Time Machine won't recognize new external hard drive

I recently had a problem with My Passport and had to buy a new one.  I have plugged it in and reformatted it and now Time Machine won't recognize it even though it shows on my desktop and the disk utility doesn't see any problem.   Any ideas?

Disable Time Machine from System Preferences.
Choose Select disk button, remove the old TM backup disk and add the new one.

Similar Messages

  • How Can I Migrate My Time Machine Backups To A New External Hard Drive?

    I have a external hard drive that has 500 GBs left, but I want to buy a larger drive.

    ivan wrote:
    How Can I Migrate My Time Machine Backups To A New External Hard Drive?
    I have a external hard drive that has 500 GBs left, but I want to buy a larger drive.
    Hi iVain
    Fire up *Disk Utility*, click the Restore tab, then drag your old and new TM drives into the Source and Destination fields. Click Restore, and a complete copy of your old TM files will be made on the new drive. Go to TM preferences and select the new drive, and it will continue backing up just as it left off.
    Hope this answers your question. See:
    http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2595485&tstart=0

  • Time Machine incomplete backup on new External Hard Drive

    I have a LaCie 2TB firewire external hard drive I bought 2 years ago. I made 3 partitions, one called "Time Machine" for TM backups of my iMac HD, one called "Video" for video files, and one called "HD2" that I used to install new programs and store edited photos and img files. I ran TM onto this HD for the last 2 yrs with no problems. I recently decided that I needed to have a backup of my iMac HD --- AND the 2 partitions (Video and HD2) on my LaCie. So I bought a Seagate 2TB external USB HD that I planned to use ONLY for Time Machine.
    So I hooked it up and formatted it (no partitions), then went to TM options and selected the new Seagate Hard Drive to backup to, and in the options I excluded the Seagate (by default) and the Time Machine partition on my LaCie. Nothing else was excluded. In other words, I wanted to backup my entire iMac HD, and my Lacie Video and HD2 partitions.
    My internal iMac HD has 116 GB used, my Lacie Video partition has 355 GB used, and my Lacie HD2 partition has 175 GB used. So I was expecting the Seagate to backup 646 GB.
    When my Time Machine backup started at 1 AM, I was happy to see that the status box showed "Backing up 1 GB of 646 GB." When I woke up at 8 AM, I was happy to see that the status box showed
    "Backing up 536 GB of 646 GB."
    But it stayed stuck on 536 GB until 12 Noon, then started slowly working again. By 7 PM, the status showed "Backing up 623 GB of 646 GB." Then at 8 PM, the status box disappeared and it seemed like everything was backed up. But my Seagate HD shows only 629 GB of used space. So I decided to check the backup in Finder to see what went wrong.
    In the Seagate backups folder, I have three folders - one named "Macintosh HD" which shows 112 GB on disk, one named "Video" with 341 GB on disk, and one named "HD2" with 175 GB on disk.
    So it appears that my iMac HD was only backed up 112 GB out of 116GB, my Video partition was only backed up 341 GB out of 355 GB, but my HD2 partition backed up the entire 175 GB out of 175 GB.
    So my question is - is this normal, or is my backup really missing 4 GB of files from my iMac hard drive and 14 GB of files from my video partition? I started to look at them file by file to see if they matched, but there are so many files, so I thought I would ask in case any of you might have heard of this before. If your answer is that my backups are corrupt or incomplete, should I reformat the Seagate and start over?
    Also, is it safe for me to manually delete all the files in my time Machine partition on my LaCie hard drive, since I won't be using that anymore for Time Machine backups? Or is there a process I must follow to delete those older backups?
    Thanks for reading this far and for any advice you can shoot my way.

