Time Machine Issue with 12.4

[deleon]

So I'm wondering if there is a Time Machine issue with 12.4. I previously had the TM issue with M1 Macs and it would never finish the back up. Recently, it has been working fine. But now I get the warning that there hasn't been a back up in 10 days. That lines up nicely with the release of MacOS 12.4.

What I'm seeing: now the issue is that TM gets stuck on Preparing backup. I have let it go overnight and in the morning the progress bar is still going back and forth (meaning the backup hasn't started). I have removed my old backup and removed the disk and then selected it again (it is a disk on my NAS). Then I tried again and still for an hour nothing.

Anyone have any ideas or turn it off again until a future update?

 

[CoastalOR]

Anyone have any ideas or turn it off again until a future update?

Go in to System Preferences...>Time Machine> uncheck the "Back Up Automatically" check box

 

[deleon]

Go in to System Preferences...>Time Machine> uncheck the "Back Up Automatically" check box

Yup, that is what I did for now. But I was hoping for a fix beyond something from Apple.

 

[Taz Mangus]

So I'm wondering if there is a Time Machine issue with 12.4. I previously had the TM issue with M1 Macs and it would never finish the back up. Recently, it has been working fine. But now I get the warning that there hasn't been a back up in 10 days. That lines up nicely with the release of MacOS 12.4.

What I'm seeing: now the issue is that TM gets stuck on Preparing backup. I have let it go overnight and in the morning the progress bar is still going back and forth (meaning the backup hasn't started). I have removed my old backup and removed the disk and then selected it again (it is a disk on my NAS). Then I tried again and still for an hour nothing.

Anyone have any ideas or turn it off again until a future update?

Maybe the issue is with the software running on your NAS. Have you checked if other users using your same NAS have the same Time Machine issue?

 

[gilby101]

it is a disk on my NAS

You must say what NAS. And whether it has been configured to support TM.

 

[Brian33]

If you display Time Machine's log messages, maybe you can figure out what TM is doing when it gets stuck (or maybe not!).

If you're comfortable using Terminal.app, you can show TM log messages by entering the following 'log' command:

log stream --style syslog --predicate 'senderImagePath contains[cd] "TimeMachine"' --info

Then, manually start a TM backup. Log messages will display in the terminal. Hit Ctrl-C in terminal to quit the 'log' command.

 

[deleon]

Thanks for the replies. I use a Synology DS918+. This has been my backup for over a year. And the last software update was in April. It has been working properly. I have a external HD, I can test on that one next.

 

[deleon]

Ok, so I checked with an external HD and that immediately started to back up. So there is something that changed with my synology nas or the latest MacOS has started a conflict. When I updated to MacOS 12.4 is the exact date the last backup was completed.

 

[deleon]

If you display Time Machine's log messages, maybe you can figure out what TM is doing when it gets stuck (or maybe not!).

If you're comfortable using Terminal.app, you can show TM log messages by entering the following 'log' command:

log stream --style syslog --predicate 'senderImagePath contains[cd] "TimeMachine"' --info

Then, manually start a TM backup. Log messages will display in the terminal. Hit Ctrl-C in terminal to quit the 'log' command.

So I ran it and this is the error that came up. Obviously it says something is too large but I'm not a great log reader so not sure how to resolve as this is the folder that I'm not familiar with.

2022-06-02 01:14:14.580791-0500 localhost backupd[1074]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachineiskImages] Creating a sparsebundle using Case-sensitive APFS filesystem

2022-06-02 01:16:11.956387-0500 localhost lsd[533]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:General] Failed to enumerate URLs under /private/var/folders/vf/lp9klqqn5nj31qczgv9bdwyw0000gn/X/1A0E7D74-9912-594C-9FF3-B4FEF649DC0E for SnapshotStorage reuse with error Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “1A0E7D74-9912-594C-9FF3-B4FEF649DC0E” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo={NSURL=file:///private/var/folders/vf/lp9klqqn5nj31qczgv9bdwyw0000gn/X/1A0E7D74-9912-594C-9FF3-B4FEF649DC0E, NSFilePath=/private/var/folders/vf/lp9klqqn5nj31qczgv9bdwyw0000gn/X/1A0E7D74-9912-594C-9FF3-B4FEF649DC0E, NSUnderlyingError=0x128f3a010 {Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=34 "Result too large"}}

2022-06-02 01:16:14.087234-0500 localhost lsd[430]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:General] Failed to enumerate URLs under /private/var/folders/vf/lp9klqqn5nj31qczgv9bdwyw0000gn/X/1A0E7D74-9912-594C-9FF3-B4FEF649DC0E for SnapshotStorage reuse with error Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “1A0E7D74-9912-594C-9FF3-B4FEF649DC0E” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo={NSURL=file:///private/var/folders/vf/lp9klqqn5nj31qczgv9bdwyw0000gn/X/1A0E7D74-9912-594C-9FF3-B4FEF649DC0E, NSFilePath=/private/var/folders/vf/lp9klqqn5nj31qczgv9bdwyw0000gn/X/1A0E7D74-9912-594C-9FF3-B4FEF649DC0E, NSUnderlyingError=0x14a729e60 {Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=34 "Result too large"}}
2022-06-02 01:20:37.336679-0500 localhost backupd[1074]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachineiskImages] Failed to create '/Volumes/.timemachine/DiskStation918._smb._tcp.local./9C24A032-0B70-49AF-A5F3-EA1D988A4AFD/macbooktm/0C7120ED-DEFF-5FF1-B3C0-227A563B69B8.sparsebundle', results: {


}, error: 60 Operation timed out


2022-06-02 01:20:38.160018-0500 localhost backupd[1074]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:General] Mountpoint '/Volumes/.timemachine/DiskStation918._smb._tcp.local./9C24A032-0B70-49AF-A5F3-EA1D988A4AFD/macbooktm' is still valid

 

[Brian33]

So I ran it and this is the error that came up. Obviously it says something is too large but I'm not a great log reader so not sure how to resolve as this is the folder that I'm not familiar with.

Interesting. My interpretation is that /private/var/folders/vf/lp9klqqn5nj31qczgv9bdwyw0000gn/X/1A0E7D74-9912-594C-9FF3-B4FEF649DC0E is a folder (directory), and Time Machine is trying to "enumerate" (list, I think) its contents. And there are too many files and/or directories inside for it to handle ("Result too large").

The purpose appears to be "for SnapshotStorage reuse."

This "problem folder" is on your Mac, but the error causes the creation of the .sparsebundle on your NAS to fail.

It would be interesting to see more about the "problem folder." You can display its ownership with ls -ld /private/var/folders/vf/lp9klqqn5nj31qczgv9bdwyw0000gn/X/1A0E7D74-9912-594C-9FF3-B4FEF649DC0E.

Depending upon the POSIX permissions set for it, you might be denied; in that case you can execute the command as superuser by prefacing it with sudo, as: sudo ls -ld /private/var/folders/vf/lp9klqqn5nj31qczgv9bdwyw0000gn/X/1A0E7D74-9912-594C-9FF3-B4FEF649DC0E (You must be an admin user and put in your login password to use sudo.)

You can display the folder's contents with ls -l /private/var/folders/vf/lp9klqqn5nj31qczgv9bdwyw0000gn/X/1A0E7D74-9912-594C-9FF3-B4FEF649DC0E (note the lack of the 'd' flag). Again, you might need to use 'sudo'.

Probably your ultimate goal is to get rid of the "problem folder." As far as I know, the location of '/private/var/folder....' is always used for temporary files and caches. But I can't say for sure why this folder is there or how it's related to "SnapshotStorage reuse."

 

[deleon]

Interesting. My interpretation is that /private/var/folders/vf/lp9klqqn5nj31qczgv9bdwyw0000gn/X/1A0E7D74-9912-594C-9FF3-B4FEF649DC0E is a folder (directory), and Time Machine is trying to "enumerate" (list, I think) its contents. And there are too many files and/or directories inside for it to handle ("Result too large").

The purpose appears to be "for SnapshotStorage reuse."

This "problem folder" is on your Mac, but the error causes the creation of the .sparsebundle on your NAS to fail.

It would be interesting to see more about the "problem folder." You can display its ownership with ls -ld /private/var/folders/vf/lp9klqqn5nj31qczgv9bdwyw0000gn/X/1A0E7D74-9912-594C-9FF3-B4FEF649DC0E.

Depending upon the POSIX permissions set for it, you might be denied; in that case you can execute the command as superuser by prefacing it with sudo, as: sudo ls -ld /private/var/folders/vf/lp9klqqn5nj31qczgv9bdwyw0000gn/X/1A0E7D74-9912-594C-9FF3-B4FEF649DC0E (You must be an admin user and put in your login password to use sudo.)

