Level 2

262 points

Time Machine is not backing up

All of a sudden Time Machine is not backing up this Mac. I have let it run all day, and what I get is this under the pull-down menu:

Here is a screen shot of the Time Machine preference next to the external-hard-drive icon on the Desktop:

Time Machine reports that the current backup should be larger than the available 60.5GB of space. But Time Machine promises to delete the oldest backups to make room for the new.

I have been using the same external hard drive for four or five years, without incident. As we see, its icon appears normally on the Desktop. As an experiment, I attempted to run Disk Utility on the external hard drive. Disk Utility got as far as checking the catalog of the external hard drive. Then Disk Utility stopped operating. Disk Utility did not progress beyond checking the catalog. I let Disk Utility alone for more than an hour without any result. I tried to quit Disk Utility. All I got was am audible system beep. After two or three such attempts, I did a force-quit of Disk Utility and restarted the computer. Now I am back to where I was before: Time Machine is "preparing backup."

I opened the icon of Time Machine Backups. All my existing backups are in there.

Does anyone have any insight as to what the problem with Time Machine is?

Mac mini, macOS High Sierra (10.13), null

Posted on Jan 15, 2018 12:29 PM

Top-ranking reply

John Galt

Level 10

155,696 points

Posted on Jan 15, 2018 12:36 PM

Does anyone have any insight as to what the problem with Time Machine is?

Disk failure, almost certainly.

Stop using that disk and launch Disk Utility again. If it can't "repair" the disk, set it aside. They can't be fixed. Its existing backup history might be intact, or it might not. In any event you need another backup disk.

I have been using the same external hard drive for four or five years, without incident.

It's about time. Hard disk drives just don't last very long any more, and the enormous number of files needed to be written by Time Machine tends to wear them out more than others in more routine use.

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27 replies

dot.com

Level 4

2,455 points

Jan 17, 2018 10:09 AM in response to R_55a

http://pondini.org web site is no longer with us unfortunately, but the two links above have a complete copy of what used to be there and are still helpful, even though the pages have not been updated in almost five years.

good luck...

R_55a Author

Level 2

262 points

Jan 17, 2018 2:47 PM in response to dot.com

You are correct. I did stop Time Machine before moving the in progress file (not folder.)

The website that I mentioned is https://www.iosrecovery.net/time-machine-stuck-on-preparing-backup/.

As luck would have it, I have not looked at Time Machine for several hours, and it is finishing the back up just now.

R_55a Author

Level 2

262 points

Jan 19, 2018 9:42 AM in response to dot.com

I have one mds process, one mds-stores, and four mdworkers running, per Activity Monitor. The percentage of the CPU used by all processes, including these six, changes every four to eight seconds. Most of the time each mds process is under 10%, but I saw--very briefly--the mds spike to 39%. Here is a random sample:

I am not yet familiar with the "mds" concept, so I do not know know what it means.

----------------------------

I see in Activity Monitor that RealPlayer has reactivated itself. I do not know how. Earlier this week I removed it from my Log-in Items in System Preferences. I have done so again just now as I type this post.

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In the meantime a separate question has arisen. I mentioned earlier that I moved the "in progress" file out of the external drive I use for backing up the Mac. Since then Time Machine has, if slowly, operated. But now I cannot get the "in progress" file out of the Trash. I cannot delete the "in progress" by emptying the Trash, even when I hold the Control key while emptying. I have tried dragging the "in progress" file back to the Desktop. What I get is a dialog box stating that Finder is preparing to move the file to the Desktop, but nothing happens. (I admit, though, that I might be impatient and quit that preparation too soon.) If Time Machine is working, do I need the "in progress" file? And, if not, how do I get rid of it?

Jan 15, 2018 12:43 PM in response to John Galt

There seems more to it than a bad disk. Other folks are having the same problem, like me...
Time machine backup not working in macOS high sierra

R_55a Author

Level 2

262 points

Jan 15, 2018 3:18 PM in response to dot.com

And now Time Machine is working again. On its own. I did not do anything.

Jan 16, 2018 6:40 AM in response to John Galt

I did not write that, that was the OP.

Jan 16, 2018 6:42 AM in response to John Galt

I did not write that, that was the OP.

I re-flashed my time capsule last night, I will see if that fixed the problem.

John Galt

Level 10

155,696 points

Jan 16, 2018 7:12 AM in response to R_55a

My mistake for replying to someone else. If Keith is having TM problems he should create his own Discussion. Otherwise, things become confusing.

R_55a Author

Level 2

262 points

Jan 18, 2018 8:27 AM in response to dot.com

Time Machine backed up this morning on its own. It took an hour and maybe fifteen minutes to back up what very little had changed since the last successful back up yesterday.

John Galt

Level 10

155,696 points

Jan 15, 2018 12:53 PM in response to Keith Barkley

That's just a junk thread. There are way too many possible causes for TM failure to back up. For example, the most recent reply is from someone using a non-Apple NAS which will never work, has never worked, and can't be made to work with Time Machine. Others are using non-Apple "anti-virus" garbage, which will also never work. Others may have posted actual solutions to specific problems, but that's not what you're experiencing.

In your case, you are using a unequivocally supported TM backup drive that Disk Utility says is no longer working. That's all you need to know. Don't be distracted by a dozen or more other potential causes. They're irrelevant to your concern. Buy a new USB hard disk drive and your problems are over.

dot.com

Level 4

2,455 points

Jan 20, 2018 1:49 PM in response to R_55a

Take a look at what pondini had to say about cleaning up after Time Machine hickups at Time Machine - Troubleshooting A10. Deleting an "inProgress" package and also at Time Machine - Troubleshooting E6. Can't empty the trash after deleting backups via the Finder and see if that doesn't help get things back to normal.

The pondini web site content is stiill really a good resource for Time Machine details. The guy was a valuable resource for Time Machine and his efforts over the years are still worth looking at, even after his passing away over 4 years ago.

If you're still not able to get things working after reading over pondini's suggestions, let us know.

Good luck...

R_55a Author

Level 2

262 points

Jan 17, 2018 9:56 AM in response to dot.com

Go Daddy reports that pondini.org is gone.

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Time Machine is not backing up