Time Machine Error Logs

Hi, I have a MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo running 10.5 fully updated. Using a LaCie 500GB Mini Rugged USB external drive as a Time Machine backup drive. I see all these errors in system.log in Console:
Jan 13 07:32:59 Macintosh-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[186]: Backup requested by user
Jan 13 07:32:59 Macintosh-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[186]: Starting standard backup
Jan 13 07:32:59 Macintosh-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[186]: Volume at path /Volumes/Backup does not appear to be the correct backup volume for this computer. (Cookies do not match)
Jan 13 07:33:05 Macintosh-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[186]: Backup failed with error: 18
Jan 13 07:52:57 Macintosh-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[229]: Backup requested by user
Jan 13 07:52:57 Macintosh-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[229]: Starting standard backup
Jan 13 07:52:57 Macintosh-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[229]: Volume at path /Volumes/Backup does not appear to be the correct backup volume for this computer. (Cookies do not match)
Jan 13 07:53:02 Macintosh-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[229]: Backup failed with error: 18
Jan 13 08:18:16 Macintosh-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[154]: Backup requested by user
Jan 13 08:18:16 Macintosh-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[154]: Starting standard backup
Jan 13 08:18:16 Macintosh-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[154]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Backup/Backups.backupdb
Jan 13 08:18:16 Macintosh-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[154]: Error: (-50) Creating directory 2012-01-13-081816.inProgress
Jan 13 08:18:16 Macintosh-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[154]: Failed to make snapshot container.
Jan 13 08:18:21 Macintosh-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[154]: Backup failed with error: 2
I have done the following:
Trashed all Time Machine preference (plist) files
Complete format of Lacie drive, journaled HFS, the typical stuff
Ran disk permission repair for laptop and Lacie
Ran disk repair for Lacie
Ran disk verify for laptop
Ran Seagate Seatools for Lacie to test the drive
Changed power savings to none. Never sleep computer, display and drive. Laptop is always running.
Is there anything else I can try? Thanks!

Apparently the cookie is a hidden file which Time Machine places at the root level of the backup disk.
Its name is your "MAC" hardware address (en0) with a leading dot [period] in the name to hide it. The poster in that Discussions thread claims that file on his backup disk had wrong permissions.
I just checked, and mine is set to root:wheel & read-only...
ls -l@eO /Volumes/*/.0*
-r-------- 1 root wheel - 16 Dec 31 2007 /Volumes/myTMbackupVolume/.0a1b2c3d4e5f
Run that blue command and let's see what you get.
By
Hal Itosis
http://archive.macfixitforums.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/454151/Time_Machine_can_ t_find_backup

Similar Messages

Question on Time Machine error log

I have a program (Time Machine Error Log) that keeps track of the message log entries that occurr after you do a Time Machine backup.
I am getting two messages each time Time Machine completes a backup.
Here are the two message from the last log:
Jan 13 17:39:29 xxxxxx-iMac.local com.apple.backupd[36854]: Error: Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-36 "The operation couldn‚Äôt be completed. (OSStatus error -36.)" (ioErr: I/O error (bummers)) deleting backup: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Back
Last Successful Backup Message:
Jan 13 17:39:37 xxxxxx-iMac.local com.apple.backupd[36854]: Backup completed successfully.
How can there be an error reported stating "deleting backup", then a message stating "Backup completed successfully"?
If I didn't check the log, I wouldn't know that there was a problem, because the Time Machine preferences pane tells me the last backup time, and the next backup time, indicating all went well.
I just need some verification that my backups are completing successfully.
Thank
Len

There is a lot of rubbish messages that TM produces.. if the final message is that all is good, then I would say all is good.. it is pretty quick to decide when something isn't good.
But I would say.. there is only one way to know a backup is good. Restore it.
You don't need to test restore over current drive.. plug in an external drive and restore.
You can do a verify.. hold the option key whilst clicking the TM icon in the top menu area.. and the option verify will appear.. click that. It really doesn't test more than files are readable though, AFAIK.
Do a disk image occasionally.. Disk Utility can create an image.. but superduper even free download version can do a full disk image. Makes me feel safer knowing that I have a backup TM doesn't actually have anything to do with.