    Thank you for your well thought out response. It was really helpful by showing me where to look at things more closely.
    Time Machine automatically excludes some things that aren't necessary for a restore, such as system work files, most caches and logs, and trash.
    This is good to know. Although I didn't have anything in the trash, I have no idea how much is in the various caches and logs. I'd be surprised if they totaled 4GB, though. I'm still worried about this backup, as explained below after doing a Console log check.
    If any files were open, they may not have been backed-up (a partial file wouldn't be of much use). I don't know of any special exclusions for video files or apps, but there may be some. You might want to try the Terminal command in the yellow box of #11.
    I didn't have anything else running except TM, so no files were open. I checked the exclusions in the yellow box #11, the Terminal Command, and /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd.bundle/Contents/Resources/StdExclusions.pl ist, but nothing seemed to point to the video files I have saved. So I'm still at a loss with this part of the backup.
    You might want to look at the log of that backup
    I looked at the log - thank you for the link on how to see it - but the entries show that the size of the backup was even less than I thought - It seems I am actually missing 0.2 GB from the HD2 partition, 6 GB from the iMac HD, and 14.4 GB from the Video partition. And since it shows the exclusion amounts, I'm really at a loss for the iMac HD now. Here's what the Console listed for this backup:
    Aug 29 00:55:54 paul-imac-5 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[567]: Backup content size: 174.7 GB excluded items size: 0 bytes for volume HD2
    Aug 29 00:55:54 paul-imac-5 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[567]: Backup content size: 355.7 GB excluded items size: 0 bytes for volume Video
    Aug 29 00:55:54 paul-imac-5 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[567]: Backup content size: 116.3 GB excluded items size: 30.5 MB for volume Macintosh HD
    Aug 29 00:55:54 paul-imac-5 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[567]: No pre-backup thinning needed: 776.02 GB requested (including padding), 1.82 TB available
    Aug 29 00:55:54 paul-imac-5 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[567]: Waiting for index to be ready (909 > 0)
    Aug 29 02:37:30 paul-imac-5 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[567]: Copied 3275 files (174.5 GB) from volume HD2.
    Aug 29 05:49:40 paul-imac-5 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[567]: Copied 5412 files (515.9 GB) from volume Video.
    Aug 29 19:18:46 paul-imac-5 /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[567]: Copied 146976 files (626.2 GB) from volume Macintosh HD.
    Is it possible to see how many files are in each drive that I was backing up? If I could match the file count, it might give me a better idea. I used Finder, but it only gives me the GB Capacity, Used and Free. For example, if I could see if the LaCie Video partition has exactly 5412 files (or 2137, if the file count above is a running total), I will believe that all the files backed up but may have been truncated. If the partition shows more than 5412 files, then I'll know that not all files were backed up. So at least I can start looking manually.
    It will be much faster and easier to erase the partition with Disk Utility.
    Thank you for this advice. This should save lots of time. I won't erase my other partitions when I do this, right? Also, will it leave a blank partition there so I regain my space?
    I'm really bummed out by this backup. I haven't used my iMac for anything except Safari since this happened, because I do not want to start working again until I know that I have a safe backup, and I don't want to make any new files until I can resolve this. I thought of just reformatting the Seagate and starting over, but I have a feeling it may do the same thing. So at this point, I don't know if the Seagate is faulty, if the TM is not working properly, if I am making a dumb user error, or if this is perfectly normal. The worst thing that could happen is that my iMac HD or Lacie HD fails and I try to restore from my Seagate TM backup, only to find out that my TM backup is incomplete or corrupt.
    So I really do appreciate your help and any additional insight you or anyone else might have. Thanks.

  • Final cut x won't recognize new external hard drive

    Final cut x recognizes five other external hard drives except my new one.  I bought the same brand as the last two.  Every program on my mac recognizes it except Final cut x.  I do not have the most recent Final Cut X, but don't see why that would matter.  I have a year long project that I need to finish and can't afford an issue on a conversion.
    Any ideas?

    I installed it three different times with the mac installer.  I don't see anything that says video on it.  The only things listed though are the ones that came with the hard drive.  I appreciate your time.

  • Time machine won't back up external hard drive

    Hello,
    Due to my internal memory becoming full, I have connected an external hard drive to store my iPhoto Library.
    There is no problem with this however, I cannot seem to get Time Machine to back up the external drive.
    It is on the "excluded" list, but I am unable to select it to remove from this list.
    Thank you in advance

    Are you using that same drive as the backup destination? If so, you can't back it up. Otherwise see below.
    In the Finder, press the key combination shift-command-C, or select
              Go ▹ Computer
    from the menu bar. A window will open showing all mounted volumes. Select the one in question and open the Info window. What is shown as the Format in the General section?

  • Time Machine won't backup second external hard drive

    I am trying to store my iTunes music library on an external hard drive because I have run out of space on my hard drive. I have moved my folder to the external drive, but before I delete the folder from my computer I want to make sure my Time Machine is backing up the drive containing my music as well. However when I go into Time Machine preferences and tell it to include the other hard drive in its backups it says "The backup was not preformed because an error occured while copying files to the backup disk. The problem may be temporary. Try again later to back up. If the problem persists, use Disk Utility to repair your backup disk."
    So I have tried again later, and still the same message. I went into Disk Utility and verified my backup disk and it said it was healthy. Ideas as to what I am doing wrong?

