Time Machine Not Backing Up New Files

Question

Time Machine Not Backing Up New Files

Time Machine is NOT backing up my recent files.

I recently noticed that Time Machine was backing up really quickly instead of taking several minutes as usual. I checked previous backups and discovered that NONE of my recent files were backed up.

I have a very basic setup. An external usb 1 tb drive formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) being used as the time machine backup drive. A new i5 mac mini with OS X 10.8.4. About 200 gigs of data with one user on the internal drive.

I have followed all of the Pondini troubleshooting steps. I have restarted into safe mode to force a deep traversal. I have repaired permissions and verified all disks with Disk Utility. I have deleted time machine preferences and followed instructions as per Pondini #A4. The backup seems to run but then finishes quickly but DOES NOT BACK UP any recent files.

I have run TMUTIL COMPARE, it showed that many files needed to be backed up.

I have run TMUTIL ISEXCLUDED on some of the files that were not being backed up. It showed that they were not flagged for exclusion.

I have run a manual backup after starting up in Safe Mode, which forced a deep event scan, but then exhibited the same behaviour..

I have acquired a new external hard drive, backed up the complete main drive (using Time Machine which appeared to be successful on the first time full backup), then run a manual backup on that new drive after adding new files and had THE SAME PROBLEM.

Here's the latest console output, which is typical since I have noticed this issue. There appear to be many megabytes of new files to be backed up, but then the operation completes within seconds and no files are backed up at all.

6/23/13 7:15:16.422 AM com.apple.backupd[643]: Starting manual backup

6/23/13 7:15:16.966 AM com.apple.backupd[643]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Omnius/Backups.backupdb

6/23/13 7:15:17.916 AM com.apple.backupd[643]: Using file event preflight for Olympus

6/23/13 7:15:20.277 AM com.apple.backupd[643]: Will copy (375.1 MB) from Olympus

6/23/13 7:15:20.298 AM com.apple.backupd[643]: Found 845 files (375.1 MB) needing backup

6/23/13 7:15:20.311 AM com.apple.backupd[643]: 1.91 GB required (including padding), 747.18 GB available

6/23/13 7:15:29.264 AM com.apple.backupd[643]: Copied 400 files (1.4 MB) from volume Olympus.

6/23/13 7:15:29.298 AM com.apple.backupd[643]: Using file event preflight for Olympus

6/23/13 7:15:29.299 AM com.apple.backupd[643]: Will copy (Zero KB) from Olympus

6/23/13 7:15:29.300 AM com.apple.backupd[643]: Found 5 files (Zero KB) needing backup

6/23/13 7:15:29.301 AM com.apple.backupd[643]: 1.46 GB required (including padding), 747.17 GB available

6/23/13 7:15:30.439 AM com.apple.backupd[643]: Copied 140 files (33 bytes) from volume Olympus.

6/23/13 7:15:30.511 AM com.apple.backupd[643]: Created new backup: 2013-06-23-071530

6/23/13 7:15:30.608 AM com.apple.backupd[643]: Starting post-backup thinning

6/23/13 7:15:30.608 AM com.apple.backupd[643]: No post-back up thinning needed: no expired backups exist

6/23/13 7:15:30.689 AM com.apple.backupd[643]: Backup completed successfully.

Please help. Time Machine is currently useless as a backup solution.

Mac mini (Mid 2011), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

Posted on Jun 23, 2013 7:31 AM

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Answer 1

Jun 23, 2013 2:43 PM in response to Linc Davis

Sorry for the delay - missed the forum pagination.

grep -Rl userExclusionPaths L*/Pref* | open -f -a TextEdit

returns a blank textedit window.

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Answer 2

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jun 23, 2013 2:49 PM in response to SeattleMacUser

This simple procedure will clear your Time Machine settings, including exclusions. The backups won't be affected.

Triple-click the line below to select it:

/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist

Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select

Services ▹ Reveal

from the contextual menu. A Finder window should open with a file selected. Copy the file to the Desktop. Then move it (the original, not the copy) to the Trash. You'll be prompted for your administrator password. Reboot and recreate your settings in the Time Machine preference pane. It will show that you have no backups. Don't worry; that's expected. Run a backup to test. If TM now performs as expected, delete the file you copied to the Desktop.

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Answer 3

Jun 23, 2013 3:15 PM in response to Linc Davis

Copied plist file to desktop. Deleted original plist file from /Library/Preferences. Restarted from menu. Ran Manual Backup.

Result: Same behaviour as before: a notification of several hundred mb to be backed up, but only several hundred k actually processed (according to time machine progress bar), process completes within seconds of initiating backup, skipping most of the progress bar in an instant.

Checked existing recent files, they are not backed up.

