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Level 1

51 points

Time Capsule causes iMac to FREEZE

My Time Capsule is DIRECTLY WIRED to my iMac via an ETL VERIFIED phone line cable (I don't like wireless it's too slow and unreliable). Even so, at the end of a backup everything freezes and I can't get the iMac to re-start or shut down in the proper way - I even left it overnight to run it's course - but it still remained in a freeze. Also, the little clock symbol seems to be revolving more slowly than normal. The only way I can get it all working normally again is to use the iMac power switch to shut it all down. As we all know, this method of shutting down is not desirable.

When I'm then able to look in the Time Machine Preferences, there's no information about the Oldest and Latest backups as in this screen shot:-

Can anyone out here advise me, please?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Jul 1, 2012 3:36 AM

32 replies

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Jul 17, 2012 9:32 AM in response to makey

You're still not getting all the messages.

Try the widget in #A1 of Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

If for some reason that doesn't work, the pink box shows how to use the Console app to see the messages directly.

makey Author

Level 1

51 points

Jul 18, 2012 7:44 AM in response to Pondini

I can't find any 'pink box' where will I find it? - I've looked in Console and in Time Machine Buddy but no pink box. Here's the list I found in TM Buddy (started 15:02 UK time):-

Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD

Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:kFSEDBEventFlagMustScanSubDirs|kFSEDBEventFlagReasonEventDBUntrustable|

Everything is still the same as before, the last line of the list stops it going any further. I've just had another look at TM Buddy and another piece of info. is showing:-

Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD

Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:kFSEDBEventFlagMustScanSubDirs|kFSEDBEventFlagReasonEventDBUntrustable|

No pre-backup thinning needed: 26.62 GB requested (including padding), 34.00 GB available

If lack of space on the Capsule is the problem, surely it's supposed to delete old back ups to make room. Or is it the 'deep traversal' etc. that's the real problem? It's now 15:44 UK time and the list is still the same.

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Jul 18, 2012 9:32 AM in response to makey

makey wrote:

I can't find any 'pink box' where will I find it?

In #A1 of Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD

Node requires deep traversal:/reason:kFSEDBEventFlagMustScanSubDirs|kFSEDBEventFlagReasonEventDBUntrustable|

The "deep traversal" (where TM has to compare every file on your system to the backups) will take a while -- the more files you have, the longer it takes, especially if you're connected wirelessly.

Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD

Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:kFSEDBEventFlagMustScanSubDirs|kFSEDBEventFlagReasonEventDBUntrustable|

No pre-backup thinning needed: 26.62 GB requested (including padding), 34.00 GB available

That means the deep traversal completed, and there's enough room on the TC.

There's still some preparation required, which will take a while for 26 GB of data; and you won't see anything else until the actual copying gets started. Then you'll see "xxx GB of yyy GB" on the Time Machine Preferences window and/or if you click the TM icon in your menubar.

Unless there's a problem, you won't see any more messages in the log until it's done copying; then there's a message about how much was actually copying, and TM will probably make a second "pass" to catch up with changes made during the first one.

A 26 GB backup will probably take a couple of hours or so wirelessly, and somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour if you're connected via Ethernet cable.

makey Author

Level 1

51 points

Jul 19, 2012 1:54 AM in response to Pondini

You say between 30 mins & 1 hour vie Ethernet cable but mine is STILL running now, since it began yesterday at 15:02. It's now 09:33 today (about 18 hours of running!) The TM prefs window is now showing: Available 7.7 GB of 463.8 GB, and backing up 16 KB of 67.2 MB. I looked in the TM and it shows: Sat 30 June (last successful completed back up), then YESTERDAY at 21:25, then TODAY at 04:37. Here's the latest info. from TM Buddy:-

Starting standard backup

Mounted network destination using URL: afp://(account)%20(account)@(our)-Time-Capsule.local/(account)%20(account)%20Ti me%20Capsule

Backup destination mounted at path: /Volumes/(our) Time Capsule

Disk image /Volumes/(our) Time Capsule/(our)_002241250fc6.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Backup of (our)computer

Backing up to: /Volumes/Backup of (our)/Backups.backupdb

No pre-backup thinning needed: 275.1 MB requested (including padding), 7.72 GB available

CoreEndianFlipData: error -4940 returned for rsrc type open (id 128, length 12, native = no)

CoreEndianFlipData: error -4940 returned for rsrc type FREF (id 128, length 7, native = no)

CoreEndianFlipData: error -4940 returned for rsrc type open (id 128, length 12, native = no)

Copied 70994 files (1.7 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.

