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Time Capsule (4th gen) and Time machine

R

R0b

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 14, 2011
32
0
Sydney, Australia
hey guys,

ever since i got the time capsule (4th gen) I've been having problems backing data to it. i have a 21.5" iMac with Lion 10.7.4 and having my time capsule (1st gen) die earlier this year. now i keep getting this error every time it tries to back up. "The backup disk image “/Volumes/Data/Robert’s iMac.sparsebundle” could not be accessed (error -1)." i tried basic troubleshooting but nothing seems to work and it only seems to work when the iMac is turned on.

my time capsule is connected via ethernet cable to my router and i recently placed a ethernet cable from the iMac to router because i noticed that the iMac doesn't automatically connect to the wifi. i looked though the settings and everything seems in order.

anyone got a clue on whats happening and how to solve it?
 
Some questions ...

Have you tried recycling the TC?

Have you created a wifi network?

When you view your TC via Airport Utility, do you see the disk? The wireless network? (Network and Disk tabs)

Have you ever taken a good TM backup since upgrading the TC? If no, have you tried turning off TM, using Airport Utility to erase your disk, and turning TM back on?

What does "it only seems to work when the Mac is turned on" mean?

What router are you using?

Based on your answers I may ask you to post some screenshots.
 
I had this issue with my time capsule and it was because of a read/write permission. Somehow I didn't have permission to write so i changed it so everyone could write and that solved the issue. Try that out.
 
LaWally said:
Some questions ...

Have you tried recycling the TC?

Have you created a wifi network?

When you view your TC via Airport Utility, do you see the disk? The wireless network? (Network and Disk tabs)

Have you ever taken a good TM backup since upgrading the TC? If no, have you tried turning off TM, using Airport Utility to erase your disk, and turning TM back on?

What does "it only seems to work when the Mac is turned on" mean?

What router are you using?

Based on your answers I may ask you to post some screenshots.
Click to expand...

instead of creating a network, i configured it to join a network which would be my router.

i can see my disk and my network in airport utility.

the first time i got the time capsule i allowed it to make the first back up overnight and it completed it. i tried several times erasing the data and setting the time capsule as a new machine but nothing works.

it seems that it only backs up the data when the computer is on because if i turn it off for the night, the next morning shows that the latest backup was at say 1:00pm yesterday.

as of right now i tried what the other person suggested. to change the permissions setting and i did so and it back up. i wouldn't say that its fixed it but i'll see how it will handle over the next few days.
 
R0b said:
... that it only backs up the data when the computer is on because if i turn it off for the night, the next morning shows that the latest backup was at say 1:00pm yesterday.
Click to expand...

Time Machine will only back up while your computer is running. This might change on certain models with Mountain Lion and Power Nap, though.
 
tried all sorts of things and still get the error.

"The backup disk image “/Volumes/Data/Robert’s iMac.sparsebundle” could not be accessed (error -1)."

any solutions?
 
Based on the timestamps of these posts, it sounds like you are saying you are back to square one?

If so, how about trying this. In MacHD/Library/Preferences you will see two files, com.apple.TimeMachine.plist and com.apple.TimeMachine.plist.lockfile. Copy these files to your desktop or other safe place. Then delete them and reboot. This should clear all your TM settings. Erase your TC disk. Set up TM again to use your TC.

Did it help?
 
Last edited:
LaWally said:
Based on the timestamps of these posts, it sounds like you are saying you are back to square one?

If so, how about trying this. In MacHD/Library/Preferences you will see two files, com.apple.TimeMachine.plist and com.apple.TimeMachine.plist.lockfile. Copy these files to your desktop or other safe place. Then delete them and reboot. This should clear all your TM settings. Erase your TC disk. Set up TM again to use your TC.

Did it help?
Click to expand...

you sure its in library/ preferences? i can't find it. i skip to T and all i find is terminal and textedit files.
 
R0b said:
you sure its in library/ preferences? i can't find it. i skip to T and all i find is terminal and textedit files.
Click to expand...

Open Finder and select your Mac device. Then select Mac HD (or whatever your disk is called), then Library then Preferences.
 
R0b said:
yes i did that. it comes up with all the files with lockfile and plist. but there is no time machine files there.
Click to expand...

From your previous post, it was clear you were looking in the {user} library preferences since you mentioned terminal and textedit. Here is a screenshot of my Finder.
 

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LaWally said:
From your previous post, it was clear you were looking in the {user} library preferences since you mentioned terminal and textedit. Here is a screenshot of my Finder.
Click to expand...

oh ok, sorry. found it. so do i delete the files that i copied to the desktop or in the preferences folder?
 
R0b said:
oh ok, sorry. found it. so do i delete the files that i copied to the desktop or in the preferences folder?
Click to expand...

