Time machine backup disk full, won't backup

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Level 1

45 points

Time machine backup disk full, won't backup

My backup disk recently filled up. Now I get a message saying:

"Time Machine couldn’t complete the backup to "Backup disk." The backup disk ran out of space unexpectedly. Time Machine will try to make more space available by removing expired backups during the next scheduled backup."

When I then manually click on "Back up now", it runs fine. But then an hour later the same thing happens.

I thought that with a full backup disk, Time machine is supposed to automatically make space by dumping the oldest backup... Right????

My backup disk is 2TB, it is backing up a 750GB internal disk plus an external disk with about 250GB on it.

Thanks!

Dan

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Oct 20, 2012 10:42 PM

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Answer 1

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Oct 21, 2012 3:26 PM in response to DanK

Are you running VMWare, Parallels, or VirtualBox?

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Answer 2

DanK Author

Level 1

45 points

Oct 21, 2012 3:36 PM in response to Linc Davis

I have Parallels installed, but not actively running.

Would that make a difference?

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Answer 3

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Oct 21, 2012 4:32 PM in response to DanK

The virtualization software creates a large virtual-disk container that is constantly changing, so it has to be backed up every time Time Machine runs. That will quickly fill up any backup destination.

You should exclude the virtual-disk file(s) from your Time Machine backups. Click the Options button in the Time Machine preference pane. Back up the files on the virtual disk from within the guest OS, using a native backup application.

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Answer 4

DanK Author

Level 1

45 points

Oct 21, 2012 8:46 PM in response to Linc Davis

But would this be an issue if I don't have Parallels open and running (I don't usually, and don't now)?

Also, if the answer is yes, and it matters even if I am not running Parallels, then where do I find the virtual disk container?

If the answer is no, then any other ideas???

Thanks!

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Answer 5

DanK Author

Level 1

45 points

Oct 21, 2012 9:27 PM in response to DanK

More info: as the backup progresses, the amount shown as being backed up (i.e. the 1.25GB in "Backing up xxxMB of 1.25GB" starts growing. The "xxx" amount never catches up with it...

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Answer 6

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Oct 21, 2012 9:34 PM in response to DanK

If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator.

Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.

Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left.

Enter the word "Starting" (without the quotes) in the String Matching text field. You should now see log messages with the words "Starting * backup," where * represents any of the words "automatic," "manual," or "standard." Note the timestamp of the last such message. Clear the text field and scroll back in the log to that time. Post the messages timestamped from then until the end of the backup, or the end of the log if that's not clear.

Post the log text, please, not a screenshot. If there are runs of repeated messages, post only one example of each. Don't post many repetitions of the same message.

When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.

Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into a message.

Some personal information, such as the names of your files, may be included — edit that out, too, but don’t remove the context.

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Answer 7

Koop85

Level 1

0 points

Oct 21, 2012 9:39 PM in response to Linc Davis

hey linc davis. i have seen your posts on many topics. you seem to know a lot. was wondering if you could please help me out with an issue. i have pasted the link to my discussion below. it has to do with safari 6.0 on iphone.i would appreciate it. thanks.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4455963?answerId=20097296022#20097296022

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Answer 8

DanK Author

Level 1

45 points

Oct 21, 2012 10:19 PM in response to Linc Davis

10/22/12 12:51:25.611 AM com.apple.backupd[248]: Starting manual backup

10/22/12 12:51:25.722 AM sandboxd[273]: ([272]) mdworker(272) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ls.boxd

10/22/12 12:51:25.728 AM sandboxd[273]: ([271]) mdworker(271) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ls.boxd

10/22/12 12:51:25.861 AM com.apple.backupd[248]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Backup/Backups.backupdb

10/22/12 12:51:33.251 AM com.apple.backupd[248]: Using file event preflight for Macintosh HD

10/22/12 12:52:47.310 AM com.apple.backupd[248]: Will copy (1.16 GB) from Macintosh HD

10/22/12 12:52:48.436 AM com.apple.backupd[248]: Using file event preflight for WD Passport drive

10/22/12 12:52:48.437 AM com.apple.backupd[248]: Will copy (6 KB) from WD Passport drive

10/22/12 12:52:48.439 AM com.apple.backupd[248]: Found 3606 files (1.16 GB) needing backup

10/22/12 12:52:48.496 AM com.apple.backupd[248]: 3.62 GB required (including padding), 29.11 GB available

10/22/12 12:52:53.408 AM mdworker[282]: Unable to talk to lsboxd

10/22/12 12:52:53.638 AM mdworker[283]: Unable to talk to lsboxd

10/22/12 12:52:53.000 AM kernel[0]: Sandbox: sandboxd(284) deny mach-lookup com.apple.coresymbolicationd

