Attempting to include an external hard drive to my time machine backup

I have an Apple Time Capsule that I am using as my back-up destination using Time Capsule. I have another ext hard drive (WD) that I use as an 'everyday drive'. I want to include this drive into my time capsule backup - but for some reason, this hard drive is appearing in my 'exclude' list and I cannot remove it.
Any ideas?

Hi, and welcome to the forums.
If the drive is shown in gray instead of black, it's most likely because it's not formatted for a Mac, and Time Machine cannot back it up.
Check it via +Disk Utility+ (in your Applications/Utilities folder).
Select the main (top) line for the drive (with the make and size). At the bottom it will display the *Partition Map Scheme.* If that's +Master Boot Record,+ the drive was set up for use with Windoze.
Then select the line for the partition (indented). At the lower left it will show the Format. If the Format doesn't start with +Mac OS Extended,+ Time Machine cannot back it up.
The only way you can fix that is to copy the data somewhere temporarily, then reformat the drive.
Format it as you would a Time Machine drive -- see #5 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.

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Accidentally converted my external hard drive to a time machine backup

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Please help. Thank you.

As Link pointed out in that thread, there's a lot excluded:
Dec 26 12:29:11 Branch-iMac com.apple.backupd[3876]: Backup content size: 340.7 GB excluded items size: 256.3 GB for volume Media Server
Thus there should be about 80 GB that's included.
And part of it WAS backed-up:
Dec 26 15:43:56 Branch-iMac com.apple.backupd[3876]: Copied 3986 files (13.6 GB) from volume Media Server.
He's also shown some things that aren't being backed-up, and suggested a couple of things to do, but you haven't responded to his last post.

Trying to use a new, larger external hard drive for my Time Machine backup. However, every time I start the backup, it gets started then fails. And, I can't delete the few files that did save on the external. Sort of a catch 22. Any ideas?

Trying to use a new, larger external hard drive for my Time Machine backup. However, every time I start the backup, it gets started then fails. And, I can't delete the few files that did save on the external. Sort of a catch 22. Any ideas?

Is it a USB hard drive? USB hard drives have the problem of not giving full speed if they are hooked up on the same bus as keyboards and mice. Double check your profiler to make sure that is not a problem. If it is Firewire, make sure there aren't other firewire devices in use at the same time. I recommend not only keeping a Time Machine backup, but also a clone, and if you do use Time Machine, to make sure the Time Machine drive or partition is at least twice the size of the original drive.

I have a 250GB western digital external hard drive for my time machine backups. if i just want to backup and recover my photos and movies how do i do that with time machine?

I have a 250GB western digital external hard drive for my time machine backups. I did not download the software that came with the external HD. If I only want to backup my photos and movies from my Macbook how do I do that in Tme Machine with my external HD?

Format the HDD in Disk Utility>Erase to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and the open System Preferences>Time Machine and set up the external disk as the Time Machine HDD. Then look at the Options, and exclude what you do not want backed up.
Ciao.

HT4413 What if migration assistant isn't recognizing my external hard drive with my time machine backup on it.

Tech department updated my computer to Lion and wiped it clean. I'm trying to restore my documents/photos/etc from a Snow Leopard time machine backup. When trying to use Migration Manager, when it asks for me to "Select my system," my hard drive with the time machine backup doesn't appear.

See Pondini's TM FAQs for starters.

