Formatting Disk question (probably basic)

[mk313]

I bought a used Mac from here & in trying to set it up, it appears I've done something wrong. I was attempting to restore the data from my old Mac using the prompts that pop up when you first start the Mac up after resetting it. It took hours to run, but then errored out. I eventually set up as new & copied dat over manually, which seemed to work. I can use the computer & all is well.

But, tonight I tried to set up Time Capsule to back up to an external drive & I'm getting an error that 'Time Machine couldn't complete the backup because two of the disks to back up have the same name. Rename one of the disks named Macintosh HD-Data."

When I click on Show only volumes in Disk Utility, I see the Macintosh HD volumes, then under it, I see:

Macintosh HD​

Macintosh HD Snapshot​

Macintosh HD - Data​

Macintosh HD​

Macintosh HD-Data​

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Also kind of weird is that when I open up the Finder, I see Macintosh HD-Data & Macinthosh HD as the first two locations, but when I click on either of them, it doens't look like they contain any data, nothing shows up in the columns, it just remains blank.

Any advice on what I did wrong,g or how I can fix this so that I can backup to Time Capsule. Thanks in advance.

EDIT: When I run Disk First-Aid, everything comes back ok. There aren't any errors showing up anywhere.

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[Bigwaff]

First, what is your Mac hardware year and model? What version of macOS are you/did you install?

 

[mk313]

2020 Intel MacBook Pro 13" running Sonoma, but I don't recall what the exact version # is.

 

[DeltaMac]

When you created the volumes, you named one incorrectly. You did not need to name a volume Macintosh HD-Data, as the installer will do that for you. Notice that there are no spaces between HD, -, and Data in the drive name. The system installer makes the drive named "Macintosh - Data" (which includes one space each between Macintosh, "-", and Data. That is the correct format for the drive name. The installer makes that drive automatically, as part of the install. The ONLY drive that you would need is just the one named "Macintosh HD". Everything else is created by the installer.
The drives that you created are likely the blank ones, (no data or folders), so I could suggest that you check for any files or data on one of the Macintosh HD drives, and also the drive named "Macintosh HD-Data" (the drive with no spaces between words in the drive name. If Macintosh HD, and Macintosh HD-Data have no files or data, then simply rename both of those empty drives. Make up new names that do not have either Macintosh or Data in the name

 

[casperes1996]

My guess is that the difference in spaces was just a typo. My guess is that you installed macOS. Then erased the volumes but not the whole disk or container and installed macOS again to a new volume on the same container.

Remove the erroneous volumes and you’ll be good.

 

[mk313]

Thank you both. I'll take a look at it when I get home & either rename the drives or remove them. Truly appreciate the help as this is way beyond my understanding of computers & how they work!

 

[mk313]

My guess is that the difference in spaces was just a typo. My guess is that you installed macOS. Then erased the volumes but not the whole disk or container and installed macOS again to a new volume on the same container.

Remove the erroneous volumes and you’ll be good.

Thank you Caspares, you were right, the spacing was just a typo, and what you said is likely correct. I did try to reinstall the OS, but obvisouly did something wrong.

My wife spilled a glass of water on the computer the same da you replied, so we’ve been letting it dry out for a while, but miraculously it now works. I’ve gone into Disk utility & found the drive that ins’t being used (it shows 819KB of used, which I’m assuming is just how much space it takes to create the partition on the drive). But now that I n eyed to remove it, I’m not sure how to do so, There are options to ‘Erase’ or ‘Delete APFS Volume’. My instinct is that Deleting APFS volume is the right way to get rid of it, but figured I’d check here first in case that was the wrong move.

I looked online for some help, but most of what I”m reading is a bit beyond my understanding of the underlying technology and I don’t want to mess up the whole computer. Any additional help would be appreciated. Again, thanks to you & Delta MAc for the help so far.

 

[casperes1996]

& found the drive that ins’t being used (it shows 819KB of used, which I’m assuming is just how much space it takes to create the partition on the drive). But now that I n eyed to remove it, I’m not sure how to do so, There are options to ‘Erase’ or ‘Delete APFS Volume’. My instinct is that Deleting APFS volume is the right way to get rid of it, but figured I’d check here first in case that was the wrong move.

You want the minus button here

Volume must be unmounted and my screenshot there is from the volume that runs the OS right now, but an unused volume should be unmount-able

 

[mk313]

You want the minus button here
View attachment 2362405

Volume must be unmounted and my screenshot there is from the volume that runs the OS right now, but an unused volume should be unmount-able

You’re the best. Thanks for the clear explanation. That solved my issues & the computer is now backing up. Really appreciate it.

 

[casperes1996]

You’re the best. Thanks for the clear explanation. That solved my issues & the computer is now backing up. Really appreciate it.

Any time