Backup to external disk with disk utility

Hello,
I'm looking to back up a iMac with 10.3.9 to an external usb disk drive. Unfortunately, I'm not having much success. I boot to the install disk, then pick "disk utility", and go to the restore page. Then I drag my Mac HD on the source, which works fine, but I'm not able to get the destination correct. Here's the deal with the disk though. I have three partitions on it. I have a 1st partition which is fat32; the second is ext3 where I have Ubuntu; the 3rd is a linux swap partition.
I was hoping that I could save to the fat32 partition without clobbering the data there, but I wasn't even able to try it, because Disk Utility came back with an "error 19". I'm not sure what that is, but I assumed that Disk Utility doesn't play with fat32. So I then used Gparted to create an empty 4th partition with HFS+ format. I thought that that would work, but while Disk Utility "sees" that partition (it shows up on the left side, although without the correct partition name), it will not let me drag it to the restore->destination box.
So, couple of questions. Does anyone know if:
1) Does the destination of the Disk Utility backup have to be the first partition on the external disk?
2) Does the destination partition have to be HFS+?
Thanks.

I've got 3 partitions on a 500gb external drive plus the one internal hard drive on my iBook. I always make sure I keep a backup of both Leopard and Panther OSX. So if I have Panther on the internal HD then I have only one copy of Panther and two leopard copies on the externa HD. The mac doesn't seem to care what order the partitions are in since it treats each partition as a separate drive.
Yes, the destination has to be hfs+ but you can get disktuil to format the partition which will only format that partition and will not affect any other partition on the drive. Be careful to select the proper partition!
The recommended procedure is to format as journalled hfs+ (diskutil can do this) because diskutil will sometimes make an unbootable backup if you only erase the partition instead of formatting the paritition. That was the mistake I made and found the problem listed in carbon copy cloner's files. The problem is that for some reason, firewire external drives are not always bootable because of the issue OSX has with those types of drives. The only solution was to format the partition as hfs+ and try restoring from your boot drive to the newly formatted hfs+ partition. Worked for me.
As far as I know, Panther OS can't format a drive/partition as a windows drive. Leopard OSX will though and has no issues with formatting flashdrives or any other drives or partitions as microsoft windows DOS format. It can also write/read from windows formatted drives but Panther OSX can't as far as I know.
Oops. I guess I'm wrong. This from the diskutil help files...
You can use Disk Utility to format an *entire disk* in Windows (MS-DOS) format, but *you cannot format a single disk partition in Windows format.*
WARNING: To prepare a disk in Windows format, you must erase the entire disk. Be sure to copy all the information on that disk before you erase it.

Similar Messages

I've recently bought a Time Capsule (3TB); then I've added an external HD of 2TB to my TC via its USB port to store my iTunes Libraries. I would like to backup my external HD with Time Machine in the HD of TC. Is it possible?

I've recently bought a Time Capsule (3TB); then I've added an external HD of 2TB to my TC via its USB port in order to store my iTunes Libraries.
I would like to backup my external HD with Time Machine in the HD of TC. Is it possible?

I would like to backup my external HD with Time Machine in the HD of TC. Is it possible?
Sorry, but not possible.
Time Machine can only back up the internal drive(s) in a Mac....or a drive that is connected directly to a Mac via USB or FireWire.....provided that the drive is formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
I am not recommending this, but you might be able to move the drive from the USB port to the Mac, and have Time Machine back it up that way.....then move it back to the USB port on the Time Capsule......but this will involve doing some risky things.....and manually changing settings around everytime you make the swap. Something will surely go wrong....but up to you if you want to try it.
Carbon Copy Cloner will back up the drive connected to the USB port on the Time Capsule to the Time Capsule disk, but these will not be Time Machine backups. SuperDuper claims to also be able to do this.....but I have not tested it.

Backup / Restore using Disk Utility

Hello,
I have a G4 Quicksilver 2002 with two internal hard rives: one cofigured for Mac OS X 10.4 and the other (my main) configured for Mac OS X 10.5.
I've created a backup image of the 10.4 HD using Disk Utility which is stored on an external USB drive.
My question is this - if I need to restore the 10.4 HD from the backup image, will it be bootable? The directory for the 10.4 HD appears to be corrupted, and I'll likely need to reformat the drive and attempt a restore from the archived image.
I would like to avoid the hassle of rebuilding the 10.4.11 system from scratch.
--Bill

Hi Bill,
In theory that should work.

Duplicate backups of external disk to Time Capsule

I am backing up to a Time Capsule. Backup of the internal disk (Machintosh HD) is working fine. I also have an external firewire disk (Media) with my itunes library on it - when I connected in the external disk, it got backed up by Time Machine too.
So all seemed well, until tonight. The problem is that I don't always connect the firewire disk - so for a couple of nights, Time Machine was backing up the internal disk only. Tonight when I did connect the external disk, Time Machine backed up the entire disk, from scratch again!
It looks like Time Machine can't handle looking back through previous backups in a disk orientated way...it misses that 'Media' was last backed up 3 backups ago, so starts from scratch.
2008-08-31-002721/Macintosh HD <- incremental files only
/Media <- incremental files only
2008-09-01-202431/Macintosh HD <- incremental files only
2008-09-02-194944/Macintosh HD <- incremental files only
2008-09-03-193024/Macintosh HD <- incremental files only
/Media <- copies all files!
Anyone else seen this?
Apple: any chance of a fix for this?
Tim

Of course. Your Time Capsule won't use the external drive to store backups (they will be stored in the Time Capsule's hard disk), so you can use the external drive to store other data.
After plugging the external drive onto the Time Capsule, open a Finder window and you will see the external drive in the sidebar, under "Shared"

Time machine can't make backup on external disk

I'm using an external disk to make my backup with time machine. Therefore I formatted the disk for Mac OS Extended initially and the first backups went fine.
Now backup never finishes successful.
The external disk is connected via my airport extreme (wireless). I already did a disk repair but this didn't help either.
What is causing the problem and how can I fix it?

eggann wrote:
I'm using an external disk to make my backup with time machine. Therefore I formatted the disk for Mac OS Extended initially and the first backups went fine.
Now backup never finishes successful.
The external disk is connected via my airport extreme (wireless). I already did a disk repair but this didn't help either.
Technically, that is not supported by Apple, although many folks (including me) are doing it anyway: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/15139.html
What is causing the problem and how can I fix it?
Start with the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip* at the top of this forum.
It will show you how to locate the message(s) that describe the problem, then help you fix it.
If that doesn't help, post back with details, including all the messages, what you've done, and the results.

Backup to external disks on rotation

Hi everyone,
I was wondering if anyone could provide some step-by-step instructions how to set up the Archiver to export everything (files,users,tables,views,profiles,rules,fields e.t.c.) in a directory, so that I can set a Scheduler task to copy that directory to external disks on rotation.
My metadata and files are saved in the database (SecureFilesFS).
I presume it's not something very difficult to do?
Regards,
gpapadopoulos

Hi
For the users,tables,views,profiles,rules,fields part the easiest way would be to create CMU bundles on a scheduled basis so that it does not use up a lot of CS resource and also you can get the zip file for this which will be saving quite a lot of physical space as well .
As for the contents schedule my recommendation would be as follows (not that this is an ideal one but I think very effective) :
1 . Create an archive rule and schedule to run at a particular point of time every day . This will create the archives.hda which can be backed up as a physical backup to be restored as and when needed.
2. Create a physical file system backup for weblayout/ vault directories for the same as Archiver and save that to some other file location so that the contents are backed up .
3. Create a DB backup for the metadata at the same time as archiver / physical file so that all the metadata n db related information as well is backed up for restoration .
Another way of doing is to have the FileStoreProvider been used to redirect the contents to a secure file location which is pretty robust so that it can be retrieved back later on but even in this CMU should be run along with DB backup to create a complete UCM backup restore points.
Let me know your thoughts on this.
Thanks
Srinath

I want to make a .iso to backup my computer - disk utility won't let me

Just like the title says - disk utility refuses to back up my computer as a disk image. I've tried the hard disk, and the Mac HD volume, but it both cases disk utility tells me "resource busy"...***? What should I do to get around this problem? I thought it might be errors on my hard disk or hd volume, but disk utility seems impotent to take any action saying:
"Verifying volume “Macintosh HD”
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking Catalog hierarchy.
Checking Extended Attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
Volume Header needs minor repair
The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired.
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked
Volume needs repair
Are these processes related? Are errors on my HD volume causing disk utility to not backup my computer?
Any and all help is appreciated!
Vincenso

