Restore Mac From Time Machine Backup

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Level 1

9 points

Restore Mac From Time Machine Backup

Recently our firm’s iMac Shared PC, the Server on our LAN, had its System File corrupted and wouldn’t startup. The Apple logo appeared but the progress bar advanced only one third along then stalled.

We tried resetting the NVRAM and SMC, starting in Recovery Mode to access Disk Utility and run First Aid, starting in Safe Mode, nothing worked. Took the machine to Apple’s Genius Bar who ran hardware test and resolved that as the hardware is good the only option was to erase and reinstall macOS Ventura, asking if we backup our data. Since we have two NAS drives on our LAN and our Sever performs successful Time Machine backups to both, we gave the go-ahead.

Returned the Server to our workplace, connecting to the LAN, started up and faced with the dialogue; ‘What do you want to do?’ we selected Restore From Time Machine Backup, navigated to the Server’s most recent sparsebundle on the appropriate NAS and watched the cog spin forever so aborted the process. Tried disconnecting the Server from the network and directly connecting the NAS by USB but same result. Let the Server be setup as a new PC and launched Migration Assistant to try the above process again but same result.

Now in a panic, we double clicked the sparsebundle to open it and navigated through Mac HD > Users > Server and recovered our Desktop, Documents, Downloads and Pictures. They are the locations that the certain Apps like Pages, Numbers lets the User choose when saving. But Apps that don’t give the User any choice; Calendar, Mail and Notes can’t be found. We think such data is in the hidden Library revealed in Finder's Option+Go but that’s not the same as the ordinary Library one sees in Finder > Mac HD > Library.

How does one find the hidden Library in a sparsebundle since Option+Go works locally on the Finder, not on a remote file?

Thanks so much for any advice.

iMac (2017 – 2020)

Posted on Nov 8, 2024 8:49 PM

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Answer 1

rkaufmann87

Level 10

144,132 points

Nov 12, 2024 9:01 AM in response to Land4Sale

This is my opinion and others may not agree which I respect. IMHO Time Machine works best when it has a dedicated External Hard Disk that it is attached to. If you want to have redundant (very wise decision) backups then create a bootable clone on a second External Hard Disk using either SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner. Both apps do the same thing so whichever you decide on you will be fine. Another strategy is to have 2 Time Machine EHD's and cycle them out periodically and store off-site in the event of a catastrophe such as a fire or theft.

Again, these are my opinions on Time Machine strategies however they have worked very well for me for well over 20 years.

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Answer 2

John Galt

Level 10

146,510 points

Nov 12, 2024 9:16 AM in response to Land4Sale

The specific problem you cite is well known to occur with non-Apple NAS devices in general, and Synology's NAS devices in particular.

Peruse this site for countless examples, including my own personal experience with Synology. After having conclusively proven to them their NAS device was not reliable for restoring entire systems, and after exhaustive troubleshooting including reducing the network configuration to its most basic, they very reluctantly refunded my money.

Since then I have grown to rely upon unequivocally supported Time Machine backup devices — specifically, those from the following exhaustive list:

Directly connected conventional hard disk drives,
Conventional hard disk drives directly connected to Apple AirPort Extreme Base Stations (the most recent 802.11ac models),
Apple AirPort Time Capsule (all models ever produced), and
Hard disk drives connected to the Time Capsule.

That is all. No failures to back up or restore, ever. Not 99.999% reliable; 100% reliable.

Backup disks you can use with Time Machine - Apple Support

There are a few users of this site whose opinion I respect who have had a different experience with Synology. I offer no explanation for that. There can obviously be a large number of causal factors, but my data are too important to rely upon anything that isn't 100% reliable. The point is I had enough, so I gave up on Synology.

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Answer 3

rkaufmann87

Level 10

144,132 points

Nov 9, 2024 12:18 AM in response to Land4Sale

My recommendation is to contact the support people for your NAS. I am not a big proponent of using a NAS for a Time Machine backup. Many times I see people that use NAS's and they work until they don't and the issue is almost always an issue with the NAS's software. This is why I am suggesting to start with the support team for your NAS system.

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Answer 4

Land4Sale Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 12, 2024 8:01 AM in response to rkaufmann87

Thank you for your advice. It never occurred to me that Synology's operating system built into their NASs might interfere with a TM backup. We'll try contacting their Support.

Would you suggest that we use a 'dumb' NAS, by that I mean ordinary hard drives with no web interface to a dashboard, just blank?

So nothing to do with Synology... did you have any thoughts on how to reveal a User's hidden library within the TM's sparsebundle? The sparsebundle is obviously not corrupt. It's intact and an exact mirror of our Server's Folders and Files. Maybe I should ask the techs at Apple Genius Bar.

Thanks.

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