Time machine has stopped backing up to my Western Digital Network Drive

I have a WD 1TB World Edition drive which pretty much worked plug 'n' play when I bought it in early Jan backing up with with Time Machine instead of the bundled software. I've had a few troubles backing up, but largely due to router problems. Time machine has worked great with the drive, as promised.
Until a few days ago, when it stopped backing up altogether. The usual backup icon stopped appearing on the desktop and it came up with error message saying the backup file cannot mount or something like that. Strangely, the shared folders on the drive still show up and I can access all the mp3 files, etc I have loaded up. So, I checked the router, cabling to the drive, rebooted the drive, resetted the drive and checked the settings using MyBookWorld. This stopped the error message showing when I tried to backup and the backup icon now shows on the desktop again. But it won't backup !!! It just stalls and in Time Machine says its configuring without doing anything. I have tried hooking up to the drive directly, still no joy.
I'm now at the end of my tether. Does anyone have any ideas? I have asked WD support and they were next to useless. Thanks !

Hi, and welcome to the forums.
Time Machine does not back up reliably, if at all, to most network drives, except Time Capsules or a shared drive on another Mac running Leopard or Snow Leopard on the same local network.
Here's the criteria they must meet: Disks that can be used with Time Machine. And be careful here: just because some 3rd-party hardware claims to support Time Machine doesn't necessarily mean that Apple supports it, or that it will work in all circumstances.
We've seen a number of problems reported with that drive. Have you downloaded the firmware update that's supposed to make it work?
with error message saying the backup file cannot mount or something like that.
The exact message might help.
Time Machine says its configuring
Is the word "configuring" or is it "Calculating changes"? "Configuring" sounds more like a message from WD, or perhaps your router, than one coming from Time Machine.
Click here to download the +Time Machine Buddy+ widget. It shows the messages from your logs for one TM backup run at a time, in a small window. Navigate to the backup in question, then copy and post all the messages for that run here.
You might also try to Repair the backups. I don't know exactly how you'd get to them on a NAS, but try the procedure for a Time Capsule in #A5 of the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.

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My Time machine has stopped backing up saying there are some read only files.

My Time machine has stopped backing up and says that ther are some read only files preventing this. What steps do I need to take to fix it?

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.
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. Clear the text field and scroll back in the log to that time. Post the messages timestamped from then until the end of the backup, or the end of the log if that's not clear.
Post the log text, please, not a screenshot. 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 a message.
Some personal information, such as the names of your files, may be included — edit that out, too, but don’t remove the context.

Time machine has stopped backing up to time capsule. message is that sparse bundle is in use

Time machine suddenly stopped backing up to time capsule returning this message:
The backup disk image “/Volumes/Data-1/xxnymacbooknamexx MacBook.sparsebundle” is already in use.

Complex procedure that will almost always solve this bug:
Pull the power cord from the back of the Time Capsule
Count to ten
Plug the power cord back into the back of the Time Capsule
Wait a few minutes, then try a backup again.

HT3275 My Time Machine has stopped backing up and now it errors out everytime I make another attempt.

My Time Machine has stopped working and now errors out everytime I try to re-connect ?

What is the error.. ??
We cannot help much without details.
Look at the pondini troubleshooting.
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
The vast majority of issues are C12 or C17.. especially with ML.. which rather than fixing issues left over from Lion exacerbated them.

HT201250 my time machine has stopped backing up on time capsule. It is plugged into my network

My time machine is set to back up my mac using time capsule.. It has stopped backing up. When I check the icon, says "skip this back up". Before that it said it could not back up. Not sure what changed.
Said it has not backed up in a month. I cannot access anything to tell me what is going on. Please advise.

says last back up was Dec 5. Ugh.

Time Machine has stopped backing up new files, but it creates an folder as if it tried to back up?

I went use Time Machine and my file from 2 days ago was not available to me. I have worked on this file for over 2 weeks and expected time machine to keep my old version but it jumped to a folder 5 weeks back before the folder was created.
I an using a 3TB drive and and have 1.2TB available.