Time Machine Error Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while ...

Hi,
I've looked all around the forums for the answer to this one and I'm still unable to get it. So I'm getting this error "Time Machine Error Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while linking files on the backup volume". This started happening after I turned off and on FileVault. I was having a problem with it and turning it on an off got rid of that problem, but created this one. I've noticed that when I shut down the computer and filevault accesses the TM hard drive, it can back up.....but then when I'm logged on, or I want it to back up I get the error. I've tried fixing the drive, removing the in progress file and resetting the PRAM (i think that's what it was called). I'm starting to run out of options and have no other drive to back all this info on to reformat it.
I really don't want to loose all my stuff.
Please help!
Daria

nautical_stars wrote:
Hi,
I've looked all around the forums for the answer to this one and I'm still unable to get it. So I'm getting this error "Time Machine Error Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while linking files on the backup volume". This started happening after I turned off and on FileVault.
Usually this message happens when you replace an external disk that was being backed-up by Time Machine with another one of the same name.
Since File Vault works by making a sparse image of your home folder, and it's treated as a volume just as a HD is, that's probably what's happening here: the new sparse image has the same name as the old one, but isn't the old one.
First, consider whether you really need File Vault. It doesn't work well with Time Machine: you can't see or restore individual items in your home folder, and it only gets backed-up when you log out.
If you have a lot of other things, say photos, videos, and/or music that don't need to be encrypted, perhaps there's an easier way to secure our sensitive data. You can create an encrypted disk image via Disk Utility (in your Applications/Utilities folder), then copy the sensitive documents into it. Then the rest of your home folder is backed-up normally, and individual items can be viewed and restored in the usual fashion.
But if you do continue using FileVault, you may have to use TM to delete all backups of it, via the instructions in item #12 of the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip* at the top of this forum. That should then allow the new version of your encrypted home folder to be backed-up by TM.

Time Machine Error "Unable to complete backup"

I have not backed up my hard drive for about 30 days. When I plug my external hard drive in, Time Machine "prepares backup" for a while, then gives me the following message:
*Time Machine Error*
Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume.
I tried unplugging and re-plugging, rebooting my computer, trashing the ".inprogress" backup file and restarting. It did not help. While it time machine is preparing the backup, my computer runs crazy slow, with the rainbow pinwheel spinning for about 5-10 seconds just about every time I click the mouse, in any program.
Per someone's suggestion, I put "sudo grep backupd /var/log/system.log" into terminal, and this is what came up:
"No pre-backup thinning needed: 4.98 GB requested (including padding), 70.16 GB available
Waiting for index to be ready (906 > 0)
Unable to rebuild path cache for source item. Partial source path:
Indexing a file failed. Returned -12 for: /Applications/iChat.app, /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1/Backups.backupdb/My Computer (2)/2011-01-13-113417.inProgress/CB0D491E-EF04-48A0-9AE9-32AE43E9209C/Macintosh HD/Applications/iChat.app
Aborting backup because indexing a file failed.
Stopping backup."
This time, it was apparently iChat, but in each of the three times I've tried to backup and gotten this error message, a different file has been the culprit for the indexing error.
Any suggestions?

orchestr wrote:
Indexing a file failed. Returned -12
see [this_|http://web.me.com/pondini/TimeMachine/C3.html] user tip by Pondini.
JGG

