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Resolved Time machine experiencing multiple issues on Monterey (my personal issue resolved)
- Thread starter MacinMan
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Thanks for the Reddit page. Will take a look. to see the full situation over there.
I posted on that linked reddit thread to this thread, and let users over there know about the two threads being linked to get the word out and to show it's more widespread than anticipated.
Thanks for reporting this issue. I drove myself crazy last Sunday when the issue hit my new M1 after changing out a Time Machine HDD for a SSD due to the HDD's pilot light and platter spinning randomly through out the night kept waking me up.
I tried everything to get rid of the "waiting to complete first backup" error but nothing worked other than nuking /Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist and rebooting my M1, however, that damn error message returned a few hours later.
Now that I know it's a bug and not just me and my Mac I can wait for the fix from Apple.
I suggest you call Apple and report the issue. Looks like it is a growing problem, however I still do not see a large number of postings. The more Apple hears about it, the likelihood of a faster fix increases.
It's a problem. For the third TM backup since upgrading to Monterey, now at 23% Complete and 6.04GB data out of a 300gb full backup and 9 hours in. Senior Apple techs had me reboot in safe mode, reset SMC? controllers, delete old backups to free up space and still....I wait. Im bummed I upgraded to Monterey at this point...should have waited.
Ask for an apple senior tech. Tell them you want them to run a system diagnostics test that includes Time Machine and upload for their engineers.
In my case I started new with an M1 Max MBP. So Monterey was the only option. The MBP the M1max replaces is an Intel i9 2019 that was upgraded to Monterey. I had 3 Time Machines on the 2019 - I tried to move two of these to the new MBP once setup - the M1 MBP did not inherit the historical TM, nothing was happening when connected - so I reformatted the drives and there is where the problem is - the new M1max will not finish the initial time machine in either drive. I tried safe mode, no encryption, formatting the drive with a different Mac, etc. It is broken for 1st time backups or for inheriting a drive. HOWEVER, the MBP 2019 on Monterey continues to use the third time machine uneventfully. This is why I believe the problem is not as pervasive and Apple is caught without enough information. A plain upgrade to Monterey seems to function OK for most systems. The TM problems require a set of unique situations to re-create the problem. I allowed Apple to record my screen on a session for a full backup, while a monitoring tool they provided was installed also recording what was going on and sent them the files. Hopefully they will get to the bottom of it soon.
This is true. My TM did work in Monterey on my old computer after the upgrade. It was only when I migrated that everything got wonky. And you are right, fresh TM didn't work in Monterey either, just like you reported. That being said, my old machine was intel and the new one is M1. So, I think it might be M1 monterey specific. Can anyone report if an M1 machine macbook air (with Big Sur) upgraded to monterey and their TM remained working fine? If so, then I think it's a migration/inherited time machine issue. If not, then we are dealing with an M1 monterey time machine issue.
Well in my case it cannot be an inherited issue. I am setting up a new time machines on a blank drive and the problem of not finishing is there on the M1 Max with Monterey
So I bought a NEW Samsung 870 QVO 4TB drive tonight and M1 with Monterey won't even initialize it. All attempts to reformat it are impossible. The only way I got it working was to format it on my wife's computer, which is an M1 macbook air running Big Sur.
This leads me to believe the issue isn't Time Machine specific, but rather an issue with external drives being formatted fresh in Monterey. So, the guy posting above is on to something with that.
In other words, you will have problems if:
1) you are starting with a new, external drive in Monterey that needs to be reformatted in order to function.
2) you are migrating a Time Machine drive into Monterey on a new computer. This seems to force Monterey into requiring a reformatting to AFPS, which seems to corrupt the drive and cause a slew of issues in time machine.
You won't have problems if:
1) you are simply upgrading from big sur to monterey on the same computer and already have a time machine that is working in Big Sur. I believe this is because if you are simply upgrading, apple doesn't force a reformat to AFPS.
2) You are using Big Sur and don’t upgrade.
That's my best guess going off the above poster and what just happened with this new drive I tried to initilize.
Either way, it's clear this has something to do with the relationship between AFPS, time machine, and external drives in Monterey.
j.
