Time Machine will not delete backups

I am running 10.8.2 and have a recurring message every couple of weeks from Time Machine that says the backup disk is full and the backup could not be completed. I am attempting to have about 750G backed up onto a 1000G Gsafe external drive.
I do notice that everytime my Backup drive is mounted, there are what appears to be 3 old backups in my trash that will not delete when I empty the trash. The system asks me if I want to remove all items or only unlocked items. I select "all items", and the files remain in the trash. I am sure this has something to do with the Time Machine error.
Any ideas?

The backup volume was full. That shouldn't happen, because TM is supposed to manage disk space by deleting snapshots as needed to make room for a new one, up to the last complete snapshot, which is never removed automatically.
One possibility is that you were writing other data to the volume during the backup. Apple recommends that no other data be stored on a backup volume.
Otherwise, I suggest you clear possibly corrupt data from the TM preference file. Open the Time Machine pane in System Preferences. Click the padlock icon in the lower left corner, if necessary, to unlock it. Scroll to the bottom of the list of backup drives and click Add or Remove Backup Disk. Remove the problem disk, then add it back. Quit System Preferences. Test.

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time macine will not delete old backups....is there a manual way to do it

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This happens from time to time. You will need to step in and decide what to do.. Delete manually.. a very slow and fraught process.. or you have to take more severe action.. eg archive off the old backups and start again. You will need a 3TB USB drive to do it.. but IMHO is well worth it. Assuming you need all that history. You can then simply do a quick erase from Airport Utility which takes a minute or two and do a fresh backup.
Try to eliminate files that are not necessary to backup.. eg the worst is any virtual disk for parallels or bootcamp.. where the slightest change to the smallest file will result in a full backup of the whole virtual disk. You must backup windows etc from inside the OS and not from TM in Mac OS.
Have you upgraded the computer btw?? I get the feeling that when you upgrade a computer.. say Snow Leopard to Lion to Mountain Lion.. TM has real issues handling the old backups. It is much better to start over.
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Time Machine will not delete.

Greetings.
The problem I'm having is that my 300GB backup disk is full. Time Machine says there is not enough room and it will not delete old backups to make room. How can I get it to do its thing?
Thank you.

dmac,
This might help...
*_“This Backup is Too Large for the Backup Volume”_*
First, much depends on the size of your Mac’s internal hard disk, the quantity of data it contains, and the size of the hard disk designated for Time Machine backups. It is recommended that any hard disk designated for Time Machine backups be +at least+ twice as large as the hard disk it is backing up from. You see, the more space it has to grow, the greater the history it can preserve.
*Disk Management*
Time Machine is designed to use the space it is given as economically as possible. When backups reach the limit of expansion, Time Machine will begin to delete old backups to make way for newer data. The less space you provide for backups the sooner older data will be discarded. [http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/15137.html]
However, Time Machine will only delete what it considers “expired”. Within the Console Logs this process is referred to as “thinning”. It appears that many of these “expired” backups are deleted when hourly backups are consolidated into daily backups and daily backups are consolidated into weekly backups. This consolidation takes place once hourly backups reach 24 hours old and daily backups reach about 30 days old. Weekly backups will only be deleted, or ‘thinned’, once the backup drive nears full capacity.
One thing seems for sure, though; If a new incremental backup happens to be larger than what Time Machine currently considers “expired” then you will get the message “This backup is too large for the backup volume.” In other words, Time Machine believes it would have to sacrifice to much to accommodate the latest incremental backup. This is probably why Time Machine always overestimates incremental backups by 2 to 10 times the actual size of the data currently being backed up. Within the Console logs this is referred to as “padding”. This is so that backup files never actually reach the physically limits of the backup disk itself.
There appears to be a method for getting around this that may work for some. Bear in mind that it will involve deleting older backups that Time Machine does not yet consider “expired”. But it should allow you to complete the current backup attempt while at the same time preserving some of the previous backups. It is fitting, as well, to remind users that backup disks should be +at least+ twice as large as your Macs’ internal hard disk.
The Time Machine error message tells you how much space the current backup requires.
Using that measurement, go into the Time Machine Preferences and click “Options…”.
Now using the Exclusion List, begin adding things like System & Library folders, and anything else that will get the “Total Included…” figure down to the amount that Time Machine reported was necessary. Leave your User folder for last. If it is still not enough, you can begin including folder within your Home folder.
Once the “Total Included…” is below what Time Machine requires, then perform a backup. During the backup, Time Machine perform certain house-keeping duties that frees up additional space.
Once the backup is complete, check Time Machine Prefs “Available:” line. You may discover that you now have more room than expected.
Go back to the Exclusion List and begin removing items until the “Total Included…” is again just under what “Available” states.
Perform another backup. Again more room may become available. You may have to repeat this procedure several time until a backup includes ALL of your desired files.
*Backups WAY Too Large*
If an initial full backup or a subsequent incremental backup is tens or hundreds of Gigs larger than expected, check to see that all unwanted external hard disks are still excluded from Time Machine backups. Time Machine will attempt to backup any hard disk attached to your Mac, including secondary internal drives, that have not been added to Time Machines Exclusion list.
This includes the Time Machine backup drive ITSELF. Normally, Time Machine is set to exclude itself by default. But on rare occasions it can forget. When your backup begins, Time Machine mounts the backup on your desktop. (For Time Capsule users it appears as a white drive icon labeled something like “Backup of (your computer)”.) If, while it is mounted, it does not show up in the Time Machine Prefs “Do not back up” list, then Time Machine will attempt to back ITSELF up. If it is not listed while the drive is mounted, then you need to add it to the list.
*Recovering Backup Space*
If you have discovered that large unwanted files have been backed up, you can use the Time Machine “time travel” interface to recovered some of that space. Do NOT, however, delete files from a Time Machine backup disk by manually mounting the disk and dragging files to the trash. You can damage or destroy your original backups by this means.
Additionally, deleting files you no longer wish to keep on your Mac does not immediately remove such files from Time Machine backups. Once data has been removed from your Macs' hard disk it will remain in backups for some time until Time Machine determines that it has "expired". That's one of its’ benefits - it retains data you may have unintentionally deleted. But eventually that data is expunged. If, however, you need to remove backed up files immediately, do this:
Launch Time Machine from the Dock icon.
Initially, you are presented with a window labeled “Today (Now)”. This window represents the state of your Mac as it exists now. +DO NOT+ delete or make changes to files while you see “Today (Now)” at the bottom of the screen. Otherwise, you will be deleting files that exist "today" - not yesterday or last week.
Click on the window just behind “Today (Now)”. This represents the last successful backup and should display the date and time of this backup at the bottom of the screen.
Now, navigate to where the unwanted file resides. If it has been some time since you deleted the file from your Mac, you may need to go farther back in time to see the unwanted file. In that case, use the time scale on the right to choose a date prior to when you actually deleted the file from your Mac.
Highlight the file and click the Actions menu (Gear icon) from the toolbar.
Select “Delete all backups of <this file>”.
*Full Backup After Hardware Change/Replacement*
If you are running out of disk space sooner than expected it may be that Time Machine is ignoring previous backups and is trying to perform another full backup of your system? This will happen if you have replaced your computer with a new one, or had significant repair work done on your existing Mac. Time Machine will perform a new full backup. This is normal.
You have several options if Time Machine is unable to perform the new full backup:
A. Delete the old backups, and let Time Machine begin a fresh.
B. Attach another external hard disk and begin backups there, while keeping this current hard disk. After you are satisfied with the new backup set, you can later reformat the old hard disk and use it for other storage.
C. Ctrl-Click the Time Machine Dock icon and select "Browse Other Time Machine disks...". Then select the old backup set. Navigate to files/folders you don't really need backups of and go up to the Action menu ("Gear" icon) and select "Delete all backups of this file." If you delete enough useless stuff, you may be able to free up enough space for the new backup to take place. However, this method is not assured as it may not free up enough "contiguous space" for the new backup to take place.
*Outgrown Your Backup Disk?*
On the other hand, your computers drive contents may very well have outgrown the capacity of the Time Machine backup disk. It may be time to purchase a larger capacity hard drive for Time Machine backups. Alternatively, you can begin using the Time Machine Preferences exclusion list to prevent Time Machine from backing up unneeded files/folders.
Consider as well: Do you really need ALL that data on your primary hard disk? It sounds like you might need to Archive to a different hard disk anything that's is not of immediate importance. You see, Time Machine is not designed for archiving purposes, just as a backup of your local drive(s). In the event of disaster, it can get your system back to its' current state without having to reinstall everything. But if you need LONG TERM storage, then you need another drive that is removed from your normal everyday working environment.
This KB article discusses this scenario with some suggestions including Archiving the old backups and starting fresh [http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/15137.html]
Let us know if this clarifies things.
Cheers!

