Time machine does complete backup every 2 - 3 weeks. Why?

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Level 1

5 points

Time machine does complete backup every 2 - 3 weeks. Why?

Every 2 - 3 weeks TM starts on a full backup. This results in my 1TB backup running out of space too quickly and needing to remove earlier backups. With exclusions I am only backing up abouit 130GB and do not make many or large changes from day-to-day.
Sometimes I can fix the problem by doing the reset proposed by Pondini (http://pondini.org/TM/A4.html) but not always.

Can anyone PLEASE offer any suggestions, as it is very, VERY Annoying to have go through this procedure time and time again.

Regards,

Dave

PS: my previous posts on the topic are also relevant.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on May 24, 2014 4:53 PM

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Answer 1

May 24, 2014 7:45 PM in response to Plantago1

I'm assuming you have deleted the plist files as directed. Since Pondini's site is your best source for Time Machine help, I think we need to look at your Mac HD files.

Start with downloading and running the combo updater over your install.

Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update v.1.1 - 1.09 GB

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1399

Download EtreCheck and paste results here for help troubleshooting.

http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

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Answer 2

Plantago1 Author

Level 1

5 points

May 24, 2014 10:32 PM in response to dianeoforegon

Hi dianeoforegon,

Thank you for your prompt response. This problem has been bugging me for sometime it would be great to get it sorted.

Firstly I should have included the the exclusions that I have set for TM. These are: /Applications; System files and Applications (this might be duplication); and a link to /Library/Application Support/Tech Tool Protection. (This later had been pointed as a possible source of problems on Pondini's website).

To Answer your first question: yes, I do delete the '.plist' file for TM each time I go through Pondini's Reset procededure. (you have referred to more than one '.plist'. I think that his procedure only refers to /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist. Is this correct?

I have downloaded the update as suggested. I was a little surprised that I hadn't done so already as I usually have the software updates set to check periodically unless this is a very recent one.

Finally I have run the EtreCheck program and the results are as follows:

EtreCheck version: 1.9.11 (43) - report generated 25 May 2014 3:08:57 PM AEST

Hardware Information:

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011)

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro8,2

1 2 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4 cores

4 GB RAM

Video Information:

AMD Radeon HD 6490M - VRAM: 256 MB

Intel HD Graphics 3000 - VRAM: 384 MB

System Software:

Mac OS X 10.6.8 (10K549) - Uptime: 0 days 0:5:37

Disk Information:

ST9500325ASG disk0 : (465.76 GB)

(null) (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 200 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 464.96 GB (298.44 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 619.9 MB

MATSHITADVD-R UJ-898

USB Information:

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Logitech Logitech USB Headset

Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub

Microsoft Microsoft 3-Button Mouse with IntelliEye(TM)

Apple, Inc Apple Keyboard

BUFFALO HD-LBU3 931.51 GB

(null) (disk2s1) <not mounted>: 200 MB

Time Machine Backups (disk2s2) /Volumes/Time Machine Backups: 931.19 GB (59.33 GB free)

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

FireWire Information:

LaCie Group SA LaCie Big Disk Extreme LUN 0 800mbit - 800mbit max

(null) (disk1s1) <not mounted>: 32 KB

LaCie Backup (disk1s3) /Volumes/LaCie Backup: 456.1 GB (268.07 GB free)

eDrive (disk1s4) <not mounted>: 11.3 GB

Thunderbolt Information:

Apple, Inc. MacBook Pro

Kernel Extensions:

[kext loaded] at.obdev.nke.LittleSnitch (4052 - SDK 10.8) Support

[not loaded] com.microsoft.VirtualPC.Networking.1040 (7.0.2) Support

[not loaded] com.roxio.TDIXController (2.0) Support

Startup Items:

HWNetMgr: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWNetMgr

HWPortDetect: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWPortDetect

Launch Daemons:

[running] at.obdev.littlesnitchd.plist Support

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist Support

[loaded] com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist Support

[running] com.micromat.TechToolProDaemon.plist Support

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist Support

[running] openbase.plist Support

Launch Agents:

[running] at.obdev.LittleSnitchUIAgent.plist Support

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support

[loaded] com.divx.dms.agent.plist Support

[loaded] com.divx.update.agent.plist Support

[running] com.micromat.TechToolProAgent.plist Support

User Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support

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

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support

[not loaded] jp.co.canon.Inkjet_Extended_Survey_Agent.plist Support

[running] openlaunch.plist Support

[running] ws.agile.1PasswordAgent.plist Support

User Login Items:

SOHOCalendarsService

SOHONotesService

TypeIt4Me

Rogue Amoeba Schedule Helper

MagicMenu

Microsoft Database Daemon

AdobeResourceSynchronizer

Default Folder X Helper

Internet Plug-ins:

Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 7.1 Support

OVSHelper: Version: 1.1 Support

AdobeExManDetect: Version: AdobeExManDetect 1.1.0.0 - SDK 10.7 Support

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.4.4.2 Support

RealPlayer Plugin: Version: Unknown

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 10.1.10 Support

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 13.0.0.214 - SDK 10.6 Support

DivX Web Player: Version: 3.2.0.788 - SDK 10.6 Support

Silverlight: Version: 5.1.20125.0 - SDK 10.6 Support

Flash Player: Version: 13.0.0.214 - SDK 10.6 Support

iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.7

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.6.6

SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.4.1 - SDK 10.6 Support

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 10.1.10 Support

EPPEX Plugin: Version: 3.0.5.0 Support

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 13.9.8 - SDK 10.6 Check version

Safari Extensions:

Ebay Shopping Assistant: Version: 1.1

Searchme: Version: 1.2

Slick Savings: Version: 1.0

Video Converter: Version: 3.5.0

Amazon Shopping Assistant: Version: 1.1

iTunes Plug-ins:

Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.2

3rd Party Preference Panes:

Default Folder X Support

Flash Player Support

Flip4Mac WMV Support

OpenBasePreferences Support

Perian Support

TechTool Protection Support

Top Processes by CPU:

16% MRT

4% firefox

2% WindowServer

2% plugin-container

1% Microsoft Outlook

Top Processes by Memory:

535 MB firefox

184 MB MRT

106 MB plugin-container

78 MB WindowServer

53 MB Microsoft Outlook

Virtual Memory Information:

1.44 GB Free RAM

1.25 GB Active RAM

316 MB Inactive RAM

1022 MB Wired RAM

339 MB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

Regards,

Dave

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Answer 3

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

May 25, 2014 9:29 AM in response to Plantago1

Did you look at this?

http://pondini.org/TM/D7.html

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Answer 4

May 25, 2014 10:01 AM in response to Plantago1

Startup Items:

HWNetMgr: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWNetMgr

HWPortDetect: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWPortDetect

Startup Items: Stored in /Library/StartupItems/

Startup Items have been discontinued by Apple since Mac OS 10.4.

Delete these files. I seriously doubt these are causing Time Machine issue though. I'm not seeing any malware that could be possible culprits either.

User Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support

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

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

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support

[not loaded] jp.co.canon.Inkjet_Extended_Survey_Agent.plist Support

[running] openlaunch.plist Support

[running] ws.agile.1PasswordAgent.plist Support

I would clean up this folder. Looks like some duplicates. I'm not sure you require any of these other than 1Password. Try moving them to a folder on the desktop.

What type drive are you using for Time Machine? Brand and how is it connected to Mac? Was it formatted by the manufacturer or did you use Disk Utility to format the drive?

Have you ever done a erase and reformat the drive before starting the next round of Time Machine?

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Answer 5

Plantago1 Author

Level 1

5 points

May 25, 2014 3:34 PM in response to Eric Root

Eric Root wrote:

Did you look at this?

http://pondini.org/TM/D7.html

Yes thanks Eric,

I have have looked at pretty much all of the Pondini stuff. No it doesn't actually always do full backups.
Something I haven't mentioned in these post (but did so in my previous post about a month ago) was the fact that when these periodic long full(ish) backups occur, there are a series of "SystemFlippers: didn't consume all data...." entries in the log.

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Answer 6

Plantago1 Author

Level 1

5 points

May 25, 2014 3:57 PM in response to dianeoforegon

Hi dianeoforegon,

I will try the suggestions you have made:

dianeoforegon wrote:

Startup Items:

HWNetMgr: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWNetMgr

HWPortDetect: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWPortDetect

Startup Items: Stored in /Library/StartupItems/

Startup Items have been discontinued by Apple since Mac OS 10.4.

Delete these files. I seriously doubt these are causing Time Machine issue though. I'm not seeing any malware that could be possible culprits either.

User Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist Support

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

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

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist Support

[not loaded] jp.co.canon.Inkjet_Extended_Survey_Agent.plist Support

[running] openlaunch.plist Support

[running] ws.agile.1PasswordAgent.plist Support

I would clean up this folder. Looks like some duplicates. I'm not sure you require any of these other than 1Password. Try moving them to a folder on the desktop.

In answer to your other questions:

What type drive are you using for Time Machine? Brand and how is it connected to Mac? Was it formatted by the manufacturer or did you use Disk Utility to format the drive?

