Time Machine no longer recognizes backup file

Hi:
My Time Capsule was malfunctioning, and I lost my internet connection. I rebooted the Time Capsule, and had to reset the internet connection via the Time Capsule software that's part of System Preferences. When I got my internet connection back up and running, Time Machine can no longer connect to Time Capsule. When it tries to back up, I get this error message...
"The backup disk image “/Volumes/Aquaria-2/JHitch’s Computer_0017f2ce01da.sparsebundle” is already in use.
It's like Time Machine thinks that my backup file on my Time Capsule belongs to somebody else. How can I get Time Machine to go back to using my old backup file on my Time Machine?

I have had this exact problem occur when I logged off while Mail was in TM restore state. I guess the backup is locked somehow because it was cut off while in use. I wish I could help, but I am in the same boat and I will watch this post for help.

Similar Messages

Time Machine no longer recognizes backup

I have been using Time Machine to backup to a Time Capsule for a few years with no problem. Yesterday, I realized that the Time Machine menu in the menubar had an alert icon in it. I clicked on the menu and was told the last update was three days previous. When I open the Time Machine pane in the System Preferences, it tells me that I have no backups on the Time Capsule. When I mount the sparse bundle that is still on the Time Capsule, it mounts fine and I see all my backups (this current set goes back to June of this year when I did a complete reinstall of the system). The only thing that seems to be amiss is that, among the folders containing all the dated backups is a file titled "2011-09-06-181446.inProgress". Any help as to how I can get Time Machine to recognize all these backups as belonging to my system? I don't want to erase them and lose them all. Also, I have verified that the backup is using the correct machine ID, so that's not the issue (I haven't had a motherboard replaced or anything--literally, one day it worked and the next it didn't.

See the Excellent Troubleshooting Information here by Pondini
http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/Index.html

I am trying to get space on an external hard drive which has some old time machine back up files that I do not need but can not eliminate, even by going into the time machine, clicking on the backup file to be eliminated and using the drop down eliminate

I am trying to get space on an external hard drive which has some old time machine back up files that I do not need but can not eliminate, even by going into the time machine, clicking on the backup file to be eliminated and using the drop down menu with the gear box symbol to eliminate

I cannot find this 300GB "Backup" in the Finder, only in the Storage info when I check "About This Mac".
You are probably using Time Machine to backup your MacBook Pro, right? Then the additional 300 GB could be local Time Machine snapshots. Time Machine will write the hourly backups to the free space on your hard disk, if the backup drive is temporarily not connected. You do not see these local backups in the Finder, and MacOS will delete them, when you make a regular backup to Time Machine, or when you need the space for other data.
See Pondini's page for more explanation: What are Local Snapshots? http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
I have restarted my computer, but the information remains the same. How do I reclaim the use of the 300GB? Why is it showing up as "Backups" when it used to indicate "Photos"? Are my photos safe on the external drive?
You have tested the library on the external drive, and so your photos are save there.
The local TimeMachine snapshot probably now contains a backup of the moved library. Try, if connecting your Time Machine drive will reduce the size of your local Time Machine snapshots.

Time machine does not recognize backups

I need to do a restore because after a logic board replacement my apps are not showing as registered, in other words they are all asking for serial numbers. I would like to see if I can use time machine to restore these apps. I don't want to do a full restore using the OS X install CD because it says it erases the contents of the volume. I'm assuming that means teh system and apps will be restored but I'll lose my files.
I can;t get time machine to recognize backups and I found this...
Symptoms
In the Mac OS X 10.5 Time Machine "time travel" window, past backups may not appear if your computer name includes certain characters.
Products Affected
Resolution
Check your computer name in Sharing preferences. Make sure the computer name only includes ASCII characters from following set and is not blank (no matter which Mac OS X language version you are using):
0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
so I changed my computer name accordingly but the backup folder in Backups.backupdb still has the old name with a character not allowed. Nothing I do to change priveleges allows me to rename the folder!
Advice needed! Thanks!

