Time Machine not showing Latest backup in Restore.

Unless, I erase everything and start over.. I can do that.. how would I do that?

Boot into Recovery, launch Disk Utility, and erase the startup volume ("Macintosh HD"). Quit Disk Utility and run the OS X Installer. In Setup Assistant, follow the prompts to transfer the data from a Time Machine snapshot.

That probably means you held down option-R, which gets you into Internet Recovery. It should still work, but it takes longer.

I am desperately looking for an answer and just joined this discussion group; if I'm not posting in the right place, I apologize.

Yesterday (1/13/13) afternoon, my Macbook Late 2008 running osx 10.8.2 suddenly wouldn't boot up. Fortunately, I performed a backup to Time Machine yesterday morning at 9:23am. When I enter Recovery Mode, and go to restore, the only backup listed is from December 2011. Restore is reading from our Time Capsule I think (a blue icon on desktop with the wifi web on it). But, when I open Time Machine Backups (a green icon with Time Machine clock/arrow thing on it), the 9:23 backup file is there. How do I get Restore to find/use the 9:23 backup? Thanks in advance -- Paul

PaulMeuller wrote:

. . .

When I enter Recovery Mode, and go to restore, the only backup listed is from December 2011.

I assume you mean this window:

If so, see if the system and disk shown above the list is selectable:

Unlike the sample, yours may show the same disk and system twice -- if so, try selecting the other one -- your more recent backups may be there.

Message was edited by: Pondini

Thank you for replying so quickly!

Yes, that is the window.

I cannot select anything from the drop down bc it's greyed out with 'Restore from: Macintosh HD on Paul's Mac'

- Paul

Rats. 😟

It sounds like your System Folder and applications weren't backed-up, so you can't do a full system restore.

Since we don't really know what's wrong (hardware or corrupted OSX), you might first want to run this: Intel-based Macs: Using Apple Hardware Test. Run the Extended tests (that may take an hour or more, depending on how much RAM you have). Write down any error code(s) it shows.

If there are no errors, your best bet is probably to erase, install a fresh version of OSX, and transfer your apps, user accounts and data from the backups. That works even if your System folders weren't saved.

• Start up from the Recovery HD and select Disk Utility.

• Erase your internal HD (see #2 in Using Disk Utility if you're not sure how).

• Quit Disk Utility, then select Reinstall Mac OS X from the Max OS X Utilities menu.

That will download and install a fresh version of Mountain Lion. Since that's about 4 GB, it will take a while. After the install completes, your Mac will restart into Setup Assistant (just like when it was new), and you'll get the opportunity to transfer your stuff from the backups:

You'll want to select From Another Disk. The procedure is pretty straightforward, but Using Setup Assistant on Mountain Lion or Lion has all the gory details.

Sorry, I just realized you hadn't explained exactly what you mean by "wouldn't boot."

You might want to take a look here first: Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck

I had actually used a whole other word, but 'rats' will work ;-)

WOULDN'T BOOT: the machine was stuck on a darker gray screen with the swirling wheely thing.

I tried to repair permissions and repair disk in Disk Utility. Got an error message (in red, no less!) that the hard drive couldn't be repaired and needed to be erased, etc. Also tried fcsk with no luck.

AND SO: I restored the computer using the 12/11 backup that was listed (in fact, the only one that was/is listed).

THE THING IS, THOUGH: I got the computer to boot up ok, but am missing my personal data, settings, iTunes librtary, etc. All, I suspect, are safe and sound in the 1/13 backup that I can only see when Option>Browse Other Backup Disks. I have even gone to the Users folder through Option>BOBD and tried to Restore the data in Users, but get an error message there, too (“Users” can’t be modified or deleted because it’s required by Mac OS X.).

THUS: I guess I am left wondering that if I do a complete erase of the hard drive, per your 10:06 post above, willI then be able to (a) access, and (b) load what I need to from the 1/13 backup?

- Paul

P.S. AHT doesn't start when I press/hold 'D' upon restarting. I'm looking for the startup disks but am not optimistic I'll find them.

- Paul

PaulMeuller wrote:

. . .

Got an error message (in red, no less!) that the hard drive couldn't be repaired and needed to be erased, etc.

Ah, yes, that explains it (I should have asked that first). The HD's directory was hopelessly corrupted.

AND SO: I restored the computer using the 12/11 backup that was listed (in fact, the only one that was/is listed).

THE THING IS, THOUGH: I got the computer to boot up ok, but am missing my personal data, settings, iTunes librtary, etc.

Ah, ok, so your hardware is ok, and you seem to have a good version of OSX (it may not be up to date, though -- if it's from Novermber 2011, it will be Lion, not Mountain Lion).

All, I suspect, are safe and sound in the 1/13 backup that I can only see when Option>Browse Other Backup Disks.

Sounds like something happened between December of 2011 and now. There are several possibilites, but it probably doesn't much matter.

THUS: I guess I am left wondering that if I do a complete erase of the hard drive, per your 10:06 post above, willI then be able to (a) access, and (b) load what I need to from the 1/13 backup?

No, I'd not recommend that now.

Since you do have an apparently-good Jan 13 backup, your best bet may be to use Migration Assistant to transfer your 3rd-party apps, user account(s), and data.

You may not want to do that with the user account you're now using, however, as that may further complicate things -- you'll end up with one or more extra accounts and/or possible permissions problems with files on other drives.

And if you're now running Lion, it won't let you transfer "backwards" from Mountain Lion, so you'd need to upgrade to Mountain Lion first.

So, let's be sure we know where we are:

• Confirm what version of OSX you're now on.

• How many user accounts do you now have (and how many were on the backups)?

• Are you reasonably certain (by spot-checking) that the 1/13 backup has all your apps, user accounts, and data?

Then we can figure out what you need to do.

P.S. AHT doesn't start when I press/hold 'D' upon restarting.

I'm not sure when Apple started putting them on the HD -- it may have been after your 2008 Mac was shipped.

If you can't find it, don't worry about it now. And AppleCare can send replacements for a nominal fee (they'll need your serial number).