Time machine reports erroneous backup size

I had my TM disk disconnected for about a week and now when I reconnect it, I get:
Time Machine Error
This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 499.48 GB but only 492.29 GB are available.
However, my get info reports that only 223.73 GB are currently in use. Any ideas? I'm repairing permissions now and, if that doesn't work, I was thinking to try rebooting and repairing the disk, but if anyone has an alternative suggestion, I'd be grateful. I've actually just gone ahead and removed all my old backups, and emptied the trash, so the backup disk should be entirely open for anything.
Any help would be much appreciated!

That has nothing to do with the backup drive. That's what Time Machine thinks is everything that's subject to being backed-up on your internal HD (and any others being backed-up).
For some reason, it's trying to do a full backup of that (and it adds 20% to the estimated size, for workspace, etc., so it gets the 499 GB in the message).
Try the Verify Disk (not permissions) on your internal HD again, per #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
It's also possible the preferences file (where the exclusions, etc., are kept) is somehow corrupted. Try a "full reset" of Time Machine, per #A4 in that same link.
Also see #D3 there, for possible causes of a full backup.

Similar Messages

Time Machine reporting "The backup was not performed because an error occurred while copying files to the backup disk". Anyone have any idea what's gone wrong?

After months of working OK Time Machine is reporting "The backup was not performed because an error occurred while copying files to the backup disk". Anyone have any idea what's gone wrong?

asknrobson wrote:
Wierd!
I followed #C3 and loaded Time Machine Buddy, which was defnitely helpful, then deleted the file that the backup failed at, but after 3 more attempts I stopped deleting or excluding files as this wasn't improving the situation.
The recommendation is to exclude those files from being backed-up, not to delete them!
Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required:
Yes, that's a bit misleading. It just means that will be done, if it's required, which it isn't on your backups.
I have no idea if anything actually was changed however just when I had given up and walked away, TM has started working after a week of failing.
It probably did find and fix something. Just for reference, Disk Utiltiy usually shows the progress and repair messages in the center part of the window, but often doesn't when repairing a sparse bundle on a network. You can see the messages at any time by clicking the Log icon in the toolbar, or select Window > Show Log from the menubar.
Anyway, glad it's sorted out!

Time Machine calculating incorrect backup size

Hi. Some help required please.
Approx 2 weeks ago we had a corrupt hard drive on our mid-2010 iMac running 10.8.3
It's the standard 1TB drive which is backed up using Time Machine to an external 750GB USB Hard Drive.
We repaired the disk & restored using Time Machine and all worked beautifully...however...since that day, Time Machine will now not back-up as it says that there are 2.44 EB (yes I had to look up what an Exabyte was !) to back up & so insufficient space on the back-up drive to action the back-ups.
In reality we are using 220GB out of the 1TB available on the internal drive & there's 400GB free left on the external USB for backing up.
We also have a second USB hard drive that we use for storage (1TB capacity approx 400GB used) but this is excluded from the backup process within Time Machine prefs)
Any ideas would be most welcome
Thanks

This simple procedure will clear your Time Machine settings, including both overt and hidden exclusions. The backups won't be affected. If you have a long exclusion list that can't be recreated easily, you may prefer a more complicated procedure that preserves the exclusion list. In that case, ask for instructions. Otherwise, do as follows.
Triple-click the line below to select it:
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist
Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select
Services ▹ Reveal
from the contextual menu. A Finder window should open with a file selected. Copy it to the Desktop. Then move it (the original, not the copy) to the Trash. You'll be prompted for your administrator password. Reboot, recreate your settings in the Time Machine preference pane. It will show that you have no backups. Don't be alarmed; that's expected. Run a backup to test. If TM now performs as expected, delete the file you copied to the Desktop.

Time Machine reports, "backup failed." What do I do?

Time Machine reports, "backup failed." What should I do?

See if Pondini's great site helps...
http://Pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

Time Machine fails on backup. Have verified and reformatted external. Have also run etrecheck and Time Machine Buddy.

