Time Machine Question

Where does time machine get the name for the sparsebundle file that is created on Time Capsule? I want to change the name from macintosh.sparsebundle to a name that identifies the specific computer being backed up. I have three computers making back ups to the same time capsule and it is getting confusing.

Rename your Macintosh HD drive on each machine to something that makes sense to you. Time Machine will append that name to the sparsebundle.

Thanks for that suggestion. I just went to finder and change the name of the Macintosh HD drive. I rebooted and ran a time machine incremental back up. Looking at the Time Capsule files the sparsebundle file is still named Macintosh.sparsebundle even though the drive has been renamed. Do I need to delete the macintosh.sparsebundle file and run a new initial full system back up to get the name change reflected in timemachine? I checked in finder again and the new name does appear in finder.

What is the computer name shown in the Sharing preference pane? I've been trying to pin down something more specific but I believe some versions of time Machine took the name of the sparse bundle from the name listed in the Sharing pane.

Could that particular sparse bundle have been created under OS X 10.6? I think that version or perhaps earlier used that method.

Do I need to delete the macintosh.sparsebundle file and run a new initial full system back up to get the name change reflected in timemachine? I checked in finder again and the new name does appear in finder.

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I believe once Time Machine names the sparsebundle file, it'll keep that name until a new set of backups are made. Starting over with a new set of backups should take care of it.

This current back up set was created using mountain lion. I tried changing the share name but that did not affect the name of the sparsebundle.

Just now I deleted the existing sparsebundle using finder and started a new back up set. It is running now and will take a couple of hours to complete. I checked timecapsule in finder and it appears to have created a new sparsebundle file but the name is "macintosh" still. Ugh. I'll wait until the back up is complete I guess, check again, and report back.

No joy. The new sparsebundle file is still named Macintosh. The other computers by the way do have different names and that I some how assigned ages ago - maybe before I upgraded from lion to mountain lion I'm not 100% sure - and the descriptive names I used do appear as the name of the sparsebundle files for those computers. But this computer (MacBook Pro Retina 13) is being stubborn. I did also try erasing the entire time capsule using air port utility and then starting fresh with a new back up - still the new name does not appear as the name of the sparsebundle file.

Anyone have any other ideas? Frustration is setting in as some of these full system backups take hours to complete!

Edit - I noticed just now that the name of the sparsebundle for the other computers I am backing up is the same name as the share name. All computers are running updated mountain lion. ???

Edit #2 - Mission Accomplished!!!! - I noticed that although the name was changed in sharing I did not have sharing of files or printers or anything else turned on. I turned on file sharing, deleted the sparsbundle file, rebooted, and started a new back up set. Slydude you were right on the money - only you have to be sure you are actually sharing something - at least I am pretty sure that is what made the difference. Thanks for the help everyone.

Thanks for coming back with that clarification.I had file sharing on and a few things being shared so I would not have encountered that little quirk.

I did not encounter that little tip in the sites I searched. Wonder how well known it is. Though I suppose most people have some active sharing going on if file sharing is active.

Or, it is possible I misunderstood what happened. Anyway, its working perfectly now. One of our computers failed recently and I ran into difficulties restoring the TM back up to the replacement computer and decided to redo the entire set up once I did get it restored. Also, I've decided to pay a little money for off site backups to the cloud via CrashPlan which seems to be working well so far. If I could figure out the Carbon Copy Cloner interface I would love to have a CCC clone and incremental backup to the clone as well if that can be done - but I find the interface confusing for an amateur like myself. Do you know, is there a way to have a bootable clone that is kept up to date automatically?

Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper can create incremental backups of a bootable "clone". Essentially you create the initial clone then create a task that periodically does an incremental backup to the clone. Personally I would choose Carbon Copy Cloner since it ale backs up the Recovery partition.

Here's a basic guide that covers cloning, incremental cloning and recovery with Carbon Copy Cloner

Small update - Crashplan is running into issues for me which if not resolved soon will cause me to cancel my account and figure out another way to do off site backups - maybe the old external disk swap method.