Time Machine errors

Question

Level 1

8 points

Time Machine errors

For the last ten days, I have been getting the following error message:

The backup disk image “/Volumes/Tom de Beyer's Time Capsule-1/Tom de Beyer’s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle” could not be accessed (error 111).

Latest successful backup: 11-12-13 at 1:08 PM

Then when checking the log messages, I get:

Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://Tom%20de%20Beyer@Tom-de-Beyers-Time-Capsule.local/Tom%20de%20Beyer's%20Ti me%20Capsule

Mounted network destination at mountpoint: /Volumes/Tom de Beyer's Time Capsule-1 using URL: afp://Tom%20de%20Beyer@Tom-de-Beyers-Time-Capsule.local/Tom%20de%20Beyer's%20Ti me%20Capsule

QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN

Failed to mount disk image: Error Domain=com.apple.backupd.ErrorDomain Code=21 "The operation couldn’t be completed. (com.apple.backupd.ErrorDomain error 21.)" UserInfo=0x10a9499a0 {MessageParameters=(

Ejected Time Machine network volume.

Giving up after 3 retries.

When entering Time Machine, it hangs for a while after which I get the error:

The operation can’t be completed.

An unexpected error occurred (error code -6584).

My wife backs up her iMac on same time capsule and has no problems.

Any suggestions?

Posted on Dec 23, 2011 12:16 PM

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Answer 1

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Dec 23, 2011 5:59 PM in response to debeyt

Try re-selecting the TC in Time Machine Preferences.

If that doesn't help, the backups may be damaged. Try to Repair them, per #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

It's possible the name of the Time Capsule is at least part of the problem; it's not supposed to exceed 25 characters, and I count 26. Try renaming it, per #C9 in the same link.

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Answer 2

debeyt Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 23, 2011 7:34 PM in response to Pondini

I have done the re-selecting and the repair as per #A5. Neither made a difference. I have not tried #C9 as it would seem unlikely that suddenly the name would be problematic after three and a half years, especially as it seems not to have caused my wife's iMac backups any grief.

I have the feeling that the sparsebundle has become corrupted somehow. Can this sparsebundle be deleted without affecting my wifw's backups and any other data on this time capsule?

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Answer 3

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Dec 23, 2011 7:45 PM in response to debeyt

debeyt wrote:

I have done the re-selecting and the repair as per #A5. Neither made a difference.

Did the Repair say the backups ". . appear to be ok?" If so, they're probably not corrupted.

I have not tried #C9 as it would seem unlikely that suddenly the name would be problematic after three and a half years

Try it anyway. Sometimes it happens, and you need to rule out as many things as you can.

I have the feeling that the sparsebundle has become corrupted somehow.

Repair Disk should have found that. It's a long shot that there's damage it couldn't find, but anything's possible.

Can this sparsebundle be deleted without affecting my wifw's backups

Yes. See #Q5 in Using Time Machine with a Time Capsule.

But before deleting your backups, try:

Resetting Time Machine, per #A4 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

Resetting the TC, per http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3728

and any other data on this time capsule?

Having other data there, besides backups, will cause conflicts sooner or later. See #Q3 in the same link for an explanation and some possible workarounds.

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Answer 4

debeyt Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 23, 2011 8:11 PM in response to Pondini

I re-did the repair as per #A5 and this time I got the following message:

I assume that means I am up the creek without a paddle!!?

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Answer 5

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Dec 23, 2011 8:23 PM in response to debeyt

Ouch!

Odd that it didn't find that the first time!

It doesn't look good, but yes, your backups are all but unrecoverable. 😟

Your best bet is to delete the sparse bundle (per #Q5 in Using Time Machine with a Time Capsule), and let Time Machine start fresh (via Ethernet if at all possible).

How old is the TC? Keep an eye on it -- its possible this was caused by some software, power, or network glitch, but it's also possible the TC's HD is beginning to fail.

If it's under a year old, it's covered by warranty. If you bought AppleCare for a Mac within 2 years of the purchase of the TC, it's also covered, for 3 years.

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Answer 6

addesso

Level 1

8 points

Jan 7, 2012 5:01 PM in response to debeyt

I second renaming your Time Capsule disk, especially without the apostrophe. Had this same issue and Time Machine was able to find the drive immediately once I changed the name. It's probably not a bad idea to just avoid punctiation or any special characters.

And yes, it's a bit annoying as OSX will default the name of your Time Capsule disk that way. 😝

Not to make things more confusing, but sometimes it will work with special characters--mine was working fine for years, and even after the Lion upgrade. Then a week ago started getting the same issue all of a sudden.

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