Finder crashes when entering time machine

Question

Level 1

9 points

Finder crashes when entering time machine

Since the upgrade to el capitan, I've been unable to enter time machine. The initial screen is displayed for a few seconds and then it disappears. The console reports that Finder has crashed and a crash log is produced. In a nutshell the error being reported is:

Application Specific Information:

*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSRangeException', reason: '*** -[__NSArrayM objectAtIndex:]: index 0 beyond bounds for empty array'

terminating with uncaught exception of type NSException

I have since run first aid on the drive in question (and it is a network drive). It seems like backups are happening, but I can't see them and if I can't restore from them, they're rather pointless !!!

Any one with any ideas and/or clues as to what I should be looking for ?

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Oct 2, 2015 8:39 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 9, 2015 10:33 PM in response to joe.dmello

Just a "me, too", although in my case I have no network drives. Other than that I have the identical problem with the identical crash report.

I've run Disk Utility first aid on all drives (including the Time Machine drive) and even tried dismounting the not-startup drives. No difference.

This is a mid-2012 Macbook Pro, just updated from Yosemite to El C[r]apitan.

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Answer 2

joe.dmello Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 9, 2015 11:12 PM in response to Michael Rosenstein

I was asked to try going into Time Machine logged on as a different user. It worked. The implication is that it is something in my user files that is causing it, but I can't tell what that might be.

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Answer 3

Oct 10, 2015 10:29 AM in response to joe.dmello

Same problem: I don't get a crash message, but the blurry Time machine appears for a second and then disappears, and I'm back to the finder. This is really annoying because I have to recover a file, anyone knows how to get Time Machine working with El Capitan?

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Answer 4

Oct 13, 2015 4:01 AM in response to joe.dmello

I confirm this as a workaround, sort of. I created a new user and was able to enter Time Machine without a problem. So whatever is wrong is in my user account. I really don't want to have to create a new admin account and migrate all my stuff over. Hope someone comes up with an actual solution.

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Answer 5

joe.dmello Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 13, 2015 4:08 AM in response to Michael Rosenstein

Yes, I've done the same (in that I've used a new user to enter time machine). However, I'm not sure exactly how that works because I am assuming that Time Machine is backing up changes made to a specific user's files. Therefore, if I normally am logged in as user A, and then log in as user B, I am not sure if user B can access or restore files from user A's backup. I've also found issue with my iPod (in that iTunes refuses to sync telling me there isn't enough room on it) - but that may be a separate issue altogether. I am resigned to (eventually) doing a clean install and I suspect that when I've done that all my VMWare Fusion machines are going to break.

What I (we) really need is an explanation as to what is causing the problem because I cannot understand what the crash log is telling me.

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Answer 6

Oct 13, 2015 11:07 PM in response to joe.dmello

I do have the same problems and I really don't want to do a clean install or create a new User ... hopefully someone finds a solution.

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Answer 7

Flugor

Level 1

14 points

Oct 14, 2015 12:10 PM in response to joe.dmello

The following fixed the same problem for me:

1. log off your user-account

2. when the login-screen appears, log in while pressing the SHIFT key.

This will prevent applications, etc. to start

3. open a finder window showing your home-folder (SHIFT-CMD-H)

4. use "view options" (CMD-J) to make sure that you can see your Library-folder

5. open the terminal (under Application -> Utilites)

6. type "ls -l" to make sure, that this is your user-account and that you see a folder named "Library"

7. type "sudo -s" and enter the password.

8. type "ls -l" to make sure, that this is your user-account

9. type "mv Library Library_old"

10. wait until the system recreates a new Library-folder

11. log off and log in again while pressing the SHIFT-key

12. MacOSX tells you the usual stuff when creating a user-account. Don't panic. 😉

13. open the terminal again

14. type "sudo -s" and enter the password.

15. type "ls -l" to make sure, that this is your user-account

16. type "mv Library Library_new;mv Library_old Library"

17. log off and log in again while pressing the SHIFT-key

18. Your time-machine should work now

19. log off and log in again as usual

20. Your time-machine should still work

21. You can now delete Library_new

Why i did this as root?

Because i wasn't able to move the Library-folder by using the finder or renaming it using the Terminal-programm

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Answer 8

joe.dmello Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 14, 2015 7:44 AM in response to Flugor

Ok - I will give that a go and let you know the results.....

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Answer 9

Oct 14, 2015 8:35 AM in response to Flugor

It worked for me, I just had to rearrange the Finder windows and re-install iStat Menus, and re-connect to iCloud, otherwise everything seems OK.

What a mess…

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Answer 10

joe.dmello Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 14, 2015 8:45 AM in response to Yannis Haralambous

I have virtual PCs (VMWare) running on my mac that I need for work during the day so I can't try this out until this evening. Was iStat Menus the only software you had on your Mac ? Do you think I'd need to re-install anything else (like Office and VMWare) again ?

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Answer 11

Oct 14, 2015 8:50 AM in response to joe.dmello

I have a lot of software on my machine and everything works just fine (I checked Office and Parallels because you asked and it works fine).

For the moment I had only to re-install iStat Menus to obtain the same configuration as before.

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Answer 12

joe.dmello Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 14, 2015 8:51 AM in response to Yannis Haralambous

Ok - roll on 6pm - I'll give it a go then ! Thank you for your replies and help everyone !

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Answer 13

Flugor

Level 1

14 points

Oct 14, 2015 10:06 AM in response to Yannis Haralambous

I'm not sure what triggered this problem, but the problem seems to have its roots in something, El Capitan changes during the initial account-setup.

So I triggered a new account-setup with a fresh Library-folder while conserving the existing Library-folder.

I did this, because time-machine did work with other or newly created user-accounts.

I don't understand why you still lost your iStat-menus:

I tried to prevent such effects by using the SHIFT-key during login, which should prevent apps, etc. from starting and causing problems like the one you noticed.

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Answer 14

joe.dmello Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 14, 2015 12:09 PM in response to Flugor

Yup - This solution has worked for me too !!!!!

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Answer 15

joe.dmello Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 14, 2015 10:30 PM in response to joe.dmello

Well. The bad news is that the problem I had reported before is back.

Yet the steps I'd taken as outlined before in this post did seem to cure the issue. I was able to go into Time Machine a number of times without any problem.

The Mac's been on all night, but this morning when I tried, same error.

GRRRRR

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