Unable to inherit previous Time Machine

[orbitalpunk]

I did a fresh install of Mojave on my nMP and in the past I could reconnect my Time Machine from the previous OS without having to start over. But this time I am getting an error. Has anyone experience similar issues? Usually I can go into terminal and use the following command

sudo tmutil associatedisk -a /

the full command would be like this:

sudo tmutil associatedisk -a / /Volumes/Harddrive/Backups.backupdb/Mac\ Pro/2018-09-26-235241/Macintosh\ HD

But now I get the following error:

Failed to gather snapshots for /Volumes/Harddrive/Backups.backupdb/Mac Pro

 

[Howard2k]

I did a clean install and had a Time Machine volume on my NAS and it had no issue opening it directly from the GUI. No CLI. I just opened the Time Machine prefs and added the drive through there I think.

I was really impressed how smooth that was.

 

[Mr.Chow]

I did a fresh install of Mojave on my nMP and in the past I could reconnect my Time Machine from the previous OS without having to start over. But this time I am getting an error. Has anyone experience similar issues? Usually I can go into terminal and use the following command

sudo tmutil associatedisk -a /

the full command would be like this:

sudo tmutil associatedisk -a / /Volumes/Harddrive/Backups.backupdb/Mac\ Pro/2018-09-26-235241/Macintosh\ HD

But now I get the following error:

Failed to gather snapshots for /Volumes/Harddrive/Backups.backupdb/Mac Pro

I'm getting the same error when I try to inherit a backup. Time machine seemed far more stable in the last beta...

 

[interstella]

After installing Mojave I took a chance and deleted my TM backups off my NAS and started again. What I have noticed is that, previously, every hourly backup had the NAS drives working furiously and noisily. With Mojave, the backup process is barely noticeable.

 

[Ronis_BR]

I did a fresh install of Mojave on my nMP and in the past I could reconnect my Time Machine from the previous OS without having to start over. But this time I am getting an error. Has anyone experience similar issues? Usually I can go into terminal and use the following command

sudo tmutil associatedisk -a /

the full command would be like this:

sudo tmutil associatedisk -a / /Volumes/Harddrive/Backups.backupdb/Mac\ Pro/2018-09-26-235241/Macintosh\ HD

But now I get the following error:

Failed to gather snapshots for /Volumes/Harddrive/Backups.backupdb/Mac Pro

Hi @orbitalpunk,

I am having this exactly same problem! In my case, I have a HFS+ partition in which I deleted and copied all the data to a volume inside the APFS container. In this case, I needed to associate the new volume with the old one. The command `sudo tmutil associatedisk -a ...` failed with the same error message. My only solution after trying for one hour was to format the external time machine HD and start again.
[doublepost=1538407921][/doublepost]I submitted a Feedback to Apple.

 

[Ronis_BR]

Did anyone tried this after recreating the TM in Mojave?

 

[RabidMacFan]

I had the opposite issue. I did a fresh install of Mojave and when I plugged in my High Sierra time machine disk, it automatically started comparing the previous backup and made the adjustments in the same parent folder.

I would have preferred that time machine started from scratch with a new backup directory.

 

[zikken]

Failed to gather snapshots for /Volumes/Harddrive/Backups.backupdb/Mac Pro

I was getting this error. I went into System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy and added Terminal to the Full Disk Access panel. Worked for me. Hope it helps!

 

[Mr.Chow]

I was getting this error. I went into System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy and added Terminal to the Full Disk Access panel. Worked for me. Hope it helps!

Thank you for the advise. Worked for me too.

 

[Cal_Ed]

I was getting this error. I went into System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy and added Terminal to the Full Disk Access panel. Worked for me. Hope it helps!

Worked for me as well, thanks zikken

 

[eelpout]

After installing Mojave I took a chance and deleted my TM backups off my NAS and started again.

Mind if I ask which NAS you're using?

 

[interstella]

Mind if I ask which NAS you're using?

I'm using a Synology DS215j. This has worked well for me with Time Machine and for everything else I've needed it for. It's been updated since, of course, so it'll now be DS218j or possibly even 219j.

 

[GXWebb]

Thanks zikken! It finally worked for me also.

 

[dredlew]

I was getting this error. I went into System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy and added Terminal to the Full Disk Access panel. Worked for me. Hope it helps!

Worked for me as well, thanks! It takes a while for it to "prepare the backup" but eventually it will only back up new files.

 

[sig_eigei]

Hi All,

I just made a fresh install of Catalina to expunge 10 years of orphaned files. I tried following the instructions above, including turning on Full Disk Access for Terminal, and a restart, but it didn't work. I have two volumes on my MacBook Pro. I believe I do it correctly, but I still have a message that Time Machine is not configured correctly. I would appreciate any ideas.

 

[madrich]

You need to post your question/situation in the Catalina Forum.

 

[sig_eigei]

You need to post your question/situation in the Catalina Forum.

I did that - no one seems to be able to answer - if you have any ideas, maybe you could reply there?

 

[madrich]

I am not an expert but if you installed Catalina you will not be able to access the sparse bundle of the prior OS X because they were created by a different OS X. You should still be able to use the migration assistant to transfer data and apps from the Time Capsule to your PC.

 

[sig_eigei]

I am not an expert but if you installed Catalina you will not be able to access the sparse bundle of the prior OS X because they were created by a different OS X. You should still be able to use the migration assistant to transfer data and apps from the Time Capsule to your PC.

Thanks for your reply. Actually there is no bundle because it's a local external disk. I specifically did not want to use migration assistant as I wanted to get rid of 10 years of updates and vestigial files.

After a lot of research, I believe the old tricks don't work because of how 10.15 now manages APFS volumes and roles for hidden partitions. Anyway, in the end I gave up and reformatted the drive and started a new TM backup.

 

[madrich]

Thanks for your reply. Actually

there is no bundle because it's a local external disk.

I specifically did not want to use migration assistant as I wanted to get rid of 10 years of updates and vestigial files.

After a lot of research, I believe the old tricks don't work because of how 10.15 now manages APFS volumes and roles for hidden partitions. Anyway, in the end I gave up and reformatted the drive and started a new TM backup.

I am glad it worked out for you. However, I think you should have still seen the TC sparse bundles as long as the Time Capsule was pointed to the backup external disk; otherwise how did the Time Capsule save it there?

 

[sig_eigei]

I am glad it worked out for you. However, I think you should have still seen the TC sparse bundles as long as the Time Capsule was pointed to the backup external disk; otherwise how did the Time Capsule save it there?

I am not using Time Capsule. I am using Time Machine to an external disk. With a local hard drive the folder is called Backups.backupd, not .sparsebundle.

 

[madrich]

I am not using Time Capsule. I am using Time Machine to an external disk. With a local hard drive the folder is called Backups.backupd, not .sparsebundle.

The Time Machine is the Time Capsule, and the backups are the sparse bundle.

 

[Ruggy]

The Time Machine is the Time Capsule, and the backups are the sparse bundle.

Like he said- you have to use the same OS and be sure not to change your user name in any way when you do a new install because it's linked to the user name it'll think you are someone else so won't have access.