New back up made a total mess of my computer

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I installed my first external hard drive 3 days ago and it appeared to be fine.
I plugged it in , it asked if I wanted to use Time Machine . I said yes and it proceeded to back up my entire hard drive. It took an hour.

I checked it a couple of times and it was backing up every hour.
I didn't check it again until around 11 P.M. Sunday evening . It said the last back up was at 3:37 p.m. Sunday afternoon not every hour as it was supposed to do.
Time Machine activity bar was scrolling saying it was backing up. . I left it for an hour and it was still scrolling.

I closed out and unplugged the EDH and plugged it back in. Now it will not recognize the EHD. It is not on my desk top and it is not listed in Disk Utilities.

It has made a major mess of Time Machine . First it said the next backup would be when the EHD was plugged in . It was plugged in. Now will not let me move the slider to ON . It keeps asking me to chose a disk and the only choice is Time Capsule which I do not have.

I have shut the computer down hoping Time Machine would reset itself but it did not.
I checked the FAQ in the Support section at G-Technologies and it doesn't address this problem. They are on the West coast and not available until 8 AM PT. I am in Central time .

I ran repair disk permissions in case that was the problem

Where do I go from here?
Thanks
 

IWT


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Hi Barbara

I remember your previous thread and I hope we helped you then.

Hope to do same now!

My much more learned colleagues will chip in with more detailed options, but in the meantime, may I presume that the G-Tech Ext HD was formatted for use on your Mac, either by the company or by you?

The lack of recognition you speak of, might relate to the manner in which you "closed out and unplugged the EHD". I'm just saying might - no offence.

For example did you - 1. Go into TM via Preferences and push the slider to the OFF position; 2. Right Click (or ctrl click) on the Desktop TM icon and Select EJECT, before you unplugged the EHD?

If not, then I suspect this could be the problem.

If yes, then you did everything OK; but it could be that you basically switched off in the middle of a Backup.

You must wait for wiser council than I before doing anything drastic. You've lost nothing from your computer, thankfully. So all we (the common we) will need to figure out a way of restoring your EHD such that it is recognised. Then you may need to reformat it via Disk Utility wiping out what's there; but then allowing you to start afresh.

I'm really sorry that I personally can't take things further.

Ian
 
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Most of the time this happens if a drive is not unmounted/ejected properly or any USB/Firewire device that read/write.
The other possibilities are a bad cable and power interruption to the drive.
 
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The Update
I have spend the last few hours with G-Technology Tech Support and then re-backing up my computer.

The G-Mini EHD comes with 3 cables. A USB-Firewire 800 & Firewire 400 adaptor.
I have two Firewire ports on my computer. One for 800 & one for 400

The support tech had me try the USB and Firewire 400 adaptor cables and both worked . It recognized the G-Mini . It does not recognize it when I use the firewire 800 port and cable.
He said either I have a bad Firewire 800 port on my computer or the new Firewire 800 cable included with the EHD is bad. I don't have another Firewire 800 cable to try.

I asked him if it is the cable that is bad how do I get a replacement? He said they don't warrantee the cables "they provide" they only warrantee the HD. He said I could ask Apple for a new one. I told him the Apple store is over an hour away. I guess if they provided a bad cable it is my problem.

He had me erase the EHD and start over using the Firewire 400 adaptor cable. It backed up everything again. It only took about 10 minutes longer than the first time using the Firewire 800. The reinstall also reset Time Machine and it is working .

He said considering I have only saved less than 30 GB of stuff on my computer in nearly 4 years using the slightly slower 400 Firewire should be fine.

I asked him about the box saying 750 GB and yet when I plugged in the EHD it said 698.3 GB available. He said you never get the full 750 GB. I said I could understand a few GB not available, but over 50 GB unavailable from the stated amount on the box is misleading. He couldn't find an answer for that.


He said the G-Mini EHD I bought IS portable and meant to be unplugged. Furthermore, from the log it stopped backing up on Saturday at 3:37 p.m. so it was already not working when I unplugged it .

