Time Machine stuck verifying backup at 70%

Time Machine is continually verifying my backup. It gets to about 70% and then gets stuck at that point.
I have left it for hours, including overnight, to complete and it remains at 70%.
It looks like it is using fsck to verify the backup.
I am unable to determine why it is getting stuck at this point and am looking for suggestions.
I am going to try the basics first such as re-starting the computer and the time capsule.
Thank you for your courage.

I was able to get my time machine verification to complete. The solution was actually pretty simple.
When I noticed it was once again 'stuck' at 71%, I increased the wait time for my computer to go to sleep from a duration of 1/2 hour to 3 hours.
This allowed the verification process to churn away without interruption. It took several hours but it did eventually complete.
Thank you for your courage!

Similar Messages

Time Machine Stuck (Incremental backup, not Initial)

Hey...me again.
I was finally successful yesterday backing up 160GB of data with Time Machine.
However, this morning, the incremental backup is taking forever. It's been stuck at "3.6MB of 6.7MB" for over 20 minutes. It would seem to me that 6.7MB should be pretty quick to backup.
I have received these messages from TM Buddy:
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb
No pre-backup thinning needed: 100.0 MB requested (including padding), 279.56 GB available
Unable to rebuild path cache for source item. Partial source path:
Copied 305079 files (49.1 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
No pre-backup thinning needed: 100.0 MB requested (including padding), 279.31 GB available
And Console shows this:
Aug 25 10:23:53 Kieran-Roys-MacBook-Pro /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[254]: Backup requested by user
Aug 25 10:23:53 Kieran-Roys-MacBook-Pro /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[254]: Starting standard backup
Aug 25 10:23:53 Kieran-Roys-MacBook-Pro /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[254]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb
Aug 25 10:26:21 Kieran-Roys-MacBook-Pro /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[254]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 100.0 MB requested (including padding), 279.56 GB available
Aug 25 10:27:51 Kieran-Roys-MacBook-Pro /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[254]: Unable to rebuild path cache for source item. Partial source path:
Aug 25 10:41:06 Kieran-Roys-MacBook-Pro /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[254]: Copied 305079 files (49.1 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Aug 25 10:42:21 Kieran-Roys-MacBook-Pro /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[254]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 100.0 MB requested (including padding), 279.31 GB available
Any idea on how to resolve?
Thanks,
K

kieranroy wrote:
Hey...me again
Hi again. You seem to have really angered the god of TM, haven't you!
However, this morning, the incremental backup is taking forever. It's been stuck at "3.6MB of 6.7MB" for over 20 minutes. It would seem to me that 6.7MB should be pretty quick to backup.
Unable to rebuild path cache for source item. Partial source path:
This usually doesn't cause a real problem, as long as it's occasional.
Copied 305079 files (49.1 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
This we see on occasion -- the crazy high file count, and very slow backup.
Aug 25 10:42:21 Kieran-Roys-MacBook-Pro /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd254: No pre-backup thinning needed: 100.0 MB requested (including padding), 279.31 GB available
Normally, TM will make a second, "catch-up" pass if changes were made during it's first pass. Usually this is very quick, but since the first one way very slow, this one may be worse.
Do you have any folders, particularly email mailboxes, with a very large number of files (thousands), that are actively being added-to or changed? There was a similar situation recently where an app named SpamSieve was putting messages into a "spam" folder, and the user never cleared it out. Clearing it out helped, but excluding it from Time Machine solved the problem.
Click here to download the TimeTracker app. It shows most of the files saved by TM for each backup (excluding some hidden/system files, etc.). I think it will only show completed backups, so you may not be able to find anything. But look at what's being backed-up to see if any of the files, even if there's only one, are in extremely large folders. If so, try excluding the folder (TM Preferences > Options).

Time Machine stuck during backup

From December 28 to January 13 my Time Machine functioned without issue, using an external Seagate Free Agent Drive (300 GB) with a 150 GB partition devoted to TM. For whatever reason I didn't happen to connect the drive from the 13th to the 16th, and now it appears to be freezing during the preparation process or very early in the backup.
I've looked at some of the non-complete packages to try and ascertain the problem - so far it appears to always hang while backing up the Applications folder. Why it is re-backing up this whole folder at once is beyond me, as I'm only aware of one program I've recently updated - Flip4Mac. Incidentally, this was the program is was halting on initially - so I added that to the exclude list. Next go at it, and its stuck on a different program. Then another. Then another.
Do I really need to exclude my whole Applications folder? That seems a bit counterintuitive to me.

I've discovered the culprit after some additional searching here. Apparently Time Machine does not function correctly while the iSight is enabled. In the past I've had no trouble with Time Machine running in the background with a variety of other processes ongoing, but apparently this one is problematic. After quitting Skype I've found that backups completed quickly and painlessly. Hopefully this post is helpful to others as well, and hopefully Apple addresses this - at least through improving Time Machine's dreadfully horrible Help files.

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

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

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

Time machine won't backup, yet plenty of space & not much used on Mac HD

Well, this is yet another "Time machine won't backup becuase there is not enough space" thread. I have searched Google and threads here but it's still a mystery why this error is occurring and it seems there is no clear solution. I also looked at the Apple Time Machine errors FAQ as well.
Here are my specs and what I have tried so far.
2010 Mac Pro Quad Core with 1 TB hard drive with 12 GB RAM. (137 GB used so far on internal Mac hard drive disk, so about 863 GB free space).
- New external 1 TB hard drive initialized as Time Machine backup disk when inserted for the first time.
The exact error I am getting is this: "This backup is too large for the backup disk. The backup requires 1.80 TB but only 999.20 GB are available."
I have tried deleting the Time Machine system preference, reinitializing the external disk, clearing the system caches with Cocktail, restarting and letting Time machine ask me all over again if I wanted to use the external drive for Time Machine. Still the same error.
My question is how on earth can 1.80 TB be required for the backup when I only have 137 GB of used space?

danomatic12 wrote:
My question is how on earth can 1.80 TB be required for the backup when I only have 137 GB of used space?
Two possibilities:
There's another disk (or disks) connected to your Mac. If they're formatted HFS+, Time Machine is trying to back it/them up as well. You can exclude them per #10 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum). The 1.8 TB includes 20% for temporary workspace on the TM drive, so TM is estimating the backup at about 1.5 TB.
Something on your internal HD is corrupted, causing an incorrect calculation. Verify your internal HD, per #6 in [Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks|http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/DU.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of the +Using Snow Leopard+ forum).

Does Time Machine Compare/Verify Files?

I have typically performed manual backups, and have no experience with Time Machine.
Does Time Machine COMPARE / VERIFY that the backup files match the originals?
I used to use Retrospect for Archive/Backup, which logged an alert if there was any mis-match in the backup process. Now I tend to backup files simply using Drag/Drop copying to redundant external storage devices. I have recently encountered errors in this process when backing up larger amounts of data. Hopefully this will not occur using TIme Machine.
What does Time Machine do if there is an error in the backup process?
Is Time Machine the most reliable solution for Archive/Backup?
thanks

Time Machine logs to the system.log as process com.apple.backupd, which you can access via Appplications -> Utilities -> Console
Carbon Copy Cloner logs to a CCC.log which you can access from within CCC, or via Applications -> Utilities -> Console.
CCC will popup and error if there is backup problem.
SuperDuper has its own built-in log, that you access via SuperDuper.
SuperDuper will popup an error if there is a backup problem.
CrashPlan has a /Library/Logs/CrashPlan/ directory with backup logs.
CrashPlan can send you an email if there is a backup problem. Even better, it will tell you if a backup has not completed within the last 3 days. I find that very nice in that automatic backups that stop and you haven't noticed it, is more annoying than not having a backup verification.
I also remember Retrospect. And the verify taking longer than the backup is a good excuse to just make another backup using a different utility and media destination.

Time Machine fails to backup HD and stalls computer when backing up to external HD (Western Digital WD5000MT) when using Firewire 800 but works fine using USB

I have a mid 2012 MBP (MacbookPro9,1) running Mountain Lion 10.8.2. When I start a Time Machine backup to an external Western Digital HD (WD5000MT) connected using a Firewire 800 cable, my open programs stop responding and in general my computer freezes up not allowing me to open activity monitor or the console utility. I can't even shut down or restart my computer and must hard boot to reset. Though removing the firewire cable that goes to the external HD can sometimes get my system working again. However, the WD external HD also has a usb port and when I connect it to my computer via a USB cable, Time Machine seems to backup my system fine without stalling my computer. This same external HD worked fine with Firewire 800 using my old late 2007 MBP running snow leopard. I should note that my brother has the exact same model WD external HD and he also had issues with the firewire port on his MBP running mountain lion. I have run the disk utility checking for disk/file permission errors and the drive itself seems fine. I initially formatted that drive as ExFAT but while troubleshooting reformatted to HFS+ and still had the same issue. I tested using a different firewire 800 cable but still had the same issue. Can't think of anything else to do. I don't have another firewire-compatible device to test if it is the HD vs the firewire port. I would prefer to use the firewire port for quicker transfer speeds but I'm stuck with USB for now. Any suggestions?

Maybe these will help:
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11194
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3275 (note - older article)
Have you tried looking at the Western Digital web site to see if you can find anything?
http://support.wdc.com

Time machine keeps losing backups

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

Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:
tmutil listbackups | awk -F/ '{print $NF}'
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).
Post any lines of output that appear below what you entered — the text, please, not a screenshot.

Time Machine says the backup is too large but it is not

Time Machine says the backup is too large but it is not.
While it is true my hard drive is very full (150 Gb used of the available 160Gb), this is way less than 42 Pb!!!!
I have tried numerous time to reset it and still the same issue.
Here is the reoccurring message:
Advice?

PB.. what the heck is a PB.. I kind of thought TB are still in fairly low digits.
Do a disk verify.. something is seriously stupidly wrong.. Otherwise ring Apple support and give them an earful about nonsense popups.
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html A5

Time machine reports erroneous backup size

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

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

Time machine will not backup but does restore

My Time machine will not backup, but will restore from prior backups - the last made three months ago (end of January). Can anyone help? When trying to run a backup the screen shows:
Select Disc (which I have already done)
704 GB of 1 TB available
Oldest backup: none
A continuosly revolving progress bar
"Preparing Backup"
Note that when I run Time Machine in order to restore, all backups prior to Jan 30th are there.
I am running OSX Mountain LIon Version 10.8.3

Mickmannock wrote:
I followed the proceedure described to delete /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist. However I note that there are very many versions of this file in other locations.
There shouldn't be. Delete any others.
Make sure the one you deleted was in your top-level /Library folder (not the Library folder inside your home folder). If you got the right one, when you went back to the Time Machine Preferences window, it should not have shown your TM drive or anything else.
I am running Parallels 8 and windows 7 in a Virtual machine, but these do not appear to have created problems in the past - over two years now.
You probably should exclude the VM files from Time Machine backups. That shouldn't be the cause of much of this problem, but may be a problem in the future. The reason is, to OSX, a VM file is one huge file -- if anything at all is changed, TM considers the whole thing changed, and will back it up again, taking time and lots of space on your backup disk.
Have you Verified your internal HD, and Repaired any other disks being backed-up, and your backups, per #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting?
What are you backing-up to (external HD, Time Capsule, etc.)?

Time machine doesn't backup EHD

I have 2 EHD: one 500gb with two partitions (music and photos) and a 1TB with two other partitions one of which is my time machine. The issue is that time machine does not backup the Photos partition of the other EHD. It does the other one fine. I have verified the preferences panel and everything seems OK, meaning that that partition is not in the exclude list. What can I do?

docdowney wrote:
I have 2 EHD: one 500gb with two partitions (music and photos) and a 1TB with two other partitions one of which is my time machine. The issue is that time machine does not backup the Photos partition of the other EHD. It does the other one fine. I have verified the preferences panel and everything seems OK, meaning that that partition is not in the exclude list. What can I do?
How is the Photos partition formatted? If it's any variant of +Mac OS Extended,+ it should be backed-up. If it's anything else, it should be listed in the exclusions box, in gray, meaning Time Machine cannot back it up.
There is an occasional problem with iPhoto: if iPhoto is open, Time Machine may not be able to back the iPhoto library up: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4116 But unless iPhoto is open all the time, sooner or later, it should be backed-up.
Note, however, that you won't see much of the iPhoto Library via the "Star Wars" display via the Finder; just the library, not the contents. Try the procedure in the pink box in #15 of [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
If you're still sure it's not getting backed-up, put a small test file on that partition, outside of the iPhoto library, then run a backup and see if the test file gets backed-up.

Time Machine does not backup all of my files

Hi,
If I compare my Dropbox folder to what Time Machine backups there are differences which means that Time Machine does not backup all files:
diff <(cd "/Users/phil/Dropbox" && ls -R | sort) <(cd "/Volumes/TimeMachineBackup/Backups.backupdb/Computername/Latest/Macintosh HD/Users/phil/Dropbox" && ls -R | sort)
There are also differences if I compare my user folder to the Time Machine Backup:
diff <(cd "/Users/phil/" && ls -R | sort) <(cd "/Volumes/TimeMachineBackup/Backups.backupdb/Computername/Latest/Macintosh HD/Users/phil/" && ls -R | sort)
I did not exclude the folders affected from the Time Machine backup.
I have verified this behaviour on other computers as well.
Does anybody else have this kind of problem?
Philipp

These commands solved the problem for now:
1) Stop the Dropbox desktop application (if needed)
- Click on the Dropbox icon.
- Choose Quit/Stop/Exit
2) Open your Terminal app (Located at /Applications/Utilities/Terminal)
3) Copy and paste the following lines into the Terminal, one at a time, and press RETURN after each one. PLEASE make sure you copy and paste these commands (don't type them by hand), as getting them wrong could cause some harm. You'll be prompted for your computer user's password (not your Dropbox password) after entering the first command. Keep in mind that the password field in the terminal will remain blank as you type your password. After you type it, just press ENTER.
sudo chflags -R nouchg ~/Dropbox ~/.dropbox ~/.dropbox-master
sudo chown "$USER" "$HOME"
sudo chown -R "$USER" ~/Dropbox ~/.dropbox ~/.dropbox-master
sudo chmod -RN ~/.dropbox ~/Dropbox ~/.dropbox-master
chmod -R u+rw ~/Dropbox ~/.dropbox ~/.dropbox-master

How do I use a Mac Mini + Airport Express + Time Machine disk to backup another iMac

How do I use a Mac Mini + Airport Express + Time Machine disk to backup another iMac?
The question pretty much says it all.
I have a Mac Mini with an attached 3TB Hard Drive used for Time Machine Backups.
I have an Airport Extreme base station which services that machine plus several others.
I would like to backup my new iMac and a MacBook Pro to the Mac Mini.
What do I need to do on the mini to export that hard drive so that it can be used as a Time Machine target from the other systems?
All systems are running 10.6.8.

Well you would have to do backups over a network which is much slower and has highest chance of becoming corrupt. I think your best option would be to get an apple time capsule to act as a network and back if thats how you wanna do that

HT201250 Can I recover the backups from Time Machine, but the backups is deleted by the Time Machine!

Unfortunately, the Time Macchine deleted my oldest backups in my hard drive.
I have the important files in the backups.
So hope someone could help me to recover the backups.

Time Machine will remove old backups automatically. It tells you when it does, but of course by then it's too late.
There is no recovering deleted backups, since it was necessary to overwrite them with newer backups.
For further explanation read the following entries from Apple Support Communities contributor Pondini's Time Machine FAQ:
12. Should I delete old backups? If so, How?
20. Once my Mac is backed-up, can I delete some stuff to save space?
Time Machine is for backups. It is not an archiving utility. To archive files requires something like one of these:
Carbon Copy Cloner ($39.95) http://sites.fastspring.com/bombich/product/ccc
or
SuperDuper! ($27.95) http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

Time Machine stuck verifying backup at 70%

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