Why doesnt my external drive show up in the time machine window when im trying to set it up wirelessly

my external hardrive doesnt show up in the time machine window for disk selection . i connected it to a usb hub it shows up when i do the manual setup but it still doesnt show up in the disk window . any help am i missing something ?

The supported targets for Time Machine backups are local (direct-connected) disks, and network targets include Time Capsule, a disk hanging off the current-generation AirPort (though not earlier AirPort devices), and OS X Server systems.
The Time Machine storage is based on the HFS+ file system, so I would not expect TM to work with SMB file services.
While there are hacks to allow Time Machine to access network drives, I would not consider those to be reliable. Skim the forum and the 'net for related details, and for previous discussions of setting this up and the related issues that can arise.
Remember to test the recovery with whatever you decide to use; whole point of backups is the ability to restore the data, after all.
If you want to learn more about Time Machine, Pondini is an excellent resource.

Similar Messages

Why is my external drive not backing up in Time Machine?

I am running Snow Leopard on a Macbook Pro. I have my photo library on an external drive. I have a 2nd external drive which I use for my Time Machine backups. I keep the photo drive connected when I backup to Time Machine. The photo drive is NOT excluded in Time Machine preferences.
While I have the photo drive connected, it appears in all of the Time Machine backups.
However....when I disconnect the photo drive (as would happen if it was lost, stolen, damaged, etc) and then I enter Time Machine, the photo drive does not appear and neither does my iPhoto library that I keep on the photo drive. Does this mean it is not backing up? What would I do if I lost the photo drive?

Does this mean it is not backing up?
No.
What would I do if I lost the photo drive?
This.

Back-up on external drive, in addition to the time machine external drive

Quick question: I am using Time machine on an external drive next to my laptop. To protect against fire/theft, I want to do a monthly back up on an other external drive which would be kept at work. Does time machine allow 2 external back up drives and remember what needs to be updated on each, or do I need to use SuperDuper or similar to do my monthly back up?

You can do what you want by going in to System Preferences > Time Machine > Change Disk whenever you rotate disks. Time Machine will keep track what modified files belong to its respective backups on the two disks. However, it's always a very good idea to diversify risk in your backups so using different software for your second set of backups would be something to seriously consider. SuperDuper is not yet Leopard compatible but Carbon Copy Cloner is. You can use the "Copy selected items" function in CCC to do incremental backups.

Explain the Time Machine backup when no drive is attached, Explain the Time Machine backup when no drive is attached

I'm traveling now and just noticed that my Time Machine is still turned ON. What caught my attention is that it is still functioning without my Backup external hard drive attached. It seems to be creating Time Machine backups anyway... and is storing them in an invisible simulated hard drive called "Backups.backupdb". What is this? How is Time Machine doing any backups without my normal designated backup hard drive attached?

They're local snapshots.
See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4878 for more info.

I would like to use time Machine to back up to a network SMB drive. I can see the drive on my desktop but it will not show in the time machine window to be able to select it

I currently have a mini server (OSX10.8.5, server 2.2.2) that I am using Time Machine to back up 4 external drives that are connected to the server via firewire 800. I would like to use Time Machine to back up to a windows network SMB drive. I can see the drive on my desktop but it will not show in the time machine window to be able to select it for use.
Can this be done
Thanks for any and all help

The supported targets for Time Machine backups are local (direct-connected) disks, and network targets include Time Capsule, a disk hanging off the current-generation AirPort (though not earlier AirPort devices), and OS X Server systems.
The Time Machine storage is based on the HFS+ file system, so I would not expect TM to work with SMB file services.
While there are hacks to allow Time Machine to access network drives, I would not consider those to be reliable. Skim the forum and the 'net for related details, and for previous discussions of setting this up and the related issues that can arise.
Remember to test the recovery with whatever you decide to use; whole point of backups is the ability to restore the data, after all.
If you want to learn more about Time Machine, Pondini is an excellent resource.

