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Time Machine gives Backup Error after changing backup drives

I recently changed by backup drive from an external 500GB HP drive to a 1TB Toshiba drive and Time Machine now gives me an error message. I should note that Time Machine worked perfectly on the HP drive, never had a problem with it.


But with the Toshiba drive I continually get an error message saying "Unable to complete the backup. An error occured while creating the backup folder." This message, along with the fact that I am unable to copy or create (i.e. new folder) anything to the drive made me at first think it was a permissions issue. I did both a Repair Disk and Repair Disk Permissions. After those the backup will run successfully about 4-5 times and then start giving me the same error message.


I happened to take a look at the Console and it throws me this error message: "Error: (22) setxattr for key:com.apple.backupd.HostUUID path:/Volumes/Time Machine Backup/Backups.backupdb/[My Computer's Name] size:37"


(Also if it's of any consequence I've also tried reformatting and renaming the drive several times, but it's the same thing like when I do Repair Disk/Permissions. Works fine for a few backups, then gives me error message.)


Anybody have any suggestions? This is becoming quite frustating and irritating.


Thank you in advance for any and all advice.

MacBook Pro (Early 2008)-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.7), 2.5GHz Core2Duo, 4GB RAM

Posted on Dec 1, 2011 9:06 PM

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3 replies

Dec 2, 2011 5:13 PM in response to fpecka

OSX is clearly having trouble writing to the drive. 😟


Try different port(s), cable(s), and combinations of them (a plug that works fine in one port may not make good contact in another). Be sure all connections are snug and secure.

If you have a multi-interface drive (such as USB and FireWire), try the other interface.


If all else fails, contact Toshiba or the vendor.

Dec 2, 2011 8:54 PM in response to Pondini

Thanks a lot. I'll give those a try. I'm not sure if it's an important fact or anything, but the drive is USB 3.0 (but it's supposed to be backwards compatible with USB 2.0). Has anyone heard if there are problems with either Time Machine and 3.0 devices, or just Macs and 3.0 devices in general?

Time Machine gives Backup Error after changing backup drives

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