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Time Machine backup dates corrupted
- Thread starter IceMan30
- Start date
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Those are some odd timestamps and I wonder how that happened. Looks like the filesystem is mounted over the network?
There is a way to change the timestamps with Terminal commands (can't remember how ATM), but why bother? A sparse bundle is really just a directory in the unix-like filesystem that Finder treats as a special package (similar to an app). I think the odd timestamps in your image are the create and modify times on the sparse bundle directory.
I would consider two options:
1.) do my best to determine if it's working ok (do some restores to a spare drive or something), and leave the timestamps alone, or
2.) delete it and start a fresh TM backup, just to eliminate possible problems should you need to do a full restore.
I really doubt the timestamps on the top-level directory (the sparse bundle) are used for anything in Time Machine. But one never knows for sure, thus choice 2!
There is a way to change the timestamps with Terminal commands (can't remember how ATM), but why bother? A sparse bundle is really just a directory in the unix-like filesystem that Finder treats as a special package (similar to an app). I think the odd timestamps in your image are the create and modify times on the sparse bundle directory.
I would consider two options:
1.) do my best to determine if it's working ok (do some restores to a spare drive or something), and leave the timestamps alone, or
2.) delete it and start a fresh TM backup, just to eliminate possible problems should you need to do a full restore.
I really doubt the timestamps on the top-level directory (the sparse bundle) are used for anything in Time Machine. But one never knows for sure, thus choice 2!
Mount the sparsebundle and see what the date/times are inside the sparsebundle. In order to mount it you will need to make sure it has the extension .sparsebundle. If you do add the extension make sure to remove after you are done with it.
You can correct the date/time of the sparsebundle by looking at the link below.
How to Change a File’s Last Modified and Creation Dates on Mac OS X | HackerNoon
This a very simple guide on<strong> how to change a file’s “date modified” and “date created” attributes on Mac OS X</strong> I wrote back in May 2009. Since then these directions have been updated for Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite.
hackernoon.com
Post-backup adventure follow-up...
In the original post I forgot to mention a key part of this. For some reason I have not been able to perform a full backup in a month, nor could Time Machine actually access my backups (I presumed it was related to the errant dates). TM could see the individual backups by date, but no data/files could be gotten from them.
After some tinkering, I was able to reset the image bundle modified date to day or so after my last saved backup (using touch); and I was able to reset the created date to a couple days just before my first saved backup (using SetFile). After that TM could see into the past properly. I'm in the middle of backing up, but I think that will be fine.
Thank you all.
In the original post I forgot to mention a key part of this. For some reason I have not been able to perform a full backup in a month, nor could Time Machine actually access my backups (I presumed it was related to the errant dates). TM could see the individual backups by date, but no data/files could be gotten from them.
After some tinkering, I was able to reset the image bundle modified date to day or so after my last saved backup (using touch); and I was able to reset the created date to a couple days just before my first saved backup (using SetFile). After that TM could see into the past properly. I'm in the middle of backing up, but I think that will be fine.
Thank you all.