Time Machine/Time Capsule failure to set up

Please help. I cannot get my Time Capsule/Time Machine to work. I have Leopard, and a TimeCapsule connected via ethernet to my BT Home Hub (UK). This connects to my iMac wirelessly. Everytime I try to do my first back up it fails, various messages, such as can't mount disk, can't image disk. I am wracking my brain as to what to do to fix.
Please assist.
Thanks
Sue

Hi Thanks for the response. In desperation I went and dug out my old Maxtor back up drive. Plugged it in via USB, and Time Machine worked straight away.
Time Machine works fantastically - I am now wondering whether to just plug the Time Capsule into the USB?
Otherwise, it is going back to the shop!
Thanks again.
Sue

Similar Messages

How to safely remove all backups from Time Machine/Time Capsule?

I plan to 'clean up' my Time Machine/Time capsule completely, whereby I want to make it impossible for third parties to recover all or part of these old backups.
After I have accompished this I want to start from scratch backing up my Mac.
Can you please let me have a step by step procedure to accomplish my goal.
Thank you in advance!

Muizen wrote:
Thank you WZZZ.
1) I am now specifically looking for info regarding deleting emails from backups.
It is my impression so far, that this is not possible?
Delete all backups of <home folder>/Library/Mail, per Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #12.
And exclude that folder from future backups, per FAQ #10.
2) In addition I feel that being somewhat better in control of TM that it would be an advantage to really clean out TH completely and start a new back up, thereby systematically blooking certain matters from backing-up since there is no need for doing so.
How would I best accomplish this?
If the emails are all you're worried about, the procedure above will be fine.
But if you want to erase the TC's internal HD, see #Q5 in Using Time Machine with a Time Capsule.

HT201250 When restoring Time Machine after a failure, does it also restore the files to the same order, for example - within iPhoto I have pics/ videos in folders and sub folders organised as family/events etc - will it go back to this exact order after a

When restoring Time Machine after a failure, does it also restore the files to the same order, for example - within iPhoto I have pics/ videos in folders and sub folders organised as family/events etc - will it go back to this exact order after a restore?

Hi Stavros0203,
When restoring your entire system from a Time Machine backup, it is restored to the state it was when that backup was made. See this article for reference -
OS X Yosemite: Recover your entire system
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Best,
Brett L

What is the best way to store my photos off my mac without using time machine, time capsule?

I heard alot of negative reviews about time machine / time capsule.

Time Machine is about the only way to create a full system backup with a Mac.
Nope, bootable clones is another option and vastly superior actually to TimeMachines basic backup only and undelete ability.
A clone is just that, a exact copy of OS X, bootable, accessible and everything just like the orignal.
Make as many as you need, clone everything in OS X to a larger drive too.
Read about them here
Most commonly used backup methods

Time Machine/Time Capsule issues

I have had a never ending series of Time Machine/Time Capsule issues. There's little to configure, so there's not much I could be doing wrong.
One thing I have especially noticed, is that Time Machine is interfering with iTunes. iTunes has frozen for a time or locked up when Time Machine is backing up.
Another problem I have seen is the console log flooded with some sort of waiting for index error. Yet another are messages like -
"Jul 14 14:43:56 MJBook /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder[176]: StatusMonitor::volumesChangedCallBack returned -47"
The only thing I have ever found odd about my situation is that I am running a Time Machine and three other Airport Express devices. One of the Airport Express units uses WDS, and I heard that could create issues.
Any ideas?

I have the same question and I see you posted yours in March. So this forum is REALLY helpful...
My Mac consultant doesn't use either so is not much help. He says to erase T.C. and start over, but it also contains all my backups for my other Mac which have worked perfectly. When I select T.C. in T.M. the only option is to Remove Disk; I want to save the MacBook backups. I also tried wireless as he suggested but got the same warnings as above so went back to Ethernet. Plus nobody can tell me how to access T.C. in Disk Utility to try to fix it.

My Time Machine / Time capsule gets the error: The backup disk image could not be mounted

My time machine / time capsule gets the error: The backup disk image could not be mounted.

