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I have two external hard drives that originally were attached to my iMac 2015. One day they stopped being recognized and would not boot. I thought the iMac itself was the problem so I purchased a Mac mini thinking this was the problem. On of the drives is my Time Machine (6 TB) with irreplacable data and pictures. