Lion can't find my external Time Machine Drive

Anyone having a problem with Lion identifying the external Time Machine drive? When I go to Time Machine set up all I get is "Set Up other Time Capsule". Connections seem OK and drive is on and worked fine previous to the upgrade.
Any ideas?

Is the drive a USB or FireWire external HD, or a network drive (NAS)?
If it's a NAS, it needs an update. See #C16 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
If it's an external HD, try repairing it, per #A5 in that same link.

Similar Messages

Migration assistant can't find backups on Time Machine drive that contains backups from multiple computers

My Retina Macbook Pro died due to a hardware error. During the diagnosis I was asked by Apple support personnel to format and reinstall OSX, which I did but did not fix the issue. The mainboard has since been replaced and I am trying to restore the TimeMachine backup I have.
The USB disk containing the TimeMachine backup contains TimeMachine backups for two different computers, my last Mac and the one I owned before that, which died earlier this year.
When I plug the drive in, I am able to browse the backups from both machines, as shown in the screenshot below.
The problem comes in when I attempt to run the migration assistant. I select the first option (restore from USB drive, etc). The migration assistant finds the USB volume and in the list underneath shows backups from a single computer - which it calls Unknown. The date of the last back is shown as 10 December 2012, the same date as the last backup from my old Mac (doolittle). There is no trace of the backups from my new mac.
Any ideas of how to get around this?
Thanks
Andrew

http://pondini.org/OSX/MigrationProblems.html

I have an external Time Machine drive that I want to reformat. I can't remember the password. How can I do this. Disk Utility won't let me. Thanks.

I have an iMac that had drive problems last winter. Took the iMac to the Apple Store and they reinstalled everything and now it works again. Only thing is that my external Time Machine drive is screwed up now. Its 1.5 TB.
I had the Time Machine drive partioned into two parts. One partion was for an emergency bootup using carbon copy cloner. That partion I can open and mounts on my desktop. The other partion was Time Machine. It once upon a time opened and mounted without a password.
It requests a password to unlock even though I never had it password protected before the iMac drive problems. And so now it won't mount the drive.
I can go to Disk Utilities and I can see Time Machine with both partions. The Carbon Copy partion is mounted. The Time Machine partion is not mounted. For this reason I can't select it and erase it.
What the heck am I supposed ot do now to erase it and start over. Any help would be appreciated. I really don't want to go and buy another drive.
Kevin

Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:
{ diskutil list; echo; diskutil cs list; } | open -f -a TextEdit
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).
A TextEdit window will open with the output of the command. Post the contents of that window, if any — the text, please, not a screenshot. The title of the window doesn't matter, and you don't need to post that.
If any personal information appears in the output, anonymize before posting, but don’t remove the context.

My MacBook pro won't recognize hard drive I put in it. It boots only to a white screen unless I boot to my recovery USB. If I do that then I can select my USB and my external time machine drive in the disk utility, so no problems there. But what do you

My MacBook pro won't recognize hard drive I put in it. It boots only to a white screen unless I boot to my recovery USB. If I do that then I can select my USB and my external time machine drive in the disk utility, so no problems there. But what do you think it is? It won't recognize any hard drive I put in the machine, so might it be the sata cable?

Boot the Recvoery USB, use Disk Utility to select the internal drive makers namea and size on the left.
Now select erase and select the midde option and click erase, it will take a bit to complete but it's best for the drive.
Now select Partiton tab, click the big box and Options: GUID and then Format: OS X Extended journaled and click apply.
Quit and you should be able to install OS X now with your Apple ID and password.
see
http://osxdaily.com/2011/08/08/lion-recovery-disk-assistant-tool-makes-external- lion-boot-recovery-drives/

I have just started using Time Machine. I was thinking about deleting old E-Mails on my Mac to clean. Does Time Machine back up the E-Mails , if so how can I find them in Time Machine ??

I have just started using Time Machine. I was thinking about deleting old E-Mails on my Mac to clean. Does Time Machine back up the E-Mails , if so how can I find them in Time Machine ??

