Time Machine constantly making new backup

Sorry, but you are experiencing the same problem everyone in this thread has been dealing with at least since they installed Sierra. The best work-around that I have found is to install Time Machine Scheduler and set it to back up once a day. I did that a couple of months ago and haven't had a backup fail since.

I will be taking this up with Apple tomorrow.

And when you do, Apple will likely tell you that they are "working on it". That is the same answer that I received.....over five years ago.....when the issue first appeared in Snow Leopard. Since that time, I've worked with Apple Support at least several times a year.

The problem has appeared in every new operating system since Snow Leopard, but a much higher percentage of Sierra users are being affected by this, based on the number of posts on this forum.

So, one of the following might be true:

1) Apple is still "working on it" after a number of years, but cannot find a solution.

2) Apple was "working on it" at one time, but is no longer doing so.

3) Apple never was really "working on it".

Please let us know about your conversation with Apple when you can.

Bouac,

I have been using the App "Time Machine Editor" set for 12 hour intervals since my last post about 10 days ago. I just got my first failure message yesterday afternoon, DARN!! I am going to try the 24 hour interval now and see if it makes any difference, will keep you posted.

It isn't a solution, but it's a useful work-around, and about the only solution we have until Apple fixes the underlying issue. Since using Time Machine Scheduler to set the backup interval to once a day, I haven't had to rebuild my backup in nearly three months. That's far better than the every week or so that was being required before.

Hi rscharf,

Thanks for the update. I'm affraid I have to agree with Bob Timmons on this matter, the only thing you're doing here is delaying the back-up error a bit by enlarging the back-up intervals. But please, let us know about any of your attempts (whether it fails or succeeds) so we all can learn from that.

@Bob: you're saying that this issue is known for 6 years now, but I only have had this problem for less than 1 year, however I am using my iMac and Time Machine back-up for at least 4 years now. And if it has been 6 years, why aren't we seeing more posts and attention on mainstream tech sites / apple news sites dedicated on this subject?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not questioning your words here, I just can't make any sense of such an important aspect of the Time Machine setup failing for so long without seeing widespread complaints from users and media coverage. Surely some pundits would love to attack Apple on these kinds of failurea, as you read almost every day how Apple is 'doomed' ;).

It looks like that not everyone has had this issue for as long as you have it. Most users here complain about it since updating to Sierra. Is there something special about your setup that would explain this?

Thanks.

The suspicion is that the problem has been present in some form for awhile, but afflicts far more users in Sierra than it had previously. All for unknown reasons (presumably even to Apple or they'd have fixed it already).

By backing up daily instead of hourly I've been able to delay the error by far more than a bit. Going on three months now, as opposed to having to address this headache almost weekly before. Is there an argument against this?

Thanks for your clarification, Mitch. Offcourse there is no argument against delaying the error as long as you can and I'm glad that you haven't had any errors since 3 minth now, but the end goal here is to completely resolve this bug so we can use Time Machine as it was intended (creating hourly back-up's without having the error after a few weeks messing it up again). But I certainly hope that the work around that you found will help you to prevent the error message for as long as possible, I am considering it myself.

I just send iMore (an Apple news site) an email about this issue and reffered to this discussion. Hope they can give it some coverage or maybe help us with a permanent solution.

Check this link, from Pondini.....who was probably the foremost authority in the world on Time Machine.....to get some history on the issue. We've seen regular posts on the forum from users who are having this issue since Snow Leopard was introduced. I have no idea what the actual percentage of users might be who have been affected by this, since we don't see posts from users who are not having problems.

http://pondini.org/TM/C13.html

No one is saying that all users having been affected by this, but it's clear from looking at the activity on the forum since Sierra was released that a much higher percentage of Sierra users have been affected by this "bug". This might be due to the additional security in Sierra that Apple added.

The issue has attracted the attention of major Mac publications.....for example....

http://www.macworld.com/article/3170844/macs/when-backups-go-bad-the-problem-wit h-using-network-drives-with-time-machine…

Frankly, I have tried to be patient for years, but have grown tired of being told that "we are working on it" when I check with Apple on about a quarterly basis regarding this issue. Don't know how far back you have read in this thread, but here are the possibilities from which to choose:

1) Apple has been "working on it" since Snow Leopard, and they are still "working on it"

2) Apple was "working on it" at one time, but is not now

3) Apple never really was "working on it"

We've gone round the bush on this before and while I have no doubt it was possible for disk images to become corrupted before Sierra, with Sierra it appears to be downright common. Of the two same-generation iMacs I have running side-by-side here and backing up to the same current-generation Time Capsule, the one still running Yosemite backs up hourly without ever corrupting the disk image. The one running Sierra corrupted every week or so (until I reduced its backup schedule to once a day). This goes back to when Sierra was released (last September?). Not totally scientific, but evidence beyond anecdotal to point the boney finger at something that was changed in Sierra. If it could only go back to being as "bad" as it was in Yosemite (which for me means, never having had a single problem in many years of use), then I'd be overjoyed.

So I agree, the way this problem is being addressed by Apple is frustratingly little or simply ineffective. But at the same time, I think the evidence is pretty clear that something in Sierra is making it much more common than it was before.

