Time machine does not back up to external drive

I plug in my hard drive and it is working..click "back up now" and it starts, but stops within a few seconds??????

Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ If you’re running Mac OS X 10.7 or later, open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the page that opens.
Select "system.log" from the file list. Enter "backupd" (without the quotes) in the Filter text field. Post the messages from the last backup, beginning with "Starting standard backup." Post the log text, please, not a screenshot. Edit out excessive repeats, if any. Some personal information, such as the names of your files, may be included – edit that out, too, but don’t remove the context.

Similar Messages

  • HT3275 My time machine does not back up and giving me this error message: The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data-1/Amiel's MacBook Pro.sparsebundle" is already in use. Pls help.

    My time machine does not back up and giving me this error message: The backup disk image “/Volumes/Data-1/Amiel’s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle” is already in use. Pls help.

    Make sure that there are no other Macs backing up at the present time.
    Pull the power cord from the back of the Time Capsule
    Count to ten
    Plug the power cord back in
    This will "fix" things about 98% of the time. Post back if you are in the unlucky 2% category.

  • Time machine does not back up iPhoto in mountain lion ?

    My Time Machine does not back up my iPhoto library. When I open Time Machine I get Desktop display going back to installation date.
    All other applications respond correctly including Mail, Contacts, etc. My Seagate drive is not involved in the present programme of repair I have been told by Apple. Any ideas?

    I'm now fixed and done (update to latest software and learn how to use it)
    Thanks again Ivan for the article, it alerted me to otherwise incomprehensible changes in iPhoto/Time Machine operation such as in my case would transfer 3.8GB of data to restore a single photo, while apparently loosing all photos added after that backup time.
    However the article says:
    When using iPhoto ’11 (version 9.2 or later) and Time Machine with OS X Lion 10.7.2 (or later), iPhoto no longer has the Browse Backups option. This means that instead of restoring specific photos within your iPhoto Library, you must restore your entire iPhoto Library.
    This may be practically true but it is technically false.
    To restore a single photo in iPhoto '11 with Time Machine it goes something like this:
    Start with your Time Machine hard drive and navigate many steps (including showing package contents where necessary) all the way through to the photo/date you want. Drag it to your desktop. (Do not make any edits in Time Machine!)  Import to iPhoto. Click on last import in iPhoto. Right click the photo and change the event name, then look for it at the right date in iphoto with the new event name.
    Hopefully those with more time and patience can check this out and see what it can do. I had to do it twice with Apple suport senior tech to get it. What a pain compared to iPhoto' 09 but at least now I can restore iPhoto library or a photo if necessary.
    David

  • Time Machine won't back up OWC external drive

    Mac Mini running 10.8.5.  Time Machine will not back up brand new OWC MiniStack external HD. I've trashed TM prefs, reformatted the TM drive, verified that there are no exclusions, but it won't back up the external HD which contains only data files -- no system, no applications.  TM does back up the internal HD.

    PROBLEM SOLVED.
    Recap: Time Machine would not back up an external data drive despite being correctly formatted and settings correctly applied.
    Problem was either:  a) the Mac, b) the external data drive, c) the Time Machine drive, or d) the data.
    I replaced both the external data drive (cloned) and the Time Machine drive, but Time Machine would back up that external drive either.
    Finally, instead of CLONING (SuperDuper) the external data drive, I COPIED the data to a new HD -- root folder-by-folder. Now Time Machine again backs up my external hard drive.
    SOLUTION:  Problem was not hard drives or Mac, but within the data itself.  Cloning the data simply passed on the problem to the new hard drive.  For this problem, the solution was copying the data rather than cloning.
    Thanks all.

  • Time Machine does not back up all iTunes music files

    Hello, I'm trying to view the music files, on my Time Machine backup disc, from a CD that I recently imported into iTunes. My iTunes library resides on my hard drive. The backup disc shows files for some of the other music that is in my iTunes library, but not from the new CD. I did several backups after importing the new music, but the song files still do not show up in Time Machine. Any ideas for why the files don't show up?
    My ultimate aim is to copy those music files onto another computer, but my research on the support pages suggests that I should not do it this way. Instead, I will copy the music files onto another disc (not using Time Machine) and then import them onto the other computer. Please confirm that this is the best way to proceed.
    But in the meantime, I'm wondering why Time Machine does not show my newly imported music.
    Thanks very much for any help you can provide.