10/22/12 12:52:54.113 AM sandboxd[284]: ([282]) mdworker(282) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ls.boxd

10/22/12 12:52:54.119 AM sandboxd[284]: ([283]) mdworker(283) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ls.boxd

10/22/12 12:54:56.497 AM mdworker[298]: Unable to talk to lsboxd

10/22/12 12:54:56.715 AM mdworker[297]: Unable to talk to lsboxd

10/22/12 12:54:56.000 AM kernel[0]: Sandbox: sandboxd(299) deny mach-lookup com.apple.coresymbolicationd

10/22/12 12:54:57.043 AM sandboxd[299]: ([298]) mdworker(298) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ls.boxd

10/22/12 12:54:57.108 AM sandboxd[299]: ([297]) mdworker(297) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ls.boxd

10/22/12 12:59:12.299 AM mdworker[318]: Unable to talk to lsboxd

10/22/12 12:59:12.524 AM mdworker[317]: Unable to talk to lsboxd

10/22/12 12:59:12.000 AM kernel[0]: Sandbox: sandboxd(319) deny mach-lookup com.apple.coresymbolicationd

10/22/12 12:59:14.647 AM sandboxd[319]: ([318]) mdworker(318) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ls.boxd

10/22/12 12:59:14.677 AM sandboxd[319]: ([317]) mdworker(317) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ls.boxd

10/22/12 1:02:43.439 AM CVMServer[118]: Check-in to the service com.apple.cvmsCompAgent_x86_64 failed. This is likely because you have either unloaded the job or the MachService has the ResetAtClose attribute specified in the launchd.plist. If present, this attribute should be removed.

10/22/12 1:02:47.655 AM CVMServer[118]: Check-in to the service com.apple.cvmsCompAgent_x86_64 failed. This is likely because you have either unloaded the job or the MachService has the ResetAtClose attribute specified in the launchd.plist. If present, this attribute should be removed.

10/22/12 1:02:57.453 AM PluginProcess[347]: Error loading /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/DVCPROHDAudio.plugin/Contents/MacOS/DVCPROHDAudio: dlopen(/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/DVCPROHDAudio.plugin/Contents/MacOS/DVCPROHD Audio, 262): no suitable image found. Did find:

/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/DVCPROHDAudio.plugin/Contents/MacOS/DVCPROHDAu dio: no matching architecture in universal wrapper

10/22/12 1:02:57.454 AM PluginProcess[347]: Cannot find function pointer NewPlugIn for factory C5A4CE5B-0BB8-11D8-9D75-0003939615B6 in CFBundle/CFPlugIn 0x7fada9c31ab0 </Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/DVCPROHDAudio.plugin> (bundle, not loaded)

10/22/12 1:02:58.847 AM WebProcess[337]: objc[337]: Object 0x7f9d8bc1c8e0 of class NSUserDefaults autoreleased with no pool in place - just leaking - break on objc_autoreleaseNoPool() to debug

10/22/12 1:03:28.573 AM mdworker[353]: Unable to talk to lsboxd

10/22/12 1:03:28.735 AM sandboxd[355]: ([353]) mdworker(353) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ls.boxd

10/22/12 1:03:28.769 AM mdworker[352]: Unable to talk to lsboxd

10/22/12 1:03:28.787 AM sandboxd[355]: ([352]) mdworker(352) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ls.boxd

10/22/12 1:03:29.000 AM kernel[0]: Sandbox: sandboxd(355) deny mach-lookup com.apple.coresymbolicationd

10/22/12 1:03:33.011 AM PluginProcess[360]: Error loading /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/DVCPROHDAudio.plugin/Contents/MacOS/DVCPROHDAudio: dlopen(/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/DVCPROHDAudio.plugin/Contents/MacOS/DVCPROHD Audio, 262): no suitable image found. Did find:

/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/DVCPROHDAudio.plugin/Contents/MacOS/DVCPROHDAu dio: no matching architecture in universal wrapper

10/22/12 1:03:33.012 AM PluginProcess[360]: Cannot find function pointer NewPlugIn for factory C5A4CE5B-0BB8-11D8-9D75-0003939615B6 in CFBundle/CFPlugIn 0x7fd77a8283f0 </Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/DVCPROHDAudio.plugin> (bundle, not loaded)

10/22/12 1:03:52.662 AM coreservicesd[63]: Can't change an application into stopped state for app App:"Console" [ 0x0/0x4004] @ 0x0x7fbc6a43a2e0 because it's already been started.

