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Level 1

4 points

Messy and recursive directory structure in new MBP from time machine

Hi,

I just did a time machine restore to a new MBP and noticed the data on my hard drive was way larger than I felt it should be. So digging a bit, I see some suspicious looking directories.

I don't recall seeing anything like this on the MBP that preceded this one (and the source of the time machine backup).

This looks like I have recursive directory structures

I think the disk utility structure looks good - I assume that Disk Image at the bottom is my external NAS (It was doing a time machine backup as I was taking screenshots)

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 12.0

Posted on Nov 26, 2021 11:01 AM

Best reply

etresoft

Level 8

46,524 points

Posted on Nov 26, 2021 11:27 AM

That is all "normal". The way it works is that your entire hard drive is now read-only. Then, your "data" volume is mounted to a special location (/System/Volumes). Certain directories are replaced with magic "synthetic" links so that they point into this new location. Additionally, the Finder does some magic to assemble the certain system and user folders to appear to be one.

Yeah. It's crazy. But that is how it is designed to be.

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Messy and recursive directory structure in new MBP from time machine

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