I HATE Time Machine

[BLUEDOG314]

If you want a better backup solution with more flexibility and have old hardware lying around (or don't mind spending some money) you can put a freenas box together. Crashplan I think still has free local backup capability that you can target your freenas box with.

 

[JoSch]

Time Machine saved my butt a lot of times, but because TM over network is by nature slow, I have two USB3 hdds for my iMac and my MacbookPro.

 

[lockerc18]

So you're complaining about something that is free, while not being willing to pay for a replacement.

Have you contacted Apple Support or WD support about it? Apple doesn't officially support Time Machine on network-connected hard drives other than an Apple Time Capsule base station, or a hard drive plugged in to the USB port on an AirPort base station.

You don't get it. MacOS isn't free. Irrespective of that, Apple puts its brand on it, so I absolutely expect that it works as well as the other Apple products. TM doesn't. I've spent most of my career developing operating systems. I would never allow a system component or app to continue in the marketplace with the kinds of problems TM has. Apple has spent considerable time partnering with WD for a variety of reasons, and TM is one. They both need to work together to make this app work.

I paid a lot for my MBP. I expect ALL of it to work. I see no reason why I should have to pay for something else to replace a part of MacOS that just doesn't work.

I haven't contacted Apple Support about this. My past experience in contacting them has been less than satisfying. I've had them tell me "Well, I can't replicate your problem here, so there's really nothing I can do to help you" too many times. But I've read about a lot of other people contacting them, with similar experiences. That's anecdotal, but Apple should have gotten the message by now that they have a problem with TM and need to address it.

 

[andiwm2003]

The bluetooth on my MBP wasn't working so at the apple store the "genius" told me to make a time machine backup, then they installed their diagnostic OS and fixed my bluetooth and then i was supposed to just restore the computer from the time machine backup. all on usb wired hard drives.
Time machine immediately threw an error out and restored only about half my data and apps. The problem seems that the "diagnostic OS" was an earlier version of the OS than what was on my Time machine and the "genius" didn't know that that doesn't allow timem meachine to do a full restore. Great, I just lost half of my data. Fortunately I always have a recent carbon copy cloner clone available. Simple restore from that and 3 hrs later my MBP worked exactly as before with all my data there.

Lesson: NEVER EVER use time machine as your backup. Use a true clone of your computer and have always at least one on site and one off site clone, just in case your house burns down......

 

[Cyprusian]

In my experience, TM worked perfectly without any issues for many years backing up to a Time Capsule.

When my Time Capsule died last year, after Apple decided to discontinue this product, I replaced it with a Synology DS218j NAS (with the additional security of RAID 1 mirrored disks) to backup my iMac and MBP.

Initial attempts to use TM to backup to my NAS were successful, but these later failed in a similar manner to that described in other posts above. Support options ultimately frustrated me by falling into the inevitable gap between two separate suppliers - Synology and Apple.

I now use Acronis True Image to backup my Macs successfully to my Synology NAS over Wi-Fi.

I have always really liked TM so, in true belt-and-braces fashion, I also run TM to external USB drives on both my Macs without encountering encountering any problems.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"Irrespective of that, Apple puts its brand on it, so I absolutely expect that it works as well as the other Apple products..."

Your expectations are unreasonable and unrealistic.
I suggest you re-evaluate them.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Okay, so you're too cold on Apple support to contact Apple about it, you haven't even tried.

Have you tried WD support? Have you tried plugging a USB drive in and seeing if the same issue occurs?

This feels like you aren't actually trying to troubleshoot, you just keep trying, then you come to a public forum to bitch, rather than seek actual assistance in resolving.

 

[BorderingOn]

Apple should probably pull time machine at some point since they’ve given up on time capsule. I still wonder why iCloud backup isn’t a thing on Mac.

I’ve used time capsule and third party NAS successfully but the NAS did require manual clean-up from time to time. That wasn’t Apple’s fault, though. And I don’t see how it’s Apple’s responsibility to support a third party product.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Damn. Yeah, if they did iCloud backup on the Mac, they could make a killing on iCloud storage upgrades. And still be cheaper than dedicated cloud backup services.

 

[lockerc18]

Okay, so you're too cold on Apple support to contact Apple about it, you haven't even tried.

Have you tried WD support? Have you tried plugging a USB drive in and seeing if the same issue occurs?

This feels like you aren't actually trying to troubleshoot, you just keep trying, then you come to a public forum to bitch, rather than seek actual assistance in resolving.

What is the problem with a vendor like Apple having all its products work as they say they will?

As it turns out, I've deleted the old backups, and it's now backing up again. Taking 3 days to complete it, of course. But it seems to be working. Tell me how this is a WD problem.
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Damn. Yeah, if they did iCloud backup on the Mac, they could make a killing on iCloud storage upgrades. And still be cheaper than dedicated cloud backup services.

