Time machine does not recognise new imac

I backed up a new imac using time machine and a 1TB time capsule.
The imac died, and I have a second brand new imac.
Using the migration assistant/restore from time machine, I was able to restore my old system - note when this was completed, after 3 days, I had to create a new user, then go back and switch to the user that I recovered.
Now when I try to set up time machine, it does not recognise the current system, and wants to create a brand new back up of the entire system. I do not have enough room on my time capsule to do this, plus I don't want to lose my previous back ups.
I am currently using the computer as recovered from time machine, so don't understand why it wants to start from scratch and what I can do.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have part of the answer, but cannot -at least yet - find the rest of the answer in older discussions.
The name of you backup file is YourMachineName_YourMACaddress.sparsebundle. Time Machine is using the MAC address of your (1st) network adapter as a unique identifier. Your new machine has a new MAC address so Time Machine thinks it's a different machine. Which it is in one sort of way, but you want to treat it as the same machine and continue backups.
It's not as simple as renaming the sparse bundle changing the MAC address part of the name to the new MAC address.
If you look the contents of the TC disk you see a "hidden" file named '.YourMacAddress' which contains 16 bytes of data - some kind of token?
I know there was a discussion of this - in these forums I believe - and possible practical information on how to change things so they'd work like you wish, but so far I can't find it.
Note: YourMACaddress and YourNewMacAddress are the 12 hex digits of your machines MAC addresses in ASCII.

Similar Messages

I recovered my back up via a wired connection. now Time Machine does not recognise older back ups wirelessly and wants to do a first back up

I recovered a back up from my time machine via a wired connection after getting the 'white screen of death'. Now Time Machine does not recognise any back ups on the time machine when connected wirelessly and wants to do a first back up of the whole machine. How do I get my mac to recognise these older back ups? It connects to the wifi network the time machine creates fine, with the same name and password.

I recommend the following.
1. Reset the TC to factory.
Universal Factory Reset.. any model TC or AE.
Unplug your TC/AE from power or turn off at the power point.
Hold in reset. and power the TC/AE back on.. all without releasing reset and keep holding in for about 10sec. (this is often difficult without a 2nd person or a 3rd arm).
Release it when the status light flashes rapidly. If it doesn’t flash rapidly you have missed it and try again.
Note..
Be Gentle! Feel the switch click on. It has a positive feel.. add no more pressure after that.
TC/AE will reboot after a couple of minutes with default factory settings and will wipe out previous configurations of the router.
No files are deleted on the hard disk in a TC.. No reset of the TC deletes files.. to do that you use erase from the airport utility.
2. Rename the TC to SMB standard.
That means short names.. 2-20 characters but less than 10 is excellent. eg TCGenx (use number for x that is actual generation of the TC)
No spaces.
Pure alphanumeric. No apostrophe.
3. Ensure IPv6 is set to link-local..
Do the same thing for ethernet if that is used.
4. Manually mount the TC disk in Finder.
Use Go in the top menu.. connect to server.
Type in
AFP://TCname.local (where TCname is your new short name for the TC and local is default domain .. it helps using the domain I found).
You will then find the computer either can or cannot find the network resource.. if it fails something else is wrong with the actual network and you will need to fix that.
It will request the password if it is found.. password is public by default unless you changed it.. type in the password and check to keep it in your keychain.
5. Delete current TM setup and redo it with the newly named TC.
See A4 here. http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
If your backups cannot be found, try B6 again, now that you actually know that the disk has been properly discovered.

Time Machine does not recognize my iMac backup. Reports: not enough space; can't back up. How do I get it to recognize the backup?

Time Machine does not recognize my 430 GB iMac backup on 1 terabyte Time Capsule. Reports: not enough space; can’t back up. How do I get it to recognize the old backup and continue backups?

Thanks for the Time Machine Troubleshooting link. Apparently things have changed since 10.7.0. Backups.backupdb doesn’t exist. Path now is: Time Capsule/Data/Daru’s iMac.sparsebundle. So I did Terminal (I usually avoid Terminal) using the instruction in B6. It does not appear to be working. It went through looking for backup, preparing backup, and is now stopping backup, and the TMBackup has disappeared from the sidebar.
Well, just now Time Machine progressed to preparing backup again; the Tiime Machine Backups appeared in sidebar, and with it Backups.backupdb/Daru’s iMac/2012-04-21-112939.inProgress. So it does exist... I’ll let it run, see what happens... But that is a strange date. Today is 28.
I’ll let you know the outcome.
Oops. Just ended! Real time report: “Backup too large for disk...“ So it is not recognizing the old backup. I’ll look at those instructions again, see if I can do the Terminal thing with the backup running. I doubt I can damage anything except the existing baackup which I'll lose anywy if I can’t achieve recognition.
Daru

