Should a Time Machine backup be kept on a dedicated disk?

[komatsu]

Problem: I have a TM backup stored on an external HDD. The backup appears to be valid. However, Migration Assistant cannot detect this backup.

Possible cause: On the external HDD there are other files and folders i.e. the TM backup does not have its own dedicated disk. Could this be a possible reason why MA is not detecting it?

 

[Fishrrman]

Yes. It should.

But... I'd use either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper instead of TM.
Do this, and you'll NEVER have a problem mounting the backup. It will just "mount in the finder".

 

[dictoresno]

I have time machine backup to its own 500GB external drive in a docking bay with one other drive. never had an issue. although, I used to have it back up to a larger drive, partitioned into two smaller ones, but I don't think thats the same as what your issue is. but yes, I would always keep it as its own drive.

 

[TwoBytes]

Time machine
CCC
cloud backup

sleeping peacefully at night.

 

[KALLT]

Time Machine does not need its own partition. You may want to though, to prevent it from consuming too much space.

This particular problem probably has another cause and you haven’t given enough details. Is the Time Machine drive properly formatted (GPT scheme with HFS Plus/Mac OS Extended format, not case-sensitive)? How old is this backup? Are the Mac versions the same (source Mac and target Mac)? Is it encrypted and have you tried unlocking it?