How do I get Time Machine to resume backing up?

Question

jcarter1234 Author

Level 1

14 points

How do I get Time Machine to resume backing up?

Time Machine is supposed to delete old backups automatically when it is full to make room for new back ups.

After years of use it suddenly is giving me the message that it can't complete a backup.

It lists the "Details" as follows"

"Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to "Time Machine Backups"

The backup disk needs 114.76 GB for the backup but only 103.95 GB are available.

Select a larger backup disk or make the backup smaller by excluding files."

I do not wish to select a larger disk or exclude files.

How do get it to resume deleting old backups to make room for new?

OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)

Posted on Apr 8, 2014 5:09 PM

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Answer 1

leroydouglas

Level 10

200,220 points

Apr 8, 2014 6:08 PM in response to jcarter1234

http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html

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

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Answer 2

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Apr 8, 2014 10:01 PM in response to jcarter1234

When you enter Time Machine, how many snapshots do you see?

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Answer 3

jcarter1234 Author

Level 1

14 points

Apr 9, 2014 2:26 AM in response to leroydouglas

Thanks for these resources.

In one section there were Time Machine Problem Messages but none matched the one I am receiving.

First this message pops up on the screen:

Backup Failed

Time Machine couldn’t back up to “Time Machine Backups”

When I click on "Details" I get this message:

"Time Machine couldn't complete the backyp to "Time Machine Backups"

The backup disk needs 114.76 GB for the backup but only 103.95 GB are available. Select a larger backup disk or make the backup smaller by excluding files."

I see "Reset" as an option but don''t know what the risks are of losing back-ups.

Not sure how to do this either.

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Answer 4

jcarter1234 Author

Level 1

14 points

Apr 9, 2014 2:28 AM in response to Linc Davis

I see ten.

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Answer 5

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Apr 9, 2014 6:38 AM in response to jcarter1234

Can you navigate to each of those snapshots and select files as if to restore them?

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Answer 6

jcarter1234 Author

Level 1

14 points

Apr 9, 2014 1:53 PM in response to Linc Davis

No.

I can go from "Now" to the last back up on April 5 2014 and select and open files but I can't go any further back to access earlier snap shots.

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Answer 7

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Apr 9, 2014 2:04 PM in response to jcarter1234

That means you've backed up more than one volume to the same destination. That could happen as a result of erasing the primary volume, depending on how you restored it.

TM will delete older snapshots when necessary to make room for new ones, but it will never delete the last snapshot of any volume. So you can end up without enough space for a new snapshot.

Your best option is to put the drive aside and stop using it until you're sure you'll no longer need the data. Then erase it and start over. Meanwhile, start another backup on a new drive. You should do that anyway, as one backup is not enough to be safe.

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Answer 8

jcarter1234 Author

Level 1

14 points

Apr 9, 2014 5:50 PM in response to Linc Davis

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain all this to me.

I currently am using 473 GB of storage on my iMac and have upgraded the storage capacity to 2 TB.

My Time Machine has a capacity of 500GB.

Will I be able to use it again once it is erased or do I need to upgrade to a larger capacity Time Machine if their is one.

In other words, when I erase the current memory of my Time Machine and start over will it immeadiately fill up 473GB of its 500GB capacity and put me back in the nearly maxed out condition?

Also, how does it work as it backs up? Does it only back up new stuff each time, adding to the initial back up?

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Answer 9

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Apr 9, 2014 6:23 PM in response to jcarter1234

If you have that much data to back up, you won't get much more than one snapshot on the drive, if that. Time Machine pads out the space requirement by about 10% and will balk if that requirement isn't met.

Yes, it only copies files that have changed since the last snapshot.

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Answer 10

jcarter1234 Author

Level 1

14 points

Apr 9, 2014 10:00 PM in response to Linc Davis

Thanks for this and the other messages.

I really appreciate your thoughtful and knowledgable responses.

I was stumped.

I will shop for two new external hard drives. One for home and one to keep off premises.

I am thinking the 1TB Seagate would work well for off premises.

(I have a 500GB one I have used for that purpose previously but I clearly need a larger storage capacity.)

Do you have any recommendations for on or off premises?

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Answer 11

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Apr 10, 2014 6:09 PM in response to jcarter1234

I don't have a specific recommendation. Avoid drives with gimmicky features, such as built-in networking.

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Answer 12

Jan 2, 2015 3:17 PM in response to Linc Davis

I've got the same issue as OP, but I haven't backed up more than one volume.

My last successful backup was from 2 weeks ago, before going on vacation (I didn't take my Time Machine drive with me). When I look in Time Machine, I can see a number of backups from the intervening days, when my TM drive wasn't connected, and I can't see any of my backups from before the last successful backup.

When I came home from vacation, I connected my TM drive and Time Machine ran on schedule.

I don't know why the system thinks it was making Time Machine backups when the drive wasn't connected, but it seems to have decided these backups were made using a new volume. I'm going to look for troubleshooting options that will allow me to delete this erroneous thread of backups and hopefully force Time Machine to recognize the original volume.

Any other bits of advice would be appreciated. This appears to be the (secondary) result of a bug.

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Answer 13

Jan 2, 2015 5:10 PM in response to brassknucklenerd

Followup: Yep, looks like this is a result of the Yosemite bug wherein the computer's name is listed repeatedly in the Shared machines list. I used BackupLoupe to index the Time Machine drive, and the name of the system being indexed is "<username>'s MacBook Pro (22)"

So as far as a permanent solution goes, we're well pooched until Apple fixes that bug. In the short term, I'm going to try manually changing my computer name and maybe seeing if I can get TM to recognize this as the original system.

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Answer 14

Eric Root

Level 10

685,299 points

Jan 3, 2015 9:19 AM in response to brassknucklenerd

You might want to consider starting a new discussion. Since this one is marked solved, less people are likely to look at it. You can link to this one.

Some people have reportedly stopped the renaming by going to System Preferences/Sharing and un-checking all sharing.

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