Time Machine unable to free enough space

Just returned from a longer trip, taking a lot of pictures, and now my Time Machine backup is failing. Here's what I can read from the logs:
1) For about 45 minutes, it determines what needs backing up
2) Then, it determines it doesn't have enough space
3) It gets rid of a few backups (between 1 and 10), but still doesn't have the space
4) It gives up
This pattern has been repeating for days, once an hour, and no backup has happened.
How can I recover from this?
Here is the log of a run:
Jan 14 02:47:06 weirdedmbp /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1931]: Starting standard backup
Jan 14 02:47:06 weirdedmbp /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1931]: Backup destination alias resolved to path: /Volumes/Weird Ed's Time Capsule
Jan 14 02:47:08 weirdedmbp /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1931]: Disk image /Volumes/Weird Ed's Time Capsule/WeirdEdMBP_001f5be6fa3e.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Backup of WeirdEdMBP
Jan 14 02:47:09 weirdedmbp /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1931]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Backup of WeirdEdMBP/Backups.backupdb
Jan 14 02:47:21 weirdedmbp /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1931]: Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
Jan 14 02:47:21 weirdedmbp /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1931]: Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:kFSEDBEventFlagMustScanSubDirs|kFSEDBEventFlagReasonEventDBUntrustable|
Jan 14 03:31:54 weirdedmbp /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1931]: Backup destination alias resolved to path: /Volumes/Weird Ed's Time Capsule
Jan 14 03:31:55 weirdedmbp /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1931]: Disk image /Volumes/Weird Ed's Time Capsule/WeirdEdMBP_001f5be6fa3e.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Backup of WeirdEdMBP
Jan 14 03:35:50 weirdedmbp /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1931]: Starting pre-backup thinning: 52.66 GB requested (including padding), 16.57 GB available
Jan 14 03:38:15 weirdedmbp /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1931]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Backup of WeirdEdMBP/Backups.backupdb/WeirdEdMBP/2008-12-10-003030: 16.57 GB now available
Jan 14 03:39:01 weirdedmbp /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1931]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Backup of WeirdEdMBP/Backups.backupdb/WeirdEdMBP/2008-12-18-235052: 16.57 GB now available
Jan 14 03:39:33 weirdedmbp /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1931]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Backup of WeirdEdMBP/Backups.backupdb/WeirdEdMBP/2008-12-18-225055: 16.57 GB now available
Jan 14 03:40:04 weirdedmbp /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1931]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Backup of WeirdEdMBP/Backups.backupdb/WeirdEdMBP/2008-12-18-215132: 16.57 GB now available
Jan 14 03:40:48 weirdedmbp /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1931]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Backup of WeirdEdMBP/Backups.backupdb/WeirdEdMBP/2008-12-18-204435: 16.57 GB now available
Jan 14 03:40:48 weirdedmbp /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1931]: Stopping backup.
Jan 14 03:40:54 weirdedmbp /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1931]: Backup canceled.
Jan 14 03:41:01 weirdedmbp /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1931]: Ejected Time Machine disk image.
Jan 14 03:41:01 weirdedmbp /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1931]: Compacting backup disk image to recover free space
Jan 14 03:42:12 weirdedmbp /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[1931]: Completed backup disk image compaction

Right, I understand that there isn't enough space, but I also was under the impression that Time Machine is supposed to manage the space. The backups are the only thing on the time capsule. I'm backing up a single MacBook Pro with a 200GB drive to the 500GB time capsule, so Time Machine should be able to make space by simply deleting old backups. An so far, that has worked.
I get the impression that there's a limit to how many old backups are being removed, and it feels like a time limit. Meaning: If TM deletes backups for more than 10 minutes or so, and there's still not enough space, it gives up.
Trouble is that each turn of deleting some old backups is preceeded by that ~45 minute period of "determining what to back up".
That's what I'm doing now: Deleting old backups, and once that completes I'll compact the sparse bundle. Hopefully, that'll do the trick. So if I let this go on for days/weeks/months, it probably will eventually free up enough space again.
Still, this would seem like a rather common case, this should really work. So far, not very impressed with Time Machine.

Similar Messages

Time Machine Back Up Not Enough Space

I just tried to back up my Mac Book Air and I use OS X 10.7.3.
I got a message which said that there was not enough space on my external hard drive. The message said that I needed 50 GB and the external drive only has 43 of space... Note, when I check out the hard drive, it says: ""Available 43.63 of 249.93".
The sole purpose of my hard drive is for back up purposes. So, there isn't anything other data or information on the drive...
So, what do I do?

