Time Machine Just Churns; Backups Not Performed

Time Machine, which is connected to Time Capsule, has not completed a backup for about 3 weeks. It just says "Preparing to Backup," the clock icon spins for hours, and no backup is ever completed.
I tried to to a manual backup but got a message that the disk is full. Tried to delete stuff off it to free up space and got error messages there, too.
Any idea what's going on and how I can fix?
Thanks!

Try powering off both the TC and your Mac
Wait a minute
In addition to the connection from the modem, make sure that you have another Ethernet cable connected from one of the LAN <-> ports on the TC to the Mac
Start the TC first and let it run for a minute
Then start up the Mac and wait a minute
Open AirPort Utility again to see if the TC will appear.
If yes, click on the TC icon, then click Edit on the next window that appears. Then click the Disks tab to see the Erase Disk button.
By the way, you are not using the OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.8 as your profile indicates. You are using Lion 10.7.4. Please update your profile to include that important information.

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Time Machine making full backups--not incremental

Hi,
I just installed Snow Leopard on my Mac Pro a couple of days ago, and have been using Time Machine to make backups (never used it before now). I have TimeMachineEditor installed, and have it set to make a backup daily at 3:30am. It backs up data from my 500GB main hard drive to another internal 500GB hard drive.
The first backup went without a hitch, and did a full backup as expected (everything). But the second, third, and fourth backups all were full backups as well....not incremental as they should've been. The fourth one was actually a manual backup I did to test it...I chose "Back Up Now" to see if it did full or incremental. It did a full backup.
So, after four backups, each a little over 100GB, I'm already running out of space Has anyone else run into this behaviour? Is this a consequence of TimeMachineEditor having screwed it up somehow? Even if it has, shouldn't a manual backup still do an incremental backup?
Very strange....

canadavenyc wrote:
V.K. wrote:
yes, well, if Toronto ever gets a team in any sport worth rooting for, I might stop posting on apple forums and start watching them.
lol...well, seeing as how you'll clearly be here a while then... ...perhaps I can prevail upon you to answer one last question that just occurred to me.
Let's say I have tons of TM snapshots on my backup drive, and at some point I want to delete a few to clear some space. I know TM automatically goes after the earliest ones when the drive fills up,
You should know that TM also constantly thins recent backups. It keeps hourly backups for 24 hours and then deletes all but one for every day; it keeps daily backups for 30 days and then deletes all but one for every week. it keeps all weekly backups till the TM drive gets full at which point it starts deleting the oldest ones.
but let's say I manually want to delete a few snapshots that contain, say, a massive cache file or something totally useless to keep around, which I could afford to delete and would gain me a lot more drive space.
When I go into the TM interface to do the removal, how can I figure out which snapshots to get rid of? How would you do it?
TM offers two options. you can delete an entire backup corresponding to a time point or it can delete all backups of a given file/folder. to do that enter TM and scroll back in time to some time point. select something and click on the "gears" action button in Finder toolbar. you'll see options "delete backup" (deletes the entire backup for that time point), and 'delete all backups of this item". deletes all backups of the selected item from all time points. I use the latter sometimes to get rid of backups of very large files.

I want to use my Time Capsule just as backup, not as a router. How?

I just want to use my Time Capsule as a wireless back-up and not as a router of any kind. My mac is already connected to my wireless network and it seems the the Time Capsule wants to run a wireless connection of its own?
Here's what I've done:
-Plugged the time capsule into a power outlet (have not plugged it into anything else)
-The amber light continues to blink
-Ran a back-up (to do this I had to disconnect from my main wireless and connect the time Time Capsule Connection)
-It ran through a back-up and completed, but when I tried to open time machine, it couldn't connect so I switch back to my main wireless connection
I am not good with setting up connections and things of that nature.. I am afraid to unhook my main wireless.
What do I do?
Thanks!

The Time Capsule should be bridged and plugged into the main router.. you can then use the wireless on the TC or the main router.. both will give you internet and TM will be able to backup.
What OS version are you running.. I only know the v5 method of setting up the TC.. where you go to internet tab, connection sharing and select off .. bridge mode.. if you have later OS.. like Lion, you can download the 5.6 utility.
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1482
It is much better than later version. But it will not install into ML.. you will need another member to describe the method or google for it.. bridge TC with 6.1 utility.