I will check periodically to see if it stops working this time.

Now I need to lay down with a cold cloth on my head after this experience. LOL

Thanks for your recommendations!!
Barbara
 
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The Update
I have spend the last few hours with G-Technology Tech Support and then re-backing up my computer.

The G-Mini EHD comes with 3 cables. A USB-Firewire 800 & Firewire 400 adaptor.
I have two Firewire ports on my computer. One for 800 & one for 400

The support tech had me try the USB and Firewire 400 adaptor cables and both worked . It recognized the G-Mini . It does not recognize it when I use the firewire 800 port and cable.
He said either I have a bad Firewire 800 port on my computer or the new Firewire 800 cable included with the EHD is bad. I don't have another Firewire 800 cable to try.

I asked him if it is the cable that is bad how do I get a replacement? He said they don't warrantee the cables "they provide" they only warrantee the HD. He said I could ask Apple for a new one. I told him the Apple store is over an hour away. I guess if they provided a bad cable it is my problem.

He had me erase the EHD and start over using the Firewire 400 adaptor cable. It backed up everything again. It only took about 10 minutes longer than the first time using the Firewire 800. The reinstall also reset Time Machine and it is working .

He said considering I have only saved less than 30 GB of stuff on my computer in nearly 4 years using the slightly slower 400 Firewire should be fine.

I asked him about the box saying 750 GB and yet when I plugged in the EHD it said 698.3 GB available. He said you never get the full 750 GB. I said I could understand a few GB not available, but over 50 GB unavailable from the stated amount on the box is misleading. He couldn't find an answer for that.


He said the G-Mini EHD I bought IS portable and meant to be unplugged. Furthermore, from the log it stopped backing up on Saturday at 3:37 p.m. so it was already not working when I unplugged it .

I will check periodically to see if it stops working this time.

Now I need to lay down with a cold cloth on my head after this experience. LOL

Thanks for your recommendations!!
Barbara

He is correct in that a portable is meant to be unplugged but you must first unmount/eject the drive first or corruption of data may happen or worse.
 
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Thanks for that information!! I saved the directions on how to eject it if I need to unplug it in the future .
That is information they should have provided with this EHD. It didn't come with any instructions, not even on the box.
So far it did a complete back-up and one hourly back-up . So I am crossing my fingers this keeps working.

We get a 30 page booklet in a dozen different languages on how to use a hair dyer, but computer stuff comes with no instructions at all. Amazing!
Thanks again
Barbara
 
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Thanks for that information!! I saved the directions on how to eject it if I need to unplug it in the future .
That is information they should have provided with this EHD. It didn't come with any instructions, not even on the box.
So far it did a complete back-up and one hourly back-up . So I am crossing my fingers this keeps working.
Thanks again
Barbara

Your welcome and besides that hourly it does a weekly and monthly so don't be surprised if it takes longer sometimes and not as much as others besides how much you may have added in data.
 
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Update #2 I again had problems. My computer would not shut down and I had to shut it down from the on/ off button when the EHD was plugged in . Then it would not boot up with the G-Mini plugged in. I unplugged the G-Mini EHD and it booted up just fine

I called G-Technology support again. The man I spoke to said he has a Mac at home and he has to "unplug" the G-Mini EHD after he turns the computer off and plug it in again " after" he turn the computer on.

This sounded a bit strange but I have done this for 3 days and it seems to work . It is backing up every hour. I only say this incase anyone has the problems I have encounter with a G-Mini EHD.

Both Tech said they think I have a corrupt Time Machine or bad Firewire ports and I should take the computer in for repair.
 
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Personally do not like Time Machine's backup. Prefer to use SuperDuper weekly to make a bootable external drive and Smart Backup simply updates the week's changes. All externals must first be dragged to the trash prior to turning off or unplugging, regardless if connected to a Mac or Windows machine.
 

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