    New formulation of my question:
    A file dated at 10:00 may not appear in the back-up dated 11:00.

  • Meverckics time machine does not back up wiki

    I am using a Mac Pro mid 2013 as a server for my team.  I use it only for wiki (no other service like mail server or website host). I started using in October 2013. December 2013, the Time Machine informed me that it runs out of space (my working HD is 1 TB, at that time it is more than 500 Gb in use. The HD for Time Machine is 3TB). I just let the Time Machine keep running ( it said that it woud arrange to delete old backups to make room for new ones).
    Yesterday, the wiki database is corrupted and I fully restore from TM. to my horror, the wiki is only restored to December 2013. Which means we lost the works of the last 6 months.  I check the backup files in Time Machine and found out that the last wiki database (Library/Server/Wiki) was updated to December 2013 only, even though other files were updated to yesterday. I checked the TM preference and wiki database is not in list of files excluding from backing up.
    My questions:
    1. Does any one know why the Time Machine doesn't back up wiki while it backs up other files?
    2. In future, how can I prevent this happen again?
    3. Can I recover the works of last six months (in other words, does Mavericks server keep wiki database where else other than Library/Server/Wiki?
    many thanks in advance!
    infor:
    Mac Pro mid 2013. 12Gb ram?
    working HD: 1TB
    time machine HD: 3TB
    server service used: only wiki!

    Time machine no longer working: Apple Support Communities

  • Time Machine does not back up anymore

    Hello,
    My Time Machine keeps on 'calculating' and does not back up anymore. It seems that the Time Capsule is full, but until recent it always deleted the oldest backups automatically (with a message).
    Maybe a Time Machine Buddy report helps:
    +Starting standard backup+
    +Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://Marko%[email protected]/TC+
    +Mounted network destination using URL: afp://Marko%[email protected]/TC+
    +QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN+
    +Disk image /Volumes/TC/MBP_002332c8a134.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Backup of MBP+
    +Backing up to: /Volumes/Backup of MBP/Backups.backupdb+
    +Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:* -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: No space left on device+
    +Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD+
    +Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:* -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: No space left on device+
    +Exception writing exclusions cache. NSFileHandleOperationException:* -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: No space left on device+
    +Unable to create exclusions cache data.+
    +Failed to write exclusions cache. Continuing anyway.+
    +Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:* -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: No space left on device+
    +Waiting for index to be ready (101)+
    +Waiting for index to be ready (101)+
    Any help is greatly appreciated!
    Thanks!

    Do you have other data on the Time Capsule, besides backups?
    It looks like the TC is so full that Time Machine can't get started far enough to delete some old backups.
    If there is other data there, copy something elsewhere and delete it, at least temporarily. It doesn't have to be very large; 20 MB or so should be enough.
    If not, try to delete an old backup manually per #12 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
    You might want to connect via Ethernet cable if possible; especially if Time Machine is trying to do a large backup, it will have to delete a lot of old ones. It will be 2-3 times faster than via WIFI.
    |
    Mixing Time Machine backups and other data on a Time Capsule can be a problem. Once you get this sorted out, see #Q3 in Using Time Machine with a Time Capsule (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of the +Time Capsule+ forum).
    Message was edited by: Pondini

  • Time Machine is not backing up my Boot Drive

    Time Machine is configured to not exclude my boot drive, but when I look at Time Machine history, I see that it has not backed up my boot drive since 2014.  I recently lost a years' worth of data files when my Boot Drive was wiped buy a local mac shop because they assumed that time machine had backed-up the boot drive.  Any suggestions out there?
    Mac Pro 3,1

    The hatter wrote:
    Regardless, I would strongly add a 2nd cloning backup of your system.
    Carbon Copy Cloner - Bootable Backups - Bombich Software
    Definitely. It's not a good idea to trust Time Machine exclusively.

