Mojave time machine back up failing

Question

Level 1

62 points

Mojave time machine back up failing

Since installing 10.14 have not been able to complete a full backup using time machine to external drive. All disks check out on disk utility first aid both under OS and stand alone utility under recovery. Have erased and reformatted the external drive. Still no success. Backup begins and runs up to about 80GB ok, then fails. Restart by "back up now" continues for about 500MB and then fails again. My full backup is about 900GB so I am running unprotected.

I believe this is a Mojave problem, not a drive problem.

Any ideas?

Mac mini, macOS Mojave (10.14), Samsung display

Posted on Sep 30, 2018 12:07 AM

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Answer 1

Dec 25, 2018 11:35 PM in response to Dwcmobile

Reformatting case-sensitive worked for me.

Thank you!

I was at wit's end for several months, this is the first time I saw this solution.

I am SO relieved, thank you again.

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Answer 2

winstonz

Level 1

9 points

Mar 1, 2019 6:39 AM in response to namuang26

Hello,

I've had the same issue and resolved it by excluding the OneDrive and iCloud drive folders from Time Machine backups.

Hope this works for you

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Answer 3

namuang26 Author

Level 1

62 points

Oct 1, 2018 4:05 PM in response to medman13

Re using SuperDuper (from ShirtPocket) per earlier post, at least as an interim while waiting for Apple to issue a fix - Having now completed a full backup of 925GB and also studied the functionality available on SD, I support the idea of major improvements to TM by Apple or moving to use SD instead. SD took less than half the time to complete the first full backup compared to TM calculated time remaining (noting that per the problem it never completed), and the functionality of SD full version seems more than adequate. It would be a good addition to MacOS utilities at least.

However, the first thing we (and all the others running unprotected by backups) need is a fix to the reported problems in Mojave. And we all need it URGENTLY please Apple, if necessary in a specific supplemental update. We are watching and waiting....

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Answer 4

AntMacDF

Level 1

15 points

Oct 5, 2018 2:27 AM in response to namuang26

No answer from Apple? Not serious.

When using this command

log show --predicate 'subsystem == "com.apple.TimeMachine"' --info --last 48h | grep Error

I had this report:

2018-10-03 11:46:18.283406+0200 0xfd34 Error 0x0 810 0 backupd: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Failed to remove attribute 'com.apple.backupd.SnapshotVolumeFSEventStoreUUID' from 'file:///', error: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=1 "Operation not permitted"

2018-10-03 11:46:18.283528+0200 0xfd34 Error 0x0 810 0 backupd: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Failed to remove attribute 'com.apple.backupd.SnapshotVolumeLastFSEventID' from 'file:///', error: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=1 "Operation not permitted"

2018-10-03 11:46:18.283593+0200 0xfd34 Error 0x0 810 0 backupd: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Failed to remove attribute 'com.apple.backupd.SnapshotVolumeUUID' from 'file:///', error: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=1 "Operation not permitted"

2018-10-03 11:46:18.283619+0200 0xfd34 Error 0x0 810 0 backupd: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Failed to remove attribute 'com.apple.backupd.PreviousSnapshotVolumeUUID' from 'file:///', error: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=1 "Operation not permitted"

2018-10-03 11:46:18.283671+0200 0xfd34 Error 0x0 810 0 backupd: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Failed to remove attribute 'com.apple.backupd.PreviousSnapshotVolumeName' from 'file:///', error: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=1 "Operation not permitted"

2018-10-03 11:46:18.283705+0200 0xfd34 Error 0x0 810 0 backupd: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Failed to remove attribute 'com.apple.backupd.VolumeBytesUsed' from 'file:///', error: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=1 "Operation not permitted"

2018-10-03 11:46:18.283807+0200 0xfd34 Error 0x0 810 0 backupd: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Failed to remove attribute 'com.apple.backupd.VolumeIsCaseSensitive' from 'file:///', error: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=1 "Operation not permitted"

2018-10-03 11:46:18.283884+0200 0xfd34 Error 0x0 810 0 backupd: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Failed to remove attribute 'com.apple.backupd.fstypename' from 'file:///', error: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=1 "Operation not permitted"

