Comments on: Upgrade Stopped Time Machine http://www.jeffmccord.org/upgrade-stopped-time-machine/ Defining Moxie in a Digital Age Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:58:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Jeff McCord http://www.jeffmccord.org/upgrade-stopped-time-machine/comment-page-1/#comment-728 Jeff McCord Sun, 22 Jun 2008 16:00:45 +0000 http://www.jeffmccord.org/?p=205#comment-728 @patrick - Patrick I absolutely feel your frustration, but I also know that Apple makes superb products. OS X has been the most stable OS I have ever worked with and I grew up on XP and now use Vista at work. Trust, Mac is still the best thing. @patrick – Patrick I absolutely feel your frustration, but I also know that Apple makes superb products. OS X has been the most stable OS I have ever worked with and I grew up on XP and now use Vista at work.

Trust, Mac is still the best thing.

]]> By: Patrick http://www.jeffmccord.org/upgrade-stopped-time-machine/comment-page-1/#comment-723 Patrick Sat, 21 Jun 2008 21:22:13 +0000 http://www.jeffmccord.org/?p=205#comment-723 Sad that my Mac and so many others wont "just work". Meanwhile Microsoft has wireless back-up all figured out and it "just works" great on my Vista PCs. I, like many others, bought a La Cie gigabit ethernet drive in preparation for Leopard. This was only after checking the Apple website and finding out that La Cie was not only recomended but sold by Apple. It almost makes me wish that I had not "just switched" to Mac. If they can't make it work with my first $2,000. I am not going to throw good money after bad and flush another $500. Sad that my Mac and so many others wont “just work”. Meanwhile Microsoft has wireless back-up all figured out and it “just works” great on my Vista PCs. I, like many others, bought a La Cie gigabit ethernet drive in preparation for Leopard. This was only after checking the Apple website and finding out that La Cie was not only recomended but sold by Apple. It almost makes me wish that I had not “just switched” to Mac. If they can’t make it work with my first $2,000. I am not going to throw good money after bad and flush another $500.

]]> By: B. Jefferson Le Blan http://www.jeffmccord.org/upgrade-stopped-time-machine/comment-page-1/#comment-603 B. Jefferson Le Blan Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:13:08 +0000 http://www.jeffmccord.org/?p=205#comment-603 Apple created serious confusion with last minute changes to Time Machine. In my opinion, though, wireless backups will be problematic for a while yet. They're great when they work but, as you've discovered the hard way, a real pain in the ass when they don't. You're far from the only one to be bitten by this bug. As a relatively new Mac user it's not surprising you were unprepared for this problem. By the way, another good source for troubleshooting warnings and advice is MacFixIt - <a href="http://www.macfixit.com. " rel="nofollow">www.macfixit.com. </a> Among the things you will find there is a strategy for downgrading your OS, an issue that arrises quite often, unfortunately, for a variety of reasons. Their recommended approach is to do an archive and install from the original OS X instal DVD and then upgrade using the combo updater to the OS version just before the one that gave you trouble. This is an effective but time consuming method that preserves both your data, your installed applications and most of your settings and preferences. In the future, I suggest you use an external FireWire or USB 2 hard drive connected directly to your Mac to create a mirrored backup of your entire system using SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner. Then, if an update goes haywire, you can boot immediately from the backup (something you cannot do with a Time Machine backup) and get right back to work. You can set SuperDuper! to do scheduled, incremental backups as frequently as you deem necessary. There are differences between Time Machine and SuperDuper! (or Carbon Copy Cloner) backups. They each have advantages and, in fact, I use both. The main plus for Time Machine is that it keeps versions of your data so that, in effect, nothing is ever erased. SuperDuper! incremental backups retain only what is on your drive at the time of the most recent backup. Having two different backups may appear excessive, but since they can both be set to run automatically in the background, once you've set them up you can forget them - until you need one or the other or both. Hard drive prices are low enough now that cost is no excuse for not having a reliable backup strategy. And the two backup methods I've described here are sufficiently easy to implement that complexity is no longer an issue either. The only remaining barrier is people not taking the issue seriously. Clearly Apple over promised with Time Machine. It's great when it works, but instances of failure are sufficiently numerous that no one should rely on Time Machine alone. It is new technology and, like all new technologies, it still has problems to be ironed out. Apple created serious confusion with last minute changes to Time Machine. In my opinion, though, wireless backups will be problematic for a while yet. They're great when they work but, as you've discovered the hard way, a real pain in the ass when they don't. You're far from the only one to be bitten by this bug. As a relatively new Mac user it's not surprising you were unprepared for this problem. By the way, another good source for troubleshooting warnings and advice is MacFixIt – http://www.macfixit.com. Among the things you will find there is a strategy for downgrading your OS, an issue that arrises quite often, unfortunately, for a variety of reasons. Their recommended approach is to do an archive and install from the original OS X instal DVD and then upgrade using the combo updater to the OS version just before the one that gave you trouble. This is an effective but time consuming method that preserves both your data, your installed applications and most of your settings and preferences. In the future, I suggest you use an external FireWire or USB 2 hard drive connected directly to your Mac to create a mirrored backup of your entire system using SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner. Then, if an update goes haywire, you can boot immediately from the backup (something you cannot do with a Time Machine backup) and get right back to work. You can set SuperDuper! to do scheduled, incremental backups as frequently as you deem necessary. There are differences between Time Machine and SuperDuper! (or Carbon Copy Cloner) backups. They each have advantages and, in fact, I use both. The main plus for Time Machine is that it keeps versions of your data so that, in effect, nothing is ever erased. SuperDuper! incremental backups retain only what is on your drive at the time of the most recent backup. Having two different backups may appear excessive, but since they can both be set to run automatically in the background, once you've set them up you can forget them – until you need one or the other or both. Hard drive prices are low enough now that cost is no excuse for not having a reliable backup strategy. And the two backup methods I've described here are sufficiently easy to implement that complexity is no longer an issue either. The only remaining barrier is people not taking the issue seriously. Clearly Apple over promised with Time Machine. It's great when it works, but instances of failure are sufficiently numerous that no one should rely on Time Machine alone. It is new technology and, like all new technologies, it still has problems to be ironed out.

