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Backing up external hard drive to 2nd external Time Machine hard drive

I have 1 Seagate external hard drive that is my designated Time Machine drive.


I have a 2nd Seagate external drive that is my primary location for all media - music, photos, video, etc.


The 2nd external hard drive is not backing up to Time Machine. It doesn't show up in the Time Machine options as a drive to exclude nor does the contents show up when I enter Time Machine.


1 - Is what I am trying to do possible?

2 - What steps do I need to take if the answer to #1 is 'YES'?


Thanks.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Jul 16, 2013 9:09 PM

Reply
7 replies

Jul 17, 2013 7:25 PM in response to CKBLAKELY

TM does backup external disks as long as they are formatted OS X Extended. BY default externals disks are on the exclude list so that every USB or thumb drive you plug into your machine isn't automatically backed up.


Even if the drive is not formatted correctly it still should be in the exclusion list, only grayed out so you can remove it. The fact that your data drive isn't showing up at all is strange.


Have you tried unmounting the drive, turning it off, shutting down the system and then bringing everything on line again to see if the drive then shows up?


Something else to try if the above does not clear the problem; try manually adding the drive to the exclusion list and if that works then removing it. That might force Time Machine to see it and then begin backing it up.


regards

Jul 18, 2013 9:03 PM in response to CKBLAKELY

Could it be because the external drive with the data on it is a Seagate Central - connected only via Ethernet to a Linksys Wireless? It claims to be 'formatted' for Time Machine, but does that mean something different use it as my Time Machine rather than Time Machine backing up from the drive?


Is it because of the way it connects - meaning is there a way to connect drive directly to computer and then Time Machine would see / backup? And if that is the case, would that negate the 'wireless' aspect of the Central?


FYI - I'm just technical enough to know that I need to ask someone else on issues like this.

Backing up external hard drive to 2nd external Time Machine hard drive

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