Time Machine Error - reformat

Hi all,
I could not find an answer to my this error. I have a 1 TB Time Capsule and I got the following error:
"The disk "Time Machine" was not repairable by this computer Its is being made available to you with limited functionality. You must back up your data and reformat the disk as soon as possible."
The strange thing is that I am getting this error only on one computer and I am using TC for syncing up 2 Macs. The other system backs up successfully.
Do I just reformat the drive - will this happen again? Do I have a bad drive? Please advise. Very disappointed that within a month I get this error.
AMM

How did you fix your problem? I'm in the same boat as I'm discovering the same error with Airport Extreme and a Newer Technology external drive.
Chip

Similar Messages

  • 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.

  • 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 - Backup Requires 2,211,365.5 GB!

    Hello - I have searched the posts and nothing seems to touch on this specifically - I have been using Time Machine successfully for months and this has only started to happen in the last few days.
    I have a white Macbook, 10.5.6 with an upgraded 150GB hard drive. I do backups sporadically (once or twice a week), as I don't want to keep my Macbook connected to a hard drive and I find using the airdisk feature on my AEBS takes too long and slows down the network. This has been working fine for me for months, but now I get the following message:
    Time Machine Error
    This backup is too large for the backup volume. The backup requires 2211365.5 GB but only 125.5 GB are available.
    I tried reformatting my disk (250GB hard drive) and the problem still arises. There are no external drives or anything connected to the Macbook at the time.
    Can anyone help? I don't want to go out and buy a Hard Drive with a 3million GB capacity!
    Thanks
    Ian

    ChunTzu wrote:
    If TM is seeing a ridiculous amount of info to backup like that (2 million gigs is probably not a real number I am guessing) it probably means you have file structure problems that are causing TM to count a folder infinitely in some kind of loop... like maybe a file link to itself that kind of thing.
    A disk check usually repairs these sorts of problems and should alleviate your issue.
    I believe you are correct and I would add that this case might require stronger medicine such as DiskWarrior to repair the directory structure, if that it the issue.

  • 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 with brand new WD My Book Studio Edition

    I have a brand new iMac and just bought a new WD My Book Studio Edition 500 gb HD for specific use with my Time Machine. The iMac has a 500 HD is about 3 months old and the WD HD is brand new. I am getting an error when I try to activate and back up with Time Machine that says, " Time Machine Error. This backup is too large for a backup volume. The backup requires 524.4 gb but only 465.5 gb are available. To select a larger volume, or make the backup smaller by excluding files, open System Preferences and choose Time Machine."
    I copied the files from the Time Machine to my hard drive to make as much space as possible. I have a capacity of 465.44 GB and 28.48GB of free space on my MacHD. I have a capacity of 465.64 GB and 465.49 GB of free space on my WD. It is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled) the way it was originally sold. I have not tried to reformat. Not too sure about how to. But I have tried all of these scenarios.
    I have tried the following and nothing works to get Time Machine backing up at all:
    1. I have changed the preferences in Time Machine Options to a smaller file size excluding the applications folder (appx. 12 GB),
    2. I have zapped the P-RAM,
    3. I have reset the index in the Spotlight by putting my Macintosh HD and Time Machine in the Privacy section, let it reindex and then pulled it out, and
    4. I have deleted the preferences in Macintosh HD>Library>Preferences>com.apple.TimeMachine.plist.
    Nothing is working and I bought the HD when I was home visiting in the states and I live in Bogota, Colombia. Quite hard to return HD.
    Can anyone help me?
    Thanks,
    Marsh64

    You have a nearly full 500 GB hard drive and you are trying to use TM with a 500 GB hard drive - but the way TimeMachine works, your TimeMachine hard drive should be at least twice the size of your backup data. In other words, to use TM effectively you should have bought a 1 TB external drive.
    With a 500 GB drive for backups, you need to determine exactly what has to be backed up and what can be left out. If you open the TimeMachine preferences you'll see that there's an Options button. Click it and you can select folders to exclude from backing up. For example, you might decide that you don't need to back up your music because it is all on your iPod anyway and the Mac OS and your applications are all on CD so those can be left out. By carefully paring the list down you may be able to get your backup data down under 250 GB and if so, then TimeMachine will do the job for you.
    Another solution would be to drop TimeMachine as your backup solution and simply use a program such as SuperDuper! or CarbonCopyCloner (CCC) to perform your backups. There are advantages and disadvantages to each backup method. As you mull your options, don't be afraid to ask more questions.

