Time Machine Issues

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Time Machine Issues

I'm having issues with Time Machine on my 2017 Macbook Pro running Big Sur OS 11.6. During and/or after a backup, the external drive icon disappears from my desktop and triggers a notice that I need to properly eject the drive or it will cause problems...even though the drive has already unmounted itself and I can't properly eject it. Sometimes it even crashes my computer and triggers a restart.

At first I thought it was a problem with my new OWC Mercury Elite external drive, but I'm now on my second one in a month and the issue still exists. Under Disk Utility it's showing the drive as APFS (Case-sensitive) if that helps. The drive has no ill affect on my computer under normal circumstances, but all goes to crap when I use it for Time Machine.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Jan 23, 2022 5:59 AM

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Answer 1

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lombardotony Author

Level 1

5 points

Jan 25, 2022 12:57 PM in response to Barney-15E

I switched out the new cable for the one that I used on my old OWC drive for the previous 10 years and that seems to have solved the problem :) It's about half the thickness as the new cable. I'm assuming this slows down the speed, but I'm fine with that.

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Answer 2

Barney-15E

Level 10

119,172 points

Jan 23, 2022 6:18 AM in response to lombardotony

Contact OWC and see if they have a firmware update for the drive enclosures. The drive ejecting when sleeping is one thing, but if it causes a kernel panic, there is something wrong with the drive or the cable.

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Answer 3

lombardotony Author

Level 1

5 points

Jan 23, 2022 6:21 AM in response to Barney-15E

I've contacted OWC multiple times. Even returned the first drive they sent me with a new one. According to them, there should be no conflicts with Big Sur. They also said that the drive can't unmount itself, that result could only be caused by the OS.

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Answer 4

Barney-15E

Level 10

119,172 points

Jan 23, 2022 7:53 AM in response to lombardotony

When is it ever used outside of Time Machine? If you use it as hard as Time Machine uses it, then you might have a point. It just sitting there waiting for a backup isn't taxing any part of the drive.

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Answer 5

lombardotony Author

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Jan 23, 2022 7:58 AM in response to Barney-15E

It's not used outside of Time Machine. I've just had it connected for a few days in an attempt to troubleshoot the problem. My thinking was that if it was a drive or cable problem the issues would present themselves whenever the drive was connected. You're correct in that the drive is not being taxed at all just appearing on my desktop.

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Answer 6

lombardotony Author

Level 1

5 points

Jan 23, 2022 6:48 AM in response to Barney-15E

Also, if it was a drive or cable issue, wouldn't that present itself when connected outside of Time Machine usage?

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