Reboot the TC.
If you normally have multiple computers backing up, under Lion there seems to be some issues.. you need to force other users off the system. You can do that through the Airport utility, manual setup, disks, disconnect all users. Note carefully if you use Lion you probably need to download the real airport utility.. 5.6 to accomplish anything useful.

A Macbook/Time Machine/Time Capsule epic - still in progress. Please help!

I'll try and keep this to the point.
I decided to upgrade my Macbook's 160GB Hitachi hard drive to a 500GB Samsung model. I also have a 500GB Time Capsule that has has an ongoing Time Machine backup going back to June 13, 2008.
I figured that I would change out the HD, then use the 'restore' function in Time Machine to bring the system back to where I left it. I figured that's exactly why I purchased Time Capsule in the first place.
The drive installed and formatted (using 'zero fill' to check for drive errors) just fine, and the restore kicked off great. The estimation was for something like 28 hours (for 49GB of data) which was a bit alarming but apparently not unheard of.
A day later, I found it stuck at 71% or so, and checking the install log revealed that I was getting 'error -36' messages for several music and video tracks in iTunes. It literally got stuck for about 8 hours, taking about half an hour to realize that each song was going to be an 'error -36' before moving on to the next one, and so on.
It was clearly never going to finish, at least not this year.
I clicked on stop, clicked to confirm that I was sure...and then it hung. I tried quitting the installer, which also hung, so in the end I was forced to do a hard power down. When I rebooted using the Leopard DVD, I attempted another restore, thinking I'd choose another date from which to restore. This time, however, opening up the Time Capsule drive hung.
OK, Time Capsule's Time Machine backup file is now toast. End of story.
Here's my question: I figure my next step is to figure out whether the HD in Time Capsule is faulty or whether the backup file itself is corrupt. I'm now 'zero fill' erasing the TC's HD. Does this give you a surefire way to tell that the drive is in good condition? If it fails, I guess it's under warranty. If not, I'll start a new backup from scratch (I don't see what else there is to do at this stage, frankly) and try to restore that and see how that goes.
Does anyone know what an 'error -36' is, anyway? Can anyone tell me if I've missed something, or some reason why this may not have worked as well as it was supposed to? Or anything that I should do next that I may not have thought of?
Thanks so much,
Michael.

I will remember to try to repair the TC disk via Disk Utility next time - I didn't even know you could do that until now! Thanks for that. In that case, I agree that I wiped the drive, because it would have been a great opportunity to try out the repair function and see if it could have made it work.
Well, the good news is that I have succeeded with my original intention, which was to replace my internal HD with a larger one, using Time Machine/Time Capsule to bring everything back. It worked perfectly, and I now have a Macbook with a 500GB drive. Awesome! By the way, I can recommend the Samsung drive if anyone is thinking of making the switch. So far, excellent performance, near-silent operation, and loads of storage space - for now!
The solution to the problem became clear once I erased the TC's HD and wanted to start over. My idea was that I would make a complete Time Machine backup, then change out the drive, then restore.
After the erasure, I found that the backup would not start, and everything about the Mac was sluggish! I cycled the power on the Time Capsule, and everything was like new once again. I restarted the backup and without delay, it started backing up - and fast.
Once this completed, I did a restore, and the estimated time was 8 hours. Big improvement from 24! After just 80 mins, it had restored 25% of the system - and this is wirelessly (using 'N')! Clearly, everything had become jammed up and during my previous restore attempt, it pretty much ground to a halt.
So everything is great now. It is possible that I didn't even have file corruption after all, perhaps just a refusal by the system to go any further. I won't know now, but should it happen again, I will power cycle first as well as run repairs on the disk via Disk Utility. I suspect that this is all that was needed.
Thanks for the responses again, and hopefully this post may help someone in the future.

Setting up time machine/time capsule after fitting a New Hard Drive.

