backupd: Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed
3/10/12 10:44:06.002 AM com.apple.backupd: Backup completed successfully.
3/10/12 10:44:21.968 AM com.apple.backupd: Ejected Time Machine disk image.
3/10/12 10:44:22.204 AM com.apple.backupd: Ejected Time Machine network volume.
It looks like it's a problem with the Indexing. I'm in the process of doing a verification now, but is there anything else I can do to get it back to the 5 minutes or so it takes? If you care, here is a code from a more successful backup that didn't take nearly as long.
3/8/12 10:27:07.728 PM com.apple.backupd: Starting standard backup
3/8/12 10:27:08.081 PM com.apple.backupd: Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://Michael%20Payne@Extreme%20Pleasantville._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Time%20Mac hine%20Backups
3/8/12 10:27:08.643 PM com.apple.backupd: Mounted network destination at mountpoint: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups using URL: afp://Michael%20Payne@Extreme%20Pleasantville._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Time%20Mac hine%20Backups
3/8/12 10:27:15.446 PM com.apple.backupd: QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
3/8/12 10:27:19.348 PM com.apple.backupd: Disk image /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Michael’s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1
3/8/12 10:27:19.480 PM com.apple.backupd: Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1/Backups.backupdb
3/8/12 10:29:02.025 PM com.apple.backupd: 435.2 MB required (including padding), 19.03 GB available
3/8/12 10:31:53.585 PM com.apple.backupd: Copied 1312 files (1.4 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
3/8/12 10:32:06.643 PM com.apple.backupd: 434.6 MB required (including padding), 19.03 GB available
3/8/12 10:33:28.056 PM com.apple.backupd: Copied 983 files (943 KB) from volume Macintosh HD.
3/8/12 10:33:33.364 PM com.apple.backupd: Starting post-backup thinning
3/8/12 10:35:09.074 PM com.apple.backupd: Deleted /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1/Backups.backupdb/Michael’s MacBook Pro/2012-03-07-213931 (2.9 MB)
3/8/12 10:35:09.074 PM com.apple.backupd: Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed
3/8/12 10:35:09.363 PM com.apple.backupd: Backup completed successfully.
3/8/12 10:35:27.460 PM com.apple.backupd: Ejected Time Machine disk image.
3/8/12 10:35:27.698 PM com.apple.backupd: Ejected Time Machine network volume.
It looks like starting on March 9 is when the problem started happening. I'm using a MacBook Pro with Mac OS X Version 10.7.3.

As an update, the Backup Verification passed.
3/10/12 10:56:09.005 AM com.apple.backupd: Backup verification requested by user.
3/10/12 10:56:09.024 AM com.apple.backupd: Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://Michael%20Payne@Extreme%20Pleasantville._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Time%20Mac hine%20Backups
3/10/12 10:56:09.715 AM com.apple.backupd: Mounted network destination at mountpoint: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups using URL: afp://Michael%20Payne@Extreme%20Pleasantville._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Time%20Mac hine%20Backups
3/10/12 10:56:10.225 AM com.apple.backupd: Running backup verification
3/10/12 10:56:13.381 AM com.apple.backupd: QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
3/10/12 11:07:43.912 AM com.apple.backupd: Backup verification passed!
3/10/12 11:07:44.483 AM com.apple.backupd: Ejected Time Machine network volume.

Time machine backups take way too long

Greetings,
Having trouble with Time Machine backups taking way too long. (No, it's not the first backup after some momentous event, as 90% of what I read about slow backups mentions; it's _every_ backup.)
20" iMac purchased Oct 2008. OS 10.6.8. 500 GB internal hard drive. 3 TB external backup drive. Was tested at the local "Genius" Bar, but they found nothing wrong with it. The best they could do is to recommend a restore from Time Machine, and if that didn't work, start clean and reload the OS and then copy my stuff back. I don't think so. I actually did a full Time Machine restore for a different reason, and it didn't help (except that I gained a few GB of disk space!).
My Time Machine backups now take about 39 minutes to complete. I have a 500 GB internal drive and this problem happens regardless of which external drive I use. (I have 3: 2 WD hard drives and one [noisy!] G-drive.) My current backup drive is a 3 TB WD drive with 2 TB of free space.
These are small incremental backups, typically about 35 MB. It doesn't take half an hour to copy 35 MB!
All phases take a long time, but the most irritating one is where TM appears to get stuck for a long time at the beginning and end of the copying phase. For example, at one point it will say something along the lines of Backing Up 7 KB of 34.4 MB. And it'll be like that for minutes on end. Later it will say something like 35 MB of 35 MB and hang there for minutes on end. During these periods the write I/O rate will go up and down, and CPU usage will often be very high (with backupd using 90 - 100%, in addition to highly elevated System CPU usage). In one particular backup the I/O write rate for one part of it looked like a heartbeat on an EKG! I should have taken a screenshot.
At the beginning during the Calculating Changes phase, backupd is using between 90 and 100% CPU.
There is also high CPU usage during the next phase, Preparing. And the number of items being prepared is in the thousands.
It always goes in two rounds because it finds that the root directory (/) has been modified.
I've Googled and searched Mac forums and found nothing useful. I started with a new .plist file and nothing's changed.
Can anyone help? Thanks!
I wrote the above Jun 28. Yeah, finally getting around to posting it. Since then it's gotten worse. I now do a manual backup once a day and it takes almost an hour. I tried re-indexing Spotlight. No good.
Can anyone help? Again, this is not a "first backup." It is _every_ backup.
Thanks!
AEF

Thanks for your efforts. Here are my answers, comments, and further info:
I believe I have repaired permissions on my drive as part of my troubleshooting. And I'm sure I checked SMART status, which came up with a thumbs up, so to speak. I'm trying again. I don't see any useful messages in any logs on the console. I'm looking at "All Messages" and there is so far nothing useful. Oh, I think you must mean repair as in "Repair Disk," not "Repair Disk Permissions." I believe the "genius" at the Apple store did that or something just as good. The machine checked out fine according to them.
Checked SMART status just now: passed. Ran Quick Drive Test: also passed.
Oh, I installed "Time Machine Buddy". Occasionally, and only occasionally, I get a "deep traversal needed message" like this (I copied this from .Backup.log):
Running preflight for "Macintosh HD" (mount: '/' fsUUID: BF606E9A-5FD0-3B92-8D76-33DC63E7B2B1 eventDBUUID: 30DD929D-8982-46C2-BAE6-F0BD1E73916A)
        Scanning nodes needing deep traversal
        Node requires deep traversal: /Users/alanfeldman/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Database/apdb reason:contains changes|must scan subdirs|fsevent|missed reservation|
        Calculating size of changes
        Should copy 2919 items (27.8 MB) representing 7116 blocks of size 4096. 546805181 blocks available.
Preflight complete for "Macintosh HD" (mount: '/' fsUUID: BF606E9A-5FD0-3B92-8D76-33DC63E7B2B1 eventDBUUID: 30DD929D-8982-46C2-BAE6-F0BD1E73916A)
Time elapsed: 1 minute, 39.000 seconds
But the vast majority of the time I do NOT get this message. But if there's something wrong with this apdb file, what can I do to fix it?
Note that there is usually, if not always, a lot of CPU activity or I/O (disk) activity, but not a lot getting done.

