Time Machine backup takes so long

Question

coxorange Author

Level 1

98 points

Time Machine backup takes so long

Hello

Normally my backups take about 10 minutes, but since last week they take up to 5 hours.

I have this little app "LogViewer for Time Machine" which extracts relevant information

from the log. On 7/12 I got this report:

04:28:36 - Starting manual backup

04:28:37 - Backing up to: /Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb

04:28:41 - Using file event preflight for Macintosh HD

04:28:43 - Will copy (391.8 MB) from Macintosh HD

04:28:43 - Found 585 files (391.8 MB) needing backup

04:28:44 - 2.02 GB required (including padding), 301.13 GB available

04:34:20 - Copied 20899 files (359.7 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.

04:34:20 - Using file event preflight for Macintosh HD

04:34:20 - Will copy (Zero KB) from Macintosh HD

04:34:20 - Found 9 files (Zero KB) needing backup

04:34:20 - 1.55 GB required (including padding), 300.81 GB available

04:34:23 - Copied 260 files (143 bytes) from volume Macintosh HD.

04:34:26 - Created new backup: 2013-12-07-043424

04:34:27 - Starting post-backup thinning

04:36:51 - Deleted /Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2013-11-07-014345 (186.9 MB)

04:36:51 - Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed

04:36:51 - Backup completed successfully.

Everything looks normal. A few days later I got the following report:

02:01:14 - Starting manual backup

02:01:20 - Backing up to: /Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb

02:01:43 - Using file event preflight for Macintosh HD

02:03:50 - Will copy (332.1 MB) from Macintosh HD

02:03:50 - Found 699 files (332.1 MB) needing backup

02:03:50 - 1.95 GB required (including padding), 299.78 GB available

03:23:12 - Copied 238.1 MB of 332.1 MB, 1622 of 1622 items

04:23:13 - Copied 295.7 MB of 332.1 MB, 17541 of 17541 items

04:41:06 - Copied 20395 files (308.1 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.

04:41:08 - Using file event preflight for Macintosh HD

04:41:08 - Will copy (7 bytes) from Macintosh HD

04:41:08 - Found 21 files (7 bytes) needing backup

04:41:08 - 1.55 GB required (including padding), 299.5 GB available

04:42:26 - Copied 791 files (2 KB) from volume Macintosh HD.

04:42:40 - Created new backup: 2013-12-12-044227

04:42:43 - Starting post-backup thinning

04:57:40 - Deleted /Volumes/MyBook/Backups.backupdb/uome’s iMac/2013-11-12-030726 (375.1 MB)

04:57:40 - Post-back up thinning complete: 1 expired backups removed

04:57:55 - Backup completed successfully.

It took three hours.

- How can 21 files have a size of 7 bytes?

- How can 791 files have a size of 2KB?

Is this OK? Or what is happening here?

Many thanks.

iMac (27-inch Mid 2010), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Dec 13, 2013 1:53 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,102 points

Dec 13, 2013 2:09 AM in response to coxorange

Did you update or upgrade OS lately?

Did you install any scheduler for TimeMachine (like TimeMachineScheduler) or did you change the TM schedule with Terminal commands?

Did you change the TM disk?

Download Etrecheck.app from www.etresoft.com, it produces a list and copy that list here.

In the meantime you can read all about TM on the internet http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html

of the late Pondini, which is still in the air, luckily.

Lex

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Answer 2

coxorange Author

Level 1

98 points

Dec 13, 2013 5:09 AM in response to Lexiepex

Thank you for your answers and questions.

LexSchellings wrote:

Did you update or upgrade OS lately?

Did you install any scheduler for TimeMachine (like TimeMachineScheduler) or did you change the TM schedule with Terminal commands?

Did you change the TM disk?

3 x No.

EtreCheck reports: (my notes in blue)

Hardware Information:

iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010)

iMac - model: iMac11,3

1 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 CPU: 2 cores

4 GB RAM

Video Information:

ATI Radeon HD 5670 - VRAM: 512 MB

Audio Plug-ins:

AirPlay: Version: 1.4.5 - SDK 10.8

iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.1 - SDK 10.8

Startup Items:

HP Trap Monitor: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HP Trap Monitor

Strange - I'm using an Epson printer for many years

- used HP in 2008. Can I simply delete this folder?

System Software:

OS X 10.8.2 (12C60) - Uptime: 30 days 15:41:52

Disk Information:

WDC WD1001FALS-40Y6A0 disk0 : (1 TB)

disk0s1 (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) /: 919.06 GB (377.27 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB

BOOTCAMP (disk0s4) /Volumes/BOOTCAMP: 80.28 GB (38.15 GB free)

HL-DT-STDVDRW GA32N

USB Information:

Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub

Kensington Kensington Expert Mouse

Apple, Inc Apple Keyboard

TSSTcorp USB Mass Storage Device 6.71 GB

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

FireWire Information:

Thunderbolt Information:

Kernel Extensions:

com.kensington.trackballworks.driver (1.1.0)

Problem System Launch Daemons:

[failed] com.apple.coresymbolicationd.plist

What does this mean?

Problem System Launch Agents:

[failed] com.apple.coreservices.appleid.authentication.plist

[failed] com.apple.lookupd.plist

[failed] com.apple.rcd.plist

[failed] com.apple.scopedbookmarkagent.xpc.plist

What does this mean?

Launch Daemons:

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist

[loaded] com.wdc.drivemanagerservice.plist

[loaded] com.westerndigital.WD-Drive-Manager-Installer.plist

[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.privileged_startx.plist

Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist

[loaded] org.macosforge.xquartz.startx.plist

User Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist

[failed] com.google.keystone.agent.plist

What is this? I thought that I had removed everything

from Google. How can I remove this?

