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backing up a back up hd
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Why would you want to do that? Why not just run two independent time machine backups to both HDDs?
sudo dd if=/dev/disk(# of the TM backup) of=/dev/disk(# of the disk you want to do the extra backup to).
This duplicates the entire disk of if (input file) to the entire disk of of (output file). Alternatively user Super DUper, Carbon Copy Cloner, Disk Utility's restore to function, or just copy over the TM database file.
You can also, as recommended by @leman run two concurrent TM backup, or in fact use two different backup schemes.
This duplicates the entire disk of if (input file) to the entire disk of of (output file). Alternatively user Super DUper, Carbon Copy Cloner, Disk Utility's restore to function, or just copy over the TM database file.
You can also, as recommended by @leman run two concurrent TM backup, or in fact use two different backup schemes.
The problem with this and similar solutions is that its rather slow. And one could use a delta synching tool, but one needs to make sure that that tool can deal with hard links correctly... I don't think that rsync can, for example. If a backup is done to a sparse bundle instead, delta copying becomes easy. However, there is a lot of technicality involved in all these solutions. Thats why I think that running two backups in parallel is the way to go.
Pretty sure rsync can deal with hard links of files, just not directories. Though I won't bet my savings on it
But yeah, you have a valid point
Thats the problem, since time machine heavily relies on hard linked directories. I had a disaster with an enterprise backup system once. I was careless not to exclude a time machine database from the backup set and few days later I got a rather angry call from the backup server administrator telling my that our machine has sent over 50TB worth of directory copies to the tape. Fun times
Thats the problem, since time machine heavily relies on hard linked directories. I had a disaster with an enterprise backup system once. I was careless not to exclude a time machine database from the backup set and few days later I got a rather angry call from the backup server administrator telling my that our machine has sent over 50TB worth of directory copies to the tape. Fun times
Ouch! That's a bad one! I have my suspicion that Apple will rework TM to not use directory hard links though. You know, to get it working on APFS. But yeah. That's not exactly a good experience...
I still think that if you're not looking for delta backups, and you just want a static backup to store away somewhere or whatnot, dd can be a fine option though. Obviously not for continuous backups as per your statement that it's slow and doesn't support delta backups like TM does, but if your goal is to backup your TM disk, to have an extra disk off-site that is a storage of how the TM was at this exact time and you don't plan on it changing, dd should do fine.
Let me give some more details..
This external hd stills gives me access to files but clearly it is about to die. I want to somehow transfer all these files onto another drive before it dies.
I can’t do a simple drag n drop right of this entire folder right?
This external hd stills gives me access to files but clearly it is about to die. I want to somehow transfer all these files onto another drive before it dies.
I can’t do a simple drag n drop right of this entire folder right?
I don't see any reason why you wouldn't be able to do just that, but the dd comand I mentioned above will basically clone the drive entirely. Same will CCC and Super Duper
Use carbon copy cloner to clone the drive, of course if its dying that may not give you the best quality copy.
OP:
DO get a second backup drive, but DON'T put your TM backup on it.
Instead, download either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper, and create a bootable cloned backup. Both CCC and SD are FREE to download and use for 30 days. If you don't mind "doing a complete backup", SD will do this forever without registering (you do have to register to perform incremental backups with SD).
Now you will be backed up "two ways":
- Time Machine backup
- BOOTABLE cloned backup
A better "backup combination" than TM only!
DO get a second backup drive, but DON'T put your TM backup on it.
Instead, download either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper, and create a bootable cloned backup. Both CCC and SD are FREE to download and use for 30 days. If you don't mind "doing a complete backup", SD will do this forever without registering (you do have to register to perform incremental backups with SD).
Now you will be backed up "two ways":
- Time Machine backup
- BOOTABLE cloned backup
A better "backup combination" than TM only!
So I just got a new external HD and tried format it to mac os journaled but I kept getting a stupid "not enough space error" even though it was a brand new drive.
So I formatted the entire disk and it seemed to work and it allowed me to format the drive after that.
I went ahead and drag/dropped the back up from the Old HD to the new HD and i got an error code 36.
here is the problem and the panic...
This "old ext hd" was used to back up my 1st macbook. I got a new macbook and never transferred this "old macbook ext hd back up" to the new one because I wanted to keep this new macbook clean and fresh. I just used this old ext hd as a back up.
