Time Machine stuck verifying backup at 70%

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elbenoit Author

Level 1

24 points

Time Machine stuck verifying backup at 70%

Time Machine is continually verifying my backup. It gets to about 70% and then gets stuck at that point.

I have left it for hours, including overnight, to complete and it remains at 70%.

It looks like it is using fsck to verify the backup.

I am unable to determine why it is getting stuck at this point and am looking for suggestions.

I am going to try the basics first such as re-starting the computer and the time capsule.

Thank you for your courage.

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10), Early 2011

Posted on Mar 9, 2015 5:10 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 9, 2015 5:56 AM in response to elbenoit

If you have backups on Time Capsule or any other network drive.. Yosemite has real issues handling networks nowadays..

At the very least you should use ethernet and turn off wireless.

Make sure ipv6 is set to link local only in ethernet.. this is important to keep things running.. but Yosemite is still unstable.

Sometimes it is easier to simply start a new backup.

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Answer 2

elbenoit Author

Level 1

24 points

Mar 9, 2015 6:34 PM in response to LaPastenague

I should point out that my time machine backups appear to be working ok.. they are completing and I can enter time machine without any problem. I back up to a wireless time capsule.

The issue is when it attempts to verify the backup. It is consistently hanging at 71%..

I noticed in the log it seems to be stuck on checking multi-linked files.. I tried mounting and verifying the sparse disk bundle in disk utility and it hung / got stuck in that area as well.. It was stuck at estimating 2 hours remaining for several hours..

Not sure what to make of this verifying problem.

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Answer 3

Mar 10, 2015 4:30 PM in response to elbenoit

It would worry me enough to do something radical.

If you want to keep the old backups archive them off the TC. Then wipe it and start a new clean backup.

At least you know then you have a working backup to restore.

Or jump to an alternative to TM ie.. Carbon Copy Cloner works well for me.. Others are available.. it is not at proficient at incremental backups as TM perhaps but it creates much more reliable backups.. and to an external drive you can make a bootable clone.

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Answer 4

elbenoit Author

Level 1

24 points

Mar 12, 2015 4:13 AM in response to elbenoit

I was able to get my time machine verification to complete. The solution was actually pretty simple.

When I noticed it was once again 'stuck' at 71%, I increased the wait time for my computer to go to sleep from a duration of 1/2 hour to 3 hours.

This allowed the verification process to churn away without interruption. It took several hours but it did eventually complete.

Thank you for your courage!

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