If you back up your mac before deleting your emails, Time Machine should back up your e-mails.
I never tried this so i'm not sure to find them in Time Machine. To browse in your backups simply click the Time Machine icon in your dock. In the right bar, you can select an backup. Than you can browse in finder, in your backkup.
EDIT: Just browsed and CT above was right. This topic might help you:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/20154303#20154303

HT201250 I accidentally deleted an important note on my iPhone. Can I find it in Time Machine?

I accidently deleted an important note on my iphone. Can I find it on Time Machine?

If you have Time Machine connected you should be able to.
VK replied to a similar question here ...
Start Mail and open the Notes mailbox. click on TM in the dock, scroll back in time in the Mail window, select the note you deleted and hit 'restore".

TS1211 I lost one calendar from my Mac Osx 10.5.8 system on G4 how can I find it from time machine backup?

I lost one calendar from my Mac Osx 10.5.8 system on G4 how can I find it from time machine backup?
Can someone help me with that pls !!!!!!

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5176639

External time machine drive no longer being automatically recognized

Recently my RMBP has stopped recognizing my external time machine drive. When ever I connect my 1 TB WD drive to my mac, it shows up on my desktop as usually but will not get recognized by time machine. I used to be able to connect the drive, have it show up on my desk with the orange USB logo, and then it would be auto recognized and the time machine logo would appear on it and it would start backing up. Now, I connect it and it just stays at the orange USB logo. I have to go to the time machine menu bar icon and open time machine's preferences and manually select the drive to get it to back up. This happens both on battery power and while I'm charging. I have already verified the disk in disk utility and have repaired as well. I don't recall when this started happening. I was running the 10.9.4 beta before its public release, but it hadn't been working before I upgraded to that either.

This simple procedure will clear your Time Machine settings, including exclusions. The backups won't be affected. If you have a long exclusion list that can't be recreated easily, you may prefer a more complicated procedure that preserves the exclusion list. In that case, ask for instructions. Otherwise, do as follows.
Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist
Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select
Services ▹ Reveal in Finder (or just Reveal)
from the contextual menu.* A Finder window should open with a file selected. Copy the file to the Desktop. Then move it (the original, not the copy) to the Trash. You'll be prompted for your administrator password. Restart the computer and recreate your settings in the Time Machine preference pane. It will show that you have no backups. Don't worry; your backups haven't been touched. Run a backup to test. The backup may take much longer than usual. If TM now performs as expected, delete the file you copied to the Desktop.
*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combinationcommand-C. In the Finder, select
Go ▹ Go to Folder...
from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You won't see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

Getting new external drive, can I switch back up time machine drives?

I don't want to loose the info time machine has already captured on my external hard drive called B1, if I install a new hard drive B2, can I just copy B1 to B2 and then point time machine to B2?
Not sure what the process would be, but I want to get rid of B1 as a time machine drive and add b2 and not loose any info already captured.
Suggestions?

Related question:
I partitioned my 500GB external drive, 30GB in G-1 for a bootable system (currently 10.4.10) and the remaining space in G-2 for Time Machine.
I now want to resize the partitions on the fly in Terminal, to free up 20GB more for TM, but I plan to use Carbon Copy Cloner to first make a backup of both G-1 and G-2, just in case.
If I lose data resizing the partitions and then have to restore the TM backup files from the clone, will Time Machine recognize its earlier files and pick up where it left off, or will it start over?
Aside: Disk Utility in Leopard indicates it will resize partitions on the fly without losing data, but I have read in other threads that data has been lost anyway.
Ken

Can I back up macbook to external time machine drive attached to my Samba?

I'm already backing up my macbook with a WD MAc Formatted drive. I want to connect it to a NAS (Samba Server).
I know that time machine will not work with NAS. Will my existing time machine drive work if I connect it wirelessly to a Samba based NAS device?

yes. mount the drive remotely on the macbook and choose it as the designated TM drive in TM system preferences.

Finder Lags Until Time Machine Drive RPM Increase

Example.
In a FInder window I click on Today and the list of files modified today will not appear until the time machine drive gets up to speed. I can hear the drive start to spin when I click on Today, and when the drive gets up to a certiain speed, the list of files appear and the spinnig wheel is gone.
Is this normal?
Mtn Lion 10.8.3
WD 2TB Drive using Firewire

It's normal if you have been using files from the external drive. Note that external drives may take some seconds to load data. The same happens when you are using Time Machine on an external drive and you want to restore a file: the Time Machine window is frozen until the external drive loads all backups saved in it

Can't find photos in time machine on my external hard drive

Before you do anything, read Pondini's Time Machine FAQ;
http://pondini.org/TM/15.html
Scroll down to the pink box.

