Time Machine says backup is too large for backup disk -- but it isn't...

I have a MacBook Pro with a 120GB drive and a 120GB external drive I use for Time Machine. Everything went fine for months until my laptop's drive got close to full (about 3GB of free space). Then Time Machine started saying it didn't have enough room to complete a backup: "needs 10GB but only 8.6GB is available"
So I told it to stop backing up my iTunes movies (about 7GB). Still didn't work -- same error message (the actual values may have changed some, I don't remember).
Next, I added another 10GB do the "do not back up" list. Still didn't work. Finally, I deleted (actually deleted, not just said "don't back up") about 5GB of files and emptied the Trash.
Now it says it needs 15.9GB of space to do a backup and only 8.6 is available... ??? I've restarted the machine several times, still doesn't work.
My solutions seem to be making it worse. Makes no sense to me.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Peter,
Unfortunately, Apple hasn't documented this very well. However, those of us who know how Time Machine works behind the scenes know this to be true. Of course, Time Machine can back up a given machine at least once with only slightly more space on the backup drive than needed, but subsequent backups will fail.
I have to disagree, though, that most people would fill a 250 GB hard drive. I have what I would consider a "just barely manageable" amount of data in my HOME folder, and my installation clocks in at about 100 GBs. Those "big ticket" items that would tend to bloat my HOME folder- iTunes videos, folders of huge images, etc.- I regularly place on some form of external storage when I no longer need them, removing them from my HOME folder. In fact, I have a partition on an external drive just for the storage of iTunes videos that have already been watched.
If your installation is filling a 250 GB hard drive, you might consider your file management, and just what is consuming so much disk space. It could be that you have some data that would be better stored externally.
Those that would benefit most from using a Time Capsule are those using portable computers, since these are the least convenient to connect directly to an external drive. Certainly, it doesn't make sense to have a portable connected directly to an external to allow hourly backups, which could occur easily when using a Time Capsule. And, I dare say that most portable computer users have internal drives smaller than 250 GBs. I know I certainly do.
All this said, your question is really whether or not a Time Capsule is right for you. If you are filling a 250 GB hard drive, the 500 GB model would do, but just barely. Adding a second machine, also using all of a 250 GB hard drive, wouldn't be possible. In this case, even the 1 TB model would be just barely enough, if that. Again, you might want to consider your file management, or just stick with directly-connected external drives for use with Time Machine. There are scenarios where a Time Capsule makes sense, and scenarios where directly-connected solutions are better.
Scott

Similar Messages

I have a 500 GB hard drive and a 1TB Time Capsule running on a MacBook Pro. It was all working well until the MacBook went in for a repair a week or so ago. Since then, TC will not perform a backup; instead, it says the backup is too large for the disk

Since having my MacBook Pro repaired (for a video problem) Time Capsule returns the following message: "This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 428.08 GB but only 192.14 GB are available."
I notice that there is also a new sparse bundle.
Since TC has my ONLY backup (going back about 4 years) I am reluctant to wipe it and start over fresh as I am afraid of losing files.
Is there a way of dealing with this?
I am using Snow Leopard 10.6.8

The repair shop likely replaced a major circuit board on your MacBook Pro, so Time Machine thinks that you have a "new" computer and it wants to make a new complete backup of your Mac.
You are going to have to make a decision to either add another new Time Capsule....or USB drive to your existing Time Capsule....and in effect start over with a new backup of your Mac and then move forward again.
For "most" users, I think this is probably the best plan because you preserve all your old backups in case you need them at some point, and you start over again with a new Time Capsule so you have plenty of room for years of new backups.
Or, as you have mentioned, you have the option of erasing the Time Capsule drive and starting all over again. The upside is that you start over and have plenty of room for new backups. The downside is that you lose years of backups.
Another option....trying to manually delete old backups individually....is tricky business....and very time consuming. To get an idea of what is involved here, study this FAQ by Pondini, our resident Time Capsule and Time Machine expert on the Community Support area. In particular, study the pink box.
http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/12.html
Once you look through this, I think you may agree that this type of surgery is not for the faint of heart. I would suggest that you consider this only if one of the other options just cannot work for you.

"Backup is too large for backup volume" error

When I try to backup my StartUp Drive (931.2 GB capacity, 348.2 GB Available, 583.0 GB Used) to my Backup Drive (931.2 Available) which is mounted in the adjacent bay I have begun to get an Error Message that says "This backup is too large for the backup volume. The backup requires 1379.1 GB but only 931.0 GB are available." Clearly something is amiss. It was backing up to this hard drive just fine.
Here is the log from the Backup Buddy Widget
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/2 Backup/Backups.backupdb
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: 4 Movies
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: 1 Start Up
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: 3 Media
Backup content size: 466.2 GB excluded items size: 0 bytes for volume 4 Movies
Backup content size: 583.0 GB excluded items size: 1.9 MB for volume 1 Start Up
Backup content size: 99.9 GB excluded items size: 0 bytes for volume 3 Media
Starting pre-backup thinning: 1.35 TB requested (including padding), 930.96 GB available
No expired backups exist - deleting oldest backups to make room
Error: backup disk is full - all 0 possible backups were removed, but space is still needed.
Backup Failed: unable to free 1.35 TB needed space
Backup failed with error: Not enough available disk space on the target volume.
Message was edited by: James Pittman1

James Pittman1 wrote:
I installed a new hard drive ( replaced a 250 GB with a 1 T drive), I deleted a sparse image from another drive (neither of these drives were included with the backup from TM) and I renamed the TM drive from "Backup" to "2 Backup" after I erased it. I then attempted the full back up from the "Startup" drive to the newly erased "2 Backup" drive and got the error message. All drives are internal.
According to the messages you posted earlier, you're trying to back-up three drives:
Backup content size: 466.2 GB excluded items size: 0 bytes for volume 4 Movies
Backup content size: 583.0 GB excluded items size: 1.9 MB for volume 1 Start Up
Backup content size: 99.9 GB excluded items size: 0 bytes for volume 3 Media
That's a total of 1149.1 GB. TM then adds about 20% for workspace it will need (the "padding" in the next message):
Starting pre-backup thinning: 1.35 TB requested (including padding), 930.96 GB available
You need a bigger TM drive, or to back-up one or more of the other drives some other way, and exclude them from TM.
A 1 TB drive is just barely large enough to back-up your +Start Up+ drive, as TM really should have 2-3 times the space of the data it's backing-up.

Time Machine Backup Is Too Large For Backup Disc NOT

Hi, I have not been able to locate anything to help me with a time machine/time capsule issue I am experiencing. I have a 750 GB internal and a 1tb capsule. I have been using it to back up for well over a year with no real troubles. About three months ago, a message appeared that my time machine drive was basically filling up and that it was going to start deleting old backups to replace with new ones. No big deal I knew that this day would come. Well, today, I receive a message that it wants to back up 621.99 gbs (the entire drive!) and there is only 59.33 gbs of space. This should not be the case, it seems to think it is backing up a brand new initial back up for some reason when it shouldn't be. Why is it trying to back up the entire drive? I can't figure out what to do to get it back on track. This is the problem with my Apple products, problems are so few and far between for me that I don't remember what to do to correct the issues that arise every couple years. Can anyone guide me?

...have not been able to locate anything to help me with a time machine/time capsule issue I am experiencing.
Nothing here, John?
User Contributed Tips:
Pondini - Time Machine - TROUBLESHOOTING (Sept 25, 2009)
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2057525
Pondini - Time Machine -- Frequently Asked Questions (Apr 3, 2009)
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1964018

My time Machine keeps saying, "Time Machine could not complete the backup. This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 345.74 GB but only 289.80 are available." I have already excluded files. I have a 1tb external drive. HELP!!!

For over two weeks now I have been frustated and not having my TIme Machine back up to my 1tb external drive. I dont understand why now its a problem. It keeps saying
"This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 345.74GB but only 289.80GB are avialable. Time Machine needs work space on the bakup disk, in addition to the space required to store backups. Open Time Machine preferences to select a large backup disk or make the bakup smaller by excluding files." So I have already excluded almost all of my files, and even deleted the backup disk yet, that quote still keeps popping up. I am truly at a wall with this. I have a Mac OS X version 10.7.5. CAN SOMEONE HELP ME PLEASE????

If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator.
Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.
Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar.
Enter the word "Starting" (without the quotes) in the String Matching text field. You should now see log messages with the words "Starting * backup," where * represents any of the words "automatic," "manual," or "standard." Note the timestamp of the last such message. Clear the text field and scroll back in the log to that time. Select the messages timestamped from then until the end of the backup, or the end of the log if that's not clear. Copy them (command-C) to the Clipboard. Paste (command-V) into a reply to this message.
If there are runs of repeated messages, post only one example of each. Don't post many repetitions of the same message.
When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Some personal information, such as the names of your files, may be included — anonymize before posting.