Time Machine backup takes so long

Hello
Normally my backups take about 10 minutes, but since last week they take up to 5 hours.
I have this little app "LogViewer for Time Machine" which extracts relevant information
from the log. On 7/12 I got this report:
04:28:36 - Starting manual backup
04:28:37 - Backing up to: /Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb
04:28:41 - Using file event preflight for Macintosh HD
04:28:43 - Will copy (391.8 MB) from Macintosh HD
04:28:43 - Found 585 files (391.8 MB) needing backup
04:28:44 - 2.02 GB required (including padding), 301.13 GB available
04:34:20 - Copied 20899 files (359.7 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
04:34:20 - Using file event preflight for Macintosh HD
04:34:20 - Will copy (Zero KB) from Macintosh HD
04:34:20 - Found 9 files (Zero KB) needing backup
04:34:20 - 1.55 GB required (including padding), 300.81 GB available
04:34:23 - Copied 260 files (143 bytes) from volume Macintosh HD.
04:34:26 - Created new backup: 2013-12-07-043424
04:34:27 - Starting post-backup thinning
04:36:51 - Deleted /Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2013-11-07-014345 (186.9 MB)
04:36:51 - Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed
04:36:51 - Backup completed successfully.
Everything looks normal. A few days later I got the following report:
02:01:14 - Starting manual backup
02:01:20 - Backing up to: /Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb
02:01:43 - Using file event preflight for Macintosh HD
02:03:50 - Will copy (332.1 MB) from Macintosh HD
02:03:50 - Found 699 files (332.1 MB) needing backup
02:03:50 - 1.95 GB required (including padding), 299.78 GB available
03:23:12 - Copied 238.1 MB of 332.1 MB, 1622 of 1622 items
04:23:13 - Copied 295.7 MB of 332.1 MB, 17541 of 17541 items
04:41:06 - Copied 20395 files (308.1 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
04:41:08 - Using file event preflight for Macintosh HD
04:41:08 - Will copy (7 bytes) from Macintosh HD
04:41:08 - Found 21 files (7 bytes) needing backup
04:41:08 - 1.55 GB required (including padding), 299.5 GB available
04:42:26 - Copied 791 files (2 KB) from volume Macintosh HD.
04:42:40 - Created new backup: 2013-12-12-044227
04:42:43 - Starting post-backup thinning
04:57:40 - Deleted /Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2013-11-12-030726 (375.1 MB)
04:57:40 - Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed
04:57:55 - Backup completed successfully.
It took three hours.
- How can 21 files have a size of 7 bytes?
- How can 791 files have a size of 2KB?
Is this OK? Or what is happening here?
Many thanks.

