Time Machine disk not mounting

I have an external HD with Time Machine running. My computer is going to the shop later today. All of a sudden, my little external HD didn't want to mount (and it's only 8 months old). I used Disk Utility and got it to mount, but it said it couldn't repair it. It said I should backup what I could and erase the drive. However, since Disk Utility hung while trying to finish, I decided to try it again on another Mac. This time it ran through the repair and said the disk is fine. It finished off with this statement: "Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required."
So here's my dilemma:
I'd rather NOT erase this drive, since it's got my Time Machine backup on it. On the other hand, if it is failing, I'd like to know why and take action before it causes a problem (i.e. warranty and the ability to get back up quickly when my Mac comes back). I do have other backups, but none as handy as this one.
If you have experienced this, I'd like to hear from you. And, if there is already a thread about this, I couldn't find it.
Thanks very much!

I have a 2TB WD Western Digital portable external hard drive partitioned into two drives, one for storage and the other for Time Machine.  For some reason my Time Machine drive wasn't mounting.  I could not verify, repair, or even eject the HD at all for that matter.  The Storage partition was working fine so I know that this is a software issue.  I did what Linc Davis recommended and booted up into Recovery Mode and tried to verify and repair using the Disk Utility there with no luck.  However I was able to mount the drive using the blue "Mount" button in Disk Utility and then I restarted the computer.  Then my Time Machine partition was there and I was able to verify it and it has no problems.  I then even performed a back up with no issues.
So this is in fact a software problem.  The only thing that has changed for me is that I have just cloned my start up drive and put in a new SSD.  Also I had to unplug my MacBook Pro battery to reset the SMC (even the keyboard was not working) due to the bug where your computer turns off and dies because of Lightning strike (plugging in a Lightning cable).  Which would also be a software bug.  That post is here... My Mac randomly just turned off and now it wont turn back on, the charger light is faintly flashing green and amber?!?!

Similar Messages

  • Time Machine Disk not mount

    Time Machine has been making its regular backups but now for some reason, Time Machine is not recognizing the external disk. I have tried restarting the machine, powering off and on the external drive, changing firewire ports and nothing has worked. Does anyone have any ideas I have not tried? Thanks!

    Colin1 wrote:
    Hopefully the sheer weight of numbers of TC owners complaining about the back-up function not working will eventually move Apple to investigate. I have tried everything and believe it is a problem caused by the OSX 10.5.4 update, at least that's when my similar problems started.
    I'm hoping that's what it is. My BRAND NEW iMac + BRAND NEW 500GB TC Can't talk,
    It tells me that the TC failed to mount everytime Time Machine starts.
    My TC at home (1TB) & this MacBook Pro haven't given me this ever since Feb., until last night. Luckily, I restored to a TC backup from a few days ago on my MacBook Pro & it's backing up fine so far now at home.
    My local Apple store is stunned at my work one, though.

  • Time Machine disk not mounting after sleep

    Greetings,
    I am having a problem with the external USB disk (500GB Iomega) that I have set up for Time Machine not remounting after my iMac wakes back up. Nothing I have tried, short of rebooting, seems to cause the Mac to notice the drive. I have tried turning the drive off and back on, but that didn't work, and neither did unplugging and re-plugging the USB cable. (I suppose obviously) Time Machine won't do any backups and complains that "The storage location for Time Machine backups can't be found." Time Machine Set Up says "Next Backup: When Disk is Connected." If I reboot, the disk will show up and Time Machine will commence backups, but then, after the machine sleeps, I have the same problem again.
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    This is my first Mac (I am a Unix refugee) so I may very well be doing something entirely stupid, but surely external disks should still be mounted (or automount) after the computer returns from sleep. What am I doing wrong? I also don't see any way to force Leopard to mount the drive, but I probably just don't know where to look.
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    Thanks,
    Mark
    P.S. I'm sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere but I couldn't find it. Like I say, I'm new to the Mac and to these forums, so please forgive me if this post is redundant.

    Greetings,
    intelligenceresigned wrote:
    Ok, I went into console, and forced my iMac to sleep to see what the console would show was actually happening. I am not a very computer savvy person, but this is what the console said:
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    *Could others that are seeing this problem please post how many usb ports on the computer, not total devices connected to hubs or anything, but actual, physical ports on the computer that they are using?* Experimenting a little, on mine at least, I have not had the problem discussed in this thread when only two (out of the three available) of the physical USB ports on the Mac are used. Again on mine at least, it also doesn't seem to matter what, with the exception of external hubs, is plugged into the ports. Replacing the external drive with a flash drive or iPod Touch produces the same results, so it doesn't appear to have anything to do with the Iomega drive that I started seeing the problem with - it may be that that was just the third thing I plugged in (or not - I realize that I am a sample of one).
    It also seems to be that things connected to an external hub continue to work after the other two ports have failed. This is probably why most keyboards (mercifully) keep working - they are usually hubs (Apple's external ones are). I can't guarantee this however because I haven't really tested it - just observed it so far to be the case for me so far. Hubs do work differently than ordinary usb "functions" as the usb spec calls them.
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    If you have Xcode installed (assuming you have it installed in the default /Developer location) there is a tool in /Developer/Applications/Utilities called "USB Prober" that can provide some useful USB information.
    In my case, once a device stops working I see the status of the non-functioning devices reported as:
    High Speed device @ 2 (0xFA200000): ............................................. External HD (did not respond to inquiry - 0xe00002ed, might be Suspended)
    High Speed device @ 3 (0xFA400000): ............................................. HP Color LaserJet 2605dn (did not respond to inquiry - 0xe0004051, might be Suspended)
    And indeed the usb ports in question do appear to be behaving as if the host (the Mac) has them suspended - but I can't be entirely sure. I will try to look into this some more later if I can.
    Thanks,
    Mark
    P.S. To save questions: I've tried all the easy stuff: Switched cables, swapped out the hub I have on one of the ports, tried different devices in the ports (so far an HP printer, Iomega external disk, iPod Touch, and Sony usb flash drive). Nothing resolved the issue. My keyboard and mouse are connected to a 2.0 High Speed hub. I've tried using another hub, but it didn't make any difference.