Time Machine completes once, then says "too large for backup disk"

Hello all,
I'm a very experienced, certified Apple tech, with over 15 years' experience working on Macs, having used them since 1984.
Client's iMac (27-inch, Late 2009)
Mac OS X 10.6.8, fully up to date
12 GB RAM
History: Internal 1 TB hard drive was failing. Mac out of warranty, so HDD was replaced with a new 1 TB hard drive.
Data was cloned from old drive using SuperDuper!
Now, Time Machine will not back up more than once.
The error reads:
"Time Machine could not complete the backup.
This backup is too large for the backup disk.
The backup requires 728.32 GB but only 568.57 GB are available."
The backup drive is 1.5x the size of the internal drive. There are no other hard drives attached that would be included in the backup.
Internal hard drive: 1 TB
Available: 392 GB
Used 608 GB
External backup drive 1.5 TB
Available 568.57 GB
Used 931.39 GB
I have tried many steps from the pondini.org site and other blogs and internet forums, including this one.
External hard drive has been reformatted/erased several times.
We have disabled indexing, deleted the Spotlight index, and re-enabled indexing.
I can't determine why the Time Machine backup is 1.5 times the size of the data on the internal boot drive.
This was never a problem before the internal hard drive was replaced, so I think it's related to that.
I had the client install BackupLoupe. Her computer is not at our office, but I can get more info from her if needed.
If there's something obvious I'm missing, let me know.
Thanks in advance,
Dave

That's been done, and here are the results:
July 13 6:22am
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/a***r/Backups.backupdb
Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:must scan subdirs|
No pre-backup thinning needed: 678.09 GB requested (including padding),
831.97 GB available
Copied 122.0 GB of 564.1 GB, 246633 of 523955 items
Copied 294.4 GB of 564.1 GB, 320260 of 523955 items
CoreEndianFlipData: error -4940 returned for rsrc type open (id 128, length
12, native = no)
CoreEndianFlipData: error -4940 returned for rsrc type open (id 128, length
12, native = no)
Copied 444.4 GB of 564.1 GB, 453652 of 523955 items
Copied 523956 files (554.8 GB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Starting post-backup thinning
No post-back up thinning needed: no expired backups exist
Backup completed successfully.
July 13 6:42am
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/a***r/Backups.backupdb
Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:must scan subdirs|
Starting pre-backup thinning: 678.15 GB requested (including padding),
268.78 GB available
No expired backups exist - deleting oldest backups to make room
Deleted backup /Volumes/a***r/Backups.backupdb/iMac/2013-07-13-021422: 831.05 GB now available
Pre-backup thinning completed successfully: 1 backups were deleted
Backup date range was shortened: oldest backup is now Jul 13, 2013
Copied 69.2 GB of 564.1 GB, 228921 of 523955 items
Copied 231.8 GB of 564.1 GB, 294537 of 523955 items
CoreEndianFlipData: error -4940 returned for rsrc type open (id 128, length
12, native = no)
CoreEndianFlipData: error -4940 returned for rsrc type open (id 128, length
12, native = no)
Copied 379.7 GB of 564.1 GB, 409687 of 523955 items
Copied 543.7 GB of 564.1 GB, 517846 of 523955 items
Copied 523967 files (554.8 GB) from volume Macintosh HD.
July 13 1102 am
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/a***r/Backups.backupdb
Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:must scan subdirs|
Starting pre-backup thinning: 678.15 GB requested (including padding),
268.78 GB available
No expired backups exist - deleting oldest backups to make room
Deleted backup /Volumes/a***r/Backups.backupdb/iMac/2013-07-13-021422: 831.05 GB now available
Pre-backup thinning completed successfully: 1 backups were deleted
Backup date range was shortened: oldest backup is now Jul 13, 2013
Copied 69.2 GB of 564.1 GB, 228921 of 523955 items
Copied 231.8 GB of 564.1 GB, 294537 of 523955 items
CoreEndianFlipData: error -4940 returned for rsrc type open (id 128, length
12, native = no)
CoreEndianFlipData: error -4940 returned for rsrc type open (id 128, length
12, native = no)
Copied 379.7 GB of 564.1 GB, 409687 of 523955 items
Copied 543.7 GB of 564.1 GB, 517846 of 523955 items
Copied 523967 files (554.8 GB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Backup completed successfully.
July 13 307pm
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/a***r/Backups.backupdb
Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:must scan subdirs|
Starting pre-backup thinning: 679.38 GB requested (including padding),
267.58 GB available
No expired backups exist - deleting oldest backups to make room
Deleted backup /Volumes/a***r/Backups.backupdb/iMac/2013-07-13-062230: 829.87 GB now available
Pre-backup thinning completed successfully: 1 backups were deleted
Backup date range was shortened: oldest backup is now Jul 13, 2013
Copied 80.4 GB of 564.1 GB, 235855 of 523977 items
Copied 218.1 GB of 564.1 GB, 289940 of 523977 items
CoreEndianFlipData: error -4940 returned for rsrc type open (id 128, length
12, native = no)
CoreEndianFlipData: error -4940 returned for rsrc type open (id 128, length
12, native = no)
Copied 347.4 GB of 564.1 GB, 395287 of 523977 items
Stopping backupd to allow ejection of backup destination disk!
Copied 395788 files (353.7 GB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Backup canceled.
July 14 11:02am
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/a***r/Backups.backupdb
Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:must scan subdirs|
Starting pre-backup thinning: 680.07 GB requested (including padding),
470.83 GB available
No expired backups exist - deleting oldest backups to make room
Error: backup disk is full - all 0 possible backups were removed, but space
is still needed.
Backup Failed: unable to free 680.07 GB needed space
Backup failed with error: Not enough available disk space on the target
volume.
July 14 12.48pm
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/a***r/Backups.backupdb
Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:must scan subdirs|
Starting pre-backup thinning: 680.07 GB requested (including padding),
470.83 GB available
No expired backups exist - deleting oldest backups to make room
Error: backup disk is full - all 0 possible backups were removed, but space
is still needed.
Backup Failed: unable to free 680.07 GB needed space
Backup failed with error: Not enough available disk space on the target
volume.

