Re: Time Capsule back ups slowed to a crawl

[Ronda Brown]

Hi Steven,

How To Repair the Time Machine  File System on a disk, partition, or sparse 
bundle disc image(not the physical hardware).



Sent from Ronni's iPad

On 22/02/2011, at 5:25 AM, Steven Knowles  wrote:

> Thanks Ronni.
> 
> Yes, 1TB, spot on. I'm a decade behind the times.
> 
> Sadly none of the A through D suggestions were applicable in my case, however 
> TC did eventually reach the end of a back up it seems, though still behaving 
> badly, as in slow. Right now I'm trying to see if Disk Utility can make an 
> assessment. Currently "checking catalog file" with just 1 day and 4 hours 
> estimated time remaining! Maybe my TC has reached the end of its useful life 
> - nearly 3 years old now. We'll see.
> 
> Cheers, Steven
> 
> 
> On 21/02/2011, at 8:24 PM, Ronda Brown wrote:
> 
>> Hi Steven,
>> 
>> On 21/02/2011, at 4:01 PM, Steven Knowles wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> I have a MacBook Pro running 10.6.6 backing up to a 1GB TC (running 
>>> software version 7.5.2).
>> 
>> I guess you mean a 1TB Time Capsule ;-)
>>> 
>>> Suddenly the backing up process has slowed to an absolute crawl, even when 
>>> connected via ethernet. I've rebooted the TC a few times, no improvement.
>> 
>> A) Did you have a ‘failed backup’ just prior to this slowing down?
>> 
>> The first backup after one that failed or was cancelled may appear to be 
>> running very slowly, while Time Machine "recovers" the partial "in.Progress" 
>> file from the previous one.  
>> Give it a long time before deciding there's a problem.
>> 
>> B) The first backup after removing certain exclusions, especially System 
>> Folders and/or Applications, can appear to be extremely slow, as they 
>> involve tens of thousands of mostly very small files.  
>> It may also seem to report that it’s reached the amount to be backed-up, but 
>> then the amount will increase (often very slowly).
>> 
>> C) Did you notice if Spotlight was indexing when the slowdowns started?
>> Exclude it from Spotlight, via System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy.
>> Spotlight might decide to start indexing the backup volume while the backup 
>> is in progress, causing a huge slowdown in backup speed (doubling or even 
>> quadrupling the required time, not to mention sucking up CPU time).
>> 
>> The solution? Exclude all backup volumes, and remember that after erasing a 
>> drive, you’ll have to re-exclude it; Spotlight has the temerity to forget 
>> about the excluded volume once it’s erased, even if the name remains the 
>> same.
>> 
>> D) If you’re using the Directory Protection feature of Tech Tool Pro, 
>> exclude your Time Machine volume from it. 
>> It can slow your backups down significantly, and it won’t help fix a problem 
>> there, anyway. 
>> In addition, you probably want to exclude its files from Time Machine 
>> backups, as they may cause large backups.
>> 
>>> 
>>> The TC has 270GB of space available, so I don't see that as an issue.
>>> 
>>> Any suggestions as to what the cause of slowness might be? Trying to avoid 
>>> a full reformat of the TC if I can.
>> 
>> Cheers,
>> Ronni
>> 
>> 17" MacBook Pro  Intel Core i7
>> 2.66GHz / 8GB / 1067 MHz DDR3 / 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200rpm
>> 
>> OS X 10.6.6 Snow Leopard
>> Windows 7 Ultimate (under sufferance)
>> 
> 
> 
> 
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Re: Time Capsule back ups slowed to a crawl

[Steven Knowles]

Thanks Ronni.

Yes, 1TB, spot on. I'm a decade behind the times.

Sadly none of the A through D suggestions were applicable in my case, however 
TC did eventually reach the end of a back up it seems, though still behaving 
badly, as in slow. Right now I'm trying to see if Disk Utility can make an 
assessment. Currently "checking catalog file" with just 1 day and 4 hours 
estimated time remaining! Maybe my TC has reached the end of its useful life - 
nearly 3 years old now. We'll see.

