Time Machine info check

[linkmaster6]

Afternoon everyone,
Just wanted to pose a question to you all as I don't seem to be finding the info clearly.
Dealing with a Mac that has an almost full SSD (Corsair 525GB). I need to free some space up on this device and I figured configuring Time Machine to backup to a new 3 TB external would be a fantastic place to start.
Time machine was already configured to use something labeled home.local and says its currently at 446GB free of 1TB. The icon for this drive is showing a drive with three people holding hands.
Is this storing files locally or is it relying on cloud storage?

 

[IWT]

Hi and good evening.

If I'm reading you correctly, I think you misunderstand the function of Time Machine

You have a nearly full Internal SSD on your Mac. You want to off-load data to free up space.

Well, Time Machine is not the way to achieve that. Time Machine is a means by which you can copy all your data to an External Hard Drive ( Time Machine should have its own separate External Hard Drive). It backs up hourly for 24 hours, then daily for a week then monthly and so on. An excellent backup system that all Mac users should have as their minimum BU.

What Time Machine does NOT do is free up space on your Mac's SSD.

To free up space, you have to transfer (ie move) data from your Mac to an EHD - a different EHD from that used by Time Machine.

So you could move your iTunes library, Photos library, certain documents and anything else taking up a lot of storage space on your SSD to an external destination - an EHD.

When Time Machine says "it's currently at 446GB free of 1TB" - its NOT referring to your Mac. It's saying that on your 1TB EHD used for Time Machine, 446GB is free on that drive for further Time Machine backups.

And Time Machine has nothing at all to do with "cloud storage" which is another issue altogether.

I know this is a complicated scenario and we are only too happy to advise and sort things out for you.

Have you followed things so far?

Ian

 

[linkmaster6]

I think so, I got looking into how it works and I see it some what similar to how the Shadow Volume works in Windows. The home.local was what was through me because all the examples I was seeing online simply showed the name of the partition.

Now follow up, question as I have started to transfer data from the SSD to the EHD: This macbook has a 240GB iPhoto library, I tried to copy this to the EHD but it found a few files that it said were unreadable and quit the data copy. From what I understand with iphoto library it is a database of pictures similar to how a pst file is to email. Is there a repair tool for the iPhoto library?

 

[IWT]

Thank you for coming back so promptly.

You haven't mentioned which Operating System (OS) your Mac is running, nor the model or year. This quite important.

Next: we need to know whether your photographs are in the iPhoto app library - which is the old version - or in the latest version which is Photos app Library?

I ask that question because if your photographs are in a Library (iPhoto or Photos), you need to copy the appropriate Library to an External Hard Drive (EHD). NB The Library, not individual photographs within it.

Or, of course, you may have your photographs, not in a Library, but, say, in the Pictures Folder or in another Folder of your choosing?

In your final sentence you mention "iPhoto library" so I must assume that is what you are using? And am I right in thinking your Operating System (OS) is also not recent?

You can repair your iPhoto Library by Quitting iPhoto app. Then, whilst holding down the Command and Option keys, click on the iPhoto app to open it. That will open a window with all the database repair functions including rebuilding the database.

Exact details with diagrams are shown by clicking on this Link: How to rebuild or repair your iPhoto Library

When you've sorted out the Library, please come back with answers to my questions and we'll walk you through moving your Library to an EHD.

Ian

 

[MacInWin]

Also, one key factor is when you imported the images to iPhotos/Photos, did you check the "Copy items to xxx Library" box? That should be in the Preferences for iPhotos/Photo as an option. If you did not have that checked, then when the files were imported to the Library it originals were pointed to by the database rather than stored in the database. If the pictures were not actually imported and you moved them later on, the app cannot find them, which can lead to issues later on.

Also, if you have TM turned on but don't have an eternal drive for it to use, it will store snapshots on the internal drive until it runs out of space there. When you do attach the external drive, TM will shift the snapshots into the backup database on the external and release the space the snapshots consume. Depending on how long it is between when you attach the external, that can be a LOT of space freed up.

 

[linkmaster6]

Sorry, had written that down to put on here but missed it. Its a 15" Early 2011 running 10.12.6 (Sierra).
So MacInWin I was correct in thinking the Time Machine snapshot do take up hard drive space? Is that home.local just referring to the local hard drive?