  • "Time Machine Error   The backup volume is read only"

    Lately, every time I try to backup to my Time Capsule using Time Machine it fails and I get a message saying "Time Machine Error The backup volume is read only. To select a different volume, open system preferences and choose Time Machine" So I do that and I see the Time capsule listed. I don't want to select anything but the Time Capsule, cuz what else do I have, right? Am I wrong in assuming the "backup volume" is the Time Capsule? Anyway, I have tried changing the permissions on the time capsule, but when I get the "get info" box for the time capsule, there is not an option to change those settings, they are grayed out. Every thing worked well for about a week and then this started. My backup volume must have been "Read & Write" at first, because I can see what was backed up when I open Time Machine. Anybody have a clue what's going on? How can I make the back up volume "Read & Write" again and why did it change to "Read Only?"

    Nope, I am using the same passwords as ever, both users have the same password, BTW. The password I gave to the Time Capsule is different, tho, but that password is for the wireless aspect of the Time Capsule, so that wouldn't have anything to do with it, would it?
    I also get a message box that says "Disk Repair The disk "Backup of XXX's Computer" was not repairable by this computer, it is being made available to you with limited functionality. You must back up your data and reformat the disk as soon as possible." This box appears in conjunction with the appearance of the Norton's virus scan box scanning the time capsule.

  • Time Machine Errors FIXED!!

    Time Machine Errors FIXED!!
    My TM is now WORKING WELL for about 4 days without a single problem!!
    I had many of the Time Machine errors that others are dealing with. Here are some that I had:
    Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:* -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Result too large
    Error: (-1401) copying ...
    Error: (-43) copying ...
    Error: (-50) copying ...
    Error: (-8088) copying ...
    Error: (22) setxattr for key:com.apple.backupd.SnapshotVolumeFSEventStoreUUID path:...
    Error: (-36) Creating directory 33CDCE6F-413B-4E5B-B807-561561AAE90C
    Failed to make snapshot.
    Error: (5) getxattr for key:com.apple.backupd.SnapshotState path:...
    Backup failed with error: 2
    Volume at path /Volumes/BackUp does not appear to be the correct backup volume for this computer.
    Backup failed with error: 18
    Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:* -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Input/output error
    And other errors...
    I tried the following things, but these did not help:
    1. Reinstalled Leopard.
    2. Reinstalled 10.5.1.
    3. Reformatted my external USB drive (several times, GUID partition table).
    4. Excluded large files from TM.
    5. Turned off Spotlight.
    6. Repaired permissions.
    I found a posting somewhere (sorry, I can't find the original) that indicated there may be a problem with DiskUtility in Leopard. The post suggested that you re-partition your drive to have MORE THAN ONE PARTITION. Once that is done, you can re-partition your drive to have only one partition and that will fix the TM errors. So I used DiskUtility in Leopard to re-partition my drive to 16 partitions (16 is the max, 2 will probably work fine) with GUID (I have an Intel iMac). Once that was done, I immediately re-partitioned my drive to have only 1 partition (GUID). I started TM and it has run without a hitch since. So the problem may be with DiskUtility and NOT TM!

    If running Disk Utility while started up from the Mac OS X installation disc does not show the internal drive in the sidebar, it is possible that it has become faulty. However, try doing the following, if you have not done so already.
    Reset PRAM
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
    and if that does not improve the situation, reset SMU.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1767
    Note: That is the procedure for an iMac G5, since you are posting in the iMac G5 category. However, you profile says 10.6.2, which is not possible for an iMac G5 (PowerPC), so if you have an Intel iMac, this is the procedure
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1543
    This is basically disconnecting all cables and power from the iMac, then reconnecting following a precise procedure. When you reconnect it to power, if you had it connected to an over-crowded or old power strip (surge suppressor), try connecting it directly to a wall outlet, at least initially. You want to make sure the iMac has a reliable power connection. Initially start it up with nothing connected, except for the power cord. If it does start up normally, connect only your standard keyboard/mouse and use it that way for a while. If it is still working normally, connect one peripheral device at a time; you may want to try restarting as a test since that was your problem. If the problem recurs at some point, note what device was connected last. It may be faulty in some way that is interfering with the iMac.
    If it still does not start up properly, even with nothing connected, please post back.

  • I'm having trouble backing up my second macbook to a new time capsule.   continue to get an error message -- "Time  Machine Error.  The backup disk image could not be created."   Is there something I need to change in my time capsule or time machine?

    I just set up a new time capsule.  it worked fine on my first macbook.  But now I cannot backup my second macbook.   Getting "Time Machine Error"  "The backup disk image could not be created."  Do I need to change settings on my time capsule to allow the second computer, or do I need to change something on the computer to allow time machine to work right?

    Try #C9 in Pondini's Time Machine Troublshooting
    http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

  • I have not been able to back up for2 days.  Time machine error message: /Volumes/Data/David's MacBook Air.sparsebundle" is already in use.