To be clear--is this a drive you have been using with the MacBook Air previously with Time Machine? Or is this the first time you've tried to use Time Machine with this drive on this computer?
If it's not the first time, I suspect you're just getting Time Machine's warning which everyone eventually will get (unless you've turned it off or really don't change many files) that it is going to need to delete something from the drive outside of its normal scheduled elimination of backups (normally it lengthens out the period between saved backups as the backup ages, figuring you don't need every hour's snapshot for the last three years). By its nature Time Machine's needs tend to grow over time and it will eventually consume all available space on a drive that it is given access to.

Time machine back up- not enough space so can't back up?

hi my computer entire hard drive is 2TB and only 1Tb used. and my external hard drive(time machine back-up) is 2TB. and right now Time machine back up failed. and keep saying that hard drive don;t have enough space....
i erase all from external hard drive ,, back up NEW. and still saying that not enough space on back up drive, weird thing is and i have 2.8 TB to back up.. but my entire hard drive is only 2TB .. what is that? and i only used 1.1 TB ish..
somebody help me? how can i use time machine back up with this issue?

What's shown for +Estimated size of full backup+ under the exclusions box in TM Preferences > Options?
If that's over the 1.1 TB used, there are a couple of possibilities:
Another internal or external drive, formatted for a Mac, is connected but not excluded, so Time Machine is trying to back it up, too. Exclude it, per #10 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
Something on your internal HD is corrupted, making Time Machine think it's much larger than it really is. Verify your internal HD, per #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

Time machine : Doesn't have enough space on the restore drive.

I've a very weird situation. My time machine backup has two partitions: one is of 95 GB (where I have only one back up of my Mac Lion) and the other of 65 GB is unformatted (total space on the drive is 160 GB). Now when I get to the point of Disk Utility's Restore from time machine backups (through Ctrl + R) and select my new internal HDD (of 128 G), I get the yellow warning at the bottom that 'there isn't sufficient space on this drive'. I'm really baffled as to what could be the root cause of this. Is Time machine accounting for the entire hard drive (of 160 GB) for restore? Or is it doing some tricks behind the scene by which it needs more space (greater than 128 - 95 GB) than the backup? If so, how much is this space?
Really confused here.
Thanks in advance!

@Linc: The internal drive has a GUID partition table and the required partition in the correct format, yes. It actually already has a brand new installation of Lion (could that be interfering?).
Also, this may be useful: My original hard drive was 320 GB and this new one is 128 GB. I'm suspecting this thread has what I need: https://discussions.apple.com/message/15920201#15920201. What do you think?
Thanks!

Time Machine Backup failed, not enough space...

Have iMac, Yosimite OS 10.10, processor 3.1 GHz Intel Core i5, memory 12 GB 1333 MHz DDR3, internal HD - 1TB, Time machine id 1 TB external La Cie. I see that I have 260 GB left on Time Machine disk, on Time Machine window. Additional message, "Needs 266.46 GB for back up, thus "backup failed". What is my next step? Thank you very much indeed!

Try C4 in the 1st linked article.
Time Machine Troubleshooting
Time Machine Troubleshooting Problems

HT2693 Time Machine does not have enough space?

I want to completely clean out all my back ups on Time Machine and start over?

Open Disk Utility, Highlight the TM partition, Select: Erase.

Time machine does not have enough space

Please tell me a simple, step by step way to fix this problem.

Look at C4 in the first link. Exactly what error message are you getting if it isn't C4?
Time Machine Troubleshooting
Time Machine Troubleshooting Problems

I am getting this error message on my iMac. Time Machine unable to complete backup. An error occurred while creating the back up folder. Any ideas on how to fix???

i am getting this error message on my iMac. Time Machine unable to complete backup. An error occurred while creating the back up folder. Any ideas on how to fix???

See Pondini's TM FAQs

Keep getting this message when trying to back up iMac to time Machine: Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume.

Keep getting this message when trying to back up iMac to time Machine: Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume. tried everything.

Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with TM problems. Also you can select Mac Help from the Finder's Help menu and search for "time machine" to locate articles on how to use TM. See also Mac 101- Time Machine.
Time Machine- Troubleshooting backup issues

TS4431 unable to free up space on my iphone 5c

I am unable to free up space on my iphone 5c to install the latest softwere.

If you connect your iPhone to your Mac with its USB cable and use iTunes to update the operating system the download will go to the Mac's hard drive and get installed from there instead of saving the updater on the iPhone.
How much free space do you have on your iPhone? If it gets too low you'll have problems taking additional photos, videos, etc.

TIME MACHINE UNABLE TO BACK UP AS NOT ENOUGH SPACE

I keep trying to back up my Macbook Pro (I have a Buffalo hard drive) but on time machine is says that there is not enough space to complete the back up

What is your question?

