User profile for user: shelly718
shelly718 Author
User level: Level 1
6 points

time machine failed to backup

Aside from initially being mauled by a leopard (poor sweet Tiger), things seem to be working for the most part.
HOWEVER, Time Machine has gone bonkers.
Hourly message "Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume."
It backs up to an external WD 500GB usb drive. In the past, older backups have been deleted to make room for newer. Still show 72 GB available.
External drive is on desktop and I can still move/copy files to it.
HELP!
Thanks.
Console/Log files/ system.log:Feb 10 10:41:20 iBook-Rick-2 [0x0-0x1d01d].com.ArcSoft.WDBackupMonitor[229]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/Users/Papa/Documents/ArcSoft/WD%20Backup/BackupSchedule.xml"
Feb 10 10:41:21 iBook-Rick-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[26180]: Backup requested by automatic scheduler
Feb 10 10:41:21 iBook-Rick-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[26180]: Starting standard backup
Feb 10 10:41:21 iBook-Rick-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[26180]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb
Feb 10 10:41:24 iBook-Rick-2 [0x0-0x1d01d].com.ArcSoft.WDBackupMonitor[229]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/Users/Papa/Documents/ArcSoft/WD%20Backup/BackupSchedule.xml"
Feb 10 10:41:56: --- last message repeated 7 times ---
Feb 10 10:41:56 iBook-Rick-2 [0x0-0x1d01d].com.ArcSoft.WDBackupMonitor[229]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/Users/Papa/Documents/ArcSoft/WD%20Backup/BackupSchedule.xml"
Feb 10 10:42:25: --- last message repeated 6 times ---
Feb 10 10:42:25 iBook-Rick-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[26180]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 842.7 MB requested (including padding), 72.56 GB available
Feb 10 10:42:24 iBook-Rick-2 [0x0-0x1d01d].com.ArcSoft.WDBackupMonitor[229]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/Users/Papa/Documents/ArcSoft/WD%20Backup/BackupSchedule.xml"
Feb 10 10:42:27 iBook-Rick-2 mds[26034]: (/Volumes/Time Machine/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V1/Stores/2CD1020D-8727-40D1-BA35-A379BBCCDFD0)(E rror) IndexSDB in map_update:/Volumes/Untitled 1/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V1/Stores/2CD1020D-8727-40D1-BA35-A379BBCCDFD0/store.db : ERR: map_update: page offset doesn't match! 0x1449 != 0x144d
Feb 10 10:42:27 iBook-Rick-2 mds[26034]: /SourceCache/Spotlight/Spotlight-398.1/core-db/sdb.c:1029: failed assertion 'dbme->pgnum == pgnum'
Feb 10 10:42:28 iBook-Rick-2 [0x0-0x1d01d].com.ArcSoft.WDBackupMonitor[229]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/Users/Papa/Documents/ArcSoft/WD%20Backup/BackupSchedule.xml"
Feb 10 10:42:31 iBook-Rick-2 ReportCrash[26188]: Formulating crash report for process mds[26034]
Feb 10 10:42:32 iBook-Rick-2 [0x0-0x1d01d].com.ArcSoft.WDBackupMonitor[229]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/Users/Papa/Documents/ArcSoft/WD%20Backup/BackupSchedule.xml"
Feb 10 10:42:32 iBook-Rick-2 com.apple.launchd[1] (0x10abf0.mdworker[26125]): Exited: Terminated
Feb 10 10:42:32 iBook-Rick-2 com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.metadata.mds[26034]): Exited abnormally: Bus error
Feb 10 10:42:32 iBook-Rick-2 com.apple.launchd[1] (0x10acf0.mdworker[26054]): Exited: Terminated
Feb 10 10:42:33 iBook-Rick-2 ReportCrash[26188]: Saved crashreport to /Library/Logs/CrashReporter/mds 2008-02-10-104227iBook-Rick-2.crash using uid: 0 gid: 0, euid: 0 egid: 0
