Time Machine consuming all of Time Capsule

So, I use my Time Capsule for more than just Time Machine Backups, and now that TIme Machine has filled the sucker up, I can't put any other files onto it. Does anyone have any ideas on how to leave a certain percentage of the Time Capsule available for normal disk use?

You basically only have two options:
1. Temporarily remove the TC's internal hard drive; repartition it, and then, reinstall it, or
2. Create a Disk Image of a desired size for file storage on the TC's internal drive. Time Machine is supposed to "honor" this image and not try to write over it.
Both options have their respective disadvantages. Warranty & inconvenience on the first and Windows clients will not be able to use the disk image for the second.
As you can tell, the TC was primarily designed as a target for TM backups.

Similar Messages

Shpuld I leave time machine on all the time?

I have time machine on all the time. My concern is backing up every hour seems excessive, and I wonder if turning it off and only on once a week is better.
Furthermore, my LaCie external hard drive is annoyingly noisy.

You can do that or you can use a third-party utility to change the schedule. If you use your computer daily, then file change daily, and you may wish to have those changes backed up.
TimeMachineEditor 4.0
Time Machine Backup Scheduler 1.4.2
TimeMachineScheduler 4.0b8

Machine that gets Time Machine Error ALL THE TIME

Lets try and list out all the machines that cannot get Time Machine to work all the time.
Here is mine:
Machine:
1st Gen Macbook Pro (June 06)
with upgraded HDD (160GB) and 2GB RAM
TM HDD Tried:
ALL external HDD (USB and Firewire)
Error:
The back up volume could not be found
Other Notes:
Tired clean install, archive install, nothing works

Is the Drive formatted with a GUID partition? Look in Partitions in Disk Utilities. If it isn't GUID, set it to GUID, reformat, and try TM again.

How can I resolve OSStatus Error 13 on Time Machine when connecting to Time Capsule on Lion?

This is a semi-rhetorical question: I have now resolved this for my own setup, However, there was very little information on this error in the fora, so I thought I would post my experience with getting a Time Capsule (2TB, 3rd edition) to work on OS X Lion after the AFP/NAS debacle.
Background
My third party LaCie Big Disk Network* NAS died when Lion came out.
I could access neither Time Machine nor the drive through Finder.
The excellent thread on "Lion: Connecting to legacy (pre-Lion) AFP services - and Mac OS X (server)" (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3258472?start=0&tstart=0) allowed me to access the drive via Finder to save my files but, of course, Time Machine was still broken. That guide showed you how to lift security restrictions on AFP shares.
For reasons explained below [disclaimer: rant follows] I decided to ditch the LaCie and purchased a Time Capsule.
The Problem
Time Capsule connected via DSL to the net and set up a wifi network with a green light.
The "Data" mount for Time Machine was visible in Time Machine, but trying to access it showed the following error:
The operation couldn’t be completed. (OSStatus error 13)
Trying to open the share in Finder using the appropriate credentials showed:
The operation cannot be completed because the original item for "Data" can't be found
Things that didn't work
Turning lots of things on and off
Resetting the DSL modem, the router (Time Capsule), the computer
Repairing permissions
What DID work
Undoing the modifications made during the process of mounting the old LaCie NAS
To do this, open Terminal and enter:
sudo -s
chmod o+w /Library/Preferences
cd /Library/Preferences/
rm com.apple.AppleShareClient.plist*
(from https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3258472?start=0&tstart=0)
Then restart your computer.
This worked for me. I don't UNDERSTAND any of why this did or didn't affect the computer, so please don't ask me to explain how it worked or what else to try. I thought I would just put this out there for knowledge.
* LaCie have really got my goat. Unlike other manufacturers who seem to be trying to provide support for their drives (Western Digital MyBook), LaCie have stated outright that they will not be providing any updates for their Big Disk Network. This is a hard drive they describe as a "Professional NAS", though I can't think of many professions where £200 backups need to be replaced every two years to keep abreast of security updates. In their defence, the drive is no longer manufactured… but, IMHO, I don't see that as sufficient reason to abandon all support or updates immediately. Boo! On the upside, loving my shiny new refurb Time Capsule.

