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Backups have failed because there isn't enough space on the external hard drive (both Seagate Expansion Drive and WD My Book). I thought that Time Machine erased the oldest backups to make space? Is the only option to delete the backups from the older disk and start again on that?
iMac 21.5", macOS 10.15
Usually that is a problem when your backup drives are too small. Time Machine needs some working space. Depending on your system status, such as updates, you may need more working space from time to time. I always recommend a backup 3 times the size of all the drives you are backing up. You can get by with a backup drive that is twice as big as your amount of data being backed up, but you will eventually have problems.
Usually that is a problem when your backup drives are too small. Time Machine needs some working space. Depending on your system status, such as updates, you may need more working space from time to time. I always recommend a backup 3 times the size of all the drives you are backing up. You can get by with a backup drive that is twice as big as your amount of data being backed up, but you will eventually have problems.
Peakwolf wrote:
Backups have failed because there isn't enough space on the external hard drive (both Seagate Expansion Drive and WD My Book). I thought that Time Machine erased the oldest backups to make space? Is the only option to delete the backups from the older disk and start again on that?
What is the whole picture...
Was this an old TM backup from a previous macOS and then you upgraded to Catalina???
With the introduction read-only system volume in macOS Catalina it does not play well with existing TM backups—
Yes your best bet is to erase/reformat and start a new with TimeMachine.
About the read-only system volume in macOS Catalina - https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210650
3-2-1 Backup Strategy: three copies of your data, two different methods, and one offsite.
Boot clone https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-10081
How to use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250
Use DiskUtility Restore feature https://support.apple.com/guide/disk-utility/restore-a-disk-dskutl14062/mac
note: >System Preferences>Security & Privacy >Privacy>Full Disk Access
unlock the padlock, press the + button and add Disk Utility
Thanks for that. The WD drive currently in use was reformatted and used from late Nov 2019, the Seagate drive was used up to that date. That date was coincidentally the time when I installed Catalina. So the Seagate will almost certainly not have been Catalina, the initial backup on the WD may have been, but I'm not sure. Anyway, it all seems to point towards deleting and starting again on the Seagate - the WD has a recent backup should things go wrong.
Time Machine Backup