ETRECHECK:
Problem description:
time machine will not backup
EtreCheck version: 2.1.8 (121)
Report generated March 7, 2015 7:10:23 AM EST
Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck
Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.
Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.
Hardware Information: ℹ️
    MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011) (Technical Specifications)
    MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,3
    1 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4-core
    8 GB RAM
        BANK 0/DIMM0
            4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
        BANK 1/DIMM0
            4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok
    Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported
    Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n
    Battery Health: Normal - Cycle count 680
Video Information: ℹ️
    AMD Radeon HD 6750M - VRAM: 1024 MB
        Color LCD 1600 x 1000
    Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 512 MB
System Software: ℹ️
    Mac OS X 10.7.5 (11G63) - Time since boot: 8 days 7:40:9
Disk Information: ℹ️
    TOSHIBA MK7559GSXF disk0 : (750.16 GB)
        disk0s1 (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
        Seagate Backup Plus Drive (disk0s2) / : 749.30 GB (325.92 GB free) - 29 errors
        Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB
    MATSHITADVD-R   UJ-898
USB Information: ℹ️
    Seagate Backup+ Mac SL 1 TB
        disk1s1 (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB
        External Backup Time Machine (disk1s2) /Volumes/External Backup Time Machine : 999.86 GB (681.13 GB free)
    Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub
        Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller
    Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
    Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
    Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver
Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️
    Apple, Inc. MacBook Pro
Configuration files: ℹ️
    /etc/hosts - Count: 42
Kernel Extensions: ℹ️
        /System/Library/Extensions
    [loaded]    com.sophos.kext.sav (9.2.0 - SDK 10.8) [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.sophos.nke.swi (9.2.0 - SDK 10.8) [Click for support]
Launch Agents: ℹ️
    [not loaded]    com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist [Click for support]
    [running]    com.brother.LOGINserver.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.divx.dms.agent.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.divx.update.agent.plist [Click for support]
    [running]    com.sophos.uiserver.plist [Click for support]
Launch Daemons: ℹ️
    [loaded]    com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist [Click for support]
    [loaded]    com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Click for support]
    [running]    com.sophos.common.servicemanager.plist [Click for support]
User Launch Agents: ℹ️
    [loaded]    com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]
    [failed]    com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[...]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist
    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]
User Login Items: ℹ️
    iTunesHelper    UNKNOWN Hidden (missing value)
    Dropbox    Application (/Applications/Dropbox.app)
    VerizonUpdateCenter    UNKNOWN (missing value)
    Google Chrome    Application Hidden (/Applications/Google Chrome.app)
    K9-MacOptimizer    UNKNOWN (missing value)
Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️
    Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 3.2.0.16   - SDK 10.8 [Click for support]
    JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 14.9.0 - SDK 10.7 Check version
    DivX Web Player: Version: 3.2.1.977 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
    OVSHelper: Version: 1.1 [Click for support]
    LogMeIn: Version: 1.0.970 - SDK 10.7 [Click for support]
    QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.1
    LogMeInSafari32: Version: 1.0.970 - SDK 10.7 [Click for support]
    Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 6.0 [Click for support]
    SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.2.3 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
    Silverlight: Version: 5.1.10411.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]
    iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.8
Safari Extensions: ℹ️
    Twitter for Safari
    AllMyTube
    comicSansBeGone
    Better Facebook
3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️
    Flip4Mac WMV [Click for support]
    Growl [Click for support]
Time Machine: ℹ️
    Time Machine not configured!
Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️
         3%    WindowServer
         1%    Activity Monitor
         1%    activitymonitord
         0%    ps
         0%    SophosUIServer
Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️
    266 MB    mds
    180 MB    InterCheck
    120 MB    Finder
    94 MB    System Preferences
    77 MB    coreservicesd
Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️
    4.98 GB    Free RAM
    1.81 GB    Active RAM
    572 MB    Inactive RAM
    1.22 GB    Wired RAM
    34.27 GB    Page-ins
    2.72 GB    Page-outs
Diagnostics Information: ℹ️
    Mar 6, 2015, 08:16:26 PM    /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/quicklookd_2015-03-06-201626_[ redacted].crash
    Mar 4, 2015, 11:56:25 AM    /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/quicklookd_2015-03-04-115625_[ redacted].crash
    Mar 4, 2015, 11:55:37 AM    /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/quicklookd_2015-03-04-115537_[ redacted].crash
    Mar 4, 2015, 11:53:07 AM    /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/quicklookd_2015-03-04-115307_[ redacted].crash
    Mar 4, 2015, 11:52:42 AM    /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/quicklookd_2015-03-04-115242_[ redacted].crash
    Mar 4, 2015, 11:52:41 AM    /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/quicklookd_2015-03-04-115241_[ redacted].crash
    Mar 4, 2015, 11:33:39 AM    /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/QuickLookUIHelper_2015-03-04-1 13339_[redacted].crash
    Mar 4, 2015, 11:16:53 AM    /Users/[redacted]/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/iPhoto_2015-03-04-111653_[reda cted].crash
TIME MACHINE BUDDY
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/External Backup Time Machine/Backups.backupdb
Ownership is disabled on the backup destination volume. Enabling.
Backup content size: 394.3 GB excluded items size: 14.0 GB for volume Seagate Backup Plus Drive
456.36 GB required (including padding), 930.57 GB available
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.plugin/Contents/Resources/WmvPluginPrefix.pch.pth to (null)
Copied 50.7 GB of 380.3 GB, 637488 of 970893 items
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Dropbox/Airport Packages/-Presentation/PSD originals/A-2769 Guava and java.psd to (null)
Copied 136.5 GB of 380.3 GB, 652973 of 970893 items
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Library/Application Support/iLifeAssetManagement/state/pub/227354896+3231309460012822759/queue.sqli te3 to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/73a83ed2b6f5f3f74e690a2ae7b99ef7515e76ae/ec3f6fda8662 e542ac7c67f2ebcfa860d3d2e7b6 to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/73f862553779c33821fe63b50ba4008f4ae89038/59ac936d3c1e 548ac04dfc28cd80ee7e8375e71c to (null)
Copied 211.8 GB of 380.3 GB, 703468 of 970893 items
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/73f862553779c33821fe63b50ba4008f4ae89038/878f9a9e9e99 35f370ab2a09d62665cafa4f723f to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/73f862553779c33821fe63b50ba4008f4ae89038/8ca38b8456a3 80c835e4535b71a6322258f782c5 to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/73f862553779c33821fe63b50ba4008f4ae89038/9d43f27ba634 c956751fb66aadb06f955e74b3c8 to (null)
Copied 273.7 GB of 380.3 GB, 794840 of 970893 items
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Masters/2014/01/10/20140110-100023/IMG_8819.JPG to (null)
Copied 345.8 GB of 380.3 GB, 880149 of 970893 items
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Masters/2015/02/21/20150221-163320/IMG_0946.JPG to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Masters/2015/02/21/20150221-163652/IMG_0878.JPG to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Masters/2015/02/26/20150226-202057/IMG_0789.MOV to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Previews/2015/02/21/20150221-162736/aNrBUprVRiGN3Ul+Yph5Jw/IMG_1181.jpg to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Previews/2015/02/21/20150221-162736/DDfJ%BYeR1mC2WtxQXpLdw/IMG_1180.jpg to (null)
E
In making an attempt to copy my files to a different external hard drive, I ran into several issues with document files that were "read-only" so the copying stops. (they were just a couple of pdfs and photos). I deleted all of those files. I then ran back up again after verifying the external I have designated for Time Machine. (Ive also completely erased, repaired and verified this drive several times over the past few weeks) Backup failed, again.
I feel like my next move is to start deleting the "files" that are causing the errors listed above in TM Buddy (they are mostly photos in iphoto)... but then I realized that some of those errors are associated with the backing up of my iphone.
Just now, I pasted a portion of my system log into Textedit, and the application just hanged... for 2 hours. I finally force quit it.