Feb 10 10:42:33 iBook-Rick-2 mds[26191]: (/Volumes/Time Machine/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V1/Stores/2CD1020D-8727-40D1-BA35-A379BBCCDFD0)(E rror) IndexCI in ContentIndexOpenBulk:Unclean shutdown of /Volumes/Time Machine/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V1/Stores/2CD1020D-8727-40D1-BA35-A379BBCCDFD0/li ve.0.; needs recovery
Feb 10 10:42:34 iBook-Rick-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[26180]: MDBackupIndexFile returned -1134 for: /Applications/Hewlett-Packard/HP Scan Pro.app, /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb/iBook Rick (7)/2008-02-06-234122.inProgress/6721CCDC-927B-473B-8878-44A2A1F5EBE1/Macintosh HD/Applications/Hewlett-Packard/HP Scan Pro.app
Feb 10 10:42:34 iBook-Rick-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[26180]: Aborting backup because MDBackupIndexFile failed
Feb 10 10:42:34 iBook-Rick-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[26180]: Canceling backup.
Feb 10 10:42:34 iBook-Rick-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[26180]: Copied 69 files (1.5 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Feb 10 10:42:34 iBook-Rick-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[26180]: Copy stage failed with error:11
Feb 10 10:42:34 iBook-Rick-2 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[26180]: Backup failed with error: 11
Feb 10 10:42:36 iBook-Rick-2 [0x0-0x1d01d].com.ArcSoft.WDBackupMonitor[229]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/Users/Papa/Documents/ArcSoft/WD%20Backup/BackupSchedule.xml"
Feb 10 10:43:09: --- last message repeated 7 times ---
Feb 10 10:43:08 iBook-Rick-2 [0x0-0x1d01d].com.ArcSoft.WDBackupMonitor[229]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/Users/Papa/Documents/ArcSoft/WD%20Backup/BackupSchedule.xml"
Feb 10 10:43:26: --- last message repeated 4 times ---
Feb 10 10:43:26 iBook-Rick-2 mdworker[26197]: (Fatal) Import: Using too much memory (86 MB), hit usage threshold importing /Users/Papa/Desktop/kayla bat 12-07/the bat 12-24-07-3, exiting to clean up.
Feb 10 10:43:26 iBook-Rick-2 com.apple.launchd[1] (0x10abf0.mdworker[26197]): Exited with exit code: 1
Feb 10 10:43:28 iBook-Rick-2 [0x0-0x1d01d].com.ArcSoft.WDBackupMonitor[229]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/Users/Papa/Documents/ArcSoft/WD%20Backup/BackupSchedule.xml"
Feb 10 10:43:52: --- last message repeated 5 times ---
Feb 10 10:43:52 iBook-Rick-2 mdworker[26203]: fcntl to turn on F CHECKOPENEVT failed!
Feb 10 10:43:52 iBook-Rick-2 [0x0-0x1d01d].com.ArcSoft.WDBackupMonitor[229]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/Users/Papa/Documents/ArcSoft/WD%20Backup/BackupSchedule.xml"
Feb 10 10:43:52 iBook-Rick-2 mdworker[26203]: fcntl to turn on F CHECKOPENEVT failed!
Feb 10 10:43:58 iBook-Rick-2 mdworker[26200]: CFPropertyListCreateFromXMLData(): Old-style plist parser: missing semicolon in dictionary.
Feb 10 10:43:56 iBook-Rick-2 [0x0-0x1d01d].com.ArcSoft.WDBackupMonitor[229]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/Users/Papa/Documents/ArcSoft/WD%20Backup/BackupSchedule.xml"
Feb 10 10:43:58 iBook-Rick-2 mdworker[26200]: CFPropertyListCreateFromXMLData(): Old-style plist parser: missing semicolon in dictionary.
Feb 10 10:44:02: --- last message repeated 2 times ---
Feb 10 10:44:00 iBook-Rick-2 [0x0-0x1d01d].com.ArcSoft.WDBackupMonitor[229]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/Users/Papa/Documents/ArcSoft/WD%20Backup/BackupSchedule.xml"

