Time Machine isn't backing up to Time Capsule

My Time Machine isn't backing up to my Time capsule.
I am using OS X 10.8.2 which I believe is the latest version.
The problem I have is the following error message pops up on my Macbook pro screen :
Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to "Alec McDermott's Time Capsule".
The backup disk image "/Volumes/Alec McDermott's
Time Capsu/Alec McDermott's MacBook
Pro.sparsebundle" is already in use.
Any assistance anyone can offer would be very much apprecated.
Alec

See here...
The Backup disk image ... sparsebundle ... is already in use.
From Pondini’s excellent Information Here...
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.htm

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Hi VincentMboyko,
Thanks for visiting Apple Support Communities.
The troubleshooting steps in this article can help if your Time Machine isn't backing up:
Time Machine: Troubleshooting backup issues
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3275
All the best,
Jeremy

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.

Time Machine isn't backing up VMWare Fusion

Hello,
I understand Time Machine is supposed to backup Fusion Virtual Machines. It doesn't seem to happen for me. I was running Fusion 1.1.3 and my father inadvertently selected "Revert to Previous Snapshot" and lost all my latest files. I assumed I could just restore from yesterday's Time Machine backup--but it's not there. When I launch Time Machine, the 'virtual machines' folder is empty. I upgraded to Fusion 2.0 and it still doesn't seem to backup ('virtual machines' folder is still empty in TM). Anyone have an answer? How does Time Machine store these files?

This from VMWares' web site:
+"VMware Fusion 1.1.2 and Mac OS X Leopard Time Machine Issue Resolved
A bug in the Mac OS X 10.5-10.5.1 operating systems caused the system to fail if Time Machine attempted to back up live virtual machines. *To avoid this, VMware Fusion 1.1 excluded all virtual machines from Time Machine backups.* Apple resolved the Time Machine bug in Mac OS X 10.5.2, so VMware Fusion 1.1.2 now allows Time Machine backups of virtual machines if the Mac is running Mac OS X 10.5.2 or higher. This may result in larger Time Machine backups. If the backups are now too large, you can manually exclude your virtual machines from Time Machine backup and copy them separately to your backup disk.+
I realize you are running 10.5.5 and you have upgraded to Fusion 3. However, any chance you still have some Fusion 1.1 components still installed on the Mac that might be preventing TM from backing up Fusion?
Alternatively, others have not excluded anything in the TM Prefs Pane, yet certain files/folders were not being backed up. They cleared this up by deleting the following .plist.
*Delete Time Machine Preference .plist*
Go to --> Macintosh HD / Library / Preferences (Note: NOT Home / Library / Preferences).
Drag the .plist file labeled,
com.apple.TimeMachine.plist
to the root level of your Macs’ hard drive.
Reboot your computer.
This .plist file is automatically recreated at startup if it is missing.
Now try choosing the external HD in the TM Prefs for backup again.
Perform a backup and see if the missing file now appears in the last backup.
Glenn

Time Machine isn't backing up external drive

I've been using Time Machine successfully for some time now. Recently I decided to move my iTunes music to an external drive (my internal drive was nearly full.) So I moved 150+ GB of iTunes library to the external drive successfully, but Time Machine seems to completely ignore the external (FireWire) drive. It's formatted as Mac OS Extended (that's HFS+, right?) so I don't understand what the problem might be.
Also, if I can get Time Machine to start backing up both drives correctly, should I erase the backup drive and start over? Otherwise, I assume that I'm going to be wasting a lot of (backup) drive space, since the 150GB iTunes library will be backed up from its original location on my internal drive, as well as from its new location on the external drive… what's the best way to deal with that?
Thanks in advance for the help.

Dave Troup wrote:
If V.K.s suggestion doesn't work, try excluding the drive, quitting System Preferences, then removing the exclusion.
Also, if I can get Time Machine to start backing up both drives correctly, should I erase the backup drive and start over? Otherwise, I assume that I'm going to be wasting a lot of (backup) drive space, since the 150GB iTunes library will be backed up from its original location on my internal drive, as well as from its new location on the external drive… what's the best way to deal with that?
You may not need to. TM will, eventually, delete it's copies of anything not still on your internal HD. When is just a question of how soon the TM drive/partition gets near full, and TM must start deleting your oldest "weekly" backups. You are supposed to get a message about that, if you have the appropriate box checked in TM's Preferences, but several folks here report they never did, so assume nothing.
Still, if you want, you can delete all the backups of a file or folder. Enter Time Machine, find and select the folder in question (presumably iTunes on your internal HD) in one of the "cascade" of Finder windows, then click the "gear" icon. That will give you an option to +Delete all backups of <folder>.+
You'll then get a confirmation prompt (may take quite a while, considering the size), then the usual place to enter your Administrator's password. The actual deletion will probably take quite a while, also. There was a report the other day that the item was still visible for quite some time after TM seemed to have finished the deletion, but eventually it did disappear.
Then make some change to the folder, or something within it, so TM will consider it changed and back-up the new (smaller) version.

