External HD and Time Machine - reformat required

Have just plugged in a new WD Elements 320g external hd.
In Time Machine i have clicked: "Select Backup Disc"
I have selected the "Elements" icon and under that it says: reformat required (incomplete file system).
Do i click on "Use for Backup" or do i have to "reformat" somehow myself?
Thanks for any assistance.

Hello annaonputer,
And welcome to Apple Discussions!
If you Time Machine is telling you that the drive needs to be reformatted then you should probably do so. For instructions on how to set up a drive for Time Machine, see #5 of Pondini's FAQ on Time Machine below.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1964018
B-rock

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Here's a very basic question about 2 TB external drives and Time Machine.

Here's a very basic question about 2 TB external drives and Time Machine.
Ihave a Mac Pro with a .75 TB and 1 TB drive. It also has a 1 TB 2ndinternal drive. My current external drive is too small so I'll begetting a 1.5 TB or 2 TB drive.
Obviouslythe new larger 2 TB drive will backup everything on the Mac Prointernal drive with Time Machine. But there will be 1 TB of space leftover going to waste.
ShouldI partition the external drive so that the TM portion will be 1 TB andthe use the remaining extra partition for additional file backups withCarbon Copy?
Thanks for any insights.
I tried searching around on the new Apple discussion forum, but I find it much harder to use than the old forum I used to use.

The problem with terabyte drives is that that a 3 TB is about as big as you can get without going into RAID territory. Ideally, a Time Machine drive should be 3 times as large as all the drives you are backing up. So, if you have 2.75 TB of internal storage, you should have 8 TB of Time Machine space.
Of course, that is "should". If your TB drives are mostly empty, then you can get away with something 3 times the size of your used disk space. Just remember that you are pushing it. Linc is right about Time Machine needing space to work.
It is unlikely that you have regular churn on 2.75 TB of disk. I suggest identifying which drives and folders have the most activity and excluding those drives and directories that don't change much. It would be better to archive the data that doesn't change often and keep it out of Time Machine. Then you may be able to get away with a 2 TB Time Machine drive.

Question about 2 TB external drives and Time Machine.

Here's a very basic question about 2 TB external drives and Time Machine.
I have a Mac Pro with a .75 TB and 1 TB drive. It also has a 1 TB 2nd internal drive. My current external drive is too small so I'll be getting a 1.5 TB or 2 TB drive.
Obviously the new larger 2 TB drive will backup everything on the Mac Pro internal drive with Time Machine. But there will be 1 TB of space left over going to waste.
Should I partition the external drive so that the TM portion will be 1 TB and the use the remaining extra partition for additional file backups with Carbon Copy?
Thanks for any insights.
I tried searching around on the new Apple discussion forum, but I find it much harder to use than the old forum I used to use.

John,
I'm not sure why you posted in the iMac forum so I'm going to attempt to get you to the correct spot. I would recommend reposting in the Time Machine Forum, this is part of the OS X forums (Leopard or Snow Leopard) because you are using Snow Leopard (your profile indicates you are) please click Apple Support Communities and type Snow Leopard. Then you can narrow the search down by clicking Refine this List.
Roger

Using airport extreme, an external HD and time machine for wireless backups

Hey All,
The whole reason I bought my airport extreme was to plug an external HD into and use it for backups. Then came time machine and Leopard, and now time capsule!!!
Does anyone know if you can use your airport extreme with an external HD attached and time machine in the same way as time capsule for wireless backups!??? The guy in the Apple store I spoke to says you should be able to if you mount the HD (a little cumbersome); I used to be able to mount the HD in Tiger, but cant in Leopard!!
Thanks!
Message was edited by: Fleery

Fleery wrote:
Does anyone know if you can use your airport extreme with an external HD attached and time machine in the same way as time capsule for wireless backups!???
No. Time Machine is supported in 3 configurations:
1. a directly attached HD
2. Time Capsule
3. A HD connected to a Mac with OS X 1.5 Server
I tried both 1 & 3 and they work perfectly.
The guy in the Apple store I spoke to says you should be able to if you mount the HD (a little cumbersome); I used to be able to mount the HD in Tiger, but cant in Leopard!!
Bogus. That is NOT a supported configuration. It will work for a while and you will eventually start to get errors when Time machine backs up, and they are not recoverable.