Time Capsule just for backups, not for wifi.

I used to use my Time Capsule for both backups and wifi but constantly had issues, so I just disconnected it in favor of a simple Airport Express. No issues since switching, but now I have this Time Capsule just sitting here and don't do automatic backups any longer...I would like to use solely for back ups, I don't need these backups to be wireless, just for use with Time Machine. I can't find the answer by google, any suggestions?

I am trying to do the same thing but I am having an issue.
I, too, was having issues with using the Time Capsule (new one-2T) as a router and for backup (the Internet was dropping all the time). So I bought a separate router (ASUS RT-N56U) and have that plugged into my Motorola modem. The Time Capsule I have plugged into the router.
Airport Utility and I have become best friends as of late with all the problems I am having and my TC keeps getting lost-AU says that it was part of my network and now can't be found. Strangely, if I go to Open Network Settings from the menu bar and select Assist Me--->Diagnostics--->Select my network--->Continue and when the window pops up about Always Allow Keychain, I click on Always Allow. And that seems to correct the problem with my TC not being found/part of the network. This happens all the time lately.... Ever since I got the new router.
So if you or anyone have any insight into what is going on.... I will try it! Thanks for the help, Judy

Time Machine won't backup notes

Notes.app in the new Mountain Lion stores its data in a very deeply hidden set of files NotesV1.storedata-wal and NotesV1.storedata-shm found in Library/Containers/com.apple.Notes/Data/Library/Notes.
Running Time Machine with Notes in the foreground switches to Finder. When navigating to the path of the actual files, only today's versions with today's date appear in the directory although we are looking at a state saved in the past.
Notes is essential and backup of notes is a vital function, especially for people with hundreds of notes they rely upon.

Make sure that the first Mac is not backing up at the time....then....
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
Try a backup again from the second Mac in a few minutes
Post on your results

Time Machine directory locked - backups not working

My Time Machine directory is locked - that is, when looked at in info, the directory icon shows a silver padlock at the bottom left-hand corner. Also, in Finder, it has a lock too. If I try to get into the volume, even as owner and/or admin, I have the message 'The folder "Time Machine" could not be opened because you do not have sufficient access privileges'.
I've researched this and it seems to be because there are access control lists applied to the volume. Running the command xattr -l Time\ Machine in a Terminal shell shows that the comp.apple.metadata"kMDItemFinderComment is set to say 'bplist00_ Backup disc for {machine name}'.
Now, I recently changed the machine name. This might be the root of my problem. But I can't see how to fix this, because when I try to remove the attribute with attr -d it says 'no such xattr'.
What is going on here? I've tried, to unlock the drive, using 'chmod -R 777 {volume}', but this doesn't work as the command fails on a number of entries.
Any suggestions gratefully received!

That's not how you access Time Machine backups.
TM uses special "deny everybody everything" permissions to keep us mere mortals from changing, moving, or deleting it's backups, thus corrupting them.
Use the "Star Wars" interface, via the +Enter Time Machine+ option from the TM icon in your menubar, or the TM icon in your Dock.
Changing the machine name might mean you need the (badly named) +Browse Other Time Machine Disks+ option instead. It's available by holding down the Option key while selecting the TM icon in your Menubar, or by control-clicking (right-clicking) the TM icon in your Dock.
You'll see a selection screen showing all the disks/partitions that have TM backups on them. Select the one you want, and you'll be taken to the normal TM "Star Wars" interface, where you should see all the backups on that disk/partition.

Time Machine Stuck (Incremental backup, not Initial)

Hey...me again.
I was finally successful yesterday backing up 160GB of data with Time Machine.
However, this morning, the incremental backup is taking forever. It's been stuck at "3.6MB of 6.7MB" for over 20 minutes. It would seem to me that 6.7MB should be pretty quick to backup.
I have received these messages from TM Buddy:
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb
No pre-backup thinning needed: 100.0 MB requested (including padding), 279.56 GB available
Unable to rebuild path cache for source item. Partial source path:
Copied 305079 files (49.1 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
No pre-backup thinning needed: 100.0 MB requested (including padding), 279.31 GB available
And Console shows this:
Aug 25 10:23:53 Kieran-Roys-MacBook-Pro /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[254]: Backup requested by user
Aug 25 10:23:53 Kieran-Roys-MacBook-Pro /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[254]: Starting standard backup
Aug 25 10:23:53 Kieran-Roys-MacBook-Pro /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[254]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb
Aug 25 10:26:21 Kieran-Roys-MacBook-Pro /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[254]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 100.0 MB requested (including padding), 279.56 GB available
Aug 25 10:27:51 Kieran-Roys-MacBook-Pro /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[254]: Unable to rebuild path cache for source item. Partial source path:
Aug 25 10:41:06 Kieran-Roys-MacBook-Pro /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[254]: Copied 305079 files (49.1 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Aug 25 10:42:21 Kieran-Roys-MacBook-Pro /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[254]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 100.0 MB requested (including padding), 279.31 GB available
Any idea on how to resolve?
Thanks,
K

