Time Machine: sparcebundle could not be accessed (error -1)

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Level 1

1 points

Time Machine: sparcebundle could not be accessed (error -1)

Hello!

I’ve using Time Machine with my Time Capsule for some time and out of nowhere it started giving me the following error: The backup disk image “xxx/xxx/xxx.sparcebundle”could not be accessed (error -1).

I’ve been searching weeks for a fix without success, already tried http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html - #C17 and it didn’t help.

Also tried on my Time Capsule: unplug, reset, factory reset, erase disk, format disk, change password, and on Time Machine preferences tried to remove disk and add again…. no success, error persists.

I discovered the only way for backup to work is to I login as a test user which I created for this purpose (I’m the administrator).

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Here are the logs:

Backup logged in as Administrator (Backup Failed):

Starting automatic backup

Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://xxxx%20xxxx;AUTH=SRP@Aar._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Data

Mounted network destination at mount point: /Volumes/Data using URL: afp://xxxx%20xxxx;AUTH=SRP@Aar._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Data

Failed to eject volume /Volumes/Data (FSVolumeRefNum: -166; status: -47; dissenting pid: 0)

Waiting 60 seconds and trying again.

Network destination already mounted at: /Volumes/Data

Failed to eject volume /Volumes/Data (FSVolumeRefNum: -166; status: -47; dissenting pid: 0)

Waiting 60 seconds and trying again.

Network destination already mounted at: /Volumes/Data

Failed to eject volume /Volumes/Data (FSVolumeRefNum: -166; status: -47; dissenting pid: 0)

Giving up after 3 retries.

Backup failed with error: 21

[SnapshotUtilities mountPointForVolumeRef] FSGetVolumeInfo returned: -35

Failed to eject volume (null) (FSVolumeRefNum: 0; status: -35; dissenting pid: -1)

Failed to eject Time Machine disk image: /Volumes/Data/Super’s iMac.sparsebundle

Backup logged in as a test user (Backup completed successfully):

Starting automatic backup

Attempting to mount network destination URL: afp://xxxx%20xxxx;AUTH=SRP@Aar._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Data

Mounted network destination at mount point: /Volumes/Data using URL: afp://xxxx%20xxxx;AUTH=SRP@Aar._afpovertcp._tcp.local/Data

Disk image /Volumes/Data/Super’s iMac.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 2

Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 2/Backups.backupdb

Using file event preflight for Mac HD

Will copy (44.4 MB) from Mac HD

Using file event preflight for Dados

Will copy (Zero KB) from Dados

Found 2280 files (44.4 MB) needing backup

1.5 GB required (including padding), 752.35 GB available

Copied 7285 files (45.2 MB) from volume Mac HD.

Copied 7303 files (45.2 MB) from volume Dados.

Using file event preflight for Mac HD

Will copy (2.6 MB) from Mac HD

Found 58 files (2.6 MB) needing backup

1.59 GB required (including padding), 752.32 GB available

Copied 1122 files (4.4 MB) from volume Mac HD.

Copied 1140 files (4.4 MB) from volume Dados.

Created new backup: 2013-10-02-121637

Starting post-backup thinning

Deleted /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 2/Backups.backupdb/Super’s iMac/2013-10-01-120751 (4.1 MB)

Deleted /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 2/Backups.backupdb/Super’s iMac/2013-10-01-110755 (8.5 MB)

Deleted /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 2/Backups.backupdb/Super’s iMac/2013-10-01-101239 (21.7 MB)

Deleted /Volumes/Time Machine Backups 2/Backups.backupdb/Super’s iMac/2013-10-01-004813 (1.3 MB)

Post-back up thinning complete: 4 expired backups removed

Backup completed successfully.

Ejected Time Machine disk image: /Volumes/Data/Super’s iMac.sparsebundle

Ejected Time Machine network volume.

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Oct 3, 2013 9:03 AM

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Answer 1

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

Oct 3, 2013 9:16 AM in response to antoni232

Try doing a full reset of Time Machine per A4 of the article in your original post.

