Changed Time Machine Backup Schedule, Strange Effect

[grinc]

Tonight I followed the instructions someone had posted to this forum (and lots of other places online) to run the following in Terminal:

sudo defaults write /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.backupd-auto StartInterval -int 86400

Then I logged out and then logged back in again to reload.

This is supposed to change the Time Machine backup interval from 1 hour to once every 24 hours.

Maybe it does, but I noticed something weird: every time I load up Time Machine Preferences from the menu bar, the time to "Next Backup" changes by subtracting 1 hour or so from its previous value just a few minutes ago when I checked.

If I check again immediately, it is the same (e.g. Today, 9:20pm) but if I wait awhile and load it again, it changes to something like "Today, 8:20pm"

Not sure what's going on here and can anyone offer any comments if I even executed this command correctly in the first place?

 

[grinc]

Seems to be working better now that I restarted, instead of just logging out and logging back in. Should backup again in 7 hours if the config is actually working properly. If not, I'll post

 

[grinc]

Ok, the results are in... it doesn't back up every hour, but it doesn't back up every 24 hours like my new setting would dictate... it seems to just kinda choose "whenever" to backup.

This morning it backed up as soon as I awoke it from sleep, and then again about 5 or 6 hours later.

Any ideas what's going on here? Apparently this command line config for Time Machine doesn't really work as well as people say.

 

[r0k]

There was a third party app called "Time Machine Editor" going around a year or so ago. I used it for a while. I set my interval to every 4 hours. Now that I'm on SL and my TM backups are measured in seconds and not tens of minutes, I decided to leave TM editor alone and live with the 1 hour interval. It bothers me to see that darn thing spinning when I know I haven't touched the machine in a long time, but it typically only spins less than a minute and it's done.

You might go ahead and get TM editor and see how well it works for you. It really shouldn't break anything as it merely provides a gui to edit config files. You can go back in the normal system preferences pane to get the TM backup interval back to normal.

I'm glad I decided to respond to this post! I took a look at my TC and it's DOA. I'm getting it replaced by Apple as I type this. Whew. There's nothing worse than a machine crash when the backup device is down... I think I'll dig up that old WD .5 TB usb drive and let TC do a full backup to that thing while I'm waiting for my TC to be repaired...

 

[grinc]

I'm glad I decided to respond to this post! I took a look at my TC and it's DOA. I'm getting it replaced by Apple as I type this. Whew. There's nothing worse than a machine crash when the backup device is down... I think I'll dig up that old WD .5 TB usb drive and let TC do a full backup to that thing while I'm waiting for my TC to be repaired...

r0k, was this a 1st or 2nd generation Time Capsule that just went out on you? I ask because I just bought my TC 2 days ago, despite the bad reviews the 1st generation got on Apple.com - I figured they solved that problem by now.

Thankfully I have an AppleCare Protection Plan, but still...

 

[r0k]

r0k, was this a 1st or 2nd generation Time Capsule that just went out on you? I ask because I just bought my TC 2 days ago, despite the bad reviews the 1st generation got on Apple.com - I figured they solved that problem by now.

Thankfully I have an AppleCare Protection Plan, but still...

It's an old first gen .5 TB unit. Apple is replacing mine. It's no big deal unless one of my machines dies while waiting for the replacement TC. For now, I'm about 1/6 of the way through backing up 124 Gig of stuff to a usb drive "just in case".

Somebody on Apple.com asked your same question: Will 2d gen units last longer than 18 months... It isn't answered yet.

I guess this drives another nail in the coffin of relying on TM/TC for backup. When the new unit arrives, I'll connect an external drive via usb and let it back up to that. I just remembered I have about 40 gig of photos on my now dead TC. O well, that's ok. I also have them backed up on each of 2 NAS units. I guess that's why I've always got a backup of a backup of a backup. Never less than 2 copies and frequently as many as 4. I've been burned too many times and this dead TC is just one more time.