Where's my hard drive?
29/04/23 Filed in: time machine
Hi Scotty. Lately, whenever I have connected that cable to the external storage device and hit “backup now”, I get the error message that the backup disk cannot be found or is unavailable.
What to do?
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If the drive is not mounting onto the desktop (it should be an olive green icon) then the first thing I would do is (if available) plug it up to another Mac. It will most likely not mount there either which would mean the drive needs to be replaced. However, if the drive does mount on a different Mac then we may just need to reformat the drive and allow it to start the Time Machine history all over again. You would loose the old backup history but it would be better than buying a new one.
If you hear it clicking when you plug it up, it's over. Let it go. However, if you can feel it spinning when you connect it, it may still be usable. You can open Disk Utility, which can be found in the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder, then select the drive in the left column then choose to erase from the buttons at the top of the window.
As I may have mentioned, for some ridiculous reason, Apple has chosen to make setting Time Machine up in MacOS Ventura HARDER than it ever was previously. You now have to format the drive on your own using Disk Utility. This used to be automatic prior to Ventura. With all other drives you may have connected, unplugged, go to the Applications Folder, find the Utilities Folder, then open Disk Utility. You should see the new drive which is plugged up, on the left column. Choose erase from the bar at the top and format it for either APFS or MacOS Extended Journaled. Now go back to Time Machine system preferences and try again. It should recognize it now.
If Disk Utility doesn't detect the drive then it's most likely gone. Drives don't last forever. They are spinning 7000 times a minute for their entire lives so it's extremely likely the drive is just dead. For most people, a 2TB drive is enough. If you would rather just buy a new one, here's the one I recommend. https://amzn.to/4484lGN
Hope that helps.
What to do?
___________
If the drive is not mounting onto the desktop (it should be an olive green icon) then the first thing I would do is (if available) plug it up to another Mac. It will most likely not mount there either which would mean the drive needs to be replaced. However, if the drive does mount on a different Mac then we may just need to reformat the drive and allow it to start the Time Machine history all over again. You would loose the old backup history but it would be better than buying a new one.
If you hear it clicking when you plug it up, it's over. Let it go. However, if you can feel it spinning when you connect it, it may still be usable. You can open Disk Utility, which can be found in the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder, then select the drive in the left column then choose to erase from the buttons at the top of the window.
As I may have mentioned, for some ridiculous reason, Apple has chosen to make setting Time Machine up in MacOS Ventura HARDER than it ever was previously. You now have to format the drive on your own using Disk Utility. This used to be automatic prior to Ventura. With all other drives you may have connected, unplugged, go to the Applications Folder, find the Utilities Folder, then open Disk Utility. You should see the new drive which is plugged up, on the left column. Choose erase from the bar at the top and format it for either APFS or MacOS Extended Journaled. Now go back to Time Machine system preferences and try again. It should recognize it now.
If Disk Utility doesn't detect the drive then it's most likely gone. Drives don't last forever. They are spinning 7000 times a minute for their entire lives so it's extremely likely the drive is just dead. For most people, a 2TB drive is enough. If you would rather just buy a new one, here's the one I recommend. https://amzn.to/4484lGN
Hope that helps.
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