This leads me to believe the issue isn't Time Machine specific, but rather an issue with external drives being formatted fresh in Monterey. So, the guy posting above is on to something with that.
In other words, you will have problems if:
1) you are starting with a new, external drive in Monterey that needs to be reformatted in order to function.
2) you are migrating a Time Machine drive into Monterey on a new computer. This seems to force Monterey into requiring a reformatting to AFPS, which seems to corrupt the drive and cause a slew of issues in time machine.
You won't have problems if:
1) you are simply upgrading from big sur to monterey on the same computer and already have a time machine that is working in Big Sur. I believe this is because if you are simply upgrading, apple doesn't force a reformat to AFPS.
2) You are using Big Sur and don’t upgrade.
That's my best guess going off the above poster and what just happened with this new drive I tried to initilize.
Either way, it's clear this has something to do with the relationship between AFPS, time machine, and external drives in Monterey.
j.
Hey guys,
I just read the most recent posts, and I am wondering if this might be connected to the USB / hub issues reported in Monterey. It mostly affects Apple Silicon Macs, and has affected how the OS communicates with devices. I'm not saying everyone here is using a hub, but everyone here is using an external drive of some sort connected to their computer(s). I have an idea, and I don't know how reliable it might be, but it's worth a try.
1. For those with large enough storage capacities: use disk utility to create a read / write disk image formatted to APFS.
2. mount the disk image, and assign it to Time Machine. In theory this should tell us if it's Time machine specific, or a combination of Time machine / external drive problems.
3. If Time machine successfully can create a backup to the disk image, maybe try a third party such as CCC, or SuperDuper to clone that image to a physical drive, and set that physical drive as the TM drive, to see if it can continue backing up. I know this is just a theory, I'm suggesting, and it may not work at all. However, it might help the Apple Silicon users (especially) track down more information to give to Apple.
I just read the most recent posts, and I am wondering if this might be connected to the USB / hub issues reported in Monterey. It mostly affects Apple Silicon Macs, and has affected how the OS communicates with devices. I'm not saying everyone here is using a hub, but everyone here is using an external drive of some sort connected to their computer(s). I have an idea, and I don't know how reliable it might be, but it's worth a try.
1. For those with large enough storage capacities: use disk utility to create a read / write disk image formatted to APFS.
2. mount the disk image, and assign it to Time Machine. In theory this should tell us if it's Time machine specific, or a combination of Time machine / external drive problems.
3. If Time machine successfully can create a backup to the disk image, maybe try a third party such as CCC, or SuperDuper to clone that image to a physical drive, and set that physical drive as the TM drive, to see if it can continue backing up. I know this is just a theory, I'm suggesting, and it may not work at all. However, it might help the Apple Silicon users (especially) track down more information to give to Apple.
Any ideas about this TM issue? I have a new M1 Pro 14” MacBook Pro running Monterey. I have an external SSD that I set up to be a time machine backup- APFS encrypted with a password. I made my first few backups and everything went fine, I can see the time machine backups fine in the time machine utility, the password works fine, etc.
However, I always like to test my TM drive in case I needed to return this MBP for a replacement, of if the MBP failed etc and I needed to restore from the time machine backup on a new machine.
First of all I tested the drive in the Migration utility. The utility recognises the drive and the password, but then says it cannot use the data to migrate as: “The selected source cannot be
used for migration. Volume does not contain an installation of macOS or OS X.” Does anyone know why I’m getting this message?
Second, if I go into Recovery Mode, the recovery utility again recognises the external backup drive and asks for the password. When I enter the password however, the drive disappears from the list of drives completely, immediately after entering the password , meaning that if I needed to I would not be able to do a restore.
Any ideas about what is happening here?
However, I always like to test my TM drive in case I needed to return this MBP for a replacement, of if the MBP failed etc and I needed to restore from the time machine backup on a new machine.
First of all I tested the drive in the Migration utility. The utility recognises the drive and the password, but then says it cannot use the data to migrate as: “The selected source cannot be
used for migration. Volume does not contain an installation of macOS or OS X.” Does anyone know why I’m getting this message?
