Time machine does not appear in Disk Utility

Time machine does not show up in Disk Utilities, connected by ethernet. I need to erase the disk. How to solve?

I am sorry - I simply do not understand your instructions!
I have 2 Time Capsules and have been using both. However a few days ago they quit working. I have had to turn off Time Machine because I am getting hourly alerts that back-up failed because there is not enough space. It does not delete old backups to provide additional space. I am willing to erase both to try to get them working again but I cannot figure out how to erase and setup the drives. Hence I turned Time Machine off.
There is nothing wrong with the MBP internal hard drive. "Sparse bundle" is total Greek to me! My wifi network appears to be working properly. The internal HD is mounted in Disk Utilities and verified as working properly. I am a long time user of Apple but I am still a novice (Level 1)!
Perhaps I should start a new thread.

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Time machine does not appear to backup an external HD. how do I get that included in the backup?

time machine does not appear to backup an external HD. how do I get that included in the backup?

In the Finder, press the key combination shift-command-C, or select
Go ▹ Computer
from the menu bar. A window will open showing all mounted volumes. Select the one in question and open the Info window. What is shown as the Format in the General section? If it's not "Mac OS Extended," Time Machine can't back up the volume.

Time Capsule does not appear in AirPort Utility after Yosemite upgrade

Just upgraded to Yosemite and the Time Capsule appears as a shared device in Finder, but does not appear in AirPort Utility. Any solution to this so I can manage my Time Capsule again?

I'm having the same problem. Did you reset your Time Capsule to factory settings or simply restart it?

Time Machine does not appear to auto delete old backups

I would like old backups to be automatically deleted, but so far does not appear to have occurred as I have not received any warnings. I have checked the box in the setup dialog box to do so. I have only 60GB remaining and receive warnings from Tech Tools that the free space threshold is at 2% remaining.
Does the drive have to be fully exhausted before older backups are automatically deleted (causing the warning), and if so should I turn off the Tech Tools warning for remaining disc space for that drive?
I am using an OWC Mercury Elite AL Pro 2TB external drive with an eSATA connection. Our typical business files can range from 100 to 300MB each. In the Apple Support Mac 101 Time Machine article it states "As your backup disk begins to fill up to its capacity, Time Machine intelligently deletes the oldest backups to make room for newer ones (and will alert you if the "Warn when old backups are deleted" option is selected in Time Machine preferences)." To date, this warning has not appeared making me think no deletions have occurred.
Thanks for any thoughts, Scott

Scotttt wrote:
I would like old backups to be automatically deleted, but so far does not appear to have occurred as I have not received any warnings. I have checked the box in the setup dialog box to do so. I have only 60GB remaining and receive warnings from Tech Tools that the free space threshold is at 2% remaining.
Does the drive have to be fully exhausted before older backups are automatically deleted (causing the warning)
The oldest backup(s) won't be deleted until there isn't room for a new one. And "warning" is a bit misleading -- when there isn't enough space, the backup will fail, without deleting anything, until you deselect the option. See #C4 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
Note that this has changed for Snow Leopard; it does the deletion(s) automatically, then sends a notice.
and if so should I turn off the Tech Tools warning for remaining disc space for that drive?
Yes. That accomplishes nothing. Time Machine manages it's space automatically.
To date, this warning has not appeared making me think no deletions have occurred.
That's not strictly true; it applies only when Time Machine has to delete your oldest backups to make room for new ones. But it also deletes "expired" backups every time it does a new one. See #12 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

Time machine does not recognize backup disk after Yosemite

I have this issue in both macs I own, a 2010 MBP, and a 2012 Mac mini. After I upgraded to yosemite, Time Machine will not find my backup disk. I have been using the same network attached storage drive for 4 years for time machine backups. I has worked fine with all the macs I've owned until now. I can see the disk in Finder, I can go to disk utility and mount the Time Machine disk, but when I go to Time Machine preferences and try to select the list, the disk is not listed there, even though is mounted.
Any ideas?
Thanks!

A third-party NAS is unsuitable for use with Time Machine, especially if it's your only backup. I know this isn't the answer you want. I know Time Machine accepted the NAS as a backup destination. I know that the manufacturer says the device will work with Time Machine, and I also know that it usually seems to work. Except when you try to restore, and find that you can't.
Apple has published a specification for network devices that work with Time Machine. None of the third-party NAS vendors, as far as I know, meets that specification. They all use the incomplete, obsolete Netatalk implementation of Apple Filing Protocol.
If you want network backup, use as the destination either an Apple Time Capsule or an external storage device connected to another Mac or to an 802.11ac AirPort base station. Only the 802.11ac base stations support Time Machine, not any older model.
Otherwise, don't use Time Machine at all. There are other ways to back up, though none of them is anywhere near as efficient or as well integrated with OS X. I don't have a specific recommendation.
If you're determined to keep using the NAS with Time Machine, your only recourse for any problems that result is to the manufacturer (which will blame Apple, or you, or anyone but itself.)