I came to turn on my old mac to give it to my mom and found out the mac does NOT start up and crashes. Did tests/etc and found out the internal HD has failed. I have a new hd waiting to go in but I dont want to remove this old hd until i can somehow get my data restored somehow.
Is there anyway to take whats left on the old macbook and put it on this NEW ext hd? If so then i dont have to worry about this old ext hd. If there isn't then my only way to retain what i have is from this old ext hd which isn't allowing me to transfer at the moment due to error code 36.
I'm lacking a bit of clarity but I'll try to help.
From what I've gathered, error code 36 occurs when macOS' extra metadata files for FAT and exFAT volumes can't be written. This seems at odds with how you say your drive has been formatted.
Just so we agree on terminology, what do you mean differently when you say formatting the drive v. formatting the disk? If by drive you just mean the existing partition, I always recommend re-formatting the entire disk, unless you want to keep one or more partitions intact.
What formatting options did you use? HFS+ with GUID?
I've lost track - is the old HD the one that's breaking inside the MB or a separate external one? How is that drive formatted?
If the drive can be seen by another system when you connect it to another computer, you can use tools like testdisk to do data recovery.
What OS are you performing your attempted data transfer on?
From what I've gathered, error code 36 occurs when macOS' extra metadata files for FAT and exFAT volumes can't be written. This seems at odds with how you say your drive has been formatted.
Just so we agree on terminology, what do you mean differently when you say formatting the drive v. formatting the disk? If by drive you just mean the existing partition, I always recommend re-formatting the entire disk, unless you want to keep one or more partitions intact.
What formatting options did you use? HFS+ with GUID?
I've lost track - is the old HD the one that's breaking inside the MB or a separate external one? How is that drive formatted?
If the drive can be seen by another system when you connect it to another computer, you can use tools like testdisk to do data recovery.
What OS are you performing your attempted data transfer on?
OP wrote:
"Is there anyway to take whats left on the old macbook and put it on this NEW ext hd? If so then i dont have to worry about this old ext hd. If there isn't then my only way to retain what i have is from this old ext hd which isn't allowing me to transfer at the moment due to error code 36."
I said it before, and I'll say it again:
CarbonCopyCloner.
"Is there anyway to take whats left on the old macbook and put it on this NEW ext hd? If so then i dont have to worry about this old ext hd. If there isn't then my only way to retain what i have is from this old ext hd which isn't allowing me to transfer at the moment due to error code 36."
I said it before, and I'll say it again:
CarbonCopyCloner.
so even though i get error code 36 CCC would work?
or if my old mac doesn't even start up because it turns off due to a failed HD i can use CCC to get wahts on the HD? if so that would be awesome! just need to know how to do it on a computer that wont turn on.
Thanks again!
OP:
If the drive has a hardware failure, of course CCC isn't going to work.
I'm still not sure of what exactly you want to do.
Do you want a second backup of a working Mac?
or
Do you just want to copy the contents of one drive to another drive?
What are your goals here?
If the drive has a hardware failure, of course CCC isn't going to work.
I'm still not sure of what exactly you want to do.
Do you want a second backup of a working Mac?
or
Do you just want to copy the contents of one drive to another drive?
What are your goals here?
I'm equally confused about the mission
If you're trying to do data-recovery - If the drive is recognised by the system, look up Quidsup on YouTube and see his "Data recovery on Linux". All the same tools work on macOS.
If the drive isn't recognised at all, you'll need to physically open it up and perhaps do a platter swap with a different drive.
All that of course only if you're trying to recover data from a dead drive
Sorry for the confusion but let me see if this helps.
I have an internal HD on a mac that has failed.
I have an ext HD that I used to back up the "failed HD" way before it had failed. Had I know it was failing I would have made 2 back ups! loll
Once in a blue moon my external HD that is failing gets recognized by the computer and I can get into the files and folders but it takes FOREVER so I figured this HD is failing as well.
I ran tests on this ext. HD and it is failing because it doesn't pass the SMART test or the other test (forgot what it was). I tried to copy that entire failing ext. HD back up to a new ext. HD i bought yesterday using the drag and drop method but it wont allow me to transfer the content due to error code 36.
My goal is to somehow retain all the data from one of these two drives onto a new ext. HD I bought.
Thanks for your patience and help! Appreciate it!
I have an internal HD on a mac that has failed.