External drive and time machine

Dear all,
Quick question. I am planning to finally get an external HDD for time machine.
1) Does the external HDD have to be on all the time when the mac is on? (some external HDD's are rather noisy...)
2) Does it back up continuously every hour?
3) Does it (TM) use a lot of RAM or slow down normal functioning at all?
4) Can I restore another mac from TM? For example, if I back-up my imac and then my macbook "crashes"... Can I simply restore the imac content from the external HDD onto my macbook?
5) Any recommendations for a decent 500GB HDD?
Thanks.
Message was edited by: Fireball Dragon

1. No the external drive doesn't have to be on all the time however if you buy a higher quality HD such as a OWC Mercury or Lacie Quadra D2 these are very quiet and can barely be heard.
2. Yes TM does back up hourly however you can get a free utility such as Time Machine Editor (Google it) so you can customize how frequently it backs up.
3. No TM does not use much RAM and does not slow down your machine.
4. As far as I know machine TM will only restore to is the machine that did the back up. I would suggest getting a separate TM drive for you Macbook if that is a concern.
5. As mentioned Lacie Quadra D2 or OWC Mercury's are both popular and I believe most would agree recommended.
Regards,
Roger

Western Digital External HD and Time Machine issues

I have been using my 500 Gb Western Digital Passport drive for the past few months, though I purchased it almost a year ago. I had been using it as a back up drive using Time Machine, though I also put other files on it at times. Recently it had been having issues backing up, and now it hasn't been recognized by my Mac. It hasn't had this problem before and when I tried to repair it, I received this message:
Verify and Repair volume “disk1s2”
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Invalid B-tree node size
Volume check failed.
Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed.
I'm worried that I won't be able to retrieve the data. I also don't want to reformat the drive if I have any other options. Please let me know what I can do, thank you.
(I'm also pretty sure that my drive is pretty much a goner and that I won't be able to retrieve my data).

ReiNocturna wrote:
Thank you, I'd seen some things about Disk Warrior and wasn't sure. I'll have to scrape money together I suppose.
Here is an image of the issue I encountered: Problem.
Yes, +*Invalid B-tree node size+* is one Disk Utility usually can't fix, but Disk Warrior often can.
Disk Utility can detect it, but not Finder, so I guess I've got no hope unless I use Disk Warrior, and even then it's only a possibility.
And so if I end up having to reformat the drive, I should probably use a different external for back-ups?
Depends. If these are your only backups, that's safest. If you have secondary backups (see below), I'd be inclined to give it another chance.
Any brands you recommend? (I'm getting tired of all these externals dying out on me, but then, technology does that sometimes. ;))
A lot of folks say WD's are junk (including those at CarbonCopyCloner), and we do see a lot of reports here, but they also sell a lot of them, so it's hard to tell whether they really fail more often than other makes. But other folks say they've used them for years without undue problems.
I've got a Seagate about 18 months old, and a LaCie Rugged (portable) about 6 months old; OWC and Iomega also seem to get good reviews.
|
I've learned over the years (mostly the hard way, of course ), never to trust my backups to a single app or piece of hardware: no app is perfect, and all hardware fails, sooner or later.
Like many here, I keep both full Time Machine backups, plus a "bootable clone" on a separate external HD. I use CarbonCopyCloner, many use the similar SuperDuper. That gives me the best of both types of backups, plus of course a completely separate, independent backup.
CCC is donationware; SD has a free version, but you need the paid one (about $30) to do updates instead of full replacements, or scheduling. Either is easily found via Google.
And/or, see Kappy's post on Basic Backup, complete with links to the web sites of each product.

External hd and time machine...

I got a new external hd both usb and ethernet..
what if i use it for time machine and just get it conmnected sometimes and not keep it always connected to the mac?
thanks

Sounds like instead of reaching around and plugging and unplugging your External HD, iPods, iPhone, flash drive and what not, you could use a 4 port or maybe even a 7 port powered USB hub.
See this Google Search > [4 port self powered usb hubs for mac|http://www.google.com/custom?q=4+port%20self%20powered%20usb%20hubs%20for%2 0mac&sa=Search&client=pub-6263300333013957&forid=1&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&c of=GALT:%23008000;GL:1;DIV:%23336699;VLC:663399;AH:center;BGC:FFFFFF;LBGC:336699 ;ALC:0000FF;LC:0000FF;T:000000;GFNT:0000FF;GIMP:0000FF;FORID:1;&hl=en]
Example this > [Belkin 4 port hub|http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=198333] is nice, you can leave your HD, iPhone & iPod cables connected to it and use the handy port on top for flash drives.

External drive and time machine failures

Morning all!
I have an external JBOD drive enclosure holding to 1TB drives. I have one setup as a storage device and the other as a Time Machine backup drive, I've noticed that when first mounted the system performs backups fine, but when the system awakes from sleeping it can't seem to backup anymore. Wehen this happens I have to force a umount of the drive and remount it. Has anyone seen this before and if so do you know how to stop this from happening?