]]> By: Jeff McCord http://www.jeffmccord.org/upgrade-stopped-time-machine/comment-page-1/#comment-602 Jeff McCord Sun, 01 Jun 2008 16:22:53 +0000 http://www.jeffmccord.org/?p=205#comment-602 Shelby, This is what it's absolutely important to know your facts before trying to slam anyone... you need some education, with all due respect. Apple absolutely INTENDED to use Time Machine via wireless backups to Airport right before 10.5 launched. One week before launch, Apple took it out of the materials/updates/etc and NO ONE knew why until a few insiders caught wind that Time Capsule was eventually going to come out. That's been the rub with a lot of people. It was absolutely intended and absolutely supported until the very last minute and our rub is we're not going to spend $500 on Time Capsule when this is just as effective and it was originally intended. Shelby, This is what it's absolutely important to know your facts before trying to slam anyone… you need some education, with all due respect. Apple absolutely INTENDED to use Time Machine via wireless backups to Airport right before 10.5 launched. One week before launch, Apple took it out of the materials/updates/etc and NO ONE knew why until a few insiders caught wind that Time Capsule was eventually going to come out. That's been the rub with a lot of people. It was absolutely intended and absolutely supported until the very last minute and our rub is we're not going to spend $500 on Time Capsule when this is just as effective and it was originally intended.

]]> By: shelby http://www.jeffmccord.org/upgrade-stopped-time-machine/comment-page-1/#comment-601 shelby Sun, 01 Jun 2008 16:10:32 +0000 http://www.jeffmccord.org/?p=205#comment-601 Time Machine over Airport was never officially supported. It's not fair for you to get your knickers in a knot over something that Apple never intended for you to do. Just because it happened to work before doesn't mean they have screwed you when it doesn't any longer. Time Machine over Airport was never officially supported. It's not fair for you to get your knickers in a knot over something that Apple never intended for you to do. Just because it happened to work before doesn't mean they have screwed you when it doesn't any longer.

]]> By: Sour Apple: More 10.5.3 woes | Daily Tech Diva http://www.jeffmccord.org/upgrade-stopped-time-machine/comment-page-1/#comment-394 Sour Apple: More 10.5.3 woes | Daily Tech Diva Fri, 30 May 2008 15:10:51 +0000 http://www.jeffmccord.org/?p=205#comment-394 [...] heard reports of the new update borking people’s wireless Time Machine backups, and even totally crashing their machine, but I haven’t heard of iCal breaking yet. I know [...] [...] heard reports of the new update borking people’s wireless Time Machine backups, and even totally crashing their machine, but I haven’t heard of iCal breaking yet. I know [...]

]]> By: -wsn http://www.jeffmccord.org/upgrade-stopped-time-machine/comment-page-1/#comment-600 -wsn Thu, 29 May 2008 17:26:38 +0000 http://www.jeffmccord.org/?p=205#comment-600 TYPO - The first TM backups after 10.5.3 did take a bit, but my thought is that many files were changed. TYPO – The first TM backups after 10.5.3 did take a bit, but my thought is that many files were changed.

]]> By: -wsn http://www.jeffmccord.org/upgrade-stopped-time-machine/comment-page-1/#comment-599 -wsn Thu, 29 May 2008 17:12:46 +0000 http://www.jeffmccord.org/?p=205#comment-599 Our 2 macs are backing up to our Drobo, that hangs off of our AEBS, post 10.5.3. The first TM backups after 10.5.2 did take a bit, but my thought is that many files were changed. It is still working fine 16+ hours later. Our 2 macs are backing up to our Drobo, that hangs off of our AEBS, post 10.5.3. The first TM backups after 10.5.2 did take a bit, but my thought is that many files were changed. It is still working fine 16+ hours later.

]]> By: Sam. http://www.jeffmccord.org/upgrade-stopped-time-machine/comment-page-1/#comment-598 Sam. Thu, 29 May 2008 15:52:59 +0000 http://www.jeffmccord.org/?p=205#comment-598 I am having the same problem but with Time Capsule itself. So it's not just non-Apple products which are having the problem. I am having the same problem but with Time Capsule itself. So it's not just non-Apple products which are having the problem.

]]> By: rudy http://www.jeffmccord.org/upgrade-stopped-time-machine/comment-page-1/#comment-597 rudy Thu, 29 May 2008 15:12:26 +0000 http://www.jeffmccord.org/?p=205#comment-597 deleting the sparseimage was a bad idea. timemachine backups to non-local drives are achieved by mounting the sparseimage and backing up the data into that. I would have tried mounting the sparseimage to see if it really was corrupt. deleting the sparseimage was a bad idea. timemachine backups to non-local drives are achieved by mounting the sparseimage and backing up the data into that. I would have tried mounting the sparseimage to see if it really was corrupt.

]]>