User Login Items:

MenuBar ReArranger

TrackballWorksHelper

Mac Game Store Helper

WDDriveManagerStatusMenu

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Flash Player

Java

TrackballWorks

Internet Plug-ins::

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 7 Update 45

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 11.9.900.152 - SDK 10.6

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.1

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 10.1.8

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 10.1.8

Flash Player: Version: 11.9.900.152 - SDK 10.6 Outdated! Update

Unity Web Player: Version: UnityPlayer version 4.2.0f4 - SDK 10.6

DirectorShockwave: Version: 11.6.4r634

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.8

(I will update Flash soon.) Is it OK that Flash appears two times?

Is Shockwave still used nowadays...?

Bad Fonts:

None

Old applications:

AVCCAM Restorer: Version: 2.3.0 - SDK 10.4

/Applications/AVCCAM_Restore_Mac (Panasonic)/AVCCAM Restorer.app

FocusMask: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.0

/Applications/FocusMask.app

Font-Wizard: Version: 2.0 - SDK 10.0

/Applications/Font-Wizard.app

WDDriveManagerStatusMenu: Version: 2.2.7 - SDK 10.4

/Library/Application Support/WesternDigital/WDDriveManager/WDDriveManagerStatusMenu.app

WDDriveManagerStatusMenu: Version: 2.2.7 - SDK 10.4

/Library/Application Support/WDDriveManagerInstallerItems/WDDriveManager/WDDriveManagerStatusMenu.ap p

[... longer list of old apps deleted...]

Time Machine:

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: NO

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 855.94 GB Disk used: 504.58 GB

Destinations:

MyBook [Local] (Last used)

Total size: 931.19 GB

Total number of backups: 54

Oldest backup: 2013-05-11 07:49:57 +0000

Last backup: 2013-12-13 05:03:16 +0000

Size of backup disk: Too small

Backup size 931.19 GB < (Disk used 504.58 GB X 3)

I see there are 54 backups. Is this the reason? I don't need the old

backups - the last few would be sufficient.

How can I delete the old ones to free space?

Time Machine details may not be accurate.

All volumes being backed up may not be listed.

Top Processes by CPU:

2% EtreCheck

1% WindowServer

0% ps

0% Flux

0% Brightness

Top Processes by Memory:

913 MB WebProcess

238 MB Safari

176 MB Finder

160 MB Pages

127 MB mds

Virtual Memory Statistics:

664 MB Free RAM

1.88 GB Active RAM

750 MB Inactive RAM

754 MB Wired RAM

21.23 GB Page-ins

11.92 GB Page-outs

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Answer 3

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,102 points

Dec 13, 2013 6:51 AM in response to coxorange

OK, this helps.

answers to your list in order of list:

- HPTrap Monitor: yes you can delete this folder; this will not really delete all remnants of this TrapMonitor, but OSX will no longer try to start it .

- com.apple.coresymbolicationd.plist : this means only that it is not started while it was not requested yet by the system, do not touch it.

- same for the next four.

Now to the rest:

Remove all four entries from the SystemPreferences/Users&Groups/LoginItems tab: remove with the minus sign underneath. (this will not uninstall just prevent them from running at startup).

Restart the computer, these apps are not running now.

1. Uninstall WesternDigital app(s), absolutely necessary, if you do not find the uninstaller do the following:

Go to Macintosh HD/Library/LaunchDaemons/ delete the com.wdc.... and the com.westerndigital.....

In Applications or Utilities drag all WD apps to the Trashbin

In MacintoshHD/Library/ApplicationSupport/ delete all WesternDigital folders.

2. I propose to uninstall Trackball, MacGameStore, and MenubarRearranger. You will probably not miss them.

Further remarks:

a. In InternetPlugins:

you can delete the AdobePDFViewer plugins, not needed.

there are two Flasplayer plugins normally.

b. ... longer list of old apps deleted... the wording is not very precise in the etrecheck list, please post the rest also.

c. TimeMachine:

this is not absolute, read the disclaimer. Maybe you exclude the Bootcamp partition from TM in the TM settings, and you can use Winclone to backup your windows partition separately.

As to your remark in blue: a TM backup is just a sort of cumulative method, you have all or nothing: this is the most fantastic method of making backups !!!! TM condenses on the way forward in time. Read a very good expose on http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html

OK, restart and make a new etrecheck list.

Lex

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Answer 4

coxorange Author

Level 1

98 points

Dec 14, 2013 8:56 AM in response to Lexiepex

Many thanks for your suggestions.

I'm in the middle of removing plug-ins.

What about these:

- DirectorShockwave.plugin

- nsIQTScriptablePlugin.xpt

- Quartz Composer.webplugin

Are they (still) really required?

Thanks.

Reply

Answer 5

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,102 points

Dec 14, 2013 10:22 AM in response to coxorange

You can move the Director.... to a backupfolder somewhere. Maybe you need that later.

Leave the other two alone.

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Answer 6

coxorange Author

Level 1

98 points

Dec 17, 2013 2:22 AM in response to Lexiepex

In the meantime I did everything mentioned above except removing the WD software (I know I MUST remove it before upgrading to Mavericks (risk of data loss), but since I never had a problem with it and need the RAID manager from time to time I let it stay).

I also deleted 2 apps (Mountain and Hush) which seemed suspicious to me.

After a restart (which took a lot of time!) my Time Machine backups (via FireWire) are as fast as before.

Many thanks again!

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Answer 7

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,102 points

Dec 18, 2013 2:12 AM in response to coxorange

great 🙂

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