Console output:

6/23/13 3:09:54.929 PM com.apple.backupd[107]: Starting manual backup

6/23/13 3:09:55.644 PM com.apple.backupd[107]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Omnius/Backups.backupdb

6/23/13 3:09:59.164 PM com.apple.backupd[107]: Using file event preflight for Olympus

6/23/13 3:10:01.874 PM com.apple.backupd[107]: Will copy (189.2 MB) from Olympus

6/23/13 3:10:01.886 PM com.apple.backupd[107]: Found 420 files (189.2 MB) needing backup

6/23/13 3:10:01.902 PM com.apple.backupd[107]: 1.68 GB required (including padding), 747.16 GB available

6/23/13 3:10:26.082 PM com.apple.backupd[107]: Copied 1009 files (2 MB) from volume Olympus.

6/23/13 3:10:26.110 PM com.apple.backupd[107]: Using file event preflight for Olympus

6/23/13 3:10:26.114 PM com.apple.backupd[107]: Will copy (74 KB) from Olympus

6/23/13 3:10:26.115 PM com.apple.backupd[107]: Found 10 files (74 KB) needing backup

6/23/13 3:10:26.116 PM com.apple.backupd[107]: 1.46 GB required (including padding), 747.15 GB available

6/23/13 3:10:27.193 PM com.apple.backupd[107]: Copied 144 files (33 bytes) from volume Olympus.

6/23/13 3:10:27.272 PM com.apple.backupd[107]: Created new backup: 2013-06-23-151027

6/23/13 3:10:27.345 PM com.apple.backupd[107]: Starting post-backup thinning

6/23/13 3:10:27.345 PM com.apple.backupd[107]: No post-back up thinning needed: no expired backups exist

6/23/13 3:10:27.440 PM com.apple.backupd[107]: Backup completed successfully.

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Answer 4

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jun 23, 2013 3:29 PM in response to SeattleMacUser

If you use the third-party application "Dropbox," you may see files in the Finder that are not present locally, but are actually on a network server. Those files won't be backed up and won't appear in Time Machine, even though they show in a Finder window. If the files in question are in a Dropbox folder, disable the software or refer to its developer for support.

Continue only if you've ruled out Dropbox or any similar product as a possible cause of the issue.

Time Machine uses the modification times of folders to determine whether their contents need to be scanned for changes made since the time of the last snapshot. For some reason, that criterion occasionally fails, and TM doesn’t scan folders with contents that have changed. You may be able to get backups to resume by updating the modification times of all your folders.

Important: This procedure will change the modification times of all folders in the home folder. It won’t affect anything that’s not a folder, and it won’t change your existing backups at all. If you have a reason to want to keep the modification times of folders as they are, STOP.

Before proceeding, you must have a current backup of all data. Since your existing Time Machine backups may not be current, you’ll have to back up in some other way. It’s a good idea to do this anyway, as you always need more than one backup, even if everything is working perfectly.

Run the following shell command in the same way as before:

find ~ -type d -exec touch {} \;

The next snapshot will take longer than usual, because all folders will be scanned for changes. When it’s complete, check the results to see how much data has been backed up.

This procedure will only affect the backups of your home folder. If you are having the same problem with other folders, you’ll need to take additional steps.

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Answer 5

Jun 23, 2013 4:39 PM in response to Linc Davis

No dropbox or remote files are under consideration.

Synced all files to alternate external backup drive for safety.

Ran "touch" command in terminal, changed all folder modification dates.

Ran Time Machine manual backup. Backed up ~17gb of files. Checked recent files, all backed up. 🙂

BUT...

Created new files, placed them in various directories, ran Time Machine again.

Result: recently created files NOT backed up. 😟

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Answer 6

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jun 23, 2013 4:53 PM in response to SeattleMacUser

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, or by a peripheral device.

Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Boot in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.

Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including Wi-Fi on certain iMacs. The next normal boot may also be somewhat slow.

The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.

Test while in safe mode. Same problem?

After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

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Answer 7

Jun 23, 2013 5:42 PM in response to Linc Davis

Booted into Safe Mode. Ran Time Machine backup. Deep Event Scan took place. Recent files created after last backup were NOT backed up to time machine.

6/23/13 5:07:19.381 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: Starting manual backup

6/23/13 5:07:20.090 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: Backing up to: /Volumes/Omnius/Backups.backupdb

6/23/13 5:07:20.287 PM mds[41]: (Warning) Server: No stores registered for metascope "kMDQueryScopeComputer"

6/23/13 5:07:21.787 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Olympus

6/23/13 5:07:21.899 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: Deep event scan at path:/ reason:must scan subdirs|new event db|

6/23/13 5:16:22.678 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: Finished scan

6/23/13 5:16:31.932 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: Found 123 files (10.5 MB) needing backup

6/23/13 5:16:32.105 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: 104.9 MB required (including padding), 729.93 GB available

6/23/13 5:16:32.109 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: Waiting for index to be ready (100)

6/23/13 5:17:32.177 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: Waiting for index to be ready (100)

6/23/13 5:18:32.240 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: Waiting for index to be ready (100)

6/23/13 5:19:32.303 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: Waiting for index to be ready (100)

6/23/13 5:19:42.762 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: Copied 1134 files (9.6 MB) from volume Olympus.

6/23/13 5:19:42.848 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: Using file event preflight for Olympus

6/23/13 5:19:42.988 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: Will copy (245 KB) from Olympus

6/23/13 5:19:42.991 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: Found 26 files (245 KB) needing backup

6/23/13 5:19:42.992 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: 104.9 MB required (including padding), 729.92 GB available

6/23/13 5:19:42.995 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: Waiting for index to be ready (100)

6/23/13 5:20:43.061 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: Waiting for index to be ready (100)

6/23/13 5:21:43.125 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: Waiting for index to be ready (100)

6/23/13 5:22:43.188 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: Waiting for index to be ready (100)

6/23/13 5:22:44.276 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: Copied 175 files (69 bytes) from volume Olympus.

6/23/13 5:22:44.619 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: Created new backup: 2013-06-23-172244

6/23/13 5:22:45.102 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: Starting post-backup thinning

6/23/13 5:22:45.103 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: No post-back up thinning needed: no expired backups exist

6/23/13 5:22:45.381 PM com.apple.backupd[219]: Backup completed successfully.

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Answer 8

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jun 23, 2013 7:00 PM in response to SeattleMacUser

Boot into Recovery mode, launch Disk Utility, select the startup volume, and run Repair Disk (not Repair Permissions.) If any problems are found, repeat. Then reboot as usual.

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Answer 9

Jun 24, 2013 6:53 AM in response to Linc Davis

Thanks for your continued help with this problem!

-=-=-=-

Booted into Recovery Mode. Launched Disk Utility. Repaired Disk on toshiba drive (result: all partitions OK) and Olympus volume, the startup disk. Result: The volume Olympus appears to be OK.

Ran Repair Disk on the time machine backup volume as well, same result.

Ran Time Machine, same behaviour as before. Several hundred mb of files to be backed up, yet time machine only processes several hundred k then speeds through the progress bar and completes within seconds. Result: no recent files were backed up.

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Answer 10

Jun 24, 2013 7:35 AM in response to Linc Davis

(PS I know this step wasn't intended to be a fix!) 🙂

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Answer 11

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Jun 24, 2013 7:53 AM in response to SeattleMacUser

SeattleMacUser wrote:

. . .

file://localhost/Users/USERNAME/Gamma/Photos%20-%20Raw/iPhone%20Raw%202013/06:22 :13/IMG_2900.JPG

file://localhost/Users/USERNAME/Alpha/Misc%20Stuff/%20Misc.%20Seattle/9079268389 _3d1f1825de_o.jpg

file://localhost/Users/USERNAME/Delta/Album%20Art%20&%20Design/CD%20Design%20&%2 0Artwork/NEW%20Font%20Options/combo%20-%20plantin.jpg

Please forgive the intrusion, but are all the affected files in the same home folder?

If so, do other new or changed files in those sub-folders get backed-up properly?

Are files in other home folders affected?

We do see the occasional folder, and rarely a home folder, that for some reason Time Machine either backs up in full every time, or won't back up changes in it at all. it's not clear to me if that's what's going on here or not.

If it is, the only known fix is pretty tedious; create a new user account and copy the contents of the old home folder to the new one.

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Answer 12

Jun 24, 2013 8:28 AM in response to Pondini

Please forgive the intrusion, but are all the affected files in the same home folder?

Yes, all the problems I have seen are files contained within my sole user's Home folder.

If so, do other new or changed files in those sub-folders get backed-up properly?

No, files in sub-folders in the Home directory are not backed up either.

Are files in other home folders affected?

There are no other Home folders to test this on. However, I just now created a new file, placed it in the Applications folder and ran Time Machine. The new file WAS successfully backed up.

If it is, the only known fix is pretty tedious; create a new user account and copy the contents of the old home folder to the new one.

This would be pretty tedious. 😟

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Answer 13

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Jun 24, 2013 9:24 AM in response to SeattleMacUser

You're triggering a bug that I haven't heard of before. With other unknown bugs, I've sometimes found that erasing and restoring the source volume will solve the problem. I don't know whether that will work in your case, but I can't think of a better idea.

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Answer 14

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Jun 24, 2013 10:17 AM in response to SeattleMacUser

SeattleMacUser wrote:

. . .

There are no other Home folders to test this on. However, I just now created a new file, placed it in the Applications folder and ran Time Machine. The new file WAS successfully backed up.

Try creating one (System Prefs > Users & Groups). Make some small test files, such as with a text editor, and put a few in different sub-folders -- documents, desktop, etc.

Run a backup, then change, move, rename or update some of them, run another backup, and see what does, or does not, get backed-up.

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Answer 15

Jun 24, 2013 12:03 PM in response to Linc Davis

Pondini asked me to:

Try creating [a new user] (System Prefs > Users & Groups). Make some small test files, such as with a text editor, and put a few in different sub-folders -- documents, desktop, etc.

Run a backup, then change, move, rename or update some of them, run another backup, and see what does, or does not, get backed-up.

I created a new user account, created some new new documents in various folders in the new account, then ran Time Machine. The new documents were all successfully backed up.

I then altered the documents and created new ones as well, then ran Time Machine again. All files in the new user account (modified and newly created) were successfully backed up. 🙂

At the same time, newly created and recently modified documents in the original user account were NOT backed up. 😟

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