Time machine-insufficient space error messages

I keep getting error messages indicating that there is insufficient space on my external (160gb) drive to backup my internal 120gb hard drive on my macbook pro.
Should my option be set to "do not back up" my external drive???

I have this same problem. The TM backup drive is supposed to erase the oldest backup to make room for the newest, once the incremental backups fill up the external drive, which will happen eventually to everyone. But TM apparently has a flaw. It does not erase the oldest backup, which would give room for the newest backup. AppleCare tried to tell me I didn't have enough room on my backup drive but failed to understand that I would have plenty of room if TM would erase some of the oldest backups. (iMac drive has files occupying 121 GB; TM drive capacity is 150 GB). What AppleCare said would only make sense if the next incremental backup was 30 GB.

Similar Messages

  • After upgrading to Mavericks my Time Machine gives me error message.

    I use a WD Live Book that keeps my security copies on my home network. Since installing Mavericks I get an error message saying that it cannot perform security copies cause sparse file already exists and refers back to latest copy 48 days ago.
    However when I do go in to Time Machine it seems to show that for the last 3 days scurity copies have been done.
    But when I try to do a a new security copy invariably the top menu says that copy has failed.
    Has anyone experienced the same thing? Is there anyway to check clearly if Time Machine is now working properly or not?
    Thank you for any replies...
    MF

    Dear Matt,
    Basicaly I think what happened was what your article describes:
    Time Machine keeps track of files and folders that have changed since your last backup so that it only backs up those files and folders. If Time Machine loses track of files and folders that have changed since the last backup, it compares an "inventory" of your current data to an inventory of your backup. When this happens, Time Machine preferences displays a "Preparing..." status message for a longer period of time. See Mac OS X 10.5: Time Machine preferences may display "Preparing" for a longer time.
    Message: Time Machine starts a new, full backup instead of a smaller incremental backup
    However none of the reasons the article presents were the cause I think, since I only tried to backup after the installation of Mavericks. Maybe time capsule hadn't updated right after? I really don't know. However I am glad to say that the problem seems to have fixed itself. It took a long time preparing a backup and finally did a complete backup of roughly 200GB which took a while. (which I am still to verify if it has deleted backups from before the installation of Mavericks due to lack of space).
    Anyhow its backed up and seems to be working fine now. As to why it's happened and how it got fixed or what the problem actually was... I really don't know.
    Thank you for the reply, it was helpful at least to determine what might have gone wrong.
    Best,
    Miguel F

  • Time Machine Disk Space error

    I've been using Time Machine for a will now without a problem but on my latest backup I get An Error message saying that there is not enough disk space even though I still have 69Gb left in Ex hard Drive.
    I haven't added more than a few hundred Mb since my last backup. I have a 160Gb internal Drive with 67Gb left on it and a 160Gb External for Time Machine with 69Gb left.
    Any ideas

    PapaFunk wrote:
    Hi Mate,
    Thanks for the response, I was under the impression that Time Machine did the one initial backup and then only what is new. So Does it keep several full copies of what is on the hard drive?
    No, as Roger says, in most cases there's only one copy of each version of each file on your internal HD, but if you change something often, the copies of all the versions can add up.
    Starting pre-backup thinning: 93.80 GB requested (including padding), 69.64 GB available
    No expired backups exist - deleting oldest backups to make room
    It was trying to back up about 78 GB (it adds 20% for workspace, so needs 93.8). Apparently a full backup of your internal HD is about 93 GB, so this is quite large indeed.
    Are there any other disks connected to your Mac, that aren't excluded? See what the estimated size of a full backup (slightly different wording) is under the exclusion box in TM Preferences > Options.
    Are you running any of the things (or similar to those) mentioned in #D4 of the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.

  • Time Machine Back up error message format

    Trying back my MacBook Pro  thru Time machine to a external hard drive,
    I receive this error message,
    Time Machine could not complete the backup to "3TB"
    The Back Up disc is not MAC OS Extended (journaled) format which is required.
    Thank you,

    If it is a new disk, it needs to formatted in Disk Utility before you can start backups. Typically disks are formatted NTFS. You can see the format tin details in Disk Utility.
    What brand/model is the disk?

  • Time machine reporting space error

    My TM backups are coming back with an error saying that my backup is XX.X and I only have XX.X space on my external drive. The confounding thing is that the external HDD has more than double the space that the backup needs. I have attached a couple of screen shots with the error. I have done a surface scan with Drive Genius 3 to make sure that a bad block wasn't the cause.
    Any ideas?

