Time Machine reports identity of backup disk has changed

Hello! A few weeks ago I purchased a new 15" Retina MacBook Pro and a new 2TB Time Capsule. Every day or two I get an error informing me that the identity of my backup disk has changed. I finally got sick of this so I turned off Time Machine, deleted the preferences file, wiped the Time Capsule drive, and restored the Time Capsule settings to factory, and started fresh. However, I'm still seeing this error.
Some minor details: The Time Capsule is named "AirPort Time Capsule," as is the volume on it. I initially had a second hard drive at my office configured as a second Time Machine target, but after I started fresh with Time Machine, I didn't set up the second target, and am seeing the same message. I am also using Encrypted Backups.
Any suggestions would be great, I'm not sure if this is a bug in Mavericks, a bug with my Time Capsule, or something indicative of a hardware issue either at my MBP or my Time Capsule.

Cody DH wrote:
... I'm not sure if this is a bug in Mavericks, a bug with my Time Capsule, or something indicative of a hardware issue either at my MBP or my Time Capsule.
Any one of those is possible, and you have taken reasonable steps to resolve it. I suggest deleting the following file, which will reset Time Machine. Turn off Time Machine first, and make sure a backup is not in progress.
Triple click to select the entire line, then control-click and select Services > Reveal in Finder. Drag the selected file to the Desktop, or directly to the Trash:
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist
This will not delete your existing backups.
Turn on Time Machine and reselect your backup volume. The effect of deleting that file will cause erroneous values to be shown in the "backing up xxx of yyy" messages until the subsequent backup.
If this does not resolve the problem contact AppleCare because you should not be having these difficulties.

Similar Messages

"The identity of the backup disk has changed..."

About 3 months ago I purchased my new MacBook Pro plus two WD 2TB network drives for Time Machine backups. One drive is kept at home and the other is at my office. (I believe in having backups at two physical locations.)
The drives at both places are identical, with identical names and in both cases are connected to a BT router/DSL modem.
All has been working nearly perfectly. (I say almost, because occasionally at home I'll get an error saying a backup couldn't be made because the disk wasn't available. Usually this clears up after a few subsequent attempts, or always after a reboot. Fortunately this doesn't happen often.)
However, I'm now getting an error message every time I move from one location to the other:
"The identity of the backup disk has changed since the previous backup.
The disk may have been replaced or erased, or someone may be trying to trick your computer into backing up to the wrong disk."
Fortunately, the dialog box is very visible and gives the option of going ahead and using the disk...which I do. As long as I'm in the same location, everything then continues to work without issue.
This is most odd, as neither disk name has been changed and I was working for 3 months without anything like this happening.
(I might add, with my previous Powerbook, I had an identical Firewire drive at both locations and having the dual backups worked flawlessly without issue for the entire time I used it...nearly two years.)
Anyone have any idea why this weird message is now surfacing after 3 months of working fine?

Pondini wrote:
There was a thread here a few months ago with a very nasty problem, where a user had 3 or 4 identical WD externals, with different names, and was trying to use one with Time Machine. But Time Machine would try to back up to the first one connected, regardless of name!
I didn't think it was possible, but sure enough, they all had the identical UUID from WD (they'd come formatted for a Mac, and the user had never reformatted or erased them, so OSX never put new UUIDs on them).
I wonder if the UUID would be copied over if a disk is cloned? When using my first pair of external LaCie Firewire drives, I first set just one up as a TM backup. After the setup and first backup was finished, I used Carbon Copy Cloner to create an exact duplicate to the second drive. I did that deliberately in hopes TM wouldn't be able to tell the difference. It apparently worked as I could connect either disk and Time Machine would readily connect without complaint. Either the cloning procedure worked, or perhaps the drives already had identical UUID's as happened with the WD drives you mentioned. Any thoughts on this?
Pondini wrote:
If you haven't, try turning Time Machine OFF before you get that message. Then select the NAS via Time Machine Preferences > Select Disk. I think that will reset the element in the plist mentioned in that thread, and the problem will go away.
I went ahead and tried this, but the condition still persists. When I have a chance, I'll go back and look at that other thread and see if I can glean anything useful from it. In the meantime, I may just have to live with the current situation. Thanks.

Time Machine cannot mount remote backup disk (ReadyNAS NV+)

Hello,
I own a ReadyNAS NV+ which I use as an external backup. It has a "Time Machine" backup daemon, so the iMac see's it over network. I used it for a couple of months without issues.
A couple of days ago I had to change the physical location of ReadyNAS. Now there are 2 switches between my iMac and the readyNAS.
Since I changed the physical position of the ReadyNAS I try to backup using time machine but it's not possible. Time machine hangs up when trying to up at "Making Backup Disk Available". Using the terminal I can clearly see that AFP has issues mounting the disk:
afp_4pcsta0oyhi62C4wJd3Bx6yh-1.2e00000b on /Volumes/ReadyNAS (afpfs, nobrowse)
angel:log root# dmesg
6a800!
jnl: disk3s2: journal_open: Error replaying the journal!
hfs: early jnl init: failed to open/create the journal (retval 0).
disk3s2: 0x5 (UNDEFINED).
0 [Level 3] [ReadUID 0] [Facility com.apple.system.fs] [ErrType IO] [ErrNo 5] [IOType Read] [PBlkNum 2] [LBlkNum 2] [FSLogMsgID 1814855696] [FSLogMsgOrder First]
0 [Level 3] [ReadUID 0] [Facility com.apple.system.fs] [DevNode devfs] [MountPt /dev] [Path /dev/disk3s2] [FSLogMsgID 1814855696] [FSLogMsgOrder Last]
AFP_VFS afpfs_unmount: /Volumes/ReadyNAS, flags 524288, pid 285
AFP_VFS afpfs_mount: /Volumes/ReadyNAS, pid 872
jnl: disk4s2: replay_journal: from: 8247296 to: 4564992 (joffset 0x962000)
ASP_TCP dothreadread: no reqInfo found for reqID 5
ASP_TCP Disconnect: triggering reconnect by bumping reconnTrigger from curr value 0 on so 0xa258660
AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect started /Volumes/ReadyNAS prevTrigger 0 currTrigger 1
ASP_TCP CancelOneRequest: cancelling slot 22 error 89 reqID 3256 flags 0x29 afpCmd 0x3D so 0xa258660
ASP_TCP CancelOneRequest: cancelling slot 23 error 89 reqID 3257 flags 0x29 afpCmd 0x22 so 0xa258660
ASP_TCP CancelOneRequest: cancelling slot 24 error 89 reqID 3258 flags 0x29 afpCmd 0x22 so 0xa258660
ASP_TCP CancelOneRequest: cancelling slot 25 error 89 reqID 3259 flags 0x29 afpCmd 0x22 so 0xa258660
ASP_TCP CancelOneRequest: cancelling slot 26 error 89 reqID 3260 flags 0x29 afpCmd 0x22 so 0xa258660
ASP_TCP CancelOneRequest: cancelling slot 27 error 89 reqID 3261 flags 0x29 afpCmd 0xB so 0xa258660
ASP_TCP CancelOneRequest: cancelling slot 28 error 89 reqID 3262 flags 0x29 afpCmd 0x22 so 0xa258660
ASP_TCP CancelOneRequest: cancelling slot 29 error 89 reqID 3263 flags 0x29 afpCmd 0x22 so 0xa258660
0 [Level 5] [com.apple.message.domain com.apple.afpfs.reconnect] [com.apple.message.signature Reconnect failed - socket failed to start reconnect] [com.apple.message.value 1297443679] [Message afpfs_DoReconnect: socket failed to start reconnect 61 /Volumes/ReadyNAS
AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect: posting to KEA to unmount /Volumes/ReadyNAS
0 [Level 3] [ReadUID 0] [Facility com.apple.system.fs] [ErrType IO] [ErrNo 6] [IOType Write] [PBlkNum 8] [LBlkNum 8] [FSLogMsgID 1662666978] [FSLogMsgOrder First]
0 [Level 3] [ReadUID 0] [Facility com.apple.system.fs] [DevNode afp_4pcsta0oyhi62C4wJd3Bx6yh-1.2e00000a] [MountPt /Volumes/ReadyNAS] [Path /Volumes/ReadyNAS/angel.sparsebundle/bands/0] [FSLogMsgID 1662666978] [FSLogMsgOrder Last]
disk4s2: 0x5 (UNDEFINED).
0 [Level 3] [ReadUID 0] [Facility com.apple.system.fs] [ErrType IO] [ErrNo 5] [IOType Read] [PBlkNum 11744] [LBlkNum 11744] [FSLogMsgID 1726805554] [FSLogMsgOrder First]
0 [Level 3] [ReadUID 0] [Facility com.apple.system.fs] [DevNode devfs] [MountPt /dev] [Path /dev/disk4s2] [FSLogMsgID 1726805554] [FSLogMsgOrder Last]
jnl: disk4s2: updatefsblock: error reading fs block # 11744! (ret 5)
disk4s2: 0x5 (UNDEFINED).
0 [Level 3] [ReadUID 0] [Facility com.apple.system.fs] [ErrType IO] [ErrNo 5] [IOType Read] [PBlkNum 27379] [LBlkNum 27379] [FSLogMsgID 1933006271] [FSLogMsgOrder First]
0 [Level 3] [ReadUID 0] [Facility com.apple.system.fs] [DevNode devfs] [MountPt /dev] [Path /dev/disk4s2] [FSLogMsgID 1933006271] [FSLogMsgOrder Last]
jnl: disk4s2: dojnlio: strategy err 0x5
jnl: disk4s2: replay_journal: Could not read journal entry data @ offset 0x46a800!
jnl: disk4s2: journal_open: Error replaying the journal!
hfs: early jnl init: failed to open/create the journal (retval 0).
disk4s2: 0x5 (UNDEFINED).
0 [Level 3] [ReadUID 0] [Facility com.apple.system.fs] [ErrType IO] [ErrNo 5] [IOType Read] [PBlkNum 2] [LBlkNum 2] [FSLogMsgID 800265459] [FSLogMsgOrder First]
0 [Level 3] [ReadUID 0] [Facility com.apple.system.fs] [DevNode devfs] [MountPt /dev] [Path /dev/disk4s2] [FSLogMsgID 800265459] [FSLogMsgOrder Last]
AFP_VFS afpfs_unmount: /Volumes/ReadyNAS, flags 524288, pid 285
AFP_VFS afpfs_mount: /Volumes/ReadyNAS, pid 933
jnl: disk5s2: replay_journal: from: 8247296 to: 4564992 (joffset 0x962000)
angel:log root#
Finally Time Machine exists with error "Backup disk cannot be accessed. error 109".
Can someone give me a hint or two on how to solve this issue?
regards

Not a NAS-specific issue. The OS is trying to read a block of the sparse disk image, and the read is failing. Basically, the sparse bundle is damaged. You'll need to rename it and then try backing up again to a clean sparse bundle.
That said, make sure you're running a version of the ReadyNAS firmware that actually supports Time Machine. There are several AFP commands that were added for Time Machine that *must* be supported for correct operation, and older AFP implementations did not implement them. The reconnect errors suggest to me that maybe the firmware you are running doesn't support the Reconnect UAM, in which case it probably also doesn't support the replay cache, etc. If that's the case, then things probably won't work correctly without a firmware update even after you fix the corrupted sparse bundle.
Edit: actually, on further searching, it might be a NAS-specific issue. Certain buggy network switches do not properly support jumbo frames in mixed networks, which can cause read errors similar to what you are seeing when working with AFP. (This might have been your post on the other board.) In the Network prefs pane, choose Ethernet, click "Advanced", click the Ethernet tab, change Configure to Manually, and set the MTU to Standard (1500).

HT3275 Can some HELP, I keep getting this error with my Time Machine Back up, "The backup disk image "/Volumes/JKPN Safe/JKPN IMAC.sparsebundle" is already in use.

Can some one HELP me , I keep getting this error with my Time Machine Back up, "The backup disk image “/Volumes/JKPN Safe/JKPN IMAC.sparsebundle” is already in use.

See > http://pondini.org/TM/C12.html

HT3275 time machine error says: The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/Apple 's iMac G5.sparsebundle" could not be accessed (error -1).

While backing up to Time Machine, I receive this message: time machine error says: The backup disk image “/Volumes/Data/Apple ’s iMac G5.sparsebundle” could not be accessed (error -1).

