moritzhberg

Q: Time Machine massive backups

Hello everyone, I have a 1TB WD MyPassport Studio drive which I backup to my 2TB LaCie using Time Machine. The main files which I have on the WD is a referenced Aperture library, Final Cut Projects and events, and 3 Virtual Machines (these are excluded from the backup, however). Whenever I backup with the WD connected, I get a massive backup of about 200GB, even if I'm sure that I didn't change 200GB worth of files.

 

Does anyoe have any suggestions as to how to fix this problem?

 

Thanks a lot guys!

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion

Posted on Jun 18, 2013 2:25 PM

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Q: Time Machine massive backups

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Linc Davis,Helpful

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jun 18, 2013 7:04 PM in response to moritzhberg
    Level 10 (208,000 points)
    Applications
    Jun 18, 2013 7:04 PM in response to moritzhberg

    Here's how to tell what's filling the backup volume.

     

    Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:

    tmutil compare | open -f -a TextEdit

      

    Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).

     

    Launch the Terminal 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. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.

     

    Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).

     

    The command may take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear.

     

    A TextEdit window will open with the output of the command.

     

    Each line that begins with a plus sign (“+”) represents a file that has been added to the source volume since the last snapshot was taken. These files have not been backed up yet.

     

    Each line that begins with an exclamation point (“!”) represents a file that has changed on the source volume. These files have been backed up, but not in their present state.

     

    Each line that begins with a minus sign (“-“) represents a file that has been removed from the source volume.

     

    Files that you’ve excluded from backup, or that are excluded automatically, are ignored.

     

    At the end of the output, you’ll get some lines like the following:

     

    -------------------------------------

    Added:

    Removed:

    Changed:

     

    These lines show the total amount of data added, removed, or changed on the source(s) since the last snapshot.

  • by moritzhberg,

    moritzhberg moritzhberg Jun 19, 2013 3:51 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (23 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 19, 2013 3:51 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Thanks for that. I ran the command, and it gave me a massive list, with "My Passport Studio" on top with a "+", all I get is 320GB though... It doesn't give me details about individual files backed up from that volume (unless I missed something further down the list). Should it display the contents of external hdds in detail, or does it just show the externla hdd as a whole?

     

    Thanks for your help & suppport!

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jun 19, 2013 3:58 PM in response to moritzhberg
    Level 10 (208,000 points)
    Applications
    Jun 19, 2013 3:58 PM in response to moritzhberg

    It should list every file that has been added, changed, or deleted since the last backup, not including files that are never backed up.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jun 19, 2013 4:08 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 10 (208,000 points)
    Applications
    Jun 19, 2013 4:08 PM in response to Linc Davis

    If TM is backing up every file on the volume every time, that's an indication of an obscure bug in OS X. I don't know what triggers it.

    The only solution that seems to work consistently is to erase the source volume in Disk Utility and restore from a backup.

    You should have at least two complete, independent backups of any volume you're going to erase. One backup is not enough to be safe.

  • by Pondini,

    Pondini Pondini Jun 19, 2013 5:35 PM in response to moritzhberg
    Level 8 (38,747 points)
    Jun 19, 2013 5:35 PM in response to moritzhberg

    moritzhberg wrote:

     

    Hello everyone, I have a 1TB WD MyPassport Studio drive which I backup to my 2TB LaCie using Time Machine. The main files which I have on the WD is a referenced Aperture library, Final Cut Projects and events, and 3 Virtual Machines (these are excluded from the backup, however). Whenever I backup with the WD connected, I get a massive backup of about 200GB, even if I'm sure that I didn't change 200GB worth of files.

    Try one of the apps in #A2 of Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

  • by moritzhberg,

    moritzhberg moritzhberg Jun 20, 2013 4:23 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (23 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 20, 2013 4:23 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Thanks Linc (is it OK if I call you that?). When I saw that TM was performing a full backup for the second time, I erased the source volume & restored from backup (that was about 2 weeks ago). It didn't however solve the problem...

  • by moritzhberg,

    moritzhberg moritzhberg Jun 20, 2013 4:30 AM in response to Pondini
    Level 1 (23 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 20, 2013 4:30 AM in response to Pondini

    I got Time Tracker and will keep an eye on it after the next backup finishes. Thanks for the tips!

  • by moritzhberg,

    moritzhberg moritzhberg Jul 18, 2013 6:58 AM in response to Pondini
    Level 1 (23 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 18, 2013 6:58 AM in response to Pondini

    Hi, yesterday, I erased my Time machine drive to make a RAID for TIme machine. The backup size was 1.2TB. I let it run overnight and all my disks were backed up this morning. Later today, I started a manual backup, and it's now backing up 800GB of files. I don't really get why, as it finished the initial full backup at 12 today, and not much has changed since then (certainly not 800GB). Anyone know what this is?

     

    Thanks

  • by Eric Root,Helpful

    Eric Root Eric Root Jul 18, 2013 12:08 PM in response to moritzhberg
    Level 9 (72,634 points)
    iTunes
    Jul 18, 2013 12:08 PM in response to moritzhberg

    Look at D3 and D4 in Pondini's link, Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

  • by moritzhberg,Solvedanswer

    moritzhberg moritzhberg Jul 18, 2013 3:35 PM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (23 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 18, 2013 3:35 PM in response to Eric Root

    Tried them, and Time Machine still did an 800GB backup. Wiped the drive, and am now perrforming another initial backup (1.34TB). I'll wait & see if it decides to backup everything on my WD Passport Studio again after the initial backup has completed.

     

    Thanks for the tips though. Really appreciate it.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Jul 19, 2013 9:16 AM in response to moritzhberg
    Level 9 (72,634 points)
    iTunes
    Jul 19, 2013 9:16 AM in response to moritzhberg

    It may have something to do with how Aperture and Final Cut store their libraries. One small change and the entire library gets backed up again. You might ask on the Professional Applications community to find an answer.

     

    https://discussions.apple.com/community/professional_applications