Time Machine Error. Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copy

I purchased my iMac 24" in February.
After I had set up the machine I configured an IceCube Firewire 300 GB (Seagate) Hard Drive as a backup volume and flicked the switch in Time Machine. All went as expected. I even restored my whole hard drive from the Time Machine volume about a month ago after I repartitioned the boot volume to set up Boot Camp. No problems.
About a week ago I purchased a 500GB WD HDD and set it up inside the IceCube enclosure (I remembered to make it the "Master" disk too!!). I partitioned it with Disk Utility with a GUID Mac OS X (Journaled) partition for my Leopard boot partition, and as MS-DOS FAT32 for my Boot Camp external partition. I used Carbon Copy Cloner to copy all the Windows files across from Boot Camp to the new FAT32 partition and set up Time Machine to make a backup of the Leopard boot partition.
After several hours Time Machine stopped with the error message above. ("Time Machine Error. Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup").
I have spent days formatting the new WD drive, repairing permissions on the boot drive, excluding large files and cache files from the backup in Time Machine to no avail. Every time I get the same message. I even set up another 200GB firewire drive to see if it was anything to do with the enclosure of WD HDD. Same result!!
I have searched these forums for any ideas, and have done wide searches with Google but nothing has worked.
I can not understand why my Mac worked perfectly with Time Machine before I installed the new Western Digital Hard Drive.
What have I missed?

I keep getting the Time Machine backup error too, like many others. Was fine until just the other day, now, nothing. Although my husband's backs up just fine. I assume it's the 10.5.3 bug everyone else has. I've tried reselecting the drive, running the disk utility, shutting everything on and off... help!
Here's the console log- anyone know what this means?
Jun 10 08:37:27 Tiffany-Dankos-computer-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1683]: Starting standard backup
Jun 10 08:37:27 Tiffany-Dankos-computer-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1683]: Network mountpoint /Volumes/Library not owned by backupd... remounting
Jun 10 08:37:27 Tiffany-Dankos-computer-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1683]: Network volume mounted at: /Volumes/Library-1
Jun 10 08:37:43 Tiffany-Dankos-computer-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1683]: Disk image /Volumes/Library-1/Tiffany Danko’s Computer (2)_001b63baf698.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Backup of Tiffany Danko’s Computer (2)
Jun 10 08:37:43 Tiffany-Dankos-computer-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1683]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Backup of Tiffany Danko’s Computer (2)/Backups.backupdb
Jun 10 08:37:48 Tiffany-Dankos-computer-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1683]: Failed to create progress log file at path:/Volumes/Backup of Tiffany Danko’s Computer (2)/Backups.backupdb/Tiffany Danko's computer (2)/2008-06-09-065427.inProgress/.Backup.234797868.792920.log.
Jun 10 08:37:48 Tiffany-Dankos-computer-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1683]: Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
Jun 10 08:37:48 Tiffany-Dankos-computer-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1683]: Error: (-36) Creating directory 77B4FA27-3E65-4B81-897C-610DEE7BB187
Jun 10 08:37:48 Tiffany-Dankos-computer-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1683]: Failed to make snapshot.
Jun 10 08:37:53 Tiffany-Dankos-computer-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1683]: Backup failed with error: 2
Jun 10 08:37:58 Tiffany-Dankos-computer-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1683]: Ejected Time Machine disk image.
Jun 10 08:37:59 Tiffany-Dankos-computer-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1683]: Ejected Time Machine network volume.

Is there a solution for Time Machine error?

I got an error in Time Machine saying backup had failed, a couple of days ago. Spent the next day or two trawling the web and found thousands of postings from people with the same error, but no solution.
(At least, some people had a solution - they were using PC-formatted hard drives.)
I've been using Time Machine for a few weeks, and it has only now taken a dislike to my external hard drive, which is connected by FireWire.
Is there a solution to this problem, or should I revert to using SuperDuper, which I was using successfully before?
I haven't put in lots of information about the apps I'm running, because this is a general query rather than a specific one. If there's a solution, I'll use it; otherwise I'll wipe the drive and go back to using SuperDuper.