2018-10-03 11:46:18.283973+0200 0xfd34 Error 0x0 810 0 backupd: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Failed to remove attribute 'com.apple.backupd.VolumeIsEncrypted' from 'file:///', error: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=1 "Operation not permitted"

2018-10-03 11:46:18.501466+0200 0xfd34 Error 0x0 810 0 backupd: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Failed to write unlock record UUIDs as extended attribute for disk '/', error: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=1 "Operation not permitted"

2018-10-03 11:48:18.331864+0200 0xfe6a Error 0x0 810 0 backupd: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Error: (-48) SrcErr:NO Copying /Volumes/com.apple.TimeMachine.localsnapshots/Backups.backupdb/iMac USER USER/2018-10-03-114618/Macintosh HD/Users/USERUSER/Library/Containers/com.nektony.App-Cleaner/Data/Library Application Support/App Cleaner & Uninstaller to /Volumes/LaCie Time Machine/Backups.backupdb/iMac USER USER/2018-10-03-114618.inProgress/ABEC65F5-5398-48E4-B61A-DD494DC92AB7/Macintos h HD/Users/USERUSER/Library/Containers/com.nektony.App-Cleaner/Data/Library/Appli cation Support

2018-10-03 11:48:18.331882+0200 0xfe6a Error 0x0 810 0 backupd: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Stopping backup.

2018-10-03 11:48:18.331920+0200 0xfe6a Error 0x0 810 0 backupd: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Error: (-8062) SrcErr:NO Copying /Volumes/com.apple.TimeMachine.localsnapshots/Backups.backupdb/iMac USER USER/2018-10-03-114618/Macintosh HD/Users/USERUSER/Library/Containers/com.nektony.App-Cleaner/Data/Library/Appli cation Support/App Cleaner & Uninstaller/auth.cer to /Volumes/LaCie Time Machine/Backups.backupdb/iMac USER USER/2018-10-03-114618.inProgress/ABEC65F5-5398-48E4-B61A-DD494DC92AB7/Macintos h HD/Users/USERUSER/Library/Containers/com.nektony.App-Cleaner/Data/Library/Appli cation Support

2018-10-03 11:48:18.411354+0200 0xfd34 Error 0x0 810 0 backupd: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Copy stage failed with error:11

2018-10-03 11:48:19.602984+0200 0xfd34 Error 0x0 810 0 backupd: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Backup failed with error 11: 11

An idea? A link with App Cleaner & Uninstaller?

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Answer 5

Oct 5, 2018 4:12 AM in response to namuang26

iMac late 2012 - 3,4 GHz Intel Core i7

After upgrade to Mojave I had to delete the Time Machine backup and start all over. Since I also use Superduper it was safe to make this move. After formatting the drive the Time Machine backup works fine however the time sequence is odd. Sometimes it runs a 3 backups in a row with a few minutes in between. Then pause for 2 hours and suddenly again 2 or 3 backups in a row. Not even the TimeMachineEditor app have any effect on the backup times. So something must be wrong or Apple has changed the sequence.

Positive thing is that going into TimeMachine and recreate a file goes much faster then in Sierra.

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Answer 6

AntMacDF

Level 1

15 points

Oct 5, 2018 10:18 PM in response to namuang26

Formatting the external hard drive in MacOS Extended Journaled Case Sensitive does indeed work. But all previous backup is lost, which can be really, greatly detrimental. Apple must fix it asap. Thanks to the users for their perspicacity!

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Answer 7

Nov 18, 2018 9:17 AM in response to 2Gibbs

The only way I found how to get it working again is run time machine until it keeps pushing at increasing the remaining end of the backup the 80gb or 30gb, then click skip this back up.

And do this at least the amount of times the backup does not finish.

Eventually after approx. 3-4 times you will get finally the message completed backup at xx:xx...

I have not tested the quality of time machine yet but at least the backup to time machine seems to work...

Apple needs to fix this and not keep this from the customer

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Answer 8

Jan 12, 2019 11:09 AM in response to MR-TEC

This sounds really hopeful. But could you please explain where you found the facility to unlock the settings? I cannot find it in Time Machine/Preferences, and in System Preferences/Users and Groups, though I can unlock Login Options, I cannot see anything that refers to Time Machine.