External Hard Drive ejects during Time Machine Backup

I've read through all the troubleshooting pages that I thought had anything to do with this problem, but none of my error messages seemed to match. This is my first backup with Time Machine onto my external hard drive, and it never gets past about 60GB before deciding that the drive has improperly ejected itself and aborting the backup. The error message from my Time Machine Buddy is below:
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Untitled/Backups.backupdb
Ownership is disabled on the backup destination volume. Enabling.
Backup content size: 147.2 GB excluded items size: 5.1 GB for volume Macintosh HD
No pre-backup thinning needed: 170.49 GB requested (including padding), 930.54 GB available
Waiting for index to be ready (101)
Copied 56.0 GB of 142.1 GB, 112101 of 886988 items
Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Device not configured
Error: (-50) SrcErr:NO Copying /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/ge ms/net-ssh-1.1.4/lib/net/ssh/proxy/errors.rb to /Volumes/Untitled/Backups.backupdb/Eugenio Vargas Computer/2011-05-17-161101.inProgress/E6F5C3CB-75B8-41C4-B52E-138235EB4B34/Maci ntosh HD/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/ gems/net-ssh-1.1.4/lib/net/ssh/proxy
Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Device not configured
Error: (-50) SrcErr:NO Copying /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/ge ms/net-ssh-1.1.4/lib/net/ssh/proxy/http.rb to /Volumes/Untitled/Backups.backupdb/Eugenio Vargas Computer/2011-05-17-161101.inProgress/E6F5C3CB-75B8-41C4-B52E-138235EB4B34/Maci ntosh HD/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/ gems/net-ssh-1.1.4/lib/net/ssh/proxy
Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Device not configured
Error: (-50) SrcErr:NO Copying /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/ge ms/net-ssh-1.1.4/lib/net/ssh/proxy/socks4.rb to /Volumes/Untitled/Backups.backupdb/Eugenio Vargas Computer/2011-05-17-161101.inProgress/E6F5C3CB-75B8-41C4-B52E-138235EB4B34/Maci ntosh HD/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/ gems/net-ssh-1.1.4/lib/net/ssh/proxy
Error writing to backup log. NSFileHandleOperationException:*** -[NSConcreteFileHandle writeData:]: Device not configured
Error: (-50) SrcErr:NO Copying /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/ge ms/net-ssh-1.1.4/lib/net/ssh/proxy/socks5.rb to /Volumes/Untitled/Backups.backupdb/Eugenio Vargas Computer/2011-05-17-161101.inProgress/E6F5C3CB-75B8-41C4-B52E-138235EB4B34/Maci ntosh HD/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/ gems/net-ssh-1.1.4/lib/net/ssh/proxy
Indexing a file failed. Returned 200 for: /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/ge ms/net-ssh-1.1.4/lib/net/ssh/proxy, /Volumes/Untitled/Backups.backupdb/Eugenio Vargas Computer/2011-05-17-161101.inProgress/E6F5C3CB-75B8-41C4-B52E-138235EB4B34/Maci ntosh HD/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/ gems/net-ssh-1.1.4/lib/net/ssh/proxy
Aborting backup because indexing of file failed.
Other details:
My external drive is a WD 1TB drive. The partition for the Time Machine Backup is formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled), as is my Macintosh HD. The Partition Map Scheme on the external drive is GUID Partition Table.
I have tried reformatting the external drive for good measure, but this doesn't seem to solve any problems. I also tried searching for the file that the error message says NO Copying for (/System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/1.8/usr/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/g ems/net-ssh-1.1.4/lib/net/ssh/proxy/...) but I'm unable to find the files. I can get as far as /System/Library/Frameworks, but can find no folder in Frameworks titled Ruby.
Please help.

The Ruby folder is probably hidden. That is why you don't see it.
You may want to add System/Library/Frameworks to the exempted sync list until you can figure out which file is causing this. You can do this by opening Time Machine Preferences ( > System Preferences > Time Machine) and clicking on Options…
After that click the small + key and browse to the folder you want to exempt from the sync. In your case: Macintosh HD > System > Library > Frameworks
Next hit the exclude button with the Frameworks folder highlighted.
Try your backup again and see if it fails.

How do I password protect the external hard drive used for Time Machine backup

Can anyone help me to put password protection on the external hard drive I use to Time Machine backup my iMac internal hard drive? I use Snow Leopard 10.6

I think that was FileVault 1. Starting with Lion (10.7) Mac OS X uses FileVault 2, which is whole disk encryption.
Based on complaints seen in these forums, I would say FileVault 2's only complaint has been when people forget their password/encryption key (it seems an encrypted disk does prevent anyone without the password from accessing the data, including the real owner). Otherwise it does not seem to be causing any serious issues. Your Mileage may vary and objects are closer than they appear in your side view mirror (standard disclaimer). Of course this is all academic while you are using Snow Leopard (10.6).
There are other whole disk encryption packages available, such as PGP Whole Disk Encryption, HOWEVER, I would not advise it for your Mac OS X boot disk, as it has been known to be a problem when you try to install operating system updates or upgrade to a new version. NOTE: I have not seen PGP Whole Disk Encryption discussed much, ever since FileVault 2 came along.

Can I store files on an external hard drive with my Time Machine backups?

if you have TM backing up to an external hard drive is it possible to store other files on it like normal without disturbing TM?

As Neil says, you can do this.
Be very careful not to put the other files inside the Backups.backupdb folder that TM uses.
But it's much, much better to make a separate partition for the other files, so TM has it's own, exclusive space. See item #3 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip.*

Can I add just one folder from an external hard drive to the Time Machine Backup?

I have TM set up to backup my main iMac hard drive. I have an external hard drive with photos on it that I would like to add to the TM backup as well. Not the whole hard drive - just one folder with current photos I am working on.

it wouldn't let me "open up" the hard drive to see the contents
Select the volume icon in the Finder and open the Info window. Click the padlock icon in the lower right corner of the window and enter your administrator password when prompted. Check the box at the bottom marked
Ignore ownership on this volume
Close the Info window.

I would like to connect an external hard drive to my time machine and use it as a network drive to store itunes and iPhoto how do i do this

I have just purchased a new my book hard drive and would like to connect it to my time capsule and store my itunes and iphoto contentent there to free up space on my internal hard drive . Can this be done and what is the process?