  • Time Machine - Browse other Time Machine disk - not showing all files

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    If you still have the old imac connect tbe two with an ethernet cable and use migration assistant. Move your data to a new Mac - Apple Support

  • External hard drive time machine backups not mounting

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  • Time Machine disk not recognised

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  • Time Machine disk not showing up in Migration Assistant

    I have backed up my Snow Leopard with Time Machine and I'm trying to import my stuff into Lion using Migration Assistant. However, my Time Machine disk is not showing up in Migration Assistant even though it's connected and shows in Finder. Any idea why?

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  • Time machine disk not ejecting

    I'm having trouble ejecting my Time Machine disk from my mid-2012 retina MBP since installing Yosemite.  If I control-click on the disk image and select EJECT, the image grays out a little but won't eject.  If I try to start Disk Utility, it hangs and won't start.  However, if I first start Disk Utility and then select the Time machine drive and select Unmount followed by Eject, the disk will eject.
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    Well, nobody replied but I'll post what solved the problem:  installing an app called "Mountain."  I also noticed that a recent Yosemite update including a fix for Time Machine problems but I don't know if it address this problem.  In any event, since installing Mountain, I never have a problem ejecting discs.

  • Possible solution: Time Machine can not mount disk

    Like many of you, my Time Machine started acting up after working fine for months.
    I have an external USB (Western Digital 500GB) drive connected to a Airport Extreme (N-speed) as an AirDisk.
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    After a few months, the MacBook would fail to backup properly: “Unable to Mount” message after the TM process was going for a few minutes. I could access the WD drive in R/W mode otherwise from the same machine. I read on these boards that I should erase the sparsebundle on the WD drive associated with the MacBook. I did that, and all was then well.
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    o Go into System Preferences --> Sharing.
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    Most likely, the power interruption corrupted the sparse bundle containing your backups.
    Try to repair them per #A5 in the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.

  • Time machine - disk not available

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  • Time machine Backup not mounting

    Since upgrading the back up disc which is an external firewire disc no longer shows up on the desktop or to time machine, I can see it in Disk utility, the drive is recognised but the backup isn't mounted and I can't force it to mount either I've run verify and repair discs but both report it as OK, when I try to mount it in disc utility I'm told to run first aid which I have to no avail.
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  • Update 10.5.6: external HD used for Time Machine does not MOUNT anymore

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  • Force quite and now time machine does not mount

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    If Disk Warrior can't fix it, then wipe the drive and start over with Time Machine.

  • My time machine will not mount under 'devices'

    I restored my mac air because of system corruptions.  I went to migrate my former build's user profile to the new system, but when I entered time machine it only showed me backups from the rebuilt system.  The only way I restored my files/settings was by navigating to my old backups in the finder (under devices in the finder) and copy/paste/replace into the new user profile.
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    First, I want to manage my old user time machine backups through my time machine app.
    Manage meaning what.. an old backup cannot really be managed.. it is a backup.. you restore from it.. you don't manage it.
    But if you merely mean to open it.. and TM is refusing to allow it to be opened.. well that is part and parcel of the Mavericks TM... !!
    Pondini has instructions for opening TM backups from other Macs.. same rules apply here.
    See Q14-17 here. 16 and 17 being the key ones.
    http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
    Once you are out of a TM backup you cannot then use it for continuing backups.. You can try and inherit it but I think you are too late.. that should have been attempted immediately.
    See B5 and B6 here.
    http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
    Second, my time capsule isn't mounting under devices.
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    No files on the disk will be lost.
    The Factory Reset universal
    Unplug your TC/AE. Hold in reset. and power the TC/AE back on..  all without releasing reset and keep holding in for about 10sec. The time is not important.. it is the front LED rapid flashing that indicates you are in factory mode.
    Release reset.
    If it doesn’t flash rapidly you have released reset at some point and try again.
    Be Gentle! Feel the switch click on. It has a positive feel..  add no more pressure after that.
    TC/AE will reboot after a couple of minutes with default factory settings and will wipe out previous configurations.
    No files are deleted on the hard disk.. No reset of the TC deletes files.. to do that you use erase from the airport utility.
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    OS X Mavericks: Time Machine problems
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    4. Reset TM see A4 in Pondini troubleshooting.
    5. You will need to point TM to the newly named TC.. it will take some time for it to pickup the current TM backup but that should not be a problem once it starts backup.
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  • Time Capsule Disk not mounting

    Since a couple of days, my 2 TB Time Capsule (1st generation, software version 7.6) disk (2 partitions) will not mount. Neither does it show up in the TimeCapsule preferences list. It has a wired ethernet connection with my MacMini and I use AirPort with my MBP and iMac. AirPort (sofware version 5.5.3) still works. I tried resetting, going through the fast-and-slow amber blinking lights, and the light on front is green again. What is the problem and do I get access to my data?

    sterrenman wrote:
    Since a couple of days, my 2 TB Time Capsule (1st generation, software version 7.6) disk (2 partitions) will not mount.
    I'm curious: How did you manage to partition the internal disk of your Time Capsule?
    The first 2TB Time Capsule was a 2nd generation model.
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    Please explain what you mean by "the Time Capsule preferences list".

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