Latest issue I've found is with a laptop. When TM decides that the share isn't available (e.g. the laptop was taken off-site) it doesn't automatically restart backups when it is available. When I bring my laptop back on-site I usually need to kick off a manual "Back Up Now" to get things happening again.
EDIT: False alarm. TM had been disabled by some other software I was working on, and stupid me hadn't noticed. Re-did the experiment today: was off at several other networks today, and on return home the backups kicked in by themselves.
But this does open up a disturbing possibility: when visiting a "foreign" network (e.g. a wifi hotspot) if someone can impersonate your networked TM share they could grab a copy of all your data. Given the steps involved in setting up and authenticating a TM share this is probably more of a theoretical than practical risk right now, but it could do with examination. If the possibility concerns you, manually turning TM off will avoid the risk. But as seen above, you'll need to remember to turn it back on later! :wink:
Latest issue I've found is with a laptop. When TM decides that the share isn't available (e.g. the laptop was taken off-site) it doesn't automatically restart backups when it is available. When I bring my laptop back on-site I usually need to kick off a manual "Back Up Now" to get things happening again (it keeps up with the hourly backups after that).
Anyone with TimeCapsule to see how it behaves with that?
According to this external post, when Time Machine uses a remote volume it will erroneously purge all backups when the volume fills up. Does anyone know whether this problem still exists?
Please include this in your official step by step: In order for this to work your computer name has to be short - no spaces or fancy characters like ' " etc... It took me a long long time to figure out this was the reason Time Machine wasn't working even though I followed the instructions to the T. Once I changed my computer name from Andy's MacBook Pro to andy-mbp and logged out and back in again it worked like a charm. Found the solution here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1434341&tstart=135
Please include this in your official step by step: In order for this to work your computer name has to be short - no spaces or fancy characters like ' " etc... It took me a long long time to figure out this was the reason Time Machine wasn't working even though I followed the instructions to the T. Once I changed my computer name from Andy's MacBook Pro to andy-mbp and logged out and back in again it worked like a charm. Found the solution here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1434341&tstart=135
Just FYI: I have 3 macs with names that include both spaces and apostrophes - no issues with getting TM to work on any of them. Latest one was configured following the published guide step be step as a test of the document - worked fine
Please include this in your official step by step: In order for this to work your computer name has to be short - no spaces or fancy characters like ' " etc... It took me a long long time to figure out this was the reason Time Machine wasn't working even though I followed the instructions to the T. Once I changed my computer name from Andy's MacBook Pro to andy-mbp and logged out and back in again it worked like a charm. Found the solution here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1434341&tstart=135
Hope this saves others a headache.
Were you connecting using AFP or CIFS? I was also able to get it to work using AFP with an apostrophe in the name.
I tried with CIFS and AFP and it would always fail saying it couldn't mount the disk image. My local hostname has always been andy-mbp but for some reason it only worked once I changed my computer name to that as well. Might be more of a best practice than a must for everyone (seems to also not affect everyone in the different forum posts I found). I also found this official Apple support article: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306928
Other forum posts I've found said it might have something to do with the length of the computer name - hard to tell which one it was for me.
Once I upgrade my wife's Mac to Leopard I will try again and see if it works without changing the computer name.
what about a case-sensitive file system in .sparebundle?
I've been snooping a bit, and as if following your own instructions, Time Machine does indeed create a journaled HFS+ file system -- but with a difference, since it creates a journaled HFS+ *case sensitive* file system. What are the implications of using a .sparebundle file with a presumably case-insensitive file system instead of a case-sensitive one for Time Machine? If the difference is important, how can we replicate it? Judging from the -fs specification in hdiutil, there's only HFS+J or HFSX (case-sensitive), but not HFSX+J.
To be specific, I use the -fs HFS+J specification to create the .sparsebundle file and mount it, Disk Utility shows "Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)", but when I let Time Machine create the file, it shows "Format: MacOS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled)" 😞 Is there a difference between the two files? It would really be nice to be able to specify the maximum size!
