Time Machine spending a LONG time Preparing Backup

I've upgraded to MAverick nd everything seems to be working. However time machine has spent the past 24 hours saying that it's prep[aring the backup. Part of this time it changed the messaged to say deleting old backups....
Then it says backup failed..
Any suggestions on what is happening?
I'm tempted to wipe the time achine drive and start from scratch but thought that I'd ask you good folks first.
Thanks!

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 that corresponds to an abnormal backup. Now
CLEAR THE WORD "Starting" FROM THE TEXT FIELD
so that all messages are showning, and scroll back in the log to the time you noted. 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 to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste (command-V) into a reply to this message.
If all you see are messages that contain the word "Starting," you didn't clear the text field.
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.

Similar Messages

Time machine takes very long time

Time machine takes very long time to write the back up.
For writing 2,33 GB (from 26,33GB) it takes abou14 hours and I don't know, why it is so very slow. I work with USB 3.0 2 TB external hard disk drive.

Try Here > http://pondini.org/TM/D2.html
From Here > http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

Time machine takes very long time and does not finish the backup

Hi,
Time machine is unable to backup my 2014 Mackbook Air 128 GB Drive anymore.
I have tried numerously to initiate a backup but it could only backup a very small volume, less than 1KB, then stall for hours without any progress.
I tries to repair my volume, using the Disk Utility, but it still does not backup, except for the 1K progress.
I have noticed that "Spot Light" indexing is also taking forever. It has been indexing for days without any pogress.
What is going on.
What should I do to fix it.
My latest successful backup was on Jul 25.
Please help.
Thanks.
Tareq

These instructions must be carried out as an administrator. If you have only one user account, you are the 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.
The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select
SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages
from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select
View ▹ Show Log List
from the menu bar at the top of the screen.
In the top right corner of the Console window, there's a search box labeled Filter. Initially the words "String Matching" are shown in that box. Enter the word "Starting" (without the quotes.) You should now see log messages with the words "Starting * backup," where * represents any of the words "automatic," "manual," or "standard."
Each message in the log begins with the date and time when it was entered. Note the timestamp of the last "Starting" message that corresponds to the beginning of an an abnormal backup. Now
CLEAR THE WORD "Starting" FROM THE TEXT FIELD
so that all messages are showing, and scroll back in the log to the time you noted. 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 to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.
☞ If all you see are messages that contain the word "Starting," you didn't clear the text field.
☞ The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of which is irrelevant to solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.
Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.
☞ Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

Time Machine Taking a Long Time to Index / Back Up

Hi everyone.
I noticed this on the latest backup to my Time Capsule device. I'm backing up over a WiFi connection to a time capsule device. It is taking a long time to index the backup. Here's the code from the latest backup.
10/17/12 9:43:03.799 PM com.apple.backupd: Starting standard backup
10/17/12 9:43:04.091 PM com.apple.backupd: Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://Michael%20Payne@Extreme%20Pleasantville._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Time%20Mac hine%20Backups
10/17/12 9:43:12.657 PM com.apple.backupd: Mounted network destination at mountpoint: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups using URL: afp://Michael%20Payne@Extreme%20Pleasantville._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Time%20Mac hine%20Backups
10/17/12 9:43:34.015 PM com.apple.backupd: QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
10/17/12 9:43:37.440 PM com.apple.backupd: Disk image /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Michael’s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1
10/17/12 9:43:37.459 PM com.apple.backupd: Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1/Backups.backupdb
10/17/12 9:45:23.296 PM com.apple.backupd: 500.1 MB required (including padding), 3.27 GB available
10/17/12 9:46:48.844 PM com.apple.backupd: Copied 1436 files (3.4 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
10/17/12 9:46:51.897 PM com.apple.backupd: 448.1 MB required (including padding), 3.27 GB available
10/17/12 9:46:51.898 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
10/17/12 9:47:53.681 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
10/17/12 9:48:55.642 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
10/17/12 9:49:56.511 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
10/17/12 9:50:56.564 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
10/17/12 9:51:57.643 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
10/17/12 9:52:57.903 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
10/17/12 9:53:59.341 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
10/17/12 9:55:01.281 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
10/17/12 9:56:03.171 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
10/17/12 9:57:03.966 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
10/17/12 9:58:33.083 PM com.apple.backupd: Copied 824 files (1.2 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
10/17/12 9:58:40.359 PM com.apple.backupd: Starting post-backup thinning
10/17/12 9:59:51.851 PM com.apple.backupd: Deleted /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1/Backups.backupdb/Michael’s MacBook Pro/2012-10-16-213620 (5.6 MB)
10/17/12 10:00:17.440 PM com.apple.backupd: Deleted /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1/Backups.backupdb/Michael’s MacBook Pro/2012-10-16-113505 (1.6 MB)
10/17/12 10:00:30.046 PM com.apple.backupd: Deleted /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1/Backups.backupdb/Michael’s MacBook Pro/2012-10-16-103509 (1.6 MB)
10/17/12 10:00:43.781 PM com.apple.backupd: Deleted /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1/Backups.backupdb/Michael’s MacBook Pro/2012-10-16-093513 (1.3 MB)
10/17/12 10:00:43.781 PM com.apple.backupd: Post-back up thinning complete: 4 expired backups removed
10/17/12 10:00:45.207 PM com.apple.backupd: Backup completed successfully.
10/17/12 10:00:56.988 PM com.apple.backupd: Ejected Time Machine disk image.
10/17/12 10:00:57.550 PM com.apple.backupd: Ejected Time Machine network volume.
I am just curious as to why this is, and what I might do to fix it. I did see one suggestion in another website suggesting diabling spolight indexing of the backup image with sudo mdutil -i off /Volumes/Time Machine Backups, but don't know where to type that in. It then states to reenable it, but don't know where to type that in, either. Any advice would be helpful. I did run a verification not too long ago, and here's that code.
10/14/12 3:44:14.289 PM com.apple.backupd: Backup verification requested by user.
10/14/12 3:44:41.503 PM com.apple.backupd: Running backup verification
10/14/12 4:04:31.602 PM com.apple.backupd: Backup verification passed!
If any of you have or had a similar problem, I'd appreciate your help. For the time being, I may just disable time machine during the evening, and only have it run during the day when I'm at work.

