Time Machine Error after moving disk to Airport Extreme

I have been using Time machine with a 1 TB, WD MyBook hard drive for the past 2 weeks with no problem. The drive had been connected directly to my Macbook Pro, via the Firewire 800 cable.
Today, I moved the drive and connected it via USB to my Airport Extreme Base Station version 7.3.1.
When Time Machine tried to create the next scheduled backup, I got the following error:
*Time Machine Error*
"This backup is too large for the backup volume. The backup requires 159.8 GB but only 159.1 GB are available.
To select a larger volume, or make the backup smaller by excluding files, open System Preferences and choose Time Machine"
It seems to me that Time machine is trying to do a brand new backup instead of the incremental one its supposed to do.
How can I fix this and have TM recognize that there is already a backup sequence in the disk?
Thanks for your help.

Time Machine uses a different method for creating its archive, depending on how the backup disk is connected. When using a directly connected drive, it uses a time-stamped folder structure. When using a networked disk, it uses a sparse disk image format. Therefore, when you connected that drive to the base station, Time Machine was trying to create a new sparse image archive with the leftover space. It did not find enough space, since your direct connect Time Machine archive was taking up too much space already.
If you want to use it over the network, you'll have to erase the drive and start over with Time Machine.

Similar Messages

Time machine not recognising external disk on airport extreme

Hi
I have connected a LaCie d2 Quadra disk to the usb port on my airport extreme.
The disk is formatted as HFS+
If I look in Finder (with Bonjour computers enabled as displayed) I can see the external disk through the airport extreme. I can enter the disk and see the drive (it is connected), but I cannot add files to the disk.
If I open Time Machine setup, I cannot see any external disk at all.
If I look in Airport utility, I can see the d2 Quadra listed as an external disk on the extreme, and I have set it up for File Sharing (using the device password)
Can anyone advise why Time Machine (OS-X Yosemite 10.10.1 on iMac) cannot see it?
And what to do to get it connected please to allow backups from any mac user's machine?
Thanks
Andy

So, LaCie advised to connect direct to Mac to check all ok. It was.
As soon as the HD was plugged in directly, TM recognised it and asked if I want to use it for backup. In Finder, the d2 Quadra appears, I can open it, and transfer files directly to and from it.
For reference, the Airport Extreme is connected via Ethernet to the iMac I am using (so no WiFi in this particular chain of connectivity), and the Extreme firmware is the latest (7.6.4) for the model (802.11n)
The issue is that connecting to the USB port on the Extreme, I cannot get the HD to operate like this!
LaCie now state that they cannot help further!!!
Does anyone have any idea why the Extreme is not sharing the HD as it is meant to?
Thanks
Andy

Time Machine Error: "The backup disk image could not be created." Help.

I have two Macbook Pro's. One is able to backup to the Time Capsule with no problems. The other connects just fine to Airport Utility, but I get the following error after I attempt to backup: Time Machine Error: "The backup disk image could not be created."
I have reset the Time Capsule several times, so that is not the fix.
The first thing I see when attempting to open Time Machine is the following message: :The storage location for Time Machine Backups can't be found." It gives me the option to setup the Time Capsule, which I select. The next thing I select is to Change Disk. The window that opens has the Icon with Three people on it. The name of that Icon is The Moreman Time Capsule. I select it, and enter the password I created. I then choose to Backup. Then I choose to backup now. That is when I get the error: Time Machine Error: "The backup disk image could not be created."
Any ideas? Has anyone encountered this problem?

You have to delete the .dmg file and start over. This happened to me 3 times already, I finally switched to Déjà Vu, works perfect and only once a day instead of 24 times a day.
http://propagandaprod.com/

HT3275 Time Machine Error: The backup disk image "Volumes/Data/My Macbook Pro.sparsebundle" is already in use. (How do I correct this issue?)

Time Machine did not back up:
Time Machine Error; ("The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/My MacBook Pro.sparsebundle" is already in use.")
How do I correct this issue?
Thanks!

