Mozy for Mac - backup does not start [updated]

I've been a Mozy for Mac user for a couple of months now and my backup (which is admittedly very large) still hasn't completed for the first time, despite my machine being left on pretty much 24x7. I am backing up a LOT of data (over 85GB) so I knew it was going to take a while but one problem seems to have been recurring, preventing the backup even starting on many occasions. Here are two typical sections of the Mozy.log file.

2008-08-01 20:11:39.505 MozyBackup[41:601b] (backup) Starting backup
2008-08-01 20:11:39.582 MozyBackup[41:601b] (backup) Checking for update
2008-08-01 20:11:40.084 MozyBackup[41:601b] (backup) Connecting to r4165.mozy.client.ut1.berkeleydata.com (66.133.112.24)
2008-08-01 20:11:40.552 MozyBackup[41:601b] (backup) Version is up-to-date (1.0.1.0)
2008-08-01 20:12:52.035 MozyBackup[41:601b] (backup) User ID is [my user ID]
2008-08-01 20:12:52.036 MozyBackup[41:601b] (backup) Cleaning up temporary files
2008-08-01 20:12:52.055 MozyBackup[41:601b] (backup) Starting full scan
2008-08-01 20:13:09.846 MozyBackup[41:601b] (backup) Starting filesystem churn
2008-08-01 20:13:09.904 MozyBackup[41:601b] (backup) Waiting for filesystem churn to end
2008-08-01 20:22:50.694 MozyBackup[41:601b] (backup) Starting backup set churn
2008-08-01 20:22:50.765 MozyBackup[41:601b] (backup) Waiting for backup set churn to end
2008-08-01 22:47:40.910 MozyBackup[41:4603] (updater) Error adding changes to scan cache: database is locked
2008-08-01 23:47:40.935 MozyBackup[41:4603] (updater) Error adding changes to scan cache: database is locked
2008-08-02 00:34:48.026 MozyBackup[41:4603] (updater) Error adding changes to scan cache: database is locked

Another typical behavior is shown here:

2008-08-02 09:49:35.127 MozyBackup[42:5b23] (backup) Starting backup
2008-08-02 09:49:35.129 MozyBackup[42:5b23] (backup) Checking for update
2008-08-02 09:49:35.526 MozyBackup[42:5b23] (backup) Connecting to r4165.mozy.client.ut1.berkeleydata.com (66.133.112.24)
2008-08-02 09:49:36.069 MozyBackup[42:5b23] (backup) Version is up-to-date (1.0.1.0)
2008-08-02 09:49:42.297 MozyBackup[42:5b23] (backup) User ID is [my user ID]
2008-08-02 09:49:42.298 MozyBackup[42:5b23] (backup) Cleaning up temporary files
2008-08-02 09:49:42.300 MozyBackup[42:5b23] (backup) Starting full scan
2008-08-02 09:49:53.378 MozyBackup[42:5b23] (backup) Starting filesystem churn
2008-08-02 09:49:53.382 MozyBackup[42:5b23] (backup) Waiting for filesystem churn to end
2008-08-02 09:52:45.956 MozyBackup[42:5b23] (backup) Starting backup set churn
2008-08-02 09:52:45.957 MozyBackup[42:5b23] (backup) Waiting for backup set churn to end

It seems like either the backup set churn never ends, or the database is locked and the backup can't continue.

I've checked all permissions on my machine (using Disk Utility) and everything checks out. The Mozy support forums lean heavily toward Windows users, which is disappointing but somewhat typical. I can't see anything else that I should check to ensure the backup starts when I want. Has anyone else encountered this problem?

I've sent this report to Mozy support by e-mail, so I'll post their response here when I get it.

[Updated 8/4/08 20:45] I got an IM out of the blue today from Devin at Mozy, asking if I could work with him to diagnose the problem I'd written about here. Clearly someone at Mozy has some Google Alerts set up! Devin passed me on to Ben at Mozy (their resident Mac expert) and he and I have been exchanging information to try and diagnose the problem. Apparently this is a known but very rare issue that they haven't quite gotten to the bottom of yet. Hopefully this exercise will fix that. In the meantime, they've kindly extended my subscription by 3 months due to the inconvenience this problem has caused.

This is how customer service should be, people. Let's hope the product lives up to the (so far great) service...

[Updated 8/7/08 9:30] Over the past couple of days, Ben at Mozy has been working me with to try out various strategies to see how this problem can be eliminated. Uninstalling and re-installing the client doesn't seem to fix it, but we've found a couple of other oddnesses along the way, such as an incorrect number of MS Word files being detected by the Mozy backup client. The guys at Mozy are working to develop a new version of the client that aims to solve this issue. More as it happens...

[Updated 8/15/08 10:52] There's been no change in the status of this for a few days now, and I haven't seen a new version of the Mozy for Mac client yet. Some commenters on the blog note that attaching an external drive to the system seems to stymie Mozy completely, but that's not confirmed.

Comments

[Graham G]

I am having the exact same issue - I would love to hear how it is resolved.

Thanks.

[Dave]

I'll continue posting updated here, Graham!

[katzha]

I am having the same problem, too.

[LGA]

This product is ABSOLUTELY terrible!!!
Rather than pay Mozy for no service- maybe they should pay us for
helping them fix MULTIPLE problems before releasing this garbage.
I have had NO responses from customer support. Sorry, I have a life
and don't want to beta test a product that is already out there as
a solution at a "hot price" for us Mac users.
LGA
Westport, CT
USA

[LGA]

IT DOESN'T WORK!!!
PERIOD.
CANCEl.
CANCEL.
CANCEL.

[Borja]

Well, I also have the same issue.
It started few weeks ago.

It seems to only occur when I have an external HDD connected to the mac though.

Anyway please keep us updated with your findings.

[Borja]

OK, After a looooong weekend of trying things out I manage to get mine working!!!!!

This error had been annoying me for few weeks already, so this weekend I got tired of waiting for a new version and I set myself to get this thing working (I should note that Mozy had been previously working for me since April when I purchased a Unlimited account until few weeks ago).

After many tries, reinstalls, reboots, repairing permissions, etc..; all with no luck, I decided to start from zero and go step by step. I wanted to check if this was related to my acccount or the software itself, so I created a new free Mozy account (I have an unlimited one) and set it to backup just a few files (from the internal hdd and an external one). And hey it worked!!!

So I kept trying few different things until I noticed that on the Mozy configuration screen, The Backup Sets feature never finished searching for files. I left the Mac over 2 hours there and still some of the items (like Microsoft word documents, Dave game me a clue here) where still searching.

So anyway, after reverting back to my old account (the not working unlimited one) and disabling some of the backup sets (the ones hanging there for ages) and manually selecting the files on the "Files and Folders" tab. The backup is working now.

So my advice to you is to disable the backup sets that you don't need (or all of them) and manually select the files or folder where you keep them, and give that a try. I can't promise anything but it worked for me.

Otherwise you can try with a free account (maybe when I changed accounts something got reseted) and see how it goes.

I hope this helps.

PS: I will email mozy with a detailed version of my findings to see if it is of any help to them on fixing this issue on a new version of the software.

[Dave]

Thanks, Borja! I'll give this a try to see if it might snap things into place!

Ack. This didn't work for me, Borja. Back to the drawing board...

[Michael]

I'm having the same issue. A Mozy service rep suggested I delete ./Library/Application Support/Mozy/cache.db and try again. After deleting the file and restarting my Mac, Mozy has been "scanning for files" for almost six hours and the new cache.db file is over 350MB in size now. But there's no indication that it's close to being finished or that file transfer will begin any time soon.

I'd been running Mozy successfully on OS 10.4.x since last November; it was after I upgraded to Leopard 10.5.4 last week that the problem started occurring for me. Wonder if its a Leopard/Mozy issue?

If I get any help from Mozy, I'll post it back here.

[Able-X]

Mine just started doing the same thing as well, though I've been using leopard the whole time I've been using Mozy and its been working great till this last week.

I've been uploading data no problem from an external drive for awhile, then all of a sudden i went in to add a few more new folders, and the configuration part crashed. Hasn't worked right since.

[Martin Nordén]

I've got the exact same problem. The odd thing is that it worked perfectly a few days ago. I added another folder to the backup list and now it doesn't work at all. It does not work to remove that folder from the backup list either. Bah!

[Mirko]

Hi guys,

same problem here, but I found a solution that worked for quite a few people. Posted a step-by-step fix on my blog:

http://online1o1.com/2008/09/12/how-to-fix-mozy-error-database-locked/

Let me know if this works for you.

[Graham G]

Looks like a new version is out, but it now caused a new problem for me. I have my music on a shared folder and an alias pointing to it in my itunes user folder, mozy keeps stating there is a directoryiterator issue and the pathnode is not a directory.

It is really frustrating to have paid for a full year of this "service" and not being able to actually back-up to it.

[Bella]

It's very easy to fix. Mozy will be poling data for one or more sets where it can't resolve what it is looking for (or where it is).

Try starting with the iTunes set and delete that. Delete any others which aren't resolving, and use the files and folders option to back up what you need. All should be well.

As an aside - the sets look like a good idea, but check carefully that they are set to pick what you need. I was using Mozy for a little while before I checked an realised that it was collecting certain files types from my user name only - nothing from my partner's or shared folders.

[Chad W]

Same issues. I've been emailing back and forth with Mozy for months... months. They stopped responding to me. I've done several uninstall/reinstalls. My latest laptop is smoother but I still have problems with Mozy not actually following the configuration file. I.e. it backs up files in Trash and Cache that I told it not to. I feel like I should be paid by them. Or, heck, I wish they'd just give me the code so I can fix it. Anyway, at $5 a month, I guess it is a form of security that is fairly inexpensive and assuming that my data is actually on their servers, I'm at least getting something for my money... even though this is very poorly written software... albeit with a nice GUI.

[Jesse]

I'm currently running a backup that seems to work- i.e. it does not have the "Error adding changes to scan cache: database is locked" in the log at the moment. I simply opened up the Terminal app, typed 'cd /Library/Application Support/Mozy", and then changed all files to be owned by me (chown *). It seems that some of the files were owned by root.

After that, I opened Mozy's config and all the backup sets were able to calculate their size and I have not received the databased locked error.

[Jesse]

Apparently the chown command above was truncated... Here are the steps again:

1) open terminal app
2) type 'cd /Library/Application Support/Mozy'
3) type 'chown [my_user_name] *'
4) Try to reconfigure mozy and start a new backup.

[Dave]

Thanks for the tip, Jesse!

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