Time Machine not backing up all my files

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Time Machine not backing up all my files

Recently installed a new hard drive in my iMac. I restored the hard drive from my latest Time Machine backup and everything went fine except a few albums were missing from iTunes. The albums were still in iTunes, but the files werent on the hard drive so iTunes asked me to locate them. They weren't where they should be so I checked the Time Machine backup and sure enough, all those albums werent on the backup. So I downloaded them all again and put them back into iTunes and they are now there and iTunes is playing them fine. But for some reason, in my newest backups, those particular albums are still not being backed up. I have restarted my computer and erased the Time Machine backup and had it backup everything again but no luck. It just will not backup these certain albums. Its almost like iTunes is hiding them or something, very strange because Time Machine seems to have backed up every other file on my computer. Any ideas what could be causing this and how to fix it so that I can back up ALL the files on my computer?

Posted on Dec 5, 2012 6:09 PM

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Answer 1

poil66 Author

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Dec 16, 2012 5:20 PM in response to Linc Davis

It backed up 15 gigs, so it must have backed up something, but I have mainly been checking 3 different albums that I know are not being backed up, and none of those were backed up.

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Answer 2

Linc Davis

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209,739 points

Dec 16, 2012 5:39 PM in response to poil66

Re-run the "tmutil compare" command, but this time like this:

tmutil compare -E | grep iTunes

Post the output.

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Answer 3

poil66 Author

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Dec 16, 2012 11:27 PM in response to Linc Davis

+ 780.4M /Users/sethmason/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates

! (mtime) /Users/sethmason/Music/iTunes

+ 100.2M /Users/sethmason/Music/iTunes/iTunes Library.xml

! 21.2M (size, mtime) /Users/sethmason/Music/iTunes/iTunes Library.itl

+ 34.7M /Users/sethmason/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/Finches/On Golden Hill

its still going, taking a while, but this is one of the albums which will not backup

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Answer 4

Linc Davis

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209,739 points

Dec 17, 2012 7:53 AM in response to poil66

xattr -r -c Music/iTunes

The command should produce no output.

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Answer 5

poil66 Author

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Dec 17, 2012 2:50 PM in response to Linc Davis

No output. Still no backing up the missing albums though.

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Answer 6

Linc Davis

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209,739 points

Dec 17, 2012 3:04 PM in response to poil66

Copy the files to another folder. Delete the originals. Replace the originals with the copies. Test.

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Answer 7

poil66 Author

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60 points

Dec 17, 2012 3:12 PM in response to Linc Davis

Still not working.

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Answer 8

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Dec 17, 2012 3:17 PM in response to poil66

Back up to another drive. You need to do that anyway. One backup is not enough, as this experience shows.

Check to see whether the problem files are backed up to the other destination. If they are, put the old backup drive aside until you're sure you'll no longer need the files on it. Then erase it and start over.

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Answer 9

poil66 Author

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Dec 17, 2012 3:19 PM in response to Linc Davis

I tried this before, its not backing up those files to another drive either. Any idea what causes this?

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Answer 10

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Dec 17, 2012 3:32 PM in response to poil66

Are you absolutely sure you've cleared the no-backup flag on those files? If you're not sure, check again using the instructions I posted earlier (tmutil isexcluded).

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Answer 11

poil66 Author

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Dec 17, 2012 4:55 PM in response to Linc Davis

I'm pretty sure I have not cleared those flags, they still say excluded, but I cannot seem to clear them. I even went so far as to delete a problem album from my iTunes, re-convert the actual cd into mp3s, add those files into iTunes, and they are STILL not backing up

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Answer 12

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Dec 17, 2012 5:05 PM in response to poil66

Please post the output of this command:

mdfind "com_apple_backup_excludeItem = com.apple.backupd" | grep -v Cache

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Answer 13

poil66 Author

Level 1

60 points

Dec 17, 2012 5:23 PM in response to Linc Davis

Seth-Masons-iMac-4:~ sethmason $mdfind "com_apple_backup_excludeItem = com.apple.backupd" | grep -v Cache

/Users/sethmason/Music/iTunes/iTunes Library.xml

/Users/sethmason/Library/Safari/WebpageIcons.db

/Users/sethmason/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/Favicons

/Users/sethmason/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/Favicons-journal

/Users/sethmason/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/History

/Users/sethmason/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/History-journal

/Users/sethmason/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Safe Browsing Download Whitelist

/Users/sethmason/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Safe Browsing Csd Whitelist

/Users/sethmason/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Safe Browsing Bloom

/Users/sethmason/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Safe Browsing Bloom Prefix Set

/Users/sethmason/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Safe Browsing Download

/Users/sethmason/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates

/Users/sethmason/Library/Saved Application State

/Users/sethmason/Library/Application Support/Librarian/0068070C-9568-569A-A0D8-49DC8C171A91.txt

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Answer 14

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Dec 17, 2012 5:43 PM in response to poil66

You did clear the flag on the files in question.

The only explanation that makes sense is that you're running afoul of an undocumented DRM feature that prevents backing up some music from the iTunes Store. The idea is probably that you don't need to back up those files, because if you lose them, and you bought them legitimately, then you can re-download them from the store at no cost. That's what you'll need to do, at least if you only back up with Time Machine.

If you're going to back up those files at all, you'll have to use something other than TM to do it. That's all I can tell you.

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Answer 15

poil66 Author

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Dec 17, 2012 6:49 PM in response to Linc Davis

Ok, thank you very much for your help

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