Hi! I did exactly as you said. I was able to backup with my home folder excluded, but was not able to do so after I removed the exclusion. It crapped out 5G before finishing.
Here's the TIME MACHINE BUDDY LOG:
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/External Backup Time Machine/Backups.backupdb
Ownership is disabled on the backup destination volume. Enabling.
Backup content size: 394.3 GB excluded items size: 14.0 GB for volume Seagate Backup Plus Drive
456.36 GB required (including padding), 930.57 GB available
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/Flip4Mac WMV Plugin.plugin/Contents/Resources/WmvPluginPrefix.pch.pth to (null)
Copied 50.7 GB of 380.3 GB, 637488 of 970893 items
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Dropbox/Airport Packages/-Presentation/PSD originals/A-2769 Guava and java.psd to (null)
Copied 136.5 GB of 380.3 GB, 652973 of 970893 items
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Library/Application Support/iLifeAssetManagement/state/pub/227354896+3231309460012822759/queue.sqli te3 to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/73a83ed2b6f5f3f74e690a2ae7b99ef7515e76ae/ec3f6fda8662 e542ac7c67f2ebcfa860d3d2e7b6 to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/73f862553779c33821fe63b50ba4008f4ae89038/59ac936d3c1e 548ac04dfc28cd80ee7e8375e71c to (null)
Copied 211.8 GB of 380.3 GB, 703468 of 970893 items
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/73f862553779c33821fe63b50ba4008f4ae89038/878f9a9e9e99 35f370ab2a09d62665cafa4f723f to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/73f862553779c33821fe63b50ba4008f4ae89038/8ca38b8456a3 80c835e4535b71a6322258f782c5 to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/73f862553779c33821fe63b50ba4008f4ae89038/9d43f27ba634 c956751fb66aadb06f955e74b3c8 to (null)
Copied 273.7 GB of 380.3 GB, 794840 of 970893 items
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Masters/2014/01/10/20140110-100023/IMG_8819.JPG to (null)
Copied 345.8 GB of 380.3 GB, 880149 of 970893 items
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Masters/2015/02/21/20150221-163320/IMG_0946.JPG to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Masters/2015/02/21/20150221-163652/IMG_0878.JPG to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Masters/2015/02/26/20150226-202057/IMG_0789.MOV to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Previews/2015/02/21/20150221-162736/aNrBUprVRiGN3Ul+Yph5Jw/IMG_1181.jpg to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/sandi/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Previews/2015/02/21/20150221-162736/DDfJ%BYeR1mC2WtxQXpLdw/IMG_1180.jpg to (null)
E

