Time Machine backup failure

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Level 1

4 points

Time Machine backup failure

I've been trying to back up my computer to my external hard drive via Time Machine on my early 2015 Macbook Pro, but get an error every time. It states 'Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to "Seagate Backup Plus Drive" - An error occurred while preparing the backup.'

I'm using macOS Monterery v12.0.1 and my last successful backup was on October 27, which was before I upgraded my operating system. I've tried deleting the ".inprogress" file from my hard drive before backing up again, following the suggestions of this forum by clearing the Time Machine snapshots, using Disk Utility on my hard drive. Nothing's worked so far and I'm questioning if I should buy another hard drive, even though my current one had 1.73 TB available.

After running the Time Machine logs, the only hint I get from this problem is the following error:

Backup failed (301: BACKUP_FAILED_PREFLIGHT_STAGE_DATABASE_GENERATION)

Any idea on what that error means or how to solve my backup issue?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.0

Posted on Nov 18, 2021 8:47 PM

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Answer 1

jdo_apple

Community Specialist

Nov 19, 2021 3:11 PM in response to 30wizard

Thanks for reaching out, 30wizard.

It sounds like you're having some difficulty with making a Time Machine backup, and the steps you've tried so far have not resolved the issue. We can help.

At this point, from what you've told us and after reviewing the steps you've tried, our recommendation is to Contact Apple for support and service.

Hope that helps!

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