Time Machine back up drive not mounting

[Blueser100]

I have a seven old WD My Passport 1TB external drive that I have used for Time Machine backups. Two days ago it suddenly decided to stop mounting on the desktop. I ran Disk Utility on it and it sees the WD drive. I ran Disk First Aid on it and it found no problems.

Any ideas, suggestions?

 

[MacInWin]

Check Finder, preferences, and make sure External Disks is checked on the General tab.

 

[Blueser100]

Check Finder, preferences, and make sure External Disks is checked on the General tab.

Thanks yep it is checked by default. The drive is seven years old so if no other solutions pan out I may just get a new drive. I also have Carbon Copy Cloner that runs daily so it’s not a panic situation.

 

[MacInWin]

Seven years is a good run. Typically the issue is not so much the drive itself as it is the interface circuitry on the board inside the enclosure. But 1TB drives are really inexpensive these days, so it may not be worth looking into a new enclosure for it. OWC (macsales.com) has enclosures, if you want to pursue it.

 

[Blueser100]

Seven years is a good run. Typically the issue is not so much the drive itself as it is the interface circuitry on the board inside the enclosure. But 1TB drives are really inexpensive these days, so it may not be worth looking into a new enclosure for it. OWC (macsales.com) has enclosures, if you want to pursue it.

Ok thanks. I already have another newer 1TB SSD drive that I use for CCC so I may use that. Thanks.

 

[pm-r]

I ran Disk First Aid on it and it found no problems.
...
Thanks yep it is checked by default. The drive is seven years old so if no other solutions pan out I may just get a new drive.

But that seems a bit odd that Disk Utility sees and checks the drive, so it had to be mounted for that to happen. Or did Disk Utility just unmount it so the Finder can't see it???

Did you try disconnecting and then reconnecting the drive???


- Patrick
=======

 

[MacInWin]

Ok thanks. I already have another newer 1TB SSD drive that I use for CCC so I may use that. Thanks.

I would not put TM and CCC on the same drive. That defeats the purpose of having two backups, and depending on the settings in CCC, may cause trouble for you.

 

[Blueser100]

But that seems a bit odd that Disk Utility sees and checks the drive, so it had to be mounted for that to happen. Or did Disk Utility just unmount it so the Finder can't see it???

yes it is strange.I don’t know

Did you try disconnecting and then reconnecting the drive???

yeah, no difference.






- Patrick
=======

 

[Rod]

Can you "Enter" Time Machine from the pull down menu on the Tool Bar where the drive is connected? If so can you see all your backups?

 

[Rod]

If all the above are true then the device is mounting and functional but maybe not too much longer. Have you tried rebooting your device? Try connecting to a different port.
After all that, even if it does eventually mount I wouldn't trust my Time Machine backup to a 7 year old EHD. Maybe time to retire it.
Definitely do not put Time Machine and a Clone on the same EHD, believe me it's a recipe for disaster.

 

[Blueser100]

Can you "Enter" Time Machine from the pull down menu on the Tool Bar where the drive is connected? If so can you see all your backups?

Yes I can enter time machine and even access and restore a document. But if I try to “back up now” it just says it’s unavailable. Clearly there’s a problem. What I would like to do is just get a new external drive and start over.

 

[IWT]

What I would like to do is just get a new external drive and start over.

Sounds like a good plan. That Drive is likely on its way out. So, new EHD and start up a fresh TM Backup. And, just in passing, may I just endorse the views, previously expressed, never put more than one backup on a EHD.

Ian

 

[Blueser100]

Sounds like a good plan. That Drive is likely on its way out. So, new EHD and start up a fresh TM Backup. And, just in passing, may I just endorse the views, previously expressed, never put more than one backup on a EHD.

Ian

yes thanks. I’ve got the two separate drives, one is the CCC clone and other Time Machine.

 

[pm-r]

Clearly there’s a problem. What I would like to do is just get a new external drive and start over.

As Ian says, sounds like a good plan, but in the interim, what about nuking and zeroing-out that WD external drive and then see what Time Machine might do with it starting afresh???

I would sure give it a try. You can't lose much and you've already lost what you did have it seems like. ?


- Patrick
=======

 

[Rod]

I use my last "retired" EHD, after repairing it as Patrick described above, for storing stuff I'm not afraid to loose. Some eBooks, movies, game apps etc, stuff I could always download again if needed but take up valuable space. It continues to work perfectly but I wouldn't trust it for a HD backup again.

 

[ferrarr]

In System Preferences > Time Machine, Add or Remove Backup Disk. First remove the drive, or just select the drive again.

 

[Blueser100]

In System Preferences > Time Machine, Add or Remove Backup Disk. First remove the drive, or just select the drive again.

Nothing worked. It was nearly eight years old. It’s been replaced by a new one. Old one getting the drill and sander treatment today.

 

[badshoehabit]

Mine is temperamental like that and probably the same sort of age. I persist...

 

[JML_UK]

Definitely do not put Time Machine and a Clone on the same EHD, believe me it's a recipe for disaster.

On separate partitions of the same EHD?

 

[MacInWin]

On separate partitions of the same EHD?

Theoretically you could do that, but if that backup drive fails, you lose both backups. I have had that happen before, which is why I keep multiple drives, one for TM one for clones. Drives are cheap. Don't pinch pennies on backup.