Time Machine HD disappeared!

I have two external hard drives connected to my computer: One is a 500 GB My Book (used for time machine backups), connected directly to my computer through firewire 400. The other drive is a 1TB My Book (used for storage of large audio and video files) that is connected through the 500 GB through a firewire 800. This configuration has always worked fine in the past, but then a couple of weeks ago, the time machine volume simply disappeared from my computer. I have tried unplugging, and re-plugging all of my connections, but it simply can't be found. The odd part is that the larger drive that is daisy-chained through the time machine volume is still available, so I know that my computer is at least recognizing the connection through the time machine drive.
My boss had a similar problem around the same time. She only has the one hard drive plugged in (500GB My Book connected through firewire 800), but one day it simply disappeared from her computer and can't be recognized anymore. And now that I'm the one that suggested we go out and spend the money to get every computer in the office an external HD for time machine, and they're starting not to work, I;m getting some serious pressure to figure out a solution.
I'm getting desperate! Any thoughts or suggestions would be MUCH appreciated!!

AmyLou2584 wrote:
Well thanks for trying to help, but nothing has worked. I selected none and turned off time machine, but then when i tried to start it again, the hard drive was still not available. Also, I don't seem to have that preference in my library.
No, not in your home folder's library. TM is a system-wide application -- the file is at the top level of your internal HD. Select it (probably named +Macintosh HD),+ then look for Library/Preferences/com.apple.TimeMachine.plist
But if Disk Utility doesn't see it, that's not going to help.
I thought maybe i was just overlooking it, so i even tried entering the preference name in the search field and couldn't find anything.
It's a system file, so the only way to find it via a search is to use a Finder Search and include system files.
I tried checking in the disk utility as you suggested, but it was not on that list either. As I said before, I know my connections are solid, because the hard drive that I have daisy-chained through the TM hard drive is completely accessible. I'm starting to fear that my HD has gone kaput.
Sure sounds like it. Does it have an "off" switch/button? If so, turn it off for a few seconds, then back on. Can you connect it to another Mac? If it's still not recognized, it's probably dead. What make is it, and how old?
Note that your boss's problem may not be the same -- use the same procedure there, starting with whether there are any recent backups, etc.

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Time Machine backup disappears when iMac sleeps

Tried finding this topic but could not find the specifics. I have an Intel iMac running 10.6.7 and I use a Mercury enclosure with a Seagate Barracuda 2TB SATA for Time Machine backup, connected with FireWire. Every time my Mac goes to sleep overnight, the next morning, the Time Machine icon disappears from the desktop. It's been disconnected, because when I run Check Time Machine, the log reads thusly:
<<Thu Apr 21 10:29:30 com.apple.backupd-auto Not starting scheduled Time Machine backup - time machine destination not resolvable.
Thu Apr 21 12:30:05 [0x0-0x2d22d2].backupd-helper Not starting Time Machine backup after wake - failed to resolve alias to backup volume
>>
Occasionally I'll get the error message on the Mac that a device has been "improperly disconnected" but most of the time when it sleeps the TM drive icon just goes away (even tho the backup drive is still on).
Any ideas? Can I fix this or have to live with it? Are there alternatives to TM that may work better?
Thanks for any help/suggestions.
Best,
Mike

I had the same problem as Bru-Hed, but with a Samsung G3 Station 1 TB with USB-connection. After waking up the MAC the message "improperly disconnected" appeared. Was happy with the solution you gave and changed the power save settings accordingly, the drive holds its power, but....... things did not change. Switching off the MAC and restarting gives no problems with the back-up drive, but after waking up I have to reinstall the back-up drive every time by disconnecting and connecting the USB-connector. After choosing the drive again in Time Machine, everything works properly until the next time the MAC goes asleep......
Any other solution to this problem ?

My brand new back up drive is connected but now time machine has disappeared after working perfectly for a week. - no icon, not appearing as an option to save to - have rebooted everything a few times.

My brand new back up drive is connected but now time machine has disappeared after working perfectly for a week. - no icon, not appearing as an option to save to - have rebooted everything a few times.

