time machine disk not ejected properly

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time machine disk not ejected properly

I have been following several threads about Time Machine problems in Monterey. After considering and trying a multitude of suggestions, it appears that at least one option has not been mentioned (or at least not found by me). I have a 2020 iMac 27" Intel computer running the latest macOS, namely, the latest update of Monterey, and I use a newly purchased replacement external 8T Mercury Elite Pro HDD as my TM drive. (Its predecessor drive had the same problem before it failed.) Every few days, the HDD used for Time Machine disconnects spontaneously, followed by a message that the 'disk was not ejected properly'. Usually this happens well after a backup completes and the TM continues to churn away for a long time (as indicated by a blinking activity light on the HDD) with what I assume is some post-backup operation. By the time the drive disconnects, the case is VERY hot. Not enough to cook eggs, but hot. Could it be that the post-backup churning that Time Machine imposes on the drive makes the HDD get so hot that it shuts down from heat overload? Even if it does, however, I think this is a macOS issue as indicated by many comments about this shutdown problem on other threads. Does anyone out there have any useful comments that can help me -- and other Mac users -- finally get past this issue?

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Jul 4, 2022 9:13 PM

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Answer 1

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relh Author

Level 1

35 points

Jul 15, 2022 2:44 PM in response to relh

To all who responded to my original comment: After getting a new 12T G-Drive to use for Time Machine (so far, so good - knock on wood), I erased the Mercury Elite Pro 8T drive I had been using and reformatted it as HFS+. I attempted to run a manual backup of a different data drive (containing roughly 2T of data) onto the 8T drive using SuperDuper! and got another improper ejection failure. The 8T drive -- which was a recent warranty replacement -- was clearly a main source of my problems. I still want to run TM for a few weeks on the new G-Drive to be sure Apple does not bear some responsibility, but at this point it looks like it is all due to OWC's drive. Just not up to the job. Thanks for all advice.

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Answer 2

Jul 9, 2022 11:19 AM in response to Barney-15E

What I meant by churning is that when you have Time Machine set to automatically backup it will run once every hour. The Time Machine keeps up to 24 hourly backups. After 24 hours it creates a daily backup for one month and weekly backups for multiple months. Bottom line is that the backup drive rarely gets into sleep mode and is constantly spinning.

This means that the backup hard disk is constantly working and doesn't go to sleep as it would if you stopped using it. External USB disk drives are not as high quality as the internal drives on a computer IMHO. By keeping the drive running and backing up every hour, you're eating away at its life. It would be like never turning your car off but letting it idle in the driveway 24x7. Setting the backup to manual and then backing up the drive based upon actual changes is less harmful on the drive. Time Machine will restore all of the applications and operating systems so a lot of people don't really need constant backups. It would be nice if the period between backups were adjustable. Of course if you unplug the drive from the computer, it can't backup.

People often forget that a hard disk is spinning away and like any motor will wear out. A lot of people automatically replace their hard drives every 5 years to ensure it is always available and your data are safe. The first time you have to use your backup drive and you get the "Drive Failed" error message when your main hard drive crashed is something I hate to think of.

I generally never rely on a drive with more than 20,000 hours on it but I've seen drives with 50,000 hours that are going strong. It is a case of how important is the information stored there and how high a quality the drive is. The only reasonably fail safe backup is one that supports RAID 1 with independent drives. With a hard drive it's not if it will fail but when it will fail.

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Answer 3

Mal-S

Level 5

5,062 points

Jul 16, 2022 12:43 AM in response to relh

If it is connected to a hub try connecting it directly to to the Mac. I’ve experienced the message when connected to a hub and I’ve plugged or unplugged another device also connected to the hub.

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Answer 4

Jul 9, 2022 9:09 AM in response to relh

You might consider switching to Manual backup and see if that makes a difference.

I have a 2021 16-Inch MBP and manually backup once a week as I don't use the machine for any mission-critical applications that are not stored on the cloud so an SSD failure would not be much of a data loss for me. Plus, as you noted, Time Machine loves to backup and will be constantly churning your external hard disk. The thing that kills hard disks is run hours and external hard drives usually fail around 20,000+ hours and by constantly backing up it is helping the backup drive to fail prematurely.

On a side note, consider buying a backup hard drive that uses RAID 1 to ensure the reliability of the backup media. A RAID 1 drive is actually two drives that mirror each other with software that automatically switches to the backup drive and warns you of failure. By having two copies of your data, the loss is virtually eliminated. While more expensive a 4 Tb RAID 1 USB drive is about $250 which gives you 2 Tb of storage as it is mirrored.

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Answer 5

relh Author

Level 1

35 points

Jul 16, 2022 8:24 AM in response to Mal-S

Thanks, Mal-S. I have always used direct connection for Time Machine. Whatever faults TM itself may have, my most recent problems were due to a faulty drive. I have replaced it with a different brand.

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Answer 6

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,858 points

Jul 9, 2022 5:26 AM in response to relh

Turn off the setting to put drives to sleep in energy saver system prefs.

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Answer 7

leroydouglas

Level 10

200,292 points

Jul 9, 2022 8:33 AM in response to relh

relh wrote:

Thanks, Barney, but I have already turned off sleep pref and have tried just about everything else others have suggested over the past year or so (including reinstalling Monterey). It seems to me to be Time Machine churning long after finishing a backup, followed by shutting down the TM drive. Is it caused by overheating due to this churning or is it 'simply' a Monterey bug? If it's overheating, I'll probably need to replace my recently purchased drive with a different brand (at some expense). My question boils down to whether anyone else has a similar heating problem.