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 Error - The backup is too large for the backup disk

I have been using Lion (currently 10.7.1) on my MacBook Pro (13" - early 2011) since it was released. I haven't had any serious problems with it.
All of a sudden, I am getting an error in Time Machine. When it tries to run a backup, the error "This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 7.51 GB but only 630.1 GB are available." What gives? That's plenty of room. I have installed Logic Studio and a few plug-ins, so the 7.51 GB is probably right. The free space is correct as well. I can't understand what the problem is.
The backup disk is an external USB 2.0 drive with no other Time Machine backups on it or any other files. The folder "Backups.backupdb" is the only thing on the root of the disk.
I am reluctant to reset the Time Machine and lose all of the backups, but I will if anyone recommends it.

Hi Linc,
It is not working at the moment, as I have restored the original Lion image again; it has all my work and apps on it.
Many thanks for the info on the log, though. It tells a strange story. Here's the log from the last backup that worked to the first one that failed: --
Sep 12 17:15:55 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[674]: Starting standard backup
Sep 12 17:15:55 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[674]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Backup/Backups.backupdb
Sep 12 17:15:55 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[674]: 100.0 MB required (including padding), 633.72 GB available
Sep 12 17:15:55 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[674]: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
Sep 12 17:16:00 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[674]: Copied 793 files (601 KB) from volume System.
Sep 12 17:16:00 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[674]: 100.0 MB required (including padding), 633.72 GB available
Sep 12 17:16:01 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[674]: Copied 89 files (93 bytes) from volume System.
Sep 12 17:16:01 Johns-MacBook-Pro mds[34]: (Error) Volume: Could not find requested backup type:2 for volume
Sep 12 17:16:01 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[674]: Starting post-backup thinning
Sep 12 17:16:01 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[674]: Deleted /Volumes/Backup/Backups.backupdb/John’s MacBook Pro/2011-09-11-154229 (1.1 MB)
Sep 12 17:16:01 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[674]: Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed
Sep 12 17:16:01 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[674]: Backup completed successfully.
Sep 13 10:34:12 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[287]: Starting standard backup
Sep 13 10:34:12 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[287]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Backup/Backups.backupdb
Sep 13 10:34:52 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[287]: 7.51 GB required (including padding), 630.11 GB available
Sep 13 10:34:52 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[287]: No expired backups exist - deleting oldest backups to make room
Sep 13 10:34:52 Johns-MacBook-Pro mds[32]: (Error) Volume: Could not find requested backup type:2 for volume
Sep 13 10:35:03 Johns-MacBook-Pro com.apple.backupd[287]: Backup failed with error: Not enough available disk space on the target volume.
I don't understand. For starters, I think it's a little wasteful that 3.5 GB has been used to back up 601 KB. That's the difference in free space on the backup volume between the two backups. That can't be normal, surely.
The only error is that mds[32] error, and from what I've read on forums, that seems to appear on backups that work perfectly.
Too weird. It looks like I'll have to reinstall Lion and all my applications again to get Time Machine working, or find another backup solution.

