I have an issue with my external hard drive unexpectedly ejecting during backups. I'm not the only one with this issue, according to this thread: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2151621. I'm going to assume it's my hard drive, so I'll just replace it. But I wanted to hear some examples of hard drives that definitely work. Thanks.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
What external hdd do you use for Time Machine?
- Thread starter Rob9874
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I had been using a 500GB WD MyBook FireWire to back up my iMac until it crashed hard and died. It worked well right up until the end.
Now I am using the OWC Mercury Elite Pro "Classic" 1TB USB drive. It also works well. I've never had any disks get auto ejected as you describe on any of my Macs.
Now I am using the OWC Mercury Elite Pro "Classic" 1TB USB drive. It also works well. I've never had any disks get auto ejected as you describe on any of my Macs.
WD MyPassport 1 TB. I use half of it for backups, the other half for contents. And it's self-powered via USB.
No issues.
No issues.
I bought my Mac User friend this for his Birthday, and he loves it, mainly because it blends in with his Apple Gear,
http://go.iomega.com/en-us/products/external-hard-drive-desktop/ultramax-minimax/minimax800/?partner=4760
Firewire 800, Gigabit Ethernet Port, USB 2.0
Comes in 2TB or 1TB sizes. Time Machine compatible.
http://go.iomega.com/en-us/products/external-hard-drive-desktop/ultramax-minimax/minimax800/?partner=4760
Firewire 800, Gigabit Ethernet Port, USB 2.0
Comes in 2TB or 1TB sizes. Time Machine compatible.
I have the Western Digital Elements 1.5 Tb. It sits just to the side at the rear of my iMac stand and runs like a champ. I hardly even know it's there.
Sounds like WD is the way to go. The one I'm replacing is a Seagate FreeAgent Go. It backs up, till 95GB. Then it hangs, and I get an error message that it was disconnected and that I should eject first. I have a good <95GB backup on there, but it won't backup again now that I've added stuff. I'm thinking since it works to a certain capacity, it's just a bad drive. Had it several years, and used with PC prior.
Is there a min storage capacity requirement for Time Machine? I was planning on using an old 250GB seagate when i bought my MBP. Would this work?
My primary backup drive is a G-drive Mobile. I haven't had any problems with it. Mine is Firewire but I think they have a USB-only one as well.
I have it partitioned and use TM on one half and SuperDuper on the other.
I have it partitioned and use TM on one half and SuperDuper on the other.
I took the OEM 320GB Hitachi drive that came with my uBMP, slid it into a $9.99 Vantec aluminum hard drive enclosure, and like magic I have a perfect Time Machine drive.
For viewing pleasure..
For viewing pleasure..
I have a Time Capsule but now that it's a couple of years old (and had to be replaced once), I am using a Synology DS1511+ for my backups. Will a RAIDed solution be a more secure backup? I don't know but I do feel better about it. If nothing else, I will have more time to recover the backup if any of the drives fail.
NO, there is no minimum size. Yours will work assuming the items you are backing up are smaller than 250GB. Otherwise TM will give you an error.
Ideally, you want 1.5 times your hard drive's size as the Time Machine backup so you can store the entire contents of the drive, and have plenty of room for the multiple incremental backups. I would say you, at the very least, want a drive that is minimally, the size of your internal hard drive.
BTW: A 500GB drive can be had for around $50 these days and my latest 1.5TB purchase was around $100.