  • Time machine does not back up automatically to an external usb drive

    When I use Time machine to back up to an external usb hd, (Western Digital with I have to use the "backup now" command. When I "Enter Time Machine" all I see is the last backup. When I look on the drive, all the backups are listed in a "Backups.backupb" directory conatained in a Sparsebundle directory. Is there some way to set it up so it backs up automatically and show all my backups?

    Hi G:
    By system clock, I meant the one that displays the time in the menu bar. I think I made up some new terminology!
    Needless to say, I have not seen a situation like yours before.
    Hopefully one of my more technical virtual colleagues will have more suggestions. I am sorry I have not been more helpful. I do not want to suggest things that will take your time that "might" work.
    Barry

  • TIme Machine will not back up to External Hard Drive

    I reinstalled Snow Leopard on my Mac Mini after having some issues. After reinstallation, Time Machine would no longer backup to my External HD because it will not allow me to change permissions. I right click on my "Backup" drive and change the permissions to Read + Write but it just sets it back to "Custom". I'm guessing that the reinstallation changed my account information but I'm not sure how to fix this. My External HD shows in Disk Utility that it is still almost full of Time Machine backups but I have no way to access them or to continue to use Time Machine for future backups. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

    crash888 wrote:
    I reinstalled Snow Leopard on my Mac Mini after having some issues. After reinstallation, Time Machine would no longer backup to my External HD because it will not allow me to change permissions.
    What message did you get? You should never change permissions (or anything else) on a Time Machine drive -- TM does that for you.
    Start with #C2 in the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip* at the top of this forum.
    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, your setup (especially the destination for the backups), what you've done, and the results.

  • Time Machine - does not back up

    Hello - I am new to Time Machine and have spent the last few hours trying to figure out why it is not backing up to my new 1TB hard drive.
    I have followed the steps in Mac 101: TM and also looked into the FAQs and have done the following:
    FAQ #5 - erase and format with the Disk Utility App
    A4. Full Reset of Time Machine
    hard reset and deleting the
    but I always get the same result:
    - time machine is turned ON, the lock is unlocked for me to change things
    - when i choose "back up now" from the menu bar, nothing happens. the status from the menu bar says "automatic backups off" and it also says that in the Next Backup line of the TM program.
    - i start a backup by "select disk" and chose my Time machine and "Use for backup"....then the "next backup" line does a countdown from 120 seconds until one second....and thing nothing!
    it just keeps one second until i click again on the time machine program and then it switches to "automatic backups off".
    time machine buddy widget says "no time machine information found"
    i have no idea what to try next but really would like to be able to use this feature.
    thanks so much,
    a
    I have no idea what to try next.

    Check the +Exclude these items from backups+ box in TM Preferences > Options. See if your internal HD is listed there, or anything else (besides, of course, your TM drive) that might be preventing backups.
    Try the +Back Up Now+ again, while the TM Preference display is on the screen. Even if something is preventing the automatic backups, that should start something.
    Watch the area where it shows *Next Backup.* You should get a series of status-type messages and a progress bar there, even if only briefly.

  • How can I keep Time Machine from Automatically backing up any external drive connected

    Problem: Whenever I have an external drive attached and TimeMachine starts, it tries to back-up the drive.  Usually, this causes Time Machine to gut my TimeMachine back-ups to try and make room before saying, not enough space to complete the back-up.  NOT Helpful!  I maintain offline/offsite clones of my drives but I also receive drives with large amounts of data which I will want backed up AFTER I have copied it to my drives.  Yes, I can go into TimeMachine and exclude the drive(s).  If I forget to do that, then BYE BYE back-ups.
    Ideally, I would like a prompt asking if I want to include the drive in theTimeMachine back-up after I connect it.  Anyone know how to set this?
    or
    I would be fine with simply having TimeMachine treat all drives unknown to the backup as drives to be ignored.
    Thoughts?

    perranegra wrote:
    It worked beautifully before and would update only when I plugged the firewire drive in and also if I left it over 10 days it would remind me to back up the computer.
    Right, the behavior hasn't changed between SL and Lion.
    I would have liked the option to set times / days when I wanted.
    SL didn't have this, any more than Lion does.
    Also now I have a greyed out icon with a warning sign and clicking on the preferences it helpfully tells me the last back up has failed.
    Because it DID.
    I am usually happy with the updates and tweaks but this is one I am not happy and would appreciate a solution or at least a work around.... and no I don't like having the default to Time Machine as off!
    Time Machine hasn't significantly changed between SL and Lion.  Well, other than the local HD backup sets when a portable device is away from the actual backup destination, which really seem to freak people out for some reason.