Encrypted HDD does not appear in Disk Utility or Finder or Terminal

I recently reformatted a 320 GB external HDD as Encyrpted, Journaled HFS+ using Mountain Lion. For several weeks, it worked flawlessly. I was able to back up financial documents with the security of disk-level encryption. When connected, the drive would mount and prompt for password (as expected).
Then one day I knocked against my desk while the drive was connected, pulling the FireWire cable out of the external HDD. It lost power and disconnected, causing the error message about disconnecting disks before ejecting them.
I immediately plugged it in and attempted to find it. Unfortunately, it didn't appear in Finder. It didn't appear in Disk Utility. It didn't appear in /Volumes or on diskutil list. I haven't been able to get it since then.
I have:
A) Restarted with HDD attached
B) Restarted without HDD attached
C) Connected with a different FireWire cable, then tried connecting with a USB cable
C) Run "Repair Disk" on my main internal HD while in Recovery Mode, without and then with HDD attached
D) Tried connecting to other Macs, using combinations of Lion and Mountain Lion, FireWire and USB
Does anyone have any additional tricks to try? The data is backed up, so it's ok if I lose it. But I would love to unbrick this drive that I purchased before considering it useless.

Apple Support article:
USB and FireWire Troubleshooting
Firewire Device not Working

Time Machine HD does not appear in Disk Utility

Hello,
I used Time Machine towards the end of 2007 on an external SATA HD through USB 2.0. I would frequently turn it on and let it do its thing and shut it off. One day I attempted to use Time Machine and it did not mount on my desktop. I've been searching around trying to discover a solution to this problem without any success. The HD does not show up in Disk Utility nor does it show up in XP when it is connected to my mobo with SATA. I did manage to see it under "Disk Management" in XP but was unable to assign it a drive letter. It showed the amount of space used but other than that I haven't been able to get it to work. I have since purchased a larger HD for time machine and all I really want to do is transfer over the contents of the currently non-working HD to the new HD and then format the old one. I'm asking around to see if any of my friends have an external SATA enclosure so I can find out if it is the enclosure or the HD but in the mean time is there anything I can do in Leopard (or Windows XP) to find out if the information is on the HD or if the HD is damaged?

I am sorry - I simply do not understand your instructions!
I have 2 Time Capsules and have been using both. However a few days ago they quit working. I have had to turn off Time Machine because I am getting hourly alerts that back-up failed because there is not enough space. It does not delete old backups to provide additional space. I am willing to erase both to try to get them working again but I cannot figure out how to erase and setup the drives. Hence I turned Time Machine off.
There is nothing wrong with the MBP internal hard drive. "Sparse bundle" is total Greek to me! My wifi network appears to be working properly. The internal HD is mounted in Disk Utilities and verified as working properly. I am a long time user of Apple but I am still a novice (Level 1)!
Perhaps I should start a new thread.

Replacement Hard Drive does not appear in Disk Utility.

I've replaced the defective HDD in my MBP(A1278) with a 500GB Western Digital one after it failed the Hard Drive test in AST. The old drive is detected internally without issue but the new one does not show up in disk utitlity. I have reformatted to use a GUID table and have made sure it's partition is OSX Journaled. It doesn't show up at all. I proceeded to do an install using a USB drive adapter and the OS installed just fine(same drive), when I put it back in the MBP it still doesn't detect. I would suspect the cable but the old drive shows up and runs diagnostic just fine(fails). I've actually gone ahead and tried three other new drives(2 seagates(500GB, 1TB XT) and 1 500GB HGST) and none of them detect, only the original. Am I missing some sort of firmware update or is there a limited physical issue?
All help would be appreciated, genius bar isn't an option, the closest one is 400km away.

Until you replace the cable you won't know for sure. Do you have a SATA to USB adapter to connec these other drive to and to connect your original drive to? If you do connect the original drive and do a Verify Disk in Disk Utility. If it comes back OK, no repair needed or even if a repair is need that succeeds, your original drive is OK and it is the cable that is causing all the problems.
I suggest you stay away from WD drives. They don't have a good track record with Mac computers.

Time Machine backup not visible in Disk Utility, nor accessible through Recovery Assistant

Hi,
I want to recover from a Time Machine backup but the external HD where it was stored now shows empty (1TB available) and the name 'backup' has been replaced by 'untitled'. It was fine yesterday. How do I get my backup back? Is there external software I can use, something throught Terminal?
Thank you,

Yes, that's option B as she still has the IMac but I'm curious as to why the TM backup isn't working - just in case I need to do this on another machine down the road, it would be nice to know what's going wrong with the more convenient TM restore option.... Thanks!

