• Preparing Backup...

    From gtr@xxx@yyy.zzz to comp.sys.mac.system on Tuesday, December 15, 2020 17:00:47
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    It seems it's been preparting a backup for about 3 weeks now while I
    wasn't paying attention.

    I did a First Aid check via Disk Utility and it has this:

    Checking snapshot 1 of 4 (com.apple.apfs.purgatory.408fef)
    error: Cross Check : ExtentRef physical extent (0x194b1f87cd3a8 + 117982902464902) has kind APFS_KIND_UPDATE but was not referenced
    previously
    Checking snapshot 2 of 4 (com.apple.apfs.purgatory.409046)
    error: Cross Check : ExtentRef physical extent (0x17a852d +
    444967050956411) has kind APFS_KIND_UPDATE but was not referenced
    previously
    Checking snapshot 3 of 4 (com.apple.TimeMachine.2020-11-23-012247.local) Checking snapshot 4 of 4 (com.apple.apfs.purgatory.508695)


    Any suggestions, input?

    -- Gerry

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  • From gtr@xxx@yyy.zzz to comp.sys.mac.system on Tuesday, December 15, 2020 17:28:31
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    On 2020-12-16 01:00:47 +0000, gtr said:

    It seems it's been preparting a backup for about 3 weeks now while I
    wasn't paying attention.

    I did a First Aid check via Disk Utility and it has this:

    Checking snapshot 1 of 4 (com.apple.apfs.purgatory.408fef)
    error: Cross Check : ExtentRef physical extent (0x194b1f87cd3a8 + 117982902464902) has kind APFS_KIND_UPDATE but was not referenced
    previously
    Checking snapshot 2 of 4 (com.apple.apfs.purgatory.409046)
    error: Cross Check : ExtentRef physical extent (0x17a852d +
    444967050956411) has kind APFS_KIND_UPDATE but was not referenced
    previously
    Checking snapshot 3 of 4 (com.apple.TimeMachine.2020-11-23-012247.local) Checking snapshot 4 of 4 (com.apple.apfs.purgatory.508695)


    Any suggestions, input?

    -- Gerry

    In attempting first aid on the timemachine drive, it does a quick
    report and tells me:

    !First Aid process has failed. If possible, back up the data on this volume.

    So am I out of luck with the backup drive? Or is there a way to
    salvage, say the last 3 months of backups. Or something else?

    --- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113
  • From Leo@leoblaisdell@sbcglobal.net to comp.sys.mac.system on Tuesday, December 15, 2020 17:42:05
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    On 2020 Dec 15, , gtr wrote
    (in article <rrbm7v$s60$1@dont-email.me>):
    It seems it's been preparting a backup for about 3 weeks now while I
    wasn't paying attention.
    It would help to know your Mac and target type and year, your OS version, whether you are using a HDD or SSD and backup from and to where. With this information, I wonīt be able to help you but someone here will.
    leo
    --- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113
  • From gtr@xxx@yyy.zzz to comp.sys.mac.system on Tuesday, December 15, 2020 17:49:05
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    On 2020-12-16 01:42:05 +0000, Leo said:

    On 2020 Dec 15, , gtr wrote
    (in article <rrbm7v$s60$1@dont-email.me>):

    It seems it's been preparting a backup for about 3 weeks now while I
    wasn't paying attention.

    It would help to know your Mac and target type and year, your OS version,whether you are using a HDD or SSD and backup from and to
    where. With thisinformation, I wonīt be able to help you but someone
    here will.

    leo

    Aid seems doubtful at this point. The TimeMachine drive fails Disk
    Utility's first aid check, suggesting I backup the drive. So I assume I
    need to wipe the TM drive and start again. Hey, I did backups
    continuously since mid-2018. I guess I can't complain.

    MacBook Pro (Mid-2015) OS 10.15.7, SSD. Backup drive WD Passport 4T.

    --- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113
  • From Leo@leoblaisdell@sbcglobal.net to comp.sys.mac.system on Tuesday, December 15, 2020 18:56:56
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    On 2020 Dec 15, , gtr wrote
    (in article <rrbp2h$a9e$1@dont-email.me>):
    Aid seems doubtful at this point. The TimeMachine drive fails Disk
    Utility's first aid check, suggesting I backup the drive. So I assume I
    need to wipe the TM drive and start again. Hey, I did backups
    continuously since mid-2018. I guess I can't complain.