Second, if I go into Recovery Mode, the recovery utility again recognises the external backup drive and asks for the password. When I enter the password however, the drive disappears from the list of drives completely, immediately after entering the password , meaning that if I needed to I would not be able to do a restore.
Any ideas about what is happening here?
This is not the case for me. I simply upgraded from Big Sur to Monterey on the same computer, same TM backup. Reformatting didnt come into plat at all for me. TM backup just cant complete - 6GB in over 24 hours - Ill be onto a new machine before it completes, lol.
I specifically tested, formatting and backing up, two different drives directly connected to the USB ports on the MAC as I do use a thunderbolt. It did not help. The image test is a good idea.
Right, I figured people were testing with a direct connection, vs hub which is good. The Image test is to completely eliminate external drives completely on continued affected machines to see if it makes a difference.
If this was happening more on Intel Macs, I would have also suggested a macOS Virtual Machine, using fusion, or another software package. However, since it's Apple silicon, I'm not sure the VM idea would work out really well.
Just to add here, I also had a working TM in Big Sur. I've since updated to Monterey and now it's not working, just like other posters.
Strangely, I get the message that my disk has run out of space (it really hasn't) and when I check the disk in Finder, I see that all but 15GB have been used, but no files exist on the disk.
Strangely, I get the message that my disk has run out of space (it really hasn't) and when I check the disk in Finder, I see that all but 15GB have been used, but no files exist on the disk.
Running out of space error is the error message I got that started ALL of my future problems. If you can, don't reformat until they have a fix. That's what created the rest of my issues. Those drives are supposed to erase old backups on their own - and also not repeat FULL backups every single time they run. Apple is being irresponsible by telling users to reformat in light of this. They are just pouring gas on the fire.
I plan on doing just that once my permanent backup drive arrives hopefully later today.
Hey all, I wanted to let you know I have just sent a link to this thread to Mr. Macintosh for him to also look at. He's really good about coming up with solutions to problems so, I thought he would also be a good resource to get onboard this train, for those still having issues with TM and no seemingly resolutions.
I installed Monterey on an external disk to test it, and when I reverted to Big Sur on the m1 Mini's internal SSD, the Time Machine errors began.
When I attempted to re-install Big Sur via Recovery, it would only allow me to install Monterey, instead of the macOS that came with the Mini. Instead I downloaded Big Sur and installed it, curing the Time Machine problem.
When I attempted to re-install Big Sur via Recovery, it would only allow me to install Monterey, instead of the macOS that came with the Mini. Instead I downloaded Big Sur and installed it, curing the Time Machine problem.
I have a refurbished M1 16GB MacBook Air upgaded to Monterey. I am having the same problem with TM "Waiting to Complete First Backup".
As others have said, the backup appears to finish, the available disk space on my external TM USB drive goes down but no files appear in Finder.
Initially I had the TM drive connected to a CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 Element Hub, which I thought was causing the problem. However the problem persists after formatting the drive and connecting it directly to the Mac.
EDIT:
I forgot to mention, I also tried using my Synology NAS for the Time Machine backup destination but I got the same "Waiting to Complete First Backup" error.
As others have said, the backup appears to finish, the available disk space on my external TM USB drive goes down but no files appear in Finder.
Initially I had the TM drive connected to a CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 Element Hub, which I thought was causing the problem. However the problem persists after formatting the drive and connecting it directly to the Mac.
EDIT:
I forgot to mention, I also tried using my Synology NAS for the Time Machine backup destination but I got the same "Waiting to Complete First Backup" error.
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I had the same problem many are reporting where the backup would appear to complete but not register with Time Machine as having actually completed. I examined the drive through the Terminal and noticed that all previous attempts had a ".interrupted" suffix while the latest attempt had an ".inprogress" suffix. I tried Apple support but while they acknowledged the issue they had no ideas on a fix.
On a hunch, I booted into Safe Mode and triggered a backup and it completed successfully. And thankfully, after booting up normally, subsequent backups are performing as expected.
I would suggest the "Safe Mode" trick for others who are facing this issue.
On a hunch, I booted into Safe Mode and triggered a backup and it completed successfully. And thankfully, after booting up normally, subsequent backups are performing as expected.
I would suggest the "Safe Mode" trick for others who are facing this issue.