Understanding Time Machine logs

I posted a similar question earlier, but retracted it when I realized I didn't know enough about how Time Machine worked, and hard links in particular. Having done my research, I still have my questions. Looking at the log below:
Dec 22 13:00:50 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: Backup requested by user
Dec 22 13:00:50 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: Starting standard backup
Dec 22 13:00:50 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Desktop Backup/Backups.backupdb
Dec 22 13:01:06 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 113.3 MB requested (including padding), 399.90 GB available
Dec 22 13:01:43 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: Copied 2576 files (20.0 MB) from volume Wintermoot.
Dec 22 13:01:45 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: Copied 2588 files (20.0 MB) from volume Feezmoe.
Dec 22 13:01:46 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 100.0 MB requested (including padding), 399.87 GB available
Dec 22 13:01:50 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: Copied 683 files (7 KB) from volume Wintermoot.
Dec 22 13:01:51 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: Copied 695 files (7 KB) from volume Feezmoe.
Dec 22 13:01:55 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: Starting post-backup thinning
Dec 22 13:02:10 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: Deleted backup /Volumes/Desktop Backup/Backups.backupdb/Feezmoe/2007-12-21-090046: 399.91 GB now available
Dec 22 13:02:10 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed
Dec 22 13:02:10 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2134]: Backup completed successfully.
Dec 22 13:49:50 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: Backup requested by automatic scheduler
Dec 22 13:49:50 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: Starting standard backup
Dec 22 13:49:50 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Desktop Backup/Backups.backupdb
Dec 22 13:50:01 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 2.07 GB requested (including padding), 399.91 GB available
Dec 22 13:59:39 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: Copied 20841 files (1.7 GB) from volume Wintermoot.
Dec 22 13:59:49 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: Copied 20853 files (1.7 GB) from volume Feezmoe.
Dec 22 13:59:52 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 115.4 MB requested (including padding), 398.14 GB available
Dec 22 14:00:14 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: Copied 1870 files (12.8 MB) from volume Wintermoot.
Dec 22 14:00:16 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: Copied 1882 files (12.8 MB) from volume Feezmoe.
Dec 22 14:00:25 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: Starting post-backup thinning
Dec 22 14:00:25 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: No post-back up thinning needed: no expired backups exist
Dec 22 14:00:25 Feezmoe /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[2240]: Backup completed successfully.
I have several questions.
The first is why Time Machine is backing up so much data. As you can see, on Dec 22 at 13:59:39 Time Machine backed up 1.7 GB of data. I know for a fact that I did not add anywhere near 1.7 GB of data to my machine in the time between the last backup and that one. Where did Time Machine get that number? Is it backing up files I'm not aware of but which need backing up, like system files or the swap files from /private/var/vm?
Second, in the list are two drives, Wintermoot and Feezmoe. Wintermoot is my main drive, while Feezmoe is a storage drive. Because of this, the contents of Feezmoe do not change very often. However, Time Machine always seems to back up the same amount of data from both, even when nothing has been added to Feezmoe. Is Time Machine actually wasting space in this way, or is there something I don't know about how Time Machine presents information in the log which is confusing me?
Third, there always seem to be two backup cycles for each timestamp. Is the second cycle perhaps related to the Spotlight database, or do I have a setting in my Time Machine set up which needs to be changed?
I want to say that, overall, I am delighted with Time Machine's performance, but I want to make sure it is working properly and that I have set it up properly.

Is there actually a problem, ie is your backup folder growing too quickly?
I have just looked at my TM log and in the same line as you are quoting my latest backup said 214.7 MB. Now my entire backup folder is not much greater than 40 MB so the numbers being produced by the log are clearly wrong. Could be the log is confused by the multiple hard links used by TM but I'm guessing.
TM seems to working fine for me (not that I've restored anything hugely complicated to date).

