UCanCallMeAl

Q: Time Machine -Not enough space error

Hello All,

 

I had to unplug my computer and move to another room and now after hooking everything back up I'm getting that "not enough space to complete back up" message. There is about 150 gigs of space on the 2TB drive as it's filled with Time machine backups and iTunes.

 

I assume this is because since I've hooked everything back up Time Machine thinks that it is doing the very first backup of everything rather than picking up where it left off when it did the last backup?

 

Please tell me I don't have to let it back up everything for the first time again. It took forever to accomplish that last time as the computer kept going to sleep.


Thanks for any help,

Al

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on Aug 12, 2016 5:47 AM

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Q: Time Machine -Not enough space error

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  • by Eric Root,Helpful

    Eric Root Eric Root Aug 15, 2016 6:23 AM in response to UCanCallMeAl
    Level 9 (69,582 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 15, 2016 6:23 AM in response to UCanCallMeAl

    Start with C18 in the 1st linked article.

     

    Time Machine Troubleshooting

     

    Time Machine Troubleshooting Problems

  • by UCanCallMeAl,

    UCanCallMeAl UCanCallMeAl Aug 15, 2016 6:35 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (18 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 15, 2016 6:35 AM in response to Eric Root

    Hi Eric,

     

    Starting with C18, I notice my error message is a little different and I don't know if that makes a difference...

     

    My message says "need 980 gigs but only 147 are available. Select a larger drive or delete files to be backed up."

    It doesn't have the word "unexpectedly" nor the rest of that message about "Time M will try to..."  if that makes a difference.

     

    I tried deleting the last back up that Time M tried to do and got same error message.

     

    I tried clicking on options to leave something out of the back up but all that shows is the disk I'm backing up to. There is nothing to choose to exclude.

     

    Noticed on the Time M back up disk that I can't see any of the previous backups after clicking on the back up folder.

    Has it forgotten that it backed up the computer previsously?!

     

    Included in my back ups are another external drive with a lot of video files.

     

    What I'm getting at here is that I'm confused and don't know what else to try. Backing everything up again which I had to do once before when I unplugged the ext HD I was using was a pain. IT took forever to complete as the computer kept going into sleep mode maybe?

     

    I'll keep exploring but I'm not sure what to try.

    HTanks,

    Al

  • by Eric Root,Helpful

    Eric Root Eric Root Aug 15, 2016 12:36 PM in response to UCanCallMeAl
    Level 9 (69,582 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 15, 2016 12:36 PM in response to UCanCallMeAl

    Try A4 (Full Reset) in the 1st linked article, That has straightened out Time Machine for me a couple of times.

  • by UCanCallMeAl,

    UCanCallMeAl UCanCallMeAl Aug 15, 2016 12:37 PM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (18 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 15, 2016 12:37 PM in response to Eric Root

    Before I tried all that I disconnected the other external drive (B) that contained a lot of gigs and then Time M completed the back up just fine. Must of been about 200mb of stuff done on the backup. (Time M is on it's own external HD (A) )

     

    Soooooo Time M was thinking it had to back up that external drive for the first time and it contains about 800 GIG.

     

    Not exactly sure where that leaves me. I do in the future want Time M to back up drive B.

    Any suggestions?

     

    There is no option to exclude anything from the back up after clicking options.

     

    What is an alternative to using Time Machine?

    Thanks ERIC,

    Al

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Aug 15, 2016 12:48 PM in response to UCanCallMeAl
    Level 9 (69,582 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 15, 2016 12:48 PM in response to UCanCallMeAl

    You are welcome. When you clicked Options, was drive B connected? If not, connect it and check again.

     

    Connect drive B, mount it, and then reindex Spotlight, which Time Machine uses to know what has changed. When that is done, try backing up again with the drive B mounted. Any change?

     

    Spotlight – Re-index

     

    Clone  - Carbon Copy Cloner          (Often recommended as it has more features than some others)

     

    Clone – Data Backup

     

    Clone – Deja Vu

     

    Clone  - SuperDuper

     

    Clone - Synk

     

    Clone Software – 6 Applications Tested

     

    Time Machine Versus Clones and Archives

     

    Commonly Used Backup Methods

  • by UCanCallMeAl,

    UCanCallMeAl UCanCallMeAl Aug 15, 2016 1:05 PM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (18 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 15, 2016 1:05 PM in response to Eric Root

    Drive B was connected at all times I was trying to backup with Time M.

     

    Reindexing directions:

    Step 2 says click ok to confirm but there is no ok in that window to click.

    So I can't tell if I'm reindexing or not.

    ???

     

    Thanks,
    Al

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Aug 16, 2016 10:08 AM in response to UCanCallMeAl
    Level 9 (69,582 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 16, 2016 10:08 AM in response to UCanCallMeAl

    Did the drive get added to the list? If it did and you then removed it, it should be getting reindexed. When I reindex, the computer makes addition noise in the background.  You can also click on the Spotlight search in the menu bar and it may say it is reindexing. That feature has been removed, but I can't remember what OS removed it, so you may not see anything.

  • by UCanCallMeAl,

    UCanCallMeAl UCanCallMeAl Aug 16, 2016 10:57 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (18 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 16, 2016 10:57 AM in response to Eric Root

    I never saw the drive get added to the list in Time M options. Months ago when I set up TimeM it did but no longer.

    So I don't think it got reindexed.

     

    If I unmount it, Time M will do the backup.

     

    No external disks show up in the option list area to exclude.

    I tried a 3rd external HD and Time M started to back that up but not the ext. HD that I want it to back up that has about 900gigs.

     

    WIll I have the same issues with Carbon Copy Cloner or does it somehow do better?

    Thanks,

    Al

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Aug 16, 2016 11:44 AM in response to UCanCallMeAl
    Level 9 (69,582 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 16, 2016 11:44 AM in response to UCanCallMeAl

    I use SuperDuper and I've never had any problems with it. Carbon Copy Cloner has more features, which is why it is often recommended.

  • by UCanCallMeAl,

    UCanCallMeAl UCanCallMeAl Aug 16, 2016 11:46 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (18 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 16, 2016 11:46 AM in response to Eric Root

    Well I'm going to switch to something. Time M has been a pain.

    I'm going to have to bite the bullet and erase the drive that the back up is supposed to go to and start over.

    Thanks for all Eric.

    AL

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Aug 17, 2016 10:00 AM in response to UCanCallMeAl
    Level 9 (69,582 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 17, 2016 10:00 AM in response to UCanCallMeAl

    You are welcome.

  • by UCanCallMeAl,

    UCanCallMeAl UCanCallMeAl Aug 17, 2016 11:09 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (18 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 17, 2016 11:09 AM in response to Eric Root

    I did my first back up of Carbon Clone and all went well.

     

    I think I'll do backups manually when needed CC and maybe then if I have to unplug the computer or HD then the backup system won't misfire. Thinking about it, I don't have a lot to back up except for video work (that's my job) which takes up a lot of space so I might come up with a new way so that I don't have to depend on software like Time M/CC  to do that part because otherwise I don't have a lot of documents etc.., to backup.

    Thanks again,

    Al

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Aug 18, 2016 10:44 AM in response to UCanCallMeAl
    Level 9 (69,582 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 18, 2016 10:44 AM in response to UCanCallMeAl

    You are welcome. Glad to know it worked. There should be an option to schedule backups using CCC.