Time Machine does not appear to have my machine back ups past 9 days ago ? It backs up everyday to a Lacie 3.0TB drive that has 500GB free still , and yet I cannot find anything earlier that 01.03.2012 ?

I back my iMac to a lacie 3.0TB drive since November last year , there is still room for 0.5TB yet all I can find to my horror is that the earliest back up is 01.03.2012 ?

gavin136 wrote:
What I expected was larger older files to be removed
No, it deletes entire backups, one at a time.
SO I guess that means that I need something ridiculous in size to use as a bakc up ?
That's one possibility. The other is to change your strategy.
Are you backing-up lots of intermediate files? If so, you might consider excluding the folder(s) where that's done, and only backing-up a few semi-finished versions, or perhaps the final product.
Or, exclude the working versions from Time Machine, but back them up to a separate drive or partition with a different app, such as CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper. When a project is finished, and the final product is saved by Time Machine, just erase the "other" backup drive/partition.
There are the pink lines but I cannot get access to them past 01.03.2012
Ah, that's a different story. See the pink box in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #15A.

Time machine does not find my external hard disk.

is this because it is formatted ms-dos. it has been this way since i've had it and have used it to manually back up photos and other things, which worked fine. i see back up folders on there but time machine does not recognize it as its back up. can anyone enlighten me.

Your external HDD needs to be formatted HFS+ (Mac OS Extended - Journaled) for Time Machine to use it as a backup destination. You can move your current data off the drive and format it via Disk Utility.
You mentioned there are TM backup folders. Curious that you cannot access them. How are you trying to access them? Are you using the TM interface or viewing it via Finder?

HT3275 My time machine does not back up and giving me this error message: The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data-1/Amiel's MacBook Pro.sparsebundle" is already in use. Pls help.

My time machine does not back up and giving me this error message: The backup disk image “/Volumes/Data-1/Amiel’s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle” is already in use. Pls help.

Make sure that there are no other Macs backing up at the present time.
Pull the power cord from the back of the Time Capsule
Count to ten
Plug the power cord back in
This will "fix" things about 98% of the time. Post back if you are in the unlucky 2% category.

My time machine does not want to save any more the data from my powerbook 13" Snow Leopard; i get the message "Time Machine could not suppress the disk image of saving "Volumes/Time Capsule Disk/PowerBook _2011_03_21_123627 sparsebundle" What should I do?

My time machine does not want to save any more the data from my powerbook 13" Snow Leopard; i get the message "Time Machine could not suppress the disk image of saving "Volumes/Time Capsule Disk/PowerBook _2011_03_21_123627 sparsebundle" What is the problem? What should I do?
Thanks !!
Alain

Could that read " . . . could not access . . ."? If so, try repairing your backups, per #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.
If not, or if that doesn't help, see #A1 there. Use the TM Buddy widget it details to copy and post the messages here.

After installing lion, time machine does not always back up. The back up disk is occasionally not recognized.

after installing lion, time machine does not always back up. The back up disk is occasionally not recognized. Help!

This is easy one.. for most.. just restart the TC.. ie pull out the power.. count to 10.. plug in the power.
If the simple doesn't work you can see more info here.
C12 http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

Since installing Lion, I have not been able to utilize Time Machine (does not recognize the back-up drive); my wireless mouse does not function properly; I have experienced unreasonable delays in the system. Is there a fix or upgrade coming?

Is there a fix or upgrade to deal with the many problems I am experiencing since I installed Lion? I can no longer utilize Time Machine (Does not see the back-up drive); my wireless mouse does not work properly; my iMac has slowed down considerably. I am reminded of having a PC machine again. Bummer!

Either downgrade to Snow Leopard or try reinstalling Lion.
Reinstalling Lion Without the Installer
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alterhatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion: Select Reinstall Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You can also re-download the Lion installer by opening the App Store application. Hold down the OPTION key and click on the Purchases icon in the toolbar. You should now see an active Install button to the right of your Lion purchase entry. There are situations in which this will not work. For example, if you are already booted into the Lion you originally purchased with your Apple ID or if an instance of the Lion installer is located anywhere on your computer.
Downgrade Lion to Snow Leopard
1. Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the installer. Install Snow Leopard.
This will erase the whole drive so be sure to backup your files if you don't have a backup already. If you have performed a TM backup using Lion be aware that you cannot restore from that backup in Snow Leopard (see below.) I suggest you make a separate backup using Carbon Copy Cloner 3.4.1.
If you have Snow Leopard Time Machine backups, do a full system restore per #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions. If you have subsequent backups from Lion, you can restore newer items selectively, via the "Star Wars" display, per #15 there, but be careful; some Snow Leopard apps may not work with the Lion files.

Time machine does not appear in Disk Utility

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