Similar Messages

Errors in Time Machine Log

Hi
I've just upgraded from Lion to Mountain Lion and started my first Time Machine backup to an external drive which I was previously using under Lion.
The backup took longer than usual what I expected since besides the OS X upgrade there were also many application updates.
Normally I don't care for the Time Machine logs, but in this case (first backup under Mountain Lion) I opened it and was shocked about 19 errors, all of the following kind:
03:09:46 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5eeeeb0d0 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Add%20Color%20Profile.a ction/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Add Color Profile.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5eeef2410 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
Could anyone please explain what this means and if I can confidently ignore it?
Many thanks!
Below is the FULL log:
02:46:53 - Starting manual backup
02:46:53 - Backing up to: /Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb
02:46:53 - Ownership is disabled on the backup destination volume. Enabling.
02:46:56 - Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
02:46:56 - Deep event scan at path:/ reason:must scan subdirs|new event db|
02:49:50 - Finished scan
02:52:37 - Found 431916 files (20.88 GB) needing backup
02:52:37 - 26.13 GB required (including padding), 247.93 GB available
03:09:46 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5eeeeb0d0 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Add%20Color%20Profile.a ction/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Add Color Profile.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5eeef2410 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
03:09:57 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5eeef4ed0 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Enable%20or%20Disable%2 0Tracks.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Enable or Disable Tracks.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5eeef4d60 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
03:09:58 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5efe06dc0 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Encode%20Media.action/C ontents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Encode Media.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5efe06b20 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
03:10:08 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5f010d400 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Hint%20Movies.action/Co ntents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Hint Movies.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5efccf440 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
03:10:12 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5eeeeefa0 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/New%20Audio%20Capture.a ction/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/New Audio Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5eeef8730 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
03:10:12 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “objects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5e8c11950 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/New%20Audio%20Capture.a ction/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/New Audio Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5efccf360 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
03:10:16 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5f004c5c0 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/New%20Screen%20Capture. action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/New Screen Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5f004c070 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
03:10:16 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “objects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5effa3e10 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/New%20Screen%20Capture. action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/New Screen Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5eeef6020 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
03:10:17 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5eeef66e0 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/New%20Video%20Capture.a ction/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/New Video Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5effa3bb0 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
03:10:17 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “objects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5f004dc00 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/New%20Video%20Capture.a ction/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/New Video Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5f0201400 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
03:10:18 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5efe51d70 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Pause%20Capture.action/ Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Pause Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5efe12fd0 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
03:10:18 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “objects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5ee5df560 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Pause%20Capture.action/ Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Pause Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5efe08ac0 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
03:10:20 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5efd11880 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Play%20Movies.action/Co ntents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Play Movies.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5efd50370 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
03:10:20 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “objects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5efd364d0 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Play%20Movies.action/Co ntents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Play Movies.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5f0201b70 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
03:10:23 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5f014ed40 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Resume%20Capture.action /Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Resume Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5f014e980 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
03:10:23 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “objects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5f004ce70 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Resume%20Capture.action /Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Resume Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5efd06d90 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
03:10:29 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5f004a550 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Start%20Capture.action/ Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Start Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5f004a190 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
03:10:29 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “keyedobjects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5f010d2b0 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Stop%20Capture.action/C ontents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Stop Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/keyedobjects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5f01068d0 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
03:10:29 - Error (256): fetching properties: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “objects.nib” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo=0x7fe5efd5d9b0 {NSURL=file://localhost/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome%E2%80%99s%20iMac/2 012-11-21-020232/Macintosh%20HD/System/Library/Automator/Stop%20Capture.action/C ontents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSFilePath=/Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-11-21-020232/Macintosh HD/System/Library/Automator/Stop Capture.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/objects.nib, NSUnderlyingError=0x7fe5f004ce70 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Not a directory"}
03:26:00 - Copied 503625 files (13.95 GB) from volume Macintosh HD.
03:26:00 - Using file event preflight for Macintosh HD
03:26:01 - Will copy (3.2 MB) from Macintosh HD
03:26:01 - Found 124 files (3.2 MB) needing backup
03:26:01 - 1.3 GB required (including padding), 235.77 GB available
03:26:48 - Copied 948 files (3.2 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
03:26:50 - Created new backup: 2012-11-22-032648
03:26:56 - Starting post-backup thinning
03:27:33 - Deleted /Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2012-10-23-043003 (272.7 MB)
03:27:33 - Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed
03:27:34 - Backup completed successfully.

The error messages are benign and result from folders being replaced by regular files with the same name. Ignore. The backup succeeded.

Where Are Time Machine Logs Kept?

When using TimeMachineEditor you can select "Show Time Machine Logs" to see details of past backups.
However, when using just Time Machine there is no similar option.
How can I access these logs when using TM?

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.

What does error 19 on a Time Machine log mean?

I get this error number in the Time Machine log. I am having trouble with my back up drive and this is a piece of the puzzle as I don't know what it means.

Read https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4276915?start=0&tstart=0
Allan

After restore time machine log in twice

After moving files and programs from Mac Air to new Mac Pro, I have to login twice. I assume that this means the file restore occurred "inside" a logged in user, but how do you fix it?
Also curious is that even while I am typing something, the machine will time out due to inactivity and I'll have to log back in. This requires only one login screen.

