jms54

Q: time machine not configured. will not recognize external hard drive.

My G-drive ev quit working. I went to time machine and could not find the external hard as a back up. So i bought another new external hard drive and same thing.TM does not see the external hard drive. I suspect that TM is the culprit. I can go to TM and it is in the off position so i turn TM on and it goes right back to the off position.

I sure could use some help.

Thanks a bunch for help.

Mac Pro 4,1 early 2009

10.11.3

8 GB memory

Posted on Feb 8, 2016 10:16 AM

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Q: time machine not configured. will not recognize external hard drive.

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  • by Pmintz25,

    Pmintz25 Pmintz25 Feb 8, 2016 10:24 AM in response to jms54
    Level 4 (1,634 points)
    Feb 8, 2016 10:24 AM in response to jms54

    Look in Disk Utility and see if the hard drive shows up there.

     

    If you didn't reformat the new hard drive it is most likely in an incompatible format for Time Machine.

     

    Needs to be in exFAT to work on Mac and PC but it is best to format for Mac OS Extended if using the hard drive for TM

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Feb 8, 2016 10:30 AM in response to jms54
    Level 10 (188,811 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 8, 2016 10:30 AM in response to jms54

    - Is the drive self-powered, that only powered by the USB bus? If so it could be that the USB port does not provided enough power. You can try a powered USB hub. You can also get a USB pigtail that takes power from to USB ports to the single USB port on the drive like this one.

    StarTech.com® 1' USB Y Male To Micro-B Male Cable For External Hard Drive, Black

    - Does it show in Disk Utility?

    If so what is format? Time Machine need a Mac formatted (extended journaled) drive.

    - Does it show in System Profiler under USB? You should see the chipset in the enclosure as well as the HD itself

    OS X: About System Information and System Profiler - Apple Support

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Feb 8, 2016 11:03 AM in response to jms54
    Level 10 (207,963 points)
    Applications
    Feb 8, 2016 11:03 AM in response to jms54

    i turn TM on and it goes right back to the off position.

    This problem has nothing to do with the drive.

    Please launch the Console application in any one of the following ways:

    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

    ☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

    ☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

    The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select

              SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages

    from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select

              View ▹ Show Log List

    from the menu bar at the top of the screen.

    Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Then take an action that isn't working the way you expect. Select any lines that appear in the Console window. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.

    The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of which is irrelevant to solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.

    Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

    Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.

    Some private information, such as your name or email address, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

    When you post the log extract, you might see an error message on the web page: "You have included content in your post that is not permitted," or "The message contains invalid characters." That's a bug in the forum software. Please post the text on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.

    If you have an account on Pastebin, please don't select Private from the Paste Exposure menu on the page, because then no one but you will be able to see it.

  • by jms54,

    jms54 jms54 Feb 8, 2016 12:17 PM in response to jms54
    Level 1 (5 points)
    iPad
    Feb 8, 2016 12:17 PM in response to jms54

    I have been using the G drive since 03/15. It is formatted for Mac.

    Does not show up in Disk Utility. The drive is powered by the USB bus

  • by jms54,

    jms54 jms54 Feb 8, 2016 12:19 PM in response to Pmintz25
    Level 1 (5 points)
    iPad
    Feb 8, 2016 12:19 PM in response to Pmintz25

    The drive has been in service since 03/15. It is powered by the USB bus and is formatted for MAC.

    Does not show up in disk utility.

  • by Pmintz25,

    Pmintz25 Pmintz25 Feb 8, 2016 12:38 PM in response to jms54
    Level 4 (1,634 points)
    Feb 8, 2016 12:38 PM in response to jms54

    Follow Linc Davis' notes. There could be something else going on not related the external drive.

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Feb 8, 2016 12:43 PM in response to jms54
    Level 10 (188,811 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 8, 2016 12:43 PM in response to jms54

    Agan:

    - Does it show in System Profiler under USB? You should see the chipset in the enclosure as well as the HD itself

    OS X: About System Information and System Profiler - Apple Support

  • by jms54,

    jms54 jms54 Feb 8, 2016 12:52 PM in response to lllaass
    Level 1 (5 points)
    iPad
    Feb 8, 2016 12:52 PM in response to lllaass

    NO. does not show up in the system profiler.

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Feb 8, 2016 1:00 PM in response to jms54
    Level 10 (188,811 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 8, 2016 1:00 PM in response to jms54

    Then TM can't see it.

    Is the HD seen by another computer?

    Can you hear/feel it spinning? Are any light lit on the enclosure?

    Have you tried another cable? USB port?

    Do other HD connected via USB work?

    Try resetting the SMC

    Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac