Time Machine System Restore Help

I need help with the following problem with Time Machine.
I am attempting to restore a OS 10.5.8 system on a G5 Tower.
When I startup the G5 Tower from the startup disks, I goto the RESTORE SYSTEM FROM BACKUP utility in the Utilities menu. From there the Time Machine system restore does nothing at all.
The TIME MACHINE back up is on a USB external drive. This is a backup of the G5 Tower time machine backups - not another system.
As a testing procedurre, I take the Time Machine external USB drive, plug it into my Mac Mini 1.83 Ghz, start up the mini from the startup disks, select the RESTORE SYSTEM FROM BACKUP utility, and TIME MACHINE goes through the prompts fine checking what date you want to restore from.
Does anybody have any experience with this problem - any info helps.
Thanks.

I have never heard of this - it does sound unsettling. I'm not sure how to fix it so that the G5 sees it, but you might try this:
-Boot your G5 while holding down T
-Hook the G5 up to the Mini with a FireWire cable
-Boot the Mini up from your Leopard DVD
-Select Restore from Backup from the menu
-Pick which backup you want restored
-When it asks you for a destination disk for the restore, choose the G5's disk

Similar Messages

Backup contents not showing during Time Machine system restore

I just installed a new hard drive on my Macbook Pro so I'm trying to restore a backup of my old hard drive that was saved on a USB-connected external drive (model: LaCie Minimus). However, when I try to transfer the information during system setup, my backup is not showing as part of the external drive's contents. Only the backup information of two other computers are showing up, but not mine (my computer is called 'Hannah Mercader's Macbook Pro'):
However, if I plug the external drive into another laptop to view its contents, my computer's backup information is clearly in the external drive:
I am positive that I have been backing up my laptop properly using Time Machine. However, the last time that I did try backing up my laptop, it didn't work because my hard drive had failed in the middle of the process (hence the reason for needing to install a new hard drive). I've already tried to Repair the external drive using Disk Utility... everything seems OK but my backups still aren't showing when I try to set up my laptop.
Please help me to restore my last proper backup's contents!

Most likely, some folders were excluded from your backups as the result of a failed or aborted software installation.
Starting from a clean installation of OS X, set up a new administrator account and log in. Enter Time Machine and press the key combination shift-command-C. The front window will show all mounted volumes. All snapshots should now be accessible.* Select the one you want and navigate to your home folder (in the Users folder at the top level of the old startup volume.)
You should now be able to restore your user data. I suggest you do this in two stages. Quit all applications except the Finder before you begin.
Restore all the visible items at the top level of your home folder.
Hold down the option key and select Go ▹ Library from the Finder menu bar. Enter Time Machine and restore all items in the Library folder. Log out and log back in as soon as the restore is complete.
Any other invisible folders or files at the top level of your home folder that you want to preserve will have to be restored separately. For most users, that isn't necessary.
You'll have to reinstall all third-party applications from scratch, or restore them from another kind of backup, if you have one.
You'll have another problem if this is a new computer, or if you erased the startup volume: The next time you back up, Time Machine won't recognize any files as being the same as they were before, and will make a full copy of all files. There might not be enough space on one or more of your backup volumes for that. There are different ways of dealing with that situation, depending on your needs. The easiest way is to set your backup drives aside, if possible, until you're sure you'll no longer need the data on them, then erase them and start over. Meanwhile start a new backup on one or more empty storage devices. If that solution isn't workable for you, ask for instructions.
*If you don't see any snapshots in Time Machine, exit the time-travel view and then hold down the option key while selecting
Browse Other Backup Disks...
from the Time Machine menu, which has an icon that looks like a clock running backwards. Select the backups of your computer by its previous name. If you don't have the Time Machine menu, open the Time Machine preference pane in System Preferences and check the box marked
Show Time Machine in menu bar

Repair permissions Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit, ever since time machine system restore

Recently had to restore system 10.5.8 Leopard startup volume using Time machine. After many hours of migrating additional important databases that were recovered from failing startup drive, everything seemed to be back up and running smoothly on a new WD 1tb Black drive. Right before I run timemachine again to backup the new revised seemingly stable startup volume, I choose to repair disk permissions using disk utility. Repair permissions failed with this error, The underlying task reported faliure on exit. I tried using the OS X DVD to repair permissions, Diskwarrior, Onyx, none are able to reapair the disk permissions. Although everything seems perfect I would imagine that the system will fail eventually. It's strange that I had no problems repairing disk permissions in the past on this particular system that was the most recent backup. What should I do ?