Time Machine reports issue backing up to Time Capsule

Ever since I have upgraded to 10.6.4, I have been unable to complete a Time Machine backup. My backup volume is contained on a 2TB Time Capsule. Paraphrasing the error message, "Time Machine reports that it is unable to backup due to a problem with the disk, this problem may be temporary, try again later."
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.

Time Machine does not backup home/user directory (on separate drive)

I recently installed a SSD into my Mini. Due to size restrictions, my home/user directory has to be kept on another drive. I retained the stock 1TB drive that came with the Mini for this.
Ok, installed the SSD, restored a Time Machine backups (sans user data). Used a different admin user and configured my user to use the 1TB drive for it's home directory (/Volumes/1TB/home/<user>). Restart, log in as my user, all is good. All data, settings, etc is there. Everything looks normal.
Time Machine REFUSES to backup this directory. It will backup the 1TB drive and anyting else I create in it, but not the home directory. I tried every permission trick I could think of or found online. I even tested it further by formatting the 1TB drive fresh, adding a new user, configuring the user to use the 1TB for their home directory and it still won't back it up (this was a test of permissions the OS set, to make sure I didn't change my data perms somewhere along the way). Time Machine would not backup the new user's home directory on the 1TB drive.
Any thoughts? I can't be the first person to have their home directory on a non-OS drive.
If I were to create a folder/file in /Volumes/1TB/<test file> ... Time Machine gets it perfect. It just will NOT touch /Volumes/1TB/home/<anything here>
Thanks!