OisinOg wrote:
Pondini - Thank you for your slightly hostile reply.
On the contrary. The statement was: +"found thousands of postings from people with the same error, but no solution."+ I don't know where you found thousands of posts -- there are many here, but certainly not thousands. If you're talking about, say, a Google search, if you actually look at them, many are duplicates, unrelated to your problem, or unrelated to Macs at all -- and there are a number of solutions that seem to have fixed many of the real ones.
The error message was the standard one: "Time Machine Error - Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while creating the backup directory."
There's most likely another, better message in your logs. Thus the suggestion about Time Machine Buddy. You can also use the Console app (in your Applications/Utilities folder). Click on Show Log List, then navigate in the sidebar to your system.log (or system.log.0.bz2, etc. for previous ones). You can filter for backupd to get the same TM messages as the widget, but I prefer to view the full log at the date/time in question, as messages from other concurrent processes may have a clue.
I've gone through the suggestions in some of the helpful replies to those thousands of postings, by wiping my drive, erasing it and reformatting it, first in two partitions using the GUID method in Disk Utility, then in a single partition. But Time Machine still doesn't want to back up to it.
Sounds a bit like a problem communicating with the drive. The logs may clarify that.
The hard drive of my computer is 250GB; the external drive is 300GB. Both are SATA drives; the external is connected by FireWire.
How full are they?
Thanks for your suggestion of downloading the Time Machine Buddy widget; I'll give it a last try tonight.
What is the difference between a SuperDuper clone and a Time Machine backup?
The initial backup of both copies almost everything on your HD, excluding only some caches, temp files, etc., although you can exclude other things. This takes quite a while, of course. Thereafter, only the items that changed are backed-up.
SuperDuper (and CarbonCopyCloner, which I use, and other, similar apps) are most often used to make bootable "clones" identical copies of your HD -- if your HD fails, you can boot and run from them immediately. With TM, once your HD is repaired/replaced, you restore your system to it from your TM backup.
Score one for the clones, but TM has it's advantages, too (which is why many of us run both).
First is, CCC and SD look at every file and folder on your HD to see what changed. This is quite time-consuming and CPU-intensive, so most of us run it once a day (or less often), usually automatically at, say, 3 am. TM, however, runs hourly, but uses an internal File System Event Log of changes, so it is far quicker and less intrusive. There are exceptions, but most users rarely even notice the backups unless they see the icon revolving. On my small system, for example, TM rarely runs over 30 seconds; CCC is at least 15 minutes.
Second, not only does TM keep previous versions of changed files, but it manages the space and backups for you. It keeps those hourly backups for 24 hours; except the first of the day becomes a daily backup which is kept for a month; one per week becomes a weekly backup that is kept for as long as there's space (it will fill the drive/partition). But it's smart enough, as it deletes the old weeklies, that it won't delete it's copy of anything that still exists on your HD.
There isn't room to have two 250GB sections on a 300GB drive. I suppose I could get another 250GB drive - I have an IDE enclosure somewhere - but I don't fancy the expense right now.
Your CCC or SD partition only needs to be as large as your HD, although in a pinch it only needs to be somewhat larger than what's actually used on your HD. If you don't have room for both on the one drive, an even better solution might be to get a pair of smaller portable HDs for CCC/SD. Use one daily for, say, a week, then take it to your safe deposit box, workplace, relative's house, etc. and start with the other. Now you're also protected against fire, flood, theft, direct lightning strike on your power lines, etc.

Time Machine Error: An error occurred while creating the backup directory

Time Machine Error: Unable to complete backup. An error occured while creating the backup directory.
I back up to wirelessly to a Time Capsule. I get these errors often. I'll go for a few days with everything working and then encounter these errors. I've even completely erased the Time Capsule drive and started over. It'll work fine for a few days and then start the errors over again. Interestingly, when the errors occur, the Time Capsule drive can not be unmounted even if clicking the eject button. I am on 10.5.8 but it happened in 10.5.7 as well. I have another Mac that doesn't seem to have any issues with the same Time Capsule.
Here's a log - they all seem to fail with similar errors:
Starting standard backup
Backup destination alias resolved to path: /Volumes/AirPort Disk
Disk image /Volumes/AirPort Disk/Brittney’s Computer_0019e33d4fde.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Backup of Brittney’s Computer
Backing up to: /Volumes/Backup of Brittney’s Computer/Backups.backupdb
2009-08-27 13:52:48.465 FindSystemFiles[2955:713] Querying receipt database for system packages
2009-08-27 13:52:48.693 FindSystemFiles[2955:713] Using system path cache.
Failed to create progress log file at path:/Volumes/Backup of Brittney’s Computer/Backups.backupdb/Brittney’s Computer/2009-08-26-212437.inProgress/.Backup.273091970.250248.log.
Error: (-50) Creating directory 7CCE60DD-ADCC-4004-A0D9-3EC83D892372
Failed to make snapshot.
Backup failed with error: 2
Failed to eject volume /Volumes/Backup of Brittney’s Computer (FSVolumeRefNum: -114; status: -47; dissenting pid: 0)