It is not a simple matter of the computer name. A simple rename of the backup doesn't do it. It my be necessary but its not the obstacle.
The MAC address of the old board is in the Extended Attributes (EAs -"invisible" metadata) for the old board backups and the MAC address of the new board is in its EAs. If they MAC address in the EA doesn't match the MAC address of the machine that Time Machine is trying to backup it won't do it and it will start a new backup. That certainly appears to be the situation you face.
You can see this by a simple check in terminal. Below is a sample I have two machines name Juvenal and Pliny. The xattr command with the -l option lists all the extended attributes of a file. For the backups of my systems it returns a value that is, in fact, the MAC address of that machine. If the MAC address of the target and source don't match Time Machine won't do the backup and will start a newbackup'
~ $xattr -l /Volumes/Backup\ of\ Juvenal/Backups.backupdb/Juvenal
com.apple.backupd.BackupMachineAddress:
0000 30 30 3A 31 64 3A 34 66 3A 34 61 3A 66 31 3A 64 00:1d:4f:1a:f4:d6
0010 36 00
~ $xattr -l /Volumes/Backup\ of\ Pliny/Backups.backupdb/Pliny
com.apple.backupd.BackupMachineAddress:
0000 30 30 3A 31 62 3A 36 33 3A 33 66 3A 66 64 3A 37 00:1b:63:3f:fd:76
0010 36 00
The actual path to your backups will depend on your configuration and whether or not the backup is on a locally attached drive or not. Mine - in the example above - are on a TC and the results occur after opening the sparse bundles.
The solution I pointed you do is trying to deal with this and change it so the MAC addresses match.
I agree this is a known problem and warrant an official fix which should not be complicated.

Time machine has hidden past backup files

I recently did a restore using Time Machine.
1) Time Machine created a new backup folder.
2) the old backup folders are still on the drive but no longer visible or excessible.
3) the files are still there because the backup hard drive is almost full.
4) is there a way to bring back the backup files Time Machine has hidden or possibly overwritten

Thank you Pondini for jumping in on this one.
I use Time Machine to backup on an external hard for my FCP video files to another external HD. I do not use TM for my iMac. (Snow Leopard).
On Wednesday my FCP hard drive had a failure of some sort and would not allow to be written on, so I formatted the FCP hard drive and then "restored" the latest files from the backup hard drive. But, during the the process of restoring the auto backup kicked in and started to backup the FCP hard drive onto the backup HD at the same time I was restoring the FCP drive.
When all was said and done... the backup drive no longer showed the past three months of FCP files, but instead only shows Wednesday's last folder. The files are still on the backup drive because I am now getting a "failure" due to lack of hard drive space. I believe it's because the three months of files are still on the hard drive but Time Machine is no longer recoginizing the old folders. The current backup folder reads:
Backups.backupdb - with the folder inside: Admin's iMac (2) - with another folder inside: 2012-12-23-193009 - followed by a "Latest" folder that has only 4KB Alias in the Size and Kind columns.
Are you running Snow Leopard? YES
It did that when you ran a new backup after the restore, right? YES but Time Machine created a new backup folder.
Did you do a "full system restore," starting up from your Snow Leopard Install disc? YES, but after 5 hours the backup stopped with the "failure" due to not enough disk space to contine. This is not possible because the backup HD is 4T and reading 1.8T available.
I am trying to find a way to revive the original Time Machine folders that go back to November without having to reformat the entire backup drive.

Time Machine no longer backing up files.

so basically my question is... what do i do? is there a way to recover files? do i need to wipe out all data on my TC?
this is the story....
-TC was good for 2 months.
...Recently....
-I tell TC to backup.
-It takes FOREVER to "preparing backup..."
-then a window pops up that says,
"*Time Machine Error*
The backup disk image could not be mounted"
-When i go to Time Capsule in Finder, it doesnt say "My Backup's" anymore theres something that looks like it replaced that, which says "MyMacbook32r_2rf.Sparcebundle"
-Also, when trying to access old files via Time Machine... nothing happens.
-Another window just popped up that said,
"The Storage Location for Time Machine Backups Can't be Found"
Recent things that happened that could have caused this...
i tried downloading a movie in my TC but it was way too slow downloading so i just cancelled.
i downloaded another movie to my TC, Pineapple Express, and that worked.. but i couldnt seem to find it in the TC. i always had to open QT and go to recently played and use it from there. sketchy.
I tried using that Disk Utility thing...
2008-11-05 10:42:43 -0500: Disk Utility started.
2008-11-05 10:46:15 -0500: Verify and Repair volume “Backup of Bradley Stewart’s MacBook”
Starting repair tool: 2008-11-05 10:46:15 -0500
2008-11-05 10:46:16 -0500: Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
2008-11-05 10:46:16 -0500: Detected a case-sensitive catalog.
2008-11-05 10:46:17 -0500: Checking Extents Overflow file.
2008-11-05 10:46:17 -0500: Checking Catalog file.
2008-11-05 11:50:11 -0500: Invalid sibling link
2008-11-05 11:50:11 -0500: Volume check failed.
2008-11-05 11:50:11 -0500: Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed.2008-11-05 11:50:11 -0500:
2008-11-05 11:50:11 -0500: Disk Utility stopped repairing “Backup of Bradley Stewart’s MacBook” because the following error was encountered:
Filesystem verify or repair failed.
2008-11-05 11:50:11 -0500:
2008-11-05 12:34:43 -0500: Verifying volume “Backup of Bradley Stewart’s MacBook”
Starting verification tool: 2008-11-05 12:34:43 -0500
2008-11-05 12:34:43 -0500: Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
2008-11-05 12:34:43 -0500: Detected a case-sensitive catalog.
2008-11-05 12:34:44 -0500: Checking Extents Overflow file.
2008-11-05 12:34:44 -0500: Checking Catalog file.
2008-11-05 12:56:47 -0500: Invalid sibling link
2008-11-05 12:56:47 -0500: Volume check failed.
2008-11-05 12:56:47 -0500: Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed.2008-11-05 12:56:47 -0500:
2008-11-05 12:56:47 -0500: Disk Utility stopped verifying “Backup of Bradley Stewart’s MacBook” because the following error was encountered:
Filesystem verify or repair failed.
2008-11-05 12:56:47 -0500:

