Requirements for Time Machine External HD?

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Level 1

46 points

Requirements for Time Machine External HD?

I recently upgraded to the M2 Mini. Love it!! Would like to use Time Machine. I have a WD Passport 4Tb drive that I have used in the past with my old iMac. I recently erased the drive and plugged it in to the Mini, thinking I'd use it for Time Machine backups. When, I went to Time Machine to set it up, I got this message:

So, apparently, this HD is either not formatted properly or for some other reason is not appropriate for use with Time Machine. Thus, my question. What are the requirements for a HD to be used with TM? Is this simply a formatting issue?

Thank you!

Mac mini (M2, 2023)

Posted on Apr 23, 2023 10:52 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

den.thed

Level 10

82,276 points

Apr 25, 2023 10:42 AM in response to NoBite

Something is wrong.

Container disk5 in not a mountable volume and Time Machine can not use it.

You need to Erase and format the WD My Passport, try using Mac OS Extended (Journaled) instead of APFS as I suggested above. Then the Time Machine volume should show up as a mountable volume and be usable by Time Machine.

It should look more like what my Seagate looks like.

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Answer 2

den.thed

Level 10

82,276 points

Apr 24, 2023 4:38 PM in response to NoBite

Hmm.... normally after formatting an external drive, Time Machine will ask if you want to use this disk.

Go to Apple menu > System Settings > General, then click Time Machine. Click Add Backup Disk, select the backup disk, then click Set Up Disk.

see > Connect a new backup disk to your Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 3

den.thed

Level 10

82,276 points

Apr 25, 2023 8:32 AM in response to NoBite

Looks like something is wrong with the WD formatting.

Click View and select Show All Devices.

Then highlight the different devices including Container disk5 and post the Screenshots.

Or optionally try reformatting the WD again using the following steps.

Highlight the WD My Passport
Click Erase top of Disk Utility panel
Enter the Name, Format and Scheme
Then click the Erase button in the bottom corner

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Answer 4

NoBite Author

Level 1

46 points

Apr 25, 2023 6:43 AM in response to den.thed

I have tried exactly what you suggest, only to get the message No Available Time Machine Destinations when I click on Add Backup Disk.

I am at a loss as to what to do. I don't know if I have mounted this HD properly. I'm about ready to trash it and buy something else. I really don't know what I'm doing here and fear I have ruined this HD out of ignorance. It is not showing up on my desktop at this point. Nor is it showing up in the Finder window.

Here is a look at the HD info screen.

I don't understand what a "Container" is. But, the Container is mounted. However, the HD itself, WD My Passport, is not mounted and I have found no way to mount it. That may be the issue in a nutshell.

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Answer 5

NoBite Author

Level 1

46 points

Apr 25, 2023 1:14 PM in response to den.thed

Wow! I do not pretend to know what just happened...

Yet another partition, or container, or whatever, was created and I immediately got a message that Time Machine can backup to that. I said YES! I know it's called "Untitled," but I was afraid to rename it! I think this just might work.

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Answer 6

NoBite Author

Level 1

46 points

Apr 24, 2023 11:11 AM in response to den.thed

OK, what am I missing? I erased everything on the HD. It is now empty. The description says "USB External Physical Disk - GUID Partition Map." It says it is formatted APFS format. But, when I open TM preferences and try to add a Backup Disk, I am still getting the message "no available Time Machine destinations." Help!

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Answer 7

NoBite Author

Level 1

46 points

Apr 25, 2023 2:15 PM in response to den.thed

I appreciate your patience working through this with me! Thank you!

For a reason I cannot recall, I never got TM working properly with my 2012 iMac. Instead, I used Carbon Copy Cloner. It was also problematic, working when I manually requested a backup, often after I restarted my computer, but rarely on its own schedule. I am so much happier that TM is working!

Overall, the Mini is a delightful experience. I have a ways to go to explore the new (to me) OS. But, now I can rest assured that backups are being made. Big relief.

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Answer 8

nwmac

Level 1

11 points

Sep 28, 2023 3:00 PM in response to den.thed

I just now am replacing a 2010 mac pro with a 2023 mac mini M2 1T. I too have always used Time Machine in addition to Carbon Copy Cloner. Here I am asking for your opinion of what I plan to do - As follows:

use a Hagibis USB-C hub with dual hard drive enclosure - with the two enclosed HDs being (1) 2.5" 1T Samsung 870 EVO, (2) 1T Samsung 970 EVO NVME M.2

Use one of these for CCC and the other for TM,

Would you consider this a good plan?

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Answer 9

den.thed

Level 10

82,276 points

Sep 29, 2023 3:35 AM in response to nwmac

nwmac wrote:

I just now am replacing a 2010 mac pro with a 2023 mac mini M2 1T. I too have always used Time Machine in addition to Carbon Copy Cloner. Here I am asking for your opinion of what I plan to do - As follows:

use a Hagibis USB-C hub with dual hard drive enclosure - with the two enclosed HDs being (1) 2.5" 1T Samsung 870 EVO, (2) 1T Samsung 970 EVO NVME M.2

Use one of these for CCC and the other for TM,

Would you consider this a good plan?

Yes, any plan that has two or more types of back-ups on two or more drives is a good plan.

I do not have one of those dual drive hub enclosures to test.

I have seen mixed reviews with both the Hagibis and the Satechi hub enclosures.

I would recommend running Time Machine on a 2T or larger HDD instead of a smaller SSD.

While an NVME is faster than a 2.5" SSD for the initially clone and recovery. That gain versus cost is up to you.

If you find yourself occasional recovering a recent file from Time Machine, then it is probably a good to keep Time Machine going instead of totally dropping it for Daily, Weekly, Monthly CCC clones.

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