I am using an external drive for a time machine backup. It has disappeared from the desktop. How do I get it back again?

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Level 1

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I am using an external drive for a time machine backup. It has disappeared from the desktop. How do I get it back again?

I have been using a Lacie external drive for backup for about 2 1/2 years. The 3 TB drive is about 2/3 full. It has suddenly disappeared from the desktop. The time machine program tells me it is unavailable. When it 1st told me yesterday, I noticed the drive was turned off. I turned it back on and the icon showed back up on the desktop. Later in the day the same thing happened. This time drive was still on. I opened Time Machine and the icon popped back on to the screen. This happened a few more times. Now I get the "unavailable message" and the icon won't come back. I've tried unplugging and plugging in plugs, turning the Lacie off and on, and it doesn't come back.

Is this a problem with the drive or the computer?

Posted on Feb 28, 2018 7:06 AM

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Answer 1

spyderweb23 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 28, 2018 9:08 AM in response to Rudegar

Does not show in Disk Uti. If by "Finder" you mean File/Find, a Lacie icon shows up, but I believe it's an older one as I think its a different color. It does not open when double clicked.

Also, when I turn on the external drive, the light comes on, but there is no whirring, and I feel absolutely no vibration from within. Is that an indication the external is shot?

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Answer 2

Feb 28, 2018 9:27 AM in response to spyderweb23

See if Terminal recognizes the drive. Connect your external drive, then open Terminal and execute this command:

diskutil list

If you don’t see your external drive listed there, it’s likely dead. Assuming that this external drive is the only one connected to your Mac, it’s usually listed under disk1 or disk2.

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Answer 3

spyderweb23 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 28, 2018 9:49 AM in response to Encryptor5000

Here's what I get. What does it mean?

/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *1.0 TB disk0

1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1

2: Apple_CoreStorage Macintosh HD 999.3 GB disk0s2

3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3

/dev/disk1 (internal, virtual):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD +999.0 GB disk1

Logical Volume on disk0s2

48146AD6-32D4-4356-8E88-274DD21DE43C

Unencrypted

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Answer 4

Feb 28, 2018 3:13 PM in response to spyderweb23

By the looks of it, your external drive appears to be dead. Here's what Terminal is reporting:

disk0 is your Mac's internal hard drive. Your Mac's hard drive has 3 partitions: your EFI partition which is crucial for booting your Mac (209.7 MB large), your startup partition containing all of your data named Macintosh HD (999.3 GB large), and your Recovery partition used to boot Recovery Mode (650 MB large).

Your Mac appears to have a Fusion Drive, which is actually a combination of your hard drive and memory. A CoreStorage Logical Volume binds these two together to create your Fusion Drive. It has a unique identifier displayed below, and below that it states that the Logical Volume (corresponding to Macintosh HD, your startup partition) is unencrypted, meaning that FileVault is turned off.

Terminal did not detect or display your external hard drive.

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Answer 5

Rudegar

Level 10

170,640 points

Feb 28, 2018 8:09 AM in response to spyderweb23

does it show in finder ?

does it show in disk util ?

sooner or later all drives die so

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I am using an external drive for a time machine backup. It has disappeared from the desktop. How do I get it back again?

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