Time machine disappeared/reappeared with Lion (I've read the other threads)

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Level 1

20 points

Time machine disappeared/reappeared with Lion (I've read the other threads)

Hello,

I downloaded Lion to my MacBook Pro. I am running OX 10. 7 (Lion). My Airport Utility software is updated and current (5.3.3).

What happened is this:

After downloading the new 10.7 (Lion), Time Machine was not able to run any more because it could not locate Time Capsule. I went ahead and launched Airport Utility, and Airport Utility did NOT locate Time Capsule either. It was the end of the day and I was VERY frustrated with all of the crap that Lion has thrown at me---problem after problem---so I just closed the lid and said, "I'll deal with it tomorrow".

So here it is tomorrow, and I tried to run Time Machine and it worked---HOWEVER....I had to click on "Select Disk" in order to tell Time Machine to use Time Capsule (even though I have changed nothing). Time Machine began doing the backup to Time Capsule, however, it was doing a backup from scratch as if it was the very first time I had ever done a backup.

My MacBook Pro is now completely backed up, however, it is only backed up as far as today (the backup it just did). When I "enter time machine", all of my backups back to March are gone (I purchased Time Capsule in March). Yet on the Time Machine "Preferences" window, it says this:

Oldest Backup: March 4, 2011

That date is correct----it SHOULD be backed up to March 4th, but when I "enter time machine", it only goes back as far as today. It does not show all of the backups going back to March 4th.

My Time Capsule backs up 2 other computers on my home network, and those other two computers are backing up perfectly. There is no problem with the other two computers. The other two computers do indeed have all backup going back to March 4, 2011, and the other two computers continue to backup normally with nothing out of the ordinary. I have NOT installed "Lion" on the other two computers---only on the one MacBook Pro with the issue that I am describing here.

How do I get Time Machine to show all of the previous backups going back to March 4, 2011 when I "enter time machine". It seems to know that there are indeed backsup going that far since it says so right in the Preferences window. I am exhausted with all of these problems that Lion has thrown at me--I wish I never purchased it. But now I'm stuck with it and need to get things back to normal. Help! Thank you very much.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Jul 22, 2011 11:52 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 23, 2011 12:29 PM in response to smitty195

If you mount the "Data" volume of the Time Capsule and look at the modification date of the "sparsebundle" file for your MacBook Pro, does it show a time before or after you installed Lion?

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Answer 2

smitty195 Author

Level 1

20 points

Jul 23, 2011 2:17 PM in response to William-Boyd-Jr

That's a little too far over my head---I don't know what any of that means. Can you please "dumb it down" a bit so that I can understand it? Thanks!

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Answer 3

Jul 23, 2011 2:35 PM in response to smitty195

Open a Finder window. Look in the "sidebar" for your Time Capsule. Select that. You should see a "Data" volume in the main part of the window. Double-click on that to mount it. In the resulting window should be several files with extensions of "sparsebundle". Select the one named after your MacBook Pro, then invoke the Finder menu option File > Get Info. Note the "Modified" date in the resulting window.

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Answer 4

smitty195 Author

Level 1

20 points

Jul 23, 2011 2:49 PM in response to William-Boyd-Jr

Hello,

When I open a Finder window on the MacBook Pro, I see my wireless network name (xx Wireless Network). My Time Capsule is the same as my wireless network. When I click on that name, in the main part of the window there is a single folder. The name of the single folder is "(name) Wireless Network". If I double click on that folder to open it, there are three items. The names of these three items are:

MacBookPro=001F...ee202.sparsebundle

Macintosh1

Macintosh.sparsebundle

Without me clicking on any of them, the first one shows a "Date Modified" of: "Yesterday, 9:20AM".

Is that first one the thing that I am supposed to double-click on?

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Answer 5

Jul 23, 2011 2:56 PM in response to smitty195

My Time Capsule has a USB drive attached to it. That may be why I first see a window showing two disk drives. Since your Time Capsule only has one disk drive, that step may be bypassed. That "date modified" is the last time that first item was used for a backup. I'm not sure what those two other things are. Their names don't match the naming conventions that I'm used to.

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Answer 6

smitty195 Author

Level 1

20 points

Jul 23, 2011 3:04 PM in response to William-Boyd-Jr

Okay, I guess a call to AppleCare is in order. I hate to speak negatively against Apple, but I am really unhappy with Lion so far. Screen freezes, forced restarts, finger gestures not working as they're supposed to, murky instructions, etc, etc....I get a knot in my stomach sitting here trying to understand it. By reading all of the posts under the "Lion" category, WOW, I'm definitely not alone. Apple somehow blew it on this one.

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