I have replaced my hard drive in my imac 24inch and restored the system from my time capsule. My question is now my time machine is trying to back up to my time capsule but it is already 3/4 full from the old drive in my imac. How do i best set up my time capsule with time machine after installing a new hard drive in the imac. I was hoping that i would restore the system and I would still be able to (after pointing time machine to my time capsule) access old files if needed in time machine. It has presently deleted a lot of older backups but still cannot fit it all in as it just sees a new hard drive worth of info and is attempting to back it all up on my time capsule.

wjosten wrote:
Me, I would never use Time Machine to do this. What I'd suggest you do is get an exterior enclosure for your new drive. Then use either Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper to clone your existing drive to your new drive. Once done, verify your clone is bootable & all of your data present. Then swap drives & use your old drive for Time Machine backups(after erasing it). Then get another drive & exterior enclosure to regularly clone your new drive to.
Unless he was swapping for a lower capacity HDD or to a lower capacity SSD, then the old drive would make a lousy Time Machine disk. However, whenever I swap out a disk I do exactly what you do. CCC to get the ol drive onto a new one. Test by starting up to the new (but still external drive). Then replace the internal drive.
I usually just sell the old drive on eBay. My Time Machine backup is always 2X the size of the internal drive, which I believe is a bit above recommendations, but works for me. The price of large external drives is almost the same as smaller internal ones.

Can't back up using Time Machine/Time Capsule

I just bought a new macBook (13") and it set up perfectly.
My only problem is that I cannot seem to get Time Machine to run (or even connect) to my Time Capsule. I can see the device and can select it. I input the TC password etc. and after about 10-15 seconds of trying to connect, it errors out saying it "The backup disk image could not be created."
It is a Time Machine error, not a Time Capsule error.
Anyone else having this problem and any ideas on how to fix it?
Thanks.

The warranty entitles you to complimentary phone support for the first 90 days of ownership.

Time Machine + Time Capsule problems

Hi,
I'm having this issue for a coiuple of years now. Recently updated from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion and thought to give it another try. Same outcome.
Back then I even brought it to the Genius guys and the time machine worked fine.
I created everything from scratch. Set up File sharing in Airport Utility with new name, etc.
When I select the new backup disk (my Time Capsule with different name - no facny characters, etc.), Time Machine spends some time first "preparing backup", then I see a volume created (disk image), called Time Machine Backups, and then Time Machine displays: Looking for disk (or similar).
That goes on for a while and then I get the error message:
"Time Machine couldn’t complete the backup to “Time Capsule”
The backup disk image “/Volumes/TomsTimeCapsule/Intel Mac mini.sparsebundle” could not be accessed (error -1)."
And the Time Machine Backups disk image is still sitting on my desktop, doesn't unmount.
In the meantime I do see a sparsebundle file has been created and it is with every try exactly 872.5MB large.
here is the log:
Starting manual backup
Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://[email protected]/TomsTimeCapsule
Mounted network destination at mount point: /Volumes/TomsTimeCapsule using URL: afp://[email protected]/TomsTimeCapsule
Creating disk image /Volumes/TomsTimeCapsule/Intel Mac mini.sparsebundle
Failed to hide extension on /Volumes/TomsTimeCapsule/Intel Mac mini.sparsebundle, error: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=4 "The file “Intel Mac mini.sparsebundle” doesn’t exist." UserInfo=0x7ff0cd04b8e0 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/TomsTimeCapsule/Intel%20Mac%20mini.sparsebundle /, NSFilePath=/Volumes/TomsTimeCapsule/Intel Mac mini.sparsebundle, NSUnderlyingError=0x7ff0cd03fa00 "The operation couldn’t be completed. No such file or directory"}.
Failed to eject volume /Volumes/TomsTimeCapsule (FSVolumeRefNum: -122; status: -47; dissenting pid: 0)
Waiting 60 seconds and trying again.
Network destination already mounted at: /Volumes/TomsTimeCapsule
Failed to eject volume /Volumes/TomsTimeCapsule (FSVolumeRefNum: -122; status: -47; dissenting pid: 0)
Waiting 60 seconds and trying again.
Network destination already mounted at: /Volumes/TomsTimeCapsule
Failed to eject volume /Volumes/TomsTimeCapsule (FSVolumeRefNum: -122; status: -47; dissenting pid: 0)
Giving up after 3 retries.
Backup failed with error: 21
[SnapshotUtilities mountPointForVolumeRef] FSGetVolumeInfo returned: -35
Failed to eject volume (null) (FSVolumeRefNum: 0; status: -35; dissenting pid: -1)
Failed to eject Time Machine disk image: /Volumes/TomsTimeCapsule/Intel Mac mini.sparsebundle
Thank you!