Vincenso, you need to repair that error first, but it can't be done while booted from it.
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Tiger Mac OS X Install disc that came with your computer, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
6. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then Safe Boot , (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it finishes.
And where are you trying to put the ISO?
Get carbon copy cloner to make an exact copy of your old HD to the New one...
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
SuperDuper...
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/
Have a look at Synchronize! Pro X 6.0.5
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/6897/synchronize!-pro-x
Or the most expensive one & my favorite, Tri-Backup...
http://www.tri-edre.com/english/tribackup.html

Can I backup another external HD with Time Machine/Capsule?

I have two external 250GB hard drives hooked up to my mac via USB. One for Time Machine and one for files. Does anyone know if it’s possible to backup my external HD for files to the external HD for Time Machine?

using the usb connected to the TC the readme says its doable. Just try it , what can it hurt unless you have valuable files on it.

Incremental backup from time capsule (time machine backup) to external disk

I have two questions regarding backing up a time capsule backup.
I would like to backup the time machine backup of my Macs from a time capsule to an external hard disk. The time capsule is a first geneneration one with 500 GB. The external hard disk has 500 GB as well with USB and firewire ports..
First question: What is the best way to connect these two hard drives - I am using a MacBook Air with two USB ports ?
Second question: What backup software could I use to do incremental backups - I tried ChronoSync but it is not picking up the changes of the sparcebundles ?
Thank you for every valuable advice
Regards

CAAN wrote:
I have two questions regarding backing up a time capsule backup.
I would like to backup the time machine backup of my Macs from a time capsule to an external hard disk.
Backing-up your backups is generally not a good idea. If there's a problem with the original backup, it will be copied to, and perhaps magnified on, the copy.
You'd be much better off making "secondary" backups separately. See #27 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of the +Time Machine+ forum), for some suggestions.
About the only alternative is to "archive" the TC's contents to a USB drive connected to it, but that's not incremental, and has other downsides as well. See #Q6 in [Using Time Machine with a Time Capsule|http://web.me.com/pondini/TimeMachine/TimeCapsule.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

Rman Backup of External Disk

Hi
We have an 3 Oracle 11.1 database on 3 different servers with Windows 2003.
We have a high speed USB External hard drive of Disk space about 2 TB .
I wanted to know is it a good idea to take a Rman backup every night on this external drive from all the three databases by sharing this drive .
Later this backs are manually copied to tapes.
Thanks

Hi,
You can take the backup but it will be very slow ( not like local harddisk)
You will see the significate wait event RMAN backup & I/O in AWR report.
You need crosscheck or validate the backup once its written to harddisk and again that may take more time
what i suggest is try it and if you are facing any problem , then don't continue.
Kind Regards,
Rakesh jayappa
Edited by: Rakesh jayappa on Sep 15, 2010 11:20 PM

Time Machine Backups of External Disk are Missing

I have followed the troubleshooting tips at http://pondini.org/TM/E3.html.
My circumstance is this:
I have a time machine on an external drive (not a time capsule). As far as I know it's backing up my main internal drive normally. This is a macbook pro, it gets connected irregularly. The drive has plenty of space, no old backups have been deleted.
I store my photos on an external sd card. It gets attached even more irregularly. The external sd is not excluded in TM preferences, nor has it failed (thankfully), been reformatted or renamed.
Entering TM, I see only a backup of the most recent time both TM disk and photos disk were connected (today). I know for certain both have been connected previously connected, and TM has generated a backup.
I know this because I have had this problem previously. Twice I have noticed the disappearing backup except for whatever was most recent at that time. I furled my forehead, assumed I was doing something wrong, and let the problem lie (creating a manual copy of my iPhoto library for safekeeping each time).
Fortunately, I do not need access to the backups now. But who knows what tomorrow brings?
I'm grateful for any input into this problem, so I may start relying on the backups.

While in Time Machine, to see all mounted volumes shift - command - c. Information learned from Linc Davis.

ITunes folder transferred from old computer is corrupt, so is most recent backup on external disk drive. What can I do?

I recently had to buy a new PC as the old one was getting very slow. When the technicians tried transferring over files to the new PC they discovered that several files were corrupted, including iTunes. I had made a backup of iTunes on an external hard drive a few months ago, but this appears to be dameged too. What can I do, please?