Used Time Machine Backup Today- Now This backup is too large for the backup

Hey Everyone!
Some advice please,
My Hard Drive recently crashed. Fortunately, I've been using Time Machine. Apple Store gave me a new Hard Drive (for free), and I came home and restored to Time Machine. I am very impressed, and have lost no data or applications.
So now I have a problem. I can no longer back my hard drive, presumably because there were so many changes to the software today. I am getting This backup is too large for the backup volume. What is the easiest way to delete my old time machine backup and start from scratch with my computer in its current state? Everything seems to be working smoothly, so I don't see any reason to keep my old backups. Any suggestions? Is there any logical reason why I would keep the old backup?
Message was edited by: David Selevan

Thanks Barry!
I called Apple (had to anyway for a new OS Leopard DVD) and he had me go into Disk Utility and choose Erase Disk (as you suggested). I didn't have to do any formatting.
The next step was to go into System Preferences and select Change Disk and set it to None. After that, he had me choose Change Disk again, and select the USB drive, and click Use For Backup.
Now it's backing up the new version of my computer. Problem solved. Thank you.
After having to get an brand new Hard Drive today, I highly recommend that everyone purchase some kind of external hard drive and run Time Machine regularly. Although the backups get large, I've never experienced such a pleasant experience getting my files back after a hard drive failure. This is awesome technology. I can't believe 95% of my applications still worked.
David

The message I get is: Time Machine could not complete the backup. This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 111.27 GB but only 42.1 GB are available.

I have a problem with my Time Capsule. The message I get is: Time Machine could not complete the backup. This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 111.27 GB but only 42.1 GB are available. As a result, my backups are no longer running. My umderstanding was that the Time Capsule would automatically delete old backups to make space. Can anyone help me figure out how to get my backups to run again?

If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator.
Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.
Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left. If you don't see that menu, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar.
Enter the word "Starting" (without the quotes) in the String Matching text field. You should now see log messages with the words "Starting * backup," where * represents any of the words "automatic," "manual," or "standard." Note the timestamp of the last such message. Clear the text field and scroll back in the log to that time. Select the messages timestamped from then until the end of the backup, or the end of the log if that's not clear. Copy them (command-C) to the Clipboard. Paste (command-V) into a reply to this message.
If there are runs of repeated messages, post only one example of each. Don't post many repetitions of the same message.
When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Some personal information, such as the names of your files, may be included — anonymize before posting.

Time Machine Error. Backup is too large for the backup disk. Backup requires 289.28 GB but only 177.01 GB are available.

My Mac has not been backing up for some time. Tried Apple Support, but couldn't figure out problem.
Receive the following error...
Time Machine Error
This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 289.28 GB but only 177.03 GB are available.

See #C4 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
If that doesn't clarify the situation, post back with:
How much data is on your internal HD (and any others being backed-up)?
How large is your Time Capsule?
Is there anything else on the TC besides these backups? If so, what and how large?

Time Machine backs up one MacBook, but "backup is too large" for second

We have two MacBooks running OS 10.5.8 and both are connected wirelessly to Time Capsule. My daughter's laptop backs up fine. But my wife's laptop fails. It backed up one time when I first installed it, but never since. The error message I get is that the backup is too large for the backup volume -- 71.8 GB required but only 7.4 GB available.
My daughter's machine has a lot of photos and iTunes files on it, so it shows 141 out of 150 GBs are used up. The Time Capsule, which I understood to have 1 TB actually shows only 7.4 GB out of 463 GB are available.
And actually, when I try to manually run Time Machine on my wife's machine I get the really long Preparing message, and then the Time Machine Error message about not enough volume.
Should a machine with 150 GB capacity really be taking so much space on Time Capsule, and why the difference between the 1 TB advertised capacity and the <500GB of memory that actually appears to be there?
Does any of this suggest I need to restore the external or internal drives?