Is your sig still current (10.7.3)? Or did you update to 10.7.5? Because 10.7.5 had a Spotlight/Time Machine bug that slowed down a lot of backups. If that's what it is, there's now a 10.7.5 Supplemental Update that fixes the slow Time Machine problem.
If it isn't 10.7.5, I don't know what the problem might be.

Time Machine takes very long time to back up with new large drive

I started using Time Machine on my 17" MBP about a month ago. I was using a 250 GB Samsung drive. When I discovered that TM will back up other external drives (I have several firewire pocket drives), I purchased a 500 GB Cavalry drive with USB 2.0 and eSATA connections. The first backup of my MBP drive (about 85 GB) took several hours (4-6?). I backed up one of my pocket drives (about 60 GB), which took 3-4 hours. Then, when I changed the back-up drive in Time Machine to the new 500 GB drive with the eSATA connection, I stopped it after an hour, because only 2 GB had been backed up. I erased the drive and restarted using the USB connection. It backed up 3 GB in an hour. So, now I'm back to using the original back-up drive. I've performed benchmark tests on all drives (the Samsung 250, Cavalry USB and eSATA 500 GB, and the MBP internal drive) with Xbench. The USB speeds on the Samsung and Cavalry drives came out about the same with a slight edge to the Cavalry drive. The eSATA connection with the Cavalry drive operated at over twice the speed of the USB connections and at about twice the speed of the MBP internal drive (which is a 1.5 Gb/s SATA drive). Basically, I can't figure out why Time Machine takes so incredibly long to back up when I switched to the new drive. Any ideas?
Jeff

It took me 20 hours to backup 32GB out of 65. I don't know why. Using carbon copy clone to download to another backup drive I did it perfectly in about 30 minutes. I expect that those appllications which show applicatiions are at fault and will try later getting rid of apps such as F-10 and pathfinderfor the first download. I have no idea why this is so slow. Everything is so slow.

