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lecuyerr Author

Level 1

8 points

Is a locked Sparsebundle file a problem?

Good day,

I didn't know I had a problem with my backup file until I needed to recover a file via Time Machine. This occurred this week and after reading and trying suggestions, from many Apple forums, for the past four days, I'm getting a serious headache.

I have a Mac mini 2012 and been running Time Machine since 2013 on a 2TB Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex connected on a 2TB Airport Time Capsule.

For some unknown reason I lost my Photo library and want to recover it from Time Machine. When I enter Time Machine, the only thing I see is "Today" or "New" as back up.

You can see that previous backups are not showing.

I know I have selected the correct backup drive because it says so in Time Machine Preference.

And my Seagate is almost full, hence it is not a new backup.

BTW, what's with the padlock on my sparse bundle file? Is that why I have a problem? I can unlock it via finder "Get Info" but it locks right back on when I open Time Machine.

I'm not running Sophos.

All software and firmware are up to date.

I may have screwed up the TC passwords because I was installing an additional 3TB TC and it asked me for passwords left and right, but I think I reseted all the passwords correctly using the Keychain Access.

In a nutshell: Is the lock on the sparse bundle file the problem? If so, how can I remove the padlock? If not, what else can I try that is not mundane (like resetting the network and all the appliances).

Thanks

Robert

Airport Time Capsule 802.11ac

Posted on Jan 31, 2017 1:14 PM

25 replies

Feb 1, 2017 5:33 PM in response to lecuyerr

So even plugged into the Mac you still cannot open it in Finder??

I think it might be better to do the compact with the USB drive plugged into the Mac.. but you are taking a risk. You only have the one backup.. although I think its failure to open shows it is probably not usable.. process like compact does carry some risk. But it will quickly prove if there is any other backups in there.

lecuyerr Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 1, 2017 12:31 PM in response to LaPastenague

I tried the hdutil compact over the network and received this message:

hdiutil: compact failed - Resource temporarily unavailable

So I did a hdutil imageinfo and got this:

URL: file:///Volumes/FreeAgent%20GoFlex%20Drive/Robert%E2%80%99s%20Mac%20mini.sparse bundle/

Name: Robert’s Mac mini.sparsebundle

Class Name: CBundleBackingStore

Class Name: CSparseBundleDiskImage

Checksum Type: none

Size Information:

Total Bytes: 2000054960128

Compressed Ratio: 1

Sector Count: 3906357344

Total Non-Empty Bytes: 2000054960128

Compressed Bytes: 2000054960128

Total Empty Bytes: 0

Format: UDSB

Format Description: sparse

Checksum Value:

Properties:

Encrypted: false

Kernel Compatible: false

Checksummed: false

Software License Agreement: false

Partitioned: false

Compressed: no

And then a whole bunch of stuff about Partitions.

I wonder what would happen if I do a hdutil erasekeys?

Feb 4, 2017 7:26 PM in response to lecuyerr

I have not found it easy to even look inside the sparsebundle. I thought a normal hex viewer would have no trouble. But it is refusing to open it. Nor did the spotlight issue seem to be relevant.

This was the best reference I found.

http://thefunkstop.com/fix-corrupted-time-machine-backups/

It does include some of the commands I posted before.. but seems to have done a bit more testing with them.

And the comments at the end are helpful as not everyone succeeds with this the same way. It has convinced me to downgrade TM as backup that can be depended on.

I have contributed all I can to this point.. !!

Someone else may have more clues to help you with the issue..

lecuyerr Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 1, 2017 12:03 PM in response to LaPastenague

The old back up is 1.7 TB and the sparsebundle file still shows 1.7 TB

I'll the suggested link.

lecuyerr Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 1, 2017 12:38 PM in response to LaPastenague

I tried to open it with the TC app (from Finder) in which case I get not history just a bunch of images without any dates:

lecuyerr Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 31, 2017 1:50 PM in response to lecuyerr

I removed Avast and nothing has changed. Still cannot read what I believe to be the backup file (sparsebundle?). Oh ya, and I did reboot after the AV removal.

lecuyerr Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 1, 2017 12:44 PM in response to LaPastenague

Wise words.

lecuyerr Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 1, 2017 12:46 PM in response to lecuyerr

Ok well I'm going to make a copy of the sparse bundle file. It now says that it will take two days since I connected another TC on the Mac Mini ethernet port.

Then, I can experiment?