The error I get during the iphoto library copy is "the Finder can't complete the operation because some data in "iphoto library" can't be read or written. (Error code -36)

 

[IWT]

Jake is more than able to answer for himself - and what he said is true, of course.

But the point he makes, and very correctly so, is that the snapshots are only on the Mac till you attach your EHD and activate Time Machine, at which point these snapshots are removed.

So the snapshots are only there in between proper Time Machine backups.

The purpose of this is obvious. Whilst out and about with a Notepad, you would clearly want to have some BU of the work done till you get home and attach the EHD and run Time Machine.

Snapshots do this for you; but, as I said, are removed at the next full Time Machine backup.

And this only, in practice, applies to Notebooks. Desktop computer users, in the main, keep their Time Machine EHD attached all the time, obviating the need for snapshots.

Luckily in a way, you are running macOS Sierra. If you ever upgrade to macOS High Sierra or macOS Mojave, you will find that the situation gets more complicated as regards snapshots on all Macs

As regards your error code, I advised you (and linked you) as to how you can repair/rebuild your iPhoto Database. Have you had a chance to try this yet?

Ian

 

[linkmaster6]

I've taken a look this morning and it does appear as though iPhoto is installed on the mac anymore, it doesn't show up in the app folder. It does however have Photo installed, but I'm going to hazard a guess it can't to iphoto library repairs?

 

[MacInWin]

No, but it can import from iPhoto into Photos, so you could try that. I did a quick search for the error code, but didn't find anything. Typically the problems Finder finds are not about the internal structure of the files (which is what a database fix would do) but with the file itself.

So I would suggest you try importing the iPhoto Library into Photos. It may work and if it doesn't, you haven't lost everything yet. And I think there may still be a copy of iPhoto on the machine. When Apple migrated to Photos they left iPhoto in place for a few iterations just in case folks wanted to go back. You can look for it, it may be in a folder instead of listed as an app.

 

[linkmaster6]

Ok so got a bit of an oddity on my hands. It appears this 240GB iphoto library has already been imported, but the Photo library is only 215.72GB

 

[MacInWin]

Could be a couple of things, maybe more. One option is that some of the images were not importable, but I would think you would have gotten some error message about that. One way to check for that is to look at how many pictures are in each. If the numbers match, you have them all. If they don't, then you will have to see what images didn't import. Another option is that the import is storing the images more efficiently than the iPhoto Library was. That could be the case if the images were edited in iPhoto and multiple versions of each were kept as history.

 

[linkmaster6]

where abouts would I look to find iphoto if its no longer listed in apps?

 

[MacInWin]

When Photos originally replaced iPhoto, it was in a folder that was, I think, in Applications. It's been a while since I last had iPhotos at all, so that memory is a bit fuzzy. So look at the folders in the Applications folder. Apple did eventually remove it altogether, I think, as I don't have it now.

EDIT: A couple of brain cells reconnected and I seem to remember it was left in Applications, as it was, but replaced on the Dock and as the default handler of pictures. So it should be in your Applications folder in your Home directory.

 

[ferrarr]

You may also still be able to re-download iPhoto from the App Store, if you look on the Purchased page? Also, sometimes,Apps hide themselves, so you may have to go into your account, and un-hide apps, to see if they are still available for download.

 

[linkmaster6]

Negatory on both. no sign the app under the application folder on the hd (aside from the iphoto '11 library upgrader and it appears its been removed all together from that the app store

 

[linkmaster6]

I think I've made some progress. Used Photo to open the iPhoto library and selected all photos for export to the EHD! Hopefully it doesn't crap out

 

[ferrarr]

That's weird, because iPhoto, was still available for me last month, when I reinstalled Yosemite on an external, connected to my mini.

 

[linkmaster6]

Would it be hidden in the app store due to this being the version of the OS this mac is running?

 

[MacInWin]

In the Mac App Store, click on "Store" on the top bar, then "View My account" and all your past purchases will appear. I don't know what order they are in, but if you look for iPhoto, it may be there if you ever downloaded an update to it.