Time Machine backups to external drive keep failing

[PaulSWE]

Hi, I hope this is okay to post here.

I've been using an iMac with an external 4TB WD Passport for a daily Time Machine backup for several years without any issues...until now. Time Machine backup has stalled part way through and the relevant backup file on the WD Passport shows as 'in progress', it's been like this for days now and no progress is taking place. I've tried deleting the 'in progress' backup file from the Passport drive but this process also fails and returns the following message:

The operation can't be completed because some items had to be skipped. For each item, choose File>Get Info, make sure 'Locked' is deselected and then check the sharing & permissions section. When you are sure the items are unlocked and not designated as Read Only or No Access, try again.

I'm not able to follow the instructions on that message as I can't actually see which items have been skipped, there is no list of skipped items displayed.

I've tried disconnecting the WD passport from Time Machine and deleting the file but the same message comes back.

I've also tried to do a manual backup via Time Machine but this also failed and gave the following message:

Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to 'my passport for Mac'. "/System/Library/AssetsV2/com_apple_MobileAsset_phoneNumberResolver/9526c8d5b775c3bc35e3e7ca8d70de76c5e3db58.asset" could not be backed up.

I've no idea what any of that means to be honest as I have limited tech knowledge.

I'd be really grateful if someone could advise me on how best to resolve this.

I'm using a 2017 iMac running Ventura 13.7.5.

 

[TonyAguila]

Hi, I hope this is okay to post here.

I've been using an iMac with an external 4TB WD Passport for a daily Time Machine backup for several years without any issues...until now. Time Machine backup has stalled part way through and the relevant backup file on the WD Passport shows as 'in progress', it's been like this for days now and no progress is taking place. I've tried deleting the 'in progress' backup file from the Passport drive but this process also fails and returns the following message:

The operation can't be completed because some items had to be skipped. For each item, choose File>Get Info, make sure 'Locked' is deselected and then check the sharing & permissions section. When you are sure the items are unlocked and not designated as Read Only or No Access, try again.

I'm not able to follow the instructions on that message as I can't actually see which items have been skipped, there is no list of skipped items displayed.

I've tried disconnecting the WD passport from Time Machine and deleting the file but the same message comes back.

I've also tried to do a manual backup via Time Machine but this also failed and gave the following message:

Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to 'my passport for Mac'. "/System/Library/AssetsV2/com_apple_MobileAsset_phoneNumberResolver/9526c8d5b775c3bc35e3e7ca8d70de76c5e3db58.asset" could not be backed up.

I've no idea what any of that means to be honest as I have limited tech knowledge.

I'd be really grateful if someone could advise me on how best to resolve this.

I'm using a 2017 iMac running Ventura 13.7.5.

Have you reinstalled Ventura lately? Over time, system files can get damaged and corrupted and it’s good practice to reinstall or update macOS as part of systems maintenance. Is 13.7.5 the latest version of Ventura? Unfortunately I cannot check myself because ever since I switched over to the new Mac Studio M4 Max, I cannot run anything earlier than Sequoia. My older Studio could run Monterey and later and I had external volumes with Monterey and later systems installed in order to access older apps that I still have and use.

The first thing I would recommend is to reinstall macOS Ventura and see if Time Machine will work again. The other thing to try is to get another external drive, erase it formatted APFS and see if you can start a new Time Machine backup to that. It’s also wise to have more than one Time Machine backup. I have three 12-terabyte drives for this purpose, in addition to regular backups using Carbon Copy Cloner for each of the volumes in my setup.

As soon as I can, I will send the old Studio for repairs—still under AppleCare—in hopes of using it as my second station for accessing older programs and resurrecting my older macOS volumes (Monterey up to Sonoma) once more.

Anyway, back to your situation, I would recommend updating or reinstalling macOS and trying Time Machine again—either to the old one or from scratch on a new drive. I always keep a copy of the macOS installer that I currently use because it never hurts to reinstall it regularly.