cannot back up to TC or delete backup file

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cannot back up to TC or delete backup file

A few days ago, Time Machine stopped updating, telling me there was not enough room on my backup disk (a Time Capsule). Although there was over 500GB of free space on my 2TB TC, Time Machine seems to have determined that it needed to back up more than 700GB - i.e. nearly everything stored on my machine. Rather than creating space by deleting old backups as usual, it simply refused to back up, telling me either to reduce the size of the nackup by excluding items, or to create more space.

Since excluding items from the backup would pretty much defeat the purpose of the backup, I decided to connect to the TC and manually delete my backup file so that it could start again. The process went on for many hours, but eventually Finder reported that it wasn’t possible to delete the file (‘The operation can’t be completed because the item “bands” is in use’). I tried again, this time closing all applications - same result - though by this time the size of the file had reduced from c.800GB to just over 200GB. Since there is now plenty of free space on the TC, I then tried to run the backup, but got an error saying that the sparesbundle file couldn’t be accessed. Finally, I’ve tried to change the name of the backup file, but I get the same error message as when trying to delete it.

It may be relevant to mention that I also back up my wife’s laptop to the same TC (manually, about once a month, whereas for my main machine, Time Machine runs continally in the background). For that reason I am reluctant to wipe/reformat the disk as I would then need to carry out full backups of both machines, likely to be a lengthy operation, and be without a backup in the meantime. This would be particularly disruptive for my wife as the TC lives in our garden office so she’d be unable to use the laptop elsewhere in the meantime.

I’d be grateful for any light anyone can shed on this situation and suggested workarounds.

Thanks in advance.

iMac 27", macOS 10.14

Posted on May 15, 2019 12:10 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

LaPastenague

Level 9

67,202 points

May 15, 2019 6:02 AM in response to matthew shorter

You seem stuck between two difficult choices.

I really think erase is the right way to go at this stage.. something is clearly wrong.. and there is no going forward or back in terms of messing with the existing Sparsebundle you have managed to semi-delete.

You can save your wife's laptop backup.. but this is going to be a bit tricker than usual because you really don't want to copy the left over decaying mass of yours.

What role does the TC play in the network? Is it crucial to network operations?

What I want you to do (if you don't already have ethernet connection directly to the TC) is remove it from the network and plug it with short patch cable directly to your iMac. (no need for this if that is the way you connect already).

What I suggest is

#1 save the current config .. just so you can easily get back to where you are now.

You need to click the icon of the TC in airport utility then click edit.. then on the top menu.. file / export configuration file.

#2 reset the TC to factory.

You do this with reset button. Power off the TC and hold in the reset.. power on again.. keep holding in reset for about 10sec.. the front LED will start flashing rapidly. Then wait a couple of minutes for the TC to come back and you can reconfigure it.

Do use all short names, no spaces and pure alphanumerics. Same for passwords.

No files on the TC hard disk are lost doing this.. reset is configuration of the router side only.

NOW is Option 1.. try delete from Finder again.. if all goes well you can skip most of what I put below and just return the TC to the network.

Assuming that does not go well.

Option 2.

#3 copy the sparsebundle for the wife's laptop either to a folder on your iMac .. if you have enough disk space or use USB drive plugged into the computer. You can consider using this still in the future, so you backup to the TC internal disk and your wife's laptop to the USB drive which you can then plug into the TC.

#4 Now you can erase the Disk on the TC.. If you TC is older model.. certainly any that are more than 4-5 years do a full zero out data.. this will low level format the drive.. it will take a few hours.. but the computer does not need to be turned on to do it.

The quick erase just wipes the indexes. If the drive is having age issues the one pass erase will bring it to light.

Now you do your backup from the computer.. this should go at very reasonable speed.. so perhaps 12 hours to do the backup.

#5 Decide if it is better to leave the USB plugged into the TC and keep the two backups isolated that way.. or copy the wife's sparsebundle back to the TC.

#6 Put the TC back in the network. I recommend you do keep the new short name.. but you can import the saved settings if you wish at this stage.

Set Time Machine in each computer to backup to the new target.. if you changed the TC name as I suggested.

And if you used USB for the wife's laptop you will need to direct it to the new target .. Time Machine will then read the existing backup and check it. Assuming everything is good it will do the backup of new files only.. longer than a normal backup but not anywhere near as long as a full backup.

OR you could simply take the TC out to the laptop location.. plug it in with ethernet (plus dongle if laptop has no ethernet) and do a clean new laptop backup.. this will be fairly fast in most cases..

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Answer 2

May 15, 2019 2:29 PM in response to matthew shorter

There is another solution in a post here.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250365286

If it turns out as simple as

Selected 'Move to Trash' while holding down the Control key and it worked.

Then it is a hugely better solution.

How old is your TC btw?

Since you are using it in a simple direct connection.. it really should not have corrupted. The problem is that Time Machine just has not been that reliable of late.. (since Sierra and before even).

You might really be due an upgrade to change the method of backup.. at least for your own computer I would use Carbon Copy Cloner if you wish to keep backups to network target.. or use a USB drive plugged into your computer which should be faster and more reliable for Time Machine and much better for CCC as well.

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Answer 3

May 15, 2019 10:20 AM in response to LaPastenague

Thank you so much, that is extraordinarily helpful. I wish I'd known that tip about the configuration file years ago! I also ought to have clarified at the start - my TC plays no role in my network; I keep it connected to the computer via ethernet, with network mode off, and router mode off (bridge mode). When I back up my wife's laptop, I plug it via a separate ethernet cable. So this should simplify things a little.

And thanks also for the suggestions about the storage options for my wife's backup.

I will have a go at this probably in a couple of days when I have a bit of time and report back on progress. Meanwhile, thanks again!!

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Answer 4

May 22, 2019 3:52 AM in response to LaPastenague

Hello again,

That second solution unfortunately didn't work for me - I got the same error message as I did when trying to delete within Finder. But your original solution has worked a treat, and both machines are now fully backed up once more. I think the TC is the same age as the iMac, i.e. late 2013. I've had a look at CCC and it looks like a paid service, so I think I'll carry on muddling through with Time Machine for now. I also use Dropbox for cloud-based backup & sharing of nearly all my documents, so I should be more or less covered in the event of either technical meltdown or all my hardware getting stolen.

Thanks once more for taking so much time to carefully walk me through my options, it was immensely reassuring.

Best,

Matthew

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cannot back up to TC or delete backup file

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