And that "something".....in my opinion, based on conversations with the head "Genius" at the local Apple Store here.....is that the additional layers of security and authentication that were added in Sierra has made the process of accessing and verifying network drives even more complicated, with more chances for errors in the process.

There were always fewer things to go wrong when backups were directed to a "local" USB or FireWire drive. I cannot find the one example that you pointed out from a user who was having verification problems using a "local" drive, but will take another look if you still have the link to the thread.

During the past hour, I've tried to search the forum again for any more reports from users having problems who are backing up using Time Machine to a local drive....not a network drive.....but I can't find any.

My opinion again.....I think that 99%+ of the verification problems are related to Time Machine backing up to network drives.

I don't doubt that at all. I don't recall in what thread someone said they had the verification issue on a local drive but I think we have to keep in mind that spurious issues are always possible and not necessarily from the same cause so it could be indicative of nothing but randomness. It's those of us who are running Time Capsules and Sierra who clearly are the most slammed. Would be nice not to be shooting in the dark quite so much though, wouldn't it?

Reiterating another observation FWIW: Before I took the measure of limiting my backups to once a day, lockups on my Mac were frighteningly common events. Pinwheel and all four bars on Activity Monitor slammed and the Mac would be unresponsive. Sometimes they were resolved with time but sometimes not. If I was quick about catching it sometimes I could kill the amok process manually and get control back. Usually not. Anyhow, now that I backup once a day, I have never seen this again.

Hi All,

I haven't had chance to read what everyone has written but I've glanced over and seem to think I can add some further information, however, not a solution I'm afraid!

I have a MacBook Air (2013) and an iMac (2016) - the issues started last year for me on my iMac (at this stage I wasn't syncing my MacBook Air). I phoned Apple and as I was still in warrantee they sent me a refurbished time capsule replacement saying that there was clearly a problem with the time capsule itself. Thought this had fixed it, but still the same error presented itself a couple of weeks later. I tried calling the person who said I needed a new time capsule and he didn't bother replying to any of my e-mails or returning my answerphone messages. After much complaining I got through to someone who said this was a new issue and that it should be sorted by the next update... a few weeks later, said update came, but the same error arose a few weeks after that. After numerous calls, I was asked to set up a new profile on my iMac to see if the error presented itself again (at the same time I set up my MacBook Air on the same time capsule) - after about 3 weeks, both were still updating okay and I was told that setting up the new profile had fixed the issue on my original profile, as such, I retuned to my old profile and deleted the temporary one. In fairness, I've gone about 5 weeks this time, however, the same error has presented itself a few days ago, but on the iMac only.

The interesting thing is that both of my systems are running the latest Sierra. Also, for some reason, Disc Utility will not accept my time capsule, so I cannot attempt a repair. In addition, on Disk Utility there is a padlock on the image of my iMac but not on the image of my MacBook Air?

The person I was dealing with in Apple believed that there was an issue in the software that only affected some people - she thought that it has corrupted the user profile - I'm currently waiting on a call back from her, but I think I may have to just set up a new profile and move all of my stuff over and hope it doesn't move the error.

Sorry for the overlong post, but hopefully this provides some new information?

Stephen

Shaft80,

I don't want to burst your bubble, but I have done the same thing as you and unfortunately the problem returned on my 27" iMac only. My wife's 21.5" iMac and my Mac mini are both chugging along using the same Time Capsule with no problems. Everything is on Sierra and all updated. My new profile worked for about two months then started getting the error message again.

Now, I am using the free App "Time Machine Editor" set to once a day and so far (fingers crossed) it seems to be working. I really think I am just delaying the inevitable though.

Hi rscharf,

Okay - good to know. I've just got off the phone with another Apple representative (as Hayley who I was dealing with has left the company according to her answerphone message). He couldn't figure it out and said that Hayley had done a lot of the right things investigating it, so he said the last option is to escalate up to the engineers. I've just submitted my logs and have arranged a call back for this Friday... I'll post here if this ever gets fixed.

Kind regards,

Stephen

Unfortunately, you are getting the run around from Apple Support, who according to your post, is taking the position that this is new problem that very few users have reported.

Not sure how far back that you have read in this thread, but here is a portion of my previous response:

The issue has attracted the attention of major Mac publications.....for example....

http://www.macworld.com/article/3170844/macs/when-backups-go-bad-the-problem-wit h-using-network-drives-with-time-machine…

Frankly, I have tried to be patient for years, but have grown tired of being told that "we are working on it" when I check with Apple on about a quarterly basis regarding this issue. Don't know how far back you have read in this thread, but here are the possibilities from which to choose:

1) Apple has been "working on it" since Snow Leopard, and they are still "working on it"

2) Apple was "working on it" at one time, but is not now

3) Apple never really was "working on it"

If the information in your post is correct......so he said the last option is to escalate up to the engineers......makes Apple look quite silly, since the "engineers" have known about this issue since the Snow Leopard operating system was introduced.

If you can, please report back after your call back from Apple to let us know what the current state of things might be.