Thank you for your answers and questions.
LexSchellings wrote:
Did you update or upgrade OS lately?
Did you install any scheduler for TimeMachine (like TimeMachineScheduler) or did you change the TM schedule with Terminal commands?
Did you change the TM disk?
3 x No.
EtreCheck reports: (my notes in blue)
Hardware Information:
          iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010)
          iMac - model: iMac11,3
          1 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 CPU: 2 cores
          4 GB RAM
Video Information:
          ATI Radeon HD 5670 - VRAM: 512 MB
Audio Plug-ins:
          AirPlay: Version: 1.4.5 - SDK 10.8
          iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.1 - SDK 10.8
Startup Items:
          HP Trap Monitor: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HP Trap Monitor
Strange - I'm using an Epson printer for many years
- used HP in 2008. Can I simply delete this folder?
System Software:
          OS X 10.8.2 (12C60) - Uptime: 30 days 15:41:52
Disk Information:
          WDC WD1001FALS-40Y6A0 disk0 : (1 TB)
                    disk0s1 (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB
                    Macintosh HD (disk0s2) /: 919.06 GB (377.27 GB free)
                    Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB
                    BOOTCAMP (disk0s4) /Volumes/BOOTCAMP: 80.28 GB (38.15 GB free)
          HL-DT-STDVDRW GA32N
USB Information:
          Apple Internal Memory Card Reader
          Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub
                    Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
          Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub
                    Kensington      Kensington Expert Mouse
                    Apple, Inc Apple Keyboard
          TSSTcorp USB Mass Storage Device 6.71 GB
          Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
          Apple Inc. Built-in iSight
FireWire Information:
Thunderbolt Information:
Kernel Extensions:
          com.kensington.trackballworks.driver          (1.1.0)
Problem System Launch Daemons:
          [failed] com.apple.coresymbolicationd.plist
What does this mean?
Problem System Launch Agents:
     [failed] com.apple.coreservices.appleid.authentication.plist
     [failed] com.apple.lookupd.plist
     [failed] com.apple.rcd.plist
     [failed] com.apple.scopedbookmarkagent.xpc.plist
What does this mean?
Launch Daemons:
          [loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist
          [loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist
          [loaded] com.wdc.drivemanagerservice.plist
          [loaded] com.westerndigital.WD-Drive-Manager-Installer.plist
          [loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist
Launch Agents:
          [loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist
          [loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist
User Launch Agents:
          [loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist
     [failed] com.google.keystone.agent.plist
What is this? I thought that I had removed everything
from Google. How can I remove this?
User Login Items:
          MenuBar ReArranger
          TrackballWorksHelper
          Mac Game Store Helper
          WDDriveManagerStatusMenu
3rd Party Preference Panes:
          Flash Player
          Java
          TrackballWorks
Internet Plug-ins::
          JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 45
          FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 11.9.900.152 - SDK 10.6
          QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.1
          AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 10.1.8
          AdobePDFViewer: Version: 10.1.8
          Flash Player: Version: 11.9.900.152 - SDK 10.6 Outdated! Update
          Unity Web Player: Version: UnityPlayer version 4.2.0f4 - SDK 10.6
          DirectorShockwave: Version: 11.6.4r634
          iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.8
(I will update Flash soon.) Is it OK that Flash appears two times?
Is Shockwave still used nowadays...?
Bad Fonts:
          None
Old applications:
          AVCCAM Restorer:          Version: 2.3.0 - SDK 10.4
                    /Applications/AVCCAM_Restore_Mac (Panasonic)/AVCCAM Restorer.app
     FocusMask:          Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.0
                    /Applications/FocusMask.app
          Font-Wizard:          Version: 2.0 - SDK 10.0
                    /Applications/Font-Wizard.app
     WDDriveManagerStatusMenu:          Version: 2.2.7 - SDK 10.4
                    /Library/Application Support/WesternDigital/WDDriveManager/WDDriveManagerStatusMenu.app
          WDDriveManagerStatusMenu:          Version: 2.2.7 - SDK 10.4
                    /Library/Application Support/WDDriveManagerInstallerItems/WDDriveManager/WDDriveManagerStatusMenu.ap p
[... longer list of old apps deleted...]
Time Machine:
          Skip System Files: NO
          Mobile backups: OFF
          Auto backup: NO
          Volumes being backed up:
                    Macintosh HD: Disk size: 855.94 GB Disk used: 504.58 GB
          Destinations:
                    MyBook [Local] (Last used)
                    Total size: 931.19 GB
                    Total number of backups: 54
                    Oldest backup: 2013-05-11 07:49:57 +0000
                    Last backup: 2013-12-13 05:03:16 +0000
                    Size of backup disk: Too small
                              Backup size 931.19 GB < (Disk used 504.58 GB X 3)
I see there are 54 backups. Is this the reason? I don't need the old
backups - the last few would be sufficient.
How can I delete the old ones to free space?
          Time Machine details may not be accurate.
          All volumes being backed up may not be listed.
Top Processes by CPU:
               2%          EtreCheck
               1%          WindowServer
               0%          ps
               0%          Flux
               0%          Brightness
Top Processes by Memory:
          913 MB          WebProcess
          238 MB          Safari
          176 MB          Finder
          160 MB          Pages
          127 MB          mds
Virtual Memory Statistics:
          664 MB          Free RAM
          1.88 GB          Active RAM
          750 MB          Inactive RAM
          754 MB          Wired RAM
          21.23 GB          Page-ins
          11.92 GB          Page-outs

Time machine backup takes forever after full restore

My HD went haywire yesterday but luckily I was able to restore everything from my backup (and the Mac even got a speedier, yay).
But for some reason I can take new backups. Time machine works forever, seemingly want to replace most files on the backup (250 GB, 500000+ files) and have now for more than 12 hours stood at “44 MB backed up”. The problem repeats itself when I stop and retry the back up procedure.
I have tried to create a new back up on the same Time Machine drive but I am unable to rename the old “backup.backudb” folder, so thats not a solution.
ANy ideas?

After a restore Time Machine will back up everything again. Because of that, if possible the initial backup should be done over Ethernet, not Wi-Fi. See item D3 on this post.

How come that the time machine backup takes 5 days to sync 200 GB over the ethernet?

I'm really not happy with the backup speed of the time machine. it has been 1 day and half that it is syncing and for now just 36GB are done of 210GB.
The remaining time estimation is ridiculous around 5 more days?
How come this is possible?? I cannot move my mac pro anywhere else it needs to be plug-in 24/7 to the Ethernet and power, of course hoping that everything goes already during these 5 days to backup.
I've tried different things, I've check my disk for issues also for permission issues none existed.
I've tried to restart the backup from scratch, even some times it start fast it slows down to a very low transfer rate, and now the current rate of transfer is around 1KB or lower :S
The soul purpose of the time capsule is to do backups but at this speed rate it's useless, and from what I saw it happens to other people.
I must have being doing something very wrong, can anyone help me or give me suggestions?
Regards
P.S. Mac pro 13'' early 2011 with 8 GB, Mac OX 10.7.5

The latest update to Lion.. 10.7.5 added slowness of TM as a new feature.. (There are no bugs just features).
Until Apple sort out their beta testing I would recommend a different backup software. CCC, SuperDuper, Chronosync.
The issue from reading the various posts is affecting everyone.. including people using external drives.
Welcome to the new Apple beta program.

