Can't mount backup disk

[Gutti]

Hi there.
Suddenly I can't mount my newly bought WD Passport disk.
I get this message, see image.
Is there really nothing to do but erase the disk?

Thanks for any clues and help...

 

[Bigwaff]

If the disk is new, it may have come formatted as NTFS for Windows. You would need to reformat the disk as HFS+ for Mac before using it as TM backup disk. I’m surprised TM didn’t prompt you to reformat the disk first.

 

[BrianBaughn]

"Suddenly" meaning it was working and backing up before?

 

[Gutti]

"Suddenly" meaning it was working and backing up before?

Yes. It was working before. I take one backup every week.

 

[Gutti]

If the disk is new, it may have come formatted as NTFS for Windows. You would need to reformat the disk as HFS+ for Mac before using it as TM backup disk. I’m surprised TM didn’t prompt you to reformat the disk first.

I did format it to MacOS Extended. I think this it the name of the format..?

 

[Gutti]

The error message today says that I can open and copy files from the disk.

 

[Gutti]

If the disk is new, it may have come formatted as NTFS for Windows. You would need to reformat the disk as HFS+ for Mac before using it as TM backup disk. I’m surprised TM didn’t prompt you to reformat the disk first.

I think TM did promt me to reformat before first use. At least I did format it to Mac OS Extended...

 

[BrianBaughn]

Try turning off Time Machine, ejecting the TM disk, disconnecting the TM disk, waiting 10 seconds, reconnecting the TM disk and turning TM back on.

 

[Bananasaurus]

How old is the drive? It’s possible that the drive is falling.

 

[Gutti]

How old is the drive? It’s possible that the drive is falling.

It is from january 2023. So quite new.

 

[Gutti]

Try turning off Time Machine, ejecting the TM disk, disconnecting the TM disk, waiting 10 seconds, reconnecting the TM disk and turning TM back on.

Thank you. I have tried that.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Thank you. I have tried that.

If that didn't work and you've also tried turning off TM and repairing the disk with Disk Utility then I'm thinking you'll probably have to erase and reformat the drive and start over.

That problem is the kind of thing that can happen when an external disk gets disconnected as macOS is doing it's normal thing…corrupting something or other.

If the same issue occurs after a reformat and you haven't seen a disconnect you might suspect the drive and its housing/cabling, or any hub you might have between the drive and the Mac, are faulty.

 

[Gutti]

If that didn't work and you've also tried turning off TM and repairing the disk with Disk Utility then I'm thinking you'll probably have to erase and reformat the drive and start over.

That problem is the kind of thing that can happen when an external disk gets disconnected as macOS is doing it's normal thing…corrupting something or other.

If the same issue occurs after a reformat and you haven't seen a disconnect you might suspect the drive and its housing/cabling, or any hub you might have between the drive and the Mac, are faulty.

So you say the drive should always be connected to the computer? I usually unmount the drive until the next backup.
Don't want any hackers be able to access it.

 

[BrianBaughn]

So you say the drive should always be connected to the computer? I usually unmount the drive until the next backup.
Don't want any hackers be able to access it.

No…that's perfectly fine as long as you remember to let the unmount/eject process complete before disconnecting it lest corruption possibly occur.

However, if you go through a reformat and start over you might leave it connected as much as you can to make it easier to see if there's a recurring issue.

 

[Gutti]

No…that's perfectly fine as long as you remember to let the unmount/eject process complete before disconnecting it lest corruption possibly occur.

However, if you go through a reformat and start over you might leave it connected as much as you can to make it easier to see if there's a recurring issue.

Good. I have now reformatted the disk and it is working normally again and taking backups as expected.

Thank you all for taking your time to reply to me.