Time machine does not recognise itself after restore

I had to restore my data from time machine by doing a full migration of all data from my back up drive.
Now that I have recovered my existing system (which did involve a full wipe of HD, internet recovery and an update again from ML to mavericks).
My restored system does not recognise the back up drive as a time machine and it would appear I cannot append any future backups to this TM.
I would have to wipe the disk and start again which I did not particularly want to do.
Any thoughts please ?
thanks

Inherit a Backup
Inherit a Backup (2)

HT201250 Time Machine does not recognised my Time Capsule

I need help here..I have changed my password for the wi fi and now my Time Capsule has disappeared totally out of the network..It even now can not be traced

OK, so it sounds like you have a Mac formatted drive that you have used previously for Time Machine, and disconnected it for a few weeks, and you can now see files on it OK from your Mac. However, when the system tries to run a Time Machine backup, you get an error message "Can't backup. Reformat the disk. Files can still be read but the drive can no longer be used for back-ups. Get a new external drive. Run back-ups as soon as possible."
I have not seen this problem before, and would recommend that you look through the Time Machine troubleshooting information at http://pondini.org/TM/Home.html
For instance, http://pondini.org/TM/B1.html or http://pondini.org/TM/B6.html could help in your situation. I'm assuming (but probably shouldn't) that you've verified that your hard drive doesn't need repair (another Disk Utility function) and that there is still a Time Machine backup on that drive - look for the directory Backups.backupdb.
I hope that helps. If not, perhaps someone with more Time Machine knowledge will pop along soon to help you further.

Time Machine does not work after installing mavericks

After I installed maverick on my imac, my time machine backups don't work anymore!!!!
I have a normal portable HDD attached to my Imac with time capsule backup from before mavericks was installed.
I also has a Buffalo NAS as a second Time Machine Backup.
TIme capsule does not recognise my Buffalo NAS and tells me that it is not available. It has previous backups from Mountain Lion for sure!
My portable HDD keeps saying "Preparing for backup" for eternity.
Please, APPLE, what is going on with mavericks? Regretted upgrading.
My backup is 31 days behind because of this! Unacceptable!
But what is strange is that I can connect to my portable HDD and Buffalo NAS as a drive. What I have been doing is to copy and paste the important stuff into the drives. But it really defeats the purpose of time machine, right?

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you turn on the computer, and again when you log in.
Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually login automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem?
After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

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.

Time Machine does not see original backup file on Time Capsuel after reset.

I recently moved. I have a Time Capsule which is also my airport base station. I have about 7 months worth of back-ups on the drive for an iMac and a MacBook. The local cable company would only hook up the modem directly to my iMac and would not set up through the Time Capsule as it is not one of their routers. No problem. I did it once -- I could do it again. After discovering that it was not as simple as plugging the ethernet cable into the Time Capsule (after doing so, the Time Capsule recognized it had internet feed -- the iMac recognized the Time Capsule/Airport network -- but I could not get onto the net.) I discovered that I needed to do a hard reset. The instructions said the files would not be erased. They were not. I can still see the original back-ups for both computers in finder. But Time Machine does not recognize that either computer was ever backed up. There is no history and when I try a back-up it begins from scratch and creates a brand new back-up file.
How do I get Time Machine to recognize the original back-up files? I tried "choosing disk" in Time Machine preferences but it only lets me choose the actual disk (the Time Capsule) and not an individual back-up file
Thanks in advance to the collective brain trust.
Robert

I saw a post on another discussion about this subject, and one user found this workaround:
2) Start the backup via wireless connection. Stop the backup. Unplug external HD and plug in via USB or FW (you want FW800). Time Machine appears smart enough to continue your backup in a manner that is useable by the AEBS.
This only makes sense for the first backup (or if you have a lot of data for one particular incremental backup), as it removes the whole convenience factor of wireless.
The post got this reply:
Thx for your #2 tip on using Time Machine with an Airport Extreme Base Station, then switching to a wired connection. Worked perfectly.
Started the TimeMachine b/up wirelessly, allowed it to run for a couple minutes, then stopped it, unplugged the USB drive from the AEBS, plugged it into the computer directly via FW400, opened TimeMachine and it recognized the Disk. Ran TimeMachine via the wired connection, after it finished I ejected it, plugged it back into the AEBS, initiated the AirDisk in the finder, then opened TimeMachine and presto!!
Awesome tip. Note: this works for first-time TimeMachine wireless backups only. Saved me over 40 hours of wireless waiting!!
http://gizmodo.com/370017/how+to-use-time-machine-with-an-airport-extreme
Can anyone confirm that this will work?