Time Machine Taking a Long Time to Index

Hi everyone.
I first noticed this today. My Time Machine is taking a long time to index. It's stuck on "Waiting for index to be ready (100)" for about 10 minutes at least, it seems. I did notice earlier today that it had to delete old backups to make space for new backups, and I'm wondering if that has anything to do with it. I'm in the process of doing a verification now, but here's the code from two backups earlier today.
Here's the one where it had to delete backups to make room for new and future backups.
1/30/13 5:48:13.069 PM com.apple.backupd: Starting standard backup
1/30/13 5:48:13.267 PM com.apple.backupd: Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://Michael%20Payne@Extreme%20Pleasantville._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Time%20Mac hine%20Backups
1/30/13 5:48:13.749 PM com.apple.backupd: Mounted network destination at mountpoint: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups using URL: afp://Michael%20Payne@Extreme%20Pleasantville._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Time%20Mac hine%20Backups
1/30/13 5:48:35.120 PM com.apple.backupd: QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
1/30/13 5:48:40.280 PM com.apple.backupd: Disk image /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Michael’s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1
1/30/13 5:48:40.407 PM com.apple.backupd: Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1/Backups.backupdb
1/30/13 5:54:50.703 PM com.apple.backupd: 500.8 MB required (including padding), 403.3 MB available
1/30/13 5:55:00.163 PM com.apple.backupd: Ejected disk image: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Michael’s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle
1/30/13 5:55:00.163 PM com.apple.backupd: Compacting backup disk image to recover free space
1/30/13 5:58:52.014 PM com.apple.backupd: Completed backup disk image compaction
1/30/13 5:58:52.016 PM com.apple.backupd: Starting standard backup
1/30/13 5:58:52.065 PM com.apple.backupd: Network destination already mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups
1/30/13 5:59:13.694 PM com.apple.backupd: QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
1/30/13 5:59:17.577 PM com.apple.backupd: Disk image /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Michael’s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1
1/30/13 5:59:17.673 PM com.apple.backupd: Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1/Backups.backupdb
1/30/13 6:01:22.433 PM com.apple.backupd: 500.9 MB required (including padding), 424.6 MB available
1/30/13 6:02:40.909 PM com.apple.backupd: Deleted backup /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1/Backups.backupdb/Michael’s MacBook Pro/2013-01-28-225651 containing 5.8 MB; 430.4 MB now available, 500.9 MB required
1/30/13 6:02:40.909 PM com.apple.backupd: Removed 1 expired backups so far, more space is needed - deleting oldest backups to make room
1/30/13 6:25:09.045 PM com.apple.backupd: Deleted backup /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1/Backups.backupdb/Michael’s MacBook Pro/2012-05-12-095019 containing 1.08 GB; 1.50 GB now available, 500.9 MB required
1/30/13 6:25:09.045 PM com.apple.backupd: Deleted 2 backups containing 1.09 GB total; 1.50 GB now available, 500.9 MB required
1/30/13 6:25:09.045 PM com.apple.backupd: Backup date range was shortened: oldest backup is now May 20, 2012
1/30/13 6:28:35.009 PM com.apple.backupd: Copied 2289 files (7.3 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
1/30/13 6:28:35.920 PM com.apple.backupd: 494.0 MB required (including padding), 424.6 MB available
1/30/13 6:28:35.921 PM com.apple.backupd: No expired backups exist - deleting oldest backups to make room
1/30/13 6:30:36.145 PM com.apple.backupd: Deleted backup /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1/Backups.backupdb/Michael’s MacBook Pro/2012-05-20-194752 containing 55.0 MB; 479.6 MB now available, 494.0 MB required
1/30/13 6:30:36.146 PM com.apple.backupd: Removed 1 expired backups so far, more space is needed - deleting oldest backups to make room
1/30/13 6:33:16.203 PM com.apple.backupd: Deleted backup /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1/Backups.backupdb/Michael’s MacBook Pro/2012-05-27-093117 containing 64.5 MB; 544.0 MB now available, 494.0 MB required
1/30/13 6:33:16.203 PM com.apple.backupd: Deleted 2 backups containing 119.4 MB total; 544.0 MB now available, 494.0 MB required
1/30/13 6:33:16.203 PM com.apple.backupd: Backup date range was shortened: oldest backup is now Jun 7, 2012
1/30/13 6:34:11.232 PM com.apple.backupd: Copied 1171 files (2.5 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
1/30/13 6:34:44.355 PM com.apple.backupd: Backup completed successfully.
1/30/13 6:34:54.258 PM com.apple.backupd: Ejected Time Machine disk image.
1/30/13 6:34:54.493 PM com.apple.backupd: Ejected Time Machine network volume.
And here's the one where it started to take awhile to index.
1/30/13 7:21:11.358 PM com.apple.backupd: Starting standard backup
1/30/13 7:21:11.955 PM com.apple.backupd: Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://Michael%20Payne@Extreme%20Pleasantville._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Time%20Mac hine%20Backups
1/30/13 7:21:12.540 PM com.apple.backupd: Mounted network destination at mountpoint: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups using URL: afp://Michael%20Payne@Extreme%20Pleasantville._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Time%20Mac hine%20Backups
1/30/13 7:21:38.074 PM com.apple.backupd: QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
1/30/13 7:21:41.754 PM com.apple.backupd: Disk image /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Michael’s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1
1/30/13 7:21:41.768 PM com.apple.backupd: Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1/Backups.backupdb
1/30/13 7:23:47.444 PM com.apple.backupd: 452.8 MB required (including padding), 401.2 MB available
1/30/13 7:23:56.687 PM com.apple.backupd: Ejected disk image: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Michael’s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle
1/30/13 7:23:56.687 PM com.apple.backupd: Compacting backup disk image to recover free space
1/30/13 7:27:52.753 PM com.apple.backupd: Completed backup disk image compaction
1/30/13 7:27:52.754 PM com.apple.backupd: Starting standard backup
1/30/13 7:27:52.898 PM com.apple.backupd: Network destination already mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups
1/30/13 7:28:14.638 PM com.apple.backupd: QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
1/30/13 7:28:18.207 PM com.apple.backupd: Disk image /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Michael’s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1
1/30/13 7:28:18.309 PM com.apple.backupd: Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1/Backups.backupdb
1/30/13 7:34:32.780 PM com.apple.backupd: 399.3 MB required (including padding), 937.6 MB available
1/30/13 7:34:32.780 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:35:32.919 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:36:34.779 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:37:36.419 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:38:37.465 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:39:39.420 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:40:40.628 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:41:41.317 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:42:42.105 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:43:42.982 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:45:20.244 PM com.apple.backupd: Copied 1381 files (6.4 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
1/30/13 7:45:21.507 PM com.apple.backupd: 382.5 MB required (including padding), 826.5 MB available
1/30/13 7:45:21.508 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:46:22.938 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:47:24.914 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:48:25.931 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:49:26.589 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:50:27.743 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:51:27.952 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:52:28.736 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:53:29.707 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:54:30.516 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:55:31.297 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:56:33.290 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:57:35.031 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:58:36.765 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 7:59:37.721 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 8:00:38.577 PM com.apple.backupd: Waiting for index to be ready (100)
1/30/13 8:01:48.483 PM com.apple.backupd: Copied 1069 files (5.6 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
1/30/13 8:02:02.230 PM com.apple.backupd: Starting post-backup thinning
1/30/13 8:02:46.083 PM com.apple.backupd: Deleted /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 1/Backups.backupdb/Michael’s MacBook Pro/2013-01-29-183909 (5.4 MB)
1/30/13 8:02:46.083 PM com.apple.backupd: Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed
1/30/13 8:02:46.083 PM com.apple.backupd: Warning: backup disk now has only 644.1 MB free without removing old backups
1/30/13 8:02:46.259 PM com.apple.backupd: Backup completed successfully.
1/30/13 8:02:58.025 PM com.apple.backupd: Ejected Time Machine disk image.
1/30/13 8:02:58.407 PM com.apple.backupd: Ejected Time Machine network volume.
I'm backing up to a Time Capsule over WiFi. This time capsule has a total of 3 laptops that are backed up on it.