Re: what about a case-sensitive file system in .sparebundle?
odysseus wrote:
... it creates a journaled HFS+ *case sensitive* file system. What are the implications of using a .sparebundle file with a presumably case-insensitive file system instead of a case-sensitive one for Time Machine? ...
There may be implications. What this depends upon is how the filesystem of your Mac(s) is configured. If you, for example, back up a Mac with a case-sensitive filesystem to a TimeMachine volume that is case-insensitive, then this can result in situations where files with different names (file vs fiLe) overwrite each other. So, from a TimeMachine perspective it is always safer to use case-sensitive filesystems.
There have been other threads discussing this issue. Do some searching. 🙂 In my case, I always use case-sensitive filesystems. It just avoids any confusion or sloppy behavior.
... Disk Utility shows "Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)", but when I let Time Machine create the file, it shows "Format: MacOS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled)" 😞 Is there a difference between the two files?
Yes, there is a difference between the filesystems. If it doesn't say case-sensitive then it's not. But then when the same tool reports two different values, one would understand there to be a difference... it certainly isn't going to report different values for the same filesystem at different times now is it? 😉
odysseus wrote:
It would really be nice to be able to specify the maximum size!
Read through the long TimeMachine thread. There are several examples therein of how to manually create a sparsebundle, including the options to set the maximum size. Heck, I think that even the notes posted in the ReadyNAS blog about this include the size specification in them.
Seems to be working for me on 10.5.3. I installed said update earlier this evening. Set up the Time Machine per the step-through without any issues. Time Machine connected to the ReadyNas TM share quickly and for all appearances seems to be working great thus far.
I've got a MacBook Pro and I'm transferring to the ReadyNas via 802.11g so it will take a while. But it is working.
Actually, I'd be more curious if Apple addressed the issue that originally resulted in TM's inability to create the sparsebundle directly on the NAS -- and led to the documentation of the workaround to create the sparsebundle manually. Mind you, we might still choose to create the sparsebundle manually to get a size limit less than the volume capacity... 😉
I'll be upgrading to 10.5.3 sometime today and will be able to report on how it (doesn't) affects my TM installation tonight. 😄
Hoping someone can provide some advice as to why i cannot get Time Machine to backup to my ReadyNAS NV+
I have followed all the instructions exactly but when TM begins backup i get the error that the "the backup volume could not be mounted"
i have a .sparsebundle file in an AFP share called 'TMBackup' directory on the readynas. My spare bundle is called 'macpro_0017f20101dc.sparsebundle' which matches my host name and ethernet ID.
Actually, I'd be more curious if Apple addressed the issue that originally resulted in TM's inability to create the sparsebundle directly on the NAS -- and led to the documentation of the workaround to create the sparsebundle manually. Mind you, we might still choose to create the sparsebundle manually to get a size limit less than the volume capacity... 😉
No. The sparsebundle gets created (I can see it on the share), but the backup still fails with "The backup disk image could not be created."
Hoping someone can provide some advice as to why i cannot get Time Machine to backup to my ReadyNAS NV+
I have followed all the instructions exactly but when TM begins backup i get the error that the "the backup volume could not be mounted"
i have a .sparsebundle file in an AFP share called 'TMBackup' directory on the readynas. My spare bundle is called 'macpro_0017f20101dc.sparsebundle' which matches my host name and ethernet ID.
any ideas please?
What happens if you manually mount the share, then start the backup?
If i browse the backup directory on my NAS where the sparsebundle is saved the .sparsebundle which was originally a single file like a .dmg when saved on local machine is now a directory on the NAS and contains a directory called 'bands' and 3 other files 'Info.bckup', 'Info.plist' and 'token'
I only see the sparsebundle file, which has a disk image icon. There is also another file called ".<my_ethernet>" where <my_ethernet> is the same address I used in the sparsebundle.
What version of RAIDiator are you using? Are you using CIFS or AFP to mount the share?