No pre-backup thinning needed: 365.8 MB requested (including padding), 7.71 GB available

Backup destination alias resolved to path: /Volumes/(our) Time Capsule

Disk image /Volumes/(our) Time Capsule/(our)computer_002241250fc6.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Backup of (our)computer

makey Author

Level 1

51 points

Jul 19, 2012 2:39 AM in response to Pondini

It's happened again! The whole computer became frozen and I couldn't do anything, so I was forced to use the power button. I've just had another look at the TM Buddy and it's still the same as it was in my last post.

This is what happens every time I try to back up it runs for many hours (18 hours this time) and then it all siezes up! I can't go on like this, it looks like there is some big problem.

I tried to look in the TM in the dock and it took so long that I thought everything had siezed again, but eventually it loaded - it then took forever to get out of it again (cancel). I've now turned it off again so that I can use the computer normally. Unless this can be resolved I will have to abandon TM/TC and go back to conventional back ups to my exterior firewire drive (these are so quick).

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Jul 19, 2012 7:40 AM in response to makey

makey wrote:

. . .

Backup destination mounted at path: /Volumes/(our) Time Capsule

Disk image /Volumes/(our) Time Capsule/(our)_002241250fc6.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Backup of (our)computer

There's a chance some of those names (of all things!) might be a problem. Check yours, per #C9 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting, and change any that are too long or have special characters.

CoreEndianFlipData: error -4940 returned for rsrc type open (id 128, length 12, native = no)

CoreEndianFlipData: error -4940 returned for rsrc type FREF (id 128, length 7, native = no)

CoreEndianFlipData: error -4940 returned for rsrc type open (id 128, length 12, native = no)

Those indicate you've got one or more files from a different processor type (ie, PPC vs. Intel) or OS, that didn't get converted properly. Unfortuately, the message doesn't show the name! But that's not causing much, if any, of the slowdown.

Otherwise, the messages don't indicate any problems, other than the time required. Try the things in the green box in #D2 of Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

makey Author

Level 1

51 points

Jul 20, 2012 6:55 AM in response to Pondini

I've looked at, and checked, all the Troubleshooting items (C9 and D2) and nothing has changed since the last fully completed backup in June.

Re: the Anti Virus software, I do have Sophos but both TM and Backups.backupdb are in the exclusions list (I've been using Sophos since long before any problems, so I can't see how that is to blame).

Yesterday I ran 'Verify Disk' on my internal HD (quite quick) AND the Time Capsule (which took about 2 hours) and they both were given the green 'seems to be OK' message.

I still don't understand why, after running for 18 hours, it completed 2 backups - 18th July and yesterday - it then carried on a bit before it decided to freeze everything!

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Jul 20, 2012 7:40 AM in response to makey

How old is your Time Capsule? It may be beginning to fail. 😟

What else is on your network? I saw a post the other day where a malfunctioning network printer was "flooding" the (wired) network, causing all sorts of odd behavior. It's a long shot, but might be worth a try to turn off/disconnect evrything else.

Do you have access to an external HD you can try backing-up to? If you have the same problems there, we know it's not the TC.

If not, please consider getting one. Relying on a single set of backups is a bit risky, and especially if you're having trouble with the main ones. See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #27 for details and some recommendations. (If you decide to do that, of course, first try it with Time Machine to see if the problem is with the TC.)

Another long shot is, something damaged in your installation of OSX. You might try installing the "combo" update, per Installing the ''combo'' update and/or Reinstalling OSX. If that doesn't help, installing a fresh version of OSX (that won't disturb anything else), per the same article, might help.

makey Author

Level 1

51 points

Jul 21, 2012 6:04 AM in response to Pondini

My Apple Store order history only goes back 18 months, but I would guess my Time Capsule is about 3 years old. I have nothing else on the network and I've tried unplugging everything except keyboard & mouse. It's alway the same (several backups have completed over the last few days and are available to look at in TM) then it 'hangs' on 'Finishing Backup' - after each completed backup - as the latest one shown here:-

Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD

Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:kFSEDBEventFlagMustScanSubDirs|kFSEDBEventFlagReasonEventDBUntrustable|

No pre-backup thinning needed: 384.3 MB requested (including padding), 7.66 GB available

Copied 2132 files (49.2 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.

No pre-backup thinning needed: 338.5 MB requested (including padding), 7.66 GB available

Copied 1051 files (11.0 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.