    Howdy Kgkgkg12,
    It sounds like this drive you are wanting to use with Time Machine is not in the same format that Time Machine needs to operate. According to this article:
    Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac
    Your Time Machine drive needs to be formatted as Mac OS X Extended (Journaled). If you select an NTFS or FAT-formatted drive, Time Machine prompts you to reformat the drive. Important: Reformatting erases any files on the destination drive. If you're not sure if you want to erase the drive you connected, choose a different drive.
    You can check the format of the drive with these steps:
    OS X Yosemite: View file, folder, and disk information
    Get individual item info: Select the item(s), then choose File > Get Info, or press Command (⌘)-I.
    Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
    Cheers,
    Sterling

  • Time Machine doesn't recognize my external hard drive

    My external hard drive is no longer recognized by my iMac. I have had this problem before and had to repartition the drive. There is not a drive that is available when I go into Time Machine preferences. Any ideas?

    If you completely repartitioned the external hard drive, you may need to Erase & Reformat each Partition on the drive now in order for them to be recognized.  You can do that in Disk Utility.

  • Time Machine won't backup my external hard drive.

    I am trying to get Time Machine to backup my external hard drive.  I have the external drive formated as Mac OS Extended (journaled) and I have also removed the drive from the Excluded list.  I put some 'test' files on the external drive and told TM to do a backup and when it is finished the only way I can see my external hard drive in TM is if it is connected to the computer.  It doesn't seem to be backed up anywhere in TM that I can see.  Please Help
    Thanks.

    Chihuahua Rancher wrote:
    My thinking is that if my external hard drive craps out it would be ok because it would be backed up on the TM (what I'm trying to get it to do)  How would I open the external drive if it was damaged and then invoke time machine?
    #E3 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting shows how to do that.

  • Checking time machine backups with a new external hard drive

    Is there a way to make sure that my backups are complete looking at time machine? All I see is the front page for each backup and dont see how to open it and look at the files that were backed up? I have a new LaCie ext hard drive that Im using and want to make sure it is working properly. Also, do I need to change my sleep settings to allow Time Machine to have adequate time to back up, or does it take care of everything?

    Cumby wrote:
    Is there a way to make sure that my backups are complete looking at time machine? All I see is the front page for each backup and dont see how to open it and look at the files that were backed up?
    Are you going into Time Machine from your desktop? If so, TM will show only the desktop in your backups. Try starting from a Finder window of, say, your home folder, then go into Time Machine. You should be able to select a backup and navigate within it just as you would normally, and see the complete "snapshot" of everything that was there at the time of the backup you selected.
    Separately, Click here to download the TimeTracker app. It shows most of the files actually saved by TM for each backup (excluding some hidden/system files, etc.).
    I have a new LaCie ext hard drive that Im using and want to make sure it is working properly. Also, do I need to change my sleep settings to allow Time Machine to have adequate time to back up, or does it take care of everything?
    TM will do all that for you. If your Mac falls asleep, TM will just do a backup when it awakens. If you manually put it to sleep (or power off) while it's doing a backup, it will just pick-up and continue when it's awake again.

  • If i have Time Machine backed up on an external hard drive, do i just plug the drive into another macbook pro and all my stuff is in the new computer?  also, does it matter if the new computer is running Lion when the backed up info came from Snow Leopard

    If i have Time Machine backed up on an external hard drive, do i just plug the drive into another macbook pro and all my stuff is in the new computer?  Also, does it matter if the new computer is running Lion when the backed up info came from Snow Leopard 10.6.8?

    No and Yes
    Don't use TM for this purpose, clone your drive to an external, plug the external into another MBP and reboot from it. Please note that booting a machine that came with Lion may not be possible from a drive with Snow Leopard.

  • My notebook won't recognize my external hard drive

    my notebook won't recognize my external hard drive.  I can safely remove it, but when i look for it on my computer its not there?

    Disable Time Machine from System Preferences.
    Choose Select disk button, remove the old TM backup disk and add the new one.

  • How do I use time machine to backup to an external hard drive plugged into my airport extreme

    How do I use time machine to backup to an external hard drive plugged into my airport extreme?  I used to be able to but now time machine will not recognize my hard drive to select as a backup when plugged into my airport extreme.  I'm not sure what happened or changed.  Any help is greatly appreciated.  Thanks

    First thing to do is go to the Pondini tips page, then follow the link to his full TM site for all the details.

  • Time Machine says both of my external hard drives require reformatting to case insensitive. What do I do?

    I have been successfuly using Time Machine to back my iMac  to an external hard drive (via usb) and everything has been fine for the last year. I have been using TM to back up to a HD called Terra LaCie via usb.
    A week ago, my iMac hard drive was full--so I spulrged and bought a 6 TB external hard drive (Western Digital My Book-Thunderbolt). I set up the new Thunderbold HD to use RAID 1 (mirror) and copied most of my iMac hard drive over to the Thunderbolt HD.
    I kept my working photographs (most recent) on my iMac and felt good to know my older photographs are on my new Thunderbolt hard drive.
    For a few days, Time Machine seemed to work fine (backing up my iMac to Terra LaCie HD. I haven't been concerned with backing up the Thunderbolt drive (as I feel that mirroring is same as backing up).
    Yesterday, Time Machine indicated the lastest back-up failed (for the HD called Terra LaCie). Now, when I go into Time Machine, the dialog box indicates the following message:
    "Are you sure you want to erase the backup disk “Terra Lacie”? Erasing will destroy all information on the disk and can’t be undone.
    The disk must be erased before it can be used for Time Machine backups because a disk you are backing up is case sensitive, but the backup disk is not."
    When I open Time Machine to look at my external hard drives (I also have a third usb portable drive); two of the three drives indicate the following:
    "reformat required; case insensitive disk".
    The small, portable hard drive (that I'm also using) doesn't say it needs to be reformated (but my new Thunderbolt and my old usb HD both indicate the same message (above).
    What should I do? I just spent days transferring my photographs from my iMac to my new Thunderbolt. Should I just not use Time Machine any longer and work from my Thunderbolt drive?
    Am I to understand that my iMac suddenly become case sensitive? Sorry if this was too much information about my hard-ware set-up.
    Any help someone can provide me would be greatly appreciated. I suppose I need to understand Time Machine and perhaps my Thunderbolt better.

    Hi BDAqua,
    Bravo, you helped me solve my problem.
    The Case Sensitive Disk was the small portable hard drive that I was using termporarily.
    I just disconnected it and I started TM machine and everything seems to be working just fine.
    Thank you very much!!!!

  • Time Machine not backing up other external hard drive

    Hi,
    I recently upgraded to Leopard and am trying to use Time Machine. I have one external hard drive that is used specifically for the Time Machine Backup, it's called "Backup Drive". The other hard drive is called "Captured Memories" and is used to store my graphic design files. Time Machine seems to backup my iMac because there is a folder called iMac and it contains the files, but the folder for Captured Memories is blank. I was getting errors saying that the backup failed but when I clicked the "Back Up Now" option on Time Machine, it doesn't list the error - but the Captured Memories folder is still blank so it didn't back up that external drive. I also changed the Spotlight preferences so that it does not search the Backup Drive.
    Both the Backup Drive and the Captured Memories drives are the same, they're both Seagate Free Agent Pro drives, 1TB each.
    The Free Agent Pro drives both have a sleep timer that I cannot adjust, does that have anything to do with why Time Machine won't backup the Captured Memories drive? If that is the case, what other software can I use to backup the Captured Memories external drive? I want it to sync to the Backup Drive because I am constantly saving and moving files around on the Captured Memories drive.
    I was using a Memeo backup software that came with the Free Agent Pro drives but the problem I was having is it would make copies of files rather than move them. For example, I have a folder on the Captured Memories drive that is called, In Progress and one that is called In Proofing. So once a project is complete, I move the file to the In Proofing folder. The Memeo software would copy the file to the In Proofing folder rather than move it. So I'd end up with 2 copies of the file, one in the In Progress folder and one in the In Proofing folder.
    Does anyone know how I can simply have the drive backed up like that?
    What do I do?
    Please help! I really need to make sure that the Captured Memories external drive is being backed up!

    I am having a similar problem. I initially set it up 3 days ago and had it back up just the iMac to Time Capsule (about 120 GB) which it did no problem (I initially had my LaCie drive excluded). I then un-excluded my other drive, where all my photos and music reside (about 130 GB). Since then, it keeps trying to back up about 102 GB each time. Looking at the list of backups it does not appear that it has ever successfully backed up the LaCie. I am not aware of any error messages, but I have not been home much. I normally shut down the computer at night but I have been leaving it on trying to let Time Machine do its thing. All I can say is that every time I am at the computer TM is running and it always looks like it is in the middle of backing up 102 GB (usually seems to be near the beginning, never seem to see it more than halfway done). Looking at the TM panel it says the latest backup was 2 days ago. I'd appreciate any advice!

  • HT201250 I have thousands of pictures on my Mac.  If something happens to my Mac I don't want them lost.  I do time machine back ups to an external hard drive once a week.  Is this good enough for making sure my pictures don't ever get lost?

    I have thousands of photos on my Mac.  If something happens to my Mac obviously, I don't want to lose the photos.  I do Time Machine back ups to an external hard drive once a week.  Is this good enough to make sure my pictures don't get lost?

    tgs6164 wrote:
    I have thousands of photos on my Mac.  If something happens to my Mac obviously, I don't want to lose the photos.  I do Time Machine back ups to an external hard drive once a week.  Is this good enough to make sure my pictures don't get lost?
    Purchase a couple of these when they go on sale.
    Start burning all the photos onto DVDs. 
    At least you'll have all your photos if your computer, time machine or any other backup you use goes bonkers.

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