Never mind. Whatever it was, it's fine now. We'll see what happens when it has to delete old backups to make space. It's down to about 720 MB free without removing old backups.

Time machine spends too much time backing up

Even when I have very little changed information to back up - say 15MB - time machine takes 10-15 minutes.   Every hour.   It spends like 3-4 minutes "Setting up", another 5-8 minutes "Backing up XXX of 15.2MB", and then another 3-5 minutes "cleaning up".
Syncing or backing up changed data on the same drive takes Synchronize! X Plus barely over a minute. Maybe a 1 minute compare time and then 10s of file copying, then done.   Why is TM so much slower?
Since I can't change how often TM runs (that's really annoying, BTW, Apple), this means that almost 25% of the time my mac is disk-bound and slow. Extremely frustrating to work on.   I often end up working on my 3-year-old macbook pro because it doesn't have to deal with TM (I just sync it to the desktop every couple of days with Synchronize! X Plus) and so in practice it's a whole lot faster to work with than the mighty 2.66 Ghz Quad-Core Xeon Mac Pro with 8GB RAM.
I don't think it's anything wrong with the TM disk.   I've observed this kind of behavior on every mac I've used with TM in the last four years - at least three different macs and at least nine different external drives.
Why on Earth does TM take geological time to back up my mac every hour?    I know it has some comparisons to do, but copying those files should only take a few seconds.     Does it behave this way for everyone, or am I just unlucky?

this means that almost 25% of the time my mac is disk-bound and slow.
I run Time machine on my server. It uses under 2 percent of CPU. I find that it works at low priority and does not interfere with other activities. I have not observed any substantial slowdown due to disk access or any other reason.
know it has some comparisons to do, but copying those files should only take a few seconds.
If you want it locked up so hard that you cannot even type, it probably could copy those files in a few seconds. It is intended to do its work in the background, and allow you to continue to do other work.
Since I can't change how often TM runs...
Oh yes, you can. Apple did not give access to those parameters directly, but those settings and others are in several .plist files and can be changed with third-party utilities.
What computer are you backing up, and how much memory is installed?
Are you ever seeing any Pageouts on the Activity Monitor Memory display?
Are you backing up directly to a local disk, over Wireless, or over Ethernet, and at what speed?
Is the disk that contains the Time Machine backup files used for any other purpose?
Have you ever made changes to the Time Machine disk using the Finder?

Time machine taking a LONG time

I have a IMac with OS Mountain Lion, and I backup automatically through Time Machine to a My Book. Ever since I updated the OS the backups are taking a long time. The initial backup after updating the OS took 3 1/2 days. It did finally end and then they seemed to be taking the "normal" amount of time, minutes versus hours or days. The last backup has been running since last Thursday night, and today is Tuesday. It is showing "backing up 3.21GB of 3.53 GB". I have been writing down where it is at before going to bed and last night it was 3.20 GB of 3.53 GB. At 1 GB per day I have about 22 days left. That seems a bit strange. This last backup had been taking a long time and I've stopped it once and restarted.    Is this a current issue with the latest OS? Any suggestions?

