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peterj1967

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 30, 2002
182
0
I am getting the following Time Machine error

"The backup disk ran out of space unexpectedly. Time Machine will try to make more space available by removing expired backups during the next scheduled backup.

Open Time Machine preferences to select a larger backup disk or make the backup smaller by excluding files."

I have verified both the system disk and the TM disk, they are both fine. I have removed and deleted the in.progress file, and emptied from the trash and still no luck.

I have backup on the TM drive from 2009 so there are certainly some weekly backups that could be deleted but it doesn't seem to delete them. It is my understanding that TM should start deleting old backups, but it has every single one since I got the iMac.

I am running 10.8.2 no Parallels or virtual drives. Mostly files and music. TM is a 1 TB drive backing up a 650 Gig drive on the iMac.

Haven't been able to find a solution, hoping to get some ideas here.

Thanks in advance

--Pete
 

Bear

macrumors G3
Jul 23, 2002
8,088
5
Sol III - Terra
Does it consider all the older backups being the same system as the current backups?

I would suggest manually deleting some of the oldest backups and see if Time Machine starts handling the space better.
 

peterj1967

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 30, 2002
182
0
Additional Observations

I still have not been able to get the backup to run, but have noticed some additional behaviors.

The drive time machine is running on has about 50 gig of free space. When the Time Machine backup starts, it estimates it needs about 30 gig, as soon as the amount backed up approaches 30 gig, the amount Time Machine Estimates begins to climb. It climbs until it reaches 50 gig and I get the error.

It isn't the end of the world to get a new drive and to start Time Machine Fresh, which is my next step.

But if possible, I'd like to continue to use this drive. Seems like it should be fine and Time Machine should be deleting some of the 3 year old backups, just isn't happening.

Thanks in advance

--Pete
 

Bear

macrumors G3
Jul 23, 2002
8,088
5
Sol III - Terra
I still have not been able to get the backup to run, but have noticed some additional behaviors.

The drive time machine is running on has about 50 gig of free space. When the Time Machine backup starts, it estimates it needs about 30 gig, as soon as the amount backed up approaches 30 gig, the amount Time Machine Estimates begins to climb. It climbs until it reaches 50 gig and I get the error.

It isn't the end of the world to get a new drive and to start Time Machine Fresh, which is my next step.

But if possible, I'd like to continue to use this drive. Seems like it should be fine and Time Machine should be deleting some of the 3 year old backups, just isn't happening.

Thanks in advance

--Pete
Sounds like you should delete some old backups until you get about 100GB of free space on the drive.

If you don't want to delete any of the old backups by hand, then your only option is to get a new drive. Based on current prices, I would suggest a 2 or 3 TB drive.
 

peterj1967

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 30, 2002
182
0
Sounds like you should delete some old backups until you get about 100GB of free space on the drive.

If you don't want to delete any of the old backups by hand, then your only option is to get a new drive. Based on current prices, I would suggest a 2 or 3 TB drive.

I understood the deletion of backups was something that was managed by Time Machine. That is what lead to the question of why they don't delete.

Manually deletion is not a problem, but it seems like a function of TM isn't working and I wanted to see if there is a way to get it to work.

--Pete
 

Bear

macrumors G3
Jul 23, 2002
8,088
5
Sol III - Terra
I understood the deletion of backups was something that was managed by Time Machine. That is what lead to the question of why they don't delete.

Manually deletion is not a problem, but it seems like a function of TM isn't working and I wanted to see if there is a way to get it to work.

--Pete
I think the automatic deletion isn't working because it doesn't do the deletes in the middle of the backup and for some reason the backup was larger than it thought it would be.
 
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