Hello I bought my wife a new MacBook Pro, in setting it up for her, I took her Time Machine external drive to migrate onto the new machine but her old MBP not only was on 10.6, it was my old machine which I was still Administrator for. i plugged in the

Hello
I bought my wife a new MacBook Pro, in setting it up for her, I took her Time Machine external drive to migrate onto the new machine but her old MBP not only was on 10.6, it was my old machine which I was still Administrator for.
i plugged in the external drive to start the migration process after entering her name and username from the old machine which gave me the options on transferring the old data over.
I also unchecked the Administrative end that had my info hoping that ONLY her data, files, etc., would be the ones sent over to her new machine which I wanted her to be the ONLY Administrator for. All went like clockwork until the restart.
Normally the screen should show the username and only need the password but both entries were blank, as in ‘Other’ sign in option available only. I entered her name and password, nothing….used her username and password, nothing. Used my old Administrator name and password, NOTHING!
I tried defaulting to factory settings from the Restore feature but it directs me to notify Apple. I tried in Terminal to change the password, nothing. I tried to boot from MY external drive and it doesn’t recognize it. I tried to even use my external drive which actually has the Mavericks upgrade, nothing!
Basically I can only get the startup screen which isn’t accepting the username/password or the Restore feature which doesn’t offer any options helpful!
Please, how do I start from scratch and start over here? Or simply change the Administrator name and password so I can proceed with everything thats already on there? I wish I could even boot from another drive but no luck on anything!

First, on the old machine, make your wife's account an admin one. Log into it and delete yours. Then, update the TM backup. Finally, use Internet recovery mode, ⌘⌥R, erase the HD, and restore the OS. One first boot, follow the steps outlined in Pondini's Setup New Mac guide.

HT201250 Is there a size limit for an external drive to be used with time machine?

I have an iMac with a 2TB drive. I have a 2TB WD drive used for Time Machine that is full. I would like to go to the bigest WD (type) external drive that will work with Time Machine. Is there a TB limit for TM in OS X Lion?

Welcome . I have also used a 2TB WD My Book ext HDD for Time Machine backups for the past year and have had no problems. They seem to get a very bad wrap. Perhaps we are a few of the lucky ones. The two brands recommended by macjack are very, very good brands.

I have been unable to retrieve emails from my external disk. I entered the Time Machine and tried to go to April 2013, but could not find emails. I have Lion OS X 10.7.5 .Thanks!

I have been unable to retrieve emails from my external disk. I entered the Time Machine and tried to go to April 2013, but could not find emails. I have Lion OS X 10.7.5 .Thanks!
Cecilia

I have been unable to retrieve emails from my external disk. I entered the Time Machine and tried to go to April 2013, but could not find emails. I have Lion OS X 10.7.5 .Thanks!
Cecilia

Why is my external hard drive showing up twice on Time Machine?

This is the first time I am using Time Machine because somebody recently gave me an external hard drive.
The external hard drive is appearing twice on Time Machine preferences. One of them is currently backing up and the other one says "Waiting to back up" but I don't want it to back up twice on the same disk.
Here's a screenshot:
Does anyone know why it is doing this?

Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:
tmutil destinationinfo
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).
Post any lines of output that appear below what you entered — the text, please, not a screenshot.

2nd External Drive - how to restore from Time Machine backup?

I have had Time Machine configured to back up my photos and videos on an external drive. My Time Machine backup is a separate drive attached to my MacBook by FireWire. I have Leopard OS. I have in the past successfully retrieved deleted photos from the Time Machine backups using iPhoto.
Now, unfortunately, the external drive with the photos and videos has developed a problem (possibly power-related) so that my MacBook no longer recognizes that drive. Obviously, this means that iPhoto can't find/open that photo library. Which means that iPhoto can't access the backup via Time Machine. Help! The photos must surely be on the Time Machine backup but I can't figure out any way to retrieve them.

callipygia600,
This one's easy. Purchase a new drive to replace the one that went "belly up." Format (erase) it using Mac OS Extended, and give the volume that will be created the exact same name as the bad drive. Navigate into the new (empty) volume in the Finder, then open Time Machine from the Dock.
You should be able to navigate "back in time" and see the backed up contents. Select everything you see, and click "Restore." It will all be restored to your new external drive. The key is to use the same name for the new drive.
In the meantime, your backup can be accessed in the Finder if necessary. Using the Finder, navigate into the "Backups.backupdb" folder on the backup drive, then into the latest backup. You will see one folder named for your startup disk, and another named for your secondary/external volume. Within that second folder you will find the items that were stored on the bad drive. You can safely copy these to another volume using the Finder, but do not attempt to move or modify them otherwise (do what you like with the copies).
Scott

I have an Apple Macbook and will be backing up the entire system to an external hard drive utilizing the Time Machine application. when I am doing this, will the data on the external drive that I am using be erased?