Ok, I was trying to check something else and accidentally stopped the backup that had been running from last Thursday.   I restarted my computer and began another backup. It is running now and here are the messages from the "console" from when I began the back up. It is still running. It started at 213.1 mb of 1.68 gb and has gone up to 11.91 gb of 13.10 gb.
8/21/12 9:21:18.367 PM com.apple.backupd[320]: Starting manual backup
8/21/12 9:21:19.110 PM com.apple.backupd[320]: Backing up to: /Volumes/My Book/Backups.backupdb
8/21/12 9:21:24.179 PM com.apple.backupd[320]: Using file event preflight for Macintosh HD
8/21/12 9:21:34.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: sandboxd(325) deny mach-lookup com.apple.coresymbolicationd
8/21/12 9:21:35.247 PM sandboxd[325]: ([324]) mdworker(324) deny file-write-create /private/var/folders/f1/9cxkqg6s73j_63tfftkrcktw0000gn/T/TemporaryItems (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:240000005E diag:0 uti:com.apple.iphoto.ipspot plugin:/Library/Spotlight/iPhoto.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 8935199)
8/21/12 9:21:35.251 PM sandboxd[325]: ([324]) mdworker(324) deny file-write-create /Users/VandenHeuvel/Pictures/iPhoto Library/.ipspot_update.sb-4015bbeb-kVJcRk (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:240000005E diag:0 uti:com.apple.iphoto.ipspot plugin:/Library/Spotlight/iPhoto.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 8935199)
8/21/12 9:21:35.278 PM com.apple.backupd[320]: Will copy (1.53 GB) from Macintosh HD
8/21/12 9:21:35.774 PM com.apple.backupd[320]: Found 7193 files (1.53 GB) needing backup
8/21/12 9:21:35.829 PM com.apple.backupd[320]: 3.24 GB required (including padding), 746.69 GB available
8/21/12 9:21:50.673 PM mdworker32[326]: CGSGetDisplayBounds: Invalid display 0x00000000
8/21/12 9:24:10.720 PM mdworker[302]: FontImporter: Validation failed - "/Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/Adobe Sans MM".
8/21/12 9:24:10.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: sandboxd(348) deny mach-lookup com.apple.coresymbolicationd
8/21/12 9:24:10.721 PM mdworker[302]: FontImporter: Validation Result - "(
    kATSFontTestSeverityFatalError
8/21/12 9:24:10.756 PM mdworker[302]: FontImporter: Validation failed - "/Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/Adobe Serif MM".
8/21/12 9:24:10.757 PM mdworker[302]: FontImporter: Validation Result - "(
    kATSFontTestSeverityFatalError
8/21/12 9:24:10.766 PM sandboxd[348]: ([302]) mdworker(302) deny file-read-data /Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/AdobeSanMM (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:200000056 diag:0 uti:com.apple.font-suitcase plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 994784)
8/21/12 9:24:10.771 PM sandboxd[348]: ([302]) mdworker(302) deny file-read-data /Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/AdobeSanMM/..namedfork/rsrc (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:200000056 diag:0 uti:com.apple.font-suitcase plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 994784)
8/21/12 9:24:10.776 PM sandboxd[348]: ([302]) mdworker(302) deny file-read-data /Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/AdobeSanMM (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:200000056 diag:0 uti:com.apple.font-suitcase plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 994784)
8/21/12 9:24:10.782 PM sandboxd[348]: ([302]) mdworker(302) deny file-read-data /Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/AdobeSanMM (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:200000056 diag:0 uti:com.apple.font-suitcase plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 994784)
8/21/12 9:24:10.787 PM sandboxd[348]: ([302]) mdworker(302) deny file-read-data /Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/AdobeSanMM/..namedfork/rsrc (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:200000056 diag:0 uti:com.apple.font-suitcase plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 994784)
8/21/12 9:24:10.807 PM sandboxd[348]: ([302]) mdworker(302) deny file-read-data /Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/AdobeSanMM (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:200000056 diag:0 uti:com.apple.font-suitcase plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 994784)
8/21/12 9:24:10.811 PM sandboxd[348]: ([302]) mdworker(302) deny file-read-data /Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/AdobeSanMM (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:200000056 diag:0 uti:com.apple.font-suitcase plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 994784)
8/21/12 9:24:10.815 PM sandboxd[348]: ([302]) mdworker(302) deny file-read-data /Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/AdobeSanMM/..namedfork/rsrc (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:200000056 diag:0 uti:com.apple.font-suitcase plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 994784)
8/21/12 9:24:10.818 PM sandboxd[348]: ([302]) mdworker(302) deny file-read-data /Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/AdobeSanMM (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:200000056 diag:0 uti:com.apple.font-suitcase plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 994784)
8/21/12 9:24:10.822 PM sandboxd[348]: ([302]) mdworker(302) deny file-read-data /Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/AdobeSanMM (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:200000056 diag:0 uti:com.apple.font-suitcase plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 994784)
