My Passport for Mac is full?

[wornslick]

Hi,

My 500GB My Passport for Mac has either died or according to the Disc Utility is full. My iMac is a 2015 27" model. I didn't really pay much attention to the external hard drive but did discover that the last backup was in 2020. I believe the EH is at least 6-7 years old. When it is plugged in I can hear a spinning sound, also it failed a first aid attempt twice. So I am afraid I may have lost everything that was on the EH. I was hoping you could tell me what would be a good replacement. I don't know much about them, but I was thinking at least a 2GB. SSD maybe? I took these screenshots thinking they may be of some help. Thanks in advance for any advice you could send my way.

 

[pigoo3]

Unfortunately "spinner" hard drives do fail due to the mechanical moving parts inside (wear & tear).

Is this an external drive ONLY for data storage...or do you/can you boot the computer (externally) from it as well (is there a macOS version installed on it)?

If you can boot from it...you might be able to boot it from it's Recovery Partition. Also...if this is a "data only" external drive...even if it's full...you should be able to plug it into a computer & access it. If this is possible...you should delete some items from it ASAP...since a 100% full drive is problematic.

- Nick

 

[wornslick]

I just use it for storing what's on my computer using Time Machine. I leave it plugged in to the computer, I noticed the symbol on the desktop has been gone for awhile. I am not sure how to even find what's on it. When I bought it I just plugged it in and forgot about it thinking it was backing everything up. Bad thinking on my part. Also when I go into Time Machine it is not even listed there.

 

[pigoo3]

The "disk full" error is bothering me the most (before we declare this drive officially "dead"). If you knew there was nothing on this drive of importance...then you could reformat it...and see if it's works ok again.

Key here is getting access to it to delete some files.

We're kinda dealing with 2 possibilities:

1. Drive is 100% full...and this is why it's not working properly.
2. Disk has failed (hardware failure)...which means it's DOA.

If we can eliminate #1...then we know #2 is very possibly true. If #2 is true now...then #1 doesn't matter.

Nick

 

[wornslick]

I understand the problem, I can't seem to find the EH anywhere I have read about to look. Not on the desktop, not listed in Time Machine. I guess I could just buy a new one and back up everything that's on the computer again?

 

[pigoo3]

I guess I could just buy a new one and back up everything that's on the computer again?

Of course you could do that.

But if you were to going to go the "buy another one" route...and maybe give up on the existing one...then you could first try erasing & reformatting the current external drive...to see if it's operational after the erase & re-format.

If this external HD ONLY has old backups on it...and nothing truly will be lost if it were reformatted...then definitely try erasing & reformatting it. If it works fine after...then you have a backup drive again...and don't need to purchase a new one.

If it doesn't work after...then you know 100% it's DOA...and time for a new one.

Nick

 

[wornslick]

Thanks Nick, should I go ahead and get the new one and back it up first before trying to erase the old one? Also, how hard is it to reformat the old one? Do you have a replacement EH that you would recommend, SSD maybe?

 

[pigoo3]

...should I go ahead and get the new one and back it up first before trying to erase the old one?

I'm trying to help you avoid purchasing a new drive if it's unnecessary. If you go ahead and purchase a new drive anyway (before we've eliminated all troubleshooting possibilities with the current drive)...then most of this discussion would have been a waste of time....we don't want that.

If this external drive has always been used for backups only via Time Machine...at this point you really have no backups (since this current external drive is not accessible). Thus no rush to purchase a new drive quite yet.

It will literally take you 15 seconds (maybe even less)...to erase & format this drive...and determine if it's operational afterwards.

* If it works...then you can do a new backup right away.
* If it doesn't work...then you know 100% that you need a new drive.

Also, how hard is it to reformat the old one?

Super easy...just use Disk Utilities "Erase" feature (the "Erase" button can be seen in the screenshots from post #1).

Do you have a replacement EH that you would recommend, SSD maybe?

In post #1 you said you wanted at least a 2GB drive. I'm pretty sure you meant a 2TB drive (2GB is super small by today's standards).

If you compare the price of a 2TB spinner HD...and a 2TB SSD. The 2TB SSD will be about $150-$200...a 2TB spinner HD will be around $50.

The main advantage of an SSD is speed. But for doing incremental backups only on an external drive you really don't need tons & tons of speed. If you wanted to save some money...an external spinner HD would be fine (for backups only).

This assumes of course we confirm that your current external HD is kaput.

Nick

 

[wornslick]

OK Nick, I will give it a go and get back to you.

 

[pigoo3]

OK Nick, I will give it a go and get back to you.

Yes please. Definitely want to know.

Nick

 

[wornslick]

Well I believe that worked. The Time Machine symbol is back on my desktop and the Passport backed up 37.78GB although when it got to around 22.88GB it slowed way down for awhile.

I hope you didn't take me wrong when I said I would go ahead and buy a new one. First I thought that after 6 years it was broke and second I was a little scared of erasing it. I really appreciate your help. thanks so much!

 

[pigoo3]

Hey that's awesome...congrats!

No worries it's all good. The "disk full" message was the one hurdle I wanted us to clear...before calling it a day & purchasing a new unit. If you had purchased a new unit first...then we wouldn't have had the satisfaction of figuring this out...without spending any money.

1st backup completed...everything is safe in case the zombies attack.

Nick

 

[Rod]

Not to be a wet blanket here, congratulations on successfully breathing new life into your WD My Passport, you mentioned that it was 6-7 years old which is excellent for an EHD so I wouldn't want to trust it as my only backup.
Really I wouldn't trust any one external drive for all that irreplaceable data so given that the WD MP is that old maybe you should think about acquiring a second backup for say a different type of backup eg a clone.
I have a HDD EHD for Time Machine and an SSD for Carbon Copy Cloner.

 

[wornslick]

Thats a good idea Rod, I will go shopping today for another "spinner"

 

[pm-r]

congratulations on successfully breathing new life into your WD My Passport, you mentioned that it was 6-7 years old which is excellent for an EHD so I wouldn't want to trust it as my only backup.
Really I wouldn't trust any one external drive for all that irreplaceable data so given that the WD MP is that old maybe you should think about acquiring a second backup for say a different type of backup eg a clone.

+1!!! I couldn't agree more. Assuming tjhe data is worth preserving and protecting.


- Patrick
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[Rod]

Just a quick addit here, based on your last post. If you want to clone your device then the more expensive option of an SSD is better suited. Time Machine on the other hand works fine on a "spinner".