It's not clear whether you were able to do any backups to this drive at all. If not, it's probably not formatted properly. See #5 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions for instructions.
If you did get any successful backups, there may be a problem with the drive, or the backups may be corrupted. Try to repair the backups, per #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting.

Time machine backups disappear Yosemite

Since upgrading (that is a joke) from ML to Yosemite I am seeing backups on time machine disappear from my back up drive. Another oddity is that the icon does not spin around while backing up. Any help would be appreciated.

The Time Machine icon stopped spinning when Mavericks was released in the Fall of 2013. Instead, since that time, there is a bit more of a separation in the lower left area of the circle (near the arrowhead) when the backup is occurring. Further, the arrow turns into a double arrow.
Backups may well disappear as the disk housing the Time Machine backups becomes full.
OS X Yosemite: If your Time Machine backup disk runs out of space

Qnap time machine keeps disappearing

I'm new to Macs since January and we got a new Window 7 PC at the same time, along with a qnap, because it could do Time Machine backups.
I've had the same problem as many people since I got the kit - i.e. Time Machine insisting I need to make a new backup, which I've always done, though it was annoyingly frequent. Anyhow, that's not the real issue.
For the third time since January, the whole Time Machine set-up has just disappeared from my Macbook Air. Only this time I can't get it back. It can't see it in my Finder, but I can find it under servers, in Recent Items. Last week I was able to connect to it by this means, though not reinstate backups. Now, when I try to connect is says it is unavailable. We've not changed anything and as I am the sole user of Mac in our household, the Mac is getting the blame!
Sadly the demarcation lines extend to the QNAP, which is NOT mine, and unless I can find the cause of the problem and provide the fix, I'm not going to get any support. I've googled the issue extensively and passed on the results to the QNAP owner, but we've not been able to fix it and I've had no backup for over a month.
Aside from asking for a Time Capsule for Christmas, and doing my own thing, does anyone have any suggestions, or similar experience, or even know of a good resource for QNAP problems?

The device is either misconfigured or is unsuitable for use with Time Machine. I suggest you stop using it and back up to a locally attached external hard drive. If you don't want to do that, stop using Time Machine and use some other backup software. I don't have a specific recommendation.

Time Machine backups disappear

Hi - All my Time Machine backups (3 months worth) have disappeared from my LaCie Quadra Hard Drive after my last Time Machine backup. Either at the end or during the backup, I got an error message saying "Bitmap Mismatch". Any suggestions? Thanks, Bernie

Hamish Morrison wrote:
Well yes in principal I'm sure you're right about the drive capacity but I don't believe its a space, or lack thereof problem. I can't say that there was any unusually large backup that occurred that might cause it to wipe off the older backups.
I have done verification on both source & target drives. No issues found. Same with Techtool.
Yes, I also run Superduper every day to an external drive so at least all is not lost when TM fails. All drives are permanently attached & the Mac runs 24/7.
I also run the TM Buddy widget, but it only records info so far back and the challenge is being aware that you have lost the backup when you don't check it every day. By the time I notice the problem the info that might help diagnose the problem is gone!
I understand but it's really impossible to say now what might have caused it without seeing log info. file system errors are one possible reason but you say all drives check out fine. anything else would be unverifiable speculation at this point. once thing i've noticed in the past that any kind of problems with superduper backups can cause this. so if you ever get any issue with superduper check what's happening with TM.

Time Machine disk disappeared

I have a Powerbook G4 and have an external drive for Time Machine. Suddenly the disk disappeared, so I turned off the external drive to eject the disk and reconnect/restart it. Now the disk will not appear. I cannot set up Time Machine because the disk does not appear. How can I get Time Machine up and running again?

Sounds like a drive issue rather than an iPhoto. Try the TM drive on another Mac to see if it is still working correctly. I've had problems with my TM drive on occasion. I have to turn it off and shut down my Mac. Then turn on the drive and boot the Mac.
OT

Time machine backup disappeared after upgrading OS from Lion to Mountain Lion.