You can display the folder's contents with ls -l /private/var/folders/vf/lp9klqqn5nj31qczgv9bdwyw0000gn/X/1A0E7D74-9912-594C-9FF3-B4FEF649DC0E (note the lack of the 'd' flag). Again, you might need to use 'sudo'.

Probably your ultimate goal is to get rid of the "problem folder." As far as I know, the location of '/private/var/folder....' is always used for temporary files and caches. But I can't say for sure why this folder is there or how it's related to "SnapshotStorage reuse."

So here is the update. I used the commands you suggested and looked up the file. For some reason it no longer exists. I did a restart of the laptop and NAS. Then reran the Time Machine. Sure enough it started the actual backup within 5 min. And finished this morning so over 10 hours but it completed. Very weird. Nothing else changed.

But thanks for your help. I don't get why it would suddenly work again. I did start a new back up but for a while that wasn't working too.

 

[Brian33]

Well, that’s a mystery alright. Glad it’s working for you now! I suspect it will continue to work fine now — although it might be a good idea to check on it periodically. I’m in the habit of clicking the TM menu bar item and checking the last backup date every few days.

 

[discondition]

Thanks for that command @Brian33 !
I have a similar issue and wondering if anyone can help me out.

My log returns with:

2022-08-03 08:49:13.111954+1000  localhost backupd[16303]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:OptimizedMoves] Failed to find path for opt in reference snapshot com.apple.TimeMachine.2022-08-02-203041.local

2022-08-03 08:49:13.116171+1000  localhost backupd[16303]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:OptimizedMoves] Failed to find path for opt/homebrew in reference snapshot com.apple.TimeMachine.2022-08-02-203041.local

2022-08-03 08:49:14.733488+1000  localhost backupd[16303]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:OptimizedMoves] Failed to find path for opt/homebrew/Cellar in reference snapshot com.apple.TimeMachine.2022-08-02-203041.local

2022-08-03 08:49:15.228503+1000  localhost backupd[16303]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:OptimizedMoves] Failed to find path for opt/homebrew/Cellar/vault in reference snapshot com.apple.TimeMachine.2022-08-02-203041.local

2022-08-03 08:49:15.243907+1000  localhost backupd[16303]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:OptimizedMoves] Failed to find path for opt/homebrew/Cellar/vault/1.10.3 in reference snapshot com.apple.TimeMachine.2022-08-02-203041.local

2022-08-03 08:49:15.268037+1000  localhost backupd[16303]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:OptimizedMoves] Failed to find path for opt/homebrew/Cellar/vault/1.10.3/bin in reference snapshot com.apple.TimeMachine.2022-08-02-203041.local


2022-08-03 08:49:15.357288+1000  localhost backupd[16303]: (TimeMachine) [com.apple.TimeMachine:OptimizedMoves] Failed to find path for opt/homebrew/Cellar/vault/1.10.3/bin/vault in reference snapshot com.apple.TimeMachine.2022-08-02-203041.local

and lots more.

I've never had a problem running TimeMachine in the past with a HomeBrew configuration.

Any ideas? thanks

 

[discondition]

I got it working...

Turns out that (the new version of?) TimeMachine doesn't like it when you name an external drive as "data" 🤣

 

[kibepo73]

Sometimes, your time machine doesn’t back up automatically or allow you to restore data when required. To fix the time machine not working issue on macOS, first, set up your Time Machine backup drive correctly:

a) Connect an external storage device shared as Time Machine to your Mac system.
b) Go to the Apple menu > System Preferences > Time Machine to access the Time Machine Preferences window.
c) Select the “Back Up Automatically” checkbox.
d) Click the Options button, then click the + icon and specify exclude folder that you don’t want to backup.
e) If you are using a notebook computer, ensure you select the “Back up while on battery power” checkbox. Finally, click Save.
f) In the Time Machine preferences window, click the Select Backup Disk button and specify the external storage device as the Time Machine backup drive, then click Use Disk.
g) If the external storage device is not formatted as required by Time Machine, click Erase when prompted to format the storage drive with the required file system.
h) Once the backup drive is setup, Time Machine immediately backs up your Macintosh HD.

Hope it helps!