Time Machine backups taking long, after macOS Sonoma update on my MacBook.

The good news is that with a new local SSD--starting over-- time machine worked fine. In fact is it much, much faster. I've effectively lost all my old backups (which extended for YEARS), but honestly, I don't really need them.

It's not ideal, but I understand why it happened. (I get it. The new system has a lot of security stuff which is really good--but inevitably incompatible with what's on old back ups. Much better security is important enough to sacrifice old backup copies that likely will never be used.)

But basically, the new system is incompatible with older backups. This would have been nice to have in the release notes about what has changed in the new OS, dontchathink??? It would have saved everyone a lot of time and grief to just have the new disk ready, and just do the first backup right after the installation.

So--fire whoever it is who didn't put this in the release notes.

Not for me.

I was not aware of TM issues with Sonoma. With the release of 14.2 I upgraded my M1 MBP from 13.6. … to be greeted with messages that TM has problems.

• I can access the drive.
• But both automatic and manual TM backups cause error messages that "backup could not be completed". So not really informative.
• Within TM settings a message says that it is "waiting for iCloud documents to sync, which might take days". What?

Never had issues like that before.

That's a disappointing answer: Discard your current backups and start fresh. Is that the best the TM developers can do? honestly, TM isn't a reliable backup at all.

I downgraded to ventura. Not having reliable backup is a no-go. And of cause i use 3party bu also -not icloud which also is without control.

I did though a clean Sonoma install and time machine worked just fine.

But then there are many other irritation on the Sonoma. I don't consider any real added values yet.

A Sonoma tm will also work with Ventura

Called Apple support but this is a joke they live in dinial.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255171911?answerId=260049135022&sortBy=best#260049135022

Yes, I also consider Time Machine essential, but with decreasing confidence.

I have my doubts that Apple takes Time Machine seriously.

Remember when Time Machine came out, and the storage format for Apple Mail was changed so that it plays well with Time Machine, namely from mbox to emlx. Those were the glorious days for Time Machine.

What has happened since?

• iCloud is front and center for Apple … but not with Time Machine. (Cloud syncing is not a backup, maybe part of a backup strategy against some data loss scenarios.)
• APFS was a big deal when it came out, and the feature set screams Time Machine … but the development to use APFS features in TM took how many years?
• Worst of all: There is no way to TM-way to restore essential user data in Apple apps such as Notes, Reminders, Contacts, Photos, Music.

Regarding the last point: Yes, users may fiddle with the hidden db-files in their Library folder. But the whole point of Time Machine was to make backup and restore easy, even fun.

And even for advanced users it can be difficult to restore the edit state of a note from two days ago, something that is easily possible with a regular document.

The technical reason is clear: These apps store their data not document-centric. But Apple could overcome this in two ways:

• Just like Mail was changed to emlx, so Apple could have told developers to play nice with Time Machine and use a file per note, contact, etc. in combination with an index for speed.
• Alternatively Apple could use plug-in for Time Machine like they do for Spotlight, which is also document-centric but plays nice with Notes, Contact, …

Apple has done neither. Even actively developed apps are not built with Time Machine in mind.

Short story:

Many important things that Apple did not do.

Hence I doubt that Apple takes Time Machine seriously. Sad, but Apple's actions speak loudly.

14.2 certainly seems to have cured my problem as it is now much quicker to access Time Machine backups.

I too have problems with Time Machine after the Sonoma update. One would think that this concern would have been addressed before the release! In the interim, I guess the only option is to start over again since I can't even restore prior to the upgrade.

I'm having a similar problem, backups were working fine, but got insanely slow when I went to Sonoma. My external backup disc has been fine for a long time, and has lots of backups from before Sonoma.

The system logs show a message about every minute:

SystemUIServer: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:General] Failed to enumerate URLs under /Volumes/BackupDisk for SnapshotStorage reuse with error Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=257 "The file “BackupDisk” couldn’t be opened because you don’t have permission to view it."

This suggests to me that Time Machine is having permission problems with external drives contains data written with earlier versions of MacOSX. And it's spinning its wheels getting error messages over and over. Sigh.

Backups do seem to complete, but it takes a lo-o-ong time.

I hope Apple fixes this soon, because I have no clue how to fix it.

Same here. Since Sonoma, Time Machine is backing up everything from the scratch.

I deleted my Time Machine backup, because all the backups were deleted anyway because of this issue.

I had backups back to February, now only about 2 days back because disc space... xD

I'm backing up to a 18 TB G-Drive: my Mac Studio's internal drive and 3 external drives, which is about 6 TB in total.

This works 3-4 times and the next time Time Machine starts to backup from the scratch. Several TBs!

So the hourly backup takes up to half a day...

There really is a big flaw in Time Machine since Sonoma that needs to be fixed asap.

EDIT: I see I have posted here already, sorry.

I have the same problem. Both on a Mini M1 and a MacBook 14 Pro M1 Pro.

Backups worked perfectly on Ventura BEFORE upgrade and instal of Sonoma 14.1.

Both make Time Machine backups each hour. To local external disk, and to a networked share.

Backups are 2TB (max size) for the M1 (HDD and network) and 4TB (max size) for the Macbook 14 Pro (SSD and network). In total a maximum of 12TB. All are encrypted.

None of the backup targets are full., but they contain recent history (document versions, code versions etc), that I do not want to loose.

In energy saving, I have specifically set "Don't go to sleep, when screen is closed", and 5 seconds after screen closes, password or fingerprint is required. The M1 has an Apple keyboard with fingerprint reader. Works.

There have NEVER been problems with this setup BEFORE Sonoma 14.1

AFTER, I periodically get the error message: "The file “BackupDisk” couldn’t be opened because you don’t have permission to view it." I have some choice words for that statement.