One indicator of a drive is operating in a state of failure is —

"time machine disk not ejected properly"

other symptoms:

"Time Machine has completed a new backup for you, or get a message saying it can't create the backup,"
“failed to complete the backup, ”
“Preparing backup”

If these message(s) reappears most likely the TimeMachine disk is operating in a state of failure and will continue to fail with increasing frequency, in this case replace the drive.

Trouble Shooting Time Machine

Time Machine troubleshooting on Mac - Apple Support

Try an alternate backup drive and compare your results.

If you value your user data

3-2-1 Backup Strategy: three copies of your data, two different methods, and one offsite.

More than one device, more than one backup methodology.

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Answer 8

relh Author

Level 1

35 points

Jul 10, 2022 3:02 PM in response to Barney-15E

Barney - Not quite that many changes! However, an 8T drive that is over half full with multiple backup snapshots probably has to do a lot of file management because of the changes I do make. I think that is what my current drive is not handling properly. Whether it's Apple's doing or the fault of the drive, I am not getting the performance I need. All the helpful comments here seem to suggest the need for a different external drive.

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Answer 9

relh Author

Level 1

35 points

Jul 10, 2022 3:24 PM in response to LyleFromVegas

Lyle. Thanks. My external drive has a lot of unused space. And -- as suggested by Barney -- it is formatted as APFS. In fact, Monterey will convert HFS+ formatted drives (and probably FAT drives) to APFS when Time Machine is first set up. For now, I can use Time Machine most of the time as a secondary 'convenience' backup that supplements my CCC and SuperDuper backups. After each disk ejection using TM, I turn off the drive to let it cool down, deactivate Time Machine by removing the drive in TM preferences, and finally reactivate TM by turning the drive back on and resetting TM preferences to resume using the drive for TM. Usually TM will back up normally for a backup, get ejected again once or twice, and work normally thereafter for at least a few days. I have not lost backup data, just a lot of time playing with this. Others have had this 'disk not ejected properly' issue for a while, and I therefore wrote my comment as much to let other people know that a failing or overworked drive might be the problem as to get an answer myself. For me, I think yet another new drive is the next step, but if the new drive also has this issue as well, then Apple needs to fix this.

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Answer 10

Jul 9, 2022 12:27 PM in response to relh

I've had good success with the 4Tb Seagate for backups on all my Mac machines. It's $100 from Amazon.

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Answer 11

relh Author

Level 1

35 points

Jul 9, 2022 12:03 PM in response to LyleFromVegas

Leroy, Lyle, Barney - Thanks for all the comments. I am aware of all of your comments and have already tried everything on your list and more. First, I have never relied on Time Machine except for convenient access to recent files. I run daily backups using Carbon Copy Cloner (for internal 'Macintosh HD' (both partitions)) and SuperDuper! (for external iTunes library items) AND run an additional separate backup just for my photos. Second, by churning, I refer to writing/erasing operations indicated by a blinking light on my external 8T TM drive. Most of the time, the drive spins quietly without active read/write activity between backups but when I have made multiple changes to files -- which take up over 4T on my working internal and iTunes drives -- the activity light runs for a long time, presumably as TM manages its snapshots. During this churning phase, the TM drive gets hotter than usual. Although the drive is a new 8T drive that recently replaced an older, defective drive of the same make and model, it is possible that even the new drive isn't up to the job. My original question was intended to see if I could get insights on whether TM is itself responsible for the shutdowns -- which several other Community threads suggest might be the case -- or whether TM imposes a burden that my current external drive can't handle, resulting in a heat-related shutdown. I think I am going to need a new drive made by a different manufacturer but raise this issue to (1) solve my own problem and (2) help others having a similar issue with unexpected disconnection. Again, thanks for your comments.

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Answer 12

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,858 points

Jul 10, 2022 12:45 PM in response to LyleFromVegas

What I meant by churning is that when you have Time Machine set to automatically backup it will run once every hour. The Time Machine keeps up to 24 hourly backups. After 24 hours it creates a daily backup for one month and weekly backups for multiple months. Bottom line is that the backup drive rarely gets into sleep mode and is constantly spinning.

How much data do you create and edit each hour. I never notice my backups running. They certainly don't run continuously by any means.

which take up over 4T on my working internal and iTunes drives

Are you making 4T of changes? That might over-tax Time Machined.

Is the drive using the new APFS format?

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Answer 13

relh Author

Level 1

35 points

Jul 9, 2022 7:31 AM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks, Barney, but I have already turned off sleep pref and have tried just about everything else others have suggested over the past year or so (including reinstalling Monterey). It seems to me to be Time Machine churning long after finishing a backup, followed by shutting down the TM drive. Is it caused by overheating due to this churning or is it 'simply' a Monterey bug? If it's overheating, I'll probably need to replace my recently purchased drive with a different brand (at some expense). My question boils down to whether anyone else has a similar heating problem.

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Answer 14

relh Author

Level 1

35 points

Jul 9, 2022 12:13 PM in response to relh

Supplemental comment: When I refer to churning after backup, I consider the end of backup to be the point at which the finder sidebar no longer shows a spinning progress indicator and the TM menu item indicates that the latest backup has completed. The external drive itself still shows activity for a while longer. Usually disk ejection occurs after longer, hotter sessions.

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Answer 15

Jul 10, 2022 10:25 AM in response to relh

I've haven't tried the G-Drive but have heard good things about them.

I have a large NAS server with RAID on my local network and backup my important stuff to the RAID drive for security. I backup weekly to USB drives with my computers but rely on my NAS server for the important files.

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time machine disk not ejected properly

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