I made a full backup of my 2011 Macbook Pro to my network drive through Time Machine in order to upgrade to Mountain Lion. However, after the upgrade, the backup could not be found. As it went through the install, I opted to recover the backup afterwards as I have read that you can do that after the upgrade. But the migration assistant could not find a backup.
So I looked in Finder at my external drive, and sure enough the backup is gone.
Some extra info:
So I don't know if this has affected anything important, I'm not that computer smart.
Prior to this I've been trying to get Windows 7 to work on bootcamp (still not working). I needed the OS X install disc, but I didn't have the install disc(I had OS Lion installed) and I bought the laptop from someone at work, so I couldn't get the Lion iso pulled from the recovery to a flash drive (it required the previous owners password to his apple account). Therefore I purchased the Mountain Lion Upgrade (Lion being no longer available. I didn't really want mountain lion). So when I started the Mountain Lion install, I had the "brilliant" idea to install it on the flash drive I had intended to use in the first place. Well, I didn't think it was gonna start the upgrade immediately after that. Anyways, after I realised my mistake I redid the install, process was the same, chose the main HD, went well. This was where I opted out of the recover-from-backup option. At this point I tried to restore my backup through the migration assistant. It said there was not enough room on the hard drive. I then noticed that all the memory used up prior upgrading was still in use, but under the old main user. I didn't do much with it, and thinking that my backup had my back, I did a full clean install. Another mistake. After the clean install, the migration assistant said there was no backup. I looked in finder, it was gone.
I didn't touch the hard drive thinking it is either hidden, or deleted but not written over yet and still could be recovered. I don't know how to explore these options, I can't find anything online about either. Or perhaps there are other options to consider?
Please advise.

It's early 2011.
I have been able to purchase the upgrade under my username at the upgrade price. I didn't know that Lion stays under the previous owner's Apple account. I mean I got that when I tried putting the Lion Iso on a bootable drive (for the purpose of bootcamp) it said I needed the username and password of the Lion purchaser, but I went to get my own license then, but it was Mountain Lion at the upgrade price. I didn't think it had anything to do with my backup.
So looking back, that seems like a warning Apple should have put out for people to be wary of. "Hey, don't buy a laptop from someone and then upgrade, you'll lose everything." That's a load of crap. I thought I had no worries as long as I had a backup. I've never needed a backup, then the one time I thought I was in good hands. Nope, I try to do something, and it takes everything from me. That was a lot of data worth of stuff. 550 Gigs! I was shocked and in complete disbelief the moment I realized what I had done.
I just don't want to give this up.

Internal Time Machine HD Disappears

Hello all,
I have an early 2008 Mac Pro with the following:
4GB RAM (Soon to add additional 8GB)
120GB SSD (Mac OS X Boot Drive)
750GB HD (Data)
2TB Internal HD (Time Machone)
500GB Internal HD (Boot Camp WIndows 7 Drive)
My 2TB drive just disappers randomly. I check the SMART status and it shows its fine. The disk appears okay and it shows up in Windows. When I leave my computer up and running with the monitor off, I come back and I get a message saying that Time Machine drive has ejected. I'm currently running Mavericks 10.

From the menu bar, select
 ▹ System Preferences ▹ Energy Saver ▹ Power Adapter
and uncheck the box labeled Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible, if it's checked.

Time Machine drive disappears when i reboot

When i reboot my iMac, my USB-connected external Time Machine hard drive does not remount, and it is not visible in the Disk Utility program. The only way i can get it to remount is to power-cycle the external drive. Unplugging and re-plugging the USB connection does not work. This could be a hardware issue (particularly with the USB cable), but i just wanted to check to see if anyone else is experiencing this problem.
Thoughts? Suggestions?

Hello r_dizzle,
Thank you for the details of the issue you are experiencing with your external hard drive. I found an article with steps you can take when an external device is not behaving as expected
I recommend following the steps in the section titled "Top troubleshooting tips" in this article:
USB and FireWire Quick Assist
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1151
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
Best,
Sheila M.