8/21/12 9:24:10.825 PM sandboxd[348]: ([302]) mdworker(302) deny file-read-data /Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/AdobeSanMM/..namedfork/rsrc (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:200000056 diag:0 uti:com.apple.font-suitcase plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 994784)
8/21/12 9:24:10.829 PM sandboxd[348]: ([302]) mdworker(302) deny file-read-data /Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/AdobeSanMM (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:200000056 diag:0 uti:com.apple.font-suitcase plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 994784)
8/21/12 9:24:10.833 PM sandboxd[348]: ([302]) mdworker(302) deny file-read-data /Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/AdobeSerMM (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:200000056 diag:0 uti:com.apple.font-suitcase plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 994785)
8/21/12 9:24:10.836 PM sandboxd[348]: ([302]) mdworker(302) deny file-read-data /Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/AdobeSerMM/..namedfork/rsrc (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:200000056 diag:0 uti:com.apple.font-suitcase plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 994785)
8/21/12 9:24:10.840 PM sandboxd[348]: ([302]) mdworker(302) deny file-read-data /Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/AdobeSerMM (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:200000056 diag:0 uti:com.apple.font-suitcase plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 994785)
8/21/12 9:24:10.844 PM sandboxd[348]: ([302]) mdworker(302) deny file-read-data /Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/AdobeSerMM (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:200000056 diag:0 uti:com.apple.font-suitcase plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 994785)
8/21/12 9:24:10.847 PM sandboxd[348]: ([302]) mdworker(302) deny file-read-data /Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/AdobeSerMM/..namedfork/rsrc (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:200000056 diag:0 uti:com.apple.font-suitcase plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 994785)
8/21/12 9:24:10.851 PM sandboxd[348]: ([302]) mdworker(302) deny file-read-data /Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/AdobeSerMM (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:200000056 diag:0 uti:com.apple.font-suitcase plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 994785)
8/21/12 9:24:10.855 PM sandboxd[348]: ([302]) mdworker(302) deny file-read-data /Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/AdobeSerMM (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:200000056 diag:0 uti:com.apple.font-suitcase plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 994785)
8/21/12 9:24:10.858 PM sandboxd[348]: ([302]) mdworker(302) deny file-read-data /Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/AdobeSerMM/..namedfork/rsrc (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:200000056 diag:0 uti:com.apple.font-suitcase plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 994785)
8/21/12 9:24:10.862 PM sandboxd[348]: ([302]) mdworker(302) deny file-read-data /Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/AdobeSerMM (import fstype:hfs fsflag:480D000 flags:200000056 diag:0 uti:com.apple.font-suitcase plugin:/Library/Spotlight/Font.mdimporter - find suspect file using: sudo mdutil -t 994785)
8/21/12 9:24:12.070 PM mdworker[302]: FontImporter: Validation failed - "/Library/Application Support/Adobe/PDFL/9.0/Fonts/Symbol".
8/21/12 9:24:12.070 PM mdworker[302]: FontImporter: Validation Result - "(
    kATSFontTestSeverityFatalError
8/21/12 9:29:12.941 PM mdworker32[369]: CGSGetDisplayBounds: Invalid display 0x00000000
8/21/12 9:31:50.000 PM kernel[0]: (default pager): [KERNEL]: ps_allocate_cluster - send HI_WAT_ALERT
8/21/12 9:31:50.000 PM kernel[0]: macx_swapon SUCCESS
8/21/12 9:32:09.604 PM Dock[218]: no information back from LS about running process
8/21/12 9:34:41.169 PM firefox[423]: -_scrollPhase is deprecated for NSScrollWheel. Please use -momentumPhase.
8/21/12 9:34:41.169 PM firefox[423]: -_continuousScroll is deprecated for NSScrollWheel. Please use -hasPreciseScrollingDeltas.
8/21/12 9:34:41.170 PM firefox[423]: -deviceDeltaY is deprecated for NSScrollWheel. Please use -scrollingDeltaY.
8/21/12 9:34:41.170 PM firefox[423]: -deviceDeltaX is deprecated for NSScrollWheel. Please use -scrollingDeltaX.
8/21/12 9:41:43.490 PM helpd[268]: CFPropertyListCreateFromXMLData(): Old-style plist parser: missing semicolon in dictionary on line 1. Parsing will be abandoned. Break on _CFPropertyListMissingSemicolon to debug.
8/21/12 9:41:43.491 PM helpd[268]: CFPropertyListCreateFromXMLData(): Old-style plist parser: missing semicolon in dictionary on line 1. Parsing will be abandoned. Break on _CFPropertyListMissingSemicolon to debug.
8/21/12 9:41:43.513 PM helpd[268]: CFPropertyListCreateFromXMLData(): Old-style plist parser: missing semicolon in dictionary on line 1. Parsing will be abandoned. Break on _CFPropertyListMissingSemicolon to debug.
8/21/12 9:41:43.513 PM helpd[268]: CFPropertyListCreateFromXMLData(): Old-style plist parser: missing semicolon in dictionary on line 1. Parsing will be abandoned. Break on _CFPropertyListMissingSemicolon to debug.
8/21/12 9:44:02.000 PM kernel[0]: (default pager): [KERNEL]: ps_select_segment - send HI_WAT_ALERT
8/21/12 9:44:02.000 PM kernel[0]: macx_swapon SUCCESS