Nancy H wrote:
I used it as it came, supposedly formatted for a mac.
It may or may not be right.
I'd be inclined to start over, per #5 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip* at the top of this forum.
If that doesn't help, go on to #C10, etc., in the Troubleshooting Tip, as in the previous post.

Time Machine Error - again again..

Hi,
I also get this one...
Time Machine Error
Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while
copying files to the backup volume.
I haven´t tried with Time Machine Buddy - but here is a few facts, that maybe could help me find a solution.
My total backup size is approx. 300GB (on USB connected 1TB external disk)
When i exclude the movie folder in iTunes (113GB) it works fine - when i include it, I get the above error...
Whats wrong - corrupt file in the movie folder?? How do i locate it?? Foldersize to big???
Best regards...

Hello j:
Welcome to Apple discussions.
There is probably a corrupt file in the movie folder. Try TM Buddy. That gives you a log (almost real time) of what is happening when TM does a backup.
Barry

Time Machine Error Message: "sparsbundle could not be accessed (error-1)

hi,
I am running snow leopard on my iMac and have a mac mini connected via ethernet running Mac Leopard Server version 10.6.
I backed up my iMac onto my Mac Leopard Server using Time Machine about a year ago and then I turned it off and haven't done it since. I turned it on today and was attempting to back it up, but I keep getting the following Time Machine Error Message: "sparsbundle could not be accessed (error-1) when i try backing it up.
Any thoughts on why and how to fix this? I can access my server via screen share, so i know its accessible and I can get online with it as well, so its connected to the Internet.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Josh

jnp1 wrote:
not backing up yet, but more progress than before...now its on an infinite loop of "preparing" and "scanning"...just keeps doing that over and over...but never actually backs anything up.
Anything in the log files on either the client or the server?
Usually, when Time Machine is being flaky, the easiest solution is just to delete the backup and start a new one. Since you have a server, you could just move that sparsebundle file elsewhere instead of deleting it. That is, of course, assuming you can still open it. If not, then it doesn't matter because that backup is toast.

Time machine error. Won't back up at all.

Hello,
My time machine has always worked really well until recently. Now, whenever it starts to back up and finishes preparing, not a single file will transfer. Then, my Time Machine won't stop trying to back up. Even when I click "Stop Backing Up" or turn Time Machine off, it will still try to back up until I actually eject the Hard Drive. Then I get
"Time Machine
Error Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume."
What is going on?
Thanks,

I'm having same problem. Neat Dashboard app. My log is pasted below. So I see the common error is on "Media1" drive, and the file "The New Interwoven". It's an old file and I can delete it. But before I do that, any recommendations on how to save the file and somehow "repair" it?
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Media1
No pre-backup thinning needed: 342.69 GB requested (including padding), 941.92 GB available
Copied 225 files (3 KB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Volumes/Media1/Capture Scratch/The New Interwoven/Yamaha DVD clip to (null)
Error: (-50) SrcErr:NO Copying /Volumes/Media1/Capture Scratch/The New Interwoven/Yamaha DVD clip to /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb/Edit2/2009-01-26-163217.inProgress/6851DD8C-4C97-4FDF- A11B-3CE573F09294/Media1/Capture Scratch/The New Interwoven
Stopping backup.
Error: (-8062) SrcErr:NO Copying /Volumes/Media1/Capture Scratch/The New Interwoven/Yamaha DVD clip to /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb/Edit2/2009-01-26-163217.inProgress/6851DD8C-4C97-4FDF- A11B-3CE573F09294/Media1/Capture Scratch/The New Interwoven
Copied 305 files (7.5 GB) from volume Media1.
Copy stage failed with error:11
Backup failed with error: 11

