Formatting SSD for new Macbook Air

[badshoehabit]

Hi, long time no see.

Replaced my very old, still functioning MBP (2016) with a Macbook Air a few months ago. Like it very much: still issues loading all my photos but current issue is that I can't get my Seagate Ultra Touch SSD formatted. Followed various notes but lost. Drive recognised but won't mount so can't do a back up. Tried Cmd+R on start-up, nothing appears other than log in. I've erased it but no prompt for what's next. Screenshots of what I experience. What do I do next please?

 

[MacInWin]

In Disk Utility, click on the "View" button on the menu bar, then select "Show All Devices." Once it shows all the devices, select the top level of the external drive, which should show as the actual manufacturer name and model. Then click on Partition and create one single APFS partition on the drive (Note: That action will erase the entire drive, so be sure that if there is something on it you want, you get that off first.) Give the partition whatever name you want. Choose GUID as the Partition scheme.

Once it has run, you should have a single Container on the drive and in the container is a single Volume, with the name you chose for the drive. That volume should now mount.

Now open Time Machine settings and point to the newly formatted drive as the target. TM will take over the drive and add additional formatting to it for backup use. (Basically adding encryption, as I recall.) Now it should be able to make backups to that drive.

NOTE: Once you point to that drive for TM, it cannot be used for anything else because TM now marks it as being ONLY for TM. If that is not what you want, let us know and there are things to do that can make at least part of the drive still available to you.

 

[badshoehabit]

Thank you. Straightforward instructions - but still won't recognise drive.

 

[MacInWin]

I don't understand your screenshot. The target drive is in the left sidebar and looks to be attached, but why are you highlighting "Back up" instead?

Before trying to assign it to TM, can you open the drive in Finder?

 

[Rod]

I think that if you select the drive as "target" in Time Machine it will Format and Erase it for you.

 

[ferrarr]

I think that if you select the drive as "target" in Time Machine it will Format and Erase it for you.

Correct, once you re-format a TM backup drive, TM needs to have that drive assigned to the backup schedule again, even if it is already listed in the backup disks list, in TM Settings.

 

[badshoehabit]

I don't understand your screenshot. The target drive is in the left sidebar and looks to be attached, but why are you highlighting "Back up" instead?

Before trying to assign it to TM, can you open the drive in Finder?

That's the partition I designated on the SSD. I am opening the drive first.

Same message whether I tick Ultra Touch or Back Up.





This is what I get when I 'open time machine settings'. Where do I find 'target'?






Why are these excluded? I didn't have this faff using teh SSD for the first time with the old MBP and it is now completely empty.

 

[ferrarr]

You need to add (+) the drive again. You may need to remove (-) the drive first.

Why are these excluded?

Because, back up drives do not need to be backed up. If you want to backup backup drives you need to use a different app.

 

[badshoehabit]

You need to add (+) the drive again. You may need to remove (-) the drive first.


Because, back up drives do not need to be backed up. If you want to backup backup drives you need to use a different app.

You misunderstand. I decided to partition the SSD and called one half Back Up so I knew which bit to use for ™ back ups.

 

[MacInWin]

Did you create two partitions, or did you create two Volumes in one Container? It's important. Can you open DU, select the drive and then on "View" pick "Show All Devices" and then take a screenshot? That will help us understand what is going on with the drive.

 

[badshoehabit]

Did you create two partitions, or did you create two Volumes in one Container? It's important. Can you open DU, select the drive and then on "View" pick "Show All Devices" and then take a screenshot? That will help us understand what is going on with the drive.

Think I've messed up your instructions.

 

[MacInWin]

So, you created two Containers, each with one Volume in it, on the drive. From that, I can't see any reason why TM would not be able to use "Back up" as a destination. It will reformat that Container (and "Back up") to be a version of APFS for TM (adding encryption, I think), but it should work.

Going back to your post #7, once you open the TM settings, you add the "Back up" Volume to TM by clicking on the "+" symbol on the bottom left of that window, then point to "Back up." You can then use the "-" button to remove "Ultra Touch" unless you want to keep it (to remove, hightlight and click "-" for it to go away).

 

[badshoehabit]

So, you created two Containers, each with one Volume in it, on the drive. From that, I can't see any reason why TM would not be able to use "Back up" as a destination. It will reformat that Container (and "Back up") to be a version of APFS for TM (adding encryption, I think), but it should work.

Going back to your post #7, once you open the TM settings, you add the "Back up" Volume to TM by clicking on the "+" symbol on the bottom left of that window, then point to "Back up." You can then use the "-" button to remove "Ultra Touch" unless you want to keep it (to remove, hightlight and click "-" for it to go away).

Thanks. Will have a try tomorrow, 9.15pm here.

 

[badshoehabit]

So, you created two Containers, each with one Volume in it, on the drive. From that, I can't see any reason why TM would not be able to use "Back up" as a destination. It will reformat that Container (and "Back up") to be a version of APFS for TM (adding encryption, I think), but it should work.

Going back to your post #7, once you open the TM settings, you add the "Back up" Volume to TM by clicking on the "+" symbol on the bottom left of that window, then point to "Back up." You can then use the "-" button to remove "Ultra Touch" unless you want to keep it (to remove, hightlight and click "-" for it to go away).

Thank you sooooooo much. Did what you said and it went straight into a back up.