my macbook has lost sight of its time capsule backup

Question

my macbook has lost sight of its time capsule backup

Hi

I have a 2TB Timecapsule which i've kept backups of my iMac and Macbook pro on for 2 years. The iMac backup is still working and updating. I can see the Timecapsule drive on both machines and there is a file for both devices backup showing in Finder.

However, earlier today the Macbook reported a notification that no backup had been possible since earlier in March. The reason for this was it had switched to a different wi-fi network as default so couldn't see the drive.

Now I've changed it back, and tried to restart the backup process and the Timecapsule app is reporting that there are no previous backups.

I don't want to lose the old backups as they could be valuable if i suffer a failure. I also don't want to start a third backup on the time capsule and have the one that is already there become just a drain on the drive space but of no use / relevance.

Any tips on what to do next to get the Macbook to see and start to update the existing backup file it has?

Thanks

Time Capsule 802.11n (4th Gen), Other OS

Posted on Mar 31, 2015 2:58 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 31, 2015 4:27 AM in response to RichardWoodUK

It can be very tricky to get TM to restart using the backup.

What OS is on the computer? If it is Yosemite check that the computer name (in preferences under sharing has not changed) Yosemite has a nasty habit of incrementing the names every few days.. resulting in the need for new backups.

Otherwise you can just hope that it picks up the backup..

If you want to keep it let me strongly advise you get a backup of the TM backups using a USB drive and archive the TC.. then you can have a go without risking the old backup.

See B5 and B6 here about reconnecting to your backups.

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

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Answer 2

Mar 31, 2015 6:39 AM in response to LaPastenague

Thanks for replying. I'm using Yosemite on both machines and actually i was wondering why my iMac name now had a (2) after it! Can I fix that?

However, it is the macbook pro backups which have gone funny.

Backup has found the old backups dated earlier and to initial install. It still seems reluctant to take a new backup.

Will keep trying and read your linked guides and update with any new info later!

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Answer 3

Mar 31, 2015 3:15 PM in response to RichardWoodUK

You can fix the name back to original.. that is a major bug in Yosemite that it will simply keep doing it. There is a major DNS flaw in the OS.

See http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/01/why-dns-in-os-x-10-10-is-broken-and-what-yo u-can-do-to-fix-it/

For the computer that is having issues.. it is highly likely you will not be able to reconnect to the old backup.. so if you are serious about keeping it.. please do archive the old backup. You can do it manually by copying the sparsebundle to a disk plugged into your computer.. then delete just that sparsebundle on the TC and restart the Time Machine backup afresh. This is pretty standard TM bug.. but worse in Yosemite.

See also A4 and A5 in the same reference.. you need to verify the old backup and then delete the TM setup and restart it.

If both work out it will actually say it is going to create a new backup but will discover the existing one and continue.. until it actually starts you will not be able to predict what is going to happen.. if it starts a new backup and you don't want that, simply stop the backup until you have prepared the disk for the new backup.. you will simply have no choice.. such is the state of affairs with Yosemite.

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