Our true genius died a little while ago.
But up to Mountain Lion he has tones of info ..
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
Try some of the section C solutions.
It is more than likely network.
BUT do the following.
1. Install the widget A1
2. Reset TM, A4
3. Verify the backup, A5
4. Reboot the whole network and restart it in order.. modem.. TC.. MB Air.
No luck to this point.
Tell us exactly what OS you have.
The worst possible is Mavericks. If you are trying to connect to old backups after an upgrade it is hopeless.
I recommend you start over.
Simply wipe the TC and start afresh.
Manually mount the TC disk in Mavericks so you are sure it is working. Tell us if you run into trouble.
Most important.. in wireless network preferences are you running ipv6 in link-local mode.

Time Machine over AirPort to Time Capsule... maybe a solution

Like a lot of people on this forum, apparently, I have been suffering from the inability to make reliable Time Machine backups to a Time Capsule over AirPort. Here's what I did to solve the situation.
Here's my network setup:
I have an ADSL wireless box with b/g network connected over ethernet to a 1-TB Time Capsule which has a 5 GHz 'n' network. Using 5 GHz 'n' network where I am means no interference. All equipment that is not capable of 'n' is on the wireless box, 'n' equipment (basically, only my MacBook Pro) gets on the Time Capsule. It doesn't make internet faster, but sure makes the Time Capsule accessible. Both networks are hidden and secured with WEP (b/g) or WPA2 (n).
(the Time Capsule is double-NATted, unfortunately, to cut down on network chatter in the system log)
After upgrading to 10.5.6, I think I haven't been able to make a reliable Time Machine backup over AirPort. It may have been well before that (possibly with the AirPort Extreme update) but I don't remember. Most of the time, before the wireless box arrived, I have been making far-too-irregular backups over ethernet to the Time Capsule.
Anyway, I had been trying to get Time Machine to work over AirPort to the backup on the Time Capsule. I had made the original backup over ethernet (all 500 GB worth over a weekend). For the incremental backups, though, I would prefer AirPort because keeping a cable attached really is a pain. Of course, it didn't work right away.
What I couldn't figure out was why. Time Machine mounted the sparsebundle volume on the Time Capsule, but after that it seemed to do nothing with it. I left it for half a day and found little by way of relevant network activity. I tried the following to no avail:
* disabled Little Snitch (outgoing firewall) and the OS X firewall (incoming firewall)
* disabled security on the network
* disabled and re-enable Time Machine
* changed the name of the sparsebundle volume (that was dumb!)
* trash Time Machine preferences and re-select the backup disk
* reboot, reboot, reboot
Whatever I did, it sucked. Connecting over ethernet was excellent, and incremental backups went really quick, but AirPort just didn't fly. It would have been worse if it were slow; chances are then it'd be a hardware problem. But nothing was going over AirPort with Time Machine.
In amongst the surfing, I found somewhere how to downgrade the firmware on the Time Capsule. Worth a try since nothing was working. I opened up the AirPort Utility and checked, but it would only give me 7.3.2 (AirPort Utility 5.3.2). I searched and found the AirPort 5.3.1 software, and using Pacifist extracted the AirPort Utility application. That would let me 'downgrade' the Time Capsule firmware to 7.3.1 (and 7.3). It downloaded the 7.3.1 for me and put it on the Time Capsule without problems.
I then made a test run with Time Machine over ethernet, that was fine. The I tried over AirPort - and hey presto! it worked! I re-enabled my network setup (firewalls, security) and it's still working fine.
So, if your Time Capsule is on 7.3.2 firmware and Time Machine over AirPort *****, try downgrading to 7.3.1. The AirPort 5.3.1 software, which can download and install the 7.3.1 software (5.3.2 doesn't) can be found here:
http://support.apple.com/downloads/TimeCapsule_and_AirPort_Base_Station__802_11n__Firmware_7_31
Note: you need Pacifist to extract the AirPort Utility application;
do not install the software over your existing AirPort software

This may be tough because TM isn't supported over wi-fi unless you're using a Time Capsule. There are a couple of resources available to you and I'd also recommend posting in the Snow Leopard forum because TM is part of OS X the OS X forum would be the right venue. The first thing is I'm guessing you are using a router, if so make sure the firmware on it is up-to-date. You will need to refer to the router's manual. You also should do the same with the modem too. Some written resources are:
Time Machine FAQs
Time Machine Troubleshooting
Pondini Time Machine Tips
That's about all I can help you out with.
Good luck!