I have just taken delivery of a brand new 15" macbook pro, tried migration assistant from a time machine backup, music, photos, programs etc. They now take up 350gb of my hard drive but the files are nowhere to be found? can anyone help?

Set migration assistant to run whilst on a lunch break, given that it needed 2 hours or so, when i returned all programs and applications had moved across from my time machine backup of a now dead 15"macbook pro 2009 edition running snow leopard...When i look at my new system information it shows my new 500gb drive is full of music, movies and photos and has only 168gb free, not enough to run a new migration and i don't have any boot disks for Lion so really don't want to erase the hard drive. To compound the problem i'm in Vietnam where there isn't a genius bar just around the corner, or even an aasp within 700km - what should I do?

Is the HDD in the 2009 15" MBP dead? (The original source of your data) If not, you might want ot take it out and put it in an enclosure.
You might try spotlight on know files to see if that gives you any clues where your data is located.
You might down load from the Internet OmniDiskSweeper (free) and open it. It should show you all of the files you have on your MBP and enable to locate them.
Ciao.

Time Machine Backup didn't take

I am trying to restore my late 2009 iMac from a recent time Machine backup. My 1 TB internal drive started to hard fail so I replaced it with a 2 TB drive. I installed 10.8.5 on it (which is what the previous one was running). I was able to start a restore from a backup about a week old. I intended this to overwrite whatever was currently on my new drive.
Since this was over Wi-Fi, it took about 18 hours to restore about 460 GB. The indication I got that it was working was a 'Copying...' dialog that showed the progress of the 460 GB. Once it finished copying, that was it. No errors. Same desktop as before. I restarted thinking that that was needed for the new installation to 'stick' but when it came up, there was no difference. Same basic installation of OSX with none of my old files. However, when I look in Disk Utilities, there is indeed about 460 GB of data used up on my drive. Where is it? How can I access it? Would Migration Assistant see newly copied files? What would I point to as a source, if I can't find the 'restored' data?
Just to give all the info, my time machine backups are stored on a Drobo FS connected to a Cisco router through wired ethernet, accessed by my iMac over wi-fi.

So the restored volume was actually placed inside the new installation, rather than replacing the new one as I had expected it to do.
As I suspected. This means you did not do the restore correctly. The link I provide will describe this in greater detail.
The first thing I tried was creating a simlink to the restore in /Volumes, hoping that I'd be able to then select it when booting holding Option. This didn't work.
As you discovered that will never work in this case. The restore needs to be done correctly.
The second thing I'm trying is to add an empty partition to my drive, and copy the restored volume iMacZilla to the new partition. This is currently in progress and I'll let you know how it goes.
Not sure how this will help. You should just cut your losses, take a look at the link I provided and redo the restore correctly. That will be the only way to guarantee the stae of the system..
good luck
regards

HT201250 Can I take my time machine backup drive and put in on another iMac

Can I take my time machine backup drive and put in on another iMac

Setting-up a new Mac from an old one, its backups, or a PC

File Sharing drops regularly, Time Machine Backups are delayed on OSX 10.7.3. Solution?

