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Time Machine Will Not Run

Suddenly I am getting a message that Time Machine estimates that there is no room on the disk for the size of the backup to be performed. The external disk is 750 GB. The disk has 366 GB used. The message is saying that the next back is to be 412 GB! That's impossible. That's more than what is on the disk now after months of backups. I checked to make sure it wasn't trying to back up one of the other external disks, but they are all excluded. I have no idea why it estimates such a huge backup. Please advise.


I am using an iMac running 10.8.5.

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on May 27, 2015 7:43 AM

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Posted on May 27, 2015 8:18 AM

Start with C4 in the 1st linked article.


Time Machine Troubleshooting


Time Machine Troubleshooting Problems

12 replies

May 27, 2015 8:33 AM in response to Eric Root

After I sent my original message, I noticed a link to this below in the More Like This section. I downloaded the widget and saw it install in the Dashboard but now cannot find it (nor likely know how to operate it if I did manage to find it). I went to Spotlight to try to locate it and saw that spotlight is indexing my computer, saying that it will take "3 days"! Yikes! So I'm thinking something weird is afoot with my computer in general. Maybe the Time Machine malfunction is just a symptom of something larger????

May 27, 2015 9:38 AM in response to Eric Root

Finally found the widget and learned how to use it. Can anyone make out what's wrong from this data below? Note: "Test" is the name of a small partition on my HD. I find this very confusing because it looks like it is saying that all previous backups have been deleted except today's, but today's failed because it still says there is not enough space, despite the 750 GB drive.


Starting automatic backup

Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb

Forcing deep traversal on source: "Macintosh HD" (mount: '/' fsUUID: 3297952C-EA30-3576-AF5E-26E3A75BB4E8 eventDBUUID: 1973A079-0704-441C-9F9F-FE9C655D929D)

Deep event scan at path:/ reason:must scan subdirs|require scan|

Finished scan

Using file event preflight for Test

Will copy (Zero KB) from Test

Found 1594724 files (341.86 GB) needing backup

412.62 GB required (including padding), 366.92 GB available

Deleted backup /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb/Hazel’s iMac 27/2015-05-26-182438.inProgress/ADC7ECEC-0EF6-41EE-8A8A-5402E6634A12 containing 4 KB; 366.92 GB now available, 412.62 GB required

Removed 1 expired backups so far, more space is needed - deleting oldest backups to make room

Deleted 1 backups containing 4 KB total; 366.92 GB now available, 412.62 GB required

Backup date range was shortened: oldest backup is now May 27, 2015

Backup failed with error: Not enough available disk space on the target volume.

May 28, 2015 12:56 PM in response to Eric Root

I had already done this. The disk tested OK.

When I noticed that Spotlight was indexing my computer anticipated to take 6 days, I thought there might be a connection. I called Apple and was told the Time Machine problem was due to the indexing and I should wait until it was over and then try again. It finally finished sooner than expected, but the backup problem is still there.

May 29, 2015 9:48 AM in response to Hazel Greenberg

I would get another, larger external drive and see if you can do a backup to a new drive. If successful, it would appear there may be something wrong with the current drive. Another option is to switch to a clone. Since you should have more that one backup, you can use the older drive for the clone and use Time Machine on the new drive.


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

May 29, 2015 10:33 AM in response to Eric Root

Thanks. I already have two other drives, one of which is partitioned for two SuperDuper clones--one regular and one Sandbox. Just a week ago, I put another one into service, this one 3 TB, but I wanted to use it to test Yosemite since I was failing miserably in testing Yosemite on the clones and on an older iMac.


But the plot thickens. Yesterday, Apple determined that initially the problem was caused by Spotlight indexing, but there was still malfunction even after it was through. So I erased the drive and started over again. I checked it before going to bed last night, and it was about halfway through and seemed to be backing up properly. But I checked it again first thing this morning and got a message that the disk had been ejected improperly, which was impossible since the computer wasn't used all night. I then looked at the menu bar and saw that the backup had been "delayed." I didn't know what that could mean since the last time I looked it was backing up. So I clicked on Back Up Now and got a message that the disk couldn't be found. Nor did it appear in the Finder or in Disk Utility. Three days ago Disk Utility said the drive was OK and didn't need to be repaired. I can't test it again or even use Disk Warrior if I cannot locate it. So, is the disk bad after all, or is it Time Machine again? Is there a method of deciding which it is?


Hazel

May 30, 2015 9:33 AM in response to Eric Root

Latest chapter is this never-ending saga. Last night I unplugged the disk, both usb and power plugs. I plugged them back in this morning. and sure enough the disk is now visible everywhere. I started a backup with Time Machine, and a few hours later, it is still backing up. That doesn't mean it will not cut off again, however. And one more thing: Unlike yesterday, the status bar says 114 GB of 163 GB has been done. 163 GB? It should be more like 366--450 GB. So now I don't know exactly what it is backing up. I did not reset anything in preferences, and maybe I needed to do that??????

Time Machine Will Not Run

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