Time Machine: "An error occurred while creating the backup folder."

Question

grantburry Author

Level 1

0 points

Time Machine: "An error occurred while creating the backup folder."

Devices involved:

• MacBook Pro (Mid-2009, 15-inch, OS X 10.7 Lion)

• 2 TB LaCie XL Hard Drive

The issue:

I've been looking for the answer to this for the longest time on this dicussion fourm and on other sites, but the gist of the issue is this: Whenever I try to backup with Time Machine, I leave the backup going overnight When I see the status in the morning, Time Machine greets me with the message, "Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while creating the backup folder." I backup both Macintosh HD and another external drive for my iTunes library.

What I've tried:

I've tried this on both Snow Leopard and Lion. Alleged solutions have ranged from fixing permissions on both the backup drive and the source drives, uninstalling Growl, and erasing the backup drive. I've tried all of them, to no avail. I need a solution.

Update 1: The backup drive is formatted to Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

Update 2: The backup drive was verified by disk utility and has no issues.

Update 2: The backup drive is connected to an LED Cinema Display thru USB, which is connected to my MacBook Pro thru USB.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7), 15-inch, Mid 2009

Posted on Jul 26, 2011 10:27 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Joe Gramm

Level 5

6,407 points

Jul 26, 2011 10:32 PM in response to grantburry

Is the drive formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

Reply

Answer 2

grantburry Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 26, 2011 10:34 PM in response to Joe Gramm

Yes it is.

Reply

Answer 3

Joe Gramm

Level 5

6,407 points

Jul 26, 2011 10:40 PM in response to grantburry

Have you Verified the drive in Disk Utility

Reply

Answer 4

grantburry Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 26, 2011 10:44 PM in response to Joe Gramm

Yep.

Edit: And It showed no issues.

Reply

Answer 5

Joe Gramm

Level 5

6,407 points

Jul 26, 2011 10:48 PM in response to grantburry

I probably can't add any more then. Any time I've had an issue like that, reformatting has done the trick. I'm not familiar with Growl, other than what I just Googled. Just be sure that you've completely deleted it and all it's files from:

Application Folder

~/Library/Application Support/Growl - if it exists there

~/Library/Preferences

If you find any files in those locations, delete them and try reformatting the drive again

Reply

Answer 6

grantburry Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 26, 2011 10:51 PM in response to Joe Gramm

I've tried that before. Used the official uninstallation script which removes all those Library files. Reformatted several times. Thanks for trying to help. 😉

Reply

Answer 7

Joe Gramm

Level 5

6,407 points

Jul 26, 2011 10:55 PM in response to grantburry

I just read your updates on the original post. Just for trouble shooting sake, have you tried connecting the drive directly to the MacBook Pro instead of via the display.

Reply

Answer 8

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,559 points

Jul 26, 2011 10:57 PM in response to grantburry

Connect the drive directly to a USB port on the MBP.

In the Energy Saver preference pane, uncheck "Put hard disks to sleep..." if checked.

If neither of the above helps, boot in safe mode and try again.

Reply

Answer 9

grantburry Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 26, 2011 10:59 PM in response to Joe Gramm

I'll try that.

Reply

Answer 10

grantburry Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 26, 2011 10:59 PM in response to Linc Davis

Ok. Giving this a try. I'll update the post on how it goes in the morning once it's finished.

Reply

Answer 11

Jul 26, 2011 11:12 PM in response to grantburry

This is an official problem with lion, the only way to get around it is by using a disk.

Reply

Answer 12

grantburry Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 27, 2011 9:06 AM in response to Linc Davis

Yep this seemed to fix it! Thanks! 🙂

Reply

Answer 13

Joe Gramm

Level 5

6,407 points

Jul 27, 2011 9:29 AM in response to grantburry

Glad it works, thanks for the helpful points.

Reply

Answer 14

grantburry Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 27, 2011 5:49 PM in response to grantburry

Oops. I guess this hasn't been answered yet. I disabled "Put hard disks to sleep...", I plugged the backup drive directly into the MacBook Pro, and I verified the backup drive and fixed Macintosh HD's permissions. The first backup worked flawlessly, but all subsequent backups return with the same error. Gosh, this is frustrating. 😕

Reply

Answer 15

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,559 points

Jul 27, 2011 5:56 PM in response to grantburry

Try a different drive (you should have more than one anyway.) If it does the same thing, try booting in safe mode.

Reply