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Level 1

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Time Machine won't backup root data

Hi Apple-Community,

I've a simple question for a weird problem with Time Machine.

I'm using it with Mac OS X 10.8.2 on a MacBook Air (mid 2012).

Creating a Time-Machine Backup works fine. But Time Machine is just creating a full backup of my home-directory. My root-directory, including my applications and so on, is missing.

I've tried to create a full Backup several times, but everytime Time Machine is ignoring all of my top-level root folders. I didn't exclude something and I've not changing any root-permissions or exclusions *.plist

Actually I need a full backup because I'm getting a new MacBook Air and I need all of data and applications.

So what's the problem?

Thank you for your help!

MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Dec 22, 2012 4:00 PM

39 replies

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Jan 5, 2013 12:56 PM in response to Linc Davis

I just experimented with copying and restoring things that have Versions.

As in Lion, copying or restoring to a different location doesn't bring back the Versions.

Also as in Lion, deleteing and restoring to the original location doesn't bring them back, either, but the Versions browser will look for them on the (current) Time Machine backups.

I haven't tested a full system restore -- presumably that would retain the Versions history.

Learn something every day. 😉

bolobo Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 5, 2013 1:18 PM in response to bolobo

Pondini

I'd recommend installing a fresh copy of OSX, via your Recovery HD. See Using the Recovery HD if you're not sure how to do that.

Uff. 😢 I hope this will be the last way out.

Linc Davis

On occasion those errors may be spurious and are actually caused by "anti-virus" software, such as ESET. Have you installed anything like that? Do you have any saved versions in the Numbers application?

I've tried ESET just one time for testing (at the very beginning when I got my new Air). But I de-install it immediatly via CleanApp and now I'm using Sophos Anti-Virus that's running all the time.

Indeed I'm using the complete iWork Suite. Most of the time Numbers and Pages.

Pondini

Bolobo: if you don't have ESET, or can't or don't want to delete it, I see three options:

Excluding it from Time Machine manually would allow everything else to get backed-up. You'll have to check the Show invisible items box on the exclusions page to see the .DocumentRevisions-V101 folder.

If you don't have a lot of files you edit with apps that support AutoSave and Versions (TextEdit, Preview, Numbers and Pages are the common ones, but some 3rd-party apps do, too), deleting the entire database might be a good idea.

If you'd rather not do that, you might want to delete all previous versions of files made via Numbers (we can't tell which file is involved here, or whether there may be problems on other parts of the database). To do that, open each file, click the file name in the title bar and select Browse All Versions... to get to the Versions Browser. Then Option-click the title bar on the right side and select Delete Old Versions.

I'm rarely using AutoSave and Versions because I'm using Dropbox to save any very-important stuff. Let's go with deleting the entire Database if this is possible?

bolobo Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 5, 2013 1:27 PM in response to Pondini

Pondini wrote:

If you'd rather not do that, you might want to delete all previous versions of files made via Numbers (we can't tell which file is involved here, or whether there may be problems on other parts of the database). To do that, open each file, click the file name in the title bar and select Browse All Versions... to get to the Versions Browser. Then Option-click the title bar on the right side and select Delete Old Versions.

Do I've to repeat this with every Numbers Projectfile that I used or created in the past? I'm using Numbers a lot. Meanwhile I'm having a lot of Numbers Projects.

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jan 5, 2013 1:27 PM in response to bolobo

I de-install it immediatly via CleanApp

"CleanApp" is not capable of uninstalling a complex system modification, so you did not uninstall it. Sophos is completely worthless, so you should remove it as well, even if it's not causing this problem.

Any third-party software that doesn't install by drag-and-drop into the Applications folder, and uninstall by drag-and-drop to the Trash, is a system modification.

Whenever you remove system modifications, they must be removed completely, and the only way to do that is to use the uninstallation tool, if any, provided by the developers, or to follow their instructions. If the software has been incompletely removed, you may have to re-download or even reinstall it in order to finish the job.

