How might I move my Time Machine Backups.backupdb file to a partition on a different drive to enable reformatting the drive it is on, so that might put it back in place later?

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Level 1

4 points

How might I move my Time Machine Backups.backupdb file to a partition on a different drive to enable reformatting the drive it is on, so that might put it back in place later?

I have an external drive I use as my Time Machine backup location.

Recently, I started getting an error on it. It tells me there is a problem, and to repair it with Disk Utility. Disk Utility cannot verify the disk, and needs me to repair it, but it cannot repair it. It advises me to copy all of the important files from this disk to another location, and then reformat the drive.

So, I have copied all of the files that were not part of the Backups.backupdb folder structure to a partition on another disk, and removed them from the defecting drive, leaving ~250GB of files in the Time Machine backups files.

I cannot seem to get this to copy to a ~350GB folder on another drive, formatted Journaled, Extended as recommended.
What do I do?

Posted on Mar 18, 2015 11:01 PM

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Answer 1

Mar 19, 2015 2:57 AM in response to Fuzzy2k

Normal reasons for failure to copy a file is permissions.

If you are running Yosemite this is totally standard problem..

You can usually copy files using the SuperUser account in terminal but you will need to look up the commands.

Considering the state of the drive.. I think I would be looking for replacement.. not repairing it or reformatting it.

If you cannot save the TM backup.. well that ***** but just start a new one.. The backup is probably corrupt anyway.

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Answer 2

Fuzzy2k Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 19, 2015 1:55 PM in response to LaPastenague

Permissions all appear to be fine. I have tried, repeatedly, to modify the backups.backupdb folder and enclosed items from locked to not locked.

This unlocking process seems to take forever (overnight) and only work partially. I was able to copy part of the folder structure, but not all.

I am running Mavericks, with all updates applied.

I have tried going command line faux Linux guru on this, without luck. Doing that scares me, so that is part of the problem, but it is what it is. CP, MV -a -f all seem to fail. Maybe you have a recommendation or two for following this path? I seem to recall needing to become the root user in the past, but don't really get why I wouldn't be by default, since I am the only admin for this machine. That certainly falls in line with the permissions idea being a issue, though I do not recall seeing that in the error when the above cp and mv operations failed.

All of the other files on the drive seem to be fine. Why do you presume the backups.backupdb is corrupt? Doesn't deleting it and starting over kind of defeat the purpose of having it in the first place? The drive is a year, maybe 18 months old. Why would I assume it is such a problem that it is time to throw it out with the trash?

For what it is worth, I have another drive, identical to the one in question, that had this same issue. I wasn't using it for the TIme Machine backups, so reformatting it was much easier. It is now working as my primary repository for documents, although atm it is also trying to help out by housing the backups.backupdb folder structure for this other drive that is my wife's external storage, used for TIme Machine backups and also straight file copy backups, made by dragging files from one finder window to another. (I do not know why she feels the need for this redundancy, but there it is)

Thanks for all your time.

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Answer 3

Mar 19, 2015 3:25 PM in response to Fuzzy2k

A Time Machine backup is owned by TM.. this is standard kind of issue.. the very fact that you cannot copy it suggests it is corrupt.. or you cannot change permissions on the whole file.. let me assure you the way TM works.. what you have so far copied is completely useless.

Have you run a verify of the backup??

The fact that disk utility is not working means something is wrong.. it should be able to fix a drive..

And the fact the drive is only 12-18months old is also not relevant.. the present state of the drive is too poor to be considered reliable.

What type of drive is it.. ie USB2 USB3 and what brand??

It is not just the disk that can go bad but the controller/power supply as well.. and some brands seem to have bad batches.. eg seagate USB drives I was seeing recently.

I prefer drives where I buy a shell and put the drive into it.. so I can move the drive to another shell without breaking warranty (or the case).

The actual command for terminal I always just look up when I want to do them.. I am getting old and I have no space left for command line stuff.. although it was all there in the past.

eg today I hit. http://www.cnet.com/au/news/using-the-os-x-terminal-instead-of-the-finder-to-cop y-files/

This includes the rsync command.. lets try this one..

I can copy my downloads directory to a time capsule disk. I start with login as super user just to make sure I don't have permissions issues.. you should definitely do this. running rsync is great as it will give you info when it fails and it will do incremental if you run it again later. You construct the command by simply dragging the folder from finder into terminal and slightly modifying it as per the article above.. So my actual command as I am copying deliberately to a new folder on the TC.. You don't want files to land on the root.. even if it creates another folder.

$ sudo su

Password:

sh-3.2# rsync -av /Users/Ray/Downloads/* /Volumes/DataTCgen3/downloads/

building file list ... done

#A 12v25v Descrip.doc

$T2eC16V,!)!E9s2fB+iqBQNKwsSzpQ~~60_3.JPG

$_12.JPG

0198f23d9wahwkzzsf20dk15czcy.pdf

0340039AINETCNCTKGS.PDF

I have 60GB or so in this folder and it is copying at about 20MB/s over ethernet.. so it is not super fast.. but there is probably some error checking going on at the same time.

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Answer 4

Fuzzy2k Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 21, 2015 12:51 PM in response to LaPastenague

Not sure what it is to run a verify, but I have randomly picked a couple files from the copy and opened them with no problems.

sh-3.2# rsync -avz Backups.backupdb/ /Volumes/MyDrive/

Working from the root directory of the drive with the Backups.Backupdb on it.

Both drives are La Cie Rugged 1 TB USB 3 drives.

