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Problem backing up to APFS

I just bought a new external hard drive (WD Elements 3D), then discovered Mac's new APFS file format. I have a SSD internal hard drive, and I think my WD Elements is a SSD as well, so I decided to give it a try.


I erased the external hard drive and formatted it as APFS, then partitioned it. Except I got message recommending that add a new volume rather than partition it. So I added four volumes.


When I look at my external hard drive and its volumes in Disk Utility, they're grayed out. They give me the size of each volume in GB, but say there's no space available in any of them. I can't see my external hard drive in Finder at all.


What's going on?


Thanks.

Posted on Dec 26, 2019 9:15 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 26, 2019 9:35 AM

Chavista wrote:

discovered Mac's new APFS file format.. my WD Elements is a SSD as well, so I decided to give it a try.

When I look at my external hard drive and its volumes in Disk Utility, they're grayed out.

I should have added that I don't want to use Time Machine with this external hard drive.



If it creates an issue, I would recommend to avoid apfs on the external.


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5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 26, 2019 9:35 AM in response to Chavista

Chavista wrote:

discovered Mac's new APFS file format.. my WD Elements is a SSD as well, so I decided to give it a try.

When I look at my external hard drive and its volumes in Disk Utility, they're grayed out.

I should have added that I don't want to use Time Machine with this external hard drive.



If it creates an issue, I would recommend to avoid apfs on the external.


Problem backing up to APFS

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