    I have not been able to back up for2 days.  Time machine error message: /Volumes/Data/David’s MacBook Air.sparsebundle” is already in use.
    What now?
    Macbook Air.
    Was working fine for the past year until now.

    See more like this on the right.. this is the most common error reported here since mountain lion came out..
    Or read C12.. http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
    Or just restart the whole network.. in right order from off.. modem.. router / TC.. clients 2min gap.

  • 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

  • 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, The disk image cannot be mounted" What can I do??

    I ran the time machine. Then, "preparing backup" showed up for a long time. After that, a window pop out: "Time machine error, The disk image cannot be mounted" What is disk image? What can I do (I can't back up anything)
    P.S. I use time capsule for backup. there were no problem on connection

    I'm having the same issue. I do not have TC as my base station. It says right in the book that if you choose, you do not have to have it run as your router, just as a part of your existing wireless network. All software is up to date and I have already shortened the name of both my TC and TC disc to 6 characters and no spaces! I've already spoken with someone today about this. He really didn't know. Have tried backing up both wirelessly and directly connecting with an Ethernet cord. I had to finally call because when I attempted to register the product to get online support, apple.com didn't recognize the serial number!!! The gentleman on the phone got it registered for me. I bought the TC from an official apple store and for whatever reason when he put in the serial number his computer said that this TC was so "old" I guess that there was technically "no support." That basically means that even though my parents just purchased this for me a week before Christmas, that it was made a year ago and the warranty is not good?? I need to do more research on that. Right now I am very unhappy about this. I am a firm apple user and have been for years, but this is frustrating.
    I had read somewhere else (not sure I've been searching apple for what seems like forever now) to make sure that the TC was showing up in "devices" of the Finder. Mine doesn't show up there, but rather in the "Network" window. Is this an issue? If it is, can anyone tell me how to fix that. I have Time Machine backing up to my TC, so I do not see why it would be.
    UPDATE: I just opened up my TC on the "Shared" section of the Finder window and deleted the old "sparsebundle" (I had no clue that anything had backed up way back at 3:30pm on Dec 29) and now I get a slightly new message: Time Machine Error: The backup disc image could not be created." So now the word "mounted" is replaced with "created." This error showed up a lot sooner than the original one. Ok, no clue. I am going to try to Change the Disc again, and try again. I will post another update.
    Message was edited by: kryzma

  • Time Machine Error: The backup was not performed because an error occurred

    G'day (from Queensland, Australia)
    Not for the first time Time Machine has broken down - originally in September 08 (I just can't recall how I fixed it!!).
    Now it has failed after 14 months of faultless performance.
    There seems to be little help available, but searching for solutions finds plenty of problems.
    I get the message "The backup was not performed because an error occurred while copying to the backup disk.
    The problem may be temporary. Try again later to back up. If the problem persists, use Disk Utility to repair you backup disk."
    (I have a Time Capsule as my backup disk)
    Disk Utility runs and finds-
    Verifying volume “Backup of xxxxxx’s iMac”
    2010-01-25 12:16:09 +1000: Starting verification tool:
    2010-01-25 12:49:21 +1000: The volume Backup of xxxxxx’s iMac appears to be OK.
    2010-01-25 12:49:21 +1000: Repair tool completed:
    So I search and find "Fix for broken Time Machine backups under Snow Leopard"
    (http://www.andrewgrant.org/2009/09/22/fix-for-broken-time-machine-backups-under- snow-leopard.html) - downgrading to 7.4.1 of the Airport Extreme / Time Capsule firmware.
    But still have the same Time Machine error!
    On to http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?t=103919&highlight=TimeMachineError
    and try-
    "... suggesting would be something like renaming the existing TimeMachine file on your backup disk - e.g. add a date to the end of it.
    And then go onto Time Machine preferences and set it up as if it were the first time you used it. (Renaming the file on the backup disk should make Time Machine think that you are starting fresh.)"
    So, using Finder, I opened my Time Capsule and renamed "xxxxxx’s iMac_00224135e6fb.sparsebundle" as "091222xxxxxx’s iMac_00224135e6fb.sparsebundle091222"
    And finally, this worked - I have my backups to 22 December and a complete backup as at today and hopefully for at least another 14 months!

    pjh42 wrote:
    G'day (from Queensland, Australia)
    Not for the first time Time Machine has broken down - originally in September 08 (I just can't recall how I fixed it!!).
    Now it has failed after 14 months of faultless performance.
    There seems to be little help available, but searching for solutions finds plenty of problems.
    On the contrary. At the top of this forum are four *User Contributed Tips,* including one on Troubleshooting that would have saved you a great deal of time.

  • 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.

Maybe you are looking for