Mac OS X 10.5: Time Machine stops backing up to external disk

  • Last Modified: August 05, 2008
  • Article: TS1550
  • Old Article: 306932

Symptoms

After about 10 GB or more of data is backed up to an external disk, Time Machine may stop backing up. This may happen the first time Time Machine backs up your files.

Products Affected

Time Machine, Mac OS X 10.5

Resolution

Some hard disks ship with a Master Boot Record (MBR) partition type. For these disks, you will need to change the partition type and erase the disk so that it is supported by Time Machine.

Important: Erasing a disk deletes all files on it. Make sure that you have or make a copy of important files in another location first.

  1. Open Disk Utility.
  2. Click the Partitions tab.
  3. From the Volume Scheme pop-up menu, choose the desired number of partitions.
  4. Click the Options button.
  5. Select a new partition scheme:
    • Use "Apple Partition Map" partition scheme if the disk will be used with Time Machine and a PowerPC-based Mac.
    • Use "GUID" partition scheme if the disk will be used with Time Machine and a Intel-based Mac.
  6. Click OK.
  7. Click Apply.

Once the external hard disk is repartitioned, select it again in Time Machine preferences and use it for your backups.

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