I have an ext HD that I used to back up the "failed HD" way before it had failed. Had I know it was failing I would have made 2 back ups! loll
Once in a blue moon my external HD that is failing gets recognized by the computer and I can get into the files and folders but it takes FOREVER so I figured this HD is failing as well.
I ran tests on this ext. HD and it is failing because it doesn't pass the SMART test or the other test (forgot what it was). I tried to copy that entire failing ext. HD back up to a new ext. HD i bought yesterday using the drag and drop method but it wont allow me to transfer the content due to error code 36.
My goal is to somehow retain all the data from one of these two drives onto a new ext. HD I bought.
Thanks for your patience and help! Appreciate it!
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And how is this drive formatted now?
If the contents seem ok on it, you could try and dd it over to another drive. (dd pretty much clones it)
The command would be "sudo dd if=/dev/disk(ID of Input drive) of=/dev/disk(ID of output drive)
It won't show progress, and it could take quite a while. If you want to see progress you need to install pv to your path and run sudo dd if=(same as before) | pv | sudo dd of=(same as before)
dd is a Unix command that weirdly enough stands for copy and convert. In the example I gave it clones if (input file) to of (output file)
And said files can also be entire drives.
I wrote the exact command you'd need in my last post (aside from the ID of your drive since I don't know what that is)
sudo dd if=/dev/disk(ID of Input drive) of=/dev/disk(ID of output drive)
To get the IDs, run diskutil list and find the drives.
[doublepost=1516678344][/doublepost]
Also, if you know the name of a command but not how to use it you can write "man (name of command)" in the shell and you'll get a manual
OK, let's try going through this one more time.
You have an external drive that is showing signs of failure, but still can boot the Mac sometimes. If this is the case, be aware that there may be some sectors of the drive's platter surface that have "gone bad". That would mean that the drive can't read those sectors, and thus can't produce the files.
Trying to do a "finder copy" of a drive that is having read errors due to bad files will be an exercise in frustration, because if you try to copy many files, and if the finder encounters even just one "bad" file, it will abort the entire process -- but give you no idea as to WHICH FILE was the bad one.
If you want to copy the failing drive to a "good drive", you need CarbonCopyCloner.
DO NOT keep messing with the finder (or terminal).
When CCC clones a drive, if it encounters one or more "bad files", it will KEEP RIGHT ON GOING. It doesn't abort. Instead, CCC will log the bad file, and keep trying to clone the good ones. At the end of the process, I believe that you can access CCC's log file to ascertain which files didn't copy.
So, what you need to do:
1. Boot up the Mac from the failing external drive and hope for a good boot
2. Prepare a GOOD external drive by erasing it with Disk Utility. Choose "Mac OS Extended, with journaling enabled".
3. Open CCC.
4. Put your source (the bad drive) on the left
5. Put the target (the good drive) to its right
6. Accept CCC's defaults
7. Click the clone button
8 See what happens next.
This will be my "last advice" to you on the subject.
Either try it -- or keep flopping around like a fish out of water...
You have an external drive that is showing signs of failure, but still can boot the Mac sometimes. If this is the case, be aware that there may be some sectors of the drive's platter surface that have "gone bad". That would mean that the drive can't read those sectors, and thus can't produce the files.
Trying to do a "finder copy" of a drive that is having read errors due to bad files will be an exercise in frustration, because if you try to copy many files, and if the finder encounters even just one "bad" file, it will abort the entire process -- but give you no idea as to WHICH FILE was the bad one.
If you want to copy the failing drive to a "good drive", you need CarbonCopyCloner.
DO NOT keep messing with the finder (or terminal).
When CCC clones a drive, if it encounters one or more "bad files", it will KEEP RIGHT ON GOING. It doesn't abort. Instead, CCC will log the bad file, and keep trying to clone the good ones. At the end of the process, I believe that you can access CCC's log file to ascertain which files didn't copy.
So, what you need to do:
1. Boot up the Mac from the failing external drive and hope for a good boot
2. Prepare a GOOD external drive by erasing it with Disk Utility. Choose "Mac OS Extended, with journaling enabled".
3. Open CCC.
4. Put your source (the bad drive) on the left
5. Put the target (the good drive) to its right
6. Accept CCC's defaults
7. Click the clone button
8 See what happens next.
This will be my "last advice" to you on the subject.
Either try it -- or keep flopping around like a fish out of water...