Hi MPUers, I have been trying to backup my MBP via time machine, but it keeps failing errors after 10-15%.
error: “/private/var/db/locationd/Library/Containers/com.apple.geod/Data/Library/Caches/com.apple.geod/GEOConfigStore.db-shm” could not be backed up.
or something similar. Sometimes it fails on video files in my photo library
I went and looked at these files and they are large files (>500MB).
What should I do to remediate this?
Your file may be a temporary file used by an SQLITE database. What are the .db-shm and .db-wal extensions in Sqlite databases? - Stack Overflow Can you close the programs that are writing your large database files in the hopes that the temporary files are removed by being absorbed into the actual database? Large video files, probably not in continuous use, could be moved to an external disk drive. Or you could use Carbon Copy Cloner app to back up your system rather than Time Machine which is known to have few limitations.
Yeah, but it also errors out on files in my photo library 
Occasionally, Time Machine needs to start over again and make a fresh copy of your disk. In my experience, though, it has always told me when it detected a problem and needed to start over. If you use a third party app to back up your system, you can make sure that all your apps have been closed and all files properly written to disk and shut down. I would also recommend restarting your Mac, without re-opening any running programs. Turn off the programs that automatically start themselves. And then run the backup. You are reporting behavior most others do not experience. If you still have problems, you may have a bigger issue, like a failing disk drive. Have you tried running First Aid from Disk Utility on your drive? Repair a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support