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Answer 2

antoni232 Author

Level 1

1 points

Oct 3, 2013 6:38 PM in response to Eric Root

It did not work... Thanks for the suggestion.

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Answer 3

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Oct 3, 2013 11:57 PM in response to antoni232

Reboot and try again.

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Answer 4

antoni232 Author

Level 1

1 points

Oct 5, 2013 5:18 PM in response to Linc Davis

Rebooted and the error persists... Hope I'm wrong, but I really doubt there is a solution on the net for my problem.

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Answer 5

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Oct 5, 2013 6:17 PM in response to antoni232

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, they may not work as described.

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

Third-party system modifications are a common cause of usability problems. By a “system modification,” I mean software that affects the operation of other software — potentially for the worse. The following procedure will help identify which such modifications you've installed. Don’t be alarmed by the complexity of these instructions — they’re easy to carry out and won’t change anything on your Mac.

These steps are to be taken while booted in “normal” mode, not in safe mode. If you’re now running in safe mode, reboot as usual before continuing.

Below are instructions to enter some UNIX shell commands. The commands are harmless, but they must be entered exactly as given in order to work. If you have doubts about the safety of the procedure suggested here, search this site for other discussions in which it’s been followed without any report of ill effects.

Some of the commands will line-wrap or scroll in your browser, but each one is really just a single line, all of which must be selected. You can accomplish this easily by triple-clicking anywhere in the line. The whole line will highlight, and you can then copy it. The headings “Step 1” and so on are not part of the commands.

Note: If you have more than one user account, Step 2 must be taken as an administrator. Ordinarily that would be the user created automatically when you booted the system for the first time. The other steps should be taken as the user who has the problem, if different. Most personal Macs have only one user, and in that case this paragraph doesn’t apply.

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.

When you launch Terminal, a text window will open with a line already in it, ending either in a dollar sign (“$”) or a percent sign (“%”). If you get the percent sign, enter “sh” and press return. You should then get a new line ending in a dollar sign.

Step 1

Triple-click anywhere in the line of text below on this page to select it:

kextstat -kl | awk '!/com\.apple/{printf "%s %s\n", $6, $7}' | open -ef

Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Then click anywhere in the Terminal window and paste (command-V). A TextEdit window will open with the output of the command. If the command produced no output, the window will be empty. Post the contents of the TextEdit window (not the Terminal window), if any — the text, please, not a screenshot. You can then close the TextEdit window. The title of the window doesn't matter, and you don't need to post that. No typing is involved in this step.

Step 2

Repeat with this line:

{ sudo launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.(apple|openssh|vix\.cron)|org\.(amav|apac|cups|isc|ntp|postf|x)/{print $3}'; echo; sudo defaults read com.apple.loginwindow LoginHook; echo; sudo crontab -l; } 2> /dev/null | open -ef

This time you'll be prompted for your login password, which you do have to type. Nothing will be displayed when you type it. Type it carefully and then press return. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. Heed that warning, but don't post it. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.

Note: If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before taking this step. If that’s not possible, skip to the next step.

Step 3

{ launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.apple|org\.(x|openbsd)/{print $3}'; echo; crontab -l 2> /dev/null; } | open -ef

Step 4

ls -A /e*/{cr,la,mach}* {,/}Lib*/{Ad,Compon,Ex,Fram,In,Keyb,La,Mail/Bu,P*P,Priv,Qu,Scripti,Servi,Spo,Sta}* L*/Fonts .la* 2> /dev/null | open -ef

Important: If you formerly synchronized with a MobileMe account, your me.com email address may appear in the output of the above command. If so, anonymize it before posting.

Step 5

osascript -e 'tell application "System Events" to get name of login items' | open -ef

Remember, steps 1-5 are all copy-and-paste — no typing, except your password. Also remember to post the output.

You can then quit Terminal.