    Time Machine works on a recursive algorithm to try and maximize the archival capability of its backups.  If it can't maximize it, it will report an error.  Generally speaking your backup drive needs to be at least twice the size of the original.  Because the algorithm itself gives you no control over when it considers an archive too old to preserve, I recommend making manual Time Machine backups instead of automatic by controlling it with Time Machine switch in Apple menu -> System Preferences -> Time Machine.  When off, go ahead and backup the archives that are most important to you, somewhere other than the Time Machine drive.  Otherwise if the original drive does not retain the data, it will eventually vanish.

  • HT201514 Time Machine gives following error message;- The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/JOE OTOOLE's Computer.sparsebundle" is already in use. What does it mean?

    My normally reliable Time Machine is giving following error message;-
    The backup disk image “/Volumes/Data/JOE OTOOLE’s Computer.sparsebundle” is already in use.
    What does it mean and how do I deal with it?

    I have loaded it into ML using a great and free utility unpkg.. it probably works much the same as Pacifist.
    Locate your downloaded 5.6 dmg file.. click it so you can see the pkg but don't bother opening it.
    Download, install and run unpkg.
    http://www.timdoug.com/unpkg/
    Drag the airport utility 5.6 pkg over to unpkg.. and it will create a new directory on the desktop.. named AirPortUtility56.. drill down to Applications, Utilities and you will find the unpackaged utiity.. drag it to your main utilities directory or just run it where you are..

  • Time Machine backups cause error message "Disk No Ejected Properly"

    I have a 2011 iMac using OS X version 10.9.4.  I have had to change the external hard drive used with my Time Machine to get more storage.  Every time the Time Machine backs up (every hour), I get the message "Disk Not Ejected Properly"  Eject "FreeAgent GoFlex Drive" before disconnecting or turning it.
    I am concerned about any damage that is happening because of this message.  I researched this on this forum and other users had a similar problem.  I tried 2 of the easier solutions: 1) make sure none of the boxes are checked in System Energy Saver (ie. put hard disks to sleep when possible, etc.)  and 2) buy and connect a USB hub that has it's own power supply to keep the external hard drive powered constantly.  Neither of these solutions has worked for me.  I still get the message.  So I have two questions.  First, is damage being done to my computer because it "thinks" that I did not properly eject the disc.  And, second, is there anything else I can do to stop this message besides not using the freeagent disc?

    I had the same problem.  it turned out to be a cable issue.  Contact seagate for replacement cable.
    http://www.seagate.com/support-all/

  • HT201250 Why time machine returns an error message that says "unable to open version"?

    I am using Neat for Mac (a scanner software), but it looks like time machine is not doing the backup for it. Every time I open time machine and I have that application opened time machine shows a message that says "unable to open version". Does anybody know what this mean?
    Thanks

    No, sorry I haven't heard of it.. but there are several softwares around that cause TM issues.
    Is the scanner on the network? Or are you backing up to a USB drive and the scanner is also plugged in by USB.. Expect issues anytime you have an application that is going to take control of the port that TM requires for the backup..
    It might be easy to solve by simply using another device that plugs in differently.. ie FW800 disk instead of USB.. or instead of Time Capsule if it is network issue.
    Or simply buy a different backup software. Since Mavericks.. Time Machine is troublesome.. that is far from the only backup choice.. or even the best one.
    Carbon Copy Cloner is my current favourite.. but others are certainly readily available and doubtless work fine.

  • Time Machine backups hanging -- error message included

    Hello. I've read a bunch of the previous topics and tried some other recommendations, but I'm still having trouble. I haven't had a good backup in 10 days now. I'm backup directly via USB to a Western Digital Passport drive.
    So it wasn't until today that I found the TM Buddy. I installed that and systematically excluded certain .plist files that were apparently causing problems. Then I followed Pondini's advice and made the changes in Spotlight and Energy Saver preferences. I also renamed my computer in Sharing to just one word. I even tried a different USB cable, which actually seems to help a bit because my previous cable would cause immediate 'ejections' if it was breathed upon. And of course, I did a Repair Disk in Disk Utility which showed a normally functioning drive.
    Anyway, so I was getting the 'Waiting to be indexed (100) and (101)' errors and the TM job hanging on 'Indexing...'. I finally had one run successfully after 20+ tries, but it only said it backed up around 735MB -- very low number after 10 days since the last successful backup.
    Now, I'm trying a new backup and it's stuck on 'Cleaning Up' according to the spinning menubar icon. The TM widget shows the following:
    Starting standard backup
    Backing up to: /Volumes/Back-up HDD/Backups.backupdb
    Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:* -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Input/output error
    Error: (-36) Creating directory 14EB9137-94AE-44B6-BD8A-9283EC9C943D
    Failed to make snapshot.
    Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:* -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Input/output error
    Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandl
    Wow - as I'm writing this, my drive gets ejected again and the backup stops and drive disappears in Finder. I'm trying to find any other solution besides throwing $100 at another drive. My WD Passport is less than 1.5 yrs old. If it's the drive, then so be it but I'd like to be sure.
    Any help, please? Thanks so much in advance.