I can reproduce the following:

If I work on the machines: No problems. TimeMachine will do, what it has to do. So accessing the local drives or remote networked backups is no problem. Credentials work. Data is correct. Time Machine can access ALL four backup targets without problem. I have permission. Unrestricted and any time, the computer screen does not go to sleep.

Whether the backup takes minutes or hours. NO DIFFERENCE.

If I decide, that I do NOT want to sit by the computer for hours on end, just to make TimeMachine Backups possible, and leave the machine to continue on it's own, the screen will of course go to sleep (no pause screen). The display (internal or external) turns off after the specified timeout of 30 minutes (on external power). Works.

I have NOT tested in battery mode, YET, but assume that if you use shorter display timeout in battery mode, you'll experience the problem far, far more often.

The problem seems to exclusively being triggered, byt the display turning off (probably with a five second grace period). When I activate the keyboard, and log in (fingerprint), the TimeMachine backup has stopped, with a red exclamation mark, and the above error.

There are NO credential problems, before the screen goes to sleep (which is standard) and requires a password for login (which is standard basic security procedure). After 30 minutes inactivity and 5 seconds grace time.

Now if I login again, and restart the backup, there are NO problems. And as long as I produce periodic keyboard input - or other activity - on the mashine performing the backup, NO PROBLEMS EXIST, and the backup completes.

As I see it, there's a bug in TimeMachine or Sonoma 14.1's handling credentials for access to encrypted backups (on network or local media), while the displays is off, and the requirement for renewed user login is activated after a five seconds grace period (in my case).

TimeMachine has ALL the credentials it has always needed. TimeMachine can access all backups (remote or local) reliably and consistently, as long as the display is on.

A clear bug. One hundred percent reproducible.

After login, just force Time Machine to backup immediately. It will start the backup without problem. I have all the credentials required. For as long as it is needed, as long as my display does NOT turn off dure to inactivity.

The problem could probably be solved quickly, if Apple released a script, that could be run in terminal, and convinced Sonoma, that the credentials used by TimeMachine are completely kosher.

Or immediately release a security update removing the problem.

In my case, the problem can be reproduced.

In my case the problem does not exist, while doing backups, NOT lasting longer than display inactivity timeout.

In my case the problem does not exist, if the inactivity timeout is not triggered (and the need for password entry/fingerprint turns up).

Please check, if the "activity solution" also solves your problem, BEFORE tampering with backups, that may be perfectly good.

Sigh... 

Although Time Machine Backup Utility has been around for many years and is built into the Operating System.

There is no additional cost involved but does mean you have to use it, if your are not confident in its' reliable.

There are alternatives available and yes there are costs.

One such alternative I personally use as an adjunct to TM Backup

https://bombich.com/kb/ccc6

refer to the section called " Using CCC "

Same problem here.

Time machine isn’t backing up incrementally any more but always copies everything from the scratch…

At least the external drives that I have included to back up. Every time hundreds of GB copied again and again.

I had backups back to last February. Now only til yesterday because lack of disc space. xD

This is a serious issue that unfortunately wasn’t resolved in the 14.1 update…

Thank you for your feedback. Nice to know, that there a remedies in some cases.

I have APFS formated disks.

The odd thing is, that since upgrading to Sonoma 14.1.1 the problem seems to have disappeared (or become far less noticable). Time will tell, if it is so.

But…

What I have noticed, though, is that encrypted sparsebundles (since 14.1.1?) have been modified (third party software previously able to read sparsebundle content suddenly fails completely).

The previous version was “1”, but after opening a sparsebundle in 14.1.1 the version has been changed to “2” in info.plist inside the “collection” or sparsebundle content. This is significant, since the modifications also affect network based encrypted TimeMachine backups (also sparsebundles)

I copied a sparsebundle to another disk (as a safety measure), edited the version number back to “1”, and opened the sparsebundle (Sonoma 14.1.1 upgraded machine). This worked, but after closing the sparsebundle, the version was again set to “2”. 

DO NOT repeat this test on original material.

This was purely done as a test to establish, if Sonoma 14.1.1 is responsible. Sonoma 14.1.1 modifies sparsebundle version 1 to version 2. Without doubt. The follow-up question is “WHY?”

A drastic modification, like this, without prior warning, resulting in third party software suddenly becoming unusable, is a bit disconcerting. Especially since network based encrypted TimeMachine backups (also sparsebundles) have also become affected (version modified to “2” without any warning).

If it only affects the “actual version digit” alone, or more significant modifications take place in the actual content in the TimeMachine backup is completely unknown for now.

The big question is, whether machines with earlier macOS versions can get access to version “2” backups at all, if - let’s say - the main machinery converted the format to version “2” (that in some cases cannot be opened and read by existing third party software). Thereby making the backup unusable, in case the main machinery becomes unavailable (theft, defect, damage - whatever).

Rather important to know.

If you have existing network based TimeMachine backups, it may be pertinent to look at the stored version, and creating a copy of the “network situated sparsebundle”, BEFORE allowing Sonoma based computer to access network based TimeMachine backups. Just as a precaution for securing backward compatibility, if severe side effects could be caused by this unexpected “version upgrade”.

I’d have appreciated a warning, before essential data safety elements like backups are modified. Especially since backward compatibility is not guaranteed for the encrypted sparsebundles (whether network based TimeMachine created or directly created and used).

Currently I’m in contact with a third party app developer, due to sudden, unexpected incompatibilities caused by the version being altered from 1 to 2 resulting in immediate read errors.

Anyone able to see and verify the same “modifications” in network based TimeMachine backups or ordinary sparsebundles in daily use?

Regards