Backblaze question

[Ron-Alexander]

Lightroom Version Number

15.3

Operating System

1. macOS 26 Tahoe

My external photo drive is not being picked up by Backblaze. I have read the help and it is the worst wording for me at least.
On my external drive I have a dir at the root of the external drive named .bzvol (the leading . (period) makes it hidden).
What do I put in that dir, what is the name of the file if it is a file, and what is the contents of that file.
I know at some place I am supposed to put ./Volumes/Photos/.bzvol either inside a file, or ?????
So my rambling questions are
1. What is the name of the special file
2. Where is the special file located
3. What if anything is the contents of the special file.

 

[camner]

.bzvol is hidden because we mere mortals are not supposed to mess with it. “We” don’t do anything with it. It’s used by BackBlaze to perform some of their magic tricks behind the curtain.

In order to have an external drive backed up by BackBlaze one needs to check the checkbox by the external drive name. The BB docs says that one then needs to have the computer running (i.e., not sleeping) for about 5-6 hours continuously in order for the drive to START getting backed up. I”ve never understood this long period of time, but my experience is that it can take that long,

 

[Ron-Alexander]

The BB help says that file and contents must be present. I think it's to prevent a cloned drive to be backed up a second time. Have a look and see if you can make sense of it.
https://www.backblaze.com/computer-...ssues?highlight=external drive not backing up

 

[camner]

You may (possibly) be overthinking this. Why do you think your external drive is not being backed up? What’s the history of this EHD with BB? Was it backing up in the past but now is not? Is this a new drive you are trying to back up? How ‘bout a screenshot of the BB preferences window showing the list of drives BB thinks it is backing up?

 

[Ron-Alexander]

.bzvol is hidden because we mere mortals are not supposed to mess with it. “We” don’t do anything with it. It’s used by BackBlaze to perform some of their magic tricks behind the curtain.

In order to have an external drive backed up by BackBlaze one needs to check the checkbox by the external drive name. The BB docs says that one then needs to have the computer running (i.e., not sleeping) for about 5-6 hours continuously in order for the drive to START getting backed up. I”ve never understood this long period of time, but my experience is that it can take that long,

Just in case you didn't believe someone with over 50 years computer experience, here is what I see in Backblaze. The one thing that is squirlly is that 4 hr mention. If I click Backup Now it should not need 4 hrs, but I will leaave it overnight to see. I wil also ask AI what Mac settings are needed so that the Mac and drive will respond. Maybe I just leave the cover open.

 

[Ron-Alexander]

You may (possibly) be overthinking this. Why do you think your external drive is not being backed up? What’s the history of this EHD with BB? Was it backing up in the past but now is not? Is this a new drive you are trying to back up? How ‘bout a screenshot of the BB preferences window showing the list of drives BB thinks it is backing up?

I was posting that as you posted.

 

[Ron-Alexander]

You may (possibly) be overthinking this. Why do you think your external drive is not being backed up? What’s the history of this EHD with BB? Was it backing up in the past but now is not? Is this a new drive you are trying to back up? How ‘bout a screenshot of the BB preferences window showing the list of drives BB thinks it is backing up?

BTW, I just enrolled in BB (2nd time) a few days ago and this drive is not connected that often so the overnight test will be key.

 

[Ron-Alexander]

You may (possibly) be overthinking this. Why do you think your external drive is not being backed up? What’s the history of this EHD with BB? Was it backing up in the past but now is not? Is this a new drive you are trying to back up? How ‘bout a screenshot of the BB preferences window showing the list of drives BB thinks it is backing up?

Checking in Backblaze.com browse files there is NO EHD.

 

[Califdan]

Just verifying that you've done this (i assume with your years of experience that you have but other reading this may benefit)

1. Open the BB Control Panel
   
   
2. Select "Restore Options
   
   
   
   
   
3. Click "Restore App"
   
   
   
   
   
4. Allow app to make changes
   
   
5. Logon if it asks

 

[Califdan]

Sorry, accidentally hit enter....

6. Wait on this screen

7> Eventually it will populate with what's backed up

8. I'm assuming you don't see the drive you're looking for?

 

[Ron-Alexander]

Just verifying that you've done this (i assume with your years of experience that you have but other reading this may benefit)

1. Open the BB Control Panel
   
   
2. Select "Restore Options
   View attachment 29085
   
   
3. Click "Restore App"
   View attachment 29086
   
   
4. Allow app to make changes
   
   
5. Logon if it asks

Not sure why I would do that, what would it prove? I did do the similar thing in post 8. I will give it a try, but all indications are that nothing has been backed up. Here is the result of your suggestion. I had this happen once before but do not remember the exact fix. It is the same /,bvol issue and I have submitted a support ticket. I just thought with so many BB users here someone else may have run into it.

 

[Ron-Alexander]

Sorry, accidentally hit enter....

6. Wait on this screen
View attachment 29087

7> Eventually it will populate with what's backed up
View attachment 29088

8. I'm assuming you don't see the drive you're looking for?

That's ok, I figured it out and no EHD, only the main system SDD.

