Time Machine backup unreadable on another Mac
Carodep
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Aliboron Martin Posted messages 3655 Registration date Status Contributeur Last intervention -
Aliboron Martin Posted messages 3655 Registration date Status Contributeur Last intervention -
Hello,
I've had an iMac and a hard drive for a long time where I make daily Time Machine backups. However, since I had to reformat my hard drive for PC/MAC use... my Time Machine backups are no longer accessible from another MAC computer. Previously, the folders were visible, but now I see just the image of a Time Machine disk.
Anyway, I don't understand what's going on. If you can help me. ;-)
Thank you
I am on MAC OS Monterey 12.1
2 réponses
Your description is not very clear. Is it the disk dedicated to Time Machine that you had to reformat (for PC/Mac use)???? That wouldn't make any sense... Otherwise, which other disk are you referring to? What is the system installed on the Mac that can no longer access Time Machine backups? Were the backups made by the Mac running Monterey? Was the situation the same "before," when Time Machine backups were visible from another Mac? Is your disk encrypted with FileVault?
If I'm not mistaken, since Monterey the disk dedicated to Time Machine is formatted in APFS, a format that is not always readable with older versions of macOS. This could explain what you are observing, depending on the exact situation (which is not clearly described enough for me).
Hello at your place!
Bernard
If I'm not mistaken, since Monterey the disk dedicated to Time Machine is formatted in APFS, a format that is not always readable with older versions of macOS. This could explain what you are observing, depending on the exact situation (which is not clearly described enough for me).
Hello at your place!
Bernard
Indeed, it's curious, but it may depend on your machine, perhaps (could it be a Mac with an M1 processor?)
First, you need to format the entire disk. To do this, go to the "View" menu in Disk Utility and select "Show All Devices," which will allow you to select the disk rather than the volume:
You will have an additional line for the partition scheme (select GUID if it’s not already set):
After that, as already mentioned, with Monterey, the disk dedicated to Time Machine is automatically formatted as APFS, and that's probably what's preventing older systems from reading it (and it would be helpful to know the version of macOS on the machines that cannot read the disk content to specify this precisely)...
First, you need to format the entire disk. To do this, go to the "View" menu in Disk Utility and select "Show All Devices," which will allow you to select the disk rather than the volume:
You will have an additional line for the partition scheme (select GUID if it’s not already set):
After that, as already mentioned, with Monterey, the disk dedicated to Time Machine is automatically formatted as APFS, and that's probably what's preventing older systems from reading it (and it would be helpful to know the version of macOS on the machines that cannot read the disk content to specify this precisely)...
Is that clearer?
So for now, I really regret that I can't say more than the potential issue related to the APFS format of the drive, but that's just a hypothesis. ;-)
Before, when I accessed it, I had a directory structure with folders, whereas now I have the Time Machine symbol. That's where the problem comes from. But how can I return to the same state as before?
The external hard drive format is APFS. I don't know what format it was in before.