Because you are using Mountain Lion which has the network proficiency of tins cans and wet string.
See https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3123920?tstart=0
Normally a simple restart of the whole network in correct order will fix this.. modem.. router/TC.. clients.. 2min gap.

Would someone please help me figure out why Time Machine has stopped backing up?

Hi, I am a Macbook Pro User running 10.6.8. I recently moved all of my photos, music and videos over to a 1TB Western Digital HD that I attach via usb. I believe that this is when the problem started. When I enter Time Machine, the last backup was on Feb. 17th, which I believe might have been the date that I moved everything.. Thankfully, I just happened to catch that my 2TB iomega HD that I had been using with Time Machine was no longer working, even though I have received no indication otherwise. I've poured over many queries on this site, as well as many others. I've tried deleting the TM plist file in my main file folder to no avail, reset TM and reselected the backup disc as well, but nothing seems to correct the problem. I have noticed, incidentally (or not), that my first backup date was one day short of a year before the last one. Maybe just a coincidence, maybe not, but worth noting, I thought.
I just tried a backup, and got this from Console:
Apr 18 14:50:07 Doyle-Hinsons-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[1399]: Starting standard backup
Apr 18 14:50:07 Doyle-Hinsons-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[1399]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Untitled 1/Backups.backupdb
Apr 18 14:50:08 Doyle-Hinsons-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[1399]: Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
Apr 18 14:50:08 Doyle-Hinsons-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[1399]: Forcing deep traversal on source: "Macintosh HD" (mount: '/' fsUUID: BB64A636-C7FA-3269-9643-D253B36CAEB5 eventDBUUID: 5C700854-D109-4ADA-970E-9DA378F0CBB5), {1, 1, 1, 0}
Apr 18 14:50:08 Doyle-Hinsons-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[1399]: Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:must scan subdirs|require scan|
Apr 18 14:56:26 Doyle-Hinsons-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[1399]: Error: Flushing index to disk returned an error: 0
Apr 18 14:56:26 Doyle-Hinsons-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[1399]: Backup canceled.
I'm a bit of a novice at this, so explanations in laymen's terms would be greatly appreciated, and I express my deepest appreciation in advance to anyone willing to try and help.
Many thanks!

Thanks for your response, Linc. I have everything important to me i.e. pics, music, files, etc backed up elsewhere. Being that this is the backup drive I've used since the beginning, do I need to worry about losing other data that is on the drive, if I plan on backing up with a different one? In other words, is there irreplaceable data on the drive that a new backup won't be able to replace (data that's imperative to my computer's functions)? Thanks again!

Time Machine has stopped backing up

Time Machine repeatedly will not backup since I started backing up to an external disk configured with Drobo. Sometimes it does backup, sometimes not. When it does not backup, I get a window that says the backup did not happen because of an error "copying the files". The last time it wouldn't backup I copied this message from Time Machine Buddy:
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Drobo Large Partition/Backups.backupdb
Error: (22) setxattr for key:com.apple.backupd.ModelID path:/Volumes/Drobo Large Partition/Backups.backupdb/Anthony Siciliano’s Mac Pro size:9
Failed to create progress log file at path:/Volumes/Drobo Large Partition/Backups.backupdb/Anthony Siciliano’s Mac Pro/2010-10-12-162007.inProgress/.Backup.308619180.303191.log.
Error: (-50) Creating directory D4108B79-DB3F-49BE-AD06-A32A14894F0B
Failed to make snapshot.
Error: (22) setxattr for key:com.apple.backupd.ModelID path:/Volumes/Drobo Large Partition/Backups.backupdb/Anthony Siciliano’s Mac Pro size:9
Backup failed with error: 2
Any help would be appreciated.

Those are all problems writing to the TM volume.
Make sure it's set up properly (with the GUID or APM *Partition Map Scheme* and +Mac OS Extended (Journaled)+ or +Mac OS Extended (Case sensitive, journaled)+ Format.
If that doesn't help, a few folks have had problems backing-up to Drobos. You might want to search this forum for Drobo for possible fixes.

