Time Machine settings do not load on new M2 Pro Mac Mini

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Level 3

673 points

Time Machine settings do not load on new M2 Pro Mac Mini

Ok, so this isn't my first rodeo but I'm at a complete loss. New M2 Pro Mini, did a migration from an M1 Air. Everything works fine. This morning I tried launching a new TM backup (Backup Now in menu bar) , expecting a message telling me to relink this new mac etc. But instead, it simply failed silently.

So I launched Settings>General>Time Machine: it doesn't work. The TM settings pane doesn't load. It either flashes briefly, shows up blank, or does nothing.

I deleted all TM related prefs from both Libraries: same issue.
I rebooted in Safe Mode: same issue.
I created a new user, logged in: same issue.
Also tried unmounting the TM drive: nope.

I don't know what's going on. Never seen a Settings/Preference Pane refusing to load. It's like it doesn't exist. I'm hoping an eventual update provides a fix, but I can't even find anything on the web about a similar problem so...yeah. If anyone has seen this issue I'd love to know I'm not alone.

Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023)

Posted on Aug 19, 2023 8:51 AM

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Answer 1

Jade Leary Author

Level 3

673 points

Sep 2, 2023 6:25 AM in response to Jade Leary

I'm following up on my own post to report that is is now working: this morning I went through the same song and dance, I unmounted the TM drive, and restarted the computer. But this time, the Time Machine setting did load correctly. However, when I clicked to choose the backup disk I noticed the previous TM drive wasn't in the list, despite being mounted. So:

I shut down the Mini.
Unplugged the backup drive USB and AC.
Restarted
Plugged the drive back in.

This time when the TM settings loaded the drive was listed as available. I took a chance, selected it, and 30 seconds later TM was "Waiting to Backup". It took several minutes (enough that I thought the process was frozen), but I finally got a message asking it I wanted to "claim the backups" on the drive (new wording for inherit?). I confirmed and, folks, Time Machine is now gloriously doing its thing, picking up where it left off.

The only difference I can see when comparing this to my previous attempts, is that I completely unplugged the backup drive from both USB and power at some point. So it looks an awful lot like the old did you try turning it off and on again solution. Which I'm not very proud of (!)

The moral of the story: when in doubt, always go back to The IT Crowd.

P.S I'll note that the settings pane loaded before unplugging the offending drive. That remains a complete mystery.

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