Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to "External Drive" Two of the disks to back up have the same name

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Level 1

39 points

Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to "External Drive" Two of the disks to back up have the same name

This has started since I updated to Catalina (a couple of weeks ago: April 2020)

My Time Machine tells me to rename one of the disks named "Macintosh HD"

I only have one disk named Macintosh HD (although, I can see that the internal HD has now got two partitions - one called "Macintosh HD" and the other called "Macintosh HD - Data") I believe this is normal behaviour since Catalina, but can't see a way round the Time Machine problem.

MacBook Pro 15", macOS 10.15

Posted on Apr 30, 2020 5:34 AM

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Answer 1

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Barney-15E

Level 10

116,170 points

Apr 30, 2020 8:00 AM in response to eamonlaser

There have been at least a couple other posts about this problem. I don't know if it was ever resolved. You might try searching for the same problem and see if it was resolved on any of the others.

I would just erase the Time Machine disk and try to start the backup over.

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Answer 2

Apr 30, 2020 8:07 AM in response to eamonlaser

eamonlaser wrote:

This has started since I updated to Catalina (a couple of weeks ago: April 2020)

My Time Machine tells me to rename one of the disks named "Macintosh HD"

I only have one disk named Macintosh HD (although, I can see that the internal HD has now got two partitions - one called "Macintosh HD" and the other called "Macintosh HD - Data") I believe this is normal behaviour since Catalina, but can't see a way round the Time Machine problem.

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/d6363a2c-8528-48ad-ac40-28a89a18fc0c

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/7f10da6b-7ff5-4e2d-a194-64bf06f363e4

I suspect Barney-15E has given you the most straight forward advice : start over.

If you need to create a new backup from Mac—

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/if-you-need-to-create-a-new-backup-mh34042/10.14/mac/10.15

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/time-machine-troubleshooting-mh15653/mac

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/if-your-new-mac-inherits-your-backup-history-mh35732/mac

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Answer 3

eamonlaser Author

Level 1

39 points

Apr 30, 2020 8:09 AM in response to Barney-15E

Yes, I saw some other posts, but couldn't see a definitive answer. The posts were all quite old and locked so the only option was to create a new post asking the same question again...

I'm fortunate in that I have two Time Machine disks, which I alternate between (they were both coming up with the same error) so I have erased the older disk and a backup *appears* to be completing now. It has another 16 hours to go, so I'll know more tomorrow.

Of course, you only know for certain that a backup works when you successfully restore from it!

I'll try to post a comment tomorrow if my backup has been successful.

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Answer 4

eamonlaser Author

Level 1

39 points

Apr 30, 2020 8:14 AM in response to leroydouglas

Absolutely - you are both correct, starting again is probably going to fix this - but I'd always rather look to see if there's another solution before erasing a backup disk!

I'll report back tomorrow...

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Answer 5

eamonlaser Author

Level 1

39 points

Apr 30, 2020 4:07 PM in response to eamonlaser

So, just to update this thread - after erasing the contents of the Time Machine drive (using Disk Utility) I was able to complete the backup without any errors. It seems to have been confused because the previous backups had been made before Catalina.

Thanks to Barney-15E and leroydouglas for their comments.

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Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to "External Drive" Two of the disks to back up have the same name

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