Time Machine Error

I have hyphens included with my local host computer name. I will delete the hyphens and see what happens.

Removing the "/"s in my computer name did the trick for me as well. I had talked to Apple second level support on release day (had preordered so got my copy about 10am) and had specifically asked if there was a problem with having "/" in the computer name and was told that should not cause a problem. As I was a UNIX user/administrator going back to version 7, I really questioned the answer knowing that the "/" was a delimiter in the UNIX file structure. At any rate, after renaming my computer TM ran a backup to my FW800 SATA ext drive in under 30 minutes (around 70GB). I still intend to keep doing backups using SuperDuper as I like the idea of a bootable backup, but the appeal of TMs easy of recovering a specific file make a strong case for using it as well

david

Just thought I'd throw my two cents in...

I started getting problems with Time Machine about three days or so after I started using it. I have two thoughts about why this is happening:

1. I noticed after loading a Mac/Windows Hybrid CD/DVD (DVD in my case) that it started acting weird, and began getting the error, could not finish, etc. After a subsequent eject and restart of both the Mac and external drive that it started working again.

2. I had to put the DVD back in to install something and it started doing the same thing, however, this time I chose the "Change Disk" button and it reset the latest backup to that specific time as opposed to Friday. It worked the first time, but after this, it wouldn't work anymore, regardless of a reset and ejecting the DVD.

I thought it could be that the drive ran out of space because it didn't "recognize" some of the older backups..? Can anybody inform me what Time Machine says when it runs out of space..?

Thanks.

I was having trouble backing up to a USB 500 GB drive. After reading this page over, I did the following:

1. Changed my computer name in the Sharing pref from "Dr. S's MacBook" to "My_Macbook"

2. Changed the name of my external drive from "Time Machine" to "Time_Machine"

3. Connected my drive directly to the computer instead of through my USB hub.

Don't know which of the above did the trick, but Time Machine is working like a charm now.

I am also having a problem with Time Machine but it is just a little different!! I am backing up to a 120 GB Lacie firewire external HD and the backups have all been working correctly since I reformatted and renamed the drive. Whilst the backups are all in their respective folders on the HD when I launch Time Machine on the computer the previous backups do not appear the screen just shows 'Today (Now)' and clicking on the arrows to go back in time does nothing - is it me or does someone else have a similar problem?

Message was edited by: dave_a

Dave,

You are not alone.

I'm experiencing the same thing.

Matt

Hi,

I recently bought a LaCie d2 Safe 500G external HDD (new one with fingerprint scan) in anticipation of Leopard and Time Machine.
Time Machine does not even recognize the Lacie !! The OS sees it though. Checked with Apple support, went through steps of erasing all data off the LaCie and reformatting and renaming it, but no joy...
The support person thinks it might be to do with the biometric scanner (fingerprint safety lock)
BUMMER, TM was one of the main reasons I upgraded to Leopard.
Anyone else with similar problem?

me too, i'm kind of confused.

I'm also having this problem backing up to a Seagate 200GB over USB. Here's what I've done so far (thanks to his thread) but am still having the same problem:

1) Checked machine name for bad characters
2) Repartitioned external drive as GUID
3) Excluded VM's, Applications, Library, System and Application Files


I'm a new Mac user and have a couple questions about some info posted in this thread:

1) How do you check the system log?
2) How do you check the crash log?

Thanks.
Mike

Message was edited by: Hardbap

Go to apps and open console the reports are there. I am going to try renaming my computer by using underscores and see if this works. If it doesn't then I don't know what to do.

Although it appears that I have backed up everything to my hard drive with Time Machine, when I go to look at the folders in the hard drive there is nothing in them! Is the data hidden or not viewable:? is this how Time Machine acts or do I have a problem? confused in Leopardland

Not such a strange idea. I had the same problem and did the test, disc images mounted backup fails, no images mounted; backup runs fine. I followed this for a day or two and there are no issues with TM any more. This is one to remember for now!

If I designate an backup HD with lots of free space, but with other folders I wish to keep, will Time Machine overwrite them??

I have a 250Gb drive with only 3Gb taken up with valuable graphic files. Will TM overwrite them? On a separate machine, I have a Maxtor 200 Gb external drive with other files oni and I did my first Time Machine backup to it, but I too can't see what's on the drive now. TM did change the drive's Icon, however.

Matt
I installed Leopard as an upgrade rather than doing an 'Archive and Install' or a 'Clean Install' did you do the same thing? It has been suggested to me by a friend that an Archive and Install might solve the problem but I don't want to do that if there is an easier way.

TM is better in it's own drive for sure. However, I am running mine with my Aperture Vault on the same drive, which doesn't appear to be causing any problems at all - Aperture barfs at any tiny little inconsistency, so I expect this is a safe method. Apple do say that other files can coexist with TM, it's just that you'll reduce the space available.

Only difference is, I made a fresh Vault after I'd created the TM drive, so I'd make a solid backup of your images (just copy them onto the other drive for now, or burn them to a DVD, or both) before adding TM to that drive.