Backup disk not available??

Hi, I have been using a 1GB Seagate external Hard Disk for backup from my MacBook. However, I am unable to do a backup now. It says, "Time Machine could not complete backup. The backup Disk is not available." Since the light on the harddisk is lighted, I assume it isn't a wire issue.
Would appreciate it if members could help me.
Many thanks,
Aaron

Does Finder "see" the drive (i.e. does it appear on the desktop)? Does the drive appear at all in Disk Utility? If so try to verify the disk and repair any errors that are found.

Hi Slydude,
Drive does not show up in both finder and disk utility (startup disk). Thanks!
Aaron

lay9eggs said:

Drive does not show up in both finder and disk utility (startup disk).

Click to expand...

Time to do more troubleshooting.
Change USB cable and try.
Also, try the drive on another computer.

Will do so. Thanks much!

Seagate external's are mostly there barracuda drives and those drives fail like there is no end there is a firmware update for windows users to fix the hard drive but no solution for mac users sorry

I will bet you a buck that if you simply power down hard drive, unplug it, plug it back in and power it back up, it will "magically" reappear on the desktop. The unit might just be dead, but I doubt it.

Yes, I plugged and unplugged numerous times. Still fails to work. Thanks much!

Darn it, I'm out a dollar.

The drive's dead. Replace it.

Hi,
Earlier I reported that the external hard drive is not visible on the Disk Utility. I was wrong because I had been looking at the Disk Startup.
The external hard drive is actually visible on the Disk Utility which I just stumbled upon. Is it okay to click Repair Disk? (Or click Erase?) Or something I could do to revive it? Thanks again!
Aaron

Hi,
Thank you so much for your posting. I finally managed to get it working. I opened the Time Machine Option and select the external drive and click the backup and it worked. Much appreciated
Aaron