Time Machine help needed

[Nein01]

Hey everyone,

Context:
Last month I had my logic board replaced as a precaution before 2016 was over (2011 mbp with extended warranty due to radeongate). I made sure to do one last time machine backup before I took it in. When I got it back, I replaced my old internal hard drive with a new SSD so I had a completely fresh start. My plan was to just go through my external hdd (time machine capsule) manually and copy over all my most important files, like my school projects from last semester.

My first question:
Why won't the finder locate any of the files I search for? I connect my external HDD, type a string in the search field while specifying to search within "g-drive", and nothing comes up! For example, I give the string "oligarchy" which should return hundreds of files from a project I worked on with that string in the filename, but literally the only thing that shows up is an mp3 file from the band black flag, which exists outside of the backupdb file structure. So, does absolutely nothing within time machine backup folder structure show up when doing a search on that drive?

Second question:
If not, is it safe for me to connect my old time capsule and choose "browse other backup disks" from the time machine prefs? I have not set up a time machine device for my new SSD, and I do NOT want to start one on this old time capsule now, because it's almost full. Is "browse other backup disks" the only way to get to my old files in order to copy them to my new ssd?

I am just really nervous that if I use the time machine interface, that somehow it will overwrite some data on my backup disk...

 

[Weaselboy]

So, does absolutely nothing within time machine backup folder structure show up when doing a search on that drive?

Time Machine files inside that backup set are not indexed by Spotlight and will not show up in a Finder search like you are trying to do.

If not, is it safe for me to connect my old time capsule and choose "browse other backup disks" from the time machine prefs?

Yes... that is the way to do this.

 

[Nein01]

Thank you for the quick reply, but "browse other backup disks" just shows me a finder window of my SSD. There are dates along the right side of the screen but I can not navigate between them. Every button is greyed out except for "cancel"...

 

[Weaselboy]

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH19027?locale=en_US

Try telling the disk to "ignore ownership" like at this link. That should let you in.

 

[Nein01]

I don't have the "ignore ownership on this volume" option for some reason, even though it's an external disk. Under permissions it already says that I can read and write, but I went ahead and changed it to read and write for everyone as well, then clicked "apply to all enclosed items"
I still cannot find any files.. this is really frustrating.
[doublepost=1485545730][/doublepost]This is what I see. It makes no sense..

 

[Weaselboy]

Is the disk encrypted by any chance? I'm on Sierra and I notice I do not have that option on an encrypted external, but I do on a non-encrypted external disk.

 

[Nein01]

I don't think it should be. How do I check?

 

[Weaselboy]

Just look at it in Disk Utility. You can see my encrypted drive Backup there.

 

[Nein01]

When I right click on the drive in the finder sidebar, it only gives me the option to Encrypt, not Decrypt, so I assume it's not.
[doublepost=1485547456][/doublepost]I really appreciate your time, by the way. I wrote "urgent" in the title because I really have to get some files off here as soon as possible because I have a submission deadline in a few hours!
[doublepost=1485547582][/doublepost]getting more info from the disk utility confirms that it is in fact not encrypted

 

[Weaselboy]

Okay... that is not encrypted. So when you do get info from Finder on that drive you do not see this at the bottom?

 

[Nein01]

Nope, unfortunately not...

 

[Weaselboy]

Nope, unfortunately not...

Gah! How about if you just open the Backups file manually in Finder? Can you see everything that way? If you can jusyt scroll down to where is says latest and double click that. Then you can just drag and drop from there.

 

[Nein01]

Hey, sorry I didn't reply sooner; I was under time pressure. What you suggested worked perfectly and I was able to search for the files I needed just in time to get my work done before the deadline; I really appreciate your help! I still don't understand why I was able to search within the "latest" folder to find everything, but searching the drive itself which includes that folder yields no results..