Sunadmn,
I'm not sure what is going on however I would recommend reposting your question in the *Time Machine* forum. You can find it by click the Discussions link in the upper left of this page, then click *Snow Leopard* and you will find the TM forum. Before posting though read the:
Time Machine FAQ and Troubleshooting Time Machine articles, you may find your answers there.
Roger

External drive and time machine question

I am new to Mac, and just bought a 24 in 2.4 imac after they didn't update them at Macworld. I have a question about the my external hd that i am using for time machine. Can i partition that somehow to use part of it for file storage and the other part for time machine backup? Also, if I have already performed the time machine backup, can i still do it if possible.
Thank you for your help

Hi indycolt
Yes I agree with Kappy!
I just added a partition to my External Time Machine backup last week, without losing any of the backups. I had about 220GB of free space on a single partition TM backup and felt like that was a waste of space. So I went to disk utility selected the "External HD / Partition" then the "+" box, moved the partition divider to where I wanted it and then "Apply". I now have 120GB left for future TM back-ups and a 100GB partition of now usable space.
Dennis

Use Time Capsule as extern HDD and time machine?

Hi, I own a Time Cap. 1 Gb and use it for Time Machine, but I also want to use it as en extra Harddisk.. But I don' t get a harddisk icon on my desktop.. Så how do I get acess to it?
Thanks
Lasse

open Airport Utility (assuming you run a Mac not Windows)
two scenarios; select Finder preferences under General and check box "show connected servers on desktop"
1) your local network use GO function, found top file menu then select "connect to server" you'll see a blank window type afp://your router ip address should be number such as 10.0.1.1
2) using the internet because you are not near your local network, open Airport Utility write down your internet tab ip address example such as 68.43.46.123
Also using Airport Utility under Disks/File Sharing check box "enable file sharing" and "share disk over wan port." When using afp command such as first scenario use your internet ip address
Personally I have used this afp internet connection when I was in Pittsburgh, Pa over the past holidays to get a few of my files off my TC network in Detroit, Mi.

I'm having a hard time setting up my external hard from with my AirPort Extreme and Time Machine Backups.

I have been using a Mac Mini with an external hard and Time Machine. I bought an Airport Extreme and have had problem setting up the hard drive using the USB port on the Airport Extreme. I also just recently bought a Mac Book Air and hope to have both computers back up to the external hard drive using Time Machine and Airport Extreme. I have been using the optical drive from the Mac mini to load programs into the Mac Book Air. I think I'm just getting confused in Finder. I am just not seeing the hard drive. I ended up plugging the hard drive back into the Mac Mini and that is work fine again. How do I setting the external hard drive up to the AirPort Extreme and use for both computers? Or at least to start with the Mac mini.

It's critical to understand that Time Machine (TM) stores backups differently between local and network drives. That would mean the TM backup on your locally attached USB hard drive will not be directly useable when it is connected to the AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBS). There is a way to copy a local version to a network version, but it is not fool-proof. When you do connect this drive and point TM to it, TM will start a brand new backup, leaving your existing backup as is.
If your current backup is critical to you, you may want to consider getting a second USB drive to attach to the Extreme and use your existing one as a backup ... or use TM's multi-backup process to backup to more than one destination drive alternatively.
So, at this point, you may want to make a decision on how you want to go forward to help provide a solution for you.
To directly answer your question, when you go to select a destination for a Time Machine backup, the drive(s) that show up under "Backup Disks" are those that TM already recognizes and has backed up to. Those listed under "Available Disks" are drives (either local or on the network) that TM can back up to.

Time Capsule: Storage and Time Machine - Could this work?

Hi everyone,
my Macbook got stolen last Friday and thank God I had an external HD and Time Machine (TC)to keep all my data. Now here's the dilemma.
I bought time capsule (1TG) to use as a back up. I figure I can hide it somewhere in the house and not worried about having it disappeared. My laptop should be here tomorrow, so I want to get it right before do anything.
The present external HD is partitioned in 2: 250 Gb for time machine, and 250Gb for other storage (iMovie projects etc etc.)
Since I cannot partitioned TC, I was wondering if this would work.
When I get my laptop (Macbook - w. 320 Gb HD), I will do my re import for my data (appr.60Gb) from my first HD, then let time machine do its thing with TC. Now here's what I want to do. Take all the "storage" (appr. 200Gb), import it to the Macbook , use time machine to back it up. Then I delete the "storage" from my macbook, so it's not 3/4 full before I even install programs such as Aperture. If this works, that means I would have access to all my storage if I return to day 1 of time machine. Do you think it will work, or is time machine going to dump it after a certain amount of time?
Thanks in advance,
SG

You needn't go to all that trouble if you simple connect your old backup drive to the computer then exclude the TM backup partition from the TC in TM. TM will backup both your computer's drive and the storage partition on your other drive. The storage partition will be backed up separately on the TC from the computer's drive. If you copy that data to your computer's drive then backup entirely to the TC then delete the data from your computer's drive, the backup on your TC will eventually be deleted as well and you'll have no backup of the data on the external drive's storage partition.
A TM backup is not simply a substitute for storage space. Once you delete a file that has been backed up by TM eventually when TM does a weekly or monthly consolidation it will delete the file and all its copies from the backup.