Here are some general guidelines. Suppose you want to remove something called “BrickYourMac.” First, consult the product's Help menu, if there is one, for instructions. Finding none there, look on the developer's website, say www.brickyourmac.com. (That may not be the actual name of the site; if necessary, search the Web for the product name.) If you don’t find anything on the website or in your search, email the developer. While you're waiting for a response, download BrickYourMac.dmg and open it. There may be an application in there such as “Uninstall BrickYourMac.” If not, open “BrickYourMac.pkg” and look for an Uninstall button.

You may have to log out or reboot in order to complete an uninstallation.

If you can’t remove software in any other way, you’ll have to erase your boot volume and perform a clean reinstallation of OS X. Never install any third-party software unless you're sure you know how to uninstall it; otherwise you may create problems that are very hard to solve.

Trying to remove complex system modifications by hunting for files by name often will not work and may make the problem worse. The same goes for "utilities" that purport to remove software.

bolobo Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 5, 2013 1:44 PM in response to Linc Davis

Linc Davis

"CleanApp" is not capable of uninstalling a complex system modification, so you did not uninstall it. Sophos is completely worthless, so you should remove it as well, even if it's not causing this problem.

Removing Sophos and CleanApp. Done!

What next?

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jan 5, 2013 1:50 PM in response to bolobo

If you've already rebooted and still have the problem, you need to get rid of what's left of ESET. Actually, you need to do that anyway. Please follow the guidelines above.

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Jan 5, 2013 1:57 PM in response to bolobo

bolobo wrote:

Pondini

I'd recommend installing a fresh copy of OSX, via your Recovery HD. See Using the Recovery HD if you're not sure how to do that.

Uff. 😢 I hope this will be the last way out.

No -- I was wrong about that file -- effective with Mountain Lion, it is supposed to be backed-up, so forget about this (although it's not a big deal, other than the 4 GB download -- it doesn't disturb anything else). It's not a "clean install" -- it just installs a fresh version of OSX.

I'm rarely using AutoSave and Versions

Yes, you are, if you're using Numbers. It's automatic.

Pondini wrote:

If you'd rather not do that, you might want to delete all previous versions of files made via Numbers (we can't tell which file is involved here, or whether there may be problems on other parts of the database). To do that, open each file, click the file name in the title bar and select Browse All Versions... to get to the Versions Browser. Then Option-click the title bar on the right side and select Delete Old Versions.

Do I've to repeat this with every Numbers Projectfile that I used or created in the past? I'm using Numbers a lot. Meanwhile I'm having a lot of Numbers Projects.

You would, for any project started or changed on Lion or Mountain Lion, if you wanted to save old Versions for files updated by other apps that also use Versions.

Unfortunately, there's no way to list what's in the database. 😟

because I'm using Dropbox to save any very-important stuff. Let's go with deleting the entire Database if this is possible?

Actually, it sounds like it might be best to just exclude it from Time Machine, if you're mostly looking to get a good backup and will be moving to a new Mac. I don't know for sure, but highly doubt it will be transferred to the new Mac, so you can just leave the problem behind.

You can exclude it just like any other item, via Time Machine Preferences > Options, except you'll need to check the Show invisible items box:

Then locate and exclude the .DocumentRevisions-V101 folder. Then your backups should run ok.

Or, if you really want to delete it, copy this to a Terminal window and press Return:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles 1

then Relauch the Finder (Apple menu > Force Quit > Finder).

Then open your internal HD via the Finder. You'll see that folder (along with a bunch of other new stuff).

Trash the folder but don't touch anything else (you'll have to enter your Admin password.

Then copy the first command above, but change the "1" to a zero before pressing Return, and relaunch the Finder again.

bolobo Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 6, 2013 8:37 AM in response to Pondini

Pondini wrote:

Or, if you really want to delete it, copy this to a Terminal window and press Return:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles 1

then Relauch the Finder (Apple menu > Force Quit > Finder).

Then open your internal HD via the Finder. You'll see that folder (along with a bunch of other new stuff).

Trash the folder but don't touch anything else (you'll have to enter your Admin password.

