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Trash error 8003 when deleting TM backups

So I have resolved my problem with the error 8003, but I still need some advice about whether my external hard drive is in ok condition. Here is what happened:


I was getting the error only when my EHD was connected, so I know it was linked to the TM backups - I wanted to delete older backups to make room for newer ones. I tried a few solutions - Trash It didn't work for me. Then I ran a scan of my EHD with Disk Utility, it told me I needed to repair the disk, but the repair failed and it gave me that message about backing up my files and erasing the EHD (i think). At this point I could no longer see my EHD on my Desktop or Finder, though it did show up in Disk Utility, but I couldn't unmount it. I shut down computer and then unmounted the drive.


I connected my EHD when my computer was on again, and after quite awhile, it finally showed up on my desktop, and the trash was suddenly empty!

So the problem may have resolved itself, but the weird thing is, even though the TM backups I had initially deleted were no longer in the trash, I still have the same amount of free space on the EHD as before - so it's like they're still there even though they're not in my list of backups anymore. In other words, they got deleted but it didn't free up space on the EHD.


I do need to be able to delete backups so I can make room for more backups in the future, but should I just not take the risk with this EHD? I haven't lost valuable data that I feared I had lost when it wasn't even mounting, but maybe I shouldn't do any more TM backups on this drive??

Insights?

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Jan 23, 2015 10:42 AM

Reply
8 replies

Jan 23, 2015 4:50 PM in response to rebecchina

Time Machine will handle deleting backups when it needs to. There is no need for you to do that. The way Time Machine stores the files is it creates a sparse bundle which increases as needed. It you delete backups, the size of the sparse bundle doesn't decrease - there is just more room in it. So the next backup may not increase the size.

Jan 23, 2015 7:41 PM in response to Eric Root

Ok, so you're saying I should never delete backups? Because I feel like I've gotten the message that there isn't enough room on the drive to complete the backup. And is there a better way of deleting backups than dragging those folders to my Trash?


As to the question of whether I can continue to use the EHD after this Error, what do you think? I'd like to do a backup soon.

Jan 24, 2015 7:07 AM in response to rebecchina

Start with C4 in the 1st linked article.


Time Machine Troubleshooting


Time Machine Troubleshooting Problems


You should be able to continue with that external drive. Your backup external drive needs to be 2-4 times the amount of data you are backing up. I also recommend you have 2 different backups on different drives because hard drives do fail. Since Snow Leopard won't let you alternate Time Machine drives, you might want to consider a clone.


Clone - Carbon Copy Cloner (Often recommended as it has more features than some others)


Clone – Data Backup


Clone – Deja Vu

Clone - SuperDuper


Clone - Synk


Clone Software – 6 Applications Tested



Commonly Used Backup Methods

Jan 24, 2015 2:49 PM in response to Eric Root

Ok, so I just tried to connect EHD again and after 20 minutes of trying to load, I got an error message that is something like:

"Mac OSX can't repair the disk. You can see the files backed up on the disk but can't make any changes to the files....backup files"

Sorry, I tried to copy and paste message exactly, but couldn't.


So I open up a backup file and I can open the MS Word and EXCel files, but they open as "Read-only". I guess that's ok since I can save/copy them to my hard drive and edit that way. Will my pictures and other types of files be ok?


I guess this hard drive won't accept any new backups, so I'll have to get a new one. Is there an easy way to transfer all of my backups from one to another other than just connecting both and copying them to the new one? I don't know much about cloning, so maybe I'll just stick with one backup drive.


THanks!

Jan 24, 2015 4:41 PM in response to rebecchina

Try using Disk Utility/Restore to copy the backup over. Note that it will reformat the destination drive so any data on it will be lost.


After you have transferred the backups, you may have to inherit the backup.


Inherit a Backup

Inherit a Backup (2)


After that is straight, go to the old external and run Disk Utility/Repair Disk and Repair Permissions. If necessary, reformat the drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and select Option GUID. If it repairs itself okay, add it back to Time Machine so you will have 2 speparate backups. As you have seen, oops do happen.

Trash error 8003 when deleting TM backups

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