After entering Time Machine-takes a long time to load. Thoughts?

I've just installed Yosemite, and backed up to my Time Capsule over wifi. I can enter Time Machine easily enough, but when I go to choose a date earlier than 'NOW," it says "waiting." Eventually, it loads. But it can take up to 15-20 minutes. I didn't have this problem before upgrading to Yosemite. Thoughts? Thanks much.

It took me 20 hours to backup 32GB out of 65. I don't know why. Using carbon copy clone to download to another backup drive I did it perfectly in about 30 minutes. I expect that those appllications which show applicatiions are at fault and will try later getting rid of apps such as F-10 and pathfinderfor the first download. I have no idea why this is so slow. Everything is so slow.

Copying time machine disk for long time archive

not certain this is correct forum.
I have a 1 gb raid ext drive (two 1gb disks in raid 1). I use it as my Time Machine drive. It is now full.
I want to copy this data to a single 1GB drive, put it in permanent storage, and then reformat and reuse the raid drive as time machine #2.
This, I hope, would allow me to have the security of a raid setup as my current time machine disk and, when it is full, I can copy to another disk, then continually reuse the raid disk, within reason, of course, as my latest Time Machine disk #4, etc.
Can I do this and how would I do this?.

I think you can still do that with incremental backups to a clone, but I'm not certain.
I poked around Pondini's Time Machine FAQ and didn't see anything about making a duplicate of the TM disk.
As I stated earlier, I think it would work. And, I would imagine CCC or SuperDuper could clone the TM drive.
Searching for cloning a Time Machine drive I found this: http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20071128055047339
and this: http://help.bombich.com/kb/troubleshooting/cloning-a-time-machine-backup
and this (which is much like the first, with pictures): http://www.macyourself.com/2008/12/10/how-to-copy-your-time-machine-backups-to-a -new-larger-drive/

Time Machine spends hours partially backing up and then fails with "Time Machine couldn't complete the backup due to a network problem." Tried suggestions I've seen on the forum.

Time Machine spends hours partially backing up and then fails with "Time Machine couldn't complete the backup due to a network problem." I've tried various suggestions I've seen on the forum but nothing has worked. TIme Machine worked fine for the last two years and just suddenly started having this problem every time. The only thing that was a little different is that the computer was off for a week while on vacation and then I added a large amount (20 GB) of photos. Now the requested backup size is 82GB, which is large, and process proceeds very slowly for 2-3 hours before failing with the message mentioned. I have more than enough available backup storage space for it. Before failing, Time Machine has backed up no more than 12GB or so of the backup. It fails during different files each time.
I've turned off the computer sleep feature, and I've checked that the NAS is set to never automatically power down. I normally backup over Wi-Fi, but I've also tried connecting to Ethernet and it still has the same problem. It's odd because I also have a MacBook Pro that is still backing up fine to the same NAS using the MacBook's Time Machine.
I am using an iMac with OS X 10.6.8 and an Iomega StorCenter ix2-200 NAS.
I have system logs that I can share if helpful. The logged messages vary a bit from run to run, but here are some messages that I've been seeing:
I always get this message near the beginning of the backup:
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
I've gotten this messsage a number of times:
Bulk setting Spotlight attributes failed.
One Day
Stopping backupd to allow ejection of backup destination disk!
Another day
1/7/12 10:44:20 AM
mDNSResponder[18]
PenaltyTimeForServer: PenaltyTime negative -112916, (server penaltyTime -1132397006, timenow -1132284090) resetting the penalty
1/7/12 10:46:37 AM
kernel
ASP_TCP Disconnect: triggering reconnect by bumping reconnTrigger from curr value 0 on so 0x1106be94
1/7/12 10:46:37 AM
kernel
AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect started /Volumes/TimeMachine prevTrigger 0 currTrigger 1
Another Day
1/6/12 8:03:22 AM
Google Chrome[164]
Cannot find function pointer CMPluginInFactory for factory 3487BB5A-3E66-11D5-A64E-003065B300BC in CFBundle/CFPlugIn 0x16f99e20 </Users/smarmer/Library/Contextual Menu Items/Google Notifier Quick Add CM Plugin.plugin> (not loaded)
1/6/12 8:04:02 AM
com.apple.backupd[193]
Copied 7.5 GB of 67.0 GB, 8866 of 8866 items
1/6/12 8:06:58 AM
/System/Library/CoreServices/CCacheServer.app/Contents/MacOS/CCacheServer[1013]
No valid tickets, timing out
1/6/12 8:29:44 AM
mDNSResponder[19]
PenaltyTimeForServer: PenaltyTime negative -148702, (server penaltyTime 2056822773, timenow 2056971475) resetting the penalty
1/6/12 8:59:22 AM
kernel
ASP_TCP Disconnect: triggering reconnect by bumping reconnTrigger from curr value 0 on so 0xa5ac380
1/6/12 8:59:22 AM
kernel
AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect started /Volumes/TimeMachine prevTrigger 0 currTrigger 1
1/6/12 8:59:22 AM
kernel
AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect: doing reconnect on /Volumes/TimeMachine
1/6/12 8:59:22 AM
kernel
AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect: soft mounted and hidden volume so do not notify KEA for /Volumes/TimeMachine
1/6/12 8:59:22 AM
kernel
AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect: Max reconnect time: 30 secs, Connect timeout: 15 secs for /Volumes/TimeMachine
1/6/12 8:59:22 AM
kernel
AFP_VFS afpfs_DoReconnect: connect to the server /Volumes/TimeMachine
1/6/12 8:59:22 AM
kernel
ASP_TCP asp_SetTCPQoS: sock_settclassopt got error 57
Another day
1/5/12 3:48:55 PM
mdworker[2128]
CFPropertyListCreateFromXMLData(): Old-style plist parser: missing semicolon in dictionary.
1/5/12 4:24:54 PM
mDNSResponder[19]
PenaltyTimeForServer: PenaltyTime negative -42698, (server penaltyTime 1148718961, timenow 1148761659) resetting the penalty
1/5/12 4:29:58 PM
com.apple.backupd[2074]
Copied 586.4 MB of 67.0 GB, 9891 of 9891 items
1/5/12 4:39:00 PM
kernel
ASP_TCP Disconnect: triggering reconnect by bumping reconnTrigger from curr value 0 on so 0xa1c0380

