Thanks again to MacFixIt, who has been reporting some users are having a variety of problems with Time Machine following the Mac OS X 10.5.2 upgrade. Common problems are:
- the error message “Unable to complete backup. An error occurred while copying files to the backup volume.”
- Time Machine is “preparing” the backup but never actually starts backing up
- slow backup speed
Fixes noted (quoted from MacFixit):
- Boot in safe mode and backup Try booting your Mac in safe mode (hold down the Shift key while starting up), then performing a Time Machine backup. If the backup is successful, try restarting normally and backing up again. The process may no work normally on all subsequent attempts.
- Switch to a different drive It appears that Time Machine under Mac OS X 10.5.2 may exhibit issues with specific types of USB drives.
- Repair Permissions Launch Disk Utility, located in /Applications/Utilities and run the “Repair Disk Permissions” function on both your startup drive and the used for Time Machine then restart.
- Remove USB hubs If you’re experiencing kernel panic assocaited with Time Machine, try removing all USB hubs and connecting the Time Machine drive directly to your Mac.
- Delete backups Navigate to your Time Machine volume and delete the directly subsequent (most recent) and current backup then reattempt usage.
- Check the system log As previously reported: Launch Console, located in /Applications/Utilities, then inspect the system log while Time Machine is running. You may find that it is getting stuck on a specific file or directory. Remove that offending item (by excluding it from Time Machine’s designated files or moving it to a different drive) and re-attempt the backup.
- Clear caches The old standby saves again. Try clearing caches with a tool like Cocktail or Leopard Cache Cleaner then re-attempt the Time Machine backup.
- Change privileges Mac OS X 10.5.2 makes a number of privilege changes that can adversely affect Time Machine backups. Check to make sure that read and write privileges are accurate on the target Time Machine drive (all user accounts backing up to the device have access), or change standard accounts that are having problems to Admin.
Read the full article with comments at MacFixIt.
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