Time machine hung on calculating changes (stuck at 99%)

Im experiencing a few problems with time machine which is currently set to back up wirelessly to a time capsule. This has been working great for about a year now never any problems with any backup in the past but over the last day i can not get a backup to complete.
N.B; i have been staying away for the past two weeks as i am at university so i'm aware the first backup will be large with a two week gap. Though this is not usually a problem. The other change is i have recently changed the net work set up, before Time capsule was connected to another router (BT Voyager 205) in bridge mode, now i have a new router (BT home hub 2.0) and have re-configured time capsule to simply join the wireless network for back up and storage purposes.
Heres what i have tried:
Powering down the time capsule and my laptop several times
unselecting the disk in the time machine options, selecting none and then re-selecting the disk
a full reset of time machine (followed the steps found here; http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2057525)
Heres the console log messages:
05/03/2010 12:09:02 com.apple.backupd[281] Starting standard backup
05/03/2010 12:09:02 com.apple.backupd[281] Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://James%20Clough@James%20Clough's%20Time%20Capsule.afpovertcp.tcp.local/Data
05/03/2010 12:09:02 com.apple.backupd[281] Mounted network destination using URL: afp://James%20Clough@James%20Clough's%20Time%20Capsule.afpovertcp.tcp.local/Data
05/03/2010 12:10:41 com.apple.backupd[281] Disk image /Volumes/Data-1/James MacBook_0023df8f4ff4.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Backup of James MacBook
05/03/2010 12:10:47 com.apple.backupd[281] Backing up to: /Volumes/Backup of James MacBook/Backups.backupdb
05/03/2010 12:10:53 mds[36] (Normal) DiskStore: Rebuilding index for /Volumes/Backup of James MacBook/Backups.backupdb
05/03/2010 12:13:35 com.apple.backupd[281] Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
05/03/2010 12:16:33 com.apple.backupd[281] Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:must scan subdirs|new event db|
05/03/2010 12:16:36 mds[36] (Normal) DiskStore: Creating index for /Volumes/Backup of James MacBook/Backups.backupdb
05/03/2010 12:20:16 com.apple.backupd[281] Node requires deep traversal:/Users/James/Pictures/iPhoto Library reason:contains changes|must scan subdirs|found in deep scan|missed reservation|
also noticed for the first time that when clicking into spotlight search at the right of the screen i see:
"Indexing backup of James' Macbook"
with an estimating time bar below which keeps spinning giving no time, just says estimating??
thankyou to anyone who can help shed some light on this problem.

vengenceJC wrote:
also noticed for the first time that when clicking into spotlight search at the right of the screen i see:
"Indexing backup of James' Macbook"
with an estimating time bar below which keeps spinning giving no time, just says estimating??
The combination of symptoms sounds like your backups may be corrupted. Cancel the backup and Repair them per #A5 in the Troubleshooting Tip.
You might want to exclude the drive from Spotlight indexing temporarily, until the backup is done, via +System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy.+
And since Time Machine has to do a "deep traversal," connect to the Time Capsule via Ethernet if at all possible -- both the "deep traversal" and actual backup will be faster that way.

Similar Messages

Why does time machine stall on "calculating changes"?

I have just purchased a Lacie d2 quadra 2Tb, and have connected Time Machine.
It has successfully backed up my desktop. However, on about the third incremental backup it stall on calculating changes. I have read that this could be when a deep traversal scan is occuring, so I let it continue for 12 hours before rebooting!
I have repartitioned and zeroed out the disk, and verified permissions etc, but to no avail.
I have 2 other external drives, and a Time Capsule that work flawlessly with TM.
Any other suggestions to remedy this would be most welcome.

Thanks for your reply Dave. Well, I am on that path with Lacie. The two other drives are theirs also, but who knows. They recommended th zeroing out etc.
I am also in discussion with Apple, who are tackling it from the Time Machine end, and something that might require a tweak with my system.