These suggestions have worked for others...
*_"The Backup Disk Image Could Not Be Mounted"_*
First, it is important to distinguish this error message from another, similar Time Machine error that states “The backup volume could not be mounted”. This is important as the causes and cures for these two errors can be very different.
Consider each topic below separately. When one option does not resolve your issue, then move on the next one.
*Unmount the Backup Disk Image* (TC)
If, for some reason, you have manually mounted the Time Machine backup disk image (sparsebundle), or Time Machine failed to eject it after the previous backup, subsequent backups may fail. (Console - “Failed to mount disk image”… “Backup failed with error: 21”)
Eject the backup disk image (white drive icon) by either clicking the little Eject icon to the right of the disk image in the Finders’ Sidebar, or Ctrl-Click the drive icon on the desktop and select “Eject” from the contextual menu. Now try backing up again or launching Time Machine to view previous backups.
*“Disconnect All Users…”:* #
If your Time Machine backup drive (“Backup of Users Computer”) is mounted on your desktop or in the Sidebar of the Finder window. then Time Machine may think the drive is already in use. Alternatively, if the Time Capsule hard disk has been recently accessed by a Windows machine, it may not have fully relinquished control. Do the following:
Open Airport Utility and select the Time Capsule on the left.
Click “Manual Setup”.
Select “Disks” at top of window.
Click “Disconnect All Users…” at bottom of window.
Close the Airport Utility.
Now try Backing up again.
One poster reported: “I got it resolved. Apparently it had to do with one of the files being open on the disk from the drive. I had browsed the disk with one of my windows boxes here and it must have left one of the folders "open". Anyway, I rebooted the TC and we are good to go now.”
*Proper Computer Name* #
Make sure your computer has a proper name. Go to System Preferences --> Sharing. Time Machine needs to differentiate your computer from others on your network (i.e. "Bills MacBook" or "Office iMac"). If the "Computer Name" field is blank, create a name. Realize that if this step is necessary, you will likely have to start the Time Machine backup process over again and do another full initial backup.
According to this article, [http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1760], Time Machine may experience problems if your computer name includes certain characters. Make sure the computer name only includes ASCII characters from the following set.
(0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ)
Once a change in the computer name occurs, you should stop and restart Sharing on the affected computer. Uncheck and then recheck Sharing in the Services list on the left.
Also, try removing the apostrophe from the disk images name (sparsebundle).
Let us know if any of the suggestions above helped to resolve your issue.
Cheers!

Time Machine no longer recognizes my WD portable drive for storage

The portable drive use to work fine for storage for my time machine. Now the drive does not show in desktop when plugged in. Time machine is directing me to set up but does not recognize any device. Thank you for any help.
J.

Same exact thing happened to me... Time Machine ceased to recognize external drive - stopped backing up (obviously) then drive would no longer appear on desktop. After multiple reboots, plug/unplug, and cable jiggling - the drive returned to the desktop... Time Machine STILL does not see it. Using Disk Utilities to verify - hopefully repair. Many errors appearing in log! Isn't it a little odd that so many external drives of different models are all failing while using the same program... ?