I'd like to store my Aperture /IMovie Libraries on an external hard drive.
That is fine and recommended.. use the fastest disk you can afford.. ie Thunderbolt>USB3>FW800>USB2.
In addition, I'd like to partition the external hard drive so that Time Machine can use it to both back up my IMac and the external library drives.
Let me be clear.. you want to partition the one disk.. use it for TM and move your files to the external disk.. and then backup to the same disk.. You can do it.. but that is not a backup.. that is an experiment in how long you can get away with running files and backups on the same disk before you lose everything.. like Russian Roulette.. pull the trigger enough times and laws of probability will do you in.
You must have backups on a different disk .. otherwise it is pointless.
Can I set up a RAID 5 format for redundancy?
No.. you can buy special USB and Thunderbolt external drives that support RAID..
BUT that is still not a backup.. let me show why.. you make a silly move and corrupt your file in aperture.. it is not that rare.
Raid will corrupt all copies of the files.. it is replicated across all disks.
Delete a photo it is deleted across all disks.. you have no recovery.
Alway, always consider RAID system one disk.. backup onto another disk.. and if the photos or movies are at all important to you.. ie your family .. make another copy and store in a relatives house.. There is no such thing as too much redundancy.

How do you remove back up data from the memory storage? my storage data states that i have over 80gb of data used for back ups and i dont know why as i use a external hard drive as a time machine .now my 250gb flash storage is nearly full

how do you remove back up data from the memory storage? my storage data states that i have over 80gb of data used for back ups and i dont know why as i use a external hard drive as a time machine .now my 250gb flash storage is nearly full.. HELP!

When Time Machine backs up a portable Mac, some of the free space will be used to make local snapshots, which are backup copies of recently deleted files. The space occupied by local snapshots is reported as available by the Finder, and should be considered as such. In the Storage display of System Information, local snapshots are shown as Backups. The snapshots are automatically deleted when they expire or when free space falls below a certain level. You ordinarily don't need to, and should not, delete local snapshots yourself. If you followed bad advice to disable local snapshots by running a shell command, you may have ended up with a lot of data in the Other category. Ask for instructions in that case.
See this support article for some simple ways to free up storage space.

How can I reformat my external hard drive from the time machine format to regular format?

Ok so when first starting out I got an external hard drive for my time machine, little did I know I would run out of space really fast and would need to buy a bigger and better hard drive. Now that I did that, I have my old hard drive that I would like to use for copying material form my laptop to my desktop. However, it is still set as my time machine and tries to back up my lap top every time I plug it in. Also, it says that about half of it is still filled with stuff. I erased everything on it. I just want to reformat it so that it is like I just bought it.

Tirrel wrote:
I had the same idea as you however when I tried going to Disk Utility and I tried to erase it an error message came up telling me that it is unable to erase.
Unable to erase, or unable to unmount?
If Time Machine is trying to back up to it, or some other process is using it, Disk Utility won't be able to unmount it. Turn Time Machine OFF; if you have the drive open via the Finder or any other app, close it or quit the app(s).
At worst, start up from your Install disc or other alternate source and erase it from there. If you're not sure how to do that, see the yellow box in #1 of Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks.

I have an IMAC and I'm running OSX 10.9.2. I'd like to store my Aperture /IMovie Libraries to an external hard drive. In addition, I'd like to partition the external hard drive so that Time Machine can use it to both back up my IMac and the externa

I have an IMAC and I'm running OSX 10.9.2. I'd like to store my Aperture /IMovie Libraries on an external hard drive. In addition, I'd like to partition the external hard drive so that Time Machine can use it to both back up my IMac and the external library drives. Is this possible? Can I set up a RAID 5 format for redundancy?

I'd like to store my Aperture /IMovie Libraries on an external hard drive.
That is fine and recommended.. use the fastest disk you can afford.. ie Thunderbolt>USB3>FW800>USB2.
In addition, I'd like to partition the external hard drive so that Time Machine can use it to both back up my IMac and the external library drives.
Let me be clear.. you want to partition the one disk.. use it for TM and move your files to the external disk.. and then backup to the same disk.. You can do it.. but that is not a backup.. that is an experiment in how long you can get away with running files and backups on the same disk before you lose everything.. like Russian Roulette.. pull the trigger enough times and laws of probability will do you in.
You must have backups on a different disk .. otherwise it is pointless.
Can I set up a RAID 5 format for redundancy?
No.. you can buy special USB and Thunderbolt external drives that support RAID..
BUT that is still not a backup.. let me show why.. you make a silly move and corrupt your file in aperture.. it is not that rare.
Raid will corrupt all copies of the files.. it is replicated across all disks.
Delete a photo it is deleted across all disks.. you have no recovery.
Alway, always consider RAID system one disk.. backup onto another disk.. and if the photos or movies are at all important to you.. ie your family .. make another copy and store in a relatives house.. There is no such thing as too much redundancy.

HT201250 how do i add external hard drive to my time machine back up

how do i add external hard drive to my time machine back up so that I may view the files independently on apple tv please?

To elaborate on above. I am looking to add about 300gig of photos on an external hard drive to TC.
Once I do this I believe I can then have itunes source its photos from TC without having them stored directly on my iMac?
Then I am assuming once I keep itunes on with home sharing I can stream these photos through Apple TV?
My inital problem is getting the photos onto TC in an individual folder not just a backup folder....is that possible or what would you suggest please?

External hard drive used for Time machine is full and having a hard time backing up. what should I do?

External hard drive used for Time Machine is full and having a hrad time backing up. What is my best option moving forward? NAS?

For All things Time Machine see Pondini's Excellent Infirmation here...
http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html
Start with FAQs and Troubleshooting.

Attempting to include an external hard drive to my time machine backup

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