    MacBook Pro (Mid-2015) OS 10.15.7, SSD. Backup drive WD Passport 4T.
    Is your TM nearly full? If so, do not listen to me! I have never had TM gracefully erase old files and start anew once the TM disk becomes full. I donīt know how. I always erase and reformat TM. I do things wrong, but many here know how to do it right. They should have enough information. Wait for it...
    --- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113
  • From gtr@xxx@yyy.zzz to comp.sys.mac.system on Tuesday, December 15, 2020 19:20:35
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    On 2020-12-16 02:56:56 +0000, Leo said:

    On 2020 Dec 15, , gtr wrote
    (in article <rrbp2h$a9e$1@dont-email.me>):

    Aid seems doubtful at this point. The TimeMachine drive fails Disk
    Utility's first aid check, suggesting I backup the drive. So I assume I
    need to wipe the TM drive and start again. Hey, I did backups
    continuously since mid-2018. I guess I can't complain.

    MacBook Pro (Mid-2015) OS 10.15.7, SSD. Backup drive WD Passport 4T.

    Is your TM nearly full? If so, do not listen to me! I have never had TMgracefully erase old files and start anew once the TM disk becomes
    full. Idonīt know how. I always erase and reformat TM. I do things
    wrong, but manyhere know how to do it right. They should have enough information. Wait forit...

    No it is a little over 3T of the 4T capacity.

    --- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113
  • From gtr@xxx@yyy.zzz to comp.sys.mac.system on Tuesday, December 15, 2020 19:32:12
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    On 2020-12-16 02:56:56 +0000, Leo said:

    On 2020 Dec 15, , gtr wrote
    (in article <rrbp2h$a9e$1@dont-email.me>):

    Aid seems doubtful at this point. The TimeMachine drive fails Disk
    Utility's first aid check, suggesting I backup the drive. So I assume I
    need to wipe the TM drive and start again. Hey, I did backups
    continuously since mid-2018. I guess I can't complain.

    MacBook Pro (Mid-2015) OS 10.15.7, SSD. Backup drive WD Passport 4T.

    Is your TM nearly full? If so, do not listen to me! I have never had TMgracefully erase old files and start anew once the TM disk becomes
    full. Idonīt know how. I always erase and reformat TM. I do things
    wrong, but manyhere know how to do it right. They should have enough information. Wait forit...

    In the past I've seen some oblique message during a back up telling me
    that it was removing older files.

    Still, I assume this is not a "backup" problem per se. If First Aid
    won't even look at the backup drive, I figure I have to wipe it.

    Still, from my original message, I'm unsure if my internal SSD doesn't
    have an issue necessitating a wipe/reinstall as well;

    Checking snapshot 1 of 4 (com.apple.apfs.purgatory.408fef)
    error: Cross Check : ExtentRef physical extent (0x194b1f87cd3a8 + 117982902464902) has kind APFS_KIND_UPDATE but was not referenced
    previously


    --- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113
  • From Fishrrman@Fishrrman2000@yahoo.com to comp.sys.mac.system on Thursday, December 17, 2020 11:06:56
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    On 12/15/20 8:28 PM, gtr wrote:
    So am I out of luck with the backup drive?  Or is there a
    way to salvage, say the last 3 months of backups.  Or
    something else?

    CarbonCopyCloner
    or...
    SuperDuper.
    --- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113
  • From Jolly Roger@jollyroger@pobox.com to comp.sys.mac.system on Thursday, December 17, 2020 18:01:55
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    On 2020-12-17, Fishrrman <Fishrrman2000@yahoo.com> wrote:
    On 12/15/20 8:28 PM, gtr wrote:
    So am I out of luck with the backup drive?  Or is there a
    way to salvage, say the last 3 months of backups.  Or
    something else?

    CarbonCopyCloner
    or...
    SuperDuper.

    Nope, neither of those is a solution to this problem.

    --
    E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
    I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

    JR
    --- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113
  • From gtr@xxx@yyy.zzz to comp.sys.mac.system on Thursday, December 17, 2020 10:47:02
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    On 2020-12-17 18:01:55 +0000, Jolly Roger said:

    On 2020-12-17, Fishrrman <Fishrrman2000@yahoo.com> wrote:
    On 12/15/20 8:28 PM, gtr wrote:
    So am I out of luck with the backup drive?  Or is there a
    way to salvage, say the last 3 months of backups.  Or
    something else?

