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.

Similar Messages

  • TIME MACHINE Error: This backupup is too large for the backup volume ...

    Hi Folks !
    I have also my first problems with TM. It was running, the first time nicht&day to make the first backup and now seems the device to be full! This TimeMachineError was displayed:
    This backup is too large for the backup volume. The backup requires 127.5 GB but only 46.5 are available. To select a larger volume, or make the backup smaller by excluding files, open System Preferences and choose Time Machine.
    END OF ERROR Message
    First thing > if I choose SystemPrefs/TM there is no chance to exclude file or folders the only dialog is for Volumes
    Any Idea ?
    Are the TM Preferences corrupted or why I cannot choose to define my backup ?
    Ciao
    Massimo

    When my Time Machine disk had only 50GB left, I got the message that it couldn't back up because it required 118GB to do so. Because there was, for some reason, only one day backed up, I deleted the backup files to start fresh. Now I am getting the message:
    "This backup too large for the backup volume. The backup requires 1056.6 GB but only 929.4 GB are available."
    Well, the backup only require 118GB a little while ago, and the initial full backup that I deleted was 880 GB. Nothing has been added to the startup disk, and a 400GB disk has been excluded to try to make this work, so this message can't be right.
    How do I make this work? Do I have to keep reinstalling Time Machine every time I want to backup?

  • I created a "guest" network on my Time Machine router, but now i can't remember the password.  How can I reset the password on that guest network?

    When I upgraded to Time Machine to replace my Apple Airport, I created a "guest" network as well as a main network for the family.  Now I can't access the guest network, likely because I am not using the right password.  I have forgotten (if I ever knew) how to edit the password requirements for a network.  Any assistance would be welcome.

    On your Mac.....
    Open Finder > Applications > Utilities > AirPort Utility
    Click on the Time Capsule icon, then click Edit in the smaller window that appears
    Click the Wireless tab at the top of the next window
    The settings for the Guest Network are located in the center of the window, below the settings for the "Main" network.
    Edit/backspace out the password for the Guest Network and and then Verify the password again
    Click Update at the lower right of the window and give the Time Capsule a full minute to restart
    It might be a good idea to write down the new password that you created and keep it in a safe place.

  • How can I restore an iPhoto library from Time Machine (ML) - when I TM doesn't see the backup??

    Hi,
    I recently did a Time Machine backup of my MacBook Pro (Mountain Lion) onto an external HDD. Around the time of the last backup, my system was behaving funny so I decided to rebuild the OS X.
    Because the last TM backup was of a system that as mentioned, was somewhat 'unstable', and I only had a few backups available (didn't have TM running too long beforehand) - I decided not to use TM to 'restore' my system. I just did  a clean install of ML and planned on pulling files over manually. I'd done this before and it worked a treat.
    This time ran into a snag. The backup disk TM used was an external HDD which I wanted to upgrade (suffice to say it works fine). So, I needed to move the backup.backupdb directory to my other HDD. The copy seemed to work fine ... so far so good.
    I installed the new ML OS on my MacBook Pro and that was fine too. I was able to pull most of my files over by going into the TM backup and copying what I needed.
    BUT, for some reason, this didn't work for the iPhoto library?
    Alas, I found that you need to do a 'restore' iPhoto library file from whithin TM. So I fired up TM and noticed that it didn't recognise the old backup file located on the HDD. I.e. when I turned on TM, pointed it to the external HDD (where I copied the previous backup to), it started a fresh backup.
    So ... my question is - "How do I restore the iPhoto library if I can't get to it from TM?"
    Thanks in advance to anyone that can help! The last 15 years of photos are stored in this library!

    Hi ...
    I've found a solution to my problem.
    Time Machine locates extenal HDD backups differently depending if they were done via a network or via a USB/FireWire/Thunderbolt connection.
    My initial backup was done via a direct Thunderbolt connection. I ran into the above issue b/c the second time when I tried looking for the backup file the HDD was conencted to my iMac and I was accessing it via a network conenction.
    I simply connected the drive directly to my MacBook pro and ... voila. I was able to see the backup, select the iPhoto library and begin the restore.
    Hope this helps.
    BTW - I found this out by reading the 'blue box' selection on this page: http://pondini.org/TM/E2.html
    (Thanks goes to Pondini!)