Steve Hasler wrote:
We have two MacBooks running OS 10.5.8 and both are connected wirelessly to Time Capsule. My daughter's laptop backs up fine. But my wife's laptop fails. It backed up one time when I first installed it, but never since. The error message I get is that the backup is too large for the backup volume -- 71.8 GB required but only 7.4 GB available.
Does it make sense that it's trying to back up about 60 GB (Time Machine adds 20% for temporary workspace) from that Mac?
If so, see if it has the +Warn when old backups are deleted+ box checked in Time Machine Preferences > Options.
Click the Time Capsule in a Finder sidebar. If the Finder is in +Column View,+ you should see something like this:
|
except there should be two +sparse bundles+ listed in the third column. Right-click each one in turn, select +Get Info,+ and see what's shown for Size. Report back with the numbers. Also tell us if you have any other data on your TC, besides the 2 Mac's backups.
My daughter's machine has a lot of photos and iTunes files on it, so it shows 141 out of 150 GBs are used up. The Time Capsule, which I understood to have 1 TB actually shows only 7.4 GB out of 463 GB are available.
And actually, when I try to manually run Time Machine on my wife's machine I get the really long Preparing message, and then the Time Machine Error message about not enough volume.
That sounds like it's doing a "deep traversal," perhaps after a long time since the last backup, where it has to compare everything on the Mac to the backups, to figure out what needs to be backed-up.
Should a machine with 150 GB capacity really be taking so much space on Time Capsule
Sure. Time Machine will use up all the space available to it, then begin deleting the oldest backup(s) when it needs room for new ones.
and why the difference between the 1 TB advertised capacity and the <500GB of memory that actually appears to be there?</div>
It does sound like you have a 500 GB Time Capsule. The original ones were 500 GB; I'm not sure when the 1 TB version came out, and now you can get them with 2 TB. How old is it, and why do you think it's a 1 TB model?

Time Machine backup too large for backup disk

My Mac hard drive is 750GB (25GB free).
My LaCie external dedicated backup hard drive is 1TB (342GB free).
I am now getting the error "Time Machine couldn't complete the backup" "This backup is too large for the backup disk"
I thought once my initial backup of 750GB happened, it would be incremental backups from then on (with old changes betting deleted as space was needed for new changes).
Is this not the case? Do I need a much larger backup drive or something?
Thanks much for any help.

It's true but Time Machine has also to make complete backups again in case you want to restore your Mac with a more recent Time Machine backup.
Clearly the external drive you have doesn't have enough storage to back up your Mac. As you have about 725 GB of used space, I recommend you to get at least a 3 or 4 TB external drive to make backups, and even with this, don't think you will have more than four backups. Another thing you can do is to remove folders from the backup in System Preferences > Time Machine > Options

HT201250 This backup is too large for the backup disk /Time machine

This backup is too large for the backup disk /Time machine

You can go into options on the time capsule setup and select a few things you dont want to backup to make your backup small enough. You might have to wipe the time capsule if you have another backup on there and trying to do a new machine backup or something like that

HT4522 Multiple computers on Time Capsule. "Backup is too large for the backup disk" ???

I am getting the following error:
"Time Machine Error
This backup is too large for the backup disk. The
backup requires 15.38 GB but only 3.94 GB are
available."
I have a two MacBook Pros that I have been backing up to my 1 TB Time Capsule using Time Machine. Recently, I have started getting errors saying that there is not enough space to complete backups. Between the two MacBook Pros, there is a max of 400 GB that I am trying to backup. I thought that old backups were deleted to make room for new ones - so what gives?
I used Migration Assistant to migrate everything from the old MacBook Pro (2009) to a new MacBook Pro (2011). I also used Migration Assistant to Migrate everything from an old MacBook to the old MacBook Pro (2009). So, I am now only using the two MacBook Pros (2009 and 2011).
Is it possible that there are old backups on the Time Capsule from the MacBook and the MacBook Pro (2009) from before the Migration? If so, how do I find them and delete them?
My goal is to create more space on the Time Capsule so I can continue backups of the two Pros. Thanks for the help in advance. Sorry if this is confusing. Please ask questions to clarify.

The time machine does not work as well when there are multiple computers using the TC.
It really does not seem able to dispose of the old backups.
Pondini may help..
http://pondini.org/TM/C4.html
IMHO.. The best bet is to plug in a USB drive large enough to save everything on the TC and do a back directly from the airport utility.. disk, archive..
Then wipe the TC using erase.. and do a fresh TM backup on both computers.
Keep the USB drive in a draw for a year and a day.. after that you can assume anything on it is no longer required wipe it and do another backup of the TC.

Time Machine says backup is too large for backup disk -- but it isn't...

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