Time machine won't backup on second mac because it says sparsebundle is already in use?

time machine won't backup on second mac because it says sparsebundle is already in use. What is the fix?

Make sure that the first Mac is not backing up at the time....then....
Pull the power cord from the back of the Time Capsule
Count to ten
Plug the power cord back into the back of the Time Capsule
Try a backup again from the second Mac in a few minutes
Post on your results

Similar Messages

  • 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).

  • Time Machine won't backup up to external firewire drive

    MacBook Pro - Time Machine won't backup to firewire external drive.  Has worked well in past few weeks..........any ideas?

    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.
    ☞ If you’re running Mac OS X 10.7 or later, open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the page that opens.
    Select "system.log" from the file list. Enter "backupd" (without the quotes) in the String Matching text field. Post the messages from the last backup, beginning with "Starting standard backup."
    Post the log text, please, not a screenshot. If there are runs of repeated messages, post only one example of each. Do not post many repetitions of the same message.
    Some personal information, such as the names of your files, may be included — edit that out, too, but don’t remove the context.

  • Time machine won't backup. Says disk is full ( stand alone disk). Souldn't it delete enough to create new backup. Last backup was 7/20/11. When I click "enter time machine' it goes to mail screen and nowhere else.

    Time machine won't backup. Says disk doesn't have enough room. Shouldn't it delete old info to make space for new.
    When I click on "enter time machine" it takes me to the last backup 7/22/11 and doesn't allow me to go further back.

    No idea's?
    I'm starting to think I just need to delete the sparsebundle file altogether and start over again...

  • Time Machine won't backup to ext hard drive?

    I keep receiving the error message that Time Machine won't backup to my ext hard drive since it can't create the backup file.  Why?  Same ext hard drive for over 2 yrs.  Using iMac (early 2008) with Mountain Lion.

    Is it at least twice the capacity of the original?
    Is it formatted with a GUID partition?

  • Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to "Time Capsule".The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data-1/Macintosh.sparsebundle" is already in use.

    When I back up my macbook pro to time capsule 3TB, this appears:
    "Time Machine couldn’t complete the backup to “Time Capsule”.The backup disk image “/Volumes/Data-1/Macintosh.sparsebundle” is already in use."
    and I'm not able to back up.  What do I do?

    As noted in the link I posted, that's fine if you're the only user logged-on to the only Mac using the TC's disks (internal and/or USB externals).  If not, that may corrupt other data being written, especially other backups.

  • Hat is this "Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to "***Network Name***' The Backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/MacBook Pro.sparsebundle" is already in use"

    "Time Machine couldn’t complete the backup to “***Network Name***’ The Backup disk image “/Volumes/Data/MacBook Pro.sparsebundle” is already in use"
    What does this mean and how do you fix it?

    I got that the file is in use, what is the trick to release the file.  This has something to do with X.8, never had this problem befor I uploaded .8

  • Time machine The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/Freedom Book.sparsebundle" is already in use.

    I am getting the following error message from Time Machine (backing up to my 3 TB Time Capsule):
    The backup disk image “/Volumes/Data/Freedom Book.sparsebundle” is already in use.
    I have no idea why this would be in use, because only one MBP has the name "Freedom Book". Any advice on how to resolve? Running Mountaiin Lion 10.8.1.

    I had the same error. I unplugged my TimeCapsule for 5 min from power. Plugged it back in to power then waited 10 min for everything to comunicate again. Clicked on backup now and it worked. Must have froze up or something.

  • HT1218 How do I troubleshoot this: Time Capsule cannot complete the backup. The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/ MacBook Pro.sparsebundle" is already in use.

    This is the second time I've encountered this issue with Time Capsule using Time Machine automatic backup. I haven't found the following specific error message in the list of troubleshooting issues: "Time Capsule cannot complete the backup. The backup disk image “/Volumes/Data/MacBook Pro.sparsebundle” is already in use."
    I'm not certain what causes this issue. I think it may have something to do with having to force shutdown with apps still open when the beachball hangs and the MacBook has to be rebooted.
    Has anyone else dealt with this issue?

    Welcome to Apple Support Communities
    Restart your Mac and the Time Capsule. In most of the cases, this should solve the problem.
    If it doesn't work, see > http://pondini.org/TM/C12.html

  • HT3275 The Green light is on my time capsule the air port also has a green light but it will not back up all i get is the following message.The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/iMac-D49A20D0AE94.sparsebundle" is already in use.

    The Green Light is on, on my time capsule and airport but it will not back up all i get is the following message below please help. 
    The backup disk image “/Volumes/Data/iMac-D49A20D0AE94.sparsebundle” is already in use.