Time Machine will not delete the oldest backup when external hard drive is full

I may not understand this timemachine thing, but....
I have macbook pro, 15", mid 2011, mountain lion......I have a WD Passport Studio I have ben using to back up with time machine periodically. I tried to back up today and it says i do not have enough room on my external drive. I tought the time machine automatically deletes the oldest back up?

I agree with Linc's response but you also have to realize that it will keep the oldest backup and start removing snapshots if it can.
It is my undestanding that time machine does what is called a full backup the first time and then the snapshots done after that are changes since the first backup. I'm not sure if time machine then does periodic backups or just snapshots.

Time machine will not delete old backup when space is needed

Time machine says there is not enough space to complete backup yet will not delete old backups

Start with C4.
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Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Iomega/Backups.backupdb
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
Backup content size: 53.8 GB excluded items size: 7.9 MB for volume Macintosh HD
No pre-backup thinning needed: 64.54 GB requested (including padding), 266.83 GB available

Start with item #C1 in the Time Machine - Troubleshooting post at the top of this forum.
As it says, the most common cause of an initial backup failing is an improperly formatted TM drive/partition.
After using it's instructions to verify the setup, if you're sure it's correct, then do all the things recommended in item #D2.

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

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Item C 12:
Time Machine Troubleshooting
Airport Utility 5.6 - Download to Downloads Folder and leave download there.
Run Terminal command:
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Check Applications/Utilities for Airport 5.6. Then see: Pondini again.

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Without a hint of a glimmer of a clue about what the failure message was, we can't give you any specifics in return.
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Sakshin.

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SMH5206 - I tried letting it sit and crank overnight twice. First time I thought it was my error causing it to lock up. Now I know better. I haven't changed any of my time machine settings - and actually never used time machine regularly. Only reason I had a fresh backup from last Oct was because I did one before I upgraded to mavericks. Everything worked fine then - and we used that to restore when the hard drive crashed and was replaced. I have actually deleted hundreds of pictures off my hard drive and one entire user, so it should actually be a much smaller backup - so if it did it before on the same external hard disk, I don't understand why it won't now. I'm really confused.
Kahjot - the external hard drive is the same one I backed up to previously - and I have completely erased it and reformatted, and the information I'm backing up now is less, so there should be no reason why it doesn't have enough room now, when there is actually less information on my current hard drive (see my reply to SMH5206). When I plug it in, it says it is a 500.07 GB WD "My Passport"
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I'm sure it's my error somewhere, - I just don't know how or where

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