Cheers, Steven


On 21/02/2011, at 8:24 PM, Ronda Brown wrote:

> Hi Steven,
> 
> On 21/02/2011, at 4:01 PM, Steven Knowles wrote:
> 
>> 
>> I have a MacBook Pro running 10.6.6 backing up to a 1GB TC (running software 
>> version 7.5.2).
> 
> I guess you mean a 1TB Time Capsule ;-)
>> 
>> Suddenly the backing up process has slowed to an absolute crawl, even when 
>> connected via ethernet. I've rebooted the TC a few times, no improvement.
> 
> A) Did you have a ‘failed backup’ just prior to this slowing down?
> 
> The first backup after one that failed or was cancelled may appear to be 
> running very slowly, while Time Machine "recovers" the partial "in.Progress" 
> file from the previous one.  
> Give it a long time before deciding there's a problem.
> 
> B) The first backup after removing certain exclusions, especially System 
> Folders and/or Applications, can appear to be extremely slow, as they involve 
> tens of thousands of mostly very small files.  
> It may also seem to report that it’s reached the amount to be backed-up, but 
> then the amount will increase (often very slowly).
> 
> C) Did you notice if Spotlight was indexing when the slowdowns started?
> Exclude it from Spotlight, via System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy.
> Spotlight might decide to start indexing the backup volume while the backup 
> is in progress, causing a huge slowdown in backup speed (doubling or even 
> quadrupling the required time, not to mention sucking up CPU time).
> 
> The solution? Exclude all backup volumes, and remember that after erasing a 
> drive, you’ll have to re-exclude it; Spotlight has the temerity to forget 
> about the excluded volume once it’s erased, even if the name remains the same.
> 
> D) If you’re using the Directory Protection feature of Tech Tool Pro, exclude 
> your Time Machine volume from it. 
> It can slow your backups down significantly, and it won’t help fix a problem 
> there, anyway. 
> In addition, you probably want to exclude its files from Time Machine 
> backups, as they may cause large backups.
> 
>> 
>> The TC has 270GB of space available, so I don't see that as an issue.
>> 
>> Any suggestions as to what the cause of slowness might be? Trying to avoid a 
>> full reformat of the TC if I can.
> 
> Cheers,
> Ronni
> 
> 17" MacBook Pro  Intel Core i7
> 2.66GHz / 8GB / 1067 MHz DDR3 / 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200rpm
> 
> OS X 10.6.6 Snow Leopard
> Windows 7 Ultimate (under sufferance)
> 



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Re: Time Capsule back ups slowed to a crawl

[Ronda Brown]

Hi Steven,

On 21/02/2011, at 4:01 PM, Steven Knowles wrote:

> 
> I have a MacBook Pro running 10.6.6 backing up to a 1GB TC (running software 
> version 7.5.2).

I guess you mean a 1TB Time Capsule ;-)
> 
> Suddenly the backing up process has slowed to an absolute crawl, even when 
> connected via ethernet. I've rebooted the TC a few times, no improvement.

A) Did you have a ‘failed backup’ just prior to this slowing down?

The first backup after one that failed or was cancelled may appear to be 
running very slowly, while Time Machine "recovers" the partial "in.Progress" 
file from the previous one.  
Give it a long time before deciding there's a problem.

B) The first backup after removing certain exclusions, especially System 
Folders and/or Applications, can appear to be extremely slow, as they involve 
tens of thousands of mostly very small files.  
It may also seem to report that it’s reached the amount to be backed-up, but 
then the amount will increase (often very slowly).

C) Did you notice if Spotlight was indexing when the slowdowns started?
Exclude it from Spotlight, via System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy.
Spotlight might decide to start indexing the backup volume while the backup is 
in progress, causing a huge slowdown in backup speed (doubling or even 
quadrupling the required time, not to mention sucking up CPU time).

The solution? Exclude all backup volumes, and remember that after erasing a 
drive, you’ll have to re-exclude it; Spotlight has the temerity to forget about 
the excluded volume once it’s erased, even if the name remains the same.

D) If you’re using the Directory Protection feature of Tech Tool Pro, exclude 
your Time Machine volume from it. 
It can slow your backups down significantly, and it won’t help fix a problem 
there, anyway. 
In addition, you probably want to exclude its files from Time Machine backups, 
as they may cause large backups.

> 
> The TC has 270GB of space available, so I don't see that as an issue.
> 
> Any suggestions as to what the cause of slowness might be? Trying to avoid a 
> full reformat of the TC if I can.

Cheers,
Ronni

17" MacBook Pro  Intel Core i7
2.66GHz / 8GB / 1067 MHz DDR3 / 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200rpm

OS X 10.6.6 Snow Leopard
Windows 7 Ultimate (under sufferance)











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