Hi there folks,
I'm having an issue with the new 10.7 server. We're running 10.7.3 Server on an Late 2006 XServe with 10GB RAM , connected to a Drobo Pro for Time Machine Backups of our 50+ users via our internal network.
Recently, Time Machine backups have been getting delayed, stating that they can't connect up to the backup drive (which is out Drobo Pro handling 16TB of space). The Drobo Pro hass not unmounted, and all the IP Addresses coming from and going to the Server handling the backups will still ping.
We've also be having trouble with Server resident drives and shared folders that people can mount using the ⌘+K shortcut or "Connect to Server" option in finder. People will choose the IP address, and finder will think for a few minutes then give an error stating that it cannot connect the the specified IP. The only way I can reestablish connection to the file sharing through a remote computer is to remote or physically login to the server, then go into System Preferences and turn "File Sharing" off, then on again. After that, the ⌘+K on a remote machine can find the drives again.
It's driving me crazy why this is ocurring. I don't know why, and people in the office are beginning to complain that they can't access certain files on the servers or are worried because their backups are not completeing.
It should also be known that a majority of the machines we have in the ofice are still running 10.6.8, with only a handful on 10.7, as we haven't had the time to make the major switchover yet.
I'm not the best when it comes to server software or Unix CLI managment (the office outsourced our Network Admin to the east coast), so I'm a bit stumped.
Does anyone have any suggestions to try? Is there a link between the number of Time Machine Users and the connection failures? Should I just tel the NetAdmin to create a script that will restart the File Sharing protocol on the server every couple of hours?
Hopefully someone will be able to help.
Thanks,
JYHASH

I started having connectivity issues to my 10.6.8 server from my 10.7 client immediately after updating the client to 10.7.3. FWIW. Takes forever to connect, when it does. After just milliconds before.

How can I "Put Back" a time machine backup from the trash to my external hard drive?

Basically what happened was I accidentally put an older time machine backup from my external hard drive into the trash on my macbook. Since then, time machine has made new backups onto my external hard drive. How can I either "Put Back" or replace the deleted backup back into my hard drive?
Whenever I try to move it it says "A newer item named “Backups.backupdb” already exists in this location. Do you want to replace it with the older one you’re moving?" I click replace and after a few minutes of loading, it says "Cannot replace. An item named "" already exists."

As long as you don't delete the trash, the files should be recoverable.
I suspect using the Put Back command could take a long time, so be patient.
If your Time Machine backups are mixed with your daughter's backups you might want to buy a larger drive and move the Time Machine files to the new drive.
Regarding missing photos in iPhoto...There might be options to rebuild/recover that data from iPhoto rather than trying to revert to a Time Machine backup.
Check out this third party app, iPhoto Library Manager. It has a demo.
http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/
Options for a larger drive.
I like the Seagate USB 3.0 Backup plus drives. Works on USB 2.0 ports. They come formatted for PC but easy to format in Disk Utility.
I don't recommend Western Digital because of the boot problem with some of their drives.
LaCie makes good drives.
All Mac formatted drives will cost more and it’s easy to reformat with Disk Utility. Do not use the software that comes with the drives. It’s recommended that you use Apple’s Disk Utility.
Prices vary but this gives you an idea of what you’ll find. As you notice the second and third TB is usually only $15 more per TB. Normally, you’ll find these prices but right now the 1T is more than the 2T
Seagate Backup Plus 1 TB USB 3.0 $85
Seagate Backup Plus 2 TB USB 3.0 $99
Seagate Backup Plus 3 TB USB 3.0 $115
I have seen the 3T on sale for $99.
Locally, Best Buy seems to have the best prices.

Why does power nap time machine backup not work on my August 2012 macbook pro retina?

Hello. I got a MacBook Pro with retina display in August of this year 2012. I have done the SMC ? firmware update and I have 10.8.2 installed on my machine. Power nap still doesn't seem to work. I have the button in energy saver preferences and I have clicked it so it looks like power nap should work. When I am running Time Machine backup with the time capsule and I close the lid (plugged into power) it appears that no progress is made when I reopen the lid. I have closed the lid with activity monitor running and with network displayed. When I reopen the lid it may take up to one minutes to come out of sleep. When it does come out of sleep I can see that there has been no network traffic. Eventually, time machine backup resumes and I can see several megabytes per second. When I closed the lid overnight, just to make sure backup didn't restart after lid closing, I saw that no progress had been made in backup when I reopened the lid.
What options are left if I already have 10.8.2 and I have done the required firmware? One person has mentioned a clean install but I really don't like to have to reenter all the different passwords and all the different preferences again unless that's absolutely necessary. Are there any other options left to try before a clean install?
One other bit of information. I have filevault turned on; however, it looks like others have a working power nap even with file vault enabled. If this is not an option, the power nap button should be grayed out when the machine is in filevault.
Thank you for any help.