Time Machine won't recognize backups

I have two external RAID 5 units. One for content, one for backup of said content. Both are 10TB. Content to be backed up is 5.27TB.
Time machine completes the first backup, but fails to do any subsequent backups, saying there isn't enough space. It says it needs 5.27TB to backup, but it's already completed one backup and should only be adding changes, correct? When I go into Time Machine, it doesn't give me an option to recover from any backups. It looks like there are multiple snapshots, but I cannot scroll through them and the RESTORE option is greyed out.
Checking the drives contents shows it has 5.27TB. If I navigate the backup folder, all my content seems to be there. So is it simply not seeing my previous backup?
The Backup drive (and content drive) do go into sleep mode, does that possibly break Time Machine's link?
Super frustrating.
I've read a few posts here but they are all trying to backup with drives that are too small. I'm using identical drives.
This is my console window from the failed backup event:
2015-01-14 9:21:05.232 AM com.apple.backupd[46640]: Backing up to /dev/disk1s2: /Volumes/BACKUP/Backups.backupdb
2015-01-14 9:21:06.123 AM sharingd[11320]: 09:21:06.123 : Starting Handoff advertising
2015-01-14 9:21:15.609 AM sharingd[11320]: 09:21:15.609 : Starting Handoff advertising
2015-01-14 9:21:24.580 AM sharingd[11320]: 09:21:24.579 : Starting Handoff advertising
2015-01-14 9:21:33.579 AM sharingd[11320]: 09:21:33.579 : Starting Handoff advertising
2015-01-14 9:21:40.497 AM com.apple.backupd[46640]: Will copy (Zero KB) from PromisePegasus
2015-01-14 9:21:40.497 AM com.apple.backupd[46640]: Found 351422 files (5.27 TB) needing backup
2015-01-14 9:21:40.499 AM com.apple.backupd[46640]: 5.29 TB required (including padding), 4.72 TB available
2015-01-14 9:21:40.500 AM com.apple.backupd[46640]: Deleted backup /Volumes/BACKUP/Backups.backupdb/SeanMacPro/2015-01-14-092119.inProgress/A909D1 F1-2818-40E7-A24C-9E9A1A8C9B12 containing 16 KB; 4.72 TB now available, 5.29 TB required
2015-01-14 9:21:40.500 AM com.apple.backupd[46640]: Removed 1 expired backups so far, more space is needed - deleting oldest backups to make room
2015-01-14 9:21:40.501 AM com.apple.backupd[46640]: Deleted 1 backups containing 16 KB total; 4.72 TB now available, 5.29 TB required
2015-01-14 9:21:40.501 AM com.apple.backupd[46640]: Backup date range was shortened: oldest backup is now Jan 14, 2015
2015-01-14 9:21:40.505 AM com.apple.backupd[46640]: Backup failed with error 7: Not enough available disk space on the target volume.

Start with C4 in the 1st linked article.
Time Machine Troubleshooting
Time Machine Troubleshooting Problems

Time Machine no longer deletes older files to make room for new ones.

I happened to notice today, that Time Machine is failing when attempting to do updates. I also notice that the HDD is just about full. Time machine should delete the oldest backups to make room for the new ones, but for some reason this isn't happening. I also tried deleting some of the older folders manually. It says it deletes them, the folder icon disappears, but the available space never increases. If I reboot, the folders I deleted are still there. Time Machine has no problem reading the files, but apparently can't delete them. Anyone have an idea as to what might be happening? It used to work, but now something is 'broken' and I have no idea where to start looking. I am running OSX 10.5.3.

don't delete old backups from finder. delete them from TM interface. start TM and navigate to the backup you want to delete. click on the "gears" action button in finder's toolbar and select "delete backup". You'll have to enter your admin password. you might have to do this for several backups to clear up enough space. the deletion process can take a while so be patient. This is not guaranteed to make TM start deleting old backups by itself but it might.

Time machine taking longer to backup?

Since the recent update to the timemachine software it has been taking about twice as long to complete each hourly backup. Amy ideas out there?
Colin

See the green box in #D2 of Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

Time machine will not open backup file

Error shows the backup volume (on a WD Backup drive attached to airport extreme, is in use. WIl not open the backup file. Any ideas?

Item C 12:
Time Machine Troubleshooting
Airport Utility 5.6 - Download to Downloads Folder and leave download there.
Run Terminal command:
cd ~/Downloads && pkgutil --expand ./AirPortUtility56.pkg ~/Downloads/AirPortUtility56 && gunzip -c./AirPortUtility56/AirPortUtility56Lion.pkg/Payload | sudo tar -C / -xvf - "./Applications/Utilities/AirPort Utility 5.6.app"
Check Applications/Utilities for Airport 5.6. Then see: Pondini again.