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Answer 6

antoni232 Author

Level 1

1 points

Oct 9, 2013 6:00 AM in response to Linc Davis

Results of Step 1

at.obdev.nke.LittleSnitch (2.5.3)

Results of Step 2

noipd

com.trusteer.rooks.rooksd

com.timesoftware.timemachineeditor.helper

com.realvnc.vncserver

com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper

com.adobe.fpsaud

at.obdev.littlesnitchd

Results of Step 3

com.paragon.ntfs.auth

com.trusteer.rapport.rapportd

com.realvnc.vncserver.peruser

com.oracle.java.Java-Updater

at.obdev.LittleSnitchUIAgent

at.obdev.LittleSnitchNetworkMonitor

com.google.keystone.user.agent

com.aunsoft.LaunchFinalMate

Results of Step 4

/Library/Components:

/Library/Extensions:

/Library/Frameworks:

AEProfiling.framework

AERegistration.framework

AudioMixEngine.framework

NyxAudioAnalysis.framework

PluginManager.framework

iTunesLibrary.framework

/Library/Input Methods:

/Library/Internet Plug-Ins:

AdobePDFViewer.plugin

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin

Flash Player.plugin

JavaAppletPlugin.plugin

Quartz Composer.webplugin

QuickTime Plugin.plugin

SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin

SharePointWebKitPlugin.webplugin

Silverlight.plugin

flashplayer.xpt

iPhotoPhotocast.plugin

nsIQTScriptablePlugin.xpt

/Library/Keyboard Layouts:

/Library/LaunchAgents:

at.obdev.LittleSnitchNetworkMonitor.plist

at.obdev.LittleSnitchUIAgent.plist

com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist

com.realvnc.vncserver.peruser.plist

com.realvnc.vncserver.prelogin.plist

com.trusteer.rapport.rapportd.plist

/Library/LaunchDaemons:

at.obdev.littlesnitchd.plist

com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist

com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist

com.realvnc.vncserver.plist

com.timesoftware.timemachineeditor.helper.plist

com.trusteer.rooks.rooksd.plist

noip2.plist

/Library/PreferencePanes:

Flash Player.prefPane

JavaControlPanel.prefPane

NTFSforMacOSX.prefPane

RapportPreferences.prefPane

/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools:

com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper

com.timesoftware.timemachineeditor.helper

/Library/QuickLook:

iBooksAuthor.qlgenerator

iWork.qlgenerator

/Library/QuickTime:

AppleIntermediateCodec.component

AppleMPEG2Codec.component

/Library/ScriptingAdditions:

/Library/Spotlight:

Microsoft Office.mdimporter

iBooksAuthor.mdimporter

iWork.mdimporter

/Library/StartupItems:

/etc/mach_init.d:

/etc/mach_init_per_login_session.d:

/etc/mach_init_per_user.d:

Library/Address Book Plug-Ins:

SkypeABDialer.bundle

SkypeABSMS.bundle

Library/Fonts:

Library/Input Methods:

.localized

Library/Internet Plug-Ins:

CitrixOnlineWebDeploymentPlugin.plugin

Google Earth Web Plug-in.plugin

Library/Keyboard Layouts:

Library/LaunchAgents:

com.apple.AddressBook.ScheduledSync.PHXCardDAVSource.FEF3BF2F-A9B0-42E2-91FF-78E D99D0FF35.plist

com.aunsoft.LaunchFinalMate.plist

com.google.keystone.agent.plist

Library/PreferencePanes:

Library/Services:

Quit.workflow

Results of Step 5

iTunesHelper, VLCStreamer, Tunnelblick, Tunnelblick

Reply

Answer 7

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Oct 9, 2013 10:15 AM in response to antoni232

Remove "Time Machine Editor" according to the developer's instructions. Reboot and test. If you use irresponsible and dangerous hacks like that one to change the behavior of Time Machine, it won't work and you will eventually lose all your data.