Open the Time Machine preference pane and unlock the settings, if necessary. Click the Options button. If there is one particular folder with items that are not being backed up reliably, add it to the list of excluded items. If there are many such folders, add your home folder to the list, or add a whole volume (i.e., what Apple calls a "disk.") Save the changes.
Start a backup, or wait for one to happen automatically. When it's done, open the preference pane again and remove the exclusion(s) you made earlier. Back up again and see whether there's a change.

Doesn't Time Machine delete old backups when it needs more space?

I've had time machine running for a long time now. It worked flawlessly for quite some time.
Today it gave me the error that there was not enough free space on the disk to complete the backup (the error message says something like there is 360 GB of data on the Time Machine drive already, 140 GB of free space and it would require more than that to complete my backup). I have a 500 GB Time Machine disk and my Mac has a 500 GB hard drive, so I should technically never run out of space.
The Time Machine almost acts like this is the first time I've ever backed up, which is not true. Shouldn't Time Machine delete old backups to make space for the new? What's even weirder is that if I open the "Star Wars" window of Time Machine I only see one backup from March 31, 2011, but I have been running Time Machine for well over a year now. I'm totally confused as to what happened. Any advice on how to get my Time Machine back up and running (without buying a new drive) would help!

You see only one backup in the Time Machine window because Time Machine has deleted the older backups to make space to do the current backup.
Time machine needs some working space to do its backups, and so backing up a 500GB drive onto a 500GB time machine volume is not ideal.
However, I do essentially the same thing, and what I do, when I have this problem, is exclude things from the backup.
First off, figure out what you changed. If you moved things from one partition to another, then that will cause a backup of the size of the thing that was moved. This may be why you have a large backup.
When I have this problem, I exclude large things that have changed recently from the backup. This makes the backup smaller, and means that there is less working space needed. I do this until I get a successful backup. Then I remove things, one by one, from the exclusion list, and back up after each one.
So, for instance if you just put 4 new folders on your drive, each of which s 20GB of data and they are named A, B, C and D, add all four to the exclusion list, do a backup, then remove A from the exclusion list (leaving B, C & D on it) and do a backup, and continue like this, adding 20GB of backup data each time until none of the new data is on the exclusion list and you get a completed backup.
Another possible issue, if you use multiple partitions, is that Time Machine may be keeping an obsolete backup of a partition that you previously reformatted. To see if this is the case, go into time machine (The universe interface) and go back to the most recent backup it shows. Click on your computer and see what partitions show up-- are any of them old ones that have been reformatted and renamed? You may be storing a duplicate backup because Time Machine does not realize that the disk that went away isn't coming back (because it has been reformatted as a different partition)
You can right-click on these items and remove them from your backup by sleecting "Delete all backups of...." This will free up space as well.

Time machine keeps losing backups

Time machine keeps losing backups on 10.8 machine.
I do Verify Backups or Enter Time Machine or Browse Other Time Machine Disks and all I can see is an older, concurrent machine.
While I can tell it to run a backup, and it will complete apparently successfully (and I'll be able to view it) the backups won't be there tomorrow. This makes Time Machine unusable at best.
What gives? Why are the backups vanishing?
WD MyBookLive
2010-mid MacBook Pro
This maching is also having trouble with scp, and other secure connections. But why would Time Machine report that it works, only to throw everything away?
Need help.
-Crissa

Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:
tmutil listbackups | awk -F/ '{print $NF}'
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
Launch the Terminal 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 Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).
Post any lines of output that appear below what you entered — the text, please, not a screenshot.

Time machine makes 30 backups for the last two days, no backups for any earlier times: is there a way to control it?