    MichaelEB wrote:
    Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:* -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Input/output error
    Error: (-36) Creating directory 14EB9137-94AE-44B6-BD8A-9283EC9C943D
    Failed to make snapshot.
    Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:* -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Input/output error
    Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandl
    All various ways of saying "cannot write to the drive." It either couldn't create the (hidden) log file on the TM drive, then couldn't create the folder for the backups, then couldn't write to the log again.
    It's probably the drive.
    Less likely (but possible considering the cable issue) is a port (try others), or other connections (hook it up directly; no hubs or daisy-chaining.
    Another long shot is another USB device taking too much power intermittently. Disconnect all other USB devices.

  • HT3275 trying to back up on time machine and get error message saying ... sparse bundle is already in use -can't complete backup

    sparse bundle already in use-can't complete backup

    On your iMac....
    Open Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities > AirPort Utility
    Click on the Time Capsule icon, then click Edit in the small window that appears
    Click on the Base Station menu at the upper most top of the screen up where the File, Help, etc menus reside
    Click on Restart
    Wait a few minutes and try another backup

  • Time Machine warning: An error occured while creating a backup folder. What to do???

    Time Machine warning: An error occured while creating a backup folder. What to do???

    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 an abnormal backup. Now
    CLEAR THE WORD "Starting" FROM THE TEXT FIELD
    so that all messages are showing, 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 to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. 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.

  • "Insufficient Memory" error message

    I got “Insufficient Memory” error messages in working on the job needed large files ( > 100MB) with AI 5.5 in office with below #1 PC spec. Error message starts to happen after working 15min to 1 hour depends on the file. I need to restart computer in each “Insufficient Memory” error message pop-up (otherwise the messages will continue to pop-up). Sometimes the file can’t be saved after the error message occurred.
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  • Hard drive says I have more than 300 GB available with a 500 gb capacity. Yet I get "Low Disk Space" error messages when I do anything.

    Hard drive says I have more than 300 GB available with a 500 gb capacity. Yet I get "Low Disk Space" error messages when I do anything.
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    Back up all data. Don't continue unless you're sure you can restore from a backup, even if you're unable to log in.
    This procedure will unlock all your user files (not system files) and reset their ownership and access-control lists to the default. If you've set special values for those attributes on any of your files, they will be reverted. In that case, either stop here, or be prepared to recreate the settings if necessary. Do so only after verifying that those settings didn't cause the problem. If none of this is meaningful to you, you don't need to worry about it.
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    Take this step only if you have trouble with Step 1 or if it doesn't solve the problem.
    Boot into Recovery. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select
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  • HT3275 My time machine is sending me messages that the disk image is "already in use" as the reason it can't complete a backup. What gives?

    My time machine is sending me messages that the disk image is "already in use" as the reason it can't complete a backup. What gives?

    That is our most common error.. ever since Mountain Lion came along with its inability to remember beyond a few hours. where the devices are located.. and so forgets to dismount properly.
    Look at the right hand.. More Like This.
    A simple restart fixes it. ie pull out the power cord.. count to 10.. plug the power cord back into the TC.
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  • Having trouble with Face Time app, get following error messages

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    This could be a complicated problem to solve, as there are many possible causes for it. Test after taking each of the following steps that you haven't already tried. Back up all data before making any changes.
    Before proceeding, test on another network, if possible. That could be a public Wi-Fi hotspot, if your computer is portable, or a cellular network if you have a mobile device that can share its Internet connection. If you find that iMessage works on the other network, the problem is in your network or at your ISP, not in your computer.
    Step 1
    Check the status of the service. If the service is down, wait tor it to come back up. There may be a localized outage, even if the status indicator is green.
    Step 2
    Restart your broadband device and your router, if different. You may have to skip this step if you don't control those devices.
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    From the menu bar, select
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    Step 5
    From the menu bar, select
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    Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”
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    Test while logged in as Guest. After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.
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    Boot into Recovery and reinstall OS X.
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    If none of the above steps resolves the issue, make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store, or contact Apple  Support.

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