First Time Capsule Backup Failed - Time Machine Error

I bought my Time Capsule yesterday because I needed to backup my MacBook (which I bought 6 months ago). My plan was to backup the MacBook to the TC and then do an Erase and Install of my MacBook because of problems I'm having with the MacBook (it constantly hangs for a minute or more - sometimes up to 20 times a day). I thought an erase and install might fix the problem.
After setting up the Time Capsule and connecting it to the MacBook with a Cat 6 ethernet cable for the first backup I went to bed. I noticed that, when the backup started, it was taking approximately 5 minutes to backup the first Gb of data. As TC noted there was 80GB to backup I assumed this would take 6 or 7 hours to complete.
This morning when I checked the MacBook I discovered a message on the screen of my MacBook as follows -
Time Machine Error
Unable to complete bacup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume.
Nothing else! When I check the Time Machine in Finder, under Data there is the following -
Patricia Henwood’s MacBook_002332b6d076.sparsebundle and this is 50.82GB.
Can anyone suggest what I should do?
I bought the TC yesterday because all my other backup drives are Firewire and, of course, the MacBook doesn't have a Firewire port.
Should I just 'give up'? The MacBook is covered by Apple Care (and anyhow, even if it weren't it's only 6 months old so, presumably, it's still covered by Apple warranty). I understand from the salesman where I bought my TC that it, too, is covered by my Apple Care for the MacBook because I bought it to use with the MacBook.
Would the simplest solution be to make an appointment to take the MacBook and the TC to the genius bar and see if they can help?

Hi dealbata, happy to hear that yours is now up and running. My fourth TC backup attempt last night failed yet again (at 50.8GB) - I read in a previous thread (which I can no longer find but which was more than 5 pages long and went back to 2007) about many people who have had the message
Time Machine Error
Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume.
From that thread, 'famouswolf' posted a solution which involved checking the system.log using Console.app (Utilities folder). In his case (and in mine) the problem was caused by corrupted files in iPhoto. The solution was to actually delete the files (all those that had an ERROR (-36) message next to them in the system.log. To delete them you have to locate them in your iPhoto Library file and delete them in the Finder. As you can imagine, this is a long and tedious process (I have over 8000 images in my iPhoto library) - frankly, I've already wasted two days on this - and the TC was bought so I could back up my MacBook and then discover what the REAL problem is with my MacBook (it hangs and/or crashes between 10 and 20 times a day :-((
So, I've bitten the bullet and re-partitioned my MacBook's hard drive and done a fresh install of OS X and the applications that came on the install DVD. I've then run Software Updater until everything is up to date and I am now in the course of doing a backup of the MacBook to the TC of the 'bare bones' of my system - it's only 14.3GB so I hoping it will work. Then I'll copy across what I need from my iMac and hope that tonight TC will backup everything.
Here's hoping!
Cheers
Tricia

My time machine always stops at some point... It always shows this message: "Time Machine Error. Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume.

My time machine always stops at some point... It always shows this message: "Time Machine Error. Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume. I have tried everything and even did time machine in safe boot as told by an apple suppoprt advisor. still the same error after 16gb

If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator.
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.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.
Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar.
Enter the word "Starting" (without the quotes) in the String Matching text field. You should now see log messages with the words "Starting * backup," where * represents any of the words "automatic," "manual," or "standard." Note the timestamp of the last such message that corresponds to a failed backup. Now
CLEAR THE WORD "Starting" FROM THE TEXT FIELD
so that all messages are showning, and scroll back in the log to the time you noted. Select the messages timestamped from then until the end of the backup, or the end of the log if that's not clear. Copy them (command-C) to the Clipboard. Paste (command-V) into a reply to this message.
If all you see are messages that contain the word "Starting," you didn't clear the text field.
If there are runs of repeated messages, post only one example of each. Don't post many repetitions of the same message.
When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Some personal information, such as the names of your files, may be included — anonymize before posting.