Yeah I still have the same problem BTW; it still does not work.
The second I open the lid and take it out of sleep mode, it starts to backup automagically, but when it's sleeping EVEN when it's connected to AC power, TM backups do NOT work to my OS X Server.
I don't understand what the problem is here.
I didn't before but I do have FileVault turned on now -- should that make a difference?
In either situation it didn't work, but now that I think about it, I could understand why it wouldn't backup while asleep. Apparently the encrypted volume will stay encrypted during sleep and even at the lock screen; it's not until you open the lid and log in from the lock screen that it will unlock the encrypted boot volume.
But even still, I did *not* have FV turned on before, and this still did not work.
Is there some third party solution that can do what I want this to do?
Here's my use case:
1.) I have a mac mini at home that I use when I'm at home; it runs OS X server.app (bought and paid for) and has TM server turned on.
2.) I have a laptop that I mainly use at work and I don't use at all when I come home (ie. when I'm ready to head home for the day I close the lid and don't open it until I'm back at work the next day, but the laptop does come home with me every day).
What I want to have happen is this:
1.) The minute my laptop enters my home wifi lan (even though it's still asleep with lid closed) I want it to automatically backup the boot drive.
I thought that's what Power Nap was supposed to do, but then I found out that in order for this to work, you have to be connected to AC power; so then I tried that -- ie. every day I come home, I put my laptop in a docking station that has AC power, but TM backups while lid closed / sleeping STILL do not occur!
Thanks for your help everyone...Looking forward to a solution that works.
EDIT:
I found this thread:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4158709
"It looks like Power Nap doesn't perform Time Capsule backups when the MacBook Air screen is closed."
So apparently that is yet *another* requirement to get powernap working. The lid can not be closed.
What is the difference between sleep with lid open and sleep with lid closed!?

FaceTime won't launch after recovery from time machine backup

I cannot get FaceTime to launch after I recovered my machine from a Time Machine backup. I keep getting the following error:
9/3/14 7:57:13.688 PM xpcd[2535]: FaceTime[33694]: registration request failed: (0x11, 0x0) NSCocoaErrorDomain:513 You don’t have permission to save the file “com.apple.logging.08E5E277-0C04-57A1-B16A-FB9E89747C91.plist” in the folder “ByHost”. createSymbolicLinkAtPath:withDestinationPath:error: WR/DST: ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.FaceTime/Data/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.app le.logging.08E5E277-0C04-57A1-B16A-FB9E89747C91.plist 0 stat: 13 -1 o:Root m:040700 f:() fs: hfs, fsid: 1000002/11, mf: 0480d000 -2 o:User m:040700 f:() fs: hfs, fsid: 1000002/11, mf: 0480d000 -3 o:User m:040700 f:() fs: hfs, fsid: 1000002/11, mf: 0480d000 -4 o:User m:040700 f:() fs: hfs, fsid: 1000002/11, mf: 0480d000 -5 <CONTAINER> o:User m:040700 f:() fs: hfs, fsid: 1000002/11, mf: 0480d000 -6 o:User m:040700 f:() fs: hfs, fsid: 1000002/11, mf: 0480d000 -7 <LIBRARY> o:User m:040700 f:hidden fs: hfs, fsid: 1000002/11, mf: 0480d000 !#acl 1 group:ABCDEFAB-CDEF-ABCD-EFAB-CDEF0000000C:everyone:12:deny:delete -8 <HOME> o:User m:040755 f:() fs: hfs, fsid: 1000002/11, mf: 0480d000 !#acl 1 group:ABCDEFAB-CDEF-ABCD-EFAB-CDEF0000000C:everyone:12:deny:delete -9 o:Root m:040755 f:() fs: hfs, fsid: 1000002/11, mf: 0480d000
Anyone know what this is about?
I'm running OS X on a 2.7GHz i5 with 16GB of RAM on a iMac platform.
I've tried to re-instal OS X, but that didn't help me at all. It didn't even change the error message.
Thanks for the help apple community - Take care.