Time machine "hung up" and won't finish a backup

TM was working fine for me. But it has sat at the same place for almost 20 hours now. I have plenty of disk space. The progress shows it is stuck at 40.3MB of 145.9MB. An OSX update was installed yesterday, is that the reason? Any steps to get this back on track would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Normally, a long 'Preparing' session after an update is OK. If you take a look at the Console logs Time Machine is reporting that your backups need "deep traversal". That's fine. Time Machine knows what is wrong and how to fix it. Let it do it's thing. If you have alot if data, it may take quite awhile.
After your update to 10.5.5 Time Machine realized the system no longer matched what it looked like during the previous backup. So it has determined that it's earlier catalogue of what-should-be-where is 'untrustable'. So it is going to go item-by-item comparing the before and after of your system.
However, in your instance, it is simply taking too long and seems to have choked.
*Anti-Virus Software*
Running anti-virus software can interfere with the backup process. Either disable it altogether, or try the suggestion outlined here, “If you use third-party anti-virus scanning software and have issues, make sure your Time Machine back up folder (Backups.backupdb on the Time Machine disk) is excluded from virus scanning.” (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1516)
*Reselect Backup Disk*
There is the possibility that the first backup after a major OS update will fail. The Console may report that the backup disk is ‘not owned by backupd’. Essentially, Time Machine no longer recognizes the backup disk.
Go to System Preferences --> Time Machine.
Click the "Change Disk..." button.
Select "None" and click "Stop Backing Up".
Now click "Choose Backup Disk" and reselect your drive again.
Close System Preferences and try backing-up again.
Let us know if this helps.

Time Machine hung while intial backing up to external HD

Hello all,
I am trying to help a client here to do an intial back up with her Time Machine and external HD but it kept on hung up every time.
Here's the picture:
She have iMac 21.5" with Snow Leopard OS (10.6.8) connected to 2TB Seagate external hd for Time Machine use only.
I formatted the seagate external HD to Mac Journaled format and everything looks good. The Time Machine starts to back up for very first time and it got stuck in the middle of back up. I formatted the external HD again and tried to do intial back up again and it got stuck again on 111.17 GB out of 278.8 GB for a over 2 hours. It hasn't moved.
I downloaded "Time Machine buddy" widget and it shows:
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb
Ownership is disabled on the backup destination volume. Enabling.
Error parsing SystemMigration.log to determine source volume of system migration.
Backup content size: 278.8 GB excluded items size: 3.0 GB for volume mac_HD
No pre-backup thinning needed: 330.92 GB requested (including padding), 1.82 TB available
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
Copied 74.4 GB of 275.8 GB, 225989 of 1215218 items
I've tried the troubleshooting with this link and it doesn't work:
http://pondini.org/TM/Home.html
Hope this issue can be resolved soon!
Thanks,
Matt

First, a terminology problem: this is the Time Capsule forum -- a piece of Apple hardware combining a wireless router and HD, usually used as a destination for Time Machine backups.
Time Machine is the Apple software that performs backups, to external HDs, Time Capsules, etc.
Does the HD have the GUID partition map scheme? If not, reformat it that way. I doubt that's the problem, but you never know.
From the messages, it looks like Time Machine finished the initial backup "pass." Normally, if more changes are made while it's backing-up, it will do a small, quick second pass to catch up. But there's no message starting the second pass (another of the "requested" and "available" messages), and the amount copied doesn't match the 111.17 GB where it stuck.
Try verifying the internal HD; there might be a directory problem that Time Machine's tripping over.
If that doesn't help, look directly at the system.log via Console, for the time of the backup. There may be some related messages there, but sent by other processes than backupd, that will provide a clue.

Time machine setup - how to change 'wireless network name' and settings?