I've been running Time Machine in the background for as long as I've owned my current Mac--- a few months. It is a completely generic set-up: it's a desktop (rarely shut off or asleep) connected to an external hard drive that is much larger (1 TB) than my internal hard drive (0.5 TB), and Time Machine is configured to save backups of my whole internal drive to the external drive. The external is half-full, and the internal is a little more than half-full. I often hear my external crunching away, working on something.
I recently needed to access an old file, so I went into Time Machine mode on the folder where it had been deleted a few weeks ago. While I'm not upset that it isn't available (it's my own fault for deleting it), I didn't expect the Time Machine to have such a bad distribution of saved backups. There are 30 backup snapshots of the past two days, and nothing earlier. I was expecting something more like a few from today, a few from this week, a few from this month, and a few going all the way back in time--- a broader distribution.
I don't see any way to control this in the Time Machine Preferences (in fact, very little control at all). Is there a secret way to control it, or some tip to ensure a more useful distribution of saved snapshots?
Thanks,
-- Jim

Thanks, but it doesn't exactly address my question. TimeMachineEditor allows me to set the intervals or times when backups occur, but it doesn't control the algorithm that decides which snapshots should be deleted. My problem was that Time Machine chose to delete all of the old snapshots and keep only the most recent ones: I'd like it to keep more of the recent ones than the old ones, but still keep some old ones.
In fact, the (unmodifyable) text on the Time Machine control panel says that it keeps:
hourly backups for the past 24 hours
daily backups for the past month
weekly backups for all previous months
That would be perfect if it were true.
Perhaps the algorithm did the wrong thing because the size of my internal hard drive varied quite a lot a few days ago: a process got out of control and used up all of my internal disk space. I killed the process and deleted its output (several times), so my internal disk eventually went back down to normal. Perhaps in the intervening hours, Time Machine made a backup, once an hour, and used up all of the external drive space. When it had to choose between keeping "weekly backups of previous months" and "hourly backups of the past 24 hours", it chose to keep hourly backups of the past 24 hours. This was the wrong choice in my case (it was the unwanted output) and is probably the wrong choice in most cases.
Is there a way to control the algorithm that decides which backups to keep and which to delete? I would have it delete the hourly, daily, and weekly backups in a way that preserves their relative distribution.
By the way, while I have made it sound like my problem was a runaway log file (something that would be easy to put in an excluded directory with Time Machine's "Options" button), it was a VirtualBox snapshot merge. The data in question are precious, but were unnecessarily copied many times while VirtualBox failed to merge them properly. I can't simply exclude a directory: I'm talking about a more general problem.
Thanks!
-- Jim

Time Machine reported 'volume is read only' & rolled back to old state

I've been in love with Time Machine ever since Leopard arrived. This has all come crashing down over the last few days...
Firstly I got a new 1tb drive, so I mirrored my old TM drive (using SuperDuper), and all seemed to be fine – backups were chugging along for a week or so as normal on the new, bigger drive.
A few days ago I got a time machine error stating that "The backup volume is read only". I thought this was strange as the drive was working without issue for a week. I checked permissions, format, etc and all were set correctly. I restarted and Time Machine kicked back in and all seemed to work fine other the fact that there seemed to be no backups created for 6 hours before I got the error message. Then I made a scary realisation, somehow the files on my computer had been restored to a state from 6 hours prior, all the work I'd done for the morning was gone.
I put this down to a one off glitch (stupid, stupid, stupid). I've today got the same "backup volume is read only" message again, and this time around my files have been restored to a state from 3 days ago. Fortunately this time around Time Machine has a backup of the important stuff a few hours ago.
I am now very worried about using the same disk with Time Machine. I also have no idea if Time Machine is the culprit (but logic tells me with the rolling back of files it must be). What should I do? How can I figure out what is going on?

