WD Passport for Mac not Backing up Via Time Machine

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Level 1

46 points

WD Passport for Mac not Backing up Via Time Machine

I have not been able to get automatic backups to work with My Passport for Mac. I get an error message stating "Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to My Passport for Mac. The backup disk is not in MAC OS Extended (Journaled) format, which is required."

However, when I use Disk Utility to view the details of this disk, it says it IS in that format!! So, why isn't it working? And, most importantly, how do I get it to work?

The reason I bought the version explicitly for the MAC was to avoid this sort of issue!!

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Oct 19, 2020 5:42 AM

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Answer 1

NoBite Author

Level 1

46 points

Oct 19, 2020 8:35 AM in response to anonyme4321

Well, it looks like this is working!! It is now backing up. This takes a long time due to the port I have to use, but it IS working. Now, I will know it is a full success if it backs up again in the future automatically.

THANK YOU for the advice!! I am going to check "Helpful" for now. If it does back up again automatically, I will check "Solved".

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Answer 2

Allan Jones

Level 9

72,380 points

Oct 19, 2020 10:18 AM in response to NoBite

WD Passports have not enjoyed the best reputation around here. A self-powered drive (has it own, independent power supply) is much more reliable that "bus-powered" drives like the Passport, that must get all its power from a computer's USB port.

However, there are some tips that make a bus-powered drive like yours work better over time:

1) You've already reformatted the drive to Mac--a big step forward. 👍🏼👍🏼 for that!

2) Install a POWERED USB hub ( has an independent power supply) between the computer and the external drive. This takes the work off your computer's USB port and compensates fo the Passport's tendency to demand more power as it ages.

This takes a long time due to the port I have to use,

The first TM backup is always the longest.

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