TimeMachine not working to my NAS since Mac OS update

I have the exact issue. Started with the last update, 13.3.1 + 13.3.1(a).

I back up to a ReadyNAS. Nothing changed except OS update. NAS volumes are mountable on my computer, I can write and download files to it, I can stream locally and remotely from it. Only Time Machine refuses to see it. I can mount the folder that contains the timemachine backup, I can browse and restore from the backup through the Timemachine app. But It will not see it to write to it. It will not see the NAS to create a new backup.

Again, the only change to my system is the system upgrade. It started immediately after that.

still a problem.

Hey there aschuss,

It sounds like you already checked what the error message is showing since you don't have any security software installed, so we can rule that out as a possible cause.

Upon researching 'Qnap NAS', we see that it's something to do with a third-party server system, so you'll need to reach out to them regarding questions using it with something like Time Machine.

Getting back to what's occurring with Time Machine, we want to help by learning more about what's happening, along with ruling out some possible causes:

1. We wanted to ask if you've already tried making a Time Machine backup of your Mac using a regular external hard drive? In case you needed it, this link shows the steps for your reference: Back up your Mac with Time Machine
2. When did this start to occur?
3. Sometimes unexpected behavior can be resolved with a restart. Check out the section ‘Restart your Mac' here: Shut down or restart your Mac
4. We see you have macOS Ventura installed, but the latest version is macOS Ventura 13.3.1. You can verify this by clicking on the Apple logo at the top left corner of the screen, then on ‘About This Mac’.

Cheers!

Hi there aschuss,

The following are specific solutions that address Time Machine issues:

* Make sure that you're using a backup disk supported by Time Machine.

* Unless you're using a network backup disk, make sure that your backup disk is connected directly to your Mac, not through a USB hub or other device.

* If your backup disk is connected directly to your Mac, use Disk Utility to repair the disk.

* If you're using a network backup disk, make sure that the network connection is good and your Mac is connected to the same network as the backup disk. If you completed a previous backup successfully, verify that backup: Press and hold the Option key while choosing Verify Backups from the Time Machine menu in the menu bar.

* Make sure that the firmware of your backup disk is up to date. Check with the manufacturer of the backup disk for details.

* If no other solutions work, start over: Erase your backup disk, then use Time Machine to select it as your backup disk again. 

If you can't back up or restore your Mac using Time Machine 

We hope this helps!

aschuss wrote:

Not very helpful.

Been making successful Time Machine backups for years. just seemed to stop with this recent Mac iOS update

I am running 13.3.1

it is happening on two computers. both have been restarted --- I even kicked the computer to see if that would help, in case you were going to suggest that next

Ventura updates regularly break functionality. Networked Time Machine backups were broken for almost a year in Ventura and only got fixed relatively recently. But that fix was a couple of updates ago. It is entirely possible that a subsequent update broke them again. I'll have to check my Ventura machine to see if it is working again.

Regardless, the current version of Ventura is 13.4. People have reported that it does fix some network problems. I can't guarantee that it will work with Time Machine backups.

These days, software updates are an addiction. People apply every update as soon as it is released. They always break things. People are always waiting for the next "fix", which never seems to arrive.

There are really only a couple of options.

Option one - keep one computer as a test machine. Apply updates and test all of your critical functionality. If something is broken, then you know not to apply that update to your primary computer. I only recommend this to people who are using their computer in their business, when their livelihoods depend on it.

Option two - stop the updates! Stop reading the internet. It's not true. You don't have to apply these updates. There is absolutely nothing wrong with macOS Monterey. It's a great operating system. It regularly receives security updates. When macOS 14 is released at the end of 2023, then you might consider updating to Ventura at that time. You should be able to find out exactly what does and doesn't work on it and you won't have to worry about it breaking every month like it does now. And you still have the option to continue to use Monterey.

hi all,

I am facing the same issue after updating Ventura to 13.4 as well as QuTS Hero to the most recent Version.

looks like there is no guarantee that Timemachine works with NAS drives but an option that it could (the apple support told me)

for now I am going to look up an alternative backup solution that will work 100% reliable

regards

I am experiencing the same issue. Recent purchase (February 2023) of a Mac Mini, had successful backups up until March 9/2023 (this is the date listed of my last backup of the mac mini on my NAS) and now Time Machine cannot seem to get past the connection phase of the backup, with a pop up that mentions something about "sparesbundles". All other machines on the network are still successfully backing up, but they are older macs on much older systems. I am currently updating my system to 13.5.1 as I write this and am hoping it addresses the issue, but not holding my breath ;)

I was able to get things working again. It turned out that an update from qnap caused this behavior. After deploying another update release the mac was able to connect to the TM disk again and perform successful backups.

regards

So, I did a little check on dates/times of updates... my last successful backup to my Qnap TS 251A was on March 9/2023 at 1:27pm... my update to Os 13.2.1 happened at 2:27pm the same day and I have had no successful backups since... but I have found a (not so good) resolution.

In Time Machine, I have opted to "forget" the existing backup and opted to essentially overwrite the old backup with a fresh, new backup. The machine is now successfully replacing the old backup BUT this is not exactly ideal. In my case, my Mac mini is a fairly new machine without any significant items in backup that I would lose, but, if this were a long term machine, this would not have been a reasonable solution. Backups are intended to be ever-growing snapshots that users can pull from to pull files from so replacing them due to system updates is not reasonable for most users. I got lucky this time but it concerns me going forward.

Interestingly, I found that my Mac stopped performing its hourly backups to the qnap exactly 1 hour after installing 13.2.1. My qnap was not updated for weeks after this, leading me to believe it was my update to 13.2.1 that caused the issue... that update seems to have caused numerous sharing issues from other users as well.

mclaymann wrote:

Interestingly, I found that my Mac stopped performing its hourly backups to the qnap exactly 1 hour after installing 13.2.1. My qnap was not updated for weeks after this, leading me to believe it was my update to 13.2.1 that caused the issue...

It certainly was. I know that one of the subsequent updates fixed the problem. However, I don't know if any of the updates since that fix could have re-broken it. I don't care what anybody says, I will consider Ventura to be beta-quality until Sonoma is released. At that point, I may decide to upgrade to Sonoma, or stick with Ventura, assuming any of its bugs that are at that point fixed in stone forever, aren't deal-breakers for me. But considering how bad Ventura has been, I will be testing Sonoma very carefully. My primary computer still runs Monterey and I have no intention of upgrading it until I am required by some Apple developer program requirement.

Similar here with 12.7.1 also QNAP nas, not able to backup since October 31st 2023.

I am between: Waiting to complete First backup and Backup disk not available errors... There were a couple of OS updates in the past before that it worked without issue.

Does anyone know what else can I check more?

Nas is running OK, not in sleep mode.

Thank you!

The current system is 13.6.1 which includes some fixes and security fixes. Update to it and see if the problem persists or not.

I should add that it does verify.