Hi Pete,
> Currently it is "User's User" and that by the way is not my sons name! I
> think the apostrophe not being ASCII will throw it
Yes, having any punctuation mark in Computer Name can/will cause problems with
Time Machine
How on earth did your son's MacBook get the name "User's User"?
What name does he have in System Preferences > Users & Groups ?
> For housekeeping, should I delete the "User's User" sparse bundle file?
Yes, delete the "User's User" sparsebundle from Time Capsule. It possibly does
contain some data (therefore taking space)
To delete the backups for one computer without disturbing anything else on the
Time Capsule's Internal Disk.
1. Connect via Ethernet cable if possible as much faster than deleting via
Wi-Fi
2. Open Time Capsule under Shared in Finder Sidebar
3. Click the Data folder
4. You will now see a xxxxx.sparsebundle file for each of the computers that
have been backing up.
The file contains the name of the computer and the MAC address so you
should be able to easily identify the xxxxx.sparsebundle file that you want to
delete.
5. Click the xxxxx.sparsebundle file to highlight it and then click the 'Gear'
shaped icon just above and select 'Move to Trash'.
NOTE: Be very careful since you will not be able to retrieve the file if you
make a mistake and delete the wrong file.
After it has deleted everything contained in the sparsebundle; setup Time
Machine in System Preferences > Select Disk and let Time Machine backup the
MacBook
> Also, is a Time Machine backup a 'whole computer' backup or is it account
> specific?
Time Machine backups the complete system UNLESS you have chosen to exclude any
items from backups.
You need a full backup of the system in case you ever need to do a full Restore.
Do you have more than one User Account on any of the MacBooks?
If so post back and I'll explain more.
Cheers,
Ronni
On 03/08/2012, at 6:36 AM, Peter Crisp <[email protected]> wrote:
> Thanks Ronni, I can see I have at least one issue to resolve- the computers
> name. Currently it is "User's User" and that by the way is not my sons name!
> I think the apostrophe not being ASCII will throw it. By contrast the other
> two MacBooks are properly named after their user.
>
> So I will follow your instructions to correct that tonight when I'm home
> again.
>
> The other issue I don't see an immediate solution for is my inability to
> "unmount" the disc image, there is no Eject triangle next to "Time Capsule"
> in the Finder side bar and nor does it appear on the Desktop. Maybe this
> won't matter when the name is resolved as there was never a backup in place
> from which to continue from it seems. I fully expect a first time backup is
> needed.
>
> For housekeeping, should I delete the "User's User" sparse bundle file?
>
> Also, is a Time Machine backup a 'whole computer' backup or is it account
> specific?
>
> Regards
>
> Pete
>
> On 02/08/2012, at 10:00 PM, Ronda Brown <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Hi Peter,
>>
>> Just a quick reply before I shutdown from computer work for the day.
>>
>> First, it is important to distinguish this error message from another,
>> similar Time Machine error that states “The backup volume could not be
>> mounted”. This is important as the causes and cures for these two errors can
>> be very different.
>>
>> *Unmount the Backup Disk Image* (TC)
>> If, for some reason, you have manually mounted the Time Machine backup disk
>> image (sparsebundle), or Time Machine failed to eject it after the previous
>> backup, subsequent backups may fail. (Console - “Failed to mount disk
>> image”… “Backup failed with error: 21”)
>>
>> Eject the backup disk image (sparsebundle) by either clicking the little
>> Eject icon to the right of the disk image in the Finders’ Sidebar, or
>> Ctrl-Click the drive icon on the desktop and select “Eject” from the
>> contextual menu. Now try backing up again or launching Time Machine to view
>> previous backups.
>>
>> *Proper Computer Name* #
>> Make sure your computer has a proper name. Go to System Preferences >
>> Sharing. Time Machine needs to differentiate your computer from others on
>> your network (i.e. "Bills MacBook" or "Office iMac"). If the "Computer Name"
>> field is blank, create a name. Realise that if this step is necessary, you
>> will likely have to start the Time Machine backup process over again and do
>> another full initial backup.
>>
>> Time Machine may experience problems if your computer name includes certain
>> characters. Make sure the computer name only includes ASCII characters from
>> the following set.
>>
>> (0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ)
>>
>> Once a change in the computer name occurs, you should stop and restart
>> Sharing on the affected computer. Uncheck and then recheck Sharing in the
>> Services list on the left.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Ronni
>> Sent from Ronni's iPad
>>
>> On 02/08/2012, at 9:08 PM, Peter Crisp <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi, I have 3 Macbooks in my house all attached to a Time Capsule for
>>> backing up. One (MB1) has been backing up VERY reliably since 2009 when it
>>> was first attached, the other two (MB2 and MB3) I thought were backing up
>>> reliably since their connection in early 2012 but on closer inspection, it
>>> is not the case.
>>>
>>> MB1 is an SL (10.6.8) White Macbook, the other two are both 10.5.8
>>> (Leopard) Black Macbooks.
>>>
>>> Connection was easy when MB2 and MB3 were attached and I thought they were
>>> backing up reliably ever since they were connected and I was confident as
>>> MB1 was so reliable.
>>>
>>> Just the other day I noticed MB2 was not backing up so I took interest to
>>> watch it go through the process. It starts by "preparing backup" then
>>> responds with "The backup disc image could not be mounted". In Finder on
>>> MB2 I am able to see "....Time Capsule" in the devices panel, but when
>>> selected, the sparesebundle does not appear as they do when doing this on
>>> the other two MB's. The "Modified" date on the MB2 Sparesebundle when
>>> checked from the other MB's is in fact the same date it was fist set up -
>>> so it's done nothing the whole time since January 2012.
>>>
>>> How do I reset it to effectively start from scratch - as no backups have
>>> occurred in any case, there is no backup to loose. I done some navigating
>>> around to try it all over but still no effect.
>>>
>>> Regards
>>>
>>> Pete.
>>>
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