Q: Stuck in verification; no backups

Thank you, LaPastenague!

I'm in the midst of verifying the local disk and the TC.  I'll be back in touch once that's done and I've tried all the other stuff.

I have not upgraded the OS.  I'd really rather not deal with my old e-mail archive right now, and that's what's holding me up.  I have Lion on hand, ready to go whenever I'm ready.  My machine can't handle Mountain Lion.  Do you think Snow Leopard is contributing to the problems with my TC?

I use ethernet almost all the time.  I'm using it now.

Bye for now.  Thanks again!

Thanks very much, again.

I verified my internal HD and did a verify & repair of my TC.  Each "appears to be OK."  Whew!

The firmware on my TC is 7.6.3.  The TC itself is 1st generation.  (I suppose that might be the problem, right there … though I'm hoping the clear verifications signal that the TC is holding up quite well, thank you.)

I assume the firmware should be downgraded before I reboot the network or, if necessary, do a factory reset.  But I thought I'd wait for you to weigh in on that point.  And then, of course, there's the fact that I'm not sure how to downgrade anything, let alone the firmware.  I did notice that there's a place in Airport Utility where it's possible to choose to stop upgrading the firmware, so once it's downgraded I see how to keep it that way.  But as for bringing it down, I'm not so clear.

Many thanks.

Oops, just noticed your mention of the option key in relation to the firmware.  I'll give that a try and report back.  Thanks.

I am supposed to do the firmware before the reboot or reset, right?

Message was edited by: sfrench

'Fraid I started doing stuff before seeing your latest message.

So, I downgraded the firmware first, before rebooting the network.  After the reboot I started a backup.  Again, the TC got stuck at 72% verification.  I've just told it to skip verification; it then prepared several tens of thousands of items and has now started a backup.  I'll see how far that goes.

In the meantime, I'm educating myself about the "factory" reset.  I assume that's the same thing you had me do last time (i.e., A4 Full Reset of Time Machine @ <http://pondini.org/TM/A4.htmll>).

As for your suggestion that I "archive" the old backup, erase and start over with a new backup, I've looked around in Pondini but don't see a clear reference to archiving.  Maybe it's there, and I'm just missing it.  I'm starting to google.  If you can offer any specifics about archiving, erasing and starting over, I'd be grateful.  But I am looking.

Apple gave me a new TC in May 2010 after its predecessor turned up dead as a doornail.  (I guess they chose to give me a 1st generation replacement instead of the 3rd generation current at the time because mine is 500GB, and the 2nd and 3rd generations came in 1TB and 2TB.)  Anyway, my power supply isn't as old as it might have been (I got the original in May 2008).  When I power down the TC during the reset, I'll have a look for any details about the hardware inside (i.e., Hitachi, etc.).

Thank you, again, LaPastenague.

Message was edited by: sfrench

P.S.  (The backup was successful.  :-)  Now on to the reset.)

Thank you, Pondini!

I'm glad I asked about those two things, since clearly I was off the mark.

I succeeded in doing a factory reset (several of them, actually, because I didn't really know what I was doing).

And I tried to create an archive on a flash drive.  But that didn't work.

I succeeded in partitioning the flash drive, creating a 550MB partition for my TC backup and a 450MB partition for PC files.  I was able to get to step 6 on <http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1281>, but when I clicked "archive," the pull-down menu for the destination disk was grayed out and read "No AirPort disks available" … this even though my flash drive and its two partitions appeared in the left-hand pane of AirPort Utility's Disks panel.  I have tried formatting the flash drive's TC-backup partition both as "Mac OX Extended (Journaled)" and as "Mac OX Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled)".  Neither shows up in the pull-down menu for the destination disk, even though each does appear in the pane on the AirPort Utility Disks panel.

So I don't know what the problem is.  I also don't know whether there's any point in continuing to try to solve it.  TM has been doing a bang-up job backing up onto my TC.  It has not hung at 72% verification since that first post-reboot attempt.

My question, then, is should I continue to try to create an archive of the contents of my TC so that I can erase my TC and start fresh, as suggested above?  Or should I opt for the old stand-by:  "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"?  I have had major difficulties with my TC twice in the past two months.  (The previous problem is at:  <https://discussions.apple.com/message/21383620#21383620>.)  And I suppose that might argue for erasing the TC and starting anew.

All insights welcome.  Thank you.

Thank you again, Pondini.

You're absolutely right.  I was following the directions carefully but not thinking straight.  My TC is 500GB (not 500MB).  My flash drive is 1GB (not 1TB).  So that's the problem right there.

I usually work via Ethernet; the problems in March and February both occurred while connected via Ethernet.  Do you think there's anything I can to do reduce the likelihood of a repeat?

Thank you for responding respectfully, even when I was making such a silly mistake.

Thank you so much, Pondini!  This is very helpful.

Apple replaced my previous TC in May 2010, but I don't really know how old that replacement is [it's of a generation (first) and capacity (500GB) that I think they'd stopped manufacturing by the time they gave it to me].

I'll get a new Ethernet cable as soon as possible, and put an external drive on my wish list for when my budget allows.  My printer is connected directly to my MacBook via USB, so I don't think that's an issue.

I do have an old PowerBook around, maybe I could use that in lieu of a new external drive.  Hmm.

Thank you again for your patience — LaPastenague, too!

Message was edited by: sfrench