Time machine will not back up to time capsule

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Depending on exactly what message you get, you might need #C17 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting
If not, please post the message (a screenshot would be fine).

Time Machine won't back up onto Time Capsule

I upgraded to Mountain Lion last week, and Time Machine won't back up to my Time Capsule. When it fails, I get the message:
Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to "Tom's Time Capsule".
The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/TomsMac.sparsebundle" could not be created (error 60)
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The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer.
The popup offers three choices: Initialize, Ignore, Eject.
My local Apple Store Genius concluded that the problem must be with the Time Capsule, so I bought a new one. That didn't fix the problem.
Time Machine Buddy messages:
Starting manual backup
Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://Tom%[email protected]/Data
Mounted network destination at mount point: /Volumes/Data using URL: afp://Tom%[email protected]/Data
Creating disk image /Volumes/Data/TomsMac.sparsebundle
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Failed to create disk image /Volumes/Data/TomsMac.sparsebundle, status: 60
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Help!

Just to be sure, we're talking about a Time Capsule -- not an AirPort Extreme connected to an external hard drive. Right?
If so, proceed as follows.
Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
The purpose of this exercise is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Boot in safe mode* and log in to the account with the problem. The instructions provided by Apple are as follows:
Be sure your Mac is shut down.
Press the power button.
Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold the Shift key. The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone, but not before the tone.
Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple icon and the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).
*Note: If FileVault is enabled under OS X 10.7 or later, or if a firmware password is set, you can’t boot in safe mode.
Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem(s)?
After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

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Update!
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I left Timecapsule inside TimeMachiine configuration to be used alternating with USB disk and doing Backup, unfortunately there no Backup has finished. Most of the times I've needed to stop since it was hanging, some other times I've got an error Message.

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Hey, my new Time Machine worked a treat for the first couple of days, but now I get a "sparsebundle is already in use" message. Also, the original 153gb backup seems to have disappeared! Any clues with how I can deal with this?

Just reboot the whole network.. restart modem .. router/TC.. clients with 2min gap.
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Check also the ML discussion are for Time Machine problems.
Apple made a dog's breakfast of it.

Time Machine Won't Back Up to Time Capsule

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1/ Deleting the plist file
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3/ Backing up in safe mode
4/ Deleting the hard drive content and starting again
5/ Backing up through my LAN rather than WAN - can't even find the drive.
I have thought about buying a new Time Capsule, but I cannot be sure the problem lies with my current one. If anybody has any ideas they would be gratefully received. If not then I can only hope Apple read this and they do something to restore my faith in their operating system.
Many thanks

Before you do anything else, if you now have no current backup, back up all data to a USB hard drive.
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.

Time Machine "backup failed" Backing up to Time Capsule (first backup)

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Well, I greatly appreciate the earlier advice. I have learned much in my reading. Of course, now with my "tinkering", I determined that the Time Capsule was not formatted to OS extended (journaled) as was my Macintosh harddrive. (Don't really understand why it would not come that way). I attempted to format using disk utility, now it doesn't show up in that application and under FINDER (shared devices), it is detailed as "sharepoint". I read elsewhere that it was recommended to use airport utility to reformat to OS Extended (journaled). Anyway, of course, now I've gone full circle and am comfused as to the proper way to have it formatted properly and recognized by disk utility. As such, currently I cannot use it for backup.
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Has anyone seen this? Any suggestions?

The exact error message reported:
The Backup was not performed because an error occurred while copying files to the backup disk.
The problem may be temporary. Try again later to back up. If the problem persists, use Disk Utility to repair your backup disk.
I used Disk Utility on the external disk, and also ended up just erasing the volume on this disk, and attempting a fresh backup. Still no go.
The Time Capsule is connected directly to the iMac via Ethernet.

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.

TS1550 Time Machine is not backing up to Time Capsule.

I am getting this message: Time Machine could not complete backup. The backup disk image "/Volumes/D's Time Capsule/D's MacBook.sparsebundle" is already in use.

Switch off in Time Machine. Then remove the TC from Time Machine and from your network. Erase TC with the Airport Confirugarion Utility program. Select "rewrite with zero's". Multi erasing (7x or 35x) only prevent abuse of your back-up data by others. Then reinstall the TC back again to your network and switch on Time Machine and install the erased TC in Time Machine. It should work. Beware, your back-up files will be lost.
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Time Machine isn't backing up to Time Capsule

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