Time Machine will not run

I want to set up Time Machine (TM) to start doing routine backups. My Mac Pro (Yosemite) has two 2TB drives.

When I click on the TM icon to start the app, a Finder window appears then I get an error message saying “Can’t connect to a current Time Machine backup disc”.

I checked the TM backup disc in Preferences and is shows the second HD is selected, then did a restart, but TM still shows the error message.

I can copy and move files between both drives and also open files like JPGs etc, on both so I would say the drives are OK and there is probably a configuration issue somewhere.

How can I fix this error? Thanks in advance.

Peter B.

Are you clicking the Time Machine icon in the Dock? If so, that starts the Restore process not the backup. If you go to System Preferences and open the Time Machine preference pane you can have it put an icon in the menu bar and start the backups from there.

Time Machine backups also start on their own once the configuration is completed. See this setup video

Slydude said:

Are you clicking the Time Machine icon in the Dock? If so, that starts the Restore process not the backup. If you go to System Preferences and open the Time Machine preference pane you can have it put an icon in the menu bar and start the backups from there.

Time Machine backups also start on their own once the configuration is completed. See this setup video

Click to expand...

Thanks Dude,

I do not have a TM icon on my Dock. I am tried starting it from the apps folder in Finder. I completed the setup yesterday but tried today to run TM for the first time. The setup preferences show the correct backup drive etc.

I did restart the Mac Pro too just in case that could make a difference but it did not, all I got was the error message again. I came back after lunch and opened up TM preferences again and saw that TM was doing its thing and creating a backup. Hmmmm…It is a mystery to me.

I will let it finish then leave well alone, if it ain’t broke anymore then there is nothing to fix, I hope. Thanks for the video link, it was informative.

Best regards,

Peter B.

Starting it from the Applications folder is the same as starting it from the Dock. The icon in the Dock is an alias link to the original program (think shortcut in Windows terms). What you were actually starting is the restore process.

Slydude said:

Starting it from the Applications folder is the same as starting it from the Dock. The icon in the Dock is an alias link to the original program (think shortcut in Windows terms). What you were actually starting is the restore process.

Click to expand...

As I said I do not have an Icon for Time Machine in the dock. How do I put one there?

Thanks,

Peter B.

mb300e said:

As I said I do not have an Icon for Time Machine in the dock. How do I put one there?

Thanks,

Peter B.

Click to expand...

Here is screen shot of my desktop showing the dock.

Peter B.

mb300e said:

Here is screen shot of my desktop showing the dock.

Click to expand...

Hi Peter - Time Machine (TM) does not show up in my dock and really does not need to be there - I've resized your previous image which shows that your external HD doing the TM backups is mounted - there is also a menulet in your menu bar for TM (red arrow).

I've opened that on my MBPro (second image below) - this will allow you to control the app, although regular backups should be performed if your HD is mounted - its presence in that location is dependent on a check box in System Preferences in the TM selection. Dave
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Dave's right. Time Machine does not have to be there if you have the icon in the menubar. I don't remember if I out it in the Dock or that happened as part of a previous OS install.

You can easily put Time Machine in the Dock. Open the Applications folder and find the Time Machine program. Drag that icon to the Dock and let go.

Hi Dave, thanks for the info.

Here is a screen shot from System Preferences. It looks OK to me.

I have been out of Macs for almost 30 years, and just got my Mac Pro on Tuesday so it is a whole new learning curve. I am not getting out of PCs entirely; the Mac is a complementary to my network for Video, audio and picture work. And the price was right. I am learning to make Macs and PCs live and work together harmoniously and seamlessly.

Regards,

Peter B.

mb300e said:

Hi Dave, thanks for the info.

Here is a screen shot from System Preferences. It looks OK to me.

I have been out of Macs for almost 30 years, and just got my Mac Pro on Tuesday so it is a whole new learning curve. I am not getting out of PCs entirely; the Mac is a complementary to my network for Video, audio and picture work. And the price was right. I am learning to make Macs and PCs live and work together harmoniously and seamlessly.

Click to expand...

Hi Peter - no problem @ all - you have the box in System Preferences checked as mentioned so that is why the 'menulet' is appearing at the top of your menu bar - you're really all set to go!

I only returned to Apple 2 years ago after years on PCs (switched after retirement - needed PCs in my house for work compatibility) - now just a MBPro, iMac, and 4 iDevices - and yes, there is a learning curve but doesn't take that much time. Dave

Full Backup

My Time machine appears to be running OK now. I set it up to hopefully backup everything that is on my drive 1 to my drive 2. The only exclusion was drive 2 which I understand is excluded by default as that is where the backup is to be saved.

How can I tell if the backup got everything? I am sure there is a simple way to tell.

Peter B.

Open TM and look. You should see the backed up files there. You can also go to the TM drive in Finder and look at the backups there, but be careful not to try to delete anything through Finder, you should only delete backups through TM or TM gets lost.

All I do is click on the TM icon up on the Menu bar - Enter Time Machine and browse around in it some.
TM does a verification at the end of the backup to verify the files have been written.

Thanks Guys,

Is there any way to limit the total size of the backup? My backup files are on my second 2TB internal drive which started off empty but ultimately is destined for tons of work files, so I don't want it filled completely with backup files.

Eventually I will use an external drive for backup purposes but at the moment they are all in use on my other machines.

Peter B.

mb300e said:

Is there any way to limit the total size of the backup? My backup files are on my second 2TB internal drive which started off empty but ultimately is destined for tons of work files, so I don't want it filled completely with backup files.

Eventually I will use an external drive for backup purposes but at the moment they are all in use on my other machines.
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Click to expand...

Hi again Peter - first, most recommend that you dedicate a drive for your TM backup solely for that purpose; second, take a look at this Apple Support Article on TM - scroll to the bottom for additional links, including one on 'excluding' items from your backup. Dave

RadDave said:

Hi again Peter - first, most recommend that you dedicate a drive for your TM backup solely for that purpose; second, take a look at this Apple Support Article on TM - scroll to the bottom for additional links, including one on 'excluding' items from your backup. Dave

Click to expand...

Hello again, I don't have an external available at the moment. I just checked the status of the latest backup file and it shows the size as 5,048,562,776,714 bytes (5.07 TB on disk) for 4,741,078 items. which unless I am missing something in my edification does not fit on a 2TB drive. Are the backup files compressed or what?

In the short term, I will turn off TM, erase all the backup files then let it do one complete back up. When that is done, I will turn it off and do one once a week. That should be OK until I can get a dedicated external. The Mac Pro has room for two more internals, would there be any issues using one of the two empty spots with a new drive?

I do not have a problem NOT backing up my Mac Pro data files, as they are backed up on a number of networked drives. It is the system stuff I really need to back up. I do have a Flash Drive from which I can do a system re-install but it does not have any of the apps installed or system changes made since it was created.

Best regards,

Peter B.

As Dave said Apple recommends dedicating an entire drive to Time Machine. If you want to continue to have Time Machine and your data on the same drive you can control the size of the Time Machine backup by doing either of the following:

1. Partition the drive designating one partition for Time Machine and one partition for other files. If you choose this option make sure to have a backup of everything important on the drive. If anything goes wrong data could be lost. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hFccRoWCqI

2. Leave the data and Time Machine backup on the same drive. As the drive gets filled by other data Time Machine will begin removing older backups so that everything fits. The problem here is that as other data takes up more space there is less room for Time Machine data and it gets deleted sooner than it would otherwise.