You need to be careful Bob.. people might take this literally.
Bob Timmons wrote:
How do I correct this issue?
Call the exterminator to get rid of the bugs in Lion and Mountain Lion.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5222487?tstart=0

I am running 10.7.5 and getting Time Machine error The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/Kathy P's MacBook.sparsebundle" is already in use. what do i do now?

i am running 10.7.5 on an older MacBook and getting Time Machine error The backup disk image “/Volumes/Data/Kathy P’s MacBook.sparsebundle” is already in use. what do i do now?

See Pondini's TM FAQs, for starters.

HT3275 TIME MACHINE ERROR: The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/Sean McGuire's MacBook Pro.sparsebundle" could not be created (error 1).

I can select a disk (Time Capsule) and initiate the backup. It only "waits to back up" then "making backup disk available" and remains frozen there. I tried to update the software a while back and was unsuccessful, I think that may be the issue.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated. This is the error message I receive.
TIME MACHINE ERROR: The backup disk image “/Volumes/Data/Sean McGuire’s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle” could not be created (error 1).
Thanks

See #C17 in Pondini's excellent support document Time Machine - Troubleshooting
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

Time Machine with 2T drive connected to Airport Extreme base via USB

I got this to work - Time machine recognizing the drive in its "choose backup disk" menu.
I used it to store Apple Lossless audio on a big iTunes library, as well as for my Time Machine backups.
Whole system ran fine for 4 months until last week: while I was using iTunes with that remote library, adding audio to it... "Airport has detected a disk error"... My 2TB of disk turned into a very expensive brick.
The disk had to be recovered with Disk Warrior, detecting "19,753 directory entries with incorrect text encoding value" as part of a nice one-page-long list of other errors.
SINCE THEN: no matter what I do, the disk does not show up in Time Machine, even though I can access it via the network exactly as before.
Any ideas are welcome!

Apple does not support Time Machine backups to an AirPort disk (a USB drive attached to an AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBS)). (ref: Mac OS X 10.5: Time Machine doesn't back up to AirPort Extreme AirPort Disks) Although folks, like yourself, have gotten this to work initially, the long-term stability of the TM backups is highly suspect and why Apple doesn't support it. Sorry!

Time machine error: The backup disk image could not be mounted

Time Machine worked OK for several months. Now I get this error every 10 minutes or so.
I unplugged Time Machine capsule and "Change Disk" in Time Machine options.
Nothing helps, I continue to get this error.
I cannot Enter Time Machine either. "Connecting to Server, Connecting to backup" does not work.
Help please because I will probably have to archive and reinstall Leopard. I need the backups,
Christine

Christ1ne,
Before you reformat the disk, consider these causes of this error.
*_"The Backup Disk Image Could Not Be Mounted" (Console - “Failed to mount disk image”)_*
First, it is important to distinguish this error message from another, similar Time Machine error that states “The backup volume could not be mounted”. This is important as the causes and cures for these two errors can be very different.
Consider each topic below separately. When one option does not resolve your issue, then move on the next one.
*Unmount the Backup Disk Image* (TC)
If, for some reason, you have manually mounted the Time Machine backup disk image (sparsebundle), or Time Machine failed to eject it after the previous backup, subsequent backups may fail. (Console - “Failed to mount disk image”… “Backup failed with error: 21”)
Eject the backup disk image (white drive icon) by either clicking the little Eject icon to the right of the disk image in the Finders’ Sidebar, or Ctrl-Click the drive icon on the desktop and select “Eject” from the contextual menu. Now try backing up again or launching Time Machine to view previous backups.
*“Disconnect All Users…”:*
If your Time Machine backup drive (“Backup of Users Computer”) is mounted on your desktop or in the Sidebar of the Finder window. then Time Machine may think the drive is already in use. Alternatively, if the Time Capsule hard disk has been recently accessed by a Windows machine, it may not have fully relinquished control. Do the following:
Open Airport Utility and select the Time Capsule on the left.
Click “Manual Setup”.
Select “Disks” at top of window.
Click “Disconnect All Users…” at bottom of window.
Close the Airport Utility.
Now try Backing up again.
One poster reported: “I got it resolved. Apparently it had to do with one of the files being open on the disk from the drive. I had browsed the disk with one of my windows boxes here and it must have left one of the folders "open". Anyway, I rebooted the TC and we are good to go now.”
*Proper Computer Name* #
Make sure your computer has a proper name. Go to System Preferences --> Sharing. Time Machine needs to differentiate your computer from others on your network (i.e. "Bills MacBook" or "Office iMac"). If the "Computer Name" field is blank, create a name. Realize that if this step is necessary, you will likely have to start the Time Machine backup process over again and do another full initial backup.
According to this article, [http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1760], Time Machine may experience problems if your computer name includes certain characters. Make sure the computer name only includes ASCII characters from the following set.
(0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ)
Once a change in the computer name occurs, you should stop and restart Sharing on the affected computer. Uncheck and then recheck Sharing in the Services list on the left.
# Try removing the apostrophe from the disk images name (sparsebundle).
*A Stalled .inProgress Files:* #
It may be that the previous backup attempt was ungracefully interrupted leaving remains that Time Machine can’t deal with.
Stop any current backup attempt. Choose “Stop Backing Up” from the Time Machine menu.
Open the Time Machine Preferences and turn “OFF” Time Machine.
Open your Time Machine drive.
Open the folder labeled “Backups,backupdb”.
Now open the folder containing backups of the computer in question.
Are there any “.inProgress” files there. Delete them by dragging the file to the Trash. Or Ctrl-Click the file and select "Move to Trash" from the contextual menu. (Give this time as deleting a large file on an external disk can take a while.)
Turn Time Machine back “ON”. Now try backing up again.
NOTE: If the above procedure becomes impossible to perform, try accessing the disk image from another Mac. Some have discovered that attempting a repair from another computer succeeds where the original computer failed.
Let us know if any of the suggestions above helped to resolve your issue.
Cheers!

Time Machine error "The backup disk could not be found"

I use Time Capsule with Time Machine, Lion OS and manage to setup successfully. However after I on it for few hours, there is backup error. Time Machine error message "The backup disk could not be found." But the internet wifi is working normally.
To solve this issue I have to power off and on it again, then the disk can be detected. But after few hours same thing happen again.
Is it a hardware faulty or sometime that cause the Time Capusle harddisk to sleep after sometime?

I have this exact same problem. When I restart the Time Capsule I can then start backups normally, but it requires manual intervention. That's dissapointing because Time Machine and Time Capsule are supposed to be an automatic, worry free backup. I have to restart the Time Capsule frequently. Annoyed.

I am getting a Time Machine error "The backup disk image could not mount"

Time Machine message "The backup disk image could not be mounted"

Go to Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for assistance.

HT204057 Time Machine back up via ethernet on airport extreme

Forgive me if this is answered elsewhere, i just can seem to find the exact answer.
Can i plug an external hard drive into my airport extreme (4th/5th Gen) with ethernet and carry out Time machine back ups wirelessly? I've tried with USB connection to it and it takes far too long - overnight and its still not finished. also i'd like to be able to transfer / store independent files on the hard drive in addition to the back ups, via wireless?
the other option is via USB 3 directly into my rMBP to do the initial back up and then plug this into the AP extreme, will it do top-up back ups from here which i guess will only be things i've changed since the last back up - will this work and if so which option would be best.
Truly i'd love to buy a new time capsule but after upgrading to my rMBP, i'm low on funds for a while..
thanks,

Why did Apple stop supporting time machine back-up via USB hard drive connected to Airport Extreme?
Time Machine backups are supported via USB hard drive connected to the AirPort Extreme"ac" version.
Time Machine backups were not supported via USB hard drive connected to earlier versions of the AirPort Extreme.
Some users who tried this on earlier version AirPort Extremes seemed to have some success with Time Machine backups....some had moderate success and some had no success with this. Count me in the "no success" category.
See the topic about Time Machine support for USB disks in this Apple Support document:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5924?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Can Time Machine backup USB Drive connected to Airport Extreme Base Station