I have moved laptop to Mountain Lion.
This is the first time to backup to Timecapsule.
I went to Settings then Select Disk and selected existing Time Machine.
It took more than 30 minutes and seemed stuck on 'Preparing ....".
I cancelled and tried to 'Setup Time Capsule not listed"...
The system recognised the Time Capsule but I see that the network settings is my old 'wireless network' name.
How do I change this to the correct network name and ensure that the settings are correct?
I think if this is corrected, the backup will work.
Thanks in advance.

On the Home screen of the product control panel, touch the right arrow ( ) to view more options.
Touch Setup ( ).
Touch Network .
Touch Wi-Fi Protected Setup .
Touch PIN .
Touch Start . The product displays a PIN.
NOTE:The product begins a timer for approximately two minutes to allow you time to enter the PIN on the networking device.
Enter the PIN on the WPS-enabled router or other networking device.
I work for HP, IPGHT specialist in Officejet and Photosmart printers.
--Say "Thanks" by clicking the Kudos Star in the post that helped you.
--Please mark the post that solves your problem as "Accepted Solution" .....

Time Machine wireless setup failed, now stuck in an endless loop...

Oh dear!
I've had my TM up and running, backing up my main iMac and MBP without problems. I've had it configured to "join a wireless network".
This evening I decided to change this so that the TM would "create a wireless network", with the intention of retiring my existing modem/router.
Something went wrong somewhere along the way and I'm now faced with a Airport Utility message box reading "Airport Utility was unable to find any Apple wireless devices. Make sure ... then click rescan to try again".
I don't understand what this means. Which "wireless device" is being referred to here? The TM or the iMac itself? Having tried rescan a couple of times I thought I'd give up, close down the Airport Utility / Time Capsule setup dialog boxes and revert back to my original configuration.
However, this doesn't seem to be possible. When I reopen the TM part of system preferences and choose "Setup Time Capsule" it seems to jump straight to the "Airport Utility was unable to find any Apple wireless devices..." message. There are buttons for revert and update whilst the "discovering" swirlygig is playing, but these are greyed out. Likewise the manual setup button that appears thereafter. In fact, the only button that is clickable is Rescan, which takes me straight back to "Airport Utility was unable to find any Apple wireless devices...".
So I am stuck in an endless loop with no apparent way out.
Thoughts / ideas welcomed! Thanks in advance, Ian.

Could you be a bit more specific, and drop a few pronouns? What I'm understanding is this:
1. You have a Time Capsule
2. Time Machine was functioning perfectly
3. You wanted to create a wireless network (??? You lost me here. Shouldn't Time Capsule create a network already?)
4. You cannot set it up through System Preferences. (You're using so many terms that I can't tell what you're trying to say in the "However" paragraph.
Try using Airport Utility in the Utilities folder, found in the Applications folder.
\Applications\Utilities

Time Machine and computer name change

I just recently reinstalled the operator system after a computer crash when i did so changed the computer name and now when i go into time machine to restore the settings it only shows up as one sparse disc image.
i have found that when i can mount it manually but the files are not usable and when i mount it with time machine the history does not appear.

Go to System Preferences - Sharing and change the computer name there. You can also, optionally, change the name of your hard drive to further clarify the origin of your backups. Click once on the "Macintosh HD" on your desktop, then click its name to allow you to edit it.
Matt

Time Machine Migration Assistant - Calculating ...

Hey,
I've got a little problem - I recently got my iMac back from repair (the hard rive was failing).
Now I am trying to put all may stuff from my time machine backup back on this machine...
It came with 10.6. preloaded...However, when I start the migration assistiant and try to get the data from my external HD with the time machine backup, it quickly finds all settings and applications but it when it comes to my home folder, it just says "... calculating".
This has now been the case for more than 72h. The full backup is about 750GB...how long should that normally take?
Another strange thing, I can easily acces all the data from the "Latest"-link/folder on the time machine HD.
Any tips besides waiting ?
Cheers,
Tim

Hey Eric,
thanks for you answer...I actually already made another account (with another name that is different from the name on my time machine). Or should I just call it admin?
I am really stumped at the moment...I should have just used Carbon Copy Cleaner as it seems...

