type 8 due to error 34: Result too large
 

I've search but can't find any topics on this...backing up to external WD HD on macbook pro retina...all SW up to date...ends up leaving my backup completely blank due to this failure...I know the HD is not full its a 2GB HD and 2TB available...my MBP has only a 768GB capacity.... any ideas??

Sounds like a source drive problem to me. Boot from your recovery partition (or original OS X DVD). Run Disk Utility, select the source volume, and use the "Repair Disk" button (right hand side) to repair the drive.

Once done, boot back up and give it another try.

type 8 due to error 34: Result too large
 

Hello,

I'm also receiving this error. It stops at about 1/6th of the backup (~20 GB of ~120 GB). It stops at the same file here:

/Users/<myusername>/Library/IdentityServices/ids.db-wal

I've attempted to:

- repair in recovery mode, and try the back up again
- deleted and started a new backup file
- cleared space on my MacBook Air (thinking maybe it was running out of memory making the copy?)

I've done the above, rebooting, and repairing, to ensure I have the most space available and nothing else running while the backup is going on.

I'm not sure what else I can do to get the backup to work.

Help please!

You've repaired the source drive in Recovery and it still didn't work? If so, delete the file, empty your trash and try again.