Time Machine Text Disappearing?

I was wondering if anyone else experienced this or knows how to fix it.
Sometimes, when I go to open Time Machine, the text on the two bottom buttons, "Cancel" and "Restore" isn't there.
Everything else is fine - the file name text, the dates on the side, and the window headings are fine. The buttons are still click-able (I know Cancel is on the left and Restore is on the right), but the buttons are blank.
The only way I know of to fix this is to reboot. After I reboot, the text is back and everything is back to normal for a while until it happens again - seemingly randomly. I don't know what causes it or how to stop it from happening.
Not a major issue as it still works fine, but still an annoyance. Anyone have any info?
Thanks.

Hi:
I have never seen anything like that happen, but I am no "expert."
It occurred to me that you might try running repair disk on your external drive. Candidly, I do not know whether that will help either, but it might be worth a try.
You might also look at these articles about Time Machine problems to see if any fit your circumstance:
https://discussions.apple.com/search.jspa?resultTypes=&dateRange=all&peopleEnabl ed=true&q=time+machine+backup+grayed+out&containerType=&container=&containerName =&username=&rankBy=relevance&numResults=15
Barry

Time Machine Backups Disappearing

I am running an iMac 2.7 GHz with 12 GB memory and 2 TB Hard drive. I have a very large iPhoto library which has become corrupted. I entered Time Machine and grabbed the last backup and moved it forward. At that time, I could see backups extending into the past as usual. The file took 14 hours to be moved to the present and it had the same corruption problem, so I threw it away and returned to Time Machine to go further into the past - to my surprise all backups after late yesterday are grayed out / not accessable (no dates next to the timeline on right) - it looks like I just set up Time Machine yesterday instead of months ago. Since I never trust anything completely I did a manual backup a few weeks ago but I have done a lot of work on the library since then. Any way to re-gain access to those grayed out backups? BTW the Time Capsule disk is no where near full; not sure how this would have happened. Any help appreciated.

Hi:
I have never seen anything like that happen, but I am no "expert."
It occurred to me that you might try running repair disk on your external drive. Candidly, I do not know whether that will help either, but it might be worth a try.
You might also look at these articles about Time Machine problems to see if any fit your circumstance:
https://discussions.apple.com/search.jspa?resultTypes=&dateRange=all&peopleEnabl ed=true&q=time+machine+backup+grayed+out&containerType=&container=&containerName =&username=&rankBy=relevance&numResults=15
Barry

Time Machine drive disappears after Sleep

Hey peeps,
I have been trying to put my computer to SLEEP after 1-hour of inactivity as it's a family machine that is used minimally and I want to save energy. It is an early 2009 mac mini running 10.9.
When I wake the computer up, one of my external USB drives comes back, however the external USB hard drive that has my time machine drive seems to unmount itself or disconnect and I have to physically turn the power on and off to get it to come back.
I have checked DISK UTILITY and it's gone from there too.
anyone seeing this too?

Hello r_dizzle,
Thank you for the details of the issue you are experiencing with your external hard drive. I found an article with steps you can take when an external device is not behaving as expected
I recommend following the steps in the section titled "Top troubleshooting tips" in this article:
USB and FireWire Quick Assist
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1151
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
Best,
Sheila M.

Time Machine backups disappeared. HELP!!!

Last night I ran a Time Machine backup of my MacBook Pro just like I do every night, and it completed successfully. This morning I noticed a msg saying my backup failed because there wasn't enough room on the disk (I leave my Time Machine disk plugged in all of the time when I'm home). When I enter Time Machine it doesn't show any of the old backups--it looks like it's never used the disk. When I browse the disk in Finder I see a backups folder. I really need to have access to my backups! I've tried restarting the computer, and control clicking Time Machine and selecting "Browse other Time Machine Disks" and nothing seems to help.
The OS is 10.5.8
I will greatly appreciate any assistance anyone can provide!

Open Disk Utility & highlight the external drive, see if it needs Repair.
Have you looked through Pondini's extensive TM help site?
http://Pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html

Time Machine backups disappeared... in a way.

