Opening Time Machine backup for 3 hours and counting

Sugith Varughese wrote:
. . .
Is this normal?

No.

Has Time Machine crashed?

No, but something is clearly wrong. Cancel the restore.

Are you connected via Ethernet? If not, do so -- that should be 2-3 times faster.

If you are, and this continues, the backups may be corrupted. Boot up again normally, and repair your backups, per #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

Sugith Varughese wrote:
Thanks. Unfortunately, Time Capsule, where my Time Machine sparse bundles are stored does not appear in Disk Utility. (It's connected by ethernet to my iMac and wirelessly to MacBook Pro. Doesn't appear in either's Disk Utility.)

That's correct. But as it says in #A5, drag the +sparse bundle+ from a Finder window into Disk Utility's sidebar.

Sugith Varughese wrote:
Because my iMac is okay, I've been attempting to repair the MacBook pro sparse bundle using the iMac's Disk Utility.

As this seems to be taking a long time and there are no details appearing in Disk Utility, was this a mistake?

No. It's the only way to fix backups in a sparse bundle.

As it says in #A5, the messages usually don't appear on the main window, for some reason. Click the Log icon in the toolbar, or select +Window > Show Log+ in the Menubar.

And yes, it will take rather long, especially via WIFI.

Sugith Varughese wrote:
I gave up using Disk Utility after it ran for 15 hours with no end in sight.

Upon rechecking Time Machine using the MacBook pro wirelessly, the backups appear to be available and I can restore files.

Though I don't know if I can do a system restore as per my original question.

Correct. If the backups are indeed corrupted, as they appear to be, you may or may not be able to do a full system restore. It just depends on where the corruption is, and there's no way to determine that.

An option would be to boot from your Install disc, erase your internal HD, and install OSX. When your Mac restarts, try using +Setup Assistant+ to restore your settings, apps, users, and data, per the green box in #19 of Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

If that doesn't work, erase your disk and install OSX again, but this time don't transfer anything. Set up a temporary user account (using a different name than any that are on your backups). When your Mac reboots, use +Migration Assistant+ (per the pink box in #19) to bring things over, one group at a time. If it hangs on one group, make a note of what didn't transfer, and go on to the next. Then use the normal Time Machine "Star Wars" display to restore the missing items selectively. You may very well get most of your data that way.

Sugith Varughese wrote:
Time Machine is apparently taking control of things.

After I turned TM back on in the MacBook Pro, I got the message that after verifying, TM would need to redo the backup which would result in all past backups being lost. It's basically backing up from scratch.

Ah, yes, it's found something terribly wrong with your backups. See #C13 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

As my MacBook Pro appears to have all data intact, (thanks to a cloned, bootable USB drive I used to revert the internal disk), this appears to be the least labour intensive way of resolving the issue?

It's the only way. You might be able to restore some things from the old backups, but you cannot continue backing-up to them.

I've learned over the years (mostly the hard way, of course 😟 ), never to trust my backups to a single app or piece of hardware: no app is perfect, and all hardware fails, sooner or later.

I have full Time Machine backups in two places, a CCC clone updated daily, some small stuff on my iDisk via Backup, and some other stuff on CDs/DVDs in my safe deposit box.