First, turn TM off. Then delete the two TM plist files in the Preferences folder. The copies on the desktop are just in case we need to restore them back.

Reboot, erase the TC disk, turn TM back on, set up TM to use the TC disk.

BTW, this is my last best shot at this, so here's hoping it works.
 
Said this before, but I recommend going to System Preferences->Sharing->file sharing->time machine backups and make sure everyone can read/write
 
LaWally said:
First, turn TM off. Then delete the two TM plist files in the Preferences folder. The copies on the desktop are just in case we need to restore them back.

Reboot, erase the TC disk, turn TM back on, set up TM to use the TC disk.

BTW, this is my last best shot at this, so here's hoping it works.
Click to expand...

alright i did all of the steps as you said and now its doing its first backup.

Said this before, but I recommend going to System Preferences->Sharing->file sharing->time machine backups and make sure everyone can read/write
Click to expand...

yeah i just changed that. read &write was only selected to an 'unknown user' and 'everybody' had read only.
 
R0b said:
alright i did all of the steps as you said and now its doing its first backup.



yeah i just changed that. read &write was only selected to an 'unknown user' and 'everybody' had read only.
Click to expand...

Okay, good. The real test will be when it starts taking its hourly backups. Keep us posted.
 
alright the first back up completed with no errors, now I'm gonna wait to see if the hourly back ups are running smooth without giving an error.
 
Last edited:
I noticed that you connected your TC to a router. When I got my TC, I also connected it to my Mac pro through a cable. I then noticed that the network was slow and copying files to TC was also slow. Accidentally, I noticed that my Air could copy wirelessly files to and from TC very fast. I then made everything wireless and I had no problems since.

The error you saw was probably due to the fact that TC is NOT used as the router!

My suggestion: Set up a wireless network using your TC (you may connect TC to your router using a cable or just use TC as the sole router), access the internet wirelessly on your iMac through TC, and back up your files on your iMac to TC wirelessly using the Time Machine.

In addition, if you can get rid of your current router, please do so since TC is a very good router.
 
FrankHahn said:
I noticed that you connected your TC to a router. When I got my TC, I also connected it to my Mac pro through a cable. I then noticed that the network was slow and copying files to TC was also slow. Accidentally, I noticed that my Air could copy wirelessly files to and from TC very fast. I then made everything wireless and I had no problems since.

The error you saw was probably due to the fact that TC is NOT used as the router!

My suggestion: Set up a wireless network using your TC (you may connect TC to your router using a cable or just use TC as the sole router), access the internet wirelessly on your iMac through TC, and back up your files on your iMac to TC wirelessly using the Time Machine.

In addition, if you can get rid of your current router, please do so since TC is a very good router.
Click to expand...

ok, i changed the network settings to create a network and i also plugged in a ethernet cable from the router to the WAN port to the time capsule. i also can't use the time capsule as a router because i got cable internet.
 
Yes, you can use TC as a router.

Set up your wireless local network using the AirPort Utilities. First connect TC to your iMac using a cable with your TC connected to the original router. Then open the AirPort Utilities on your iMac and you will see your TC. Set up a wireless network using TC from here.
 
FrankHahn said:
Yes, you can use TC as a router.

Set up your wireless local network using the AirPort Utilities. First connect TC to your iMac using a cable with your TC connected to the original router. Then open the AirPort Utilities on your iMac and you will see your TC. Set up a wireless network using TC from here.
Click to expand...

Oh that, I already did that as you posted in the previous post. I thought you meant to replace the TM as a main router.
 
I noticed that you connected your TC to a router. When I got my TC, I also connected it to my Mac pro through a cable. I then noticed that the network was slow and copying files to TC was also slow. Accidentally, I noticed that my Air could copy wirelessly files to and from TC very fast. I then made everything wireless and I had no problems since.

The error you saw was probably due to the fact that TC is NOT used as the router!

My suggestion: Set up a wireless network using your TC (you may connect TC to your router using a cable or just use TC as the sole router), access the internet wirelessly on your iMac through TC, and back up your files on your iMac to TC wirelessly using the Time Machine.

In addition, if you can get rid of your current router, please do so since TC is a very good router.
Click to expand...

ok so it turns that did not work as well. still getting the error.

"The backup disk image “/Volumes/Data/Robert’s iMac.sparsebundle” could not be accessed (error -1).

Latest successful backup: 25/06/12 at 9:29 PM"

i tried to get into the folder if i can find anything, but it says that i don't have permission.
 
Wireless users, avoid using wireless connection, try connecting directly using ethernet cable.

The above things worked out for me. But really hats off to :apple: errs.

Please keep this post alive till I resolve the issue with WiFi conn.
 
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