Time Machine Has All My Music, Do I Need My CDs Anymore?

Silly question, perhaps. Time Machine has ALL my music from my CDs and that music which I have downloaded. Now, I only use my iTunes for listening to music - my CDs are all packed away. So, do I really need my CDs anymore or can I sell them, give them away? If you house catches fire, the CDs are gone anyway and I'm grabbing the Time Capsule . . .
~ Anna

Hi, and welcome to the forums.
Unless you also have at least one set of backups off-site, keep them (in your safe deposit box, workplace, relative's house, or other secure place).
I hate to even suggest the possibility, but just the other day someone posted where his Mac and external HD containing his backups were stolen.
You can also lose both your originals and backups in cases of fire, flood, or direct lightning strike on your power lines.
See #27 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum) for some suggestions.

Time machine back up on time capsule never stop

time machine back up on time capsule never stop.

You need to do a bit of troubleshooting.. and it isn't an easy one to solve.
TM could be stuck on a corrupted file..
It could be slow due to network issues.. wireless is terrible.. use ethernet if at all possible.
Is there an error message??
Look at Pondini.. http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
You need to load the widget A1.
Verify both the source and backup sparsebundle. A5
Look at some of the reasons he gives for over long backups.
Look at section D.
I would also need to have more info. Did this just start when you upgraded the TC firmware that was recently released.. if so expect issues.
Are you running Mountain Lion.. expect issues??
To help further we need more info.

How can I copy a time machine backup from one Time Capsule to another ?

How can I copy a time machine backup from one Time Capsule to another ? I bought a 1 Tb Time Capsule to replace my 512Mb Time Capsule. Now, I like to copy my time machine backup from the old Time Capsule to the new one so I can keep using my backup.

from this support article:
(click on image to enlarge)

I was trying to back up my mac by using my external hard drive. Without realizing it, time machine erased all my backups from my other computers. Is there any way to recover these files? I can't even get the external hard drive to work on my pc.

I was trying to use my external hard drive to back up my mac computer. It had files on it from my pc computer. Time machine erased all my existing files. (I thought it was only going to erase the duplicate files and rewrite them). Is there anyway to recover these files from my external hard drive. My mac has renamed the hard drive time maching and it will no longer show up on my pc. What can I do?

Yes, the Old Master file has a folder for each year where I find all photos from that specific year. I am attaching a screen shot of the file.
In the meantime i have managed to download all photos (it did not download any video files though in mpg, avi, 3gp, m4v,mp4 and mov format) to a new iphoto library. Unfortunately the photos are quite mixed and often doubled up. I ma considering to purchase iphoto library which checks all duplicates in iphoto. this will save me a lot of time. What do you think?

I am trying to delete a Time Machine backup from a Time Capsule.

I am trying to delete a Time Machine backup from a Time Capsule. The file is about 400GB and my MacBook has been trying to delete it for 5h now. It still says "deleting" but has not given me a "time remaining" yet. Any idea of what I could do????

You should not attempt to delete backups using the Finder. The result can be a corrupted backup.
I recommend you let it complete, no matter how long it takes. That could be days, if your TC is connected via wireless.
It is not necessary to delete backups, since Time Machine will delete old backups some time after they have been deleted from your source volume. For more information read Apple Support Communities contributor Pondini's explanation here: Should I delete old backups? If so, How?

HT201250 If time machine puts all of my photos onto my external hard drive using time machine, can I then delete the photos from my computer put view them again from the external hard drive? Basically, can I free up space on my mac but not lose years of p

If time machine puts all of my photos onto my external hard drive using time machine, can I then delete the photos from my computer but view them again from the external hard drive? Basically, can I free up space on my mac but not lose years of photos?