It ran and ran, and finally stopped, exiting error in file(code 11) and connection unexpectedly closed, with n bytes received so far, rsync error protocol data stream (code 12) at location.

rsync error: error in file IO (code 11) at /SourceCache/rsync/rsync-45/rsync/receiver.c(268) [receiver=2.6.9]

rsync: connection unexpectedly closed (67495526 bytes received so far) [sender]

rsync error: error in rsync protocol data stream (code 12) at /SourceCache/rsync/rsync-45/rsync/io.c(453) [sender=2.6.9]

So I issued the command again, it began building the file list, and appeared to fail almost immediately, but ...

sh-3.2# rsync -avz Backups.backupdb/ /Volumes/MyDrive/

building file list ... rsync: readdir("/VolumesLaCie/Backups.backupdb/wife?\#200\#231s MacBook Air/2014-03-12-133612/Macintosh HD/Applications/Aperture.app/Contents/Library/Automator/Retrieve Disk Item References.action/Contents/Resources/Japanese.lproj"): Input/output error (5)

rsync: readdir("/Volumes/LaCie/Backups.backupdb/lori schwartz?\#200\#231s MacBook Air/2014-03-12-133612/Macintosh HD/Applications/Aperture.app/Contents/Resources/Book Themes/Stock Black/Large/zh_CN.lproj"): Input/output error (5)

... it hasn't returned the prompt to me, so I suppose that rsync is still working.I guess this is going to take a while.

Thanks for the pointers and all your time. I appreciate your continued tutelage and interest.

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Answer 5

Mar 21, 2015 1:03 PM in response to Fuzzy2k

verify is available directly via the Time Machine icon.. hold down option key and click the TM icon in the top left menu items.. you will see verify..

You really must verify the backup before over worrying about copying it. If it fails the verify it is corrupt and useless.. and copying a corrupt backup to another location will leave it equally as corrupt. And USELESS.

rsync should not take too long to build the list.. press control and C to stop the command.. run verify then go back to it if the backup is still usable.

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Answer 6

Fuzzy2k Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 21, 2015 2:22 PM in response to LaPastenague

Verify Backups is greyed out on the menu, possibly because I am working on a machine that is not the one that this backup was created on?

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Answer 7

Mar 21, 2015 3:14 PM in response to Fuzzy2k

Ok.. you seem to be totally unable to do anything.. you cannot verify because there are disk errors.. you cannot copy the files off.. you cannot verify from TM itself because you are using the wrong computer..

I assume plugging the disk into the original computer that created the TM backup is no longer possible??

You are now experiencing what is fundamentally wrong with TM backups.

Can you open the TM backup at all inside TM or Finder..

If there are files you need, the method of retrieval might now be down to manually copying the files out of the backup.

Here is example I did of exactly that.

Can't access old files on time capsule

The difference between Time Capsule and external drive should not be a major one.

Recover the user files inside the backup.. and then be happy you have recovered that much.. because if the drive is corrupt that is already doing pretty well..

You can buy expensive recovery type software.. but reconstructing the TM backup is not like a text file where a few missing paragraphs can be accepted.. it simply won't work. I think the disk is in worse condition than you think since disk utility cannot fix it.

If you do really really want to try and recover it.. buy Data Rescue 4 (I think this is still considered about the best for Mac data recovery)

http://www.prosofteng.com/datarescue4/

You used to be able to run it in demo mode.. and it would give indication if it was successful or not.. but not actually recover anything until you paid your $$$.

Let me assure you if the drive is damaged and you can recover 99% of the backup.. the bit that is lost can be crucial to it working.. ie losing 1% of your files is acceptable.. if not great.. but sadly that 1% can be the actual indexes and prevent it working at all.. in which case $99 down the drain to prove the backup doesn't work.

You have no choice though.. either recover the backup and test it.. or accept that it is gone and make a new backup.

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Answer 8

Fuzzy2k Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 26, 2015 12:48 PM in response to LaPastenague

Actually, some major portion of your understanding seems off. Oddly, I do not seem to be able to verify anything, my TM archive, ers, w/e.

Secondly, I mentioned earlier that I had opened files from the Backups.backupdb folder structure, after copying them over to a temporary holding spot. I guess you missed that in your haste to assist me, or something.
I have access to the machine that the archive was created on, or at least, the second one. She had a Macbook Air that was backing up to this drive that she swapped for a second one, or perhaps she renamed the same machine. I cannot be certain, but I think it is likely the former.

There are two problems with accessing her machine for this. A she is then without her machine for a few minutes or hours, which is upsetting to her, and B the drive was not showing up on her desktop. In Disk Utility it showed, but Disk Utility, as we've discussed, had issues with it.

So, long story shortened she had purchased a second 1 TB drive, a Seagate, and copied what appears to be all of the same files over from the internal SSD that were on the TM backup drive except for the TM backup. I used rsync to get the TM backup started copying to a 450 GB partition on another drive, which ought to have been plenty of storage. The info on the original drive showed ~660 available, with only the TM folder structure left on the drive. However, the ~340 GB Backups.backupdb filled that 450 GB space and left ~8 MB available, then rsync quit.

So I informed her that we were losing a large portion of her TM backup and that she ought not trust the drive any more, and she made her peace with that. I copied everything back to the original drive(s) that were used in a relatively complex game of musical chairs/storageDevices and helb my breath. The old La Cie drive stayed viable for a short time, but is now unreadable again, on my machine as well as on hers.

I have not yet told her that the backup is fubared, but I fear this may be my last post here 😝

Wish me luck!

Also, thanks for all your time and interest.

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