Time Machine incorrectly reporting free space

I'm seeing this on Mavericks (retina MBP, 500GB SSD about 60% utilized) .
I've got a AFP network share that I copied a clean 800GB sparesebundle to. I use Disk Utility to mount and verify it, and it says, 650MB used, which means it's essentially 99% empty.
I unmount and attempt a backup with this disk. Almost immediately Time Machine reports that only 97GB free of the 800GB disk and can't continue because it needs ~275GB (a first time backup).
I unmount and remount it with Disk Utility and sure enough, it says it only has 97GB free. I re-run repair and the disk then reports 640MB used again. No matter what, Time Machine reports that only 98GB is free even immediately after I repair and even erase the Time Machine disk!
This is repeatable and reproducable.
The sparsebundle was created with:
hdiutil create -size 800g -type SPARSEBUNDLE -nospotlight -volname "Backup of My Mac" -fs "Case-sensitive Journaled HFS+" -verbose [myhostname[.sparsebundle
rsync'd to the remote linux server that us running netatalk3 to share that volume.
I am mounting it as afp://mylinuxbox/TimeMachineBackup
This all works, disk utility recognizeses and validates the disk.
Freshly erased:
641MB used, ~840GB available.
I unmount the disk and the sparsebundle.
I attemped a backup:
I go to Disk utility, mount the disk and it reports:
I repair the disk, says its ok and the disk space returns to "normal". I can repeat this process endlessly to the same result. No matter what I try (erasing, new sparsebundle, etc) TM always says it's on;y ~90GB free.

Actually, I can shorten this down to just:
Mount TimeMachineBackup disk, it reports ~95GB free.
Repair it, it reports 800+GB free
Unmount it
Remount it, it again reports ~95GB free.
Rinse. Repeat.

Time machine not recognizing free space even though it "knows" about it

Trying to back up to an external hard drive I'm getting this error from Time Machine when it tries to back up:
"This backup is too large for the backup volume. The backup requires 52.5 GB but only 495.8 GB are available..."
Clearly it KNOWS the space is there, but its math is wrong since it seem to think that 52.5 GB is greater than 495.8 GB.
Suggestions?

Sometimes, this error is legitimate. The user may not realize that they need to exclude additional hard disks that TM may be seeing. This is done in the “Options…” window of the Time Machine Preferences.
Nevertheless, many times this error just doesn’t make sense, stating that not enough free space exists for a backup that is clearly smaller. (“The backup requires 45.9 GB but only 182.6 GB are available”)
The answer and fix may have been discovered by a poster in the macosxhints forums: (http://forums.macosxhints.com/archive/index.php/t-84284.html)
Essentially, while Time Machine DOES delete old backups from the sparsebundle, it DOES NOT free up the space occupied by those old backups. Eventually, "all previous backups were deleted and no space was gained. . . . What appears to be going on here is that the sparsebundle isn't self-shrinking - unused bands aren't being automagically discarded."
The solution is to compact the TM backup sparsebundle in Terminal using:
hdiutil compact yoursparsebundlefilename.
He concludes, "I gained 30+gb of space on the backup volume by compacting that sparsebundle. And now TM runs just fine, since it has plenty of space."
Obviously, this is a bug in TM. It does not appear to effect everyone, and only seems to appear under certain curcumstances.
Let us know if this works for you.

Mobile Time Machine apparently increases free space

After setting up Fusion Drive and restored OS and files, my MBP had 200GB of free space.
Few days later, 230GB of free space in a Finder window.
A week later, 300GB of free space, despite I did not delete fles that much.
I checked "About This Mac">"Storage" for a week, and found that "Other" was decreasing (I did not delete much, again), and "Backups" was increasing.
It is as if files which must be categoraized "other" are categoraized "Backups", and since the amount of "Backups" is not counted in Finder, apparently I had more and more free space.
Have anyone experienced such strange case? I disabled mobile time Machine, fearing "other" files would be deleted as "backups" files would be.

Actually, I can shorten this down to just:
Mount TimeMachineBackup disk, it reports ~95GB free.
Repair it, it reports 800+GB free
Unmount it
Remount it, it again reports ~95GB free.
Rinse. Repeat.

How to speed up my system- reboot from time machine or increase free space?

I've just upgraded my system to 3GB ram and some actions are being quite sluggish still- this I would suspect is because I have only 3GB free on my 120GB hard drive.
Would rebooting the system from a time machine backup speed up the computer- in that all the files should be continuous or should I just aim to make more space on the hard drive?

Ouch! You need to delete files - it's not a fragmentation issue, but a lack of available space for virtual memory and swap files. You should always have 10-15% of your capacity free (so, for you, that means keeping 11-16 GB free space on your drive).
At this point, I'd recommend deleting files to free up space, then running Disk Utility > Verify Disk (and if errors are found, boot from the Install DVD and Repair Disk).
To find your largest files, use something like Disk Inventory X:
http://www.derlien.com

Time Machine unable to free enough space

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for