    CarbonCopyCloner
    or...
    SuperDuper.

    Nope, neither of those is a solution to this problem.

    The most important key to solving a problem: Knowing what the problem
    is before attempting the solution.

    I could not access the TM drive with Disk Utilities. It would not
    unmount. Then I found that none of my external hard drives would
    unmount. Why? Who cares. I did a CCC backup on yet another spare drive.
    I ran First Aid on it to ensure it was viable. As with all other
    external drives, it wouldn't unmount for the check.

    I rebooted in recovery mode and I could then unmount the TM drive. I
    ran First Aid on it. After 14+ hours (who knows, I went to bed) it
    reported maybe a hundred bad links. It then reparied them and concluded "operation successful".

    Delighted, I rebooted, looking forward to my first official backup
    since installing Catalina 11/23/20. I got a Mac logo but no progress
    bar. Got the same in safe mode. Never got a second chime (or anything
    else) while attempting a NVRam reset. Fortunately I could get to
    recovery mode. I reinstalled the OS. It booted smoothly and I got back
    to my desktop.

    First order of business, attempt a TM backup. It's now "Preparing
    Backup..." but I have a lot more confidence that it will be able to do
    its job. As an Apple techguy explainted that task: It must first index
    the TM drive (now at an unwieldy and wholly unnecessary 3.7T of
    previous backups) then index my HD, then compare them to assess
    necesary backup activity.

    I'll give it a few days to complete. If it works, great: I'll wipe my
    internal drive, and reload from TM. If not, great: I'll wipe my
    internal drive and "migrate" from the CCC backup. I assume that the CCC
    drive, and the others, are likely in fine health and that the internal
    drive is just wiggy because two extents are posting conflicting
    roadsigns.

    More later.



    --- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113
  • From gtr@xxx@yyy.zzz to comp.sys.mac.system on Friday, December 18, 2020 23:26:14
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    On 2020-12-16 02:56:56 +0000, Leo said:

    On 2020 Dec 15, , gtr wrote
    (in article <rrbp2h$a9e$1@dont-email.me>):

    Aid seems doubtful at this point. The TimeMachine drive fails Disk
    Utility's first aid check, suggesting I backup the drive. So I assume I
    need to wipe the TM drive and start again. Hey, I did backups
    continuously since mid-2018. I guess I can't complain.

    MacBook Pro (Mid-2015) OS 10.15.7, SSD. Backup drive WD Passport 4T.

    Is your TM nearly full? If so, do not listen to me! I have never had TMgracefully erase old files and start anew once the TM disk becomes
    full. Idonīt know how. I always erase and reformat TM. I do things
    wrong, but manyhere know how to do it right. They should have enough information. Wait forit...

    In trying to address associated issues I ran across this article that indicates pretty clearly you can simple delete older backups to
    alleviate space on your own. This might save you some misery:

    https://www.imore.com/how-delete-older-time-machine-backups

    --- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113
  • From gtr@xxx@yyy.zzz to comp.sys.mac.system on Saturday, December 19, 2020 09:21:26
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

    On 2020-12-19 07:26:14 +0000, gtr said:

    On 2020-12-16 02:56:56 +0000, Leo said:

    On 2020 Dec 15, , gtr wrote
    (in article <rrbp2h$a9e$1@dont-email.me>):

    Aid seems doubtful at this point. The TimeMachine drive fails Disk
    Utility's first aid check, suggesting I backup the drive. So I assume I
    need to wipe the TM drive and start again. Hey, I did backups
    continuously since mid-2018. I guess I can't complain.

    MacBook Pro (Mid-2015) OS 10.15.7, SSD. Backup drive WD Passport 4T.

    Is your TM nearly full? If so, do not listen to me! I have never had
    TMgracefully erase old files and start anew once the TM disk becomes
    full. Idonīt know how. I always erase and reformat TM. I do things
    wrong, but manyhere know how to do it right. They should have enough
    information. Wait forit...

    In trying to address associated issues I ran across this article that indicates pretty clearly you can simple delete older backups to
    alleviate space on your own. This might save you some misery:

    https://www.imore.com/how-delete-older-time-machine-backups

    See also Jolly Roger's recommendation of "tmutil" command in the "Time
    Machine Question" thread.

    --- Synchronet 3.18b-Win32 NewsLink 1.113