Use the tool in this backup tip to copy the files that can be read over to a new known good location. One of SyncToy's strengths is that it will keep on working after coming across a file it cannot copy. Windows copy will just fall over.
Once you recovered as much media as possible use the following technique to explore any available backups of your library files, and then update it to match your media folder.
Empty/corrupt library after upgrade/crash
Hopefully it's not been too long since you last upgraded iTunes, in fact if you get an empty/incomplete library immediately after upgrading then with the following steps youshouldn't lose a thing or need to do any further housekeeping. In the Previous iTunes Libraries folder should be a number of dated iTunes Library files. Take the most recent of these and copy it into the iTunes folder. Rename iTunes Library.itl as iTunes Library (Corrupt).itl and then rename the restored file as iTunes Library.itl. Start iTunes. Should all be good, bar any recent additions to or deletions from your library.
See iTunes Folder Watch for a tool to catch up with any changes since the backup file was created.
When you get it all working make a backup!
tt2

Software for backup of external disk

I have the latest MacBook Pro Retina 15 with 16gb of RAM but am having problems with one of my external HDDs (1TB LaCie Rugged USB 3.0/2.0). I was using 500GB for Time Machine and that seemed to be working well but when trying to write to the other 500GB I have been getting write errors with some files of late. I have now bought another LaCieRugged Thunderbolt 1TB HDD and want to copy files from the 500GB partition (non-TM) to that before doing a complete reformat of the now 2 partition drive(1TB LaCie Rugged USB 3.0/2.0). Then after restoring the files to the reformatted HDD I want to use the new Thunderbolt drive for Time Machine. Can somebody suggest either a free/non-free 100% reliable backup software that would solve my problem please? I tried using Goodsync but it failed miserably - omitting to copy many files.
Thanking you
Mitaka27
Tokyo

Carbon Copy Cloner has a free FULL 30 day trial and copies EVERYTHING. and by everything it even backs things up so that the drive is bootable!! its awesome, i recommend purchasing the software because of the features. I don't work for them or anything but it is amazing. MUCH better than time machine. Just go check it out for 30 days and I'm sure you'll love it too!
Its fast to download because its a small app but its packing some power!
Regards
Noahwhite2014

I can't clone (Duplicate) my Time Machine backup properly via Disk Utility

I have an ext. HDD Time Machine backup sitting beside my 10.8 MBP.
I want to create an identical ext. HDD Time Machine backup, because it's safe to have 2 identical HDDs backing up my system.
But when I follow this apple guideline, a problem occurs:
Time Machine: How to transfer backups from the current backup drive to a new backup drive
URL: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5096
The problem is I get a strange path even if I drop "Backups.backupdb" of 3TB1 (The source HDD) onto the root level of 3TB2, the destination HDD (I mean there's nothing in there so I just drag & drop onto the HDD). And the result is my new ext. HDD eating up about 60GB more space.
I have attached pictures of the paths for both Source HDD and Destination HDD, please look.
Why does it alter my file hiearchy like this?
Please help some high-level Mac guy thanks!

Why not just use TM to back up to 2 external drives. TM will alternate between the two when it backs up.
Alternately, you could have a 2 back up strategy like others have using SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner. Both are excellent 3rd party apps to clone your internal drive(s) and both have schedulers.

Can't restore tm backup from external disk

Hi
I need some help please.
I have a 2T seagate sata drive, which I had installed as an internal drive in my mac pro. this is my time machine backup drive for the other internal discs, which are installed as software raid 0
So the 2T Seagate backs up the raid. worked nicely.
Now I bought an enclosure and installed that very same 2T Seagate as an external FW drive to make room inside the macpro for one more disc.
Now I am having the problem, that I can't restore the files from my tm back drive back to my internal drives.
When i use time machine itself to restore, it only creates the top folder but never restores any files.
I tried drag and drop of folders using finder, and it gives me the error "don't have permission".
I can't restore my own backup! I can see the folders and files on the backup drive, so everything seems to be there.
any help highly appreciated
thanks

The only way I was able to save my backup was to use a terminal and copy the entire last backup to a different local disc.
cp -R /volumes/backup ./
this copies the entire structure
at least i got my files back.

Backup to external disk with disk utility

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