External Hard Drives + Big Sur (Mac Pro) + Time Machine 'Ownership' Rules:

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Level 1

13 points

External Hard Drives + Big Sur (Mac Pro) + Time Machine 'Ownership' Rules:

Is it possible to use external hard drives, such as this one, for both Time Machine back-ups as well as manual changes/additions (I like to use my hard drives for both-- as if it's one giant USB stick)?

Context:

I've had difficulties since the new OS update. Seagate and WB both claim it's an Apple issue. Yes, I've reformatted it to ASFP or whatever it is. The problem is: whenever I reformatted it, the SECOND I connected the hard drive to Time Machine, my ownership/rights to the hard drive became "reader only". It's driving me crazy.
Since 2018, I've bought the same hard drive (linked earlier) and have been able to use it for Time Machine backups as well as my own manual/personal 'giant USB stick'.

If it IS possible to have both: what do I need to do? Do I need to buy an Apple-approved external hardrive now? What's changed???

Only a month ago, I was able to use my (almost full) hard drive for both functions/purposes. But the second I bought a new hard drive, it just won't work. I've bought two different hard drives, and had to return both because I really want both functions/purposes for my back ups. I need to be able to create folders, delete + move files manually.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.4

Posted on Jul 19, 2021 6:51 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Barney-15E

Level 10

116,620 points

Jul 19, 2021 11:25 AM in response to loyalcalypso

Time Machine requires absolute control of the drive.

You can partition the drive to use one partition for Time Machine and one for other stuff.

I would suggest you use the first partition as the Time Machine drive, and the second partition for your other stuff. That way, if you need to expand the Time Machine partition to give it more space, you can. If you use the second partition for Time Machine, you will not be able to expand it into the first partition.

You can also set up APFS Volumes and allocate one of them to Time Machine. If you want to limit how much Time Machine can use, you have to create the volume via the command line. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252805777?answerId=255280177022#255280177022

The only reason to set a quota would be to limit the space it can use. Otherwise, it will use whatever it needs, sharing the space on the drive with the other volumes.

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Answer 2

loyalcalypso Author

Level 1

13 points

Jul 23, 2021 5:04 PM in response to Barney-15E

Thank you so much for clarifying this for me!

I wonder how my previous hard drives have allowed Time Machine + my separate manual edits (folders, deleting, moving files etc) together? I didn't do anything to the settings, I used to just plug in and go.

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