Looking at external HD for Time machine backup and for XP OS?

Bought a 24" iMac desktop with a 500 GB HD and am going to be running up to Best Buy to snag a Western Digital external My Book 750 GB HD. Mainly this external is for Time Machine backup, photos, iTunes library, etc. but I'd like to fire up boot camp and install Windows XP OS. Question is, can I install the XP OS on the external HD so I don't have to divide and possibly mess up my internal Mac HD? Also, when I do install XP OS, how much space for a partition? XP will be mainly for just a few PC games that are PC only like Company of Heroes.

Hi Saius,
yeah, the more the better...
BootCamp requires the use of XP with SP2. Without SP2 (SP1 or earlier) it either does not install or if installed can produce some odd errors.
If you have access to a Windows XP PC you can try these instructions to slipstream the SP2 together with your 'old' XP CD to a new XP SP2 CD.
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxpsp2slipstream.asp
Before spending some unneccessary dollars might be worth trying.
It's not very difficult to do this (done it myself some years back).
Also it is a good idea to use your external HD and make a bootable clone of your OSX volume using either SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner.
That way in case something goes wrong, you can easily revert back.
Personally I would not use Time Machine for that task.
Have Fun and thanks for the star.
Stefan

Backing up photos on iMac using external hard drive and time machine

How do i back up photos from my imac using an external hard drive and time machine
Thanks in advance

Apple explains how to use Time Machine in http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427.
Setting up and using TM is very simple to do, connect any external HD (format as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) using Disk Utility ) and your computer shoudl ask if you want to use that EHD for a Time Machine backup. If you have any questions visit your local Apple Store or reseller and they can answer how to setup and use TM and also should be able to offer suggestions on EHDs. My personal preference is OWC (www.macsales.com) Mercury Elite Pro due to the build quality and OWC's level of support.

Cannot Find Photos on External Hard Drive Using iPhoto and Time Machine

Hi everyone,
This is my first time posting on this forum and am really hoping for some help! I have a 2006 PowerBook G4 that is running iPhoto and Time Machine, and I've used an external hard drive to backup everything on the computer via Time Machine. When I plug the external hard drive into my newer 2010 MacBook Pro, I follow this path to try to access the photos:
     External Hard Drive > Backups.backupd > PowerBook G4 12" > Latest > Macintosh HD > Users > Me > Pictures > iPhoto Library
When I click "iPhoto Library", I get the following message:
     "The iPhoto Library is a Time Machine backup, and so cannot be used as the main library. Relaunch iPhoto with <option> key held down to choose another   library."
So, I do as the error message says and I hold down the "option" key and iPhoto launches and says:
     What Photo Library do you want iPhoto to use?
In this case, I choose "Other Library..." and again follow this path:
     External Hard Drive > Backups.backupd > PowerBook G4 12" > Latest > Macintosh HD > Users > Me > Pictures > iPhoto Library
When I choose this, I again get the following message:
     The iPhoto Library is a Time Machine backup, and so cannot be used as the main library. Relaunch iPhoto with <option> key held down to choose another   library.
So as you can see, I'm feeling a bit like I'm chasing my tail in trying to open these photos. I did follow another user's advice and confirm that all photos are infact on the hard drive by using the "control" button and clicking "iPhoto Library" under the pictures folder, and choosing "Show Package Contents". All looks to be in tact in the "originals" folder when showing package contents, however, I just can't find a way to actually view the photos in iPhoto. I really don't want to import all the photos to my current MacBook Pro, because I'd like them to live on the external hard drive (which is formatted for Macs) so that I can browse the photos on the external drive, rather than housing it on my computer.
One other thing I tried was opening iPhoto on my MacBook Pro and going to File > Browse Backups... which essentially opens Time Machine and shows me the photos on my MacBook Pro but gives me no option to view them from my External Hard Drive.
Any super users out there willing to lend me some help?
Thanks!

The iPhoto Library is a Time Machine backup, and so cannot be used as the main library. Relaunch iPhoto with <option> key held down to choose another   library.
You can have an iPhoto library on an external drive and use it from different machines
and you can have a Time Machine backup
The two can not be on the same volume - and iPhoto can not access the TM backup - it must be restored to use it
LN

External HD and Time Machine - reformat required

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