The external drive does not seem to be the problem. I've tried the following:
- Deleted the /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist file and reconfigured TM.
- Do Time Machine backups on another disk. After initial full backup, the same behavior persisted.
- Exclude the external drive ("Synk_Archive" in the logs above) from TM backup. The behavior persisted.
- Unmount the external drive. The behavior persisted.
- Exclude Macintosh HD from TM backup. TM behaved normally and only backed up a few files per run!
- Repaired disk permissions on Macintosh HD. The behavior persisted.
So, there is something about Macintosh HD that is fooling TM into thinking there have been a million files changed every hour. Wiping and restoring my hard drive would be a desperate last resort and might not even solve the problem (since the trouble began right after replacing and restoring this drive). Anyone have another suggestion?

Time Machine log query plus advice on SystemUIServer logs

Recently I repartitioned my USB 500 GB drive used with Time Machine after unsatisfactory performance post installation of Yosemite 10.10. Disk Utility verifies the drive as OK.
I noticed the first entry in the Time Machine widget after every start up is:
Property list invalid for format: 200 (property lists cannot contain NULL)
Property list invalid for format: 200 (property lists cannot contain NULL)
usually as above but at times just the one line.
A successful backup has followed anywhere between 7 and 33 mins later.
On checking the Console after entering “backupd” in the Filter field and selecting “system.log” from the log list I can see the earliest entry is:
Oct 24 00:53:27 com.apple.backupd-helper[44]: Attempt to use XPC with a MachService that has HideUntilCheckIn set. This will result in unpredictable behavior: com.apple.backupd.status.xpc
Followed by:
Oct 24 00:53:57 com.apple.backupd [2925]: Starting automatic backup
Oct 24 00:53:58 com.apple.backupd [2925]: Backing up to /dev/disk1s2: /Volumes/My Passport/Backups.backupdb
Oct 24 00:54:03 com.apple.backupd [2925]: Will copy (15.1 MB) from Macintosh HD
Oct 24 00:54:03 com.apple.backupd [2925]: Found 208 files (15.1 MB) needing backup
Oct 24 00:54:03 com.apple.backupd [2925]: 934 MB required (including padding), 309.74 GB available
Oct 24 00:54:13 com.apple.backupd [2925]: Copied 446 items (15.1 MB) from volume Macintosh HD. Linked 2268.
Oct 24 00:54:17 com.apple.backupd [2925]: Created new backup: 2014-10-24-005417
Oct 24 00:54:18 com.apple.backupd [2925]: Starting post-backup thinning
Oct 24 00:54:18 com.apple.backupd [2925]: No post-backup thinning needed: no expired backups exist
Oct 24 00:54:18 com.apple.backupd [2925]: Backup completed successfully.
Oct 24 00:56:20 SystemUIServer [863]: Attempt to use XPC with a MachService that has HideUntilCheckIn set. This will result in unpredictable behavior: com.apple.backupd.status.xpc
Logs confirm I performed a successful manual backup - Oct 24 01:29:37
Since then manual and automatic backups have been running seemingly successfully, removing expired backups or not, I presume accurately as required.
Time Machine is certainly backing up although the interface is not always as smooth as prior Yosemite.
On searching for the message indicating unpredictable behaviour I discovered this thread:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6620539?start=0&tstart=0
The unpredictable behaviour with “backup.status.xpc” has continued. As of today recent logs read as follows:
Oct 27 14:38:16 com.apple.backupd[2535]: Backup completed successfully.
Oct 27 14:40:17 SystemUIServer[735]: Attempt to use XPC with a MachService that has HideUntilCheckIn set. This will result in unpredictable behavior: com.apple.backupd.status.xpc
Oct 27 15:38:17 com.apple.backupd-helper[44]: Attempt to use XPC with a MachService that has HideUntilCheckIn set. This will result in unpredictable behavior: com.apple.backupd.status.xpc
Oct 27 15:38:47 com.apple.backupd[3982]: Starting automatic backup
Oct 27 15:38:47 com.apple.backupd[3982]: Backing up to /dev/disk1s2: /Volumes/My Passport/Backups.backupdb
Oct 27 15:38:53 com.apple.backupd[3982]: Will copy (8.8 MB) from Macintosh HD
Oct 27 15:38:53 com.apple.backupd[3982]: Found 164 files (9.1 MB) needing backup
Oct 27 15:38:53 com.apple.backupd[3982]: 928.1 MB required (including padding), 307.93 GB available
Oct 27 15:38:57 com.apple.backupd[3982]: Copied 243 items (8.9 MB) from volume Macintosh HD. Linked 1768.
Oct 27 15:39:01 com.apple.backupd[3982]: Created new backup: 2014-10-27-153901
Oct 27 15:39:02 com.apple.backupd[3982]: Starting post-backup thinning
Oct 27 15:39:05 com.apple.backupd[3982]: Deleted /Volumes/My Passport/Backups.backupdb/***REDACTED*** iMac/2014-10-26-151157 (8.8 MB)
Oct 27 15:39:05 com.apple.backupd[3982]: Post-backup thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed
Oct 27 15:39:05 com.apple.backupd[3982]: Backup completed successfully.
Oct 27 15:41:06 SystemUIServer[735]: Attempt to use XPC with a MachService that has HideUntilCheckIn set. This will result in unpredictable behavior: com.apple.backupd.status.xpc
NB: ***REDACTED*** is owners name.
Added to this I've filtered system.log using "SystemUIServer" and recently found these logs corresponding to startup.
Oct 27 09:01:30 com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.systemuiserver.ServiceProvider): The HideUntilCheckIn property is an architectural performance issue. Please transition away from it.
Oct 27 09:01:30 com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.systemuiserver.screencapture): The HideUntilCheckIn property is an architectural performance issue. Please transition away from it.
Oct 27 09:01:43 SystemUIServer[735]: Cannot find executable for CFBundle 0x7f87aa429a00 </System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/Clock.menu> (not loaded)
Oct 27 09:01:43 WindowServer[185]: disable_update_timeout: UI updates were forcibly disabled by application "SystemUIServer" for over 1.00 seconds. Server has re-enabled them.
Oct 27 09:01:44 WindowServer[185]: common_reenable_update: UI updates were finally reenabled by application "SystemUIServer" after 1.29 seconds (server forcibly re-enabled them after 1.00 seconds)
Oct 27 09:01:45 SystemUIServer[735]: Could not find image named 'greenmarker'.
Any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated. System running well.
Thanks in advance
iMac Late 2009, OS X Yosemite (10.10), 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 12 GB 1067 MHz,
2nd display connected via mini display port as extended desktop used to varying degree.