Also, the TM Preferences pane never shows 'Oldest Backup:' or 'Latest Backup:' - only as here:-

I do have 2 external firewire (bootable) HDs which I back up to once a day (using 'SuperDuper'), and alternating bewteen them. They never have any problems - only 50 or so minutes for an including 'Repair Permissions' backup and without Permissions they only take 10-15 minutes. It does seem this proves the problem is the TM Capsule? Do you think this is the case?

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Jul 21, 2012 7:48 AM in response to makey

makey wrote:

My Apple Store order history only goes back 18 months, but I would guess my Time Capsule is about 3 years old.

See what the model number (on the bottom, in very tiny type, along with the serial number and other things) is.

The chart on this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Capsule_(Apple) will tell roughly when it was made.

Also, the TM Preferences pane never shows 'Oldest Backup:' or 'Latest Backup:' - only as here:-

If it's stuck in "Finishing backup," it likely either a problem deleting an old backup, or an index problem. There should be more messages, after the second "copied" message, that may provide a better clue, something like this (and possibly with some "indexing" messages before the "Ejected" ones):

I do have 2 external firewire (bootable) HDs which I back up to once a day (using 'SuperDuper'), and alternating bewteen them. They never have any problems - only 50 or so minutes for an including 'Repair Permissions' backup and without Permissions they only take 10-15 minutes.

Yes, backups (and anything else) to a F/W drive will be far faster than to a Time Capsule's internal HD, even via Ethernet. Plus, SuperDuper uses entirely different software from Time Machine.

It does seem this proves the problem is the TM Capsule? Do you think this is the case?

Possibly. Can you do a Time Machine backup to one of those drives, or a different one?

makey Author

Level 1

51 points

Jul 22, 2012 4:36 AM in response to Pondini

Since my last post an amazing thing - it all seems to be working OK! Yesterday it ran six 'normal'? backups with no sign of any "UUID" or "deep traversal" etc. The only difference is that, instead of using the 'Back Up Now' option, I just left TM switched ON and continued working while it started up at its next alloted times.

Only the lack of Oldest/Latest info. remains to be sorted out.

The Time Capsule was made in 2008 February 29 but I wonder if its age ever was the problem. Have you ever come across this particular problem, what do you make of it?

Here's the latest reading from TM buddy (Today at 12:24:44 BST):-

Starting standard backup

Backup destination alias resolved to path: /Volumes/annika trev's Time Capsule

Disk image /Volumes/annika trev's Time Capsule/AnnikaTrevscomputer_002241250fc6.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Backup of AnnikaTrevscomputer

Backing up to: /Volumes/Backup of AnnikaTrevscomputer/Backups.backupdb

No pre-backup thinning needed: 530.7 MB requested (including padding), 7.66 GB available

Copied 2619 files (158.8 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.

No pre-backup thinning needed: 340.3 MB requested (including padding), 7.66 GB available

Copied 614 files (16 KB) from volume Macintosh HD.

Starting post-backup thinning

No post-back up thinning needed: no expired backups exist

Backup completed successfully.

Ejected Time Machine disk image.

Ejected Time Machine network volume.

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Jul 22, 2012 7:01 AM in response to makey

makey wrote:

. . .

Only the lack of Oldest/Latest info. remains to be sorted out.

See #B3 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

The Time Capsule was made in 2008 February 29 but I wonder if its age ever was the problem. Have you ever come across this particular problem, what do you make of it?

So it's over 4 years old. While many live longer than that, a fair number begin having trouble at 3-4 years of age. There's really no predicting it.

Here's the latest reading from TM buddy (Today at 12:24:44 BST):-

All normal. How long did it take?

makey Author

Level 1

51 points

Jul 22, 2012 10:30 AM in response to Pondini

It took just 06:36 seconds. They all took just a few seconds. They run a back up, then start up again to do a few more KB, which I presume is because I'm doing a bit more minor work, then end with a successful finish.

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Jul 22, 2012 10:46 AM in response to makey

Yeah, that's not a bad time.

The problem might have been one or more old backups it was having trouble deleteing, but finally managed to get rid of.

Keep an eye on it, but it does look like it's sorted out. 🙂

makey Author

Level 1

51 points

Jul 23, 2012 3:12 AM in response to Pondini

At last, the final problem item - 'Oldest/Latest back up' - has all come back as normal, after following B3 in the Time Machine - Troubleshooting article.

It all seems to be working properly now after following all your advice.

Thank you very much for your patience and help.

Time Capsule causes iMac to FREEZE