Time Machine causes freeze on MacBook

Question

Level 1

7 points

Time Machine causes freeze on MacBook

Hi folks. I'm using a mid-2010 MacBook, running OS 10.7.2 (actually, just upgraded to 10.7.3—maybe that will actually solve the problem, but until then...). I've never had a problem with the laptop at all, until a couple days ago.

Just in the last week, my MacBook has started freezing during the automatic Time Machine backup. I back up to a 500 GB external hard drive, connected via USB. Nothing's changed with that set-up recently. The only thing that has happened is that the disk has filled up, so that Time Machine is now deleting older backups when it creates new ones. But that shouldn't be a problem, right?

The first couple of times the problem occurred, I was using Pages, and I'd get the spinning beach ball. At that point, I would be able to switch apps using the dock, and I could even use apps other than Pages, but I couldn't click into the Pages document or edit it in any way. Time Machine was stalled as well. The problem seemed to be fatal. I couldn't force quit either Pages or the Time Machine back up, and eventually I just had to hold down the Power button to shut down the computer.

The last couple times it's happened, it's had other effects. The most recent time, I didn't see the beach ball—my screen was just completely frozen (with the dock visible—I keep it invisible), and I couldn't make any open apps work. Again, I had to force the computer to shut down.

Currently, I have Time Machine turned off. Like I said, I just installed 10.7.3, but I don't know if there's anything in there that would apply to this issue.

I've read some community threads about Time Machine related freezes, but none seemed to speak directly to my problem.

Any advice?

MacBook (13-inch Mid 2010), Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Feb 2, 2012 8:03 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 2, 2012 7:13 PM in response to Kevin Maness

I am having the same problem with a brand new Macbook Pro (purchased Jan. 2012). I backup to a TimeCapsule. I didn't have any trouble doing the initial backup, which was huge. But now the incremental backups are hanging the machine. I get so hung, that force quit doesn't work, all applications are hung. I have to reboot. Since this started, I cannot complete a backup. It crashes every time. The TimeCapsule is nowhere near full.

I scheduled an appointment with the Genius Bar for tomorrow. I will let you know if in fact they are geniuses.

I had the problem on 10.7.2 and after I updated to 10.7.3.

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Answer 2

Feb 2, 2012 7:21 PM in response to Mr. Marks

I just found another thread that indicates Sophos AntiVirus On Access scanning may be the culprit. I am using Sophos (because there are Windows ********* on my work network). I added the Time Machine Volume to the exclusion list. So far it is backing up without crashing. It has 30 GB to go. Will let you know if this fixed my issue.

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Answer 3

Feb 2, 2012 8:27 PM in response to Mr. Marks

Thank you very much! I have had this problem for quite a while, since 7.0 I think. I was blaming it on various programs that I use - I thought it might have had something to do with the automatic state-saving and apps resume in Lion. I didn't think of Sophos Antivirus. (I use my laptop on a campus network.) So I've also added the Time Machine volume to my exclusion list. We'll see...

Space on the Time Machine drive wasn't an issue - I'm only using 500 MB on a fairly new 1.5 GB drive.

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Answer 4

Feb 2, 2012 11:47 PM in response to Community User

Happy to report that in my case the Sophos seems to have been the issue. I have gone through several Time Machine backups without freezing.

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Answer 5

Kevin Maness Author

Level 1

7 points

Feb 3, 2012 4:02 AM in response to Mr. Marks

I saw that Sophos solution in a lot of the older posts about freezing during Time Machine backups.

But I don't use Sophos.

I'm wondering if there might be a problem with my external HD. I tried Disk First Aid, and it didn't find anything to repair. Then I erased the disk and started all over again. Time Machine did the first backup fine, and apparently it did a few more automatic backups over night, but this morning it's freezing up again on backup.

I've noticed that I'm sometimes getting a message that says my disk was ejected improperly—this despite the fact that I haven't ejected the disk. So it seems to be ejecting itself...improperly, of course.

So, I'm still not sure what's going on, but I'm beginning to suspect it's a hardware issue.

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Answer 6

Kevin Maness Author

Level 1

7 points

Feb 3, 2012 10:53 AM in response to Kevin Maness

Man, I'm still having a heck of a time, here. I know this doesn't seem machine-logical, but the problem seems to be getting worse; it's spreading. Time Machine still seems to be at the heart of the matter, though.

For instance, just now, I tried to go into System Preferences and turn Time Machine off, and at some point after the Time Machine preferences window opened, System Preferences and the Finder froze ("not responsing").

I need to talk to Apple support, I guess. I just need to find the time.

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Answer 7

Feb 3, 2012 11:35 AM in response to Kevin Maness

Try using the Time Machine preferences when the drive is not connected. If it doesn't freeze up, that helps narrow it to the drive. Then, borrow a drive from someone and try to use it as a back up. If it works, then you can be pretty sure it is the drive.

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Answer 8

Kevin Maness Author

Level 1

7 points

Feb 3, 2012 12:36 PM in response to Mr. Marks

Yeah, that seems reasonable. After some shutting down and restarting, I got Time Machine turned off. Next is experimenting with a different HD.

Weirdly, it seems that Time Machine sometimes works. There are hourly updates that were created when I wasn't at my computer. Maybe there's something about Time Machine updating WHILE I'm doing something on the computer?

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Answer 9

Feb 6, 2012 3:51 AM in response to Mr. Marks

Looks like adding the Time Machine volume to my Sophos exclusion list has fixed my problem. It hasn't recurred since, and it was happening about once a day. It certainly didn't freeze during every Time Machine backup, only sometimes.

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