Time Capsule full but won't free up space

[RJMang]

My 2TB Time Capsule is full and wont backup. It also won't free up space. It was stuck on "...freeing up space..." for over 24 hours and nothing. I restarted everything and tried several different times, same problem. I tried to erase the disk, but I was presented with a message that said I couldn't do that. I tried freeing up space manually through Finder, but was not allowed. I tried freeing up space from entering Time Machine, but that was very tedious and not very effective.

 

[IWT]

I suspect, but cannot prove, that manually "freeing up space" via Finder may have dealt a death blow to Time Machine because the vital links between the backups may well be broken. Even doing the same via the TM app in the menu bar might just have made things worse.

I'm guessing that a TM backup of 2TB dates back a long time, maybe well over a year??

I think what I'd do is get an External Hard Drive (EHD), wipe it clean, format it Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) and do a fresh TM backup. It will take some time; best left over night, perhaps.

With that complete, you then know for sure that you have a current TM backup; then see if you can salvage anything from the Time Capsule BU. I suspect that may prove impossible.

Just a thought.

Ian

 

[RJMang]

I suspect, but cannot prove, that manually "freeing up space" via Finder may have dealt a death blow to Time Machine because the vital links between the backups may well be broken. Even doing the same via the TM app in the menu bar might just have made things worse.

I'm guessing that a TM backup of 2TB dates back a long time, maybe well over a year??

I think what I'd do is get an External Hard Drive (EHD), wipe it clean, format it Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) and do a fresh TM backup. It will take some time; best left over night, perhaps.

With that complete, you then know for sure that you have a current TM backup; then see if you can salvage anything from the Time Capsule BU. I suspect that may prove impossible.

Just a thought.

Ian

I never did delete any backups using Finder. I have two external USB drives with backups. The TC is my 3rd backup device. I tried to erase the TC using Disk Utility only to realize that's not possible over the Network, so I erased the TC using Airport Utility. I'm now trying a new backup on what should be a fully cleaned TC. We'll see.... 12 hours to go!

 

[IWT]

Excellent. Hope all goes well.

Ian