Time machine no longer recognizes back up disk

OK TM experts, like many here, the OS stopped seeing the TM disk, with the error that it could not mount the disk. I then went and reselected the disk in TM preferences. Now, it tries to start a new back up and of course gives the message that there is not enough room. I followed many of the suggestions on this forum, including ensuring that the computer name matches the one in the backup disk, turning sharing off and on etc.
Here is the console output:
Dec 4 22:38:54 MBs-Macbook /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1052]: Backup requested by user
Dec 4 22:38:54 MBs-Macbook /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1052]: Starting standard backup
Dec 4 22:38:55 MBs-Macbook /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1052]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backup/Backups.backupdb
Dec 4 22:38:57 MBs-Macbook /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1052]: Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
Dec 4 22:38:57 MBs-Macbook /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1052]: Backup content size: 124.8 GB excluded items size: 46.7 MB for volume Macintosh HD
Dec 4 22:38:57 MBs-Macbook /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1052]: Starting pre-backup thinning: 150.06 GB requested (including padding), 7.15 GB available
Dec 4 22:38:57 MBs-Macbook /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1052]: No expired backups exist - deleting oldest backups to make room
Dec 4 22:38:57 MBs-Macbook /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1052]: Error: backup disk is full - all 0 possible backups were removed, but space is still needed.
Dec 4 22:38:57 MBs-Macbook /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1052]: Backup Failed: unable to free 150.06 GB needed space
Dec 4 22:39:03 MBs-Macbook /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1052]: Backup failed with error: Not enough available disk space on the target volume.

I have had this exact problem occur when I logged off while Mail was in TM restore state. I guess the backup is locked somehow because it was cut off while in use. I wish I could help, but I am in the same boat and I will watch this post for help.

Time machine does not recognize backup disk after Yosemite

I have this issue in both macs I own, a 2010 MBP, and a 2012 Mac mini. After I upgraded to yosemite, Time Machine will not find my backup disk. I have been using the same network attached storage drive for 4 years for time machine backups. I has worked fine with all the macs I've owned until now. I can see the disk in Finder, I can go to disk utility and mount the Time Machine disk, but when I go to Time Machine preferences and try to select the list, the disk is not listed there, even though is mounted.
Any ideas?
Thanks!

A third-party NAS is unsuitable for use with Time Machine, especially if it's your only backup. I know this isn't the answer you want. I know Time Machine accepted the NAS as a backup destination. I know that the manufacturer says the device will work with Time Machine, and I also know that it usually seems to work. Except when you try to restore, and find that you can't.
Apple has published a specification for network devices that work with Time Machine. None of the third-party NAS vendors, as far as I know, meets that specification. They all use the incomplete, obsolete Netatalk implementation of Apple Filing Protocol.
If you want network backup, use as the destination either an Apple Time Capsule or an external storage device 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.
Otherwise, don't use Time Machine at all. There are other ways to back up, though none of them is anywhere near as efficient or as well integrated with OS X. I don't have a specific recommendation.
If you're determined to keep using the NAS with Time Machine, your only recourse for any problems that result is to the manufacturer (which will blame Apple, or you, or anyone but itself.)

Time Machine will not restore backup files.

trying to restore a backup to a new internal hard drive and time machine sees the external hard drive with the backup but no folders. tried a couple of different external hard drives and even installed new OS on the new internal drive. the original OS and the new are both Maverick and after three days of swaping drives and installing fresh installs of maverick and talking to tech support, i'm convinced the issue is in Maverick. anyone have a suggest without buying a third party package like Carbon Copy?

I got something simular. I restored the whole TM backup and the mail messages from august '08 till 15 jan '09 didn't import. I can see them clearly sitting in Time machine but the restore button won't lit up. And I cannot go back in time cause it only ofers me the today option. What to do?
Sakshin.

Time Machine no longer working after reinstalling OSX 10.5 w/TM backup

About a week ago Disc Utility told me I had serious problems with my HD structure and a reinstall was necessary. Fortunately, restoring everything using Time Machine was flawless, however Time Machine has not done a single backup since. The Backup.backupdb file is still there on the external drive, along with 6 other folders created at the time I did the reinstall (same names as the 6 inside the subfolder, system, library, users...). If I try to manually do a TM backup it tells me I don't have enough HD space as though it wants to start from scratch, when the folders are all still there from before the reinstall.
Any ideas why Time Machine no longer recognizes the files it created 2 weeks ago?

I had to reinstall Leopard and restore using TM. It also worked flawless for me. When I checked to see if it was backing up again, there was nothing. I also tried to manually back and that didn't work either. I went into System Preferences, Time Machine and had to choose my TM backup drive again. Once I did that it worked perfect.

Time Machine no longer recognizes backup file

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