I've been having problems with my iMac for months now. I'm feeling like I'm on Microsoft PC again... not even joking.
I had to bring it to the Genius bar 4 times, first time my HDD was failing, was replaced (no more AppleCare so, shucks), but it started behaving even worst after that... they changed it AGAIN, I changed and upgraded the RAM to no avail, they did diagnostics, all was in fine condition... so their only idea was corrupted files or prefs.
So I reinstalled OS 10.8 clean and imported everything but the prefs (to start) and it seemed to do the trick... for about a month. And it went bad again.
Main problem was Finder : wouldn't see anything plugged in USB (or would stop seeing it after a few seconds/min), would get sluggish, I wouldn't be able to shut it off...
I got the SBBOD regularly, in any app...
And MAINLY... if I restarted or shut off and re-started, I would get stuck on the grey login screen... with no actual login screen (just the grey fabric-like background). Or, sometimes, just the white screen after the "dong", spinning gear, or not, apple icon, or not.
All in all... bad.
So... I re-installed OS 10.8 from scratch, AGAIN. But didn't import anything.
I had a fresh backup in Time machine AND I used Carbon Copy Cloner to get a full copy of my HD (not a startup disk, just the files). I also copied my documents on my macbook, just to be on the safe side.
(side note: to those intereste, is the iMac running well now? Seems so. But last time it did too, for almost a month... so I can't trust it at all, I don't dare start to use it as my main computer again, I don't know what to re-install and how long to run it before installing the next app to be sure I could put my finger on what the **** problem was, if indeed it WAS coming from my side and not something in the hardware!)
Main bug...
As I said, before I pulled the plug and did the clean install, I made sure I had a full, fresh backup on TM.
Now, if I plug in my backup HDD and look inside, I see, indeed, that the latest backup is from a few days ago. And if I open it, everything seems to be there (as far as I can tell. I'm far from being a newbie but I couldn't know if all the hidden files are there for all apps)
BUT... if I open, say, the Finder or Mail app and go in Time Machine to bring back "lost" files... it says my last backup (or last available files) are from 3 MONTHS AGO! Which is when my HDD first failed.
What the heck?!
Now... I'm happy to see the backups are in fact, there. But how do I access those files?
Why don't they show up?
Does it mean that nothing in Mail was backed up? Why wouldn't it be? (No, it wasn't selected as "exclude from backup")
Plus... all my documents are there in the latest backup... so, shouldn't they show up when I try to see them in Finder/TM?
Thanks!

Hey...
I'm not sure I get what you mean... do you mean if you move your mouse around on the grey "fabric" screen you eventually can "guess" where to enter your login and it eventually works?
In my case I also can move the mouse around, but I never got it to change to anything other than the arrow, and the Genius couldn't get it to do anything either... the only solution is to shut the computer off manually, unplug it from the wall, wait 10 sec, replug it, wait another 10 sec and try again...
(they tried all the possible options of starting with CTRL-this and shift-CTRL-that and nothing had worked)
Now we're getting off topic, but I'm happy to see I'm not alone!
And right now I'm almost happy because my iMac seems to be getting buggy again! Yup, almost happy because it's better than not knowing... and because it proves that it wasn't my data, HA! I knew it didn't make sense!
I tried to change preferences in Finder (show hard drives and start with Home folder screen) and it wouldn't take effect... I also got the SBBOD... so I tried to restart my computer... and now it wouldn't because iPhoto is unresponsive (I was using it with my externa HDD, but just so you know, last time things bugged it had not been used at all)...
AND... I also got the error message that "this disk has not been ejected properly"... while all my external HDDs have not been touched and my energy settings are set to NEVER go to sleep (except the screen). That had been a symptom before too. And killed an HDD or 2.
Isn't this fun.
Anyone knows how long the AppleCare repair lasts for? Is it for 90 days after the last time they had it, or since they first did ANY repair? 'cause I only have a few weeks left if it's the latter...

Time Machine HD disappeared!

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