This may fix the "read only" problem:
What to do if Time Machine reports you don't have permission
This was posted in the Apple Discussions by V.K. I have only modified it slightly to be more generic.
The problem seems to be that 10.5.6 changes permissions on a file so that even the root user doesn't have write peivileges. I have no idea why they did this. The workaround suggested in [an]other post will probably work, too, but i did something less drastic. Instead of deleting the file I changed permissions on it, and it worked just fine. An added benefit is that the permission change seems to stick, so you don't have to delete the file every time you change a drive.
[Open the Terminal application in your Utilities folder. At the prompt [enter] the following command:
sudo chmod 644 /volumes/"TM drive name"/.xxxxxxxxxxxx
The name of the file .xxxxxxxxxxxx is based on the MAC address of your computer and will be different for every computer. Put the name of the TM drive in the above and keep the quotes.
You'll have to enter your admin password (which you won't see) which is normal.
This was edited by Kappy just for cleanup.
Enable Finder to Show Invisible Files and Folders
Open the Terminal application in your Utilities folder. At the prompt enter or paste the following command line then press RETURN.
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
To turn off the display of invisible files and folders enter or paste the following command line and press RETURN.
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE
Alternatively you can use one of the numerous third-party utilities such as TinkerTool or ShowHideInvisibleFiles - VersionTracker or MacUpdate.

Time Machine Error This backup is too large for the backup disk

Hi, I have a 1TB Time Capsule which backs up my Mac. I was having some issues with my mac so I decided to perform an erase and install and then use Migration Assistant to transfer everything back to my Mac.
After I reinstalled Snow Leopard and restored my Mac using Migration Assistant, Time Machine says that the backup has failed. It says " Time Machine Error This backup is too large for the backup disk. The Backup requires 663 GB but only 255 GB are available.
What do I do? Is my only option to erase my Time Capsule and have it back everything up from scratch?

Hi, thanks for the help. I erased everything off of the Time Capsule and it's backing up my Mac from scratch. It's almost finished backing up my whole mac. It's now at 641.86gb of 646.54gb but it's now backing up very slowly. It's backing up .1 every few minutes. Is this normal?
Here's the log from Time Machine Buddy:
Starting standard backup
Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://Stuart%[email protected]/Time%20Capsule
Mounted network destination using URL: afp://Stuart%[email protected]/Time%20Capsule
Creating disk image /Volumes/Time Capsule/StuartsMacPro.sparsebundle
QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
Disk image /Volumes/Time Capsule/StuartsMacPro.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups
Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb
Ownership is disabled on the backup destination volume. Enabling.
Detected system migration from: /Volumes/My Book
Backup content size: 850.0 GB excluded items size: 606.5 GB for volume Stuart's Drive
Backup content size: 425.9 GB excluded items size: 67.3 GB for volume Macintosh HD
No pre-backup thinning needed: 722.56 GB requested (including padding), 928.68 GB available
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
Copied 28.3 GB of 602.1 GB, 29340 of 1478089 items
Copied 55.0 GB of 602.1 GB, 41596 of 1478089 items
Copied 82.9 GB of 602.1 GB, 55899 of 1478089 items
Copied 110.7 GB of 602.1 GB, 63347 of 1478089 items
Copied 138.8 GB of 602.1 GB, 83831 of 1478089 items
Copied 166.8 GB of 602.1 GB, 94574 of 1478089 items
Copied 194.7 GB of 602.1 GB, 102854 of 1478089 items
Copied 222.8 GB of 602.1 GB, 114388 of 1478089 items
Copied 129159 files (242.5 GB) from volume Stuart's Drive.
Copied 248.4 GB of 602.1 GB, 130414 of 1478089 items
Copied 265.5 GB of 602.1 GB, 355699 of 1478089 items
Copied 293.6 GB of 602.1 GB, 382912 of 1478089 items
Copied 322.1 GB of 602.1 GB, 387974 of 1478089 items
Copied 349.8 GB of 602.1 GB, 399204 of 1478089 items
Copied 378.3 GB of 602.1 GB, 399358 of 1478089 items
Copied 406.9 GB of 602.1 GB, 399441 of 1478089 items
Copied 434.5 GB of 602.1 GB, 415817 of 1478089 items
Copied 461.5 GB of 602.1 GB, 471528 of 1478089 items
Copied 488.2 GB of 602.1 GB, 537277 of 1478089 items
Copied 515.1 GB of 602.1 GB, 580446 of 1478089 items
Copied 541.3 GB of 602.1 GB, 590386 of 1478089 items
Copied 566.8 GB of 602.1 GB, 602496 of 1478089 items
Copied 593.3 GB of 602.1 GB, 649575 of 1
Message was edited by: Stuart Lawrence
Message was edited by: Stuart Lawrence