  • Time Machine fails with "error while linking files on the backup volume"

    One of my drives was nearly full. I moved some folders from that drive to one that had more space.
    The next TM backup failed with "error while linking files on the backup volume". A full backup is about 620 GB, although this backup shouldn't have been a complete one. There was 570+ GB free on the drive.
    A Disk Verify reported "Drive appears to be okay." Earlier TM backups appeared to be fine (at least accessible). I swapped the TM drive for another, initialized it, and TM used that drive with no complaints.
    What does the message mean?
    Thanks,
    harv47

    Pondini wrote:
    harv47 wrote:
    The Time Machine Buddy widget shows no messages. None of the buttons do anything.
    What am I doing wrong?
    See #A1 in the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.
    Your user account may not have permission to see the logs.
    The sentence beginning "If the message area is blank ..." shows how to figure out if that's the problem, and how to fix it.
    Post back if it's not clear, or doesn't work.
    The Tip had the answer. It was permissions.
    What follow are the messages for the last unsuccessful TM backup (on v.3), followed by
    the successful TM backup on the replacement drive (v.1). The line
    "Copied 11 files (0 bytes) from volume Bay 3 HPFS+." was odd.
    Starting standard backup
    Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine v.3/Backups.backupdb
    Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Bay 3 HPFS+
    Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
    Node requires deep traversal:/Volumes/Bay 3 HPFS+ reason:kFSEDBEventFlagMustScanSubDirs|
    Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:kFSEDBEventFlagMustSc
    (Finished May 4, 2010 9:31:21 AM-- Status unknown)
    Starting standard backup
    Backing up to: /Volumes/TimeMachine v.1/Backups.backupdb
    Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Bay 3 HPFS+
    Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Bay 2 HPFS+
    Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
    Backup content size: 169.1 GB excluded items size: 0 bytes for volume Bay 3 HPFS+
    Backup content size: 305.5 GB excluded items size: 0 bytes for volume Bay 2 HPFS+
    Backup content size: 145.7 GB excluded items size: 7.5 MB for volume Macintosh HD
    No pre-backup thinning needed: 744.36 GB requested (including padding), 931.15 GB available
    Waiting for index to be ready (909 > 0)
    Copied 1951 files (169.0 GB) from volume Bay 3 HPFS+.
    Copied 4999 files (474.3 GB) from volume Bay 2 HPFS+.
    Copied 410304 files (612.4 GB) from volume Macintosh HD.
    No pre-backup thinning needed: 712.2 MB requested (including padding), 315.09 GB available
    Copied 11 files (0 bytes) from volume Bay 3 HPFS+.
    Copied 20 files (1.1 GB) from volume Bay 2 HPFS+.
    Copied 1103 files (1.1 GB) from volume Macintosh HD.
    Starting post-backup thinning
    No post-back up thinning needed: no expired backups exist
    Backup completed successfully.
    (Finished May 4, 2010 2:38:17 PM)
    I hope this is useful. Thanks for your help.
    harv47

  • My time machine will not back up.  It says the backup disk image "/Volume/Data/Eunice.sparsebundle" is already in use

    What does that mean and how do I correct it so it will back up?

    Restart your MacBook and your Time Capsule (or disconnect your Time Machine external drive). Finally, you will be able to make backups of your files again.
    If you have got a Time Capsule, Apple released a firmware update that fixes this issue. Open AirPort Utility (in /Applications/Utilities) and follow the steps. See > http://pondini.org/TM/C12.html

  • My songs are not being copied to my iPhone and even the sync is not completing every time it just shows that changes are being applied but nothing is happening on my iPhone

    My songs are not being copied to my iPhone and even the sync is not completing every time it just shows that changes are being applied but nothing is happening on my iPhone

    Hello transcend94,
    Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
    For more information on this, take a look at:
    Where are my iTunes files located?
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391
    iTunes: Understanding iTunes Media Organization
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847
    Avoid using different versions of iTunes, or you may be unable to locate content, or may import or transfer content to the wrong location.
    Best of luck,
    Mario

  • 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.

  • After restore backup from time machine, all thumbnails in photos are blank. How to fix ?

    After restore backup from time machine, all thumbnails in photos are blank. How to fix ?
    I'm using Yosemite 10.10.3 and Photos. i have tried repair database, but no success .

    Try these for the first attempt:
    First be sure to have a backup copy of the library if you already don't have one.
    OT

  • 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.

