Stuck in verification; no backups

Run a verify of the local disk and the TC.

See A5 http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

I would do a reboot of the whole network.. restart in order from everything off.. modem.. TC.. clients. 2min gap between them.

If that doesn't work do a full factory reset of the TC and see if that gets it moving again.

Otherwise you might need to start over.

Did you upgrade install OS?

Are you using wireless? Try doing it with ethernet if you are.. turn wireless off.

Nothing wrong with SL.. I am running it on the desktop I am typing this to you on..

But the firmware of the TC can be a pain.. 7.5.2 is much better if you are still on SL.. all later firmware are for Lion and later with no useful component from earlier OS.

But last year worth of Gen4 production cannot be downgraded.. they have to run 7.6

Early Gen 4 and all other models will be great on 7.5.2 and it is well worthwhile to use.

Hold down the option key when choosing firmware to upgrade and all the previous versions will show up.

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

It isn't a biggie.

Gen1 has some stuff missing that all the later ones do.. in particular dual band wireless.

I guess the really proper way is reset.. downgrade firmware .. reset again.

But I wouldnt worry about which end you do the reset. After I guess .. if you want to press me on the point.

Factory reset is so easy to do.. why not do it both sides.. this is an exercise in getting perfect results.. cleaning out corrupt settings or firmware is a major part of that.

No reset will harm the contents of the drive.

But honestly.. again, I think I would archive off the old backup, erase and start over fresh clean backup. Do it by ethernet.. it doesn't take that long.

The old achive can be kept as a record .. but it might not really work well.

Gen1 is really living on borrowed time, unless you have replaced the power supply at least.

They do run very hot.. and especially the 1TB.. although the hitachi drive is very good.. it is about the hottest running drive in existence.

sfrench wrote:

. . .
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>).

No. The Factory Reset is of the Time Capsule. See Resetting an AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule FAQ.

The one in #A4 resets the Time Machine setup info on your Mac.

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.

See the green box in #Q6 of Using Time Machine with a Time Capsule.

sfrench wrote:

. . .

I succeeded in partitioning the flash drive, creating a 550MB partition for my TC backup

550 MB? To contain a copy of everything on your TC?

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 don't know if it will accept a USB thumb drive as the destination (I've never tried it); but most likely, it's just too small. Note that one of the posts under Important is "Make sure there is enough free space on the AirPort (external) disk before archiving to the disk."

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/thread/4848175?answerId=21383620022#21383620022>.) And I suppose that might argue for erasing the TC and starting anew.

Looks like a problems connecting, or losing the connection during the backup. I doubt erasing and starting over will help. Do backups work ok via Ethernet cable, but not via WIFI? WIFI will be slower, of course, but if you only have these failures via WIFI, you most likely have a bad connection or interference problems.

If you do want to archive it, you'll need a drive with at least as much free space as the data on the TC's HD.

sfrench wrote:

. .

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?

It doesn't seem to be a problem with damage on the backups (but never say never).

This is a 2010 model TC, right? They ought to last longer, but a number don't. And it seems more like a connection problem than any sort of disk or hardware failing. But again, you never know.

About all I can suggest is, try replacing your Ethernet cables. Plugs can wear, pins can bend slightly, wires inside can fray, without showing anything obvious, sometimes causing intermittent problems. Be sure all connections are snug and secure, of course.

Is there anything else on the network you can power-off or disconnect (I saw a thread where a malfunctioning printer was "flooding" the network with spurious messages, causing all sorts of odd problems. Very hard to diagnose!)

One advantage to archiving your backups and starting over is, when you erase the TC's HD, you can select a Zero-out, which may find a failing disk.

I always recommend keeping "secondary" backups, but especially when there's the slightest question about your main backups. If you're not doing that now, you might consider getting an external HD, doing a TM backup to it, then erasing your TC and starting fresh (I don't think archiving is worth it, but do that instead if you prefer.)

Once you've got them going (hopefully), erase the external HD and start doing periodic backups with a different app. See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #27 for details and some suggestions.

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

Hey, welcome to the club -- me, I'm a charter member! 😉

Message was edited by: Pondini

sfrench wrote:

. . .

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].

Ah, that's a (probably refurbished) either the original 2008 or early 2009 model. If you have the model number, on the bottom, look it up in the chart here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Capsule_(Apple). If they replaced the HD, it ought to have some life left, although a fair number of drives do fail in the 2-3 year range. But it's of an age where it could fail at any time.

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

That may be doable, but only as a last resort. If there's enough room, and you can connect the Macs via FireWire cable, you could make a separate partition on it's internal HD, then start it up in Target Disk mode. That makes it look like an external HD to your Mac, so you could back up to that partition (with Time Machine or another app).

But you can get good HDs for not too much money these days; for example, 500 GBs for just over $100 (big enough to a clone a 500 GB internal, probably not large enough for TM), 1 TB for $125. OWC Sales has a very good reputation for both hardware and service; like a number of other folks here, I have one of their Mercury Elite Pro models and it's great.