bokon0n wrote:
1/11/12 8:53:30 AM
com.apple.backupd[1169]
Warning: Destination /Volumes/TimeMachine does not support TM Lock Stealing
1/11/12 8:53:30 AM
com.apple.backupd[1169]
Warning: Destination /Volumes/TimeMachine does not support Server Reply Cache
Those indicate that your NAS is not fully compatible with Snow Leopard.
1/11/12 8:53:35 AM
kernel
jnl: disk2s2: replay_journal: from: 67182592 to: 78680064 (joffset 0xa7b8000)
1/11/12 8:53:39 AM
kernel
jnl: disk2s2: examining extra transactions starting @ 78680064 / 0x4b09000
1/11/12 8:53:39 AM
kernel
jnl: disk2s2: Extra txn replay stopped @ 79056896 / 0x4b65000
1/11/12 8:53:49 AM
kernel
jnl: disk2s2: journal replay done.
1/11/12 8:53:49 AM
fseventsd[41]
event logs in /Volumes/Time Machine/.fseventsd out of sync with volume. destroying old logs. (253512 14 253512)
1/11/12 8:53:50 AM
kernel
hfs: Removed 1 orphaned / unlinked files and 0 directories
That looks like a problem was found with the file system (data) on the TM disk. I don't know the details, but OSX tried to recover it from the journal, and found extra data on the drive. Likely a result of the incompatibility mentioned above.
1/11/12 9:47:40 AM
com.apple.backupd[1169]
Bulk setting Spotlight attributes failed.
That's a problem writing to the NAS drive.
But the backup continued after all this.
1/11/12 1:25:07 PM
kernel
ASP_TCP Disconnect: triggering reconnect by bumping reconnTrigger from curr value 0 on so 0x9d00b44
Something caused a disconnect. Can't tell from the log what it was.
I doubt it's a problem with something in OSX being damaged or corrupted, but reinstalling OSX isn't a major hassle, so might be worth a try.
To be incompatible with Snow Leopard, this NAS must be at least a couple of years old. It may be beginning to fail.
Contact the maker. See if there's an update to make it compatible with Snow Leopard. If so, that might fix it.
If not, or if that doesn't fix it, see if they have any diagnostics that will shed any light.

After having the logic board replaced, Time Machine will no longer backup my computer to the same backup files as before.

After having the logic board replaced due to bad NVidia chip, my Time Machine will no longer backup my computer to the current backup. Is there a way to reset something to get Time Machine to continue to use the same backup files as before for this laptop?

As far as TM is concerned you have a new computer, so it will make a new backup. If you don't have the space for both backups then erase your backup drive before backing up the computer.

Time Machine making very long backups

Since I upgraded to os x lion time machine is making very long backups every other day but there are no old backups to find in time machine.
What do do?

Hi AnaMusic,
Thanks for your link to the Pondini link - they are indeed excellentguidance and documentation.
However, my problem does not exactly fit the situation in Section D7, in that Time Machine is not doing a full backup everytime.
Instead after resetting Time Machine it immediately does a full backup then resumes hourly incremental backups, at least for a while, maybe a day or so, before doing another full back. Yet there has not been anything I have done, in terms of working on very large numbers of files, that would appear to warrant or precipitate the need for a full backup.
I am currently monitoring all incremental backups since the last full back to see if I can get a better understanding of the pattern of backups.
Regards, Graham

I have already used time machine backup and I last used on june 2012 . Today when I tried to backup the time machine is still stuck on preparing my backup?What shallI do?

I have already used time machine backup and I last used on june 2012 . Today when I tried to backup the time machine is still stuck on preparing my backup?What shallI do?

See Section C here > http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
From Here > http://pondini.org

Time Capsule spends about 30 minutes "preparing" for each backup.

My Time Capsule has two MacBooks backing up to it. One of them backs up fine; the other has a problem. It goes into "preparation" mode before each backup and it stays there for ridiculous lengths of time -- even if the machine was not used therefore nothing needs to be backed up. The TC hard disk just spins and spins.

You have continual messages.. No space left on device
Is your TC full..?? Are you using wireless to connect to the TC?
The time capsule has been stuck in the "preparing for backup" stage indefinately: like months and months.
Note that Time Capsule is the hardware device.. Time Machine is the software that prepares the backup.. They are completely different.. !!
Open either the TM preference or the airport utility and tell us how much space is reported left on the drive.. or is the local hard disk full??
If you upgraded OS on the computer it can fail to properly clean up old backups and you will need to step in and erase the TC yourself. Or plug in a USB drive and set that as a new destination for the backup.

Time Machine spending a LONG time Preparing Backup

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