Back up all data before proceeding.
This procedure will unlock all your user files (not system files) and reset their ownership, permissions, and access controls to the default. If you've intentionally set special values for those attributes on any of your files, they will be reverted. In that case, either stop here, or be prepared to recreate the settings if necessary. Do so only after verifying that those settings didn't cause the problem. If none of this is meaningful to you, you don't need to worry about it, but you do need to follow the instructions below.
Step 1
If you have more than one user, and the one in question is not an administrator, then go to Step 2.
Triple-click anywhere in the following line on this page to select it:
sudo find ~ $TMPDIR.. -exec chflags -h nouchg,nouappnd,noschg,nosappnd {} + -exec chown -h $UID {} + -exec chmod +rw {} + -exec chmod -h -N {} + -type d -exec chmod -h +x {} + 2>&-
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.
Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window by pressing command-V. I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key after pasting.
You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. Type carefully and then press return. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before you can run the command. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
The command may take several minutes to run, depending on how many files you have. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear, then quit Terminal.
Step 2 (optional)
Take this step only if you have trouble with Step 1, if you prefer not to take it, or if it doesn't solve the problem.
Start up in Recovery mode. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select
Utilities ▹ Terminal
from the menu bar. A Terminal window will open. In that window, type this:
res
Press the tab key. The partial command you typed will automatically be completed to this:
resetpassword
Press return. A Reset Password window will open. You’re not going to reset a password.
Select your startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) if not already selected.
Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.
Under Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs, click the Reset button.
Select
 ▹ Restart
from the menu bar.

I have a brand new external hard drive (the Lacie Porsche p9230.) Why do all my attempts to do a time machine backup stall? (usually immediately)

I have a brand new 3T external hard drive (the Lacie Porsche p9230.) I manually backed up several big files from my computer ok, but all attempts to do a time machine backup just stall, usually after only a few K are backed up. hours go by, no progress.
The first time, it did 3 gigs in just a couple minutes, it then got to about 9 gigs, then nothing for 2 hours. all subsequent attempts have done merely a few k, or megabytes, then all just stopped, still appearing as if they are proceeding, but with no results over a long time.
It could indeed be the hard drive on my computer itself, but aside from this the computer functions normally, though slow (it's old, 2009.)
As stated. I WAS able to manually back up a folder exceeding 250 gigs in size, and then another of about 14 gigs.
So, why can I nt do a time machine backup, effectively?

All is not lost yet. Lets take it from the begining. By default, the OS is set to mount and drive plugged in. And for the most part it does work. If you haven't already done so, pop open the external case and make sure all of your cables are well seated.
Next
Plug in the drive.
Fire up Disk Utility
In the window pane on the left-hand side, select the drive (selection with the size information of the drive ie - 232.9GB WDC WD2500. . . .)
Click on volume format and make sure Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is selected
Click on the Erase button
After a couple of minutes is should be done and mounted on the desktop
You can also use Apple System Profiler as a troubleshooting tool. Fire it up and select Firewire from the selections. This will bring up a list of all of the devices it can discover and talk to. If your drive is there and working, it should come up with the drive information such as size, manufactor, etc.

Initial Time Machine backup 60 GB smaller than HD content?

Hello,
I've just performed an initial backup with TIme Machine on an external HD. The result is that TM's backup's size is 360 GB, but my internal HD that has 420 GB of data...
I had no problems during the backup, no warning messages. I don't understand, so I'm not very confortable pursuing with this backup.
The only explanation could be that I've a lot of duplicates on my iMac (2x big iTunes library with same files...) at the moment: does TM save only one copy of same files that are in different directories of the source HD?
Thanks :)

You can verify your Time Machine backup.
Launch the Terminal 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, press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the page that opens.
Drag or copy – do not type – the following line into the Terminal window, then press return:
sudo tmutil compare
You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up.
The command will take at least a few minutes to run. Eventually some lines of output will appear below what you entered.
Each line that begins with a plus sign (“+”) represents a file that has been added to the source volume since the last snapshot was taken. These files have not been backed up yet.
Each line that begins with an exclamation point (“!”) represents a file that has changed on the source volume. These files have been backed up, but not in their present state.
Each line that begins with a minus sign (“-“) represents a file that has been removed from the source volume.
Files that you’ve excluded from backup, or that are excluded automatically, are ignored.
At the end of the output, you’ll get some lines like the following:
Added:
Removed:
Changed:
These lines show the total amount of data added, removed, or changed on the source(s) since the last snapshot.

Time Machine backups take ~20 minutes

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