WD Passport & Mac Time Machine help please

[gjhsmith]

external back up

I am not sure I am in the right place but here goes. I recently accidentally deleted my external hard drive in time time machine. It asked do you want to use this disk for back up and I said no. Now I can't figure out how to get my computer (mac book pro, os 10.8.2) to recognize the hard drive when I connect it to my computer. It is a Western Digital passport. I don't know if the drive it bad or if it is a simple connecting issue that I need to resolve. The lights on the drive light up and blink when I connect it to the computer but nothing else happens. The time machine icon is grayed out. When I go to system pref. and time machine then select disk it isn't there.
can you please help me. My email address is Ghockersmith@yahoo.com
Thanks
Glenda

 

[heatherw]

I'd use Time Machine over the WD software anyday.

In order to get the best of both worlds, I'd do the following:
1. Ignore/do not install the WD Passport software.
2. Using Disk Utility, re-partition the WD drive into two partitions: one at least slightly larger than your Macbook's hard drive, formatted as HFS+; the other formatted as FAT32.
3. In Time Machine Preferences, indicate the HFS+ partition as the one to be used for Time Machine.
4. This leaves the FAT32 partition for storing other offline files (photos, etc.), and the partition can be recognized by others' Windows PCs for file transferring.

Time Machine is designed as a backup solution for a particular Mac, not a file sharing solution between computers. I recommend that the Time Machine partition remain untouched except by Time Machine itself. Use the other partition for sharing copies of your photo/video/music; it remains unaffected by Time Machine.

Here's my setup, as an example:
My iMac has a WD MyBook Studio with a 500Gb drive. The WD is partitioned into three: TMachine (200Gb HFS+ for Time Machine backups); ExtraSpace (approx 200Gb HFS+ for additional video storage); WINFAT32 (60 GB for use with Windows XP via Boot Camp). The WINFAT32 partition can be seen by any PC I plug it into, but not the others.

I would sure appreciate some help in this manner too. I'm wanting to use my passport in the same manner. The options I have when partitioning are...

Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled)
ExFat
FreeSpace

(I use a Macbook Pro with retina display. 500gb hard drive)

 

[dXTC]

I would sure appreciate some help in this manner too. I'm wanting to use my passport in the same manner. The options I have when partitioning are...

Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled)
ExFat
FreeSpace

(I use a Macbook Pro with retina display. 500gb hard drive)

Use Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for the first Time Machine partition, allocating a minimum of 750 GB, or more if your external drive is bigger than 1 TB.

For the remaining space, ask yourself this question:
Will I ever want to use this to transfer files to, or store files from, a Windows computer?
If you answered Yes, use ExFAT.
If you answered No, use Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Stay away from Case Sensitive; only advanced users that have specific reasons use that format, as it has a tendency to "break" other Mac applications.

 

[anthemyst]

Having trouble creating partition

Instead, using Disk Utility, create a separate partition on the same drive (preferably before initiating your first Time Machine backup), and use that other partition for manipulation and/or sharing.

Thanks to you all for this helpful thread. I've been following the steps y'all mentioned to create 2 separate partitions so I can use one for time machine back-ups and other for storage. The problem is that Disk Utility gave me an error message saying it couldn't unmount the disk (I'm also using the WD "my passport" ultra external drive. Might this be because the external drive has its own files on it? I could use some help with this. Thank you!

 

[TFL167]

Hi great help these replies are.

Im setting up my wd 2TB passport external for TM but want to use CCC as well. Is it ok to create 2 partitions and use 1 for TM and the other for CCC.

also should both partitions be formatted to Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

 

[dXTC]

Im setting up my wd 2TB passport external for TM but want to use CCC as well. Is it ok to create 2 partitions and use 1 for TM and the other for CCC.

also should both partitions be formatted to Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

May I ask why you want both TM and CCC on the same drive? I could understand if you have two different drives (e.g. the TM one stays online and the CCC one is an offline/offsite backup).

 

[TFL167]

The only reason was to save buying another drive. But have now purchased a second drive. One for TM and one for CCC.

 

[dXTC]

That's a smart choice. I'd use CCC manually on that second drive, then take it offline. Offsite is preferable if you're wanting to maximize your chances of data recovery in case of catastrophe like theft or destruction by fire or electrical surge, if you have a reliable nearby location where you can readily retrieve the drive for occasional CCC updating. This can be a close relative's or good friend's house.

But then, you probably knew all this anyway. I'm just playing Captain Obvious here, for those who might benefit from these ideas.

 

[TFL167]

Thanks appreciate your help. That's also the reason I got second drive so that I could take if offsite. Is it ok to leave the first usb drive for TM plugged in all the time even when shutting the iMac down. Thanks again for the help

 

[dXTC]

By all means, yes. My hard drive that holds a TM partition is attached 24/7. That same drive holds two others: a media storage partition (I store my iTunes movies there rather than clogging my main drive) and a FAT32 partition for use when I'm using Windows via Boot Camp. I have a separate hard drive stored offsite that I occasionally update via manual means.

(Which reminds me; it's been a few months since I last updated.)