Time Machine constantly making new backup

I addressed Apple support through the chat interface on 18 February.

Case number 100137724266.

I refered the agent to this very community discussion.

He thanked me for the preparation, still asked the details again, requested me to call by phone. I had to repeat all and everything to another agent. That agent next let me hang with music on hold for 15 minutes. I could not wait any longer - I felt I was just being kept busy by the agents, until I give up. 😠

For those people suspecting a connection problem: my time capsule and my Mac are both connected by cable, Ethernet to the same router. No WiFi connections involved.

Mr Fitzpatrick
Your answer doesn't help at all.

I try to guess what you want to say, you write "skuzzy", could be you wanted to say "SCSI".

The discussion here is mainly about problems with Time Machine backups to network connected disk, to Apple TimeCapsules, problems that Apple is ignoring.

Nothing SCSI, nothing to be taken out of a Computer.

teeschmid

Not really adding much to this discussion other than weight of numbers! I have had the same problem for 4 months with an 1 year old iMac connected to time capsule via ethernet. Apple support initially felt it was a HDD failure of the time capsule and so replaced it under warranty but problem persisted! They now tell me it is probably an OS fault and I should wait for the next update but meanwhile backup to a local external drive. Now reading all this it seems the problem has been going on for ages and so I won't hold my breath for a solution with the next OS update! Frustrating as purchased the time capsule as it was supposed to provide a solution to backing up effortlessly all our household apple products!

Just joining the crowd, hoping Apple acknowledges that Sierra has broken key functionality in Time Machine that now requires new full backups ad nauseam. Apple, please stop ignoring us and address the issue.

I'm having the same problem. I have three Macs backed up by a 3TB Time Capsule—the two MacBooks (one MBPro, one MBAir) continue to back up just fine, but my iMac started getting this error daily within the last few weeks. My iMac is still running El Capitan (10.11.6) though so I don't think it's only a Sierra bug. Since it started happening I updated the firmware on the Time Capsule after I started getting the errors but that didn't help. The first few times I got the error I just ignored it but after it persisted I bit the bullet and performed a new full backup, and even that failed the first couple attempts. Finally on the third try or so it completed a full backup but the next day the error was back.

BTW I had a hardware problem with my MBP and when it was repaired all the data was wiped out so I was forced to restore from a Time Machine backup. At first every time I tried it was complaining that I was entering the wrong p/w (I wasn't), but after restarting the Time Capsule and trying it again it worked flawlessly. It really saved my hide! So naturally I want to stop this error from recurring so that I have confidence of my iMac backups but I haven't figured out a solution yet.

Unfortunately, not much is going to improve until Apple provides a real fix for this issue. They have known about the problem for years, so you may need to be very patient......or consider a different backup strategy for the iMac....like connecting a USB drive directly to the Mac and backing up that way.

Hi Bob,

This is unacceptable, isn't there anything we can do to make it clear to Apple that this problem has to be resolved? And why aren't we seeing much more people complaining about this, if Apple already knows about this for years? It feels like only a very small % of Timecapsule users is affected by this, but this isn't a 'cosmetic' bug that's just annoying, this is a serious flaw that could cost people a lot of time and money when the **** hits the fan! This should be fixed!

Just here to add my voice. I am using drobo connected to a mac mini running Server as my back-up drive for Time Machine for an iMac. Everything is directly connected to ethernet (no wifi). I set this all up in January and already had the "Time Machine completed a verification of your backups..." message twice now. The iMac is running Sierra and the mac mini is running Mavericks (I can't upgrade to Sierra). It would nice to have a fix for this.

Craig

Not for me, no...however, I performed the time capsule update within the same timeframe that I did the Sierra update. Unsure whether or not it was Sierra solely or if it is compatibility issue with the latest firmware update on Time Capsule with Sierra...

I don't think anyone has reported any difference with or without the TC firmware update. My problems backing up started after updating to Sierra. About a month later I updated the TC firmware, hoping it might help, but it made no apparent change either way.

UPDATE: I'm getting the 'need to take a full backup' message ever other day now. So, having read through several other topics and forums, I'm giving a rest a go. I've re-set the Time Capsule to factory settings. I also noticed that both my iMac and the TC Basestation name included an apostrophe in the name, and were over 25 chars. So, both are renamed. I'm currently taking my 'first' back-up, and I'll monitor if this issue re-occurs or not.

Same issue here. I have updated the firmware on the Time Machine and, at the recommendation of another post, erased the data on the Time Machine and started a new backup. The new backup completed but I'm getting the same message again. I also started getting the message after upgrading to Sierra.

I followed your suggestion and I managed to repair the sparse bundle file. In my case Time Machine regularly comes up with the "Time machine completed a verification of your backups... " message every week or so.. really frustrating.

In my case I made a variation: I stopped Time Machine and mounted the share where my spare bundle sits (I use a Synology NAS in Raid5 for the backup).

Once it was mounted, I used disk aid to fix the sparse bundle and it worked. Then modified the com.apple.TimeMachine.MachineID.plist file following this article:

http://jd-powered.net/notes/fixing-your-time-machine-backup (look at the bottom part of the article. The upper part is what I unsuccessfully tried first before using the Disk Aid idea).

Currently my Time machine is backing up again, and I haven't lost the old backups.

Apologies if this has been asked before, but is this a Time Machine on Sierra problem, or an Airport Time Capsule on Sierra problem? The reason I ask is that I can't be confident now using Time Machine & AirPort for backups due to this known problem.

So I could buy another NAS drive and use Time Machine..

Or use the Airport manually as a NAS without Time Machine..

Or buy another NAS drive and use it manually without Time Machine,

Does that make sense!? Which seems to be the most stable?

So I could buy another NAS drive and use Time Machine..

Not a good idea. 99% of the Sierra users who are having problems are trying to back up to a network drive. I'm sure that a few users might be having problems backing up to a "local" USB or FireWire drive connected directly to their Mac, but I can't find any on a forum search.

Or use the Airport manually as a NAS without Time Machine.

Yes, keeping in mind that the AirPort Time Capsule is not really a true NAS.

Or buy another NAS drive and use it manually without Time Machine,

Probably your best option.