Time Machine fails with “error occurred while creating the backup folder”

Try a +*Repair Disk+* (not permissions) on the TM drive. If it finds errors again, there's about three possibilities:

• Could the drive have been improperly disconnected after the full backup? That can cause directory damage. Either disconnecting it without ejecting, or a forced power-off of your Mac can do it.
• 
  
• Something wrong with the disk or it's connections. Check all the connections; use different ports and USB cables. If it has a separate power supply, be sure it's plugged-in to a known good outlet or, better, the same surge protector or (better yet) U.P.S. that your iMac uses.
  Try un-checking the +Put the hard disk(s) to sleep . . .+ option in System Preferences > Energy Saver.
  Check with Seagate for updated drivers and/or firmware.
• 
  
• Something corrupted in OSX.

I am having the exact same issue with no resolution.
Mac OSX 10.6.2
Cavalry 1TB HD, http://www.cavalrystorage.com/CAXB.htm (This drive was initially formatted for windows so I reformatted to Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

Name : 1TB Time Machine
Type : Volume

Disk Identifier : disk1s3
Mount Point : /Volumes/1TB Time Machine
File System : Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Connection Bus : USB
Device Tree : IODeviceTree:/PCI0@0/EHC2@6,1
Writable : Yes
Universal Unique Identifier : removed for this post
Capacity : 1 TB (1,000,070,627,328 Bytes)
Free Space : 525.11 GB (525,111,394,304 Bytes)
Used : 474.96 GB (474,959,233,024 Bytes)
Number of Files : 882,204
Number of Folders : 182,508
Owners Enabled : No
Can Turn Owners Off : Yes
Can Be Formatted : Yes
Bootable : Yes
Supports Journaling : Yes
Journaled : Yes
Disk Number : 1
Partition Number : 3

My initial steps were the obvious. verify disk, repair disk, erase, restore, reformat... nothing seems to help. I even went as far as returning the HD for repair. This also did not resolve the issue.

When the problem occurs I also get a error in finder if I try to create a new folder. "The operation can't be completed. An unexpected error occurred (error code -50).

The only thing that seems to work is telling my iMac NOT TO SLEEP. This is a workaround that I'm not comfortable with. So to me it seems that this is a mac issue with mounting the HD after exiting sleep mode.

here are some of the errors that I get with verify and repair disk;

Verify and Repair volume “1TB Time Machine”
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Checking extents overflow file.
Checking catalog file.
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking catalog hierarchy.
Checking extended attributes file.
_*Incorrect number of extended attributes*_
_*(It should be 831703 instead of 831700)*_
_*Incorrect number of Access Control Lists*_
_*(It should be 831702 instead of 831699)*_
Checking multi-linked directories.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
Repairing volume.
Rechecking volume.
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Checking extents overflow file.
Checking catalog file.
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking catalog hierarchy.
Checking extended attributes file.
_*Invalid map node*_
Checking multi-linked directories.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
Repairing volume.
Rechecking volume.
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Checking extents overflow file.
Checking catalog file.
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking catalog hierarchy.
Checking extended attributes file.
Checking multi-linked directories.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
The volume 1TB Time Machine was repaired successfully.
Volume repair complete.Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.

Message was edited by: shwa

Message was edited by: shwa

Is this your very first backup to this drive? If not, roughly how long have you been using it and how many successful backup were there before this started?

Have you checked with Seagate for updated drivers/firmware?

Tried other ports/cables (doubtful, but possible).

This sounds like something wrong with the drive. Do you have (or can you borrow) another one? If you can, that would clarify where the problem is.

shwa wrote:
I am having the exact same issue with no resolution.

No, not the same. You're getting directory problems.

When the problem occurs I also get a error in finder if I try to create a new folder. "The operation can't be completed. An unexpected error occurred (error code -50).

The only thing that seems to work is telling my iMac NOT TO SLEEP. This is a workaround that I'm not comfortable with. So to me it seems that this is a mac issue with mounting the HD after exiting sleep mode.

Perhaps. First, are you sure the only time you have a problem is when waking from sleep?

Is this the only partition on it? If not, what's in the other(s)?

Is there anything in the partition in question besides TM backups? If so, what?

Did you use this drive successfully on Leopard (did the problem start when you upgraded to Snow Leopard)? If so, have you checked with the maker for updated drivers/firmware?

Have you installed this update: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL947 It doesn't sound like exactly the same problem, but if you haven't, it's worth a try.

kalmdown wrote:
. . .

What is your +Computer Name+ (System Preferences > Sharing)? That can be a problem on network backups, but I don't recall it causing a problem on a directly-attached drive. Try shortening it if it's long, and removing any punctuation.

Otherwise, assuming you've tried all the other things in my last post to you, I'd be inclined to suspect the drive. It sure sounds like something intermittent is going on with it.

You could, of course, download and install the "combo" update. That's a combination (thus the clever name) of all the updates to Snow Leopard since it was first released, so installing it should fix anything that's gone wrong since then, such as with one of the normal "point" updates. Info and download available at: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL959 Be sure to do a Repair Permissions via Disk Utility (in your Applications/Utilities folder) afterwards.

Pondini wrote:

Perhaps. First, are you sure the only time you have a problem is when waking from sleep?

I'm pretty sure this is only occurring during sleep. Usually I wake in the morning to find that the error has occurred.

Is this the only partition on it? If not, what's in the other(s)?
Is there anything in the partition in question besides TM backups? If so, what?

The HD has only 1 partition and nothing else on it. It's dedicated to TM.

Did you use this drive successfully on Leopard (did the problem start when you upgraded to Snow Leopard)? If so, have you checked with the maker for updated drivers/firmware?

Unfortunately I was using a different Cavalry HD with Leopard. I had no issues. I guess I could try this drive with Snow Leopard. If it too comes up with the error I would guess that points to SW. If not its HW. I will let you know what happens here.

Have you installed this update: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL947 It doesn't sound like exactly the same problem, but if you haven't, it's worth a try.

This update states that it for 10.6.1

Thanks for your input.

kalmdown wrote:
I did A4 from the Time Machine Troubleshooting FAQ:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2057525

Its been 2 days without an error for me. I performed the above “A4, Full Reset of Time Machine”. Hopefully I’m not jinxing myself! 🙂

Thanks for the the link to this help thread.

Hi kalmdown,

Just out of curiosity, do a Get Info on the external backup drive and tell us what the Sharing & Permissions state at the bottom.

Also, is "Ignore ownership of this volume" checked or not? Change this state and try backing up again. Cheers!

Well, I jinxed myself. Got the error again this morning. This time a little different. First thing this morning it was ok when I first woke the computer. TM even did its first incremental backup. I then left the computer for about an hour to do other things. When I came back it was faulted. Note that my sleep options are set for 10 min (both display and computer) so it was definitely sleeping.

To correct the problem this time I simply restarted my iMac. Then hit the “back up now” button. All ok.

I still have not tried my other Cavalry HD to see if it acts in a similar fashion. Will let you know when I do.

Both my USB and Firewire Backup disks are showing

glenncarter (Me) Read & Write
staff Read & Write
everyone Read Only

And no, if it is a genuine TM backup disk, then it won't have "Ignore ownership on this volume".