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
That message is caused by several reasons. Read the Pondini's site to fix the problem > http://pondini.org/TM/C17.html

Time Machine very slow when backup disk almost full

My Time Machine backups on a Time Capsule (first generation, 1 TB) have become extremely slow recently. The disk is almost full, but I don't think that should be a problem as Time Machine deletes the oldest backups by itself. It has been, so I don't think that in itself should cause a problem.
This becomes particularly annoying because whenever backups are going on, the system doesn't allow me to access the "Open" or "Save" dialogues - probably because it wants to check the Time Machine disk, but can't, or only can very slowly. Whenever I do this, the app in question just freezes.
Anyone else has this problem, and does anyone know a fix? I don't want to start a new backup if I can avoid it.

Florian M. wrote:
Thank you. Did that, and it seems to be working now - though it actually seemed to have got better even before I ran Disk Utility. Before, even rebooting didn't help.
Yes, if there's a problem inside he sparse bundle, rebooting (the Mac and/or TC) won't help.
Time Machine is a great technology, but it seems to have strange quirks sometimes
It does indeed!
Once again, thank you.
You're quite welcome, and thanks for the star!

WD Smartware and time machine error -1 accessing backup disk

I saw a lot of postings in here but didn't see this solution addressed, so I'm documenting it for others.
After I upgraded to Lion, time machine on my MBP stopped working. It gave me an error message window that
Time Machine could not complete the backup
The backup disk image could not be accessed (error -1).
I was getting this message, but my buddy who has the same MBP model, was not having any backup problems.
After calling apple support, it turned out that I had two issues. First, Lion is incompatible with WD Smartware, which I had installed on my MBP (but my buddy did not). You can't even have WD Smartware sitting in your trash bin. I used the WD uninstaller to remove the software and then emptied the trash bin.
Second, a new firmware update was available for my Time Capsule. It was apparently released in the last week or month. I guess I had not run Airport Utility since installing Lion and missed the new version. After installing the firmware update, Time Machine was able to backup my MBP. The support rep said this firmware update also included fixes that may address the intermittent wireless problems we have been having with our TC router since upgrading to Lion.

Spent the whole day speaking to AppleCare on getting this solved.
Migration did not work on the DNS or Doman and the Priviledges were lost.
Look a lot of repair, but backup and running.

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 cannot find the backup disk, need to reset but previous data cannot be accessed.

Lately, my time machine/time capsule has the problem to find the backup disk in the time capsule and cannot perform the backup. I have to reset (at the back of the unit) then the backup can start again, but I can only access the backup data since the last backup, all my previous backup data is no longer available.
Does anyone face the similar situation and how to fix it?

Hi there!
Did you try upgrading to the latest WD Firmware?
It fixes the following:
WD Universal Firmware Updater 3.1.0.10:
Fixes:
Now works with 10.7.x (Lion OS-X)
Now works with new My Book Studio (without Electronic Paper Display), new MyPassport for Mac, and new My Passport Studio model.
Made device detection more robust.
Here's the link to the firmware:
http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/wdsmartwareupdate/firmware.asp?id=wdfGeneric&os=ma c
Regards

Time Machine doesn't see backup disk

My wife has a late '06 macbook running 10.6.5. We are trying to setup time machine for wireless backups through our airport extreme and our iomega 500gb hard drive. When opening time machine from system preferences and clicking on "select backup disk..." there are no disks that appear in the selection window. I have a macbook pro that is currently using the same iomega in time machine so yes, the external is formatted for mac and it is working great with my pro. I have shut off and powered back up the external, restarted my wife's macbook, and searched forum after forum and cannot seem to get this to work. The external does not show up in disk utility on her's but does on mine. She just recently had a new hard drive installed at our mac retailer because her original one just up and crashed...no warning or anything so we really want to start doing backups to avoid loosing anymore data. Anymore help would be much appreciated.