  • Time Machine does not backup all files

    I recently did a clean install and to my horror i can see that Time Machine does NOT back up all my files.
    It seems to be worst in my music library which fortunately is pretty easy to rebuild do to itunes index.
    But is there any way to make sure that Time Machine does in fact back up all files?
    Or is it just broken and should be avoided?
    I have 1,5 year old Macbook Pro Retina 15 inches 500 GB SSD

    If you use the third-party application "Dropbox," you may see files in the Finder that are not present locally, but are actually on a network server. Those files won't be backed up and won't appear in Time Machine, even though they show in a Finder window. If the files in question are in a Dropbox folder, disable the software or refer to its developer for support.
    Continue only if you've ruled out Dropbox or any similar product as a possible cause of the issue.
    Open the Time Machine preference pane and unlock the settings, if necessary. Click the Options button. If there is one particular folder with items that are not being backed up reliably, add it to the list of excluded items. If there are many such folders, add your home folder to the list, or add a whole volume (i.e., what Apple calls a "disk.") Save the changes.
    Start a backup, or wait for one to happen automatically. When it's done, open the preference pane again and remove the exclusion(s) you made earlier. Back up again and see whether there's a change.

  • Time Machine does not see my external HD

    I would like to setup TM but it does not see my external HD, but I can see it on desktop in and finder. I can browse it. But time machine does not see it and forces me to use airport time capsule but I don't have it. Help please.

    What format is the external drive in?
    If it's formatted for Windows (either using the MBR partition table or using FAT/NTFS volumes) then Time Machine cannot back up to this disk.
    The disk needs to be formatted as Mac OS X Extended using either the APM or GPT partition tables.
    Life is complicated somewhat by the fact that the OS, in general, can read MBR/FAT drives, but they're not suitable for Time Machine (limitations in the disk formats prevent some of Time Machine's features from working).
    You can check the current partition map/disk format in Disk Utility.app - just select the disk on the left and the information will be displayed below. If the disk is using MBR and/or FAT then you'd need to reformat the drive in order to use it with Time Machine.

  • Since installing Lion, I have not been able to utilize Time Machine (does not recognize the back-up drive); my wireless mouse does not function properly; I have experienced unreasonable delays in the system.  Is there a fix or upgrade coming?

    Is there a fix or upgrade to deal with the many problems I am experiencing since I installed Lion?  I can no longer utilize Time Machine (Does not see the back-up drive); my wireless mouse does not work properly; my iMac has slowed down considerably.  I am reminded of having a PC machine again.  Bummer!

    Either downgrade to Snow Leopard or try reinstalling Lion.
    Reinstalling Lion Without the Installer
    Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alterhatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
    Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
    When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list.  In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive.  If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
    Reinstall Lion: Select Reinstall Lion and click on the Continue button.
    Note: You can also re-download the Lion installer by opening the App Store application. Hold down the OPTION key and click on the Purchases icon in the toolbar. You should now see an active Install button to the right of your Lion purchase entry. There are situations in which this will not work. For example, if you are already booted into the Lion you originally purchased with your Apple ID or if an instance of the Lion installer is located anywhere on your computer.
    Downgrade Lion to Snow Leopard
    1.  Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button.  When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
    2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area.  If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing.  SMART info will not be reported  on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
    3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
    4. Quit DU and return to the installer. Install Snow Leopard.
    This will erase the whole drive so be sure to backup your files if you don't have a backup already. If you have performed a TM backup using Lion be aware that you cannot restore from that backup in Snow Leopard (see below.) I suggest you make a separate backup using Carbon Copy Cloner 3.4.1.
    If you have Snow Leopard Time Machine backups, do a full system restore per #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.  If you have subsequent backups from Lion, you can restore newer items selectively, via the "Star Wars" display, per #15 there, but be careful; some Snow Leopard apps may not work with the Lion files.

Maybe you are looking for