  • Time machine stuck on 'caculating changes'

    I upgraded to snow leopard with no problems except that I can't get a time machine backup completed. The message is stuck on 'calculating changes'. I have done a reset of time machine etc. but no luck so far. Any advice? Message in my time machine widget is:
    Backing up to: /Volumes/Ivisonbackup/Backups.backupdb
    Event store UUIDs don't match for volume:....
    Waiting for index to be ready (101)
    etc.
    Thanks

    Hi, and welcome to the forums.
    What's the "etc." ?
    If it's more of the "Waiting for index . . ." messages, that's likely a problem with your TM volume, or communicating with it.
    Start by repairing your backups, per #A5 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).
    If that doesn't help, post back with details, including all the messages, your setup (especially the destination for the backups), what you've done, and the results.
    Message was edited by: Pondini

  • After migrating data from Time Machine, some of my photos are not showing up in iPhoto. I get a 'dashed rectangle." When I click on it I get ' ! in a Triangle" When I click on that, I actually can see the photo. I want to see my photos

    After migrating data from Time Machine, some of my photos are not showing up in iPhoto LIbrary view. I get a 'dashed rectangle." When I click on it I get ' ! in a Triangle" When I click on that, I actually can see the photo. I want to see all  my photos in 'Library' view, and I can't figure out how these photos seem to be arbitrarily hidden. Help, please.

    Try these for the first attempt:
    First be sure to have a backup copy of the library if you already don't have one.
    OT

  • I am using Adobe Photshop Elements 11, I just transferred all of my data from an old computer to a new computer, all my pictures and documents transferred fine but, my albums are missing and the date and time that is usually under the picture are missing.

    I am using Adobe Photoshop Elements 11, I just transferred all of my data from an old computer to a new computer, all my pictures and documents transferred fine but, my albums are missing and the date and time that is usually under the picture are missing.. How do I get them back?

    Hi,
    Which operating system are you running on?
    The date & Time can be displayed by going to the View menu and checking Details - also File Names if you want them displayed.
    The Album information is saved within the catalog so it sounds as though you didn't do a catalog backup on the old computer and a catalog restore on the new computer which is the recommended way of transferring elements data. Did you just copy the photos over?
    Brian

  • I'm running Pages version 5.2 on a Desktop Mac version 10.9.2. with the Pages app open how do I use the Time Machine to go back five hours to see the work?

    I'm running Pages version 5.2 on a Desktop Mac version 10.9.2. With the Pages app open how do I use the Time Machine to go back five hours to see my page? Can I access Time Machine within an app like Pages? How do I enter Time Machine within the application? It always takes me to the Finder. I apolgise for the mumbo jumbo. I simply do not know how to use Time Machine. It makes sense when I follow the Tutorial but then I lose it.

    OK. You've kind of skipped over the reason why you want to go back five hours, but my assumption would be that you've made changes to a Pages file that you want to revert.
    There are two ways to tackle this. From Pages itself, open the current version of your document, and from the File menu, click Revert To, and Browse All Versions. You'll then be in the Time Machine interface for that file, and can browse back to the version you want.
    Or, outside of Pages, you can select the file (or the folder it was originally in, if you've since deleted it) and enter Time Machine from the TM menu (it sounds like you've already tried this?)
    best
    Matt

  • Time machine problems on clean-install, doesn't recognize old backups as such/permissions issues

    My iMac had been pretty slow, and never received a clean install since I'd gotten it. With the security that I'd just restore whatever I wanted from Time Machine afterward, I used the recovery partition to format the hard drive and install Lion.
    Everything's fast now! It's remarkably like it was when it was brand new with Tiger, which is pretty good for a nearly-six-year-old computer running today's OS. I'm having problems with the Time Machine part, though. Even after ensuring that my username is the same as it was before and making all the permissions my own in both Finder and with chmod, it throws me permissions errors when restoring some, but not all files, with no pattern about it. This isn't a big deal for restoration because I've just used sudo cp to put everything back where I wanted it, but now I have issues with backups. Even though TM sees my old backups and can restore the ones that don't give permissions errors, it still wants to take new backups of things I've manually restored, such as my iTunes folder of about 50GB. That's the big conflict now; I don't want to take up all that space for files that are already backed up. Can anyone offer a fix? Thanks!

    coldcaption wrote:
    Yes, the other drive was backed up before. If it was previously associated then perhaps something was messed up trying to re-associate.
    As long as you pointed it to the backups of that disk, it should be fine.  If not, or if in doubt, just run the command again.
    It changes whether or not I have the previously-backed up external drive added to the things to back up (unless it's supposed to do delete the old ones in this case?),
    I don't quite follow that.  The Estimated size of full backup is just the total data on the drives that are included (unfortunately, there's no display of them), less any exclusions of files/folders on them.
    Finally, though, the size of a backup if I were to take one right now would be 363 GB;
    How do you know that?  The only way to tell what Time Machine thinks is new or changed is to actually start a backup, and see what the display ("xxx GB of yyy GB") and/or log messages (". . . xxx MB/GB requested (including padding), yyy MB/GB available.") say.  See #A1 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting for a handy widget to display the log messages.

Maybe you are looking for