Time Machine Error Message. What to do?

Hello,
My G5 has 2 built-in drives, each 160Gb. I have reserved one of these drives exclusively for Time Machine. There is no issue regarding the connection of these drives since they are internal.
I started Time Machine 3 weeks ago, and it has been running successfully. With each backup, the available space has been declining. Tonight the available space reached the megabyte range - insufficient space for the next backup. It is my understanding that when new space is required by TM, old backup(s) are AUTOMATICALLY deleted.
Tonight when a backup starts, the window (System Preferences) shows that the backup is preparing. However, as soon as it starts copying to the TM drive, I receive the following error message:
"TIME MACHINE ERROR
Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume."
No further information is provided for diagnosing the problem. I have no idea about the cause or what to do.
Can anyone identify the problem and a workout? I would appreciate some help. Thank you. Dale

Hello,
I'm back on this thread after having been absent for several weeks. I hope that the original helpers are still subscribed to this issue. I continue to get the message: "Time Machine Error . . . Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume."
Below is the system.log file pertaining to backupd. I am not a technician, so I cannot understand the entries. Can someone help, please? Thank you, Dale
Feb 20 19:23:29 sherborn-g5 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[335]: Backup requested by automatic scheduler
Feb 20 19:23:29 sherborn-g5 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[335]: Starting standard backup
Feb 20 19:23:36 sherborn-g5 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[335]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Mach 160Gb HD/Backups.backupdb
Feb 20 19:23:37 sherborn-g5 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[335]: Event store UUIDs don't match for volume Leopard HD
Feb 20 19:23:37 sherborn-g5 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[335]: Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:kFSEDBEventFlagMustScanSubDirs|kFSEDBEventFlagReasonEventDBUntrustable|
Feb 20 19:27:47 sherborn-g5 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[335]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 10.18 GB requested (including padding), 14.37 GB available
Feb 20 19:27:52 sherborn-g5 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[335]: MDBackupIndexFile returned -12 for: /Library/Application Support/5221530, /Volumes/Time Mach 160Gb HD/Backups.backupdb/Sherborn G5/2008-01-25-202510.inProgress/0FA23087-5ECE-44FB-8C5D-C089622A374E/Leopard HD/Library/Application Support/5221530
Feb 20 19:27:52 sherborn-g5 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[335]: Aborting backup because MDBackupIndexFile failed
Feb 20 19:27:52 sherborn-g5 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[335]: Canceling backup.
Feb 20 19:27:54 sherborn-g5 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[335]: Copied 2 files (18 KB) from volume Leopard HD.
Feb 20 19:27:54 sherborn-g5 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[335]: Copy stage failed with error:11
Feb 20 19:27:55 sherborn-g5 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[335]: Backup failed with error: 11

Time Machine error - can't make first backup

I can't get Time Machine to make the first back up: I tried wirelessly and it reported a "Time Machine Error" after about 112GB of 270GB transfer, so I tried again via ethernet cable and again it failed with the same error message at about the same point.
So what do I do now? There is no way that I can see to know what is causing the error - there is no error number nor detail in the error message: +Time Machine Error. Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume.+
Any help gratefully received.

joecmac wrote:
How can you search the system log to figure out what is causing the failure?
Hi joemac
First open the Utilities folder and then open the Console. You'll see various logs - I took the system log, so that I could see what had happened across the whole system. There's a mass of info, going back in time, so it's very very helpful if you know approximately what time the event took place. I did, because the backup failed before my eyes at 10.02 PM.
I saw this message - I've edited out my computer's name and highlighted the location and the file name that caused the failure:
8/28/08 10:02:59 PM /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[26663] Error: (-36) copying /Users/~/Library/Preferences/IsmTempFile/ns14426860.tmp to /Volumes/Backup of ~ iMac/Backups.backupdb/~ iMac/2008-08-28-164831.inProgress/.../Macintosh HD/Users/~/Library/Preferences/IsmTempFile
I googled the file name to see what it was - it turns out to be something generated by my scanner and not critical according to posters on various forums.
I then went to the location (User/~/Library/Preferences), and deleted the file.
Then I tried another initial backup and it worked.
Hope this helps.

