How to convert case-sensitive to extended journal format

It there a way to convert/remove case sensitive formatting from TC?

I appreciate that I could simply reformat TC to extended journal format but this would presumably erase all my backup data.

Actually no, I don't think you can.. the TC is formatted by internal controls.. disk utility cannot mount a network drive although you can mount the sparse bundle and then change it.

http://pondini.org/TM/A8.html

Personally I would leave well alone. The fact that the backup is case sensitive even if the original is not can be worked around if it becomes an issue.

http://pondini.org/TM/E7.html

You can also just restore to a second hard disk and copy manually the files you need.. changing case as you go, on the real file not the backup.

RossM wrote:

I have two apple computers (extended journal format) that have been backed up via a time capsule. I have just noticed that the TC is formatted as case-sensitive. I do not know why case-sensitive.

That's Apple's default, and 99% of the time, is not a problem. The 1% (actually, it's probably much less), involves restoring selected items where the capitalization of file or folder names has been changed. See #E7 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting for details.

That's done in case you want to back up a case-sensitive volume; if the default were case-ignorant, you couldn't.

It there a way to convert/remove case sensitive formatting from TC?

No. You can change the case-sensitivity of the sparse bundle containing your backups (not the entire HD), but that requires erasing the contents. See #A8 in the above link.

RossM wrote:

So I guess my choice is to "leave well alone" as Pondini suggests and accept the fact that cloning TC onto HDD has now formatted my new HDD as case-sensititive.

Actually, you may have two choices, depending on how you're going to be backing-up to the new HD:

Your best bet, by far, is to back up to it directly, rather than connecting it to the TC. That's much faster and more reliable. If so:

* Leave the TC backups alone. Reformat the HD as case-ignorant and let Time Machine start fresh on it. You can always see and restore from the old ones via the Browse... option, per Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #17.

* Format the HD as case-sensitive and copy the backups from the TC to it. But don't copy the whole sparse bundle; copy the Backups.backupdb folder from the sparse bundle to the top level of the HD. (Sparse bundles are used only for network backups.) See #18 in the FAQ; you'll need the 4th procedure (copy network backups to be used locally.

But if you're going to connect the HD to the TC and back up to it that way, it doesn't matter how you format the HD, since the backups must be in a sparse bundle, that has its own format. Two choices for that:

* Leave the TC backups alone. Connect the HD to the TC and select it as the TM destination, and Let Time Machine start fresh on it. You can always see and restore from the old ones via the Browse... option, as above. (There is a way to speed up the first backup; see the blue box in #Q2 of Using Time Machine with a Time Capsule.)

* Copy ("Archive") the TC's internal disk to the external HD, per the green box in #Q6 of the same article. Then select the external as your Time Machine destination via Time Machine Preferences.

Is this simply deferring a problem issue to another time (aagh)? Or to somehow try and remove this inconsistency and remove case-sensitive formatting from all tech items, even if this might mean reformatting and losing old backup data?

No. There's not really a problem, unless you change the case of file/folder names and try to restore the old ones to the same place via the TM browser, per the link in my earlier post. That's the only possible downside.

Does Time Machine require case-sensitive formatting on its destination drive?

No. It's the default, but case-ignorant is fine, unless you ever want to add a case-sensitive volume. Then you're in a pickle.

Or does Time Capsule only function witih case-sensitive formatting?

No. The TC's actual disk is case-ignorant; it's only the Time Machine sparse bundle that's case-sensitive by default.

The benefit of case-sensitive formatting as Apple default seems rather unclear to me

It's the default only for Time Machine backups. Everything else defaults to case-ignorant.

The advantage is, once you've been backing-up your internal HD for weeks, months, or years, and want to add a case-sensitive external HD to be backed-up, you can. If the backups are case-ignorant, you can't.