Time Machine does not see back-up file on Time Capsule

I recently moved. I have a Time Capsule which is also my airport base station. I have about 7 months worth of back-ups on the drive for an iMac and a MacBook. The local cable company would only hook up the modem directly to my iMac and would not set up through the Time Capsule as it is not one of their routers. No problem. I did it once -- I could do it again. After discovering that it was not as simple as plugging the ethernet cable into the Time Capsule (after doing so, the Time Capsule recognized it had internet feed -- the iMac recognized the Time Capsule/Airport network -- but I could not get onto the net.) I discovered that I needed to do a hard reset. The instructions said the files would not be erased. They were not. I can still see the original back-ups for both computers in finder. But Time Machine does not recognize that either computer was ever backed up. There is no history and when I try a back-up it begins from scratch and creates a brand new back-up file.
How do I get Time Machine to recognize the original back-up files? I tried "choosing disk" in Time Machine preferences but it only lets me choose the actual disk (the Time Capsule) and not an individual back-up file
Thanks in advance to the collective brain trust.
Robert

I recently moved. I have a Time Capsule which is also my airport base station. I have about 7 months worth of back-ups on the drive for an iMac and a MacBook. The local cable company would only hook up the modem directly to my iMac and would not set up through the Time Capsule as it is not one of their routers. No problem. I did it once -- I could do it again. After discovering that it was not as simple as plugging the ethernet cable into the Time Capsule (after doing so, the Time Capsule recognized it had internet feed -- the iMac recognized the Time Capsule/Airport network -- but I could not get onto the net.) I discovered that I needed to do a hard reset. The instructions said the files would not be erased. They were not. I can still see the original back-ups for both computers in finder. But Time Machine does not recognize that either computer was ever backed up. There is no history and when I try a back-up it begins from scratch and creates a brand new back-up file.
How do I get Time Machine to recognize the original back-up files? I tried "choosing disk" in Time Machine preferences but it only lets me choose the actual disk (the Time Capsule) and not an individual back-up file
Thanks in advance to the collective brain trust.
Robert

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 does not appear in Disk Utility

Time machine does not show up in Disk Utilities, connected by ethernet. I need to erase the disk. How to solve?

I am sorry - I simply do not understand your instructions!
I have 2 Time Capsules and have been using both. However a few days ago they quit working. I have had to turn off Time Machine because I am getting hourly alerts that back-up failed because there is not enough space. It does not delete old backups to provide additional space. I am willing to erase both to try to get them working again but I cannot figure out how to erase and setup the drives. Hence I turned Time Machine off.
There is nothing wrong with the MBP internal hard drive. "Sparse bundle" is total Greek to me! My wifi network appears to be working properly. The internal HD is mounted in Disk Utilities and verified as working properly. I am a long time user of Apple but I am still a novice (Level 1)!
Perhaps I should start a new thread.

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.

My Time Machine does not recognize Airport Time Capsule 2TB

I just connect my new Airport Time capsule 2TB and the wifi work fine in the whole house.
But Time machine does not recognize my Airport time capsule. It remain stuck on my ex baxkup My Book. If I press select disk or option nothing happen . If I click on remove backup disk nothing happen. I want to use Airport Time capsule as my back up disk.
Thank you for your help.
Guy-Gabriel

Do a full TM reset.. see A4 here.
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
You might also need to manually mount the TC disk..
In finder use Go, Connect to server in the top menu.
AFP://TCname or TCIPaddress (using the actual name or IP of course).

Time machine will not recognise WD hard drive connected to AE

I have a WD hard drive connected to my AE by ethernet cable. While I can access this drive wirelessly via Finder, both Airport utility and Time machine do not recognise this drive for back up purposes. Is there any way I can change the setup to enable time machine to work?
Thanks - Eric

You might want to take a look at the macosxhints.com article "10.5: Set up Time Machine on a NAS in three easy steps ".
BTW, MobileMe won't be able to backup your entire hard drive.

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.

Time machine does not recognise new imac

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for