 

[Ron-Alexander]

Sorry, accidentally hit enter....

6. Wait on this screen
View attachment 29087

7> Eventually it will populate with what's backed up
View attachment 29088

8. I'm assuming you don't see the drive you're looking for?

I got it! I went back into the help and this time discovered a different instruction. Simply delete the hidden dir. The first time when it asked me to replace or rename I chose rename but the name was attached to the real drive. I deleted .bvol again and this time got the rename right. BB is now doing it's thing as can be seen here. Thanks to everyone who kept me thinking.

 

[clee01l]

After logging in to Backblaze and accessing this web page: https://tree-phx1-0001.secure.backblaze.com/user_restore.htm

You should be able to see all of the folders included in your backup. This would include your external volumes

 

[Ron-Alexander]

After logging in to Backblaze and accessing this web page: https://tree-phx1-0001.secure.backblaze.com/user_restore.htm

You should be able to see all of the folders included in your backup. This would include your external volumes

View attachment 29084

Yep, already done and I did look at it but used a different method. Many ways.

 

[camner]

Just in case you didn't believe someone with over 50 years computer experience, here is what I see in Backblaze. The one thing that is squirlly is that 4 hr mention. If I click Backup Now it should not need 4 hrs, but I will leaave it overnight to see. I wil also ask AI what Mac settings are needed so that the Mac and drive will respond. Maybe I just leave the cover open.

I have over 50 years (56 to be exact) computer experience, too, and all those years have taught be to be humble about all that I still DON’T know.

I cannot explain WHY BB needs so many hours of uninterrupted time to start a backup, but I know from long experience with BB that it often does. If I set my Mac not to sleep automatically, when I get back to it the next morning BB has reconnected to my EHD and at least started to back it up (or has finished the backup, depending on how much data there is to send up to the BB cloud).

 

[iwaddo]

I have not read this entire thread but I can tell you that since Backblaze released v10 on or around the 22nd May, I've had all sorts of problems with Backblaze not backing up what it is supposed to. The app was crashing (on a Mac you can see this in Crash Report in Console) which has been fixed by a second beta release.

Currently, BackBlaze seems to have lost site of a number of significant folders from both the Internal HD and External Drives, though I can see them if I roll the restore app back in time prior to the 22nd May.

I have an active case open and I am in daily communication with their support team.

There are a lot of people online moaning about Backblaze at the moment - the other biggest problem is the full scanning (deduplicating) of an external drive evey time it is connected.

My issues maybe unrelated but I would suggest rolling back the restore tool to see if the missing drives appear. With a bit of effort I eventually found the exact minute when folders and drives that had previously been available for restore disappeared.

 

[Ron-Alexander]

I have over 50 years (56 to be exact) computer experience, too, and all those years have taught be to be humble about all that I still DON’T know.

I cannot explain WHY BB needs so many hours of uninterrupted time to start a backup, but I know from long experience with BB that it often does. If I set my Mac not to sleep automatically, when I get back to it the next morning BB has reconnected to my EHD and at least started to back it up (or has finished the backup, depending on how much data there is to send up to the BB cloud).

I don't know if you noticed I found the fix for the problem. The BB help is really bad so that when I checked it again with no doubt different wording I was told to simply delete the special hidden file .bvol. I don't remember what exectly happened but I could tell someting changed. I clicked Backup Now (no need to wait 4 hours) and off it went. A couple hours later the entire EHD was backed up, I can't tell you the exact number of GB as I have a puppy in my lap, but it was a few hours on my Gigabit ethernet.

 

[Ron-Alexander]

Backblaze released v10 on or around the 22nd May, I

My Mac Backblaze V10 was created Feb 19 2026. Also, It is only May 18 where I live so are you foretelling the future when you say May 22, or do you mean May 22, 2025?

 

[iwaddo]

My Mac Backblaze V10 was created Feb 19 2026. Also, It is only May 18 where I live so are you foretelling the future when you say May 22, or do you mean May 22, 2025?

Sorry I meant April 22 2026.

I know I did not install v10 until then. I've found the Backblaze installer img on my Time Machine with a created date and time of 22/05/2026 18:07BST.

After upgrading to v10 I connected some of my external drives and first noticed the scanning (deduplication) taking hours and hours, like overnight.

It was after this that I contacted Backblaze who provided a beta fix, it seemed to stop the scanning but introduced the crashing, then at some point I noticed folders, files and drives missing and not available to restore at the 'now' date and time in the Restore app or on the web restore tool.

I'm struggling to find files for restore that were created in the last week or so.

At this time it seems Backblaze has lost track - something to do with deduplication when identical files are available for backup on different devices.

 

[Ron-Alexander]

Sorry I meant April 22 2026.

I know I did not install v10 until then. I've found the Backblaze installer img on my Time Machine with a created date and time of 22/05/2026 18:07BST.

After upgrading to v10 I connected some of my external drives and first noticed the scanning (deduplication) taking hours and hours, like overnight.

It was after this that I contacted Backblaze who provided a beta fix, it seemed to stop the scanning but introduced the crashing, then at some point I noticed folders, files and drives missing and not available to restore at the 'now' date and time in the Restore app or on the web restore tool.

I'm struggling to find files for restore that were created in the last week or so.

At this time it seems Backblaze has lost track - something to do with deduplication when identical files are available for backup on different devices.

Thanks for the tip, I will do some spot checking to see if there is a problem. If I do NOT report back that means BB is working fine for me. My BB V10 is dated Feb 19, 2026. Maybe the Mac version was released first?

 

[Ron-Alexander]

@clee01l @camner @iwaddo UPDATE. I noticed the file count and bytes seemed low. After some checking I saw that the Photos EHD drive was NOT backed up.
A word of explanation. when I fixed the issure re.bzvol, I left the EHD attached until it was 'finished' I then unplugged the drive (it's in a different room than I am normally in) Had I known the actual backup had not started, I would have left my laptop plugged in overnight.
What I think is happening (correction welcomed) is that first phase was just what I would call a fact gathering phase. I think it's displayed as something like 'creating file lists'. I stupidly thought that was the backup happening but in the clarity of a new day realized that the first step is a scxan of the EHD to build a todo list of files to be backed up after removing ineligible files and perhaps the de-duping I see some have mentioned. As soon as puppy has moved off my legs I will plug the laptop back in and see what happens. My hunch is that 4 hr comment BB says is the time to check and see if any of the new files are already backed up. I do hope @iwaddo is a special case because if we can't rely on BB then what/who do we trust our precious offline copies to? Maybe a drive like the Seagate Rugged series and mail them back and forth ala Netflix of old. Stay tuned, this isnt over with yet. I welcome suggestions of BB alternatives.

 

[Ron-Alexander]

@clee01l @camner @iwaddo UPDATE. I noticed the file count and bytes seemed low. After some checking I saw that the Photos EHD drive was NOT backed up.
A word of explanation. when I fixed the issure re.bzvol, I left the EHD attached until it was 'finished' I then unplugged the drive (it's in a different room than I am normally in) Had I known the actual backup had not started, I would have left my laptop plugged in overnight.
What I think is happening (correction welcomed) is that first phase was just what I would call a fact gathering phase. I think it's displayed as something like 'creating file lists'. I stupidly thought that was the backup happening but in the clarity of a new day realized that the first step is a scxan of the EHD to build a todo list of files to be backed up after removing ineligible files and perhaps the de-duping I see some have mentioned. As soon as puppy has moved off my legs I will plug the laptop back in and see what happens. My hunch is that 4 hr comment BB says is the time to check and see if any of the new files are already backed up. I do hope @iwaddo is a special case because if we can't rely on BB then what/who do we trust our precious offline copies to? Maybe a drive like the Seagate Rugged series and mail them back and forth ala Netflix of old. Stay tuned, this isnt over with yet. I welcome suggestions of BB alternatives.

As I thought, as soon as I plugged the EHD in it started backing up the files on the EHD. So far so good. Will update after done and I have done a quick reasonableness check. Now off to find a tool that shows me network activity.

 

[clee01l]

After some checking I saw that the Photos EHD drive was NOT backed up.

In an earlier screen shot of the BackBlaze web page, you showed the Photos volume listed. To me that would indicate that it is being backed up. Or has been backed up in the past. If you do not add, modify or delete files on that volume, there will be nothing to update for that volume. Back Blaze only backs up whole files one time. Thes after that the backups only include incremental delts changes.

Is the Photos volume always mounted? I seem to recall that if the BackBlaze app runs and does not find the volume, it sends you a warning message and if it continues to not find the volume mounted, it eventually concludes that volume is no longer available and may ignore it in the future.. Could that be what has happened?

 

[Ron-Alexander]

In an earlier screen shot of the BackBlaze web page, you showed the Photos volume listed. To me that would indicate that it is being backed up. Or has been backed up in the past. If you do not add, modify or delete files on that volume, there will be nothing to update for that volume. Back Blaze only backs up whole files one time. Thes after that the backups only include incremental delts changes.

Is the Photos volume always mounted? I seem to recall that if the BackBlaze app runs and does not find the volume, it sends you a warning message and if it continues to not find the volume mounted, it eventually concludes that volume is no longer available and may ignore it in the future.. Could that be what has happened?

Yes vol was listed, but the initial part of backup had not finished therfore actual copying of files could not start. The view files option showed NOTHING for that volume and normal for the system drive. The Photos volume is NOT always mounted. Yes I think it's a warning every 7, 14, 21, 28 days before deletion.
Bottom line everything is working as it should.
Deleing the .bvol file made the drive recognizable and started the first phase of the backup. After some hours, when I plugged the drive in again BB started copying files. I did use BB at some point in the past and BB may have seen my old Photos volue (RAID but 1 drive failed so I bought new better enclosure and 2 new drives BUT no idea if BB ever saw that old Volume)