10/22/12 1:03:52.776 AM WindowServer[98]: kCGErrorNotImplemented: receive_notification: CPXSetEventFilter failed

10/22/12 1:08:10.762 AM mdworker[377]: Unable to talk to lsboxd

10/22/12 1:08:10.763 AM mdworker[376]: Unable to talk to lsboxd

10/22/12 1:08:11.000 AM kernel[0]: Sandbox: sandboxd(378) deny mach-lookup com.apple.coresymbolicationd

10/22/12 1:08:11.661 AM sandboxd[378]: ([376]) mdworker(376) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ls.boxd

10/22/12 1:08:11.680 AM sandboxd[378]: ([377]) mdworker(377) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ls.boxd

10/22/12 1:09:19.000 AM kernel[0]: (default pager): [KERNEL]: ps_allocate_cluster - send HI_WAT_ALERT

10/22/12 1:09:19.000 AM kernel[0]: macx_swapon SUCCESS

10/22/12 1:15:09.167 AM SystemUIServer[180]: *** WARNING: -[NSImage compositeToPoint:operation:fraction:] is deprecated in MacOSX 10.8 and later. Please use -[NSImage drawAtPoint:fromRect:operation:fraction:] instead.

10/22/12 1:15:09.167 AM SystemUIServer[180]: *** WARNING: -[NSImage compositeToPoint:fromRect:operation:fraction:] is deprecated in MacOSX 10.8 and later. Please use -[NSImage drawAtPoint:fromRect:operation:fraction:] instead.

10/22/12 1:15:44.503 AM com.apple.backupd[248]: Cancellation timed out - exiting

10/22/12 1:16:16.019 AM mdworker[403]: Unable to talk to lsboxd

10/22/12 1:16:16.022 AM mdworker[404]: Unable to talk to lsboxd

10/22/12 1:16:16.000 AM kernel[0]: Sandbox: sandboxd(405) deny mach-lookup com.apple.coresymbolicationd

10/22/12 1:16:16.990 AM sandboxd[405]: ([403]) mdworker(403) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ls.boxd

10/22/12 1:16:17.010 AM sandboxd[405]: ([404]) mdworker(404) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ls.boxd

10/22/12 1:18:14.578 AM quicklookd[414]: [QL] Can't get plugin bundle info at file://localhost/Applications/Keynote.app/Contents/Library/QuickLook/iWork.qlge nerator/

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Answer 9

DanK Author

Level 1

45 points

Oct 21, 2012 10:23 PM in response to DanK

Linc Davis:

Note that the amount being backed up started growing. It went from 1.28GB to over 10GB. At that point I stopped the backup. Probably at around 1:15.

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Answer 10

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Oct 22, 2012 9:25 AM in response to DanK

Boot into Recovery (command-R at startup), launch Disk Utility, select your startup volume, and run Repair Disk (not Repair Permissions.) If any problems are found, repeat. Do the same with the backup volume (this may take many hours.) Then reboot as usual.

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Answer 11

DanK Author

Level 1

45 points

Oct 23, 2012 7:43 AM in response to Linc Davis

Update:

In addition to the internal 750 GB drive, I have a fairly new external 1TB drive attached. Yesterday I demounted the external drive, ran a backup on just the internal drive (it took a couple hours and backed up ~250 GB), and then remounted the external drive and ran another backup.

Everything seems to be working okay now!

Thanks for the help, Linc.

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Answer 12

rhjph

Level 1

19 points

Oct 23, 2012 10:06 AM in response to DanK

There is a long and continuing thread on this, on this forum, with Pondini assisting (and whose web-site you should investigate). It is a known, and currently unresolved, problem, which may, in your case, re-appear.

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Answer 13

DanK Author

Level 1

45 points

Oct 23, 2012 11:15 AM in response to rhjph

Hi rhjph,

The thread and problem you are talking about, is it specifically on the error message I got, or on the issue of the "growing" amount being backed up, or on backing up an external drive? Or some combination of these?

Do you know the link?

Thanks!

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Answer 14

rhjph

Level 1

19 points

Oct 23, 2012 2:42 PM in response to DanK

The growing amount and the error message. This is one such thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4171280?answerId=19166328022#19166328022. This is another: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4155485?answerId=20091908022#20091908022&ac_cid=tw123456#20091908

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Answer 15

Oct 30, 2012 5:45 PM in response to Linc Davis

THANK YOU! I just excluded my VMWare Fusion virtual machine from my backup and I had the fastest, smallest backup that I've had in over 3 years of running Time Machine. I wish I'd known this a long time ago!

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