    Welcome to Apple Support Communities
    First, restart your iMac and your Time Capsule. In most of the cases, this should solve the problem.
    If it doesn't work, read > http://pondini.org/TM/C12.html

  • The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/MacBook Pro.sparsebundle" is already in use

    My time capsule has been backing up fine and then I got an error message "The backup disk image “/Volumes/Data/MacBook Pro.sparsebundle” is already in use." and the backup failed. This has been happening every day now for a week.  The green light is still on the machine......  any help appreciated...

    Two Solutions for "sparse bundle already in use" Error
    Simple solution (from Bob Timmons):
    1. Make sure that no other Macs are backing up the Time Capsule at the time
    2. Pull the power cord from the back of the Time Capsule
    3. Count to ten
    4. Plug the power cord back into the back of the Time Capsule
    If Simple doesn't work:
    The Backup disk image ... sparsebundle ... is already in use.

  • HT3275 I need help.  Keep getting error message he backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/MacBook Pro.sparsebundle" is already in use.

    I keep recieving he following error he backup disk image “/Volumes/Data/ MacBook Pro.sparsebundle” is already in use.  for time machine backup.  Any suggestions

    It is standard for Lion and Mountain Lion.
    Reboot the TC to fix it.
    If you actually run Lion then you can install 5.6 utility and just go to the disk page and click disconnect all users.. this is usually enough to fix it.. on the previous backup TM hasn't dismounted the sparsebundle correctly and so cannot mount it again.
    See C12. http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

  • Warning: Time Machine won't backup iPhoto if left open

    I just learned the hard way that Time Machine will NOT backup iPhoto if you leave it open. In the past, I usually have iPhoto left open, and now I've lost TONS of data. Can Apple change how Time Machine works so that it backs up data of open applications?
    http://www.pigsgourdsandwikis.com/2009/05/timemachine-doesnt-back-up-iphoto-if.h tml
    The next question is, does this mean I haven't had a REAL iTunes backup for months either? I AWLAYS keep that one open.

    polishedstaple wrote:
    I just learned the hard way that Time Machine will NOT backup iPhoto if you leave it open. In the past, I usually have iPhoto left open, and now I've lost TONS of data. Can Apple change how Time Machine works so that it backs up data of open applications?
    Probably not. Few backup apps can manage to back up a single file that's being written-to by another app at the same time. What would it do with a partial file? What would YOU do with part of a photo, if you had it and could restore it?
    iPhoto is much more complex than a "normal" folder -- it's a "package," with various files, indexes, and cross-references, many of which can be open at the same time -- worse, all the data that the app has written isn't necessarily on the disk yet; it's likely in an OS buffer somewhere, and may not actually go out to disk until the app is closed.
    The next question is, does this mean I haven't had a REAL iTunes backup for months either? I AWLAYS keep that one open.
    I can't be sure, but I think iTunes is probably ok (but by all means check it), depending on what you were doing at the time of the backup. If you were downloading a file, that file most likely wasn't backed-up; but if you were just playing songs, it's probably up to date.
    Click here to download the +Time Machine Buddy+ widget. It shows the messages from your logs for one TM backup run at a time, in a small window. If you look at the messages for various backups, you may see some that mention doing a "deep traversal" on your iPhoto library, because of a "missed reservation." That's a clue that some things weren't backed-up earlier because of open file(s).
    But I would agree entirely that Time Machine ought to send some sort of message when it skips things -- perhaps if something like iPhoto doesn't get backed-up in a 24-hour period.
    Feel free to suggest that to Apple at: http://www.apple.com/feedback

  • Time Machine won't backup... because there's too much free space??

    Hi all,
    I'm getting a strange error from Time Machine:
    "*Time Machine Error*
    This backup is too large for the backup volume. The backup requires 147.8 MB but only 506.8 MB are available.
    To select a larger volume, or make the backup smaller by excluding files, open System Preferences and choose Time Machine."
    I should probably also note that, according to Finder, my Time Machine volume has only 27.5 MB available out of 182.89 GB.
    I'm confused!
    Thanks in advance,
    Mike

    Hi all,
    Update: The same Time Machine Error message has just popped up again, only this time it says, "The backup requires 173.2 MB but only 823.1 MB are available."
    Now I'm even more confused!
    Thanks in advance (again),
    Mike

  • HT3275 Time Machine won't backup and gives this error message. The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/Walter Wood's iMac.sparsebundle" is already in use

    My time capsule stopped backing up and the following error message popped up, The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data/iMac.sparsebundle" is already in use.
    Any ideas how to troubleshoot?

    Have a look here...
    The Backup disk image ... sparsebundle ... is already in use.
    From Pondini’s excellent Information Here...
    http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.htm

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