It is a Buffalo 1TB drive connected via a USB 3 (I think). I formatted it using DiskUtility and then whatever settings required when chosen for use as Time Machine. As I have said in an earlier post the drive has worked well in the past and I have benn able to have several months of backup.

Have you ever done a erase and reformat the drive before starting the next round of Time Machine?

Actually no, because i haven't wished lose the backups that I already have. I one point I tried to copy the first backup top another drive but it wouldn't allow me because the TM drive was formatted 'case sensitive' whereas my supplementary drive is not formatted so.

Also I should have said that I'm getting a series "SystemFlippers: didn't consume all data..." messages when I do have these long periodic backups. I had mentioned this in one of my earlier post and also mentioned it in my reply to Eric. It iseems to have something to do with the problem, but all the mentions that I've seen about this is "just ignore it" or "it maybe something to do with 'pre-Intel programmes'" still in the system. But I have applications excluded from my backups. Any ideas about this and if it's part of the problem, how do I find and exclude them?

Dave

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Answer 7

May 25, 2014 3:54 PM in response to Plantago1

there are a series of "SystemFlippers: didn't consume all data...." entries in the log.

Just did a search on systemflippers and most of the info shows 2009 so it's strange you might still have something lurking that caused this years ago.

I found this link very interesting. Note they mention that you should not use migration if your do the re-installI suggest below.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3244377

Do you have an external drive that has the space to clone your current drive? If yes, if you really want to go nuclear, you can clone your drive. Boot from clone then wipe the internal drive. You could re-install your current version of OS X, or take this opportunity to move to Mavericks (after checking software, hardware requirements of course).

Bring back your data from clone. No preferences.

Wipe and erase clone.

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Answer 8

May 25, 2014 4:06 PM in response to Plantago1

Actually no, because i haven't wished lose the backups that I already have. I one point I tried to copy the first backup top another drive but it wouldn't allow me because the TM drive was formatted 'case sensitive' whereas my supplementary drive was formatted so.

Case sensitive could be the issue that is causing all your issues with Time Machine.

One of the other users might be able to help copying the case sensitive data to another drive or you could simply use the drive as a reserve source of older data and start over with a new drive formatted correctly for Time Machine.

Format the external drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) - Partition Map Scheme: GUID

See these links on recovering data from a case sensitive drive.

"I wouldn't worry about it. But if you want to erase the TC and start over, see #A8 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum), for instructions on changing the case-sensitivity of the new sparse bundle."...Pondini on this link https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2624756?start=15&tstart=0

https://jcs.org/notaweblog/2009/11/11/restoring_case-sensitive_hfs_volumes_with_ time_machine/

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Answer 9

Plantago1 Author

Level 1

5 points

May 25, 2014 4:09 PM in response to dianeoforegon

dianeoforegon wrote:

there are a series of "SystemFlippers: didn't consume all data...." entries in the log.

Just did a search on systemflippers and most of the info shows 2009 so it's strange you might still have something lurking that caused this years ago.

I found this link very interesting. Note they mention that you should not use migration if your do the re-installI suggest below.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3244377

Do you have an external drive that has the space to clone your current drive? If yes, if you really want to go nuclear, you can clone your drive. Boot from clone then wipe the internal drive. You could re-install your current version of OS X, or take this opportunity to move to Mavericks (after checking software, hardware requirements of course).

Bring back your data from clone. No preferences.

Wipe and erase clone.

Thanks. For the moment, though I will just keep this in mind - it looks quite daunting. I will first try your earlier suggestions (unless soemthing more definitive is suggested) as it will take a few weeks to determin if this makes any difference.

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Answer 10

Plantago1 Author

Level 1

5 points

May 25, 2014 9:50 PM in response to Plantago1

dianeoforegon wrote:

there are a series of "SystemFlippers: didn't consume all data...." entries in the log.

Just did a search on systemflippers and most of the info shows 2009 so it's strange you might still have something lurking that caused this years ago.

I found this link very interesting. Note they mention that you should not use migration if your do the re-installI suggest below.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3244377

Do you have an external drive that has the space to clone your current drive? If yes, if you really want to go nuclear, you can clone your drive. Boot from clone then wipe the internal drive. You could re-install your current version of OS X, or take this opportunity to move to Mavericks (after checking software, hardware requirements of course).

Bring back your data from clone. No preferences.

Wipe and erase clone.

Unfortunately, I don't have space to clone my current drive. I would love to upgrade to Mavericks but I'm a little concerned about it's compatibility with some of my most useful legacy applications. At one stage I attempted to upgrade to Lion but then found I coudn't use any of these programs and upgrades were either expensive or there were none so I was forced to revert to Snow Leopard.

