Richard Chubb
Level 1 (4 points)
Mac OS X

Q: Back Up - Sparse Disk Image Bundle on TimeMachine

Hi there,

 

I am trying to access a Time Macine Back, to restore a potential busted External Hard, and the only thing I can seem to find on the TM is a file for 1.2TB called Sparse Disk Image Bundle.

 

The size indicates it is what I need, but I cant seem to find anything else that would be the back up.

 

Can anyone help, what is this file?

 

Thanks

Richard

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on May 3, 2016 12:18 AM

Close
Richard Chubb

Q: Back Up - Sparse Disk Image Bundle on TimeMachine

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

Page 1 Next

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root May 3, 2016 11:57 AM in response to Richard Chubb
    Level 9 (72,238 points)
    iTunes
    May 3, 2016 11:57 AM in response to Richard Chubb

    That is likely the backup. If you use the Time Machine application, does it load?

  • by Glenn Leblanc,

    Glenn Leblanc Glenn Leblanc May 3, 2016 11:59 AM in response to Richard Chubb
    Level 6 (11,021 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 3, 2016 11:59 AM in response to Richard Chubb

    You have to open the Disk Image in order to see the contents. Double click on it to mount it.

  • by Richard Chubb,

    Richard Chubb Richard Chubb May 3, 2016 12:04 PM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 3, 2016 12:04 PM in response to Eric Root

    Hi Eric,

     

    Really sorry, please can you pretend you are speaking to a 5 year old

     

    How do I use the TM Application to load it. The back up is on an external NAS, as it is greyed out in Finder when I access TM?

     

    Thanks

    Richard

  • by Richard Chubb,

    Richard Chubb Richard Chubb May 3, 2016 12:06 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 3, 2016 12:06 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc

    Hi Glenn

     

    If I double click on it, I get a little box pop up that says

     

    Resource Temporarily Unavailable?

     

    Thanks

    Richard

  • by Glenn Leblanc,

    Glenn Leblanc Glenn Leblanc May 3, 2016 12:10 PM in response to Richard Chubb
    Level 6 (11,021 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 3, 2016 12:10 PM in response to Richard Chubb

    Open up Disk Utility from the Utilities folder located in the Application folder. Find the NAS drive in the sidebar of the DU window. There should be an icon to eject the drive there. Click the eject button to eject the TM backup drive.

    Once the NAS drive is ejected from Disk Utility, try double clicking on the sparse image again to mount it.

     

    Unless you are using a Time Capsule for network backup, I just want it to be known that other NAS devices are not recommended for TM backups. It may or may not work. If it does, it may not be reliable.

  • by Richard Chubb,

    Richard Chubb Richard Chubb May 3, 2016 12:23 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 3, 2016 12:23 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc

    Hi Glenn

     

    I just want to be sure, is it this I should be ejecting?

     

    Thanks again

     

    Screen Shot 2016-05-03 at 20.23.13.jpg

  • by Glenn Leblanc,

    Glenn Leblanc Glenn Leblanc May 3, 2016 12:33 PM in response to Richard Chubb
    Level 6 (11,021 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 3, 2016 12:33 PM in response to Richard Chubb

    Yes, if that's the Time Machine backup drive. I don't see the eject button on the side, however I'm in El Capitan. Click on the Eject button in the window's menu bar.

     

    Once it's ejected, try to remount the image again. Once mounted, it should show in the Finder window. Make sure Finder Preferences are set to show shared drives and devices in the sidebar.

  • by Richard Chubb,

    Richard Chubb Richard Chubb May 3, 2016 12:41 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 3, 2016 12:41 PM in response to Glenn Leblanc

    OK, so now I have this error pop up

     

    "The disk “Richard’s iMac.sparsebundle” could not be unmounted.

    Make sure that all applications and files are closed on this disk."


