Time Capsule is a victim of missing link

[Highmac]

Sorry this is rather lengthy but trying to give as much info as possible

MBP, mid 2010, OS 10.6.8, 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5. 4GB memory.
Verbatim Portable USB 3.0 Drive. 1TB, two 500GB partitions. Powered from USB port. Disk Utility shows drive as 1TB WDC WD10.

Both partitions show as normal on desktop. Partition 2, used for general storage, connects and works as expected. Partition 1 is used as Time Capsule but has lost its connection to Time Machine. TC shows one folder - Backups.backupdb/(username)’s MacBook Pro/ and contains one “in progress” file (the one that started and stopped very quickly yesterday). Otherwise, folder appears empty. However, the contents are still there since it shows only 16.24 GB available out of 500. Disk Utility shows it contains 274,878 folders.

Trying to start backup leads to this message:

Much searching on the web has come up with possible solutions for a reunion, a few of which I've tried, but some involve starting the MBP with the Verbatim attached. Trying to do that results in no startup, just a series of start-up “bongs” until external drive is unplugged. Then MBP starts correctly and accepts disk when it is plugged in again.

I’ve repaired permissions, repaired whole disk drive (showed as all OK). In fact done anything in DU that might help.

Any further suggestions most gratefully received.

Late edit: Opened up Trash on MBP while drive was connected and found Backups.backup.db folder with all the Time Machine backups in there. Taking one at random shows it’s the full file, not an alias
“/Volumes/Time Capsule/.Trashes/501/Backups.backupdb/***’s MacBook Pro”. Info is still calculating size. Disconnected drive to stop anyone (especially me )accidentally emptying Trash, at which point, as expected, they vanished from Trash.

[Xairbusdriver]

The one item you didn't mention was the size of the internal drive you are backing up. Hopefully, it is much smaller than 500GB.

The message could actually be true. But TM should be deleting old backups to make room for each new one, as needed.

1. Have you "Excluded" anything from the TM backup? TM Prefs->Options. Make sure it is not trying to add the other partition or any other attached drives! You might consider excluding most all Apple apps, those are always available for downloading/reinstalling. Most other apps should also be available from the developer.
2. Are you letting TM run normally (all the time) or manually on your own schedule?
3. When was the last (indicated) backup?
4. How old is the Verbatim drive?
5. Do you have other 'snap-shot' (SuperDuper/CarbonCopyCloner) backups?

While TM is a great function, it is highly dependent on on a very large directory structure. One wrong bit can "confuse" it and it's not always easily repaired and usually does take a long time. The best repair tool I've found is Disk Warrior.

Lastly, "<Time Capsule>" is the name of a separate box, from Apple, that contains a hard drive and, usually, WiFi system. Time Machine can and usually will try to use that, but it is not the same as a "Verbatim Portable USB 3.0 Drive".

[Highmac]

Problem solved - I'll tell you how shortly, but just let's say my red face is not a result of too much sunshine

First, it's just good manners to respond to XABD - and many thanks for your post.

The MBP has a 360GB drive and we felt the 500GB was sufficient for our needs - backups go back to 2013.

1) I never include the contents of the drive's other partition since there doesn't seem much point. If the drive fails...
2) Backups are made on an "it's about time I did a.... " basis.
3) Too embarrassed to admit...
4) About four years
5) No - but that may now change

There's no what I'd call "heavy" work done on it. Bits of correspondence, surfing, emails (which are always duplicated on the iMac). Discussing it with missus, who is the main user, it was decided there was nothing we needed to worry about, so I was about to format the partition and call it a lesson learned.

However, I plugged the drive in again and looked at Trash, highlighted the db file and prodded a few keys. Control-click revealed the option to "Put Back". Nothing to lose so let it go. Folders reappeared where they should be and TM seems to be complete.

Hence the red face!

Thanks again, Jim, your contributions are always valued and appreciated.






At least by me

[Xairbusdriver]

Congrats! Puts a new slant on my normal advice about not using the Trash for 'storage'! In this case, it saved all your work! However, it might be worth using some file cleaner, most trash cans get a bit 'dirty' after a while...

I hope you seriously consider keeping TM running as long as the machine is on. It's backups will be extremely short unless you write a novel in one sitting. And you should never see that "too big to copy" warning because the backups will normally be very small. Again, unless you download several hundred huge images and several dozen symphonic mater pieces an hour, the hourly backups will normally a few megabytes rather than Gigabytes! The best part is that there is no (human) memory required. "Dear, did you backup that new novel I was writing this morning?" "Oops..." Followed by, "Here's the key to the doghouse."