I have a Comcast cable modem: Arris Model#: TM702G/CT.
TC functions as a router
Mini uses Ethernet, but I tried with wireless as well.
Will try the isolated setup next.
in the meantime I found somewhere somebody erased all contents of his Library/System Configuration folder as well as the Library/Cache folder. Also deleted the com.apple.TimeMachine.plist file.
Then rebooted and tried again - this time I got the following error log:
(IntelMacMini is my file sharing name)
Macintosh is the hard drive name
Starting manual backup
Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://Thomas%[email protected]/TimeCapsuleBackup
Mounted network destination at mount point: /Volumes/TimeCapsuleBackup using URL: afp://Thomas%[email protected]/TimeCapsuleBackup
Renaming /Volumes/TimeCapsuleBackup/Macintosh.sparsebundle to /Volumes/TimeCapsuleBackup/IntelMacMini.sparsebundle
detach: could not open /dev/disk2
Failed to eject volume /Volumes/TimeCapsuleBackup (FSVolumeRefNum: -106; status: -47; dissenting pid: 0)
Waiting 60 seconds and trying again.
Network destination already mounted at: /Volumes/TimeCapsuleBackup
Failed to eject volume /Volumes/TimeCapsuleBackup (FSVolumeRefNum: -106; status: -47; dissenting pid: 0)
Waiting 60 seconds and trying again.
Network destination already mounted at: /Volumes/TimeCapsuleBackup
Failed to eject volume /Volumes/TimeCapsuleBackup (FSVolumeRefNum: -106; status: -47; dissenting pid: 0)
Giving up after 3 retries.
Backup failed with error: 21
[SnapshotUtilities mountPointForVolumeRef] FSGetVolumeInfo returned: -35
Failed to eject volume (null) (FSVolumeRefNum: 0; status: -35; dissenting pid: -1)
Failed to eject Time Machine disk image: /Volumes/TimeCapsuleBackup/IntelMacMini.sparsebundle

Time Machine - Time Capsule Username/ Password Error

Hey all,
I have this intermittent problem...It seems when I am not using my computer and Time Machine goes to do a backup it gets the following error:
Time Machine could not complete the backup.
The network backup disk could not be accessed because there was a problem with the network username or password.
I am running a new Time Capsule and a Mac Mini. I have tried both wired and wireless connections. I have tried all three types of username/ password options on the Time Capsule. I have even turned on guest access and access over the Internet via Bonjour.
Still it seems when I am not at the computer it gets this error. I am not logging out and the power option is set to never have the MAC go to sleep.
If I click ok on the error box and then go to Time Machine and click Back Up Now it will work (sometimes after two or three attempts). Time Capsule is running 7.5.1 software.
I have also tried deleting all reference to the Time Capsule in my password keychain and re-authenticated.
Any ideas?

Last night I reset the Time Capsule to factory defaults (erased the data) and re-configured the Time Capsule again. The Time Machine initial backup completed in about three hours and all the hourly backups after that completed just fine. So it looks like it was working.
When I initially installed the Time Capsule a week ago there was a software update available that I did. What I think happened is it never completely upgraded some how. For instance, now in my first configuration screen it shows a MAC address for both the 5ghz and the 2.4ghz networks, that was never there before. A couple of other slight screen changes are there now. So I am thinking my software update wasn't loaded properly and the reset got it all fixed....
So it looks like I am good to go now.
Thanks for the input.
Alan

Time Machine/Time Capsule where is the data?

