Time machine backup not running

I want to let you all know that I had the same issue even after updating to 10.11.1. But, when I unplugged the USB cable from my iMac to my UPS which will shut down your Mac and peripherals for you when it's backup battery runs low, my Time Machine started working IMMEDIATELY! It's been backing up normally for the last couple of hours. You might want to take that step and unplug all unnecessary USB devices and see if Time Machine starts working again. It made all the difference for me!

Good Luck!

I tried unplugging the USB cable from my UPS too. It made no difference. Earlier today, when I installed the 10.11.1 update and Time Machine did an initial backup then followed with a couple of automatic backups, the USB/UPS cable was plugged in. It seems to me that if that cable was the issue, at least on my Mac Pro, then those backups would not have occurred. At this point, the only thing I'm certain of is that Time Machine was working without issue until El Capitan. I had virtually no software issues, such as those reported with Office or Mail. Before upgrading to El Capitan, I weeded out any app I had learned was incompatible. I was anticipating a typically smooth upgrade and, largely it was. Time Machine, on the other hand, has been absolute ****.

Also didn't make a difference for me. It seems there are a bunch of variables in play here, where some people get random backups, or backups when mounting a disk image, etc.

-Kevin

Swamp_Fox,

Have you noticed any issues with your UPS I/F as well? I am going to apply the upgrade to 10.11.1 today and am worried that it may create a problem with my APC brand UPS.

Bill

(I love the name btw -- reminds me of the Disney TV program from my younger years)

I've noticed 2 things: a. the PowerChute software that came with my UPS (an APC) is no longer available for the Mac. My copy, which had worked through Yosemite, was erased when, at Apple's request, I did a clean install of El Capitan and b. even though no UPS software is now installed on my Mac Pro, a "UPS" tab still appears when the USB/UPS cable is connected. That, as I've said, seems to have no bearing on backups taking place or not. Backups have occasionally taken place with the cable connected or not. Something is just fundamentally broken with Time Machine in El Capitan. The last word I got from Apple Engineering, after their examination of requested log files, was to do yet another clean install then reinstall all of my apps one at a time and see if a backup occurs before reinstalling another app. I don't think a software conflict is at play at least with my Mac Pro. When I installed the 10.11.1 update yesterday afternoon, it did an initial update automatically then did 2 consecutive hourly backups but none afterwards. I tried unplugging the USB/UPS cable overnight but no backups occurred until I tried putting the computer to Sleep. Then, when I woke it back up, it did one backup followed by another approximately 10 seconds later. Whether a single issue or a combination of issues are involved, something is just not right with Time Machine at the moment.

Thanks for the response.

Yes, I have been using my APC UPS w/o PowerChute for some time now - it appears that Mac OS X automatically manages the information from the USB I/F properly.

The issue with Time Machine is a concern, as I have come to reply upon it.

Gerald, I think your on to something. I also have my APC UPS plugged in via USB. I did unplug as per your suggestion and nothing. However, I did a restart to clear things and it did its usual backup after restart (which is the only one it would ever do since El Capitan), BUT it has done two hourly scheduled backups now! Yay:) So I will keep an eye on it and if everything keeps going, this may be a solution. Thank you and I would have never thought of that.

To Swamp_Fox: This time after unplugging your UPS, restart and see what happens.

Interesting. Trying this now and will report back.

If this works, I'm guessing it's something to do with the energy savings since this TM issue also affects my Macbook Air that is not plugged into a UPS (but since it has the internal battery Energy Saver works in the same way)

-Kevin

UPDATE: What do you know.....it worked!!! Unplugging the UPS USB cable and restarting the Mac Pro and it's now running the auto backup. Will keep an eye on it for the next hour. If it does keep backing up I'm going to update my closed bug report.

-Kevin

Great! Me too. It has been running updates on schedule. ***** though, because I really want to have UPS plugged in to turn my machine off after two minutes of no power (how I have it set). This way the Mac Pro does not just shut down wrongly when the UPS runs out of juice. So there must be some bug somewhere that prevents this from working. PLEASE DON'T CLOSE THIS THREAD AS SOMEBODY MIGHT FIGURE THIS OUT ALSO

Thats very interesting. I also have a UPS plugged in via USB. I will give this a try when I get home later.

netnothing -> sounds like it might be worth filing a new bug report.

First off thanks to both Gerald Pauls Jr. and GreekGeek1157 as they definitely stumbled across a temporary fix (and something to pass on to Apple). I have now done 3 auto backups since unplugging the UPS and restarting!

Chris Kohuch - I did update my closed bug report, but I'm not sure whether that info ever gets back to Apple. So I did just submit a new bug report.

-Kevin

I have seen the same issue of no scheduled backups with both 10.11 and 10.11.1 on my MP (2013) with UPS attached and having the TM on an external TB connected drive.

Did a try with disconnecting the USB cable from the UPS, no change.

Then a reboot without the USB cable for the UPS connected, no change.

Did reconnect the USB cable.

Did a Restore Defaults on the UPS tab in the Energy Saver setting, immediately did the TM start and since have it been running on scheduled backups.

So don't know if it's just the Restore Defaults alone or a combination of the unplugging/reboot/Restore Defaults who did the trick.

But doing the Restore Defaults is a simple try out.

This seems to have worked for me too as my Time Machine has done 2 automatic backups since unplugging the USB/UPS cable and doing an immediate restart. I need to experience a few more automatic backups to be sure in my case though because, yesterday when I applied the 10.11.1 update, Time Machine did an immediate backup followed by 2 automatic hourly backups with the USB/UPS cable plugged in before failing to do further hourly backups. Given that this seems to be working consistently among those who've given it a try, I'm feeling very optimistic about my chances and would also like to thank Gerald Pauls Jr and GreekGeek 1157 for their discovery.

GreekGeek1157. Given the hardly rock solid reliability of my local power company, I too really like to keep my Mac Pro hooked up to a UPS so an orderly shut down can take place when the power goes off even if only for a few moments. If I'm understanding things correctly, the current fix has narrowed things down to a problem with Energy Saver and UPS backup. Hopefully, a future fix will provide us with a worthwhile safety net.

So an update......I wanted to play around with my Macbook. Since that was doing the same thing with skipping backups (I don't normally have TM setup on it, I just did a quick TM setup with a USB flash drive)....and knowing that the Macbook isn't plugged into the UPS I decided to try playing with the Energy Settings.

So I went in and for the battery section I set the Computer Sleep and Display sleep to both be NEVER. Since doing this, TM has resumed it normal backups.

I think I'm going to try what bo koue mentioned on both my Mac Pro and Macbook and Restore Defaults to see if that works.

-Kevin