Your suggestion to Connect to Server led me down what seems to have been the right path.
I first tried restarting the whole network in order, and that made no difference: Time Machine still did not see the external drive partition.
I used Connect to Server to get to the external drive. That made no difference: Time Machine still did not see the external drive partition.
I mounted the external drive partition that holds the sparsebundle. That made the difference: the partition was then visible to Time Machine, so I selected it. A dialog box popped up asking for the TC’s password so Time Machine could access the TC. I entered it, and the partition was successfully selected as the backup disk.
I then tried to backup, but that failed, saying that the backup on PartitionName-1 was in use. I tried it again and looked at /Volumes while it was trying, and saw both PartitionName (presumably mounted by Finder) and both PartitionName-1 (presumably in a futile attempt to be mounted by Time Machine). I cancelled that backup and told Finder to dismount the partition, which caused Finder to dismount the whole Time Capsule. I reconnected to the Time Capsule but did not mount the partition, and tried to backup. That, finally, worked.
So here’s what I needed to do:
In Finder, use Connect to Server to connect to the Time Capsule.
In Finder, open the partition on the Time Capsule’s external drive.
In Time Machine Preferences, select the partition as the backup disk.
Enter the Time Capsule password when it’s prompted for.
In Finder, dismount the partition.
(Possibly unnecessary: In Finder, use Connect to Server to connect to the Time Capsule.)
In Time Machine, Back Up Now.

Time Machine error: could not backup, Disk Utility Error: Couldn't unmount disk

I recently bought a WD for Mac 1TB external drive which has been set up as Time Machine. This was as a result of my internal hard drive failing and being replaced. Time machine has worked a treat for last 3 weeks, but today I get a message:
Time Machine could not complete the backup.
Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while creating the backup folder.
So I go into disk utilities to verify the disk and I get this message:
Verifying volume “My Passport for Mac”
Checking file systemError: This disk needs to be repaired. Click Repair Disk.
I click on the Repair Disk and get this message:
Verify and Repair volume “My Passport for Mac”
Volume repair complete.Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.Error: Couldn’t unmount disk.
last backup was at 3.53pm today.
Any ideas?

Why would I need to reboot the whole computer?
However, I did shut it down and restart it and the problem is fixed.

I'm having trouble backing up my second macbook to a new time capsule. continue to get an error message -- "Time Machine Error. The backup disk image could not be created." Is there something I need to change in my time capsule or time machine?

I just set up a new time capsule. it worked fine on my first macbook. But now I cannot backup my second macbook. Getting "Time Machine Error" "The backup disk image could not be created." Do I need to change settings on my time capsule to allow the second computer, or do I need to change something on the computer to allow time machine to work right?

Try #C9 in Pondini's Time Machine Troublshooting
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

My time machine keeps saying the backup disk cannot be mounted. how do I fix it?

my time machine keeps saying that the backup disk cannot be mounted. we cannot figure out why this is happening. We have a 500GB time capsule /wireless router and using a Macbook . any ideas?

Try deleting your iPod Photo Cache folder. See:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1314

Time machine error says: The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/Apple 's iMac G5.sparsebundle" could not be accessed (error -1).

I've been having the same problem that my Time Machine can't be back up to my iMac for last few months. It said," The backup disk image... sparsebundle" cannot be acessed -(error 1) . When i looked into my TC, it does connected to my iMac; but not in devices and when i clicked into imac.sparsebundle and it is no mounted file system.
I tried several changes such as new password, new device names, checked Keychain Acess, repaired the disk, got a latest air utilily... But it still couldn't help alot. my iMac software now is OSX Mountain Lion 10.8.4. However, it having the problem since i update the software... I'm not sure if it related but i'm clueless now!!!
I need help for this annoying issue!!

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
That message is caused by several reasons. Read the Pondini's site to fix the problem > http://pondini.org/TM/C17.html

My time machine error message "The backup disk image "/Volumes/Richard Searson's Time Caps/Richard's iMac.sparsebundle" is already in use." Any suggestions please?

The backup disk image “/Volumes/Richard Searson's Time Caps/Richard’s iMac.sparsebundle” is already in use. It hasnt backed up for over 24 hours now and I am concerned as only in May my whole system crashed and the time machine was not able to recover any data. I do not want this to happen again. Thanks

This is our most common problem.. and you are number 2 today.
Look on the right..
More Like This
Your problem is repeated with the solution ad nauseam.
But the solution is simple.. pull out the power cord from the TC.. count to 10.. Plug in the power cord again.
This is just poor networking from Apple.
Whenever you have TM issues.. this is the place to check.
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
Your issue is C12.

Time Machine reports identity of backup disk has changed

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