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Backup problems with Catalina

Hello everyone,

I work as IT administrator in a school and we're having problems with backups on our Macs.

We have a QNAP NAS that works very well (on the same NAS we can successfully backup Windows computers).

After updating our Macs to Catalina we keep having problems with backups. The NAS is configured as shown on QNAP website, SMB 3 is activated and also AFP is turned on and we have enough space on the disk.

Despite this, when we start a backup, Time Machine says that "to improve reliability" must create a new backup and after some time (completely random) the backup stops saying something like "error while copying files". The error is very generic and no further information is provided.

All of our Macs have the same problems.

To what I remember, before updating to Catalina, the backups were working without problems.

Any idea?


Thanks in advance for your help


Angelo G.

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Sep 22, 2020 1:51 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 5, 2020 11:31 PM

The following may or may not help?


https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/mh35860/mac

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/mh15139/10.15/mac/10.15


Pay attention to the information at the bottom of the second link.


QNAP's support for Time Machine is here:


https://www.qnap.com/en/how-to/tutorial/article/using-time-machine-to-back-up-your-mac-to-a-qnap-nas-via-smb/


It only mentions High Sierra. MacOS Mojave followed which introduced some major changes and these have continued in Catalina. Perhaps that's where the problem lies? Contacting QNAP support may get you further than here?


Good luck.

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11 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 5, 2020 11:31 PM in response to angelo_tiesse

The following may or may not help?


https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/mh35860/mac

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/mh15139/10.15/mac/10.15


Pay attention to the information at the bottom of the second link.


QNAP's support for Time Machine is here:


https://www.qnap.com/en/how-to/tutorial/article/using-time-machine-to-back-up-your-mac-to-a-qnap-nas-via-smb/


It only mentions High Sierra. MacOS Mojave followed which introduced some major changes and these have continued in Catalina. Perhaps that's where the problem lies? Contacting QNAP support may get you further than here?


Good luck.

Oct 6, 2020 1:01 AM in response to Antonio Rocco

Hi Antonio,

thank you very much for your answer.


Unfortunately I have already checked all the links you have written.


After some analysis we found that maybe ESET antivirus is causing the problem, but no solution has been found yet.


We continue to have problems completing backups (even if the antivirus is configured with exclusions as indicated by ESET) and (more serious) we continue to receive the message that "to improve reliability" Time Machine must create a new backup.


It is dangerous because, if we decide to start a new backup and continue to have problems completing the backups, there will be no backups and the backup history will be lost.


Oct 6, 2020 11:56 AM in response to angelo_tiesse

Only my opinion but I don't think Time Machine is "enterprise" enough for your needs. Fine for a small network of maybe up to 10 users, really good if its just one or two, but in a school environment? I don't think so. I've installed and deployed thousands of Macs in various educational institutions in the UK and abroad over the years and Time Machine would never have been on my list of back-up "solutions" for any of them.


Before you get any deeper into this and potentially an even bigger mess I would look for something more suited to your needs such as what you're already using for your Windows network.

Oct 7, 2020 12:14 AM in response to Antonio Rocco

Hi Antonio, thank you again for your help.


I understand what you say.

But actually, our staff is made of 6 to 8 people with Macs, all of the students and teachers use iPads.

I thought that Time Machine was solid enough to keep their Macs backed up.


There must be problems elsewhere with ESET antivirus because yesterday we found out that the same issue occurred in another environment with just only one MacBook Pro (with ESET antivirus installed) backing up to Time Capsule (we had problems completing backups and, if the first backup is completed, Time Machine keeps asking to create new backups to improve reliability).

Oct 7, 2020 12:59 PM in response to angelo_tiesse

No criticism intended here and I'm truly trying to be helpful but what viruses are you protecting the Macs from? Apart from ticking some legacy policy requirement made (probably) when you had an all PC network, I have to ask where's the common sense in it? Why install something on a platform that's potentially causing back-up issues?


I'm guessing ESET is your MDM for your iOS estate, obviously on the same network with no anti-virus installed. All your PCs will for certain have it installed so why install it on the Macs? If it was me I would re-think the strategy regarding your Macs, disable the A/V and see if TM (if you persist with it) starts working again.

Oct 7, 2020 1:54 PM in response to celliott147

@ celliott147 - my thanks for reminding me although I already knew this.


However some of my customers include local UK governments and NHS sites - with heavily policed (and I mean very strict) networks - with small-ish (30-100 approx) Mac estates and although they have A/V installed (MacAfee, Sophos etc but not ESET) their Macs have not been targeted and they're not likely to either.


Basically their PCs are far easier targets. Human natures = path of least resistance.


I've been using Macs (and other platforms) for 39 years and in my experience you need a lot of help to get anything truly 'nasty' installed on a Mac. Worst I've seen, in all those years, is the "Leonardo Virus" and the "Auto-Start Worm" back in the early 90s on System 9. The "Virus" amounted to a banner flying across the screen on the 15th of April wishing Leonardo da Vinci "Happy Birthday". Flew across the screen once and that was it. The "Worm" rebooted the Mac when printing. Terrifying!


Admittedly things have moved on and perhaps I've just been (very) lucky but I've not seen anywhere near as devastating since then on any Mac that I've owned, used or support then or now.


My 2p.

Backup problems with Catalina

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