Then copy the first command above, but change the "1" to a zero before pressing Return, and relaunch the Finder again.

Alright. I deleted it but now I getting new weird Log-Entrys and TM isn't backing up properly. TM stucks at Zero KB.

Something like that shows up:

06.01.13 16:35:22,421 com.apple.backupd[13316]: Starting manual backup

06.01.13 16:35:22,552 com.apple.backupd[13316]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb

06.01.13 16:35:23,821 WindowServer[98]: CGXSetTrackingAreaEnabled : Invalid tracking area 0x7ffe2d60eb60

06.01.13 16:35:23,822 WindowServer[98]: CGXSetTrackingAreaEnabled : Invalid tracking area 0x7ffe2d61d970

06.01.13 16:35:27,633 com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.dynamic_pager[13317]) Exited with code: 1

06.01.13 16:35:27,633 com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.dynamic_pager) Throttling respawn: Will start in 10 seconds

<repeating log entry>

06.01.13 16:35:37,858 com.apple.backupd[13316]: Found 3720 files (937.1 MB) needing backup

06.01.13 16:35:37,862 com.apple.backupd[13316]: 1.64 GB required (including padding), 82.41 GB available

<repeating log entry>

06.01.13 16:35:53,000 kernel[0]: /SourceCache/AppleFSCompression_kexts/AppleFSCompression-49/Compressors/Datales s/compressorType5Kext.c:532: Error: post_request error for /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb/<user>/2013-01-05-172415/Macintosh HD/.DocumentRevisions-V100/PerUID/501/1/com.apple.documentVersions/002D5961-2D5 D-4294-80AF-3F9938EAB492.numbers/Contents/PkgInfo: 35

06.01.13 16:35:53,000 kernel[0]: decmpfs.c:1339:decmpfs_read_compressed: decmpfs_fetch_uncompressed_data err -35

<repeating log entry>

06.01.13 16:36:09,000 kernel[0]: /SourceCache/AppleFSCompression_kexts/AppleFSCompression-49/Compressors/Datales s/compressorType5Kext.c:532: Error: post_request error for /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb/<user>/2013-01-05-172415/Macintosh HD/.DocumentRevisions-V100/PerUID/501/1/com.apple.documentVersions/006C33FD-1A6 2-44DF-B940-C4C62FB5A4D8.numbers/Contents/PkgInfo: 35

06.01.13 16:36:09,000 kernel[0]: decmpfs.c:1339:decmpfs_read_compressed: decmpfs_fetch_uncompressed_data err -35

<repeating log entry>

<repeating log entry>

06.01.13 16:36:54,000 kernel[0]: /SourceCache/AppleFSCompression_kexts/AppleFSCompression-49/Compressors/Datales s/compressorType5Kext.c:532: Error: post_request error for /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb/<user>/2013-01-05-172415/Macintosh HD/.DocumentRevisions-V100/PerUID/501/1/com.apple.documentVersions/02349088-DE6 C-416D-9F89-57390F7F6BED.numbers/Contents/PkgInfo: 35

06.01.13 16:36:54,000 kernel[0]: decmpfs.c:1339:decmpfs_read_compressed: decmpfs_fetch_uncompressed_data err -35

<repeating log entry>

06.01.13 16:38:00,465 _softwareupdate[13342]: audit warning: allsoft

06.01.13 16:38:00,466 _softwareupdate[13343]: audit warning: soft /var/audit

06.01.13 16:38:00,472 _softwareupdate[13344]: audit warning: closefile /var/audit/20130106153509.20130106153800

<repeating log entry>

06.01.13 16:38:09,000 kernel[0]: /SourceCache/AppleFSCompression_kexts/AppleFSCompression-49/Compressors/Datales s/compressorType5Kext.c:532: Error: post_request error for /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb/<user>/2013-01-05-172415/Macintosh HD/.DocumentRevisions-V100/PerUID/501/1/com.apple.documentVersions/044AC4F1-73A 6-4E46-BDB2-5A9C8AE3E4B0.numbers/Contents/PkgInfo: 35

