Time Capsule not backing up (Google Nest Wifi attached)

Question

Time Capsule not backing up (Google Nest Wifi attached)

Any help appreciated. Time capsule not backing up, not sure why. I use a Google Nest mesh Wifi system so the TC is in bridge mode with no wireless network on the TC. It's the only thing attached to the Google nest system. It used to back up fine but stopped, no error messages, not sure why.

I've reset the TC, no change, I've deleted some backups on the TC so there's enough space for a full machine backup (there's nearly enough for 2), so don't want to delete more backups.

On the back of the TC I have an ethernet cable coming out of a LAN port to the TV, and the TV is streaming just fine. If I take that cable out the TV plays up, so I know there is a good internet signal from the Google Nest, through the TC to the TV, so presumably no hardware issues on the TC.

I've also got the TC connected by ethernet cable to this Macbook, so it doesn't even need wifi, but it's not backing up.

I'm seeing at the top right 'Waiting to back up' and 'stopping' both in grey. If I open Time Machine Preferences it says next backup at 11:09. It says 649GB available (my mac has a 500gb HD), and no last back up (that changed after I removed and re-added the Data disk as the backup option in Select Disk Settings).

What is odd is that when the backup doesn't happen, it changes from 649GB available to 0kb available, but I can't see why.

What am I missing?

Thanks in advance.

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 11.2

Posted on May 31, 2021 2:37 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Bob Timmons

Community+ 2024

Level 10

159,752 points

May 31, 2021 8:45 AM in response to David Bywater

A Factory Default Reset will not have any affect on the Time Capsule hard drive, it only affects the stored network settings in the Time Capsule. So, no need to perform the reset.

You will need to erase the Time Capsule disk and start over again with a new backup though. If you want to keep the data on the Time Capsule hard drive, you can connect a USB hard drive to the USB port on the Time Capsule and use the Archive function in AirPort Utility to copy all of the data on the Time Capsule hard drive over to the USB drive.....before you erase the Time Capsule hard drive. The data in the old backups may or may not be usable.

AirPort Utility > Edit > Disk Tab > Archive Disk

Then, Erase the Time Capsule hard drive by clicking on the Erase Disk button

Select the Zero Out Data option.....because Quick Erase does not really erase the data on the drive. The Zero Out Data option will take some time.......8-10 hours or so on average

When the Erase is complete, try to run a new backup. This will also take some time, because Time Machine has to copy all of the data on your Mac over to the Time Capsule hard drive for the first backup.

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Answer 2

May 31, 2021 5:00 AM in response to David Bywater

We assume that the Time Capsule appears in AirPort Utility and also under the Locations heading on the left panel of any Finder window, correct?

Hold down the option key on your Mac while you click on the Time Machine "clock" icon at the top of the Mac's screen

Select Verify Backups and run the check. This might take 10-60 minutes or more depending on how much data is stored on the Time Capsule hard drive

You can watch the progress by opening Time Machine Preferences which will indicate "Preparing Verification" until the process actually begins. Post back on your results.

Not sure how you managed to delete older backups since Time Machine in Big Sur 11.x does not allow you to do this using the Time Machine application. Hopefully, you did not use the Finder to try to delete files manually. Can you provide more info on the steps that you used to delete files from the Time Machine backup file?

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Answer 3

May 31, 2021 7:31 AM in response to Bob Timmons

There were 2 backups in TC, 1 was last backed up recently, the other one was last summer. It's the last summer backup I deleted (yes in Finder, sorry, sounds like perhaps may as well delete the rest of it?) I think it's got to be from a different version of this computer, not the stuff recently backed up.

Verify backup doesn't seem to be doing much - it's still showing 'waiting to back up' at the top and 'stopping' underneath. No change there.

I have a feeling it's something to do with the TC showing 0kb left on the drive, which is wrong.

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Answer 4

May 31, 2021 7:50 AM in response to David Bywater

If Verify Backups won't run, this is unfortunately almost always an indication that the backup file has become corrupted. So, in addition to the backup not running, you get false readings on the status of the Time Capsule hard drive.

Try the following:

Hold down the Shift key while you click on the Time Machine icon at the top of the Mac's screen

Click on Back Up With Consistency Scan

See if a backup will run that way

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Answer 5

May 31, 2021 7:50 AM in response to Bob Timmons

It's not doing anything. Oddly the info at the top right stays the same. If I open TM in Settings it doesn't even look like it's trying. It says oldest backup 'none', same with latest and next backup is in 20 mins' time.

I could remove and re-add the disk again but that's not worked in the past. I'm beginning to think it's safer to do a factory reset and try a new backup from scratch?

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Answer 6

May 31, 2021 10:09 PM in response to Bob Timmons

That seems to have done the trick, thank you. Not sure why, but erasing it is now backing it all up again. A shame to have lost the backups, but relieved it's working again. Thank you!

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Time Capsule not backing up (Google Nest Wifi attached)

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