Q: Mac Mini OS X 10.11.5 Time machine locks up apps
Hello everyone! I'm running a late 2012 Mini with the latest 10.11.5 OS X. I installed a SSD about 6 months ago and recently started using the old, slow mechanical drive as my Time Machine disk (hard lesson learned after the SSD somehow got stuck in write-lock and I had to re-clone my 6 month old data from the old drive). The problem is that randomly when Time Machine is "Preparing Backup", apps will start to lock up and I get the beach ball. That app will never be usable again and eventually all the running apps become frozen. I've tried canceling the backup, but then Time Machine freezes also. I have to physically unplug my external hard drive and once I do, everything pops back to life again! It's very frustrating as this is my work computer and I'm on it all day long. Any ideas on whats happening or how to fix it?
Thanks!
Mac mini, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5)
Posted on Jul 11, 2016 8:07 AM
So your Mac freezes when it tries to use to the 'old, slow mechanical drive'. They can be slow, but they should not cause total 'lock ups' like this.
Have you checked this external disk in Disk Utility? Run First Aid on it to see if the disk needs repairs. I'd also recommend checking the boot disk too, since you have apparently had to force reboot a few times.
Using Disk Utility to verify or repair disks - Apple Support
OS X: About OS X Recovery - Apple Support (Recovery mode is needed to repair the OS disk).
It is also possible that your disk is simply failing, it concerns me that the SSD was broken at one point too, is it still the same drive? Do you have another Mac to try writing using the external disk with?
It is possible for other USB devices to cause issues, so try to rule out those by disconnecting as many as possible when testing - obviously if your external disk uses Thunderbolt or Firewire do the same with other devices.
What case is the external disk inside? Are you certain that the case is working - cheap ones can fail easily, can you try another case or 'drive dock' etc?
Posted on Jul 11, 2016 8:56 AM