I need a new N based wireless router. I would prefer to get just the $179 Base Station and not the $299 Time Capsule. I already have a nice external USB 500GB drive that I would connect to the AEBS. So, once I have this new wireless router/base station installed at home and I have the external USB drive connected to it, can my new Macbook Air with a USB connected 400GB drive be used to backup what is on the Macbook Air and also backup the 500GB USB drive info that is connected to the extreme base station?
Thanks
tj

I found this when searching Apple's web site but it is old, October 2007, and said it could not be done. Has this changed since then?
Here is what I found.
Mac OS X 10.5: Time Machine doesn't back up to AirPort Disks
* Last Modified on: October 26, 2007
* Article: 306833
Time Machine in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard can be used to back up to many kinds of Mac OS Extended-formatted drives, but it does not support AirPort Extreme's AirPort Disk feature.
Time Machine can back up to another Mac running Leopard with Personal File Sharing, or to a Leopard Server volume, or an Xsan storage device.

Time Machine error: The backup disk image "/Volumes/----/----MacBook Pro.sparsebundle" is already in use and resource unavailable?

I have a MacBook Pro 13" 2010 model running Mountain Lion. I have always been able to use Time Machine with my Time Capsule. Just today I have been receiving the same error message whenever I would back up my computer:
I removed my name before "MacBook Pro". It takes a long time "Looking for backup disk..." first. The disk I put with the time capsule is called Huge Backup, and in Huge Backup there is my sparsebundle file called "----- MacBook Pro." When I open Finder, open my time capsule, and then open my sparse folder, it should mount a drive where I can see my computer's backups. That doesn't work. Then I get this message:
I once again removed my name before "MacBook Pro" but I can open my sister's sparsebundle who is running Mountain Lion on the same network and her backups work fine. I have researched this topic and have tried to repair the disk in Disk Utility, remount all the drives, remove the drive and restart the backups, and even restart my computer and the Time Capsule. Nothing worked. It just was working yesterday, but now I get this in the settings along with a caution symbol in my menubar:
Is there anything I could do to fix this? Reconnecting it in AirPort Utility (5 or 6) didn't work. Also, for some reason, the error renamed Huge Backup to Huge Backup-1 as you can see above and below in the messages. I downloaded the Time Machine Buddy widget and this is the error report I got. I replaced my names or private info with [-----]. By the way, the network is called NDR Network, and the Time Capsule is alled NDR Time Capsule. Here's the error I keep getting:
Starting manual backup
Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://[-----];AUTH=SRP@NDR%20Time%20Capsule._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Huge%20Backu p
Mounted network destination at mount point: /Volumes/Huge Backup using URL: afp://[-----];AUTH=SRP@NDR%20Time%20Capsule._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Huge%20Backu p
Disk image already attached: /Volumes/Huge Backup/[-----]'s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle, DIHLDiskImageAttach returned: 35
Failed to mount disk image: Error Domain=com.apple.backupd.ErrorDomain Code=31 "The operation couldn’t be completed. (com.apple.backupd.ErrorDomain error 31.)" UserInfo=0x7ff0a483e6c0 {MessageParameters=(
Ejected Time Machine network volume.
Waiting 60 seconds and trying again.
Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://[-----];AUTH=SRP@NDR%20Time%20Capsule._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Huge%20Backu p
Mounted network destination at mount point: /Volumes/Huge Backup using URL: afp://Rohan;AUTH=SRP@NDR%20Time%20Capsule._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Huge%20Backup
Disk image already attached: /Volumes/Huge Backup/Rohan's MacBook Pro.sparsebundle, DIHLDiskImageAttach returned: 35
Failed to mount disk image: Error Domain=com.apple.backupd.ErrorDomain Code=31 "The operation couldn’t be completed. (com.apple.backupd.ErrorDomain error 31.)" UserInfo=0x7ff0a343d430 {MessageParameters=(
Ejected Time Machine network volume.
Waiting 60 seconds and trying again.
Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://Rohan;AUTH=SRP@NDR%20Time%20Capsule._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Huge%20Backup
Mounted network destination at mount point: /Volumes/Huge Backup-1 using URL: afp://Rohan;AUTH=SRP@NDR%20Time%20Capsule._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Huge%20Backup
Disk image already attached: /Volumes/Huge Backup-1/Rohan's MacBook Pro.sparsebundle, DIHLDiskImageAttach returned: 35
Failed to mount disk image: Error Domain=com.apple.backupd.ErrorDomain Code=31 "The operation couldn’t be completed. (com.apple.backupd.ErrorDomain error 31.)" UserInfo=0x7ff0a34410c0 {MessageParameters=(
Ejected Time Machine network volume.
Giving up after 3 retries.
Backup failed with error: 31
[SnapshotUtilities mountPointForVolumeRef] FSGetVolumeInfo returned: -35
Failed to eject volume (null) (FSVolumeRefNum: 0; status: -35; dissenting pid: -1)
Failed to eject Time Machine disk image: /Volumes/Huge Backup-1/Rohan's MacBook Pro.sparsebundle
Please help!