Time Machine Backup Size Calculation Error

This is what I have:
Internal:
Mac OS partition: 266GB (257GB Used)
BootCamp partition: 32GB ( 12GB Used)
External:
External USB 2.0 HD: 153GB (142GB Used)
TM Backup Drive: 466GB ( 0GB Used)
*What I have excluded:*
- TM Backup Drive
- BootCamp partition
*Therefore what I'm trying to backup are only:*
- MacOS partition
- External USB 2.0 HD
Time Machine Preferences Options Pane reports "Total Included: 398.4GB", and that's totally correct for what I'm intending to backup (i.e. MacOS partition + External USB 2.0 HD = 257GB + 142GB = 399GB). So far so good.
But when TM kicks off after the countdown, an error dialog pops up saying:
*Time Machine Error*
This backup is too large for the backup volume. The backup requires 478.0 GB but only 465.5GB are available.
To select a large volume, or make the backup smaller by excluding files, open System Preferences and choose Time Machine.
[Preferences] [OK]
Now how does TM figure out that 478.0GB number?
If I add up all used spaces for all drives (excl. TM drive), I only get 411GB.
If I add up all capacity of all drives (excl. TM drive), I only get 451GB.
How in the world did TM calculate that 478.0GB number? Why is there a discrepancy between what's reported in the options pane and the error dialog?
BTW, I have verified all my disks and they are all fine.
All my drives and partitions (except the bootcamp partition) are formatted properly to Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
Someone please advice.
Much appreciated.

Disregarding the Mac/Win partitions, my internal HD as a whole is 298GB. My external USB drive is 153GB.
nestea247,
Your computer info says : iMac Aluminum 24" ....... 320GB HD.
So, I assumed your internal HD is 320GB and you are currently using 298GB of it. Therefore my simple calculation was not "298GB + 153GB" but "320GB + 153GB(ca.)". Did I misunderstand?
My point was: For the first-time backup, in order to copy the entire image (including the *free space*) of the volume to backup, TM might think it needs about the same size of backup volume as your internal HD ( + external USB drive, in your case). Not simply adding up the size of the *used space*.
Leter, however, it will get more realistic and adjust to the actual data size; so, after completing all the hard link setup, the size of its backup seems to "shrink." Your TM could be still calculating.... perhaps struggling to adjust? (I too hope it is not a critical bug.)
I'm afraid my reply doesn't help solve the mystery of 478.0GB. Hope someone else can.
Best of luck!

Time Machine operates, but no changes are recorded in the backups.

Time Machine appears to make a backup each hour, and a new backup file is written. No error messages are produced. However, each new backup file appears to be exactly the same as the previous one. Using the "Get Info" function of the Finder, I can see that, indeed, each backup file on the "Time Machine" backup location records the exact same number of files and bytes as the previous backup file. This started ten days ago, during which time I have created, modified, or deleted several hundred files. When I enter the Time Machine application, I find that none of this activity is recorded in the backups. These results are the same, whether the backup is generated manually or under the automatic hourly schedule.
I am using OS 10.7.5 on an iMac 27" purchased in late 2011. Time Machine is set to back up the files from an internal 250 GB SSD and 2 TB HDD. The backup location (target drive) is an external iOmega 2TB HDD with its own power supply, connected by Firewire 800. This drive is about 14 months old.
The iOmega target drive has 624 GB used and 1.38 TB available space. According to the Time Machine Excluded Items dialogue, the extimated size of a full backup is 443 GB.
When I set Time Machine up about 14 months ago, I identified several folders to exclude from backups, and I have not changed that since. I have checked, and it is exactly the same as when I set it up.
Thanks for suggestions/solutions.