kieranroy wrote:
Hey...me again
Hi again. You seem to have really angered the god of TM, haven't you!
However, this morning, the incremental backup is taking forever. It's been stuck at "3.6MB of 6.7MB" for over 20 minutes. It would seem to me that 6.7MB should be pretty quick to backup.
Unable to rebuild path cache for source item. Partial source path:
This usually doesn't cause a real problem, as long as it's occasional.
Copied 305079 files (49.1 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
This we see on occasion -- the crazy high file count, and very slow backup.
Aug 25 10:42:21 Kieran-Roys-MacBook-Pro /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd254: No pre-backup thinning needed: 100.0 MB requested (including padding), 279.31 GB available
Normally, TM will make a second, "catch-up" pass if changes were made during it's first pass. Usually this is very quick, but since the first one way very slow, this one may be worse.
Do you have any folders, particularly email mailboxes, with a very large number of files (thousands), that are actively being added-to or changed? There was a similar situation recently where an app named SpamSieve was putting messages into a "spam" folder, and the user never cleared it out. Clearing it out helped, but excluding it from Time Machine solved the problem.
Click here to download the TimeTracker app. It shows most of the files saved by TM for each backup (excluding some hidden/system files, etc.). I think it will only show completed backups, so you may not be able to find anything. But look at what's being backed-up to see if any of the files, even if there's only one, are in extremely large folders. If so, try excluding the folder (TM Preferences > Options).

I baught Seagate Backup plus 2T hard drive to use as my Backup time machine. But its not working when i connect to time machine its not coping files, it keep saying preparing files. Can someone help me please...

i baught Seagate Backup plus 2T hard drive to use as my Backup time machine. But its not working. when i connect to time machine its not coping files, it keep saying preparing files. Can someone help me please...

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 the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you turn on the computer, and again when you log in.
Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually login 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?
After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

Time Machine Error: "The backup disk image could not be created." Help.

I have two Macbook Pro's. One is able to backup to the Time Capsule with no problems. The other connects just fine to Airport Utility, but I get the following error after I attempt to backup: Time Machine Error: "The backup disk image could not be created."
I have reset the Time Capsule several times, so that is not the fix.
The first thing I see when attempting to open Time Machine is the following message: :The storage location for Time Machine Backups can't be found." It gives me the option to setup the Time Capsule, which I select. The next thing I select is to Change Disk. The window that opens has the Icon with Three people on it. The name of that Icon is The Moreman Time Capsule. I select it, and enter the password I created. I then choose to Backup. Then I choose to backup now. That is when I get the error: Time Machine Error: "The backup disk image could not be created."
Any ideas? Has anyone encountered this problem?

You have to delete the .dmg file and start over. This happened to me 3 times already, I finally switched to Déjà Vu, works perfect and only once a day instead of 24 times a day.
http://propagandaprod.com/

Time machine won't backup, yet plenty of space & not much used on Mac HD

Well, this is yet another "Time machine won't backup becuase there is not enough space" thread. I have searched Google and threads here but it's still a mystery why this error is occurring and it seems there is no clear solution. I also looked at the Apple Time Machine errors FAQ as well.
Here are my specs and what I have tried so far.
2010 Mac Pro Quad Core with 1 TB hard drive with 12 GB RAM. (137 GB used so far on internal Mac hard drive disk, so about 863 GB free space).
- New external 1 TB hard drive initialized as Time Machine backup disk when inserted for the first time.
The exact error I am getting is this: "This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 1.80 TB but only 999.20 GB are available."
I have tried deleting the Time Machine system preference, reinitializing the external disk, clearing the system caches with Cocktail, restarting and letting Time machine ask me all over again if I wanted to use the external drive for Time Machine. Still the same error.
My question is how on earth can 1.80 TB be required for the backup when I only have 137 GB of used space?