I have an Apple Macbook and will be backing up the entire system in order to upgrade to a newer OS. I will be using an external hard drive to do this and there is already data on it. To complete the backup, i will be using the Time Machine application. Does this application wipe out all of the existing data on the external hard drive, or will it create a new "folder" for the backup?
thank you

No, but as steve359 states you should use a dedicated hard drive for backups. It you need a temporary backup then you can use the drive provided it has sufficient space for all your data on the hard drive.
When Time Machine finds that the drive has data on it already it may decide to erase the drive before continuing, which is another reason to use a dedicated drive.

I have a 500 gb hard drive partitioned for files and time machine but when i connect it to my mac only the time machine one shows up

well as the title says i have a 500gb hard drive with 2 partitions one with time machine and one for files it worked perefectly until yesterday only the time machine partition appeared in finder, i checked disk utility and both partitions appeared but the one for files appeared in grey and when i press mount an error comes up.

The repair shop likely replaced a major circuit board on your MacBook Pro, so Time Machine thinks that you have a "new" computer and it wants to make a new complete backup of your Mac.
You are going to have to make a decision to either add another new Time Capsule....or USB drive to your existing Time Capsule....and in effect start over with a new backup of your Mac and then move forward again.
For "most" users, I think this is probably the best plan because you preserve all your old backups in case you need them at some point, and you start over again with a new Time Capsule so you have plenty of room for years of new backups.
Or, as you have mentioned, you have the option of erasing the Time Capsule drive and starting all over again. The upside is that you start over and have plenty of room for new backups. The downside is that you lose years of backups.
Another option....trying to manually delete old backups individually....is tricky business....and very time consuming. To get an idea of what is involved here, study this FAQ by Pondini, our resident Time Capsule and Time Machine expert on the Community Support area. In particular, study the pink box.
http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/12.html
Once you look through this, I think you may agree that this type of surgery is not for the faint of heart. I would suggest that you consider this only if one of the other options just cannot work for you.

HT201250 How do you set what the Time Machine window shows?

I just bought a Time Capsule and started using Time Machine. The window that appears when selecting "Enter Time Machine" shows the desktop, but not the Hard Drive. I want to see the contents of the HD, not the desktop.

erickfrombloomfield wrote:
I thought Time Machine made a clone of my boot drive.
TimeMachine copies your entire boot drive, but it's not a clone. Clones are near 100% exact copies of your boot partition.
TM every so often updates with a "state" representing a day, it only saves the changes between states so this way it's not making your external drive full in a couple of days.
You go through the "states" to pick the copy of the file you want to restore with or the entire drive.
So that is not true?
TimeMachine is not a clone.
Aclone is a exact image of your boot partition, just like you picked up all your software and placed it on another drive.
Clones can be updated, and now even save the "states" between clones, but then it's not a clone anymore as it's not a 100% copy, but a bootable clone + backup.
How can I make the Time Machine copy on the Time Capsule bootable?
You can't, a TimeMachine can only restore, not bootable although I hear it's possible to boot to restore only.
Or how can I make a clone on Time Capsule?
You don't. The softwre and technology is not compatbile.
If you want a clone be able to boot from it, and see everything on the drive like any other, then you need to use a new blank drive and Carbon Copy Cloner, then it's a option key bootable clone drive.
TM or TimeCapsule can't do this, it's a backup system, not a clone.
If you want to learn more about TM you can visit this site
http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html
I don't use TM at all, it's for newbies mostly. It takes a long time to restore with as it has to go through all the states to grab files.
Power and seasoned users use clones so they also can boot from them, make more clones or run the computer if the drive dies etc.etc.

Now that i have a mac pro.how can i use a portable hard drive while i have the time machine working on my mac?

what do i do if i want to use a portable hard drive for backing up, if i also see
the time machine also on there?

flora1917 wrote:
what do i do if i want to use a portable hard drive for backing up, if i also see
the time machine also on there?
Do you mean you're already backing-up to a Time Capsule, and want to switch to using an external HD? If so, just format the drive and select it via Time Machine Preferences > Select Disk. See #21 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.
If you mean something else, please clarify.

Time machine halted when I tried to backup it to an external USB Seagate disk...

I bought an external USB disk (Seagate 3T). Time machine was successfully running about 6 months ago on that disk.
But today when I tried to backup the documents. Time machine and the system halted... and I must unplug the USB disk to resume the system.
I tried several times, and it seems the Time Machine could not work well.
Anyone know how to solve that? Thanks a lot.

Was the external disk formatted with the OS X file format?
Does the disk have its own power supply?
Did it come with two USB connectors and you are only connecting one of them?

Why doesnt my external drive show up in the time machine window when im trying to set it up wirelessly

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