When you replaced your MBP's original HD with the Samsung SSD, how did you originally populate its contents? In other words, did you begin with a new OS X installation, followed by using Setup Assistant and migrating your information from an existing TM backup, or...?
Edit: A persistent bug with this site prevented replies from appearing until I posted one. Since you resolved the problem by reinstalling OS X I'll only suggest you don't use OnyX or any other utility to "clean" anything or perform any other action for that matter. Although I understand you only used OnyX in an effort to address an existing problem, such utilities are only likely to add to or obscure the underlying cause.

Time Machine didn't spot change of back-up disk?

I have been running Time Machine onto an external Iomega 500Mb firewire disk without any problems. Three weeks ago I changed to an external Iomega 1Tb firewire disk. Both disks were named by default 'Iomega HDD'. Time Machine seemed happy with the disk change. With the larger back-up disk I was able to remove the exclusions I had previously specified in its Options.
Yesterday I noticed that the contents of the Iomega totalled just over 100Gb despite the iMac hard disk having about 450 Gb on it. Whoops! I had moved to the larger Iomega disk because the 500Gb disk only had space to retain files up to 3 months old.
So I wondered if Time Machine had been confused by the fact that there had been no change in back-up disk name and all it had copied to the disk since the disk change were incremental changes.
Using Disk Utility I erased the contents of the Iomega disk, changed its name and ran Time Machine again. Now it seems to be working correctly and the contents of the iMac disk and the Iomega are the same within 0.2%.
Was Time Machine confused by using 2 disks of the same name or could there have been another cause?
Andrew

Andrew E wrote:
I have been running Time Machine onto an external Iomega 500Mb firewire disk without any problems. Three weeks ago I changed to an external Iomega 1Tb firewire disk. Both disks were named by default 'Iomega HDD'. Time Machine seemed happy with the disk change. With the larger back-up disk I was able to remove the exclusions I had previously specified in its Options.
Yesterday I noticed that the contents of the Iomega totalled just over 100Gb despite the iMac hard disk having about 450 Gb on it. Whoops! I had moved to the larger Iomega disk because the 500Gb disk only had space to retain files up to 3 months old.
So I wondered if Time Machine had been confused by the fact that there had been no change in back-up disk name and all it had copied to the disk since the disk change were incremental changes.
Using Disk Utility I erased the contents of the Iomega disk, changed its name and ran Time Machine again. Now it seems to be working correctly and the contents of the iMac disk and the Iomega are the same within 0.2%.
that's how it should be. there are a few things like some temp files and trash which TM never backs up.
Was Time Machine confused by using 2 disks of the same name
it should not have been. it doesn't record the TM disk by name and it should have definitely made a full backup after you changed drives. I've never seen what you describe reported by anybody before. it's now too late to try and figure out what happened but you did the right thing to fix it.
or could there have been another cause?
Andrew

Time Machine hung: a solution!

I've just found a solution to a persistent Time Machine problem: at first doing incredibly large and time consuming backups (e.g. 16.8 Gb – twice in a row) each time even when there has been no activity, then taking forever Indexing Backup, then getting hung completely on Indexing Backup. AppleCare for a month was of absolutely no help – until today I managed to connect to a very useful and helpful senior advisor who actually did what he promised to do.
So, the problem was that my external hard drive was not formatted correctly. It should be formatted: Mac OS Extended (Journalled). Be careful: there are other options that look almost the same, but are not. I was directed to Applications/Utilities/Disk Utilities. Then I selected the external hard drive on the left pnae, then in the centre the proper formatting such as above. Then Delete. Then go to Time Machine Preferences, and select the disk as the Time Machine. Problem solved! The first complete backup started almost immediately and took 2 hours. Normal. Subsequent backups have been taking just seconds.
So, why are these various formatting options for the Time Machine external disk? I just followed the instructions in the Time Machine, never given an option or an instructions about formatting. And it seems that not all AppleCare advisors are aware of this, which I am now learning may be a common problem, especially with Lion.
So, now I can feel more secure about my backups. And spend my time using my new MacBookPro rather than on trying to fix it.

