HT3275 "Unable to find backup disk" issue

I use an external USB device for Time Machine backups, and, until now, it has always worked perfectly. However, today when I tried to backup my files, Time Machine sent me the message "Unable to find backup disk."
I went to the "Help" section of Time Machine and was advised to open "Time Machine Preferences," then open "Select Disk" and choose my external device from the list of "back-up disks" that would be shown. This apparently would "re-set" my external back-up device and allow backing up to resume.
However, when I went to the "Select Disk" section of "Time Machine Preferences," my external device was not even listed as a choice (i.e., I can't select the device as the place for backing-up, because it's not listed).
NOTE: My external device is (a) connected to my laptop (via USB port), (b) turned on & (c) not defective. My wireless network is working just fine.
Also, when I tested Apple's back-up drive "re-set" advice by connecting a tiny thumb-drive to my laptop (via the same USB port I had used with my external device), the "Select Disk" section of "Time Machine Preferences" listed the thumb-drive as a potential back-up disk that could be selected.
So, why can't my external USB device be "found" by Time Machine (while my thumb-drive can)? What can I do to fix this problem?
Thanks!
lisbeth617

Sounds like either the backups are corrupted, or there's a problem with the drive, port, or cable.
Try to repair the backups, per #6 in Using Disk Utility.

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Ron Bird wrote:
Sorry to have ended so quickly. After doing the whole repair thing
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and re-connecting the drive and going to TM I did select the drive (after opening it up and it appearing in the list) and then it went to the 120 second countdown BUT after the time expired I got the same message that the drive was unavailable.
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HT201250 Time Machine backup disk not found

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Hello,
I have the infamous "looking for backup disk" issue. My Time Machine drive is an internal drive, NOT a time capsule. It is mounted and visible, and the backups show up on it in the Finder. When I select to enter the Time Machine "starfield" UI, all my previous backups are browsable. But when it comes time to actually back up... it just says "looking for backup disk" forever. I've tried leaving it like that for something like 40 minutes, no joy. This is not a huge disk, there are about 700 GB of backups on it. The HDD activity light on my computer is NOT showing any activity when I am idling but it is "looking for backup disk," so I don't think it's scanning the drive or anything.
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Isaac:
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Having registry issues need to know what the backup disk contains PLEASE! Or any suggestions :) :)

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3. Download a Puppy Linux .iso file for the operating system.
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HT3275 "Unable to find backup disk" issue

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