I am running 10.7.5. Time Machine has stopped backing up to my external drive

I am unable to get my time machine to do a backup. When I plug my external drive into the macbook, there is no message to ask me if I want to backup my laptop. The external drive mounts, but nothing happens. I have done a "repair disk" and a "verify" disk and found no problems.

Has that drive already been setup (and/or used) as a Time Machine target for this computer? If so, you can click on the Time Machine icon on the top menu bar, and click on the "Backup Now" option. If, for whatever reason, the drive cannot be used, it'll at least give some kind of error message to help in troubleshooting.
Another thing to try is to go to the Time Machine preferences and "re-select" the external drive that you're using as a target.

TS1550 My time machine has stopped backing up. I get a message that says it cannot complete backup due to an error that occurred while creating the folder.

How do I get my time machine to complete a backup?

Hello Dee,
http://pondini.org/TM/C10.html

Time Machine has stopped backing up to my Seagate Backup Plus.

My external drive is formatted for Mac OS and has worked since January with no problem. Now, all of a sudden, it will not backup and I cannot see any of my backups for the last 30 days. I have tried using disk utility to verify the disk, but keep getting the error message that the disk needs to be repaired, but when I try, it says the disk cannot be unmounted. I am hoping there is some way that I can fix this. Please help!

Take a look at this link, Take a look at this link, http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html

My Time Capsule has stopped backing up. I have an Apple Time Capsule which backs up by wireless. For the last 3 days it has not backed up. I get this message: "The backup was not performed because an error occurred while copying files to the backup disk.

My Time Capsule has stopped backing up.
I have an Apple Time Capsule which backs up by wireless. For the last 3 days it has not backed up. I get this message:
"The backup was not performed because an error occurred while copying files to the backup disk."
I have gone into Mac Help and followed this down to stage 4:
under shared it lists my time capsule and my husband's iMac - both use the time machine but we have switched his off temporarily. Clicking on my Time capsule I get "Connected" and "Sharepoint" - I didn't have to enter connect or password
I don't understand stage 5: how and where do I select the disk or volume that contains Time Machine backups ? How do I know which it is? My disk utility lists 160.04 TOSHIBA MK... with sub-heading Macintosh HD. It also lists (with a "CD" icon) HL-DT-ST DVDRW GS22N
Under stage 6, how and where do I Locate your backup ? I try dragging my Time capsule from Finder to the Disk Utility side panel but it won't go. What is my computer's name?
Please someone help! I'm completely stumped.
Thanks,
Maggie
Mac Help says:
If you back up to a Time Capsule or network disk:
Open the Time Machine pane of System Preferences, and slide the switch to Off.
Open Time Machine preferences
Open Disk Utility, which is in the Utilities folder in the Applications folder.
Open Disk Utility
Make sure the Time Capsule or network disk is turned on and available.
Open a Finder window, select your Time Capsule or network disk in the Shared section of the sidebar, and click Connect. If necessary, enter your user name and password.
On the Time Capsule or network disk, select the disk or volume that contains Time Machine backups. Depending on how your Time Capsule is set up, there may be one or more disks or volumes.
Locate your backup, and drag it to the Disk Utility sidebar.You can identify your backup by looking for your computer’s name in the backup’s filename.

Hello,
Thanks to the great Pondini...
http://pondini.org/TM/C3.html

HT201250 i would like to use time machine but also back up other file to my external drive?