Repair permissions always reports a bunch of stuff. Ignore it if it says it completed successfully.
Also note that is it usually a waste of time (except maybe after a system upgrade).

Time Machine system restore doesn't see my backups

I've searched around a bit, but I can't seem to find an answer...
My MacBook Pro started failing to boot (it tries to run fsck on boot and "exited with signal 8" or something comes up and it turns off).
At Google's advice, I reformatted, zero-ing out the drive data.
Now when I boot from my Leopard DVD and try to restore from Time Machine, I can't get it to recognze my backups. Disk Utility shows the drive is mounted, but it never comes up as an option.
Am I doing something wrong?
Does zero-ing out the data or just formatting at all cause it to forget which Time Machine backups are the right ones (I know I've had to do something in terminal to get Time Machine to recognize its backups again after sending my computer to Apple for repairs).
....or does anyone have any experience with restoring a system from Time Machine; will it take a long time for the backup drive to show up?

Okay, all was well with my restore, but unfortunately my internal drive just wasn't up for another year. I started getting the same error on boot and couldn't get anywhere.
I bought a new internal hard drive, faster than the one I had before.
I started the restore from Time Machine again, and once again I found that it would take about 3+ DAYS to finish. Obviously, it was not my internal hard drive that was causing the slowness with Time Machine.
Turns out it was my LaCie "Design by F.A. Porsche" hard drive, or rather, the Samsung drive inside works fine, but the LaCie enclosure was the problem.
Here's how I know:
Today I bought an "enclosure" to get a few files off of my old internal hard drive. I say "enclosure" in quotes, because it's really more of a dock that you plug drives into, much the way you would load a game cartridge into an old Nintendo. ...but this is beside the point.
I got the files I wanted (some movies purchased from iTunes that I had already begged to have restored to me the first time this happened).
Next, I was trying to copy my backups to a brand new drive that I bought to use for time machine (my new internal drive is not only faster, but of greater capacity, so I needed a bigger Time Machine drive). My new Time Machine drive has USB 2.0, FireWire 400, and FireWire 800. Yay FAST!
Unfortunately, when I booted to my TechTool Pro eDrive to run MacOS and move my Time Machine files to the new hard drive, I had the same issue. SLOW SLOW SLOW file copying.
So, having my fancy new internal drive dock, I decided to try something...
I managed to pop open the LaCie case, pull out the disk inside, and drop it in the dock. The difference between the xBench score before and after is dramatic to say the least. (see below for results)
It was the LaCie enclosure the whole time. Somehow, without actually failing completely, the enclosure was causing a slow-down somewhere.
So there you have it. Extremely slow Time Machine? Try taking out the drive and putting it in a new enclosure.
...and now the benchmarking results. Each line includes: Test, Score (in bold), Details
LaCie drive in LaCie enclosure:
          Sequential          1.40
Uncached Write          1.30 0.80 MB/sec [4K blocks]
                    Uncached Write          1.29 0.73 MB/sec [256K blocks]
                    Uncached Read          1.50 0.44 MB/sec [4K blocks]
                    Uncached Read          1.52 0.76 MB/sec [256K blocks]
          Random          4.40
                    Uncached Write          4.56 0.48 MB/sec [4K blocks]
                    Uncached Write          2.38 0.76 MB/sec [256K blocks]
                    Uncached Read          39.43 0.28 MB/sec [4K blocks]
                    Uncached Read          4.08 0.76 MB/sec [256K blocks]
LaCie Drive in docking stand:
          Sequential          36.16
                    Uncached Write          44.08 27.06 MB/sec [4K blocks]
                    Uncached Write          41.50 23.48 MB/sec [256K blocks]
                    Uncached Read 22.17 6.49 MB/sec [4K blocks]
                    Uncached Read          53.40 26.84 MB/sec [256K blocks]
          Random          24.00
                    Uncached Write          8.34 0.88 MB/sec [4K blocks]
                    Uncached Write          80.43 25.75 MB/sec [256K blocks]
                    Uncached Read          77.12 0.55 MB/sec [4K blocks]
                    Uncached Read          46.82 8.69 MB/sec [256K blocks]
For frame of reference, New Internal Drive:
          Sequential          65.80
                    Uncached Write          32.00 19.65 MB/sec [4K blocks]
                    Uncached Write          138.82 78.55 MB/sec [256K blocks]
                    Uncached Read          57.30 16.77 MB/sec [4K blocks]
                    Uncached Read          204.80 102.93 MB/sec [256K blocks]
          Random          21.84
                    Uncached Write          6.01 0.64 MB/sec [4K blocks]
                    Uncached Write          226.98 72.66 MB/sec [256K blocks]
                    Uncached Read          148.88 1.06 MB/sec [4K blocks]
                    Uncached Read          177.06 32.86 MB/sec [256K blocks]
For frame of reference, New Time Machine drive:
Sequential     81.95
    Uncached Write     101.61 62.38 MB/sec [4K blocks]
    Uncached Write     95.68 54.14 MB/sec [256K blocks]
    Uncached Read     46.62 13.64 MB/sec [4K blocks]
    Uncached Read     141.50 71.12 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random     33.66
    Uncached Write     11.80 1.25 MB/sec [4K blocks]
    Uncached Write     100.81 32.27 MB/sec [256K blocks]
    Uncached Read     65.59 0.46 MB/sec [4K blocks]
    Uncached Read     111.90 20.76 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Where do I find the Time Machine System restore app on the install DVD?

I want to do a full system restore and I was wondering if I can run the program directly from the DVD instead of booting into the DVD. Both the targeted machine (a non-DVD target-disk connected computer over FireWire) and the backup disk (external HD) are not the startup-volume off the computer I want to do the restore with. So can I use that application directly and where to find it (weird thing, all the other helper-apps from the install DVD are in the hidden folder Applications, but not this one)?

You can restore from the original disc that came with your MBP as they are machine specific. If you want to restore your OSX with the same disc that came with hold C power on and push in the disc. 10.6 users - clean and polish the bottom of the 10.6 disk (no other) with a soft clean cloth and a tiny bit of rubbing alcohol. • Insert the disk and Hold c or option/alt key down and then boot the computer from the 10.6 installer disk. • Second screen, select your boot drive and simply install OS X again. • When you get into the machine, immediately Software Update (#10), reboot and repeat until clear. Important! Force eject a stuck disk - hold the trackpad or left wired mouse button down while booting, the hardware should force eject the disk, or use Startup Manager #3 and select the disk and then use the eject key on the keyboard. Then run all the software updates, there will be plenty. Be sure to back up first. If you are trying to do a remote install on a machine that came with a different disc, there more than likely be issues. You could do it with the Snow leopard retail disc, harder to find these days and becoming quite expennsive. ATB

Time Machine not restoring - HELP!

I had a 500Gb external drive with a majority of my data die on Christmas. No problem I figured, I have a current Time Machine backup I can restore from to a new drive. So I go into Time Machine and start the restore - about 10% of the way through a 5 hour restore it tells me it has encountered a corrupt file and cannot continue. (Why can't it just SKIP the corrupt file, continue, and tell me what files were corrupt and it had to skip at the end of the process??!! That would be too easy.) Anyway, that's not even my problem. So I figure I'll go in and manually restore items a few at a time to track down the corrupt file. HOWEVER, when I re-entered Time Machine the drive name that I was restoring no longer shows up! On any date going back 4 months! It was just there yesterday when I tried the original restore. Now its gone. So now I'm afraid I have no backup and all data is lost. Where did it go? ANY SUGGESTIONS!!!! Thank you!

donhertz wrote:
Any thoughts on forcing it to skip a corrupt file on restore so I don't have to manually restore all the files?
Try repairing the backups, per #A5 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of the +Time Machine+ forum).

Problem restoring files from a Time Machine Backup! HELP!

Heya,
I have Snow Leopard and have been using Time Macine regularly since May.... I never needed to restore any file until now...
Deleted some must have stuff.. and emtird the trash (of course!).. so went to time machine to restore it...
Looked it up... nice interface.. have stuff since May 2011... nice.. found the 10+Gb of stuff I had deleted.. and restored... Pffffew!
Opend the file... Bzzzz! you loose... file is currupt,,, what?
load again.. still no go? files all look the right length m.. hmm very strance... can;t open then... lets try a simeple file...
restore a text file... size ok.. but... EMPTY!
use HexEdit to open the text file... All ZERO's!
check the otehr files I restores ALL ZERO's!
DOH! restore files I saved into safe old Time machine in May 2011... AL ZEROS!!
***! Everything is ZERO! my last 6 months worth of time machine backups is all gone! Directory structures say they are there.. file sizes are ok.. but NO DATA!!!
Can somone please HELP ME!
G./

Open Disk Utility. Click once on the external drive left-most icon (not the indented volume name/icon); what does it indicate for Partition Map Scheme? Also, do you have an Intel Mac or a PPC Mac?
Now click "Verify Disk" and see if it finds errors or if it reports "ok."
What I am hoping (this is something of a long shot) is that there will be errors found on the disk that Disk Utility can repair and then your data will be properly associated with the file names and headers. "Verify" simply reports back on the state of the file system and can do no harm; only when you click on "Repair" will it actually try to repair anything. You might want to report back first on the results of "Verify" before trying to "repair."
By the way, this Verify (or Repair) procedure can take ~ hours for a large disk that is mostly full. I did this recently on an external Time Machine drive that was 1.5 TB in size and 2/3 full and it took ~ 3 hours.
If severe errors are found on that disk, something stronger than Apple's Disk Utility might be called for, such as Disk Warrior. Hence better to report back here before roceeding with any "repairs."
The type of error I am hoping you might have is in the file system that relates the filenames and their header (and file sizes) to the locations around the disk where the actual data inside the file are located. If that file system gets damaged, your computer will have trouble finding the actual data that goes with each file. Hence getting zeros when you should have gotten data. Sometimes this can be fixed, sometimes it cannot. Often it can. If the problem is caused by a physical problem with the disk, the likelihood of recovery is low. If the problem is with the file system/mapping to the data on the drive, it very well might be fixable.
Have you had any power failures, system freezes, improper or disorderly computer shutdowns, etc. or unexpected dismounting of the backup drive anytime since you have been using it? Have you ever gone into that external backup drive in the finder and changed any of the files on it yourself, or has it only been touched indirectly through Time Machine?

My iPhoto app was digressed back to 9.5, not sure how I did it. I then went to time machine and restored it. Now when i try to open it, I get a message that iPhoto is on a disk and locked tells me that I don't have permisson to unlock it. Help ?

My iPhoto app was digressed back to 9.5, not sure how I did it. I went to time machine and restored. Now it wont accept my password. tells me it is locked. Can anyone help me?

Run Repair Permissions in Disk Utility and see if that helps.
If not, you can select the iPhoto Library in your Pictures folder, go File > Get Info (or Command-i), go to the bottom of the info window and set your permissions to Read & Write. On the Action menu at the bottom (the one with the gear) choose Apply to enclosed items...

Difference in Time Machine full restore instructions

My daughter had to replace a hard drive. She called Apple for help in a Time Machine full restore and was told to first install OSX from her DVD on the new hard drive and then do a Time Machine restore from the latest backup. It seems to me the last time we did a full restore with a new hard drive, we just formatted the new drive and then booted from the Time Machine option on the OSX disk and them did a full restore from the latest Time Machine backup. That restore restored OSX and everything that was backed up. Since these two methods are different, do you still get to the same restore point with either method?

There are two approaches depending upon what you backup. If you do a full backup of all system files then boot from the OS X installer disc, use Disk Utility to erase the drive, then opt to do a full restore from a TM backup drive. If you don't backup all system files then follow the procedure recommended by AppleCare.
For more please read the three User Contributed Tips you will find at the top of this forum's topic list. Also select Mac Help from the Finder's Help menu and search for "time machine." This will bring up numerous help articles on using TM.
Message was edited by: Kappy

I used time machine to restore on a formatted MAC. Now the HDD space has reduced by 100GB but I cannot see any of the files. How do I find and delete those 100GB data from the HDD?

I used time machine to restore on a formatted MAC. Now the HDD space has reduced by 100GB but I cannot see any of the files. How do I find and delete those 100GB data from the HDD?

dglenn9000 wrote:
I created a new user account just to see if it was my user Library or if there was something wrong with my system. And the new user account is doing most of the same things so I will need to do a full restore anyway.
Not necessarily. I'd suggest downloading and installing the "combo" update. That's a combination (thus the clever name) of all the updates to Leopard since it was first released, so installing it should fix anything that's gone wrong since then, such as with one of the normal "point" updates. Info and download available at: http://support.apple.com/downloads/MacOS_X_10_5_8_ComboUpdate Be sure to do a +Repair Permissions+ via Disk Utility (in your Applications/Utilities folder) afterwards.

Time machine backup restoring problem

i recently restored my mac. i saved everything through time machine on a hd. i want to restore some notes from the inbuilt notes app from mac. i know the folder is hidden and sandboxed and all and i followed the procedure, but MY PROBLEM IS that i dont have a containers folder in the backup folder. i typed in search box and everything but dint come. now the peculiar part is that when i typed com.apple.notes there was a folder. but when i opened it it dint have the data-library-core data folders. the other thing is that when i looked for the folder on my mac, it was there but the end instruction said that there should be a p18.notesexternalrecord thing in the 0 folder, which wasnt there either. somebody plz help because my very important documents are there and my job may be at stake. please help.

Quit Notes and temporarily disable iCloud synchronization, if applicable.
Triple-click the line below to select it:
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Notes
Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select
Services ▹ Reveal
from the contextual menu. A Finder window should open with an item selected. Enter Time Machine and restore the selected item.

Time Machine backup/restoring through migration assistant/issues

Hi.
I would like to restore a backup from an external hard drive to my macbook pro.
Not beeing aware of the procedure, I skipped the "set-up assistant" phase where you're proposed the option of transferring informations from an another Mac or from a Time Machine, etc...
My backup files from my previous TimeMachine are on an external hard drive, plugged via USB to my MacBookPro. After looking for the right procedure, I tried to restore my backup through the Migration Assistant.
But the Migration Assistant won't find my external hard drive. Even though, weirdly, I can see and naviguate it via the Finder.
Is there something I should've done? Am I missing something?
I would really like some help on this one.
Thanks.

Quit Notes and temporarily disable iCloud synchronization, if applicable.
Triple-click the line below to select it:
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Notes
Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select
Services ▹ Reveal
from the contextual menu. A Finder window should open with an item selected. Enter Time Machine and restore the selected item.

I recently changed from a Mac Pro to an iMac. A large chunk of emails have disappeared. Time Machine is no help. Any ideas as to how I can get them back?

I recently changed from a Mac Pro to an iMac. Despite using Migration Assistant, a large chunk of my recent emails and nearly all of my wife's emails have disappeared in transit. Strangely, emails from my distant past are still there. Time Machine is no help; the messages may be on my backup disc but they're behind an invisible icon. Any ideas as to how I can get them back?

Quit Mail. Force quit if necessary.
Back up all data. That means you know you can restore the Mail database, no matter what happens.
Triple-click the text on the line below to select it:
~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData/Envelope Index
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C). In the Finder, select
Go ▹ Go to Folder
from the menu bar. Paste into the box that opens (command-V), then press return.
A Finder window will open with a file selected. Move the selected file to the Desktop, leaving the window open. Other files in the folder may have names that begin with "Envelope Index". Move those files, if any, to the Trash.
Log out and log back in. Relaunch Mail. It should prompt you to re-import your messages. You may get a warning that the index is corrupt and that Mail has to quit. Click OK.
Test. If Mail now works as expected, you can delete the file you moved to the Desktop. Otherwise, post your results.

I tried to install a new hard drive using Snow Leopard to back up with Time Machine. When I installed the new HD I installed Leopard (10.5) on it and tried to use time machine to restore the backup I had made using 10.6. Kernel panic screen occurred.

I backed up my system using 10.6 Snow Leopard's Time Machine to an external hard drive. I did this because I purchased a new internal hard drive to upgrade my 2007 White Macbook from 80GB to 320GB. When I installed the new hard drive, I installed 10.4 (Tiger) and then 10.5 (Leopard) and once Leopard was in I tried to use Time Machine to restore my backup from 10.6 (Snow Leopard) and received a kernal panic screen directly after the bootup.
The screen had code asking for 10.6, so does this mean that the computer is searching for Snow Leopard? If so, how can I do this? Will a bootable drive with Snow Leopard on it be able to solve the issue or will I somehow need to find a way to wipe out this new hard drive?
-Steve

Booting From Snow Leopard Installer Disc
1. Insert Snow Leopard Installer Disc into the optical drive.
2. Restart the computer.
3. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key.
4. Release the key when the spinning gear below the dark gray Apple logo appears.
5. Wait for installer to finish loading.
Drive Preparation and Installation
1. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
7. After formatting is complete quit DU and return to the installer. Install Snow Leopard.

Using Time Machine to restore to new hard drive missing recent backups

On Mac Book Pro 2009 with OS X 10.5.8.
I have been backing up to Time Machine on an external drive since 2009. A few month ago I upgrade to OS X 10.9 Mavericks.
Trying to install a new hard drive and restoring from Time Machine. Just before installing the hard drive I again backed up to Time Machine.
Trying to restore from Time Machine.
Note: this link shows the screen I am on. It isn't from my computer. Just showing for display purpose.
http://www.imore.com/sites/imore.com/files/styles/xlarge/public/field/image/2014 /03/time_machine_select_backup.jpg?itok=G2WbV0Vu
"Select a backup. Select the Time Machine backup you want to restore. Only complete backups of Mac OS X appear in the list"
The problem is, the most recent "complete" restore point in the list is August 2011 (OS X 10.5.8). How can that be? Over the years I have checked Time Machine and I have back ups way past 2011.
What should I do?
Thanks

Daniel Greeney wrote:
So I just purchased an internal drive (separate from my system drive) to use as a Time Machine drive, for both of my computers (only one partition). Since they will be backing up every day, I will retain much more recent material in case of drive failure.
Let Time Machine back up every hour, as it's designed. That will protect you best.
My question is this - if I have a drive failure on my current internal system drive, and the internal Time Machine is intact, is it possible for me to take my external bootable backup (say 3 weeks older than Time Machine in how recently it was backed up), make a cone of that on a new internal system drive, and then use Time Machine to restore that drive to what is most current on Time Machine?
Does this question make sense?
The question makes sense until you realize that Time Machine backups contain everything you need (unless you do something silly, like exclude your system files).
Once the new drive is installed and formatted, you can restore your entire system from the TM backups faster than you can copy the clone to the new internal HD. See #14 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum. Note that you use the Snow Leopard Install disc only for the Installer on it; you don't install OSX from it.

Time Machine System Restore Help

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