Time machine keeps saying it's preparing and it's going on for ages, when it finally gets going there's only a couple of Gig to do but it's just taking forever. The drive is connected via USB and was OK till I went from OS 10.7.4 to 10.7.5.
iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.5), 3.4Ghz (16GB Ram) Intel Core i7
I've now noted that during the backup the icon still spins in the menu bar but the copied amount being written keeps pausing for long periods, the led light on the lacie drive also coincides with this and starts to flicker as soon as writing begins again. So it is writing small amounts say 150mb every 5 to 10 minutes.
Just an update on this.
I've raised a call on my Apple Care Warranty, they've been on the phone helping me with this and I'm now just waiting to see if Spotlight is the issue. It's now re-indexing as per instructions but this is going to take a while.
I'll post the results good or bad and hopefully this discussion may help someone with the same issue.
So my spotlight has been running all night and still says it needs 15 hours to index. I have a 1TB drive which has 851.57GB free. Seems a long time to index 115GB. Am awaiting a call back from Apple, More updates later.
Hi badga,
Have a look to this thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4324046 !!
The problem seems to be linked to Spotlight.
You might recover your Time Machine backup speed by deactivating Spotlight witht the following command in the Terminal:
sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist
To reactivate Spotlight use the following command in the Terminal:
sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist
Cheers.
Thanks Tobit,
I've disconnected any external drives and am just waiting for Spotlight to re-index the internal HD. I've cleared font, user and system caches just to help it along. Although at the current rate I think it will take quite some time. 25hrs was the last estimate. Apple have had quite a few calls about this so I'm also waiting to hear what they recommend. Seems like there's a Spotlight issue just with the internal HD let alone Time Machine.
;0)
Can you add to the following thread;
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4324046?answerId=19753775022#19753775022
Yep already done... thanks... what a nightmare update this is... 😠
The Terminal command to shut off Spotlight did the trick for me. Thanks! I hope Apple fixes this SOON!
Same problem here, writting to the backup disk is fine for the first half of the backup (about) and then it slows down to a crawl, writting data every couple of minutes, maybe 10mg every 5 minutes... Takes forever to backup!
problem solved see below.
The simple solution for me was to restore the whole system from Time Machine.
Here's how.
Make sure you copy all the stuff that you haven't backed up manually to a spare drive.
This fix will restore everything including 10.7.4 and wipe out all unbacked up data.
Hold command R down and reboot with your time machine drive connected.
You'll then have a few options to restore, so select time machine, find the file in the list that is prior to 10.7.5 (it shows this in the listing)
Hit restore and depending on how much data, there will be an estimated time displayed. In my case about 45 minutes.
Spotlight is now fine and re-indexing within Minutes
Time Machine is back to normal and does not Hang.
I hope this is of help to someone if you're in a fix and as frustrated as I was.
Problem now solved till Apple do a better update.
if you don't fancy the restore option above here's how to disable spolight.
Key in the following.
sudo mdutil -a -i off
You will be prompted to enter your admin password.
Hit return spotlight will stop.
If you want to enable it again, return to Terminal and type:
sudo mdutil -a -i on
You will be prompted to enter your admin password.
Hit return spotlight will start.
Just want to add myself to the list with the Time Machine slowdown/stall issues.
I used a program called Spotless to turn off Spotlight indexing and Time Machine is working fine.
I have two MacBook Pros (10.7.5) and both were affected.
I like to avoid using sudo commands but thanks to those who posted Terminal commands to turn off Spotlight.
I thought I was going crazy last night. Hope Apple fixes problem quickly.
I recommend that we all send feedback to Apple about this so that they make sure to fix it:
Already sent my comments and have an active case number from my initial call.Although I'm happy back on 10.7.4. and will stay there till I decide to go up the mountain with the other cat which also has dirty paws... meooowww 😝
I am surprised they haven't disabled the update yet as this problem is getting bigger by the day as more people update. 😠
Reindexing won't help--i've tried it twice
don't bother doing anything in 10.7.5..... best thing to do is restore from TM prior to your update... 🙂
Time Machine Slow on Lion 10.7.5
