Repair a Time Machine error after restoring from Time Machine

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Tue, Nov 3 2009 at 7:30AM PST • Contributed by: Anonymous

After restoring from a Time Machine backup, I ran into this error when Time Machine then tried to create a new backup:

The backup is too large for the backup volume. xxGB is required but only yyGB is available.

This occurs because Time Machine sees your restored computer as a completely new set of data and is trying to do a full back up. To solve this issue, open the backup drive that Time Machine backs up to, and locate the following file:

computername_0022334455.sparsebundle

Where computername is your computer's name, and 0022334455 is your computer's MAC address. Delete this file and have Time Machine do a new full backup of your system, and this error will disappear.

[robg adds: I've never had to do a full restore from Time Machine, so I haven't seen this error -- if someone else can confirm the problem and the fix, please post in the comments.]

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Repair a Time Machine error after restoring from Time Machine
Authored by: asmeurer on Tue, Nov 3 2009 at 8:03AM PST

Probably if you aren't out of space you shouldn't worry about it, because Time Machine will just delete one of the backups in a week (assuming you do the first backup soon after the restore).

Repair a Time Machine error after restoring from Time Machine
Authored by: olivesoft on Tue, Nov 3 2009 at 8:39AM PST

It's true that Time Machine will attempt to delete older backups to make room, but if the backup drive is not much bigger than the data on the drive being backed up, Time Machine will tend to give up and starting the backup from scratch is the only option. You may want to buy a replacement drive for new backups and keep the old one intact for a while if you need to save the older data.

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-Bob
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I tend to think of [Mac] OS X as Linux with QA and Taste.
-James Gosling, Java Architect

Repair a Time Machine error after restoring from Time Machine
Authored by: asmeurer on Tue, Nov 3 2009 at 2:57PM PST

No, I don't mean that. Yes, too would recommend buying a new drive to keep old backups in tact when the drive fills up. What I mean is that it removes hourly backups every 24 hours and daily backups every month. So if your new backup is made within 24 hours of the other one, then only one of them will be kept after a day. Otherwise, you will have to wait a month.

A bit extreme?
Authored by: Shawn Parr on Tue, Nov 3 2009 at 8:09AM PST

That deletes all of your existing backup data. If you just had to do a restore, is deleting all of your backup history really a good idea?

I would only do this if I had my TM backups archived in a second (or more) locations.

The biggest issue of course is for those who want to use the historical functions of TM, i.e. not only having a current backup, but going back in time to get a deleted file, or an older revision.

Repair a Time Machine error after restoring from Time Machine
Authored by: astrosmash on Tue, Nov 3 2009 at 8:43AM PST

I recently upgraded to a new MacBook Pro and I transferred my data using my Time Machine backup, just to see how well it would work.

The restore worked great. However, to continue using the backup on the new machine it will create duplicate versions of all your data.

Better advice would be to open Time Machine and delete your big-ticket items like your music and video collections. That should free up enough space to backup your new machine without losing your existing Time Machine history.

Better to re-pair the new Mac with the existing Time Machine history
Authored by: zhell on Tue, Nov 3 2009 at 9:14AM PST

For those who care about their existing Time Machine history, this hint about re-pairing with time machine after logic board swap might be more appropriate.

Repair a Time Machine error after restoring from Time Machine
Authored by: robogobo on Wed, Nov 4 2009 at 1:36AM PST

It's not clear in the hint what the OP means by "full backup". I think some assume that means erasing all the old backups, but I think he means just allow TM to do a normal backup, and the rest will remain intact.

I can confirm this error, although I got it on my brother in law's machine spontaneously (I guess- I don't know what he did), not following a restore. I couldn't figure out what to do with it, so we made sure we had everything else backed up (cloned regularly), erased the TM disk and started from scratch. If it happens again I'll try this hint just for info, and then get a bigger drive.

The problem seems to be one where TM loses its place somehow, and doesn't know where to pick back up.

mini cd inserted into the macbook pro
Authored by: mini on Fri, Nov 6 2009 at 5:39AM PST

I recently inserted those small cd's which are used for handycams, into the slot drive of my macbook pro. Like you guessed it is stuck and wont come out. can anyone please suggest what I could do to get it out?

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