06.01.13 16:38:09,000 kernel[0]: decmpfs.c:1339:decmpfs_read_compressed: decmpfs_fetch_uncompressed_data err -35

<repeating log entry>

06.01.13 16:38:24,000 kernel[0]: /SourceCache/AppleFSCompression_kexts/AppleFSCompression-49/Compressors/Datales s/compressorType5Kext.c:532: Error: post_request error for /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb/<user>/2013-01-05-172415/Macintosh HD/.DocumentRevisions-V100/PerUID/501/1/com.apple.documentVersions/050A7008-67A 9-41CB-9CA8-A2E109D3A73F.numbers/Contents/PkgInfo: 35

06.01.13 16:38:24,000 kernel[0]: decmpfs.c:1339:decmpfs_read_compressed: decmpfs_fetch_uncompressed_data err -35

<repeating log entry>

06.01.13 16:38:39,000 kernel[0]: /SourceCache/AppleFSCompression_kexts/AppleFSCompression-49/Compressors/Datales s/compressorType5Kext.c:532: Error: post_request error for /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb/<user>/2013-01-05-172415/Macintosh HD/.DocumentRevisions-V100/PerUID/501/1/com.apple.documentVersions/05E9D364-160 1-43C1-94E2-ED046B2E1A9F.numbers/Contents/PkgInfo: 35

06.01.13 16:38:39,000 kernel[0]: decmpfs.c:1339:decmpfs_read_compressed: decmpfs_fetch_uncompressed_data err -35

06.01.13 16:38:47,771 com.apple.backupd[13316]: Cancellation timed out - exiting

<repeating log entry>

06.01.13 16:38:54,000 kernel[0]: /SourceCache/AppleFSCompression_kexts/AppleFSCompression-49/Compressors/Datales s/compressorType5Kext.c:532: Error: post_request error for /Volumes/Time Machine/Backups.backupdb/<user>/2013-01-05-172415/Macintosh HD/.DocumentRevisions-V100/PerUID/501/1/com.apple.documentVersions/06183D4B-56E C-4034-B746-FC90521EFF69.numbers/Contents/PkgInfo: 35

06.01.13 16:38:54,000 kernel[0]: decmpfs.c:1339:decmpfs_read_compressed: decmpfs_fetch_uncompressed_data err -35

06.01.13 16:38:54,000 kernel[0]: decmpfs.c:1386:decmpfs_read_compressed: cluster_copy_upl_data err 14

06.01.13 16:38:54,000 kernel[0]: decmpfs.c:1409:decmpfs_read_compressed: err 14

I need to make a final decision today. Because tomorrow I've to give my old Mac away.

So I guess I have now this two remaining options:

Creating a copy of my the whole disk via Recovery Disk and Disk Utility
Creating a fresh full Time-Machine Backup

I'm aware of, that this two options will not fix my problem with Time Machine. But anyway ... I'm not lossing any data right? Important is, that I've all my data for a complete recovering. So I can immediately continue working with my (new) mac.

Next time I'll not using Sophos, ESET or CleanApp again.

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Jan 6, 2013 9:25 AM in response to bolobo

bolobo wrote:

. . .

So I guess I have now this two remaining options:

Creating a copy of my the whole disk via Recovery Disk and Disk Utility

Creating a fresh full Time-Machine Backup

I'm aware of, that this two options will not fix my problem with Time Machine. But anyway ... I'm not lossing any data right? Important is, that I've all my data for a complete recovering. So I can immediately continue working with my (new) mac.

Next time I'll not using Sophos, ESET or CleanApp again.

There are two other, simpler possiblities:

• Exclude the Versions database from Time Machine, per my previous post.

• Delete all previous backups of it. Do the ShowAllFiles thing again, then Enter Time Machine, select a backup, locate and select the .DocumentRevisions-V101 folder. Control-click (right-click) it and select the Delete all backups of ... option, and authenticate. That may take a few minutes.

Time Machine won't backup root data