To add to Niel's comment bear in mind that if you have a backup copy on an external HD and later delete the orignals on your Mac HD you will then only have one copy - so no backup.
If the pictures are precious you should have at least two copies, and ideally another copy kept off site,

Time Machine will not let me restore from backups after June, 2013. I can see the files on the external hard drive but Time Machine skips all of them and goes back to June, 2013. Does anyone have any idea what the problem is?

Time Machine will not let me restore from backups after June, 2013. I can see the files on the external hard drive but Time Machine skips all of them and goes back to June, 2013. Does anyone have any idea what the problem is?

rtilghman wrote:
telling me to buy a new router is NOT a solution.
And why not? Apple is selling these things like BigMacs. They can't make enough of them. You've been suffering since May because you refuse to get a decent router.
Can you imagine if a company that makes a refrigerator told me that I needed to upgrade my electrical system to rectify a problem with their device? What kind of response IS that?!?!
What if the problem with their device is that it requires a new-fangled "grounded" outlet and your circa 1890 house doesn't have grounded outlets. Would you refuse to purchase a $ 25 adapter on principle?

Time Machine locked all Excel files. Help?

I have had Macs for many years but have not used Time Machine until yesterday. I turned on Time Machine for the first time and did a back-up last night. Today, I cannot open any Excel file on my computer as they all appear to be read-only.
I am using a 27" iMac with Mac OS 10.8.2. I copied an Excel file to my 13" MacBook and it opened fine. I have since turned off Time Machine but still cannot open any Excel files on my 27" iMac.
Can you help?

I realize this is an older thread but I just ran into this issue with a restore from Time Machine backup on a clean install Mac OS X 10.9.
It seems that the issue has nothing whatsoever to do with the file in question or the permissions or the ownership of that file and everything to do with hidden files. If Excel saved a temporary file then you will not be able to edit the file until you delete the temp file - which is hidden.
So what you want to do is the following:
Open a Terminal Session and paste in:          defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool YES
The paste in:       killall Finder
Go to the folder where the offending file is and find the copy of that file that is prefixed with ~$ and delete it
Then past in:      defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool NO
The paste in:       killall Finder
or you could leave hidden files visible for a time until you clean up everything - then turn em off when you get cleaned up.

Time Machine Combines all Backups?

Hey,
Why did my time machine combine all my old backups? I can no longer go past my last backup. It's like it merged them all into the most recent. This is the second time it has done this. Does anyone know why or how to stop it from doing it?
I already checked out this page http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306928
and I have an apostrophe in my name but it hasn't ever been a problem. It's like when I reach a certain number of backups it consolidates them into one and starts over?
Message was edited by: amsgator

This is normal time machine behavior. After 24 hours, the backups collapse into 1 day. After 37 days or so, the first seven days collapse into 1 week. At some point you will have the last 24 hours, the last 30 days and weekly backups going back in time until your disk is full. If you think about it, it is very unlikely you will need a file from a certain hour 1 week or 30 days ago. It makes sense to collapse the backups into snapshots as time goes on. The more recent backups are more important. I hope I understood your question...
Message was edited by: Myron Jones

HT3275 My Time Machine deletes ALL previous backups

Every so often, Time Machine deletes ALL previous backups and starts over from scratch. It has done this several times in the last year. I have not changed any hardware or the name of the computer. Why is this happening? Makes me very concerned that I now have NO backups while it chugs away rebuilding a 210 GB backup.
Just got an error message:
Time Machine couldn’t complete the backup. Time machine could not delete the backup disk image "/Volumes/Joe's iMac.purgeable"
HELP!
iMac 27: 8GB, 2.9 GHz Intel Core I5
OS X Yosemite 10.10.1
Backup volume is Western Digital MyBookLiveDuo with 2TB and 1.8TB available

Hi Joe,
Have you Repaired both drives first, then Repaired Permissions on both?
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 consuming all of Time Capsule

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