That's very welcome feedback Linc.
Thanks for reading through the post.

Time Machine LOG file, does one exist

I'm getting errors saying that the time machine backup has failed, but there seems to be no detail as to how it failed. Yet, when I look at the Time Machine status, it will show that backups are completing. I just no longer can find out if they are really any good or not.
I need a LOG file or something where I can see the actual error message and diagnose the real problem. Telling me there is an error but not what is going on is just not at all helpful.

You are asking in the wrong forum.
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1227

Normal Time Machine Log?

My Time machine backup seems to be hanging on "finishing backup"; just want to check if my log looks normal;
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb
Detected system migration from: /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb/newmacimac-2/2010-11-30-041401/New_HD
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:must scan subdirs|new event db|

Yes, what you posted is normal. For some reason the UUID associated with your source volume did not match the one embedded in the TM backup, so the TM is undertaking a deep traversal to rebuild the index to match the volume with backup.

Time machine logs

Does anyone know where the Time Maching backup logs are with OS-X 10.10.2? They don't show up in the Console window but do show in the widget for the Time Machine. It would be nice if Apple posted some of the minor changes and tweaks they make with versions.

The Time Machine backup logs are in the system.log file in the Console window, but the messages are displayed in the "All Messages" window now. Something new they should fix since the link is all messages.

Understand Time Machine Backups

Hi,
I have a question regarding the access or user rights of time machine backups:
- having a backup on a external usb drive --> is everyone (e.g. other user on other mac) able to copy data out of the time machine volume?
Assuming I backup my user folder "sam" user ID 506 from my old imac ... and I plan it to restore (manually from finder) or via mig. assistant to my new macbook to user "samhome" -> is this possile?
Are there any right restrictions?
Thanks
Sam

See Pondini's TM FAQs.
iMac (27-inch Mid 2011), OS X Mavericks (10.9.4), SL & ML, G4 450 MP w/Leopard, 9.2.2

Time Machine Log?

Is there a way to see your past data backups? I was just curious of how big my last few backups have been. Thanks guys.

Hi evan127,
This is a pretty good widget that I stumbled across a while back and have been using. It's much easier than trying to scan through console log files looking for "backupd" files.
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/28392

Time Machine - Log with errors

Hi, Does anyone know what these errors (in red) mean:
00:40:28 - Starting standard backup
00:40:29 - Backing up to: /Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb
00:40:32 - Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
00:40:32 - Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:must scan subdirs|new event db|
00:45:26 - No pre-backup thinning needed: 49.34 GB requested (including padding), 577.75 GB available
01:30:32 - Copied 57395 files (37.9 GB) from volume Macintosh HD.
01:30:35 - No pre-backup thinning needed: 951.7 MB requested (including padding), 539.27 GB available
01:30:48 - Copied 647 files (3.0 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
01:30:51 - Starting post-backup thinning
01:30:59 - Deleted backup /Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/zome’s iMac/2012-02-06-000304: 539.28 GB now available
01:30:59 - Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed
01:30:59 - Backup completed successfully.
And then a bit later:
23:33:07 - Starting standard backup
23:33:07 - Backing up to: /Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb
23:33:14 - No pre-backup thinning needed: 1014.3 MB requested (including padding), 539.28 GB available
23:33:35 - Copied 1045 files (55.2 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
23:33:36 - No pre-backup thinning needed: 948.0 MB requested (including padding), 539.23 GB available
23:33:36 - Waiting for index to be ready (100)
23:33:45 - Copied 570 files (93 bytes) from volume Macintosh HD.
23:33:47 - Starting post-backup thinning
23:34:38 - Deleted backup /Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/zome’s iMac/2012-02-06-001417: 539.64 GB now available
23:34:38 - Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed
23:34:38 - Backup completed successfully.
Many thanks!

I thought the red colour doesn't mean any good.
You're viewing the log in a third-party application. The red color represents the developer's opinion as to the importance of the message. You'd have to take that up with him or her.
Why then this message at all?
That message is normal when the source volume has been unmounted since the last snapshot was taken, and perhaps under other conditions.
If you overread your logs and search for an explanation for every cryptic message, you'll quickly lose your sanity. Log messages are only significant in the context of solving a problem.

What is time machine backing up?

I noticed today thought that Time Machine had run out of space and needed to clear some up. It was the first time I'd seem this message, so I figure after having backups since November, I was due for the delete message, but I got a couple of them throughout the day today which concerned me.
I installed Aperture 2 yesterday and have been doing some website changes in iWeb. From what I understand, Aperture 2 works with Time Machine and shouldn't need to copy the entire library over if there is just a small change within it. My iWeb domain file is only 40'ish megs.
It seems like Time Machine is doing some weird stuff. I just checked the time machine logs and it's suddenly trying to backup 46GB of stuff when there certainly haven't been 40GB of changes.
I'd like to try to figure out what Time Machine is actually doing.
I followed this hint: http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20071201084525895
But I was unable to get Instruments to show anything. All I get is a "Could not load DTrace server" - whatever that means.
Anyone have any magic bullets?

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1397034

Mac OS X Server, Network Home Directories & Time Machine

hi,
I am using mac os x server to manage a small workgroup using open directory and network home directories, the server is backed up using time machine. From what I understand, time machine does work on network home directories.
However, as I am backing up my server using Time Machine, it is already backing up the user directories. Is there any way of getting a client to access the server time machine backup to access the backups of the user directories?
Of course, it would be easy to restore files by logging onto the server as the user and restoring from there. I am just wondering if there is a more elegant solution available to do this from a client machine.
any thoughts?
thx!

Hi,
I am trying to do the same exact thing and find that it is best to do this locally (for now). Not only is the network way slower, but it seems to make things worse. For example, things backed up via the client machine are routed from the FTP server/volume mount and different permission wise. When you try to restore them locally, it should work, but the folder had different permissions because they were initially created in root (for me). So, I hope they would come out with something better than what is available now. Thanks!

Aperture 2 Library backups, Time Machine, differental and saving the planet

I understand Time Machine now monitors updates to Aperture 2's library. It must sniff within the Library package to sense differential changes from its last backup to tag files for the next TM update. If this is true (and i hope it is), does this mean we can safely use other packages, like chronosync to run regular backups of our Libraries without having to copy the whole Library ? esentially cloning the library ?
Chronosync has been package aware and can sniff within them for changes, but i was always nervous messing with the Library structure outside of Aperture. Currently i run chronosync in the wee hours to backup my libraries which take hours for 2x110+GB Libraries. Keen to save some electricity and say Aperture 2 also saves the planet ;->

Jeyell wrote:
I understand Time Machine now monitors updates to Aperture 2's library. It must sniff within the Library package to sense differential changes from its last backup to tag files for the next TM update.
I've not experimented yet - this'll be a job for if I get a spare moment at the weekend - but I suspect it will be implementing some form of compatible file locking only, so that Time Machine won't try and back it up whilst it is being written to by Aperture, or, alternatively, Aperture will start writing to a temporary update log whilst Time Machine has it locked for copying.
I don't think they'll suddenly have grafted differential backups into 10.5.2's Time Machine.

Understanding Time Machine logs

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