I just got a WD T3 external hard drive and I would like to use time machine but also back up other files that to the drive. Can anyone help me out.
Thanks Mark

You would need to go to your Applications folder>Utilities>Disk Utility> and there create Two Partitions on your external hard drive, naming them differently. Then you could go back to your desktop, open the dock, right click on the Time Machine icon and select "Open Time Machine Preferences". In there select the external hard drive Partition that you want to use for TM. The other external drive partition will be available for other uses.
Hope this helps

Time Machine has stopped working, HD errors

Time Machine has suddenly stopped working on my 2008 24" iMac. I have tried two separate drives, but neither work.
When I try and verify my internal HDD it comes back with a number of errors, and it has started to click recently. I expect the two must be linked!
I can't find my install disk to try to repair the main disk and some advice says that might be a bad thing to do anyway if the drive is physically damaged.
I have a full TM back up from two days ago, and I use Carbon Copy Cloner to backup my iPhoto/iTunes library separately.
My questions are:
1. What are the issues with running the iMac without TM until the disk finally dies? If it lasts, say, 6 months, can I just restore my Oct 2011 TM back up and rebuild my media libraries from CCC backups or will I lose something else?
2. Does anyone know the approx cost of getting Apple to replace the HDD? I have seen the online guides to doing it myself and don't really fancy trying!

Time Machine has suddenly stopped working on my 2008 24" iMac. I have tried two separate drives, but neither work.
When I try and verify my internal HDD it comes back with a number of errors, and it has started to click recently. I expect the two must be linked!
I can't find my install disk to try to repair the main disk and some advice says that might be a bad thing to do anyway if the drive is physically damaged.
I have a full TM back up from two days ago, and I use Carbon Copy Cloner to backup my iPhoto/iTunes library separately.
My questions are:
1. What are the issues with running the iMac without TM until the disk finally dies? If it lasts, say, 6 months, can I just restore my Oct 2011 TM back up and rebuild my media libraries from CCC backups or will I lose something else?
2. Does anyone know the approx cost of getting Apple to replace the HDD? I have seen the online guides to doing it myself and don't really fancy trying!

Time Machine has stopped making backups

Time Machine has worked fine for me fore many months, the backup disk being a 1 TB external firewire drive.
But now Time Machine will not make a backup. I keep getting the same error message: "Time Machine Error. This backup is too large for the backup volume. The backup requires 88.7 GB but only 58.5 are available."
I thought Time Machine just deleted the oldest files on the drive to make the room it needs for continued backups. So why isn't it doing that now? How do I get it to go back to doing that?
Thanks for any help!
Tom

Tom Baker1 wrote:
My Time Machine backup disk is an external 1 TB firewire drive with only one partition, dedicated entirely to TM, and it backs up the two internal drives in my G5. One of these two internal drives has about 600 GB of data on it and the other about 400, so together they would be enough to fill the external Time Machine backup drive.
Yes, that's too small. Our "rule of thumb" is, TM needs 2-3 times the space of the data it's backing up. See #1 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.
Now I have discovered that there is something wrong with the Time Machine backups as well. I decided to go into TM to see just how far back in time the backups go, but it will only allow me to go back as far as yesterday. It acts as though there are no backups older than yesterday afternoon.
That's probably correct; your TM disk is too small, and there's just not room for more. Here's the situation: A full backup has nearly filled the disk; something fairly large has been added or changed, and there just isn't room for it, in addition to the full backup.
The 88.7 GB it's requesting means it's trying to back up about 74 GB (it adds 20% for workspace, etc., on the TM disk).
This is getting stranger all the time. At this point should I just give up trying to fix the situation, erase the backup drive, and start all over again?
That probably won't help much, if at all. To confirm what's going on, Click here to download the +Time Machine Buddy+ widget. It shows the messages from your logs for one TM backup run at a time, in a small window. Navigate to the last backup attempt, then copy and post all the messages for that run here.
You need to do one of the following:
Get a larger drive, at least 2 TB.
Get an additional drive; use one for TM backups of one of your internal HDs, the other for a different app to back-up the other internal HD.
Exclude a lot of stuff from Time Machine (at least 300 GB).
Use a different app, such as CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper, to back up your internals to separate partitions on the 1 TB drive. These will be exact copies only; no previous copies of things you've changed or deleted.

Time machine has stopped backing up to my Western Digital Network Drive

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