Bought Time Capsule a month ago when I got a Macbook Air. First time with 2 computers. Today exploring and trying to connect an old hard drive and TimeCapsule has only 2 files, both in a data folder and each labeled with one of the two computers dot sparsebundle. The only way I can see the multiple time machine files is to ask time machine to back up. Then the old time machine icon comes on the desktop and can be opened to reveal the files. It disappears when time machine stops backing up. I have prefs set to show all disks and drives.
What is going on here? I tried connecting an old SimpleTech drive that has old time machine files on it but can not get the icon to show itself on desktop or the sidebar. Is this a related problem?
Thanks
Geoff

Geoff K wrote:
As I re-read my postd I see it's very confusing. Sorry 'bout that. Before I got the TimeCapsule I used the old SimpleTech drive for the time machine backups. The drive showed up on the desk top just like any other drive. If I opened the drive icon I could get folders in which all the individual backups were shown. Time Capsule only shows on the desktop when a backup is in place no matter what preference settings I try. Is there a way to open time capsule just like any other drive? I assume it's working OK but I can't see it's content directly, only via TimeMachine's etherial display.
As etresoft explained, Time Machine stores backups differently when they're on a network, inside a rather odd container called a +sparse bundle.+ Unlike a directly-connected external disk, the +sparse bundle+ does not remain mounted between backups, thus is not as easily available.
To see it via the Finder, you must mount the +sparse bundle+ (by double-clicking it via the Finder), then open it to see the data inside it.
When you invoke the "Star Wars" display, it mounts the sparse bundle automatically.
And anything you do over a network will be considerably slower than via a directly-connected external HD.
Not sure what you mean by avoiding the finder in backups. Am I correct in thinking Time Machine does it's own thing so I have no input and don't "use" anything.
TM backups have a rather complex structure, all interconnected via multiple "hard links" (sort of like aliases). Think of them as a giant database. You can use the Finder to look at them, but it's easy to accidentally move, change, or delete things that way, which can corrupt them, so it's a good idea to avoid using the Finder on them entirely. See [How Time Machine works its Magic|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Works.html] for details.
And while copying from them via the Finder is also possible, that's not recommended either, as the copied files may not have the correct permissions.
Everything you need to do with your backups can be done via Time Machine, although it's not intuitive or obvious how to do some of them, unfortunately.

Time machine & time capsule

I had to set up my computer completley new after a hard disk crash. I was able to set up my iMac from a time capsule back up and everything is running fine. Unfortunately I was then unable to access the time machune and the computer tried to set up a complete new backup. I then decided to reformat the time capsule and started a fresh and new back up. Unfortunately this backup runs extremly slow. The system tells me it will take 64 days!!! for 424 GB. After 3 hours he mad 1 GB progress - so 54 days seems correct.
Can anyone give any tipp what I can do differently to speed up the process? I use a 1TB TC and this is conected with a network cable to a Fritzbox (latest model) and zhen again with a network cabel to my imac.
Appreciate any help.

Cologne_1 wrote:
I had to set up my computer completley new after a hard disk crash. I was able to set up my iMac from a time capsule back up and everything is running fine. Unfortunately I was then unable to access the time machune and the computer tried to set up a complete new backup.
If you did a full system restore, Setup Assistant, or Migration Assistant, you should have been given an option to "reuse" the old backups, per #B5 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.
I then decided to reformat the time capsule and started a fresh and new back up. Unfortunately this backup runs extremly slow.
Are you sure it's using the Ethernet cable? Turn WIFI off for a moment to see.
But even if it's using WIFI, that's terribly slow.
I use a 1TB TC and this is conected with a network cable to a Fritzbox (latest model) and zhen again with a network cabel to my imac.
I'm not big on networking, but can you connect the TC directly to your Mac? That may be faster, too.
(Hopefully one of the networking gurus here will have some advice.)
Otherwise, try the things in the green box of #D2 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

