Time Capsule backing up too much?

Thanks. I shall load the widget, etc later when I have a bit more time - possibly tonight UK time.

In the meantime, I have Parallels Desktop 7 installed, but it is not active at present and I use it but rarely. Would that be the problem?

I do run Folding@Home 24/7 and that saves its work data every 15 minutes, but they are small files as far as I am aware. I also have a few apps open most of the time, namely iCal, Mail, Adium, SKYPE, Meteorologist and Sophos Anti-virus.

The current Back-up, which is running now, shows 115.4MB rather than the 9GB it was showing yesterday - on more than one occasion. I'll check later as and when I see a large back-up starting, but I think it was reporting approximately 1,500 files for each incremental back-up yesterday.

I'll post more detail later when the app has had a while to run, but I thought I'd report back the first thing that looks odd to me.

The iMac has been unattended for a few hours this morning so, to my mind there should be little if anything to back-up, yet the first back-up after I returned home reported the log excerpt...

Bulk setting Spotlight attributes failed.

Copied 32435 files (8.5 GB) from volume ...

I presume that this is something to do with Spotlight?

When that back-up has finished it launched immedialtely in to another one for which there was no Spotlight error message but ...

Copied 21913 files (620.8 MB) from volume ...

An additional 21913 files immediately after a large back-up.

Even when I'm up to the eyeballs I can't work that fast!

I shall report back this evening, UK time, with a more detailed log and/or comments.

I'll check back here anyway just in case someone has posted the solution!

Thanks for the advice to date.

OK, it's been running whilst the machine has been unattended this afternoon and there are several logs. As the logs do not appear to be timed, I cannot tell when these were run - there are a number of backups with varying numbers of files and total size.

However, as I'm not sure what I'm looking for or where I should look, I post a couple below, one where there is 10GB of backup and another when around only 107MB.

The third log below is that which recorded the first back-up since I came home. It took some 35 to 40 minutes.

The logs below indicates that each back-up takes plae in two parts, one followed immediatly by the other as evidenced by the two file counts and size requests.

What appears to be common between them is the line: Bulk setting Spotlight attributes failed.

The Time Capsule is called Sue and the iMac Grumpy (don't ask! 😉 )

The current System preference indicates the following staistics:

Oldest back-up: Yesterday 06:00

Latest back-up: Today 18:26

Next back-up: Today, 18:58

Any further advice would be very much appreciated.

31562 files (10.2 GB) followed immediately by 21050 files (8.5 GB)

Starting standard backup

Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://Roy@Sue.local/Data

Mounted network destination using URL: afp://Roy@Sue.local/Data

QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN

Disk image /Volumes/Data/Roy’s iMac.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups

Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb

No pre-backup thinning needed: 11.02 GB requested (including padding), 1.16 TB available

Bulk setting Spotlight attributes failed.

Copied 31562 files (10.2 GB) from volume Grumpy.

No pre-backup thinning needed: 10.83 GB requested (including padding), 1.16 TB available

Copied 21050 files (8.5 GB) from volume Grumpy.

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.

21914 files (107.7 MB) folloowed immediatly by 21914 files (107.7 MB)

Starting standard backup

Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://Roy@Sue.local/Data

Mounted network destination using URL: afp://Roy@Sue.local/Data

QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN

Disk image /Volumes/Data/Roy’s iMac.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups

Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb

No pre-backup thinning needed: 1.63 GB requested (including padding), 1.15 TB available

Bulk setting Spotlight attributes failed.

Copied 32454 files (655.1 MB) from volume Grumpy.

No pre-backup thinning needed: 937.5 MB requested (including padding), 1.15 TB available

Copied 21914 files (107.7 MB) from volume Grumpy.

Starting post-backup thinning

Deleted backup /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb/Roy’s iMac/2012-07-09-162608: 1.15 TB now available

Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed

Backup completed successfully.

Ejected Time Machine disk image.

Ejected Time Machine network volume.

32473 files (610.2 MB) followed immediately by 21921 files (557.7 MB)

Starting standard backup

Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://Roy@Sue.local/Data

Mounted network destination using URL: afp://Roy@Sue.local/Data

QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN

Disk image /Volumes/Data/Roy’s iMac.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups

Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb

No pre-backup thinning needed: 1.52 GB requested (including padding), 1.15 TB available

Bulk setting Spotlight attributes failed.

Copied 32473 files (610.2 MB) from volume Grumpy.

No pre-backup thinning needed: 1.44 GB requested (including padding), 1.15 TB available

Copied 21921 files (557.7 MB) from volume Grumpy.

Starting post-backup thinning

Deleted backup /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb/Roy’s iMac/2012-07-09-170300: 1.15 TB now available

Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed

Backup completed successfully.

Ejected Time Machine disk image.

Ejected Time Machine network volume.

By a strange coincidence, I have just run TechTool Pro's full suite of tests and it reported no major errors.

The iMac has just been away to AppleCare for a new video card and LCD (under AppleCare contract) and I was just checking it out. They, of course, gave it a full health check as part of their repair procedures so I am (or was, until you sewed the seeds of doubt!) confident that all is well. I doubt, though, that they checked out the software in any great detail.

TT Pro did take exception to around 20 png files which it claimed were in an unsupported format but I took no concern from that as they are just screenshots and a few application logos as far as I can tell.

Should I be worried, or are those as I assumed a red herring?

Based on your theory so far (unless the missing Pondini, or anyone else, can come up with a better suggestion) I shall first run the full OnyX suite and, if thatbdoesn't improve things, do an archive and install and see if that cures something.

I have now decided to do the Snow Leopard equivalent of an archive and install. That is partly because of this Time Machine problem but also because TechTool Pro has been consistently unable to instal an eDrive and there has so far been no specific cause for that failure either. Micromat had been on the case but have failed to find any cause and, to be frank, I'd given up trying!

I'll do the archive and instal tonight and then run the 6.8 combo updater and any subsequent Software Updates which are available.

That should remove any doubt as to possible system software corruption and the recent AppleCare checks before returning the iMac to me should have removed any doubt about hardware.

I shall then monitor the Time Machine widget for a while, and for that matter try to instal the eDrive again, and report back - for good or ll!

I'm still open to suggestions, though, as I am a bit of a technophobe!