Upgraded to Mavericks, can't find files on time machine

I have an external hard drive where I backup my Macbook Pro. I recently upgraded to Mavericks and now I can't find old files on time machine. I am looking for a file around a certain date, but no matter what date I look at in time machine - the files and data seem to be the same. I hope someone has a solution to my problem!

Hi Miax1,
Welcome to the Apple Support Communities!
I understand that you are looking for a specific file in your Time Machine backup. It sounds like you are familiar with the interface but just cannot find the file. Just to make sure you are searching in the right area, I suggest reviewing the Restoring data from Time Machine backups section from the following article. Please let me know if you need further assistance.
Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427
Restoring specific files or folders
Choose Enter Time Machine from the Time Machine menu. The restore interface appears. You can literally see your windows as they appeared "back in time."
You can use the timeline on the right side of the window to reach a certain point back in time. The timeline shows the times of all backups on your backup drive. If you don’t know exactly when you deleted or changed a file, you can use the back arrow to let Time Machine automatically travel through time to show you when that folder last changed.
Note: Dates in pink indicate the data resides on your Time Machine backup device. Dates in white indicate the data resides on your Mac. In OS X Lion v10.7 and later, portable Macs include local snapshots.
You can also perform a Spotlight search from the Finder. Simply enter a search term in the Spotlight search field, and use the back arrow to have Time Machine search through your backups to find what you are looking for.
Before you restore a file, you can also use Quick Look to preview a file to make sure its the one you want. Highlight the file and press the Space Bar to bring up a quick look.
To restore, select the file/folder and click the "Restore" button. The file will automatically be copied to the desktop or appropriate folder. If the file you are restoring has another file in the same location with the same name, you will be prompted to choose which file to keep or keep both.
I hope this helps,
-Joe

I lost 2 folders in bookmarks and can not find them in time machine

i have lion on my mac book all of a sudden I am missing 2 folders in my bookmarks, when i go to time machine i can not find them even thought i have gone back a few week, any suggesions

If you mean the address field in Safari, choose Show Toolbar or Customize Toolbar from the View menu.
If you mean the spring icon in the Dock, that's not an application. Open any site in Safari and drag the little icon of it to the Dock; the preset icon points to http://www.apple.com/macosx/
rkaufmann87: The Safari Dock icon doesn't contain an @, and no other Mac web browser icon I've seen does.
(59088)

Internet Recovery Can't Find Disk for Time Machine or Reinstalling Mavericks?

I have a MacBook Pro that's a little over a year old. It froze up today when I opened it up, so I held the power button down and restarted it. When it powered on again, there was just a flashing picture of a folder with a question mark on it. I restarted it again, but this time holding down command+r to put it into internet recovery mode.
Once it got to a menu, I decided to try and use time machine. It spent a few minutes trying to find a saved backup, but it seemed to just be spinning its wheels and getting nowhere. I'm only about 60% certain that I ever saved anything on time machine, but it still seems like it should have either given me my saved option or told me I hadn't saved anything, not just run seemingly endlessly.
After that, I went back and tried to just reinstall Mavericks, but it couldn't find a disk to reinstall it on.
Does anyone know what could be causing this problem, or how I could go about fixing it so my computer is at least usable again?

This is from the Apple Knowledge Base (below). Note that it automatically reverts to Internet Recovery when the hard disk "isn't available." I can't say for sure but it sounds like your hard drive may have failed in a way that it doesn't "show up" when the computer looks for it. Hopefully you do have a backup.
OS X Internet Recovery
Mac models introduced after public availability of OS X Lion include the ability to start up directly from an Internet-based version of the OS X Recovery system. OS X automatically uses this feature when the Recovery System on the hard disk isn't available (such as when your hard disk encounters an issue, or when your hard disk has been replaced or erased). OS X Internet Recovery lets you start your Mac directly from Apple's servers. Starting up from this system performs a quick test of your memory and hard drive to check for hardware issues.

Lion can't find my external Time Machine Drive

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for