Time Capsule is the only Apple supportrf network drive for Time Machine.
Since you have have eliminated that then I have to say no.

Configure Time Machine to only backup changes?

After I setup an exernal drive on my network, I started using Time Machine. However, I did not know how slow my computer would become when it backs up and it backs up constantly. This is on my home computer, and there isn't that much irreplaceable data, I just want to backup documents and my photo library as they change. But it seems like Time Machine keeps backing up too much. I may not make any new documents or import any new files, and yet when time machine is backing up it says it's backing up several gigabytes; and it does so while slowing down my internet and computer processes.
All I want to do is have it backup documents and photos/media. I know you can choose to exclude certain things, but is there a way to configure it so it only backs up the things that I choose?

Try a program called: SuperDuper!
It is free, and there is a paid version with more features, but with SuperDuper! you can:
Choose only what you want to back up, or like with Time Machine, back up everything.
Unlike Time Machine, there are not any files to choose from by "going back in time" to grab a file that you did last week.
However, it will give a "snapshot" of what is going on at the time of the SuperDuper! backup. And, the backup is bootable You can start your computer, or ANY computer with the SuperDuper! backup disk by holding down the alt/option key during the boot, and select the SuperDuper! drive. You can boot from there and actually use it to do work.
SuperDuper! - a great alternative backup solution you should check out. It is made by "Shirt Pocket." Here's a link to information about SuperDuper! and on that page is a download link: http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
By the way, I use both Time Machine AND SuperDuper!
Good luck!

Time Machine - hung

I was doing my first backup and TimCapsule is hung... Just sits there with the message Stopping Backup. It is on a new iMac and there is nothing loaded yet so shouldn't take this long.... it has been over 5 hours.
Should I unplug the TIme Capsule?
Thanks for your help

First, see #D6 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of the +Time Machine+ forum).
Second, do the initial backup via Ethernet if at all possible; it will be much faster.
You should expect somewhere in the neighborhood of 24 GB/hour via Ethernet, and perhaps 12 GB/hour via a good WIFI connection, although the rate will vary widely during the backup, depending on what's being backed-up at the time.
If your backup is considerably slower than that, over a period of time, see #D2 in Troubleshooting.

Time machine - On backup disk change still looking for the old one

Hi,
I had a backup disk from my D-Link NAS, which died, I bought a Synology Diskstation and enabled Time machine.
I can see the hard drive in time machine preferences, I can select it and everything seems to be ok. Until a backup is performed, at the moment system says it can't find the original (D-Link) disk. Even in console app I can see it search for the afp for D-Link.
I tried to disable time machine, reboot. Also remove the /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist
Also using command line util tmutil it fails.
tmutil destinationinfo
====================================================
Name          : Backup
Kind          : Network
URL           : afp://backup@DataCenter_AFP_Backup._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Backup
ID            : 16EE688A-9FE1-40EE-8495-84BC56FD63B7
tmutil removedestination 16EE688A-9FE1-40EE-8495-84BC56FD63B7
but It won't remove it, destinatininfo prints the same result
I tried to set destination with the new afp path, but no change.
Any idea what else I could try?

That device is unsuitable for use with Time Machine. I know this isn't the answer you want, and I also know that the manufacturer says the device will work with Time Machine, and that it usually seems to work. Except when you try to restore, and find that you can't.
If you want network backup with Time Machine, use as the destination either an Apple Time Capsule or an external hard drive connected to another Mac or to an 802.11ac AirPort base station. Only the 802.11ac base stations support Time Machine, not any older model.
If you're determined to keep using the NAS for backup, your only recourse for any problems that result is to the manufacturer (which will blame Apple.)

Time machine hung on calculating changes (stuck at 99%)

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