Problems restoring Time Machine files after Maverick upgrade

[Philip McGarva]

Hello All

I'm having some problems after installing 10.9 from 10.7.4 a few days ago. I very much hope someone can help out. I've lost all my email, which included software registration codes etc. This is a big problem.

Entering Time Machine, all backups for the past year are unavailable - they will not highlight when I mouseover. There are a few very old backups that are available and do highlight.

If I simply go to my TM disk (an external drive) via Finder, I can access ALL the backups, and restore data files by copying and pasting. Obviously I can't use this method for installed programs, but that isn't a huge problem. The actions I describe from now on refer to accessing the TM disk via Finder.

I use Thunderbird for email, which stores its email backups in a user profile in one of these paths:

Macintosh HD/Users/<username>/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/<Profile name>
Macintosh HD/Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/Thunderbird/Profiles/<Profile name>

For some reason, even though Thunderbird was working fine before I installed 10.9, these paths don't exist in my TM backups - there is no Library folder for my username, even though I have unhid the Library folder in the Finder > Home > View Options in 10.9, although I'm not sure if this will apply to TM backups created under 10.7.4.

Perhaps there is / was another hide / unhide Library folder option in 10.7.4 that is no longer accessible that could be causing this problem? There doesn't seem to be any way to specifically target the TM disk via Finder to unhide the Library folders.

My question is: Why is there no Library folder for my username on the TM disk, or why can't I see it? I do have a Library folder for my username on the 10.9 Macintosh HD.

Thank you very much for any ideas you may offer!

Phil

 

[oldscribe]

Hi and welcome,

What version of TB are you running think it should be something like 24.1.1:, also please give Mac specs.

 

[Philip McGarva]

Hi Oldscribe

Thanks for your reply. I installed TB version 24.1.1 after installing OS 10.9. The version I was using previously under OS 10.7.4 was version 17.0.8.

Mac specs 27" Imac Late 2009 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 4 GB 1067 MHz RAM

I've just noticed something else that seems relevant. I booted into OS X Utilities mode by holding down option and restarting, and chose the Time Machine disk to start from. The utility allows restores from a TM disk, and when I choose this I can see 3 drives in the drop-down menu.

The first is my current drive with the few recent 10.9 backups and a few 10.7.4 backups from over a year ago - the same ones I can access by entering TM after booting normally.

The second shows all the 10.7.4 backups that are not available by entering TM after booting normally. These are the ones I most need.

The third is the WIndows 7 volume I installed via Boot Camp the same time I installed 10.9 and includes only 1 very recent 10.9 backup.

It's starting to look like the problem is related to HD naming / formatting that occurs when installing 10.9 and Boot Camp. By the way, when I installed these, I had to reformat my HD as Boot Camp didn't like it as it was previously, and wouldn't simply add a Windows partition.

Cheers

 

[oldscribe]

Hi,

Sorry can offer no help re win partition and it's relevance as I have never boot camped. But think you are in the correct area regarding your thinking.
Using OS X utilities is a direct route thus showing all, where as normal boot has to take into account the Win partition.
Sorry I can not be more definitive, and regarding your emails, depending on how you have your mail boxes setup within TB your server should retain the original emails.
Bottom line is you have found a way to access lost mail and all backups which is good news.