Time Machine Error This backup is too large for the backup disk

Hi, I have a 1TB Time Capsule which backs up my Mac. I was having some issues with my mac so I decided to perform an erase and install and then use Migration Assistant to transfer everything back to my Mac.
After I reinstalled Snow Leopard and restored my Mac using Migration Assistant, Time Machine says that the backup has failed. It says " Time Machine Error This backup is too large for the backup disk. The Backup requires 663 GB but only 255 GB are available.
What do I do? Is my only option to erase my Time Capsule and have it back everything up from scratch?

Hi, thanks for the help. I erased everything off of the Time Capsule and it's backing up my Mac from scratch. It's almost finished backing up my whole mac. It's now at 641.86gb of 646.54gb but it's now backing up very slowly. It's backing up .1 every few minutes. Is this normal?
Here's the log from Time Machine Buddy:
Starting standard backup
Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://Stuart%[email protected]/Time%20Capsule
Mounted network destination using URL: afp://Stuart%[email protected]/Time%20Capsule
Creating disk image /Volumes/Time Capsule/StuartsMacPro.sparsebundle
QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
Disk image /Volumes/Time Capsule/StuartsMacPro.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups
Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb
Ownership is disabled on the backup destination volume. Enabling.
Detected system migration from: /Volumes/My Book
Backup content size: 850.0 GB excluded items size: 606.5 GB for volume Stuart's Drive
Backup content size: 425.9 GB excluded items size: 67.3 GB for volume Macintosh HD
No pre-backup thinning needed: 722.56 GB requested (including padding), 928.68 GB available
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
Copied 28.3 GB of 602.1 GB, 29340 of 1478089 items
Copied 55.0 GB of 602.1 GB, 41596 of 1478089 items
Copied 82.9 GB of 602.1 GB, 55899 of 1478089 items
Copied 110.7 GB of 602.1 GB, 63347 of 1478089 items
Copied 138.8 GB of 602.1 GB, 83831 of 1478089 items
Copied 166.8 GB of 602.1 GB, 94574 of 1478089 items
Copied 194.7 GB of 602.1 GB, 102854 of 1478089 items
Copied 222.8 GB of 602.1 GB, 114388 of 1478089 items
Copied 129159 files (242.5 GB) from volume Stuart's Drive.
Copied 248.4 GB of 602.1 GB, 130414 of 1478089 items
Copied 265.5 GB of 602.1 GB, 355699 of 1478089 items
Copied 293.6 GB of 602.1 GB, 382912 of 1478089 items
Copied 322.1 GB of 602.1 GB, 387974 of 1478089 items
Copied 349.8 GB of 602.1 GB, 399204 of 1478089 items
Copied 378.3 GB of 602.1 GB, 399358 of 1478089 items
Copied 406.9 GB of 602.1 GB, 399441 of 1478089 items
Copied 434.5 GB of 602.1 GB, 415817 of 1478089 items
Copied 461.5 GB of 602.1 GB, 471528 of 1478089 items
Copied 488.2 GB of 602.1 GB, 537277 of 1478089 items
Copied 515.1 GB of 602.1 GB, 580446 of 1478089 items
Copied 541.3 GB of 602.1 GB, 590386 of 1478089 items
Copied 566.8 GB of 602.1 GB, 602496 of 1478089 items
Copied 593.3 GB of 602.1 GB, 649575 of 1
Message was edited by: Stuart Lawrence
Message was edited by: Stuart Lawrence

Time Machine Error Logs

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