How to access sparsebundle

Hi there


MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015)

MacOSX High Sierra 10.13.2


I think I accidently deleted the music in my iTunes library but have now discovered that my Time Capsule backup isn't accessible as I expect.


It is as if I have never backed up, but there are two sparsebundles when I navigate to the drive ... one old one that I don't seem to be able to delete from an old iMac that is empty if I "Show Package Contents" and the one for the MBP. "Show Package Contents" for MBP looks like the new back up it is attempting to create, but the disk shows as being full.


How do I access that sparsebundle to get the iTunes library out?


I don't have enough space on the MBP to move the sparsebundle to the drive.


Many thanks for any suggestions.


Deb

MacBook Pro with Retina display, macOS High Sierra (10.13.2), null

Posted on Jan 23, 2018 6:52 PM

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Posted on Jan 24, 2018 2:18 AM

Not without buying a USB drive of 2TB..


The TC is a network drive.. disk drill is useless.. it cannot recover anything from a network drive..


Sadly it is far from uncommon for the sparsebundle to be empty.. Time Machine is a self defeating self eliminating software that regularly deletes its own backups.. however the sparsebundle which is a virtual disk does not shrink.. it simply gets emptied.. you might appear to have big backups.. the reality is TM probably smashed itself.


Anyway the only way to find out is to connect the disk to the computer directly.. this means either pulling the disk out of the time capsule.. not recommended for latest model.. they are made with fragile plugs and ribbon wires. Or make an archive.. ie an identical copy of the files to USB and plug that into your computer.. and you can then play around with all and any utility you like.. but they won't repair a sparsebundle.. you MUST use the verify from TM as I mentioned above.


You can use TM command line tools.. Athough I doubt that gives you much benefit.. you can also mount the sparsebundle in Finder and actually check what is available under each date.. this is long and laborious process but if your itunes library is there.. that is how to find it once TM has given up.


Please note.. the reason to use USB is to not damage the original file if anything is left.. of course you should have Time Machine off in your computers.. further backups will just destroy anything left behind.


BTW .. since Sierra Time Machine is totally unreliable when using Network drives.. you must either use a USB drive plugged directly into the computer or you can change over to a decent backup software like Carbon Copy Cloner.

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 24, 2018 2:18 AM in response to djaneb2

Not without buying a USB drive of 2TB..


The TC is a network drive.. disk drill is useless.. it cannot recover anything from a network drive..


Sadly it is far from uncommon for the sparsebundle to be empty.. Time Machine is a self defeating self eliminating software that regularly deletes its own backups.. however the sparsebundle which is a virtual disk does not shrink.. it simply gets emptied.. you might appear to have big backups.. the reality is TM probably smashed itself.


Anyway the only way to find out is to connect the disk to the computer directly.. this means either pulling the disk out of the time capsule.. not recommended for latest model.. they are made with fragile plugs and ribbon wires. Or make an archive.. ie an identical copy of the files to USB and plug that into your computer.. and you can then play around with all and any utility you like.. but they won't repair a sparsebundle.. you MUST use the verify from TM as I mentioned above.


You can use TM command line tools.. Athough I doubt that gives you much benefit.. you can also mount the sparsebundle in Finder and actually check what is available under each date.. this is long and laborious process but if your itunes library is there.. that is how to find it once TM has given up.


Please note.. the reason to use USB is to not damage the original file if anything is left.. of course you should have Time Machine off in your computers.. further backups will just destroy anything left behind.


BTW .. since Sierra Time Machine is totally unreliable when using Network drives.. you must either use a USB drive plugged directly into the computer or you can change over to a decent backup software like Carbon Copy Cloner.

Jan 23, 2018 10:56 PM in response to djaneb2

Use Time Machine to access the sparse bundle..


Option click on the Time Machine icon in the top menu or in the dock.


Use the option Browse Other Time Machine Disks and see if you can locate the library in..

/Users/yourname/Music


Or simply open iTunes and go to TM.


If the backup is corrupt or broken .. then try to verify it from the same place.. option click TM icon and select verify.

Jan 23, 2018 11:41 PM in response to LaPastenague

Thank you.


I did what you said. Both the sparsebundles only have stuff for today. But the Time Capsule is full ... it only has 1.8meg spare.


I know time machine was switched on last week, and then I switched it off because the time capsule was getting full. I switched it back on today, and it is like it has started over, but there is something still sitting there somewhere because the MBP is 500gig and the Time Capsule is 2T.


Do you have any other ideas? I have an app called Disk Drill that I've never used that says it recovers deleted files.


Is there another way of looking at the Time Capsule to see what is on there?


Deb

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