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Answer 8

Oct 9, 2013 10:27 AM in response to Linc Davis

Hello LincDavis,

You very helpfully responded to another user about an email issue a few days ago and I'm hoping you may be able to help me with a related issue. Would you mind taking a look at my question and seeing if you might be able to help me, please? I would be so grateful.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5429931

Thank you so much,

Lisa

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Answer 9

antoni232 Author

Level 1

1 points

Oct 9, 2013 1:50 PM in response to Linc Davis

Some time ago I installed “Time Machine Editor”, used for a few minutes, didn’t like and uninstalled according to developer’s instructions. After removing it from my system I didn’t notice any problems with Time Machine.

Today I double checked “Time Machine Editor” uninstallation and manually removed “com.timesoftware.timemachineeditor.helper” and “com.timesoftware.timemachineeditor.helper.plist”, after that I rebooted my computer and tried to back up. Unfortunately the error persists…

Reply

Answer 10

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Oct 9, 2013 8:52 PM in response to antoni232

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, by a peripheral device, or by corruption of certain system caches.

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 on some models, 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 sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. 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.

Reply

Answer 11

antoni232 Author

Level 1

1 points

Oct 14, 2013 7:14 AM in response to Linc Davis

Tested in safe mode following your instructions and here are the results:

I didn’t get the original error but instead I got the following error when Time Machine tried to start backup.

Tried "Remove Disk" and then "Use Disk" from Time Machine Preferences. The backup disk from my Time Machine was successfully removed but when I tried to "Use Disk" again it gave me the following error:

Then I tried connecting through finder and it gave me this error:

Just to be safe I did everything again (restarted in safe mode) following your instructions and the “connecting errors” persisted, after that I logged in normally and could connect to my Time Machine disk but the original error (error -1) came back.

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Answer 12

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Oct 14, 2013 6:09 PM in response to antoni232

Uninstall or disable "Little Snitch" and see whether there's any change.

Reply

Answer 13

antoni232 Author

Level 1

1 points

Oct 24, 2013 6:00 AM in response to Linc Davis

Disabled it and then uninstaled it.... no change.

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Answer 14

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,547 points

Oct 24, 2013 10:55 PM in response to antoni232

Your system is so heavily modified that, instead of trying to remove the modifications piecemeal, you should erase your boot volume, reinstall OS X, and then go through the initial setup process, importing only your user data and settings from backup — not applications or other files.

Back up all data to at least two different storage devices, if you haven't already done so. The backups can be made with Time Machine or with a mirroring tool such as Carbon Copy Cloner. Preferably both. You must be certain that you can restore everything to the state it's in now.

Note that if you're running in safe mode, you can't connect to a Time Capsule or other network volume. You'll have to back up to a locally-attached hard drive.

Erase and install OS X. This operation will destroy all data on the volume, so you had be better be sure of your backups. If you upgraded from an older version of OS X, you'll need the Apple ID and password that you used to purchase the upgrade from the App Store, so make a note of those before you begin.

When you reboot, you'll be prompted to go through the initial setup process in Setup Assistant. That’s when you transfer the data from one of your backups.

Transfer only "Users" and "Settings" – not "Applications" or "Other files." Don't transfer the Guest account, if it was enabled on the old system.

After that, run Software Update.

If the problem is resolved after the clean installation, reinstall your third-party software selectively. I can only suggest general guidelines. Self-contained applications that install into the Applications folder by drag-and-drop or download from the App Store are usually safe. Anything that comes packaged as an installer or that prompts for an administrator password is suspect, and you must test thoroughly after reinstalling each such item to make sure you haven't restored the problem.

I recommend that you never reinstall commercial "anti-virus" products or "utilities," if they're packaged as an installer.

Before installing any software, ask yourself the question: "Am I sure I know how to uninstall this without having to wipe the volume again?" If the answer is "no," stop.

Never install any third-party software unless you know how to uninstall it.

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Answer 15

antoni232 Author

Level 1

1 points

Oct 25, 2013 7:00 AM in response to Linc Davis

Thanks for all your help, I think we've eliminated all reasonable possible causes for the problem. For now I will keep backing up using my other user and eventually will reinstall OS X.

If in the meantime I find any solution I will post here.

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