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I'm trying to troubleshoot a time machine issue. Red "i" message says the backup is too large for the disk requiring 6.77 GB. Well the disc is over 200 GB and Time Machn is supposed to delete oldest backups when disk is full. Why isn't that working?

I'm running OS 10.8.5 and I'm trying to troubleshoot a time machine issue. Red "i" message says the backup is too large for the disk requiring 6.77 GB. Well the disc is over 200 GB and Time Machn is supposed to delete oldest backups when disk is full. Why isn't that working?

Time Machine-OTHER, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Jun 1, 2015 1:04 PM

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4 replies

Jun 2, 2015 9:31 PM in response to Jetfuelpower

Deleting TM backups using Finder is not a good idea because,


1. you must first, empty the iMac's trash in order to regain the space on the backup drive.

2. it can damage your TM backups, which will force TM into doing a new and full backup.


For more info on deleting TM backups, have a look at > http://pondini.org/TM/12.html

(if you are having a trash problem after deleting backups in Finder, look at the last section in gray)

Jun 3, 2015 4:41 PM in response to Jetfuelpower

Time Machine automatically deletes old snapshots to make room for new ones, but it won't delete the last previous snapshot of any disk.

Are you storing any other data on the backup volume, or have you ever backed up another disk or computer to it that you no longer have? If the answer to both these questions in "no," then there isn't enough space on the volume for all the data you want to back up.

If you are storing other data, or if you have backups of a volume you no longer need, you should move or delete that data to make room for more. Alternatively, put the device aside and start a new backup on another storage device. When you're sure you'll no longer need the data on the first device, erase it and start over.

I'm trying to troubleshoot a time machine issue. Red "i" message says the backup is too large for the disk requiring 6.77 GB. Well the disc is over 200 GB and Time Machn is supposed to delete oldest backups when disk is full. Why isn't that working?

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