Time machine: cannot access backups

Time Machine seems to backup correctly: it reports the correct time of backup and I can see the right timestamp in Finder.
However I cannot access any backup in the Star Wars interface: when I open it I see some time indications by the timeline, one second later I see the timeline without any time indications except Now and Today. Thus I cannot access my backups.
Any idea how to troubleshoot?
Thanks and regards

Please review this information.
http:/pondini.org/TM/B6.html

Time machine does not backup anymore

Hello all,
I've been using my time machine for a month now, I kept it turned off and only connected the disk when I wanted to make a backup. Then I just hit Back Up Now from the menu and it always backed up everything (I used to check it afterwards). FYI, I've got a 500GB drive and for backups I use a 500GB partition on an external disk, where about 100GB is still free. All of a sudden, my time machine does not backup anymore. It does its run, whether a scheduled hourly one when turned on, or an on-demand one, but it only lasts a split second as though there is nothing to backup and when I enter the time machine, the files are really missing. I can't make it backup anything anymore. What is going on?
thanks everyone

cukerko wrote:
Hello all,
I've been using my time machine for a month now, I kept it turned off and only connected the disk when I wanted to make a backup. Then I just hit Back Up Now from the menu and it always backed up everything (I used to check it afterwards). FYI, I've got a 500GB drive and for backups I use a 500GB partition on an external disk, where about 100GB is still free.
It's not related to this problem, but that may not be large enough. What's important is not the size of your internal HD, but how much is on it (or is expected to be on it in the next year or so). It varies widely, of course, depending on how you use your Mac, but Time Machine usually needs 2-3 times the space of the data it's backing-up.
. . . it only lasts a split second as though there is nothing to backup and when I enter the time machine, the files are really missing.
That sounds like the year-old unfixed bug detailed in red in #D5 of [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

Time machine will not backup after maverick

This is a major problem, not addressed in the installation instrucitons. The disk runs eternally "preparing backup", I mean all night.
This happened to two machines on entirely separate backup disks. And if we are sacraficing the old data in reformating the drive, I would like to know about that before choosing to upgrade.

Update: Finally...
At least for the Promise Pegasus R4... but I noticed on other threads that WD drives are also acting up too so this might work with them too.
I turned off Time Machine, and deleted that pesky .plist file, again. I unplugged the R4, power and thunderbolt, then played whack the gopher with the drives swapping them around randomly. I reintalled Mavericks from a fresh download, yet again, then set Time Machine to backup on a fast USB 3TB drive (which it did in 6 hours or so). Then I turned off Time Machine, deleleted that .plist file again, rebooted the iMac, plugged in the R4, reformatted it again with Disk Utility, then hooked it to Time Machine, said a few slightly heretic prayers to whatever demons came with Maverick, and 2 minutes later Time Machine started to backup and report 1 hour to complete... the hour isn't up yet, but I'm crossing everything I have 2 of...
I've noticed a few other 'didn't copy over or mesh well' things with Maverick, but that's a different thread and 2 updates from now once we all suffer through this extended beta-test by Apple.
John Galt posted this on another thread... to find and delete that pesky .plist file:
or "error ... while creating the backup folder."
and follow that to:
http://pondini.org/TM/A4.html

Time machine reports erroneous backup size

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