time machine issue

[state_of_alert]

I recently purchased a macbook pro and a seagate free agent 500 gb external hard drive. I did my initial time machine backup with the drive plugged into my computer's usb port and backups have been completing without incident. however, whenever I plug my external hard drive into my airport extreme, time machine insists on creating a new backup file, almost as though it doesn't recognize this disk as what i've been using previously.

any suggestions (other than reformatting the drive completely)?

[hayne]

TimeMachine uses a different format when backing up over the network compared to when the drive is attached to the Mac.
Decide on one way and stick to it.

[NovaScotian]

For a direct connection, it copies the files. For a network connection it creates a sparse image. Time machine uses a second drive on my desktop machine for direct backups, but my laptop creates sparse images on the same drive via its AirPort Extreme connection.

[state_of_alert]

the best solution would just be to format it, then?

[hayne]

I'm not sure why you are thinking of formatting the disk - what problem are you trying to solve?
(I'm assuming that you did originally format the disk as HFS+ ("Mac OS Extended (journaled)").)

If you are wanting to get rid of the previous Time Machine backups - you should be able to delete them using Finder like any other file (and then empty the Trash).

[state_of_alert]

all I'm trying to do is switch my backups over from a USB to a network connection using the same external HDD - is there any way to do this without just starting over?

[hayne]

Quote: Originally Posted by state_of_alert all I'm trying to do is switch my backups over from a USB to a network connection using the same external HDD - is there any way to do this without just starting over?

If you are asking whether you can make use of the backups that were done when connected via USB now that the drive is a network drive, I don't know the answer - I suspect you can't use them (via the Time Machine interface) without reconnecting the drive via USB.

But if you are asking what you need to do in order to have everything function to do backups via Time Machine to your network drive, I think the answer is: nothing. I.e. isn't it working now?

Maybe you want to remove the old (from USB) backups in order to get more space on the drive.

[state_of_alert]

to recap, the problem is this:

I did my initial TM backup with the drive plugged into my computer via USB. that went fine, and subsequent backups via USB are fine.

however, I would like to plug in my HDD through my airport extreme. time machine doesn't recognize the previously-created time machine backups on the external drive, and wants to create a new volume.

is there a way to get time machine to recognize my original backup file through the airport extreme, or do I need to create a new backup?

[NovaScotian]

As explained above, no. Move a directly connected drive to become a networked drive = start over. You can erase the old backup and start a new one.

[state_of_alert]

is it possible to convert the image? there's a lot on that disk I don't care to lose.

[NovaScotian]

Quote: Originally Posted by state_of_alert is it possible to convert the image? there's a lot on that disk I don't care to lose.

Unless you mean the history of your files, there's nothing on the Time Machine backup disk that isn't on the hard disk of your machine. Are you worrying about losing old versions? As soon as you allow Time Machine to create a sparse image (assuming you have room) you can discard the direct version. From a user's point of view, there's no difference -- when you go to the Time Machine there's a pause while it connects, and the cascade of backups you see is exactly the same as it was before.

So to summarize as Hayne said before: your choice is to choose one or the other -- you simply can't have both and you cannot convert one to the other via Time Machine.

[hayne]

Quote: Originally Posted by state_of_alert there's a lot on that disk I don't care to lose.

Are you saying that there are files in that backup which no longer exist on your Mac?
If so, and you want them, then I think you will need to connect the backup disk via USB and use Time Machine to restore the files to your Mac's disk.
Then proceed as before.

Note that Time Machine's backups are not intended as storage for things that you no longer want on your Mac's disk. A backup is supposed to be an extra copy of the files.

[state_of_alert]

okay - that clears up a lot, and answers my question.

I guess all I have left is a procedural question in response to nova scotian: so do I let time machine run a network backup first, and then discard my usb one? does that even matter?

[NovaScotian]

That depends entirely on the size of your disk and the space left on it. Time Machine will announce that a backup has failed if there is insufficient space left for it.

[stoneage]

I also have been having problems. I backup both my MacBook wirelessly and my iMac which is wired directly to the Time Capsule. The MB seems to work alright, but I am getting a TM error every hour for the iMac.
Are you suggesting that I shouldn't have the iMac connected directly to the Time Capsule? I thought it was better to do that than using the Airport connection.

[state_of_alert]

hey - sorry I've been out for so long; wisdom teeth came out which made looking at a small screen...difficult.

one last question - is there any sort of advantage to using one method/format over its counterpart? rumor had it right when airdisk and time machine were released that there were significant problems with data corruption when backups were done through an airport device; have these problems been rectified? is it worth staying on the USB format?

[enthusia492]

I have been having problems for awhile as well. It seems the my Time machine volume is somehow damaged because i keep getting the message "The backup volume is read only - make sure you save all your data immediately" and when i go to repair it it says "Keys out of order. The volume Time Machine needs to be repaired. Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed."
If anyone can find a way to resolve this it will be greatly appreciated.

[hayne]

Quote: Originally Posted by enthusia492 I have been having problems for awhile as well. It seems the my Time machine volume is somehow damaged because i keep getting the message "The backup volume is read only - make sure you save all your data immediately" and when i go to repair it it says "Keys out of order. The volume Time Machine needs to be repaired. Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed." If anyone can find a way to resolve this it will be greatly appreciated.

Did you try what I suggested in post #6 of this older thread where you posted about this: http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?t=92349 ?

[enthusia492]

yeah, I cant really afford that right now. It's like 100 bucks.