I agree. I backup my iPhone and iPad to iCloud, so why not my MBP? I'd actually much prefer that to having a NAS. But, ever since Sierra my documents folder has already been in iCloud, so maybe I don't need to backup at all.

 

[BLUEDOG314]

The way I see it, turn on desktop and documents in iCloud, move iTunes directory into a subfolder in iCloud, and the same with downloads if you really want to. At this point you can wipe your computer and redownload your apps and you're good.

My personal opinion with backups is I always keep myself in a position where I can drag and drop just a few folders to an external drive and wipe your machine, redownloading apps, and dragging content back over. I get the appeal of an easy backup program, but in practice I think you're just waiting to be disappointed eventually.

 

[Weaselboy]

Tell me how this is a WD problem.

I don't think any of us knows for certain, but I backed up over the network to an Apple Time Capsule for years and never had a problem, and there do seem to be a string of reports with people like yourself having trouble with third party networking solutions (like a NAS). I have always wondered if it is something about the networking software in some of the third party devices that breaks Time Machine compatibility.

 

[CTHarrryH]

You'd have to have huge amount of Icloud storage to make this work on a MAC I'd rather buy a hard drive than pay that type of money for iCloud storage.
I have had no TM problems other than one caused by a 3rd party software that published the problem and how to fix (a couple of threads on that already).

 

[Kynwal]

Time Machine is just plain terrible. I've been struggling with an error saying it can't delete the backup and then it fails. This has been going on for months. So, I dug into this and found out how to delete the backup, which I did, and which took forever. Then it took 2 DAYS doing a fresh backup, which worked. And lots of subsequent backups have worked over the past week. But now TM tells me all backups were verified, and it has to start a new backup, then I get this stupid error message again, and it dies.

I use a WD MyCloud NAS and it has NO problems. This is a TM problem. I am sick and tired of this stupid tool. I backup my Win10 system to the same NAS and it takes 18 minutes and I've NEVER had a problem with it. I backup my iPhone to iCloud, not the NAS, and it takes about a minute. Why the heck does TM take so long to backup, and then is so darn unreliable on top of that???

Apple should be ashamed to ship an app like this. Doggone, this is maddening.

Yes, TM is completely crap. I have had the same problems that you've described with WD NAS and my MBP: not being able to get a backup started, randomly stopping half way. It's not a WD problem either. I also have exactly the same thing with backups crashing out part way through with a USB connected drive. I have never had this problem with a windows machine and either device. I don't mind the software telling me that the device isn't compatible - what I cannot forgive is the shoddy way that it *appears* to be working whilst giving you absolutely no feedback. I have had working backups now and again, but frankly I don't trust them !!!

 

[madrich]

https://www.macworld.com/article/31...psule-as-an-ethernet-only-storage-device.html

I use this setup with a direct cable connection. Works great!

 

[igor max]

Time Machine is just plain terrible. I've been struggling with an error saying it can't delete the backup and then it fails. This has been going on for months. So, I dug into this and found out how to delete the backup, which I did, and which took forever. Then it took 2 DAYS doing a fresh backup, which worked. And lots of subsequent backups have worked over the past week. But now TM tells me all backups were verified, and it has to start a new backup, then I get this stupid error message again, and it dies.

I use a WD MyCloud NAS and it has NO problems. This is a TM problem. I am sick and tired of this stupid tool. I backup my Win10 system to the same NAS and it takes 18 minutes and I've NEVER had a problem with it. I backup my iPhone to iCloud, not the NAS, and it takes about a minute. Why the heck does TM take so long to backup, and then is so darn unreliable on top of that???

Apple should be ashamed to ship an app like this. Doggone, this is maddening.

I agree. Time machine works almost perfectly for me but I have to stop using it and find another solution. The problem is that I backup on external hard drives via firewire, and while I'm pretty good about remembering to plug them in every once in a while to keep backups current, and I can then access those backups pretty easily, they only work on that computer. If I try to connect the backup drive to a different computer, there's no permission to access the files, and changing permissions doesn't help. All the folders have the red minus sign over them. I called Apple and they said there's no way this will every work because my computers are different ages and the backups are not compatible with every computer. What's the point of a backup system that won't work on a different computer?! Let's say one of my computers drops on the floor and dies. All those backups would be worthless because no other computer would be able to read them. I used to use carbon copy clone. It's not as convenient day to day, but at least it works in an emergency, so I'm probably going to make the switch. It's pretty cheap, but yes I wish it was free. Apple should spend some of its mountain of cash to buy CCC and ditch Time Machine.