time machine

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time machine

Hi - I am backing up my SSD drive on a WD My Passport external drive, connected via the USB 3.0 of my new MacMini.

I have done a partition in the WD drive. I have 450GB in the partition

In the first back up, everything is OK, but any subsequent backups are not backing up new files; at least they do not appear in the Time Machine!

I have no idea how to tackle this. I have recently erased the external drive and re-started the back up, but the problem does not get solved.

Anyone has any idea as to how I could solve this problem?

Thanks very much,

I.

Posted on Feb 11, 2013 9:44 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

QuickTimeKirk

Level 10

125,935 points

Feb 11, 2013 10:06 AM in response to IgnacioSuper

Eject the drive partitions (eject button or command-e).

Switch the USB 3 port on the cable and test again.

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Answer 2

Linc Davis

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Feb 11, 2013 11:20 AM in response to IgnacioSuper

How do you know that new files aren't being backed up?

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Answer 3

IgnacioSuper Author

Level 1

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Feb 11, 2013 1:30 PM in response to Linc Davis

Because the do not appear in Time Machine.

I have done the following: I create now a new file. I wait a few hours, or even a few days, so that time machine makes a few back ups. I enter time machine and I can see the new file in the "now" view, but not in any of the past views with the back ups.

Any ideas?

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Answer 4

IgnacioSuper Author

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Feb 11, 2013 1:31 PM in response to QuickTimeKirk

I will try this tomorrow when I get back to my office, and will post the result.

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Answer 5

Feb 11, 2013 1:35 PM in response to IgnacioSuper

Also make sure you don't have any directories excluded from the backup in the TM preferences.

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Answer 6

Linc Davis

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Feb 11, 2013 1:54 PM in response to IgnacioSuper

Open the Time Machine preference pane, unlock it if necessary, and click the Options button. Are any files excluded from backup?

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Answer 7

IgnacioSuper Author

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Feb 11, 2013 1:55 PM in response to Linc Davis

I checked excluded files already. Nothing is being excluded.

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Answer 8

Feb 11, 2013 2:00 PM in response to IgnacioSuper

What is the path of the files you are trying to backup? They must not reside on another partition on the drive that Time Machine is using.

Something is definately not working correctly. Also check to make sure that your system date and time is correctly set.

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Answer 9

Linc Davis

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209,541 points

Feb 11, 2013 2:13 PM in response to IgnacioSuper

Select the text on the line below by dragging across it. Don't include the blank space at the end of the line. Only the text should be highlighted.

tmutil isexcluded

Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).

Launch the Terminal 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 Terminal in the icon grid.

Paste into the Terminal window (command-V), then press the space bar.

Now switch to the Finder and and select one of the items that are causing the problem. Drag it into the Terminal window. More text will be added to what you entered.

Click in the Terminal window to activate it, then press return.

A line of output will appear below what you entered. The line begins either with "[Excluded]" or "[Included]". Which is it?

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Answer 10

IgnacioSuper Author

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Feb 12, 2013 7:28 AM in response to Linc Davis

Following all these pieces of advise (thanks very much) I have done the following:

- I have ejected the external hard drive, unpluged both sides of the USB 3.0, repluged it (in another USB slot in the MacMini). Run a back up again, and the problem was still there.

- I have double-checked that the files causing the problems are not being excluded. The only exclusions are both drives that live in the external hard-drive. The MacMini SSD drive is not excluded, which is where the problem lies.

- Then I followed Linc Davis advise step-by-step, and this is the outcome from the Terminal:

Last login: Fri Feb 1 18:15:41 on console

Ignacios-Mac-mini:~ ignacioruiz$ tmutil isexcluded /Users/ignacioruiz/Dropbox/MyPapers\ \&\ MyResearch/Papers/OnGoing/WrongWayRisk/FullStudy/WWR_LatexWorking/TestFile2.rtf

[Included] /Users/ignacioruiz/Dropbox/MyPapers & MyResearch/Papers/OnGoing/WrongWayRisk/FullStudy/WWR_LatexWorking/TestFile2.rtf

Ignacios-Mac-mini:~ ignacioruiz$

So it looks like it is being included in the back up!!!??

So the problem is not in the back-up itself, but in the view of the back-up?

Just to check that I am not missing anything or doing a silly mistake, you guys can see a the "now" and "latest back up" view that TM produces in the links below. As you can see, the file called TestFile2 is not in the backup.

"Now" view: http://iruizconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/now_view.png

"Latest backup" view: http://iruizconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/latest_back_up_view.png

Any suggestions how to proceed? Last friday I took the dramatic measure of restarting my backups from fresh, but the problem is still there.

Any ideas please?

Thanks very much.

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Answer 11

Feb 12, 2013 10:50 AM in response to IgnacioSuper

just for testing, check to see if the backup works when you put the test file in your home directory, /Users/ignacioruiz/

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Answer 12

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Feb 12, 2013 1:32 PM in response to IgnacioSuper

As you can see, the file called TestFile2 is not in the backup.

When was "TestFile" backed up?

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Answer 13

IgnacioSuper Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 12, 2013 2:30 PM in response to davidsignal

Hi again guys 🙂

djcastaldo: I will put a test file in /Users/ignacioruiz/ tomorrow and see if it gets backed up.

Linc Davis: I created that TestFile weeks ago, to test the back up, when I had the impression that it did not backup. It was not being backed up, so lasts weekend I erased WD_back_up (the drive where I do the back up) and started a new fresh back up.

During the weekend, TestFile was backed up within the first back up of this new series.

On monday I created TestFile2, to see if TM was backing up new files, but it does not (as far as I can see)... hence I decided to ask for help in this forum.

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Answer 14

IgnacioSuper Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 12, 2013 2:33 PM in response to IgnacioSuper

... in case that post is a bit confussin...

TestFile was not being backed up as an incremental run of TM, but on saturday it was backed up within the new fresh back up series that I started.

Then I created TestFile2, wich is now not being backed up as an incremental run in TM.

... I hope this is more clear 😉

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Answer 15

Feb 12, 2013 2:35 PM in response to IgnacioSuper

Well, according to the log, it IS included. So it is possible that is is backing up but for some reason you can't see it there... possibly some kind of file system permissions issue. But before speculating a number of possible reasons why you can't see the backup, you should check to see if you can see new files backed up when they are placed in your home folder.

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