Hey, folks. What Can't I do anything with the 4TB Backup listed here? I can access what's there, but sighing else. I had a partition once that I removed. Since then..... THANKS!
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Can't add to drive
- Thread starter Wizardofvoz
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Hey, folks. What Can't I do anything with the 4TB Backup listed here? I can access what's there, but sighing else. I had a partition once that I removed. Since then..... THANKS!
From what I can tell, the icons indicate that "4tb Backup" and "Backup" are Time Machine destination drives (technically, volumes). I'm assuming "Why can't I do anything" means you cannot put new files/folders there, or modify/delete existing ones?
Below I'm assuming your Time Machine destinations are formatted APFS, and not the older "Mac OS Extended" (HFS+).
In recent macOS versions, I believe Time Machine (when using APFS backup destinations) sets the backup volume as read-only. If it's read-only, you won't be able to write/modify files there. It's generally not a good idea to put files onto your backup drive(s), because those files can't (I think) be backed up by Time Machine.
If you really want to use some of the backup drive's space for other files, you can add another volume to the container on that drive. You can then write files to that new volume, which would share the space on the physical drive with your backup volume. (Both the backup volume and the new volume will appear to be the same size as the physical drive (e.g., 4TB), but since they share the available space obviously you can't put 4TB of data into each volume.)
Note well that if you do that, these files will not themselves be backed up unless you make some other provision for that. Also, by default, TM will eventually use all available space in its volume for past backups. At that point (might be months or years from now), you won't be able to put significantly more files into your new read/write volume (because it shares space with the backup volume). (EDIT: you can control this somewhat by using the "Size Options" button to set a "reserve size" for the new volume.)
To add a volume, open Disk Utility. In the left pane, select the "4tb Backup" volume (or the "Container disk" just above it). Then click the "Volume +" button near the top right. This should let you add a new (read-write) volume to the same APFS container.
(I find it useful to use the View menu to "Show all Devices", though that isn't necessary here. For me it makes it easier to understand the hierarchy of physical devices, partitions (sometimes), APFS containers, and volumes.)
Below I'm assuming your Time Machine destinations are formatted APFS, and not the older "Mac OS Extended" (HFS+).
In recent macOS versions, I believe Time Machine (when using APFS backup destinations) sets the backup volume as read-only. If it's read-only, you won't be able to write/modify files there. It's generally not a good idea to put files onto your backup drive(s), because those files can't (I think) be backed up by Time Machine.
If you really want to use some of the backup drive's space for other files, you can add another volume to the container on that drive. You can then write files to that new volume, which would share the space on the physical drive with your backup volume. (Both the backup volume and the new volume will appear to be the same size as the physical drive (e.g., 4TB), but since they share the available space obviously you can't put 4TB of data into each volume.)
Note well that if you do that, these files will not themselves be backed up unless you make some other provision for that. Also, by default, TM will eventually use all available space in its volume for past backups. At that point (might be months or years from now), you won't be able to put significantly more files into your new read/write volume (because it shares space with the backup volume). (EDIT: you can control this somewhat by using the "Size Options" button to set a "reserve size" for the new volume.)
To add a volume, open Disk Utility. In the left pane, select the "4tb Backup" volume (or the "Container disk" just above it). Then click the "Volume +" button near the top right. This should let you add a new (read-write) volume to the same APFS container.
(I find it useful to use the View menu to "Show all Devices", though that isn't necessary here. For me it makes it easier to understand the hierarchy of physical devices, partitions (sometimes), APFS containers, and volumes.)
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I can't even FIND this drive. I know the clock Icon says it is being used by Time Machine, but the only drive that shows ion TM is the Backup drive showing in the menu. I am actually pretty fair with Mac, but I don't even know where to begin on this one. LOL. I can ACCESS (open) anything showing on the drive. But that's it. I copied it to a different external, so it's no big deal if I Lose it. It's all really manual backups anyway. I just want to know where in the world I may have 4tb lying around! LOL. I appreciate you.
RV
I see the permissions are read only, and I can't change it. I know now what drive it is. Think I will try to reformat it.
RV
RV
