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Time Machine Backup Stops With No Explanation

MacConvert2007

MacConvert2007

macrumors member
Original poster
May 23, 2007
63
2
I'm on a MacBook Pro with Mavericks and have been running Time Machine backups for years with no problems.

My external drive has 156 GB free. When I start the latest time machine backup it says it is backing up 47 GB. But the backup stops shortly after I start it, and the external drive appears to be ejected/unavailable. No explanation is given. When I click on time machine it tells me the most recent full backup is from 1 week ago.

I never get a message that the external drive is full, and technically it is not, but is that what is happening to me? Do I need to erase the drive or get a new one?

Thanks :)
 
h9826790

h9826790

macrumors P6
Apr 3, 2014
16,614
8,546
Hong Kong
Erase the driver may be the easiest way to fix the problem. However, you will lost all your backup. Please make sure you can do that before you pull the trigger.
 
G

G0meZ

macrumors regular
Aug 9, 2011
180
0
i've stopped relying on tm a while ago, it's become more and more buggy for me... i recommend using carboncopycloner or something similar to make full, bootable clones...
 
Weaselboy

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,136
15,598
California
MacConvert2007 said:
I'm on a MacBook Pro with Mavericks and have been running Time Machine backups for years with no problems.

My external drive has 156 GB free. When I start the latest time machine backup it says it is backing up 47 GB. But the backup stops shortly after I start it, and the external drive appears to be ejected/unavailable. No explanation is given. When I click on time machine it tells me the most recent full backup is from 1 week ago.

I never get a message that the external drive is full, and technically it is not, but is that what is happening to me? Do I need to erase the drive or get a new one?

Thanks :)
Click to expand...

Open Console app and type "backup" in the filter bar at the top then look at the log for the latest Time Machine backup to see if that tips you off to anything?

Can you read and write to the drive otherwise in Finder? Just make a temp folder on there and copy some files back and forth. It almost sounds like an issue with the drive (ejecting) more than an issue with Time Machine.
 
h9826790

h9826790

macrumors P6
Apr 3, 2014
16,614
8,546
Hong Kong
G0meZ said:
i've stopped relying on tm a while ago, it's become more and more buggy for me... i recommend using carboncopycloner or something similar to make full, bootable clones...
Click to expand...

IMO, CCC is a good way to backup the whole system, but not a good way to backup / restore a single file. I schedule my CCC to clone my primary SSD to the backup HDD everyday. However, for whatever reason, if I just want to recover a single file, Time Machine is still a much better option. Especially if I want to recovery a file that may be removed from my system few days ago.
 
jbarley

jbarley

macrumors 601
Jul 1, 2006
4,023
1,893
Vancouver Island
h9826790 said:
IMO, CCC is a good way to backup the whole system, but not a good way to backup / restore a single file. I schedule my CCC to clone my primary SSD to the backup HDD everyday. However, for whatever reason, if I just want to recover a single file, Time Machine is still a much better option. Especially if I want to recovery a file that may be removed from my system few days ago.
Click to expand...
If you've read the instructions for CCC you'll know it can be structured to operate much like TM.
This includes fully automatic backup schedules from hourly to monthly and complete control over archiving changed files.
So whether or not TM is a much better option is strictly a matter of opinion.
 
G

G0meZ

macrumors regular
Aug 9, 2011
180
0
agreed.
i reckon once again, in terms of usability, apple leads the way... timemachine is beatifully simple, intuitive and easy to use - to recover a single file... ccc needs some brain to start with, the user interface has likely been designed by techies and not usability specialists.

still, currently, i see tm as a nice concept but too unreliable. damn, instead of packing more and more new ios stuff nobody working in IT wants, apple should really put their resources into consolidating the os - it's a mess and since snow leo it consistently lost in terms of reliability. get a new filesystem to start with!
fix finder and what not, bugs that have been around since leopard or earlier... how about that apple?
Apple Core Rot:
http://macperformanceguide.com/AppleCoreRot-intro.html
 
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