Time Machine Time Capsule Experience / Capabilities

I am reviewing back up hardware in a small company.
SITUATION
3-5 modern Macs across a small office sharing an ethernet hub (connected via cable).
TIME MACHINE
I see this as a very simple & intuitive way forward.
Simple, not enormously programmable, but astonishing.
CAPABILITIES
I have found that TimeMachine on 1 computer can not BackUp data on a network connected device.
Is this still the case?
Is it the case with TimeCapsule?
Therefore, I deduce that each Mac runs its own TimeMachine software, but that they each access the same TimeCapsule.
Correct?
BU POLICY
Having read about this, it seems that there is a fundamental omission in the back up regime.
BU policies should involve the 'alternating' media set being off site.
This implies regularly switching the TimeCapsule devices.
This is easy enough with a standard HD, but TimeCapsule has so many other features such as wireless etc.
This suggests that switching TimeCapsules will then require resetting all computer wireless settings.
How easy is it to swop from TimeCapsule A to TimeCapsule B?
Can a TimeCapsule be used as an HD only? (we already have all the wireless we need.)
Does a TimeCapsule offer any advantage to buying HDs when running TimeMachine?
PC
We also have a PC.
Can a PC use TimeMachine?
TIME MACHINE VS CLOUD
Can Time Machine BU to your iCloud account?
I understand that the Cloud is really intended for sharing and not for back up - so why does it appear difficult to have an alternating set of TimeCapsules?
Thanks Nic

Time Capsule is a home device.. I would not recommend it for a business.
CAPABILITIES
I have found that TimeMachine on 1 computer can not BackUp data on a network connected device.
Is this still the case?
Is it the case with TimeCapsule?
This is limitation of Time Machine.. it cannot backup any network device.. it must be locally connected to the computer.
That includes the Time Capsule which is still a network device.
Each computer can run TM to the network located TC.
BU policies should involve the 'alternating' media set being off site.
This implies regularly switching the TimeCapsule devices.
This is easy enough with a standard HD, but TimeCapsule has so many other features such as wireless etc.
This suggests that switching TimeCapsules will then require resetting all computer wireless settings.
Swapping out the TC is really not viable.
You can however backup on the TC to a USB drive plugged into it.. rather than the TC itself. Then you would change USB drives on a weekly basis. This will slow down backups dramatically but on a wired network should still be ok.
PC
We also have a PC.
Can a PC use TimeMachine?
PC can do backups to the Time Capsule but Time Machine is purely Mac software. There are a zillion windows backup software available.. check the latest reviews for the best pick. The very worst is Microsoft.
TIME MACHINE VS CLOUD
Can Time Machine BU to your iCloud account?
I understand that the Cloud is really intended for sharing and not for back up - so why does it appear difficult to have an alternating set of TimeCapsules?
TM is too disk intensive and interactive to use on internet connections.. Apple recommends never doing Time Machine over internet. The chances of corruption are very very high.
You are impressed with Time Machine but please read through the issues that constantly arise for many users.
http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
It is worth having dual sets of backups.
Bootable clones are great.. that will require a USB drive for each computer.
But at least a clone of the disk to network drive so that you have each computer hard disk in a form that provides easy restoration. Restore function in TM is great for the few files that you accidently edited wrongly or deleted or failed to save.. It is much less great at full disk restores.
I would seriously invest in a backup software that is a little less sophisticated and a lot more rugged than TM.
Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) is very good. It is something I would happily recommend to anyone but there are others.
Read Pondini again on difference between TM and clones..
http://pondini.org/TM/Clones.html

Time Machine & Time Capsule -- Starting over?

Hi, my Time Machine lost its connection to Time Capsule in the middle of the initial backup. So now I have an incomplete backup file and I would like to set up Time Machine again, get rid of the incomplete backup file, and start over. Is there any way to do this?
Just as a note, it is not resuming from the stopped point automatically. It's as if it did finish the backup.
Message was edited by: UncleMarsellus

joshz wrote:
Note that that will erase EVERYTHING on the TC, not just your backups (I say this because someone else was advised to do this, and had other files on his TM drive).
Check what OP has written, unless they have anything else there then Erase is they way to go:
my Time Machine lost its connection to Time Capsule in the middle of the initial backup. So now I have an incomplete backup file and I would like to set up Time Machine again...

Time Machine/Time Capsule failure to set up

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