    The only thing I have open is a data recovery on another hard drive, a USB one, and Safari to have this conversation


     


    Thanks again


  • by Glenn Leblanc,

    Glenn Leblanc Glenn Leblanc May 3, 2016 12:53 PM in response to Richard Chubb
    Level 6 (11,021 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 3, 2016 12:53 PM in response to Richard Chubb

    Are you saying your Time Machine backup is on the same drive as your startup? Or is it on the NAS drive? Is anything else (such as other applications) on the computer accessing the NAS drive?

    Try ejecting the Time Machine volume under the drive first.

     

    What type of NAS drive is the TM backup on? And how is it formatted?

     

    You might try restarting the computer and see if you can mount the TM backup image.

  • by Richard Chubb,

    Richard Chubb Richard Chubb May 3, 2016 12:58 PM in response to Richard Chubb
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 3, 2016 12:58 PM in response to Richard Chubb

    Hi Glenn, the set up is

     

    Mac desktop

    External WD Hard drive formatted as Mac (Journaled) which contained my Aperture photo library.

    This External WD Hard Drive was back up to a Buffalo NAS

    The External WD Hard drive has died, so I am trying to access the Buffalo NAS to get my Aperture library back.

     

    I restarted Disk Utility and tried to eject Time Machine first, but got the same message. I am about to restart, I will let you know what happens

     

    Thanks, Rich

  • by Richard Chubb,

    Richard Chubb Richard Chubb May 3, 2016 1:29 PM in response to Richard Chubb
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 3, 2016 1:29 PM in response to Richard Chubb

    Well, its restarted, and I now have Time Machine Back ups in the finder window.

     

    However, it appear the oldest back up doesn't have the External Hard Drive on it, for some reason. One of the more recent ones does, but the drive, called WD External, is empty.

     

    Does this mean it wasn't backed up for some reason. I recall getting a pop up saying Back up completed successfully, so am a little confused.

     

    Thanks again

    Rich

  • by Glenn Leblanc,

    Glenn Leblanc Glenn Leblanc May 3, 2016 1:44 PM in response to Richard Chubb
    Level 6 (11,021 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 3, 2016 1:44 PM in response to Richard Chubb

    Once you have mounted the Sparse Image, it will appear as a drive in the device list in the sidebar of the Finder. Select the device in the sidebar. If you can navigate to the Backups.backupdb folder and then to the correct drive, you should be able to see your backup files. Select a date and wait a few minutes. It make take a minute for it to populate the files depending on the speed of the connection. If no files appear, then the backups may not have occurred.

    In addition: You should have a spinning wheel at the bottom of the window in the progress bar (if you enabled it to show) while it is accessing files.

    Screen Shot 2016-05-03 at 3.33.33 PM.png

    I don't really know about the drive you are using for backup. In the past, it was not recommended to use any other NAS other than Time Capsule for NAS. However, things may have changed and some may now be usable. You would have to check on that with your particular drive.

  • by Richard Chubb,

    Richard Chubb Richard Chubb May 3, 2016 1:44 PM in response to Richard Chubb
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 3, 2016 1:44 PM in response to Richard Chubb

    Glenn,

    Thank you for taking the time to help.

     

    I am fearing the worst, as the drive in question is empty, so i fear the back ups haven't worked.

     

    I am going to send the corrupted Ext HDD off for recovery, and hope for the best.

     

    Again, thanks so much for your time, it is appreciated.

     

    Rich

  • by Glenn Leblanc,

    Glenn Leblanc Glenn Leblanc May 3, 2016 1:50 PM in response to Richard Chubb
    Level 6 (11,021 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 3, 2016 1:50 PM in response to Richard Chubb

    Be sure you give it the time to access the files. NAS drive can be slow to retrieve the information. Check through more than one of the backup files for that drive. 

     

    In the meantime, you can do some reading at this site. It may not be up to date for the latest OS, but contains great info on TM.

    http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

     

    Good Luck

Page 1 Next