How long does Disk Utility take on 2TB external

[Trolle]

I use TM on an external drive.

I have a 2016 MBP and the USB-to-Thunderbolt is iffy. The external doesn’t always mount properly for TM to work. It shows up in Finder but TM won’t run.

I unplugged the external manually since it didn’t work.

Plugged in again via another USB-to-TB plug and TM still doesn’t work and data won’t load.

The disk mounts and I can see the folders but can’t see the data and TM says it couldn’t make the folder.

Running Disk Utility.

How long does that take on a 2 TB drive nearly full primarily with TM backups. I can’t see any progress bar under Details.

If I have to leave soon how can I stop and dismount the drive?

 

[MacInWin]

Assuming you mean running First Aid under Disk utility. If it's a TM backup it can take a very, very long time to test that drive.

 

[Trolle]

I got this result but I don't know entirely what it means.

Is the data lost on the disk?
It shows up in Finder and I can see the folders, but the folders show no data.

 

[MacInWin]

For DU to do a repair, the drive has to be unmounted. But I suspect TM has it locked to prevent the drive being unmounted. Stop TM, then see if the drive will unmount. But if you have to leave soon, I would either take it with you to do later, or put it off until when you have time. A full 2TB drive will take a long time to check and repair.

 

[ferrarr]

You shouldn't be using Finder to View Time Machine backup files. Use the TM user interface to view your backup history.

Also, you can try to unmount the Time Machine drive before selecting First Aid. In Disk Utility, select the drive, then select Unmount.

 

[MacInWin]

Bob, it's ok to view files in finder. And you can even copy them directly. But don't erase or move any in Finder or the TM database gets corrupted.

For the OP, another option might be to boot in Safe Mode and see if Repair Disk can work there. But I suspect that if you turn off TM, the drive can be repaired as it is.

 

[Trolle]

You shouldn't be using Finder to View Time Machine backup files. Use the TM user interface to view your backup history.

I am not trying to view the backup files via Finder.
Since TM would not run on the disk I was using Finder to see if I could access the other files, since am worried the external is broken.
Since I can see the folders but not their content I am not 100% freaking out now.

For the OP, another option might be to boot in Safe Mode and see if Repair Disk can work there. But I suspect that if you turn off TM, the drive can be repaired as it is.

Before I try Safe Mode option, how do I turn off Time Machine? Is it just unchecking Back Up Automatically in the Time Maching settings under System Preferences?

 

[ferrarr]

Before I try Safe Mode option, how do I turn off Time Machine? Is it just unchecking Back Up Automatically in the Time Maching settings under System Preferences?

Yes, that's all you need to do to turn TM off.

 

[Trolle]

I have run DU to repair the disk yet.

I am trying to do a backup via TM.

It was been Preparing Backup for about 4-5 hours now; much longer than I have ever experienced before.

So...should I:
1. Shutdown the computer to stop the process and unmount the disk. Thereafter, start again and run DU on the external disk?
2. If DU does not work properly then try to repair via Safe Mode?
3. Get back here if that does not work? (I have a lot of old pictures on the disk that I would like to get access to. The files are there when I check the disk content via Finder.)

Side note: while the backup has been preparing I tried to open a PDF file to see if that was possible. It took about 15 minutes to open a 2 page file. It said it was verifying the file for the longest time.

 

[MacInWin]

Trolle, at this point I can only think of one thing to explain your symptoms. The drive is dying. Stop mucking with it, get a replacement, try to rescue what is on it that you value (your photos, etc) and only after you have it all rescued that you can, you can run whatever diagnostics on it. But the drive is dying, so continuing to stress it with DU or TM is only driving it to the end faster.

I don't know where you live, but if there is a store nearby that is open that sells external drives, I would go there today and get a replacement.

 

[Trolle]

Thanks for the verdict.

How do I actually transfer the data from one external to another?
With only 2 ports on the MBP is it:
1. 1 drive and power cable plugged in one port
2. 1 drive plugged in the other port
3. Use Finder to transfer the data in one fell swoop?

FYI: the external is 2TB and my MBP has 1 TB (total...not available)

 

[MacInWin]

That will work, or you can use a third party tool like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! to move them. And before you move, if you are going to use the new drive on the Mac for TM as well, format it using DU to be better compatible with Mac. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is the format to use.