I didn't remove all of my names, so just ignore that...

Time Machine error "The backup disk image could not be created"

I'm trying to back up to an external hard drive on a home network (not Time Capsule). Time Machine appears to recognize the drive, and the correct amount of free space on it, but fails with the error "The backup disk image could not be created" after a lengthy "Preparing" wait. What's going on? Other applications are able to access this drive with no problems.

I know Apple won't support other makes of NAS, but this post I found from Pondini worked for me.
Hi, and welcome to the forums.
Check your Computer Name at the top of the System Preferences > Sharing panel.
It must not be blank; it should not be more than 25 characters long; and you should avoid punctuation, spaces, and special characters.
After changing it, click the Edit button and make the corresponding change to the Local Hostname.
If that doesn't help, apply the same rules to the name of your Time Capsule and Network, via Airport Utility.
It was really as simple as that (after I had done such things as delete the sparsebundle file, created a new one, zeroed-out the new one, nightmare!)
Problem seems to be with OS X's naming of Macs when you first set it up, as it creates a hostname "<yourName>'s Mac Book." When the NAS software (mine anyway) creates the sparsebundle image it replaces the spaces of the hostname with hyphens and strips out the apostrophe, which is never gonna work.

Time Machine Error - After Upgrade To New Hard Drive

I just upgraded from my previous 500 GB hard drive to a new 500 GB hard drive in my late 2008 unibody Macbook Pro. I have an external 500 GB hard drive that I use for my Time Machine Backups also. I used CCC to clone my original hard drive to the new internal one and everything went just fine.
I also deleted all my Time Machine backups from the external so I could just create a new one after the upgrade and cleared all the trash bins too. But now when I try and create the Time Machine backup, it gives an error that 592 GB is needed to create the initial backup, even though it is only from a 500 GB drive (of which only 440 GB) is being used. I wouldn't think this would be a possible error. Can anyone offer some help, or did I just shoot myself in the foot? Thanks.

Agreeing with Kappy, TM needs 2-3 times the size of the data it's backing-up. See #1 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.
The reason this backup is failing is, TM adds 20% to the estimated size of the backup when requesting space on the backup disk, for temporary workspace and in case the estimate is low. So your 440 GB will require, temporarily, 528 GB.
Short term, you can wrangle a backup by excluding something large, at least 90 GB, (so TM will only request, say, 410 GB + 82 GB for the first backup). Then remove the exclusion and run another, and it should fit.
Longer term, you really do need a larger drive.

Time Machine Error after moving disk to Airport Extreme

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for