danomatic12 wrote:
My question is how on earth can 1.80 TB be required for the backup when I only have 137 GB of used space?
Two possibilities:
There's another disk (or disks) connected to your Mac. If they're formatted HFS+, Time Machine is trying to back it/them up as well. You can exclude them per #10 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum). The 1.8 TB includes 20% for temporary workspace on the TM drive, so TM is estimating the backup at about 1.5 TB.
Something on your internal HD is corrupted, causing an incorrect calculation. Verify your internal HD, per #6 in [Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks|http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/DU.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of the +Using Snow Leopard+ forum).

TimeMachine not backing up, as hard drive is full. Can the time machine clear old backups and replace them with new?

Time Macine not backing up.
As the harddrive is full, Can the time machine clear old backups, and override them with new backups. For example 5 - 6 days +++ old. Backups were proformed dayly
Any help much appreciated
Many thanks,

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. Clear the text field and scroll back in the log to that time. 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 (command-C) to the Clipboard. Paste (command-V) into a reply to this message.
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.

I just fix my macbook air because it was kernel panic. They changed the hard drive. I could not back up with Time Machine, because it did not work and I had over Adobe creative suite 5 design premium student. But I finished my studies last year and I'd li

I just fix my macbook air because it was kernel panic. They changed the hard drive. I could not back up with Time Machine, because it did not work and I had over Adobe creative suite 5 design premium student. But I finished my studies last year and I'd like to know how to get the serial number for me to reinstall Adobe creative suite 5 design premium when I am no longer study because I would still like the used? It is not fair if I do anymore because I really need.

You can download Creative Suite 5 here:
Other downloads
To deal with the issue of the serial number and using it again, you'll have to use Web Chat. Here's a link:
Adobe ID, sign in, and account help
See the bottom of the page for a link

I am trying to confirm the time at which a particular backup occurred using an external hard drive that I have since misplaced. Although time machine lists the backup times for some backups, it does not list them for all. Can someone help?

I am trying to confirm the time at which a particular backup occurred using an external hard drive that I have since misplaced. Although time machine lists the backup times for some backups, it does not list them for all, including the one in question. Can someone help?

Okay, I've sussed it. I saw a link to another discussion that hadn't turned up in any of my searches before I posted the question above.
My Tosh HDD was formatted to FAT 32 and therefore would not be backed up by Time Machine. I removed all data from it - nightmare as I hadn't enough space to put it on the macbook HDD, but, after trawling through numerous photos and deleting rubbish for hours, I finally made enough space and copied all data across. Then, after clearing the data from the Tosh HDD, I used disk utilitity to reformat it to Mackintosh OS Extended. Chose the option without kournalling because I'm not baking up onto this disk and so don't need it - according to some other discussions I found.
When it was done I check on time machine in system prefs and once I selected options, I was able to remove it from the excluded from backups list. Hey presto. Now I'm moving my photo library and my music library onto the Tosh HDD and my macbook should start to breath again. Hurray.

HT3275 TIME MACHINE ERROR: The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/Sean McGuire's MacBook Pro.sparsebundle" could not be created (error 1).

I can select a disk (Time Capsule) and initiate the backup. It only "waits to back up" then "making backup disk available" and remains frozen there. I tried to update the software a while back and was unsuccessful, I think that may be the issue.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated. This is the error message I receive.
TIME MACHINE ERROR: The backup disk image “/Volumes/Data/Sean McGuire’s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle” could not be created (error 1).
Thanks

See #C17 in Pondini's excellent support document Time Machine - Troubleshooting
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

Time Machine says the backup is too large but it is not

Time Machine says the backup is too large but it is not.
While it is true my hard drive is very full (150 Gb used of the available 160Gb), this is way less than 42 Pb!!!!
I have tried numerous time to reset it and still the same issue.
Here is the reoccurring message:
Advice?

PB.. what the heck is a PB.. I kind of thought TB are still in fairly low digits.
Do a disk verify.. something is seriously stupidly wrong.. Otherwise ring Apple support and give them an earful about nonsense popups.
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html A5

Time Machine Just Churns; Backups Not Performed

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