"On a different tack, I reported the TM problems in the Apple Bug Reporter and submitted sysdiagnose files some time ago, and received the following reply from the engineers:

 'Time Machine intentionall yields to other processes in the system trying to do IO or CPU intensive tasks.  The diagnostic shows that Time Machine is heavily IO throttled because of all the other processes doing IO on your system. Most of the I/O seems to be coming from "Sync Folder Pro", but there is also significant IO from dropbox, Adobe Creative Cloud, and Clam AV (which is scanning files being synced by Syn Folders Pro and dropbox possibly?)  'It's hard to tell if Sync Folders Pro is just busy or malfunctioning.

I'd suggest trying the backup again when your system is less loaded.  If you continue to have problems please try disabling Sync Folders Pro and be sure that your AV software is not scanning your backup destination drive.  (You might want to experimentally disable the AV software and see if that helps as well)."    
 
In the light of this, I am now trying to back my system up again with TM, having first closed all running application. So far, it has been 'Preparing Backup' for 5 hours even though I did a mostly (but not entirely) successful backup a few days ago. I have submitted another sysdiagnose to Bug Reporter. If and when it does a backup, I shall report the result here, and submit another sysdiagnose to Bug Reporter. 

Why this text has gone red is beyond me!

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Answer 9

MR-TEC

Level 1

4 points

Jan 14, 2019 4:33 AM in response to Michael Graubart

"Unlocking" of the time machine settings in the preference pane.

Just open the standard lock ( I know this sounds a bit humble but just try).

I think most of the issues we face are related to the knew Mojave security architecture where rights are limited for security reasons by the os.

You can check this if the workaround above does not work for you. Just follow these steps:

Shut down your MAC
Start your make holding the command ⌘ and R button to boot into recovery mode
If you are in recovery mode then open the Terminal app via the utilities
Copy the following command into the Terminal.app "csrutil disable"
You should see a message that confirms "success"
Reboot
Now the MACs new security concept is disabled. Just try again if your apps are working as they should. Of course you should perform all the things mentioned in this thread e.g. checking your disks for integrity etc. Just have one thing up and running at a time (e.g. do not use a disk cloning tool like "Super Duper" oder "Carbon Copy" at the same time you have time machine running a backup job.
If your are hopefully successful with it - you will know if Apples new security level for the MAC is affecting your system giving you and me a hard time. Some apps maybe can not already deal with it.
When finished shut down the system again and boot again into recovery mode.
Open again the Terminal.app to turn the integrated security back on.
Therefore copy the following command into the Terminal "csrutil enable"
reboot
To check if it is back to normal open in Standard mode again the Terminal app and enter "csrutil status"
You will see then a message "System Integrity Protection status: enabled

That is it. Hope this helps you.

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Answer 10

Mar 10, 2019 4:44 AM in response to phiphi747

Switching to Microsoft is a bit drastic. Just use a 3rd-party app such as SUPER DUPER, which can also be used to create a perfect OS X clone on a disk or hardrive.

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Answer 11

namuang26 Author

Level 1

62 points

Oct 2, 2018 4:42 PM in response to georosejr

If you are correct about waiting for 10.14.1 then I will again recommend downloading SuperDuper from shirt-pocket.com in order to have at least a temp facility to create full backups. The free version works well on Mojave - I am using it with no problems - and the full version for $27 has a feature set more than competitive with TM. Not perhaps the most important factor, but SD does full backups in less the half the time of TM and if like me you are backing up almost 1TB 10 hours vs 25 hours is a big deal !

I love Apple, MacOS and have done for years. Aside from this problem Mojave is really nice but we have a right to expect a rapid response from Apple on this critical backup issue which can cost users dearly in the event of a major data loss. C'mon Apple!

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Answer 12

Oct 6, 2018 3:22 AM in response to namuang26

I am having the same issue on HighSierra. I created log for this:

log stream --style syslog --predicate 'senderImagePath contains[cd] "TimeMachine"' --info

Filtering the log data using "senderImagePath CONTAINS[cd] "TimeMachine""

Timestamp (process)[PID]

2018-10-06 00:05:00.697923+0200 localhost backupd[17059]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogInfo] Starting manual backup

2018-10-06 00:05:01.263394+0200 localhost backupd[17059]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogInfo] Backing up to /dev/disk2s2: /Volumes/Adata HD710/Backups.backupdb

2018-10-06 00:05:01.902425+0200 localhost backupd[17059]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Failed to remove attribute 'com.apple.backupd.SnapshotVolumeFSEventStoreUUID' from 'file:///', error: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=1 "Operation not permitted"

2018-10-06 00:05:01.902719+0200 localhost backupd[17059]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Failed to remove attribute 'com.apple.backupd.SnapshotVolumeLastFSEventID' from 'file:///', error: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=1 "Operation not permitted"

2018-10-06 00:05:01.902833+0200 localhost backupd[17059]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Failed to remove attribute 'com.apple.backupd.SnapshotVolumeUUID' from 'file:///', error: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=1 "Operation not permitted"

2018-10-06 00:05:01.902943+0200 localhost backupd[17059]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Failed to remove attribute 'com.apple.backupd.PreviousSnapshotVolumeUUID' from 'file:///', error: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=1 "Operation not permitted"

2018-10-06 00:05:01.904551+0200 localhost backupd[17059]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Failed to remove attribute 'com.apple.backupd.PreviousSnapshotVolumeName' from 'file:///', error: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=1 "Operation not permitted"

2018-10-06 00:05:01.904861+0200 localhost backupd[17059]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Failed to remove attribute 'com.apple.backupd.VolumeBytesUsed' from 'file:///', error: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=1 "Operation not permitted"

2018-10-06 00:05:01.905049+0200 localhost backupd[17059]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Failed to remove attribute 'com.apple.backupd.VolumeIsCaseSensitive' from 'file:///', error: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=1 "Operation not permitted"

2018-10-06 00:05:01.905460+0200 localhost backupd[17059]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Failed to remove attribute 'com.apple.backupd.fstypename' from 'file:///', error: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=1 "Operation not permitted"

2018-10-06 00:05:01.905631+0200 localhost backupd[17059]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Failed to remove attribute 'com.apple.backupd.VolumeIsEncrypted' from 'file:///', error: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=1 "Operation not permitted"

2018-10-06 00:05:01.914808+0200 localhost backupd[17059]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogInfo] Starting age based thinning of Time Machine local snapshots on disk '/'

2018-10-06 00:05:01.924310+0200 localhost backupd[17059]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogInfo] Completed thinning of snapshots on disk '/' in 0.0 seconds - current free space: 116,55 GB (116 551 569 408 B), target free space: 25 GB (25 000 000 000 B), initial free space: 116,55 GB (116 551 569 408 B), urgency: 0, remaining snapshots: (

"com.apple.TimeMachine.2018-10-05-105037"

)

2018-10-06 00:05:03.182964+0200 localhost backupd[17059]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Failed to write unlock record UUIDs as extended attribute for disk '/', error: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=1 "Operation not permitted"

2018-10-06 00:05:03.280591+0200 localhost backupd[17059]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogInfo] Created Time Machine local snapshot with name 'com.apple.TimeMachine.2018-10-06-000503' on disk '/'

2018-10-06 00:05:03.288148+0200 localhost backupd[17059]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogInfo] Declared stable snapshot: com.apple.TimeMachine.2018-10-06-000503

2018-10-06 00:05:03.518980+0200 localhost backupd[17059]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogInfo] Mounted stable snapshot: com.apple.TimeMachine.2018-10-06-000503 at path: /Volumes/com.apple.TimeMachine.localsnapshots/Backups.backupdb/MacBook Pro (Grzegorz)/2018-10-06-000503/Macintosh source: Macintosh

2018-10-06 00:05:03.811376+0200 localhost backupd[17059]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogInfo] Initial backup of source: "Macintosh" (device: /dev/disk1s1 mount: '/' fsUUID: A667477E-764D-4E23-BB80-88BCEF9C7C87 eventDBUUID: 0282DECA-678A-43E2-8B7C-14973EC1D394)

2018-10-06 00:05:04.119454+0200 localhost backupd[17059]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogInfo] Found 771177 files (125,95 GB) needing backup

2018-10-06 00:05:04.174070+0200 localhost backupd[17059]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogInfo] 147,84 GB required (including padding), 597,34 GB available