From your previous response, I am loath to reformat the TM drive to case INsensitive and so yet again lose backups. The link you provided regarding restoring case-sensitive backups doesn't seem to be applicable since I'm not backing up everthing, and besdies wouldn't it replace newer files with older or that new files currently on my HD just be lost?

If there is concensus about the need to scrap my current backups and just start again with a case NONsensitive format, I had probably better go done this path. After all, in the past months I have lost many earlier backups when TM needs to make space for current ones. At the momnet my earliest is 27 March, with 50 backups (hourly daily, and weely) and about 62GB available.

Dave

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Answer 11

May 26, 2014 9:01 AM in response to Plantago1

It's recommended that you have 3X the size of your internal drive for Time Machine. Currently, Time Machine is deleting most of your older backups that you are keen on retaining.

You can upgrade to Mavericks and run Snow Leopard server with 4GB RAM allowing you to continue to run your older apps, but I suspect it will be slow. Many users on the older computers are better off sticking with Snow Leopard. Just remember at some point you will be forced to move to the newer OS X. It's best to do this on your schedule and not when you suddenly forced to move because of hardware failure.

You might be surprised at the cost of some of the larger external drives avaialble now. With either the 2T or 3T you would be able to have a full Time Machine and clone by partitioning.

I like the Seagate USB 3.0 Backup plus drives for price and reliability. Works on USB 2.0 ports. They come formatted for PC but easy to format in Disk Utility.

I don't recommend Western Digital because of the boot problem with some of their drives. LaCie makes good drives. All Mac formatted drives will cost more and it’s easy to reformat with Disk Utility. Do not use the software that comes with the drives. It’s recommended that you use Apple’s Disk Utility.

Prices vary but this gives you an idea of what you’ll find. As you notice the second and third TB is usually only $15 more per TB. Normally, you’ll find these prices but right now the 1T is more than the 2T. These are recent Amazon prices. Locally, Best Buy seems to have the best prices. I have seen the 3T on sale for $99 so start watching for sales.

Seagate Backup Plus 1 TB USB 3.0 $86.83

Seagate Backup Plus 2 TB USB 3.0 $99.99

Seagate Backup Plus 3 TB USB 3.0 $111.16

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Answer 12

Plantago1 Author

Level 1

5 points

May 26, 2014 10:16 PM in response to dianeoforegon

Hi,

This info may be useful at some future time, although I am only backing up about 130GB to a 1TB drive. So I'm not exactly sure why you are recommending 3x my internal HD capacity. Tm was only doing full backups occasionally as previously mentioned and the problem, I believe, was this not the capacity of my backup drive.

I have just read some parts of Pondini's TM webpage suggestions again and one that I missed before was his remommendation to get the latest combo update. This was done when you had suggested it ealier, (and along with the other suggestion of files to remove) I might just leave things as is for the next few weeks as his suggestion indicates that the combo may be all that is needed to rectify some existing OS software problems.

I will see how this goes. Thanks for your help and suggestions. If I get too frustrated, I'll just erase and start again (and reformat the drive as case-ignorant) 🙂

Dave

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Answer 13

May 27, 2014 9:47 AM in response to Plantago1

Using Time Machine occasionally could end up with bad results. If you need to recover a file that was created or modified after your last backup, you have no backup.

1. How big a drive do I need for Time Machine?

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Answer 14

Plantago1 Author

Level 1

5 points

May 27, 2014 3:57 PM in response to dianeoforegon

dianeoforegon wrote:

Using Time Machine occasionally could end up with bad results. If you need to recover a file that was created or modified after your last backup, you have no backup.

1. How big a drive do I need for Time Machine?

Ummm....not sure where this notion came from or what point you are trying to address. I have never said that I am "Using Time Machine occasionally...": I use TM as it is normally set up (with the exception of my exclusions) every time I turn my computer on.

Also with reference to your link (and the previous point about backup drive size) the first paragraph states:

"A general "rule of thumb" is, to keep a reasonable "depth" of backups, Time Machine needs 2 to 4 times as much space as the data it's backing-up (not necessarily the entire size of your internal HD). Be sure to add the size of the data on any other drives/partitions you want to back up."

We seem to be getting a bit off-track in this thread as to what my initial concern was!!

Dave

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Answer 15

Plantago1 Author

Level 1

5 points

Jun 13, 2014 3:48 PM in response to Plantago1

Now, after a few weeks, I think that I have finally solved this issue. Of the suggestions made, I feel reasoanbly sure that it was upgrading the OS using the latest Combo for 10.6.8 that was most helpful. Indeed in the process of regular backups now, I have regained some space on my TM drive as a result of deleting some the longer & larger backup caused by those "SystemFlipper..." errors.

Thanks to all those who responded and especially to dianeoforegon for your patience.

Dave

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