Auto backup to local, encrypted sparsebundle fails but manual backup works?
However, the next day I was disappointed to note that Time Machine had not performed a single automatic backup. Examining the system log via Console.app showed me the following single-line entry:
*11/20/10 Nov 20, 3:14:29 AM com.apple.backupd-auto[3183] Not starting scheduled Time Machine backup - time machine destination not resolvable.*
I tried to invoke a backup manually by using the Time Machine menu item and selecting "Back Up Now," and this worked just like the first time without any problem. It also left the following (very correctly-functional-looking) lines in the system log:
*11/20/10 Nov 20, 3:15:30 AM com.apple.backupd[3333] Starting standard backup*
*11/20/10 Nov 20, 3:15:32 AM hdiejectd[3339] running*
*11/20/10 Nov 20, 3:15:33 AM com.apple.backupd[3333] QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN*
*11/20/10 Nov 20, 3:15:36 AM com.apple.backupd[3333] Disk image /Volumes/Achilles Time/Achilles.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups*
*11/20/10 Nov 20, 3:15:36 AM com.apple.backupd[3333] Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb*
(And then there were some other lines, which I've truncated because they all look great.)
The thing to note is the 2nd and 4th lines, where hdiejectd is running and where backupd looks for the volume mounted at */Volumes/Time Machine Backups*. It seems Time Machine is automatically recognizing the ComputerName.sparsebundle (in my case Achilles.sparsebundle), mounting it to "/Volumes/Time Machine Backups" and then carrying on as normal.
So my question is, if it can do this when I manually start a backup, why can't it do this for scheduled backups automatically?
I've looked at various plist files, specifically the ones at
/System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.backupd*
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist
but nothing seems out of place--at least not to my inexpert eyes.
I realize that using Time Machine to back up to a local, encrypted sparsebundle is "not officially supported," but I don't think it's too far-fetched a thing to do, is it? Any and all guidance, especially resource to become better oriented within Time Machine internals, would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Mac OS X (10.6.5)