2018-10-06 00:07:29.354539+0200 localhost backupd[17059]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Error: (-48) SrcErr:NO Copying /Volumes/com.apple.TimeMachine.localsnapshots/Backups.backupdb/MacBook Pro (Grzegorz)/2018-10-06-000503/Macintosh/private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n 00000y800007k/0/com.apple.nsurlsessiond/1E63E8DC1D830BBB0C56F20CBC3704604A8057D0 /14F8026CDF3C4E7FA1E21ACC1B0569499AB84464 to /Volumes/Adata HD710/Backups.backupdb/MacBook Pro (Grzegorz)/2018-10-06-000503.inProgress/C969ED15-B1F6-4AC2-968E-3F6F4378C4FE/Ma cintosh/private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000y800007k/0/com.apple.nsurls essiond/1E63E8DC1D830BBB0C56F20CBC3704604A8057D0

2018-10-06 00:07:29.354945+0200 localhost backupd[17059]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Stopping backup.

2018-10-06 00:07:29.356134+0200 localhost backupd[17059]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:TMLogError] Error: (-8062) SrcErr:NO Copying /Volumes/com.apple.TimeMachine.localsnapshots/Backups.backupdb/MacBook Pro (Grzegorz)/2018-10-06-000503/Macintosh/private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n 00000y800007k/0/com.apple.nsurlsessiond/1E63E8DC1D830BBB0C56F20CBC3704604A8057D0 /14F8026CDF3C4E7FA1E21ACC1B0569499AB84464/configuration.plist to /Volumes/Adata HD710/Backups.backupdb/MacBook Pro (Grzegorz)/2018-10-06-000503.inProgress/C969ED15-B1F6-4AC2-968E-3F6F4378C4FE/Ma cintosh/private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000y800007k/0/com.apple.nsurls essiond/1E63E8DC1D830BBB0C56F20CBC3704604A8057D0

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Answer 13

s.od

Level 1

14 points

Oct 6, 2018 12:13 PM in response to georosejr

The simplest solution is to add the folder to the Time Machine exclude list.

Look at my previous answer in this thread how to do that.

One of the folders was created by App Cleaner v.5.4, another one was created by version 6.0.

You can remove those folders, if you are using only application v.6.0, there will be only one folder.

Serge

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Answer 14

namuang26 Author

Level 1

62 points

Oct 29, 2018 6:13 PM in response to namuang26

I started this thread on Sep 30 - although I was by no means the first user to experience the TM problems - and have followed all the great detective work done by so many users in the past month involving the case-sensitive format and the App Cleaner problem. Disappointing, to say the least, that we have seen no comment or helpful statement from Apple Support in all this time, especially as several have reported buying new drives in the belief that it was a hardware problem. It is clearly a Mojave Time Machine set of problems and where is the patch? Does anyone know (other than Apple of course) if there are fixes in 10.14.1 ? I have seen nothing to that effect, but I guess we will soon find out.

Personally I moved to use SuperDuper almost immediately - as recommended by another user and that info can be found near the start of this thread - and have really enjoyed that product. It works perfectly and is at least as well featured as TM (even when TM works as advertised). Until or unless I see specific TM patches issued by Apple, and verified by a community of users, I will remain sceptical that the root causes have been addressed.

Final comment is my disappointment that Apple have not been willing to issue any admission of the problems, helpful suggestions as to work-arounds and commitment to release fixes in a patch release. The developers of the AppCleaner app (Nektony) did the right thing, quickly admitted their bug and issued workaround and correction. Apple with all their resources should have done the same for us but have chosen not to. Not good enough. Apple, please work to improve your technical support for critical problems such as this.

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Answer 15

Dec 31, 2018 6:04 AM in response to namuang26

I am on an Macbook Air with 10.14.2 and the backup disc is an 1TB external USB disc with Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled).

As a next test, I removed the .inProgress file and disabled the Filesystem Protections with:

cmd-R Restore Mode

csrutil disable

csrutil enable --without fs

Now TM started all over again and is working on backing up 140GB. This amount seems okay for a full backup, BUT:

It is VERY SLOW !!!

It still calculates time remaining since more than three hours....

I expect this backup to take about 11 days!!

Not funny...

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