T7 SSD drive becomes read only after first Time Machine backup

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T7 SSD drive becomes read only after first Time Machine backup

Hello

I just got a T7 SSD drive to have a TM second back-up, but also to be able to use as external drive. After the first Time Machine backup run, the drives becomes Read only and can't changes writes. I have tried to format in APFS and Also MacOS Journal Extended but same results i can only read the HD.

This is strange, as i have an older WD Passport external drive where my TM backup are stores but also i can use as external drive.

Any idea what the problem is ? is that because it's an SSD. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Vadim

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 12.6

Posted on Jan 28, 2023 4:22 PM

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Answer 1

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Barney-15E

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112,728 points

Jan 28, 2023 4:59 PM in response to vk2109

that means probably having TM + additional stuff on the drive was allowed before Apple updated the TM process in one of their MacOS update ?

I can't remember which OS (Big Sur, possibly), but it started when APFS became the default backup drive format for Time Machine.

Time Machine will continue an HFS+ backup scheme, but any new ones are APFS (Case-sensitive) and Read Only. There is also no way to remove individual items from the backup.

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Answer 2

Barney-15E

Level 10

112,728 points

Jan 28, 2023 4:28 PM in response to vk2109

That's the way it works, now. If you want to store other files on the drive, it's not advisable, but you could either partition it or create another APFS Volume on it for other files. I believe you'll have to erase it and start over either way, but I'm not sure.

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Answer 3

vk2109 Author

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28 points

Jan 28, 2023 4:35 PM in response to Barney-15E

Thank you @Barney-15E. Appreciated. So to confirm, for the other WD drive i have ( i checked and they are dated 2015) that means probably having TM + additional stuff on the drive was allowed before Apple updated the TM process in one of their MacOS update ?

Thanks

Vadim

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T7 SSD drive becomes read only after first Time Machine backup

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