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.1), 2 GB ram, 250 GB internal drive

Posted on Feb 10, 2008 10:47 AM

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15 replies
User profile for user: CraigAL
CraigAL
User level: Level 1
0 points

Feb 28, 2008 9:26 PM in response to shelly718

I am having the exact same problem. It worked great for a couple of months. Never any messages, just deleted old back-ups when it got too full. Then last week I started getting the need to delete message. And now, I get the unable to complete backup, error occurred message. I am showing the same log, failed to load external entity, arcsoft backup schedule. If anyone has a solution that would be great.
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User profile for user: trilobyte
trilobyte
User level: Level 3
555 points

Feb 29, 2008 5:20 PM in response to shelly718

Interesting. I've seen those errors as well, it usually happens when Time Machine is unable to write to the drive. A full drive isn't a problem, since it should just prompt you to let you know old data has to be dumped. A slow connection or congestion might be to blame. If you're connecting through a USB hub, or if you have some other program running that may interfere with Time Machine's operation - that could lead to failed backups.

First off, reboot. Don't start running a bunch of programs - you want to make sure the system's as 'clean' as possible. Then plug the USB 2.0 drive directly into the port on your computer (don't go through a USB hub). Now try doing a manual backup (under 10.5.2 click on the icon on the top right and choose Back Up Now).

If that works, then you know that some program that you were running (or that you normally leave on) was slowing things down and causing Time Machine to fail. Bit Torrent apps are known offenders, as are any big programs that may be resource hogs.

If that doesn't work, then try checking the drive. Switch Time Machine off, then run Disk Utility (it's in the Applications/Utilities folder) to check the drive and make sure everything's okay. From there, try going into Time Machine preferences, choosing a different drive (or choosing none), exiting, and then going back and choosing your drive again. I can't say why this can sometimes works, maybe re-selecting the drive again can cause it to reset something important.

Hopefully one of those steps works for you - good luck!
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User profile for user: Jay Deitch
Jay Deitch
User level: Level 2
220 points

Mar 4, 2008 7:32 AM in response to shelly718

I just encountered the same problem (not enough room to complete backup).

After several backup attempts, I closed a few applications (Word 2004, a fairly old version of Palm Desktop, Preview, Address Book and Mail). When closing Word, I got the typical message about having "a large amount of data on the clipboard..." I answered No. Anyway, after doing this, Time Machine deleted a couple of the oldest backups and backed up normally.

I have no idea why this "fixed it," but it may be worth a try.

Jay
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User profile for user: bozobozo
bozobozo
User level: Level 1
0 points

Mar 12, 2008 12:07 PM in response to Ken_Chavin

I have the same problem to. Time machine worked fine till recently. Now it fails with the message that it can not backup the files to the disk. I tried the following:
Get another USB disk (400Gig) ==> no success
Formatted this with MAC Joliet ==> no success
Partitioned the new disk with GUID ==> No success
Tried the old disk again ==> no success
Removed the temp file from all disks ==> No success.
Looks like a bug in Leopard, which requires a fix??
Please help
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User profile for user: Akatty
Akatty
User level: Level 1
8 points

Mar 12, 2008 12:26 PM in response to Jazzman

I had this problem when I upgraded to 10.5.2. I got a new 500GB hard drive. partitioned it for GUID. re-named my computer so that there were no spaces or non-alphabet, non-numeric characters in the name. Still had problems. I spent hours on the phone with tech support. I did get the problem fixed, though it took a long time.

I manually copied my working HD to my backup disk. As files would be copied, the process would eventually stop and I would get an error message that a particular file was corrupted. I would then delete that particular file and re-start the copying. Interestingly, the files were all iTunes files that had become corrupted.

Once that was done, I did a complete erase/re-write of my working hard drive and restored using backed-up data. Yes, it was a pain. I lost a couple of minor things, but nothing major or that I couldn't replace. Since then, though, Time Machine has once again worked flawlessly. I should probably also say that I exclude my application and system folder from time machine since those files don't change a great deal and I already have a manual back up for them.

It may be extreme, but it is what ultimately worked for me. It makes me think that Time Machine gets hung on corrupted files. Most of the disk repair utilities I could find repair directories, not files so much. I have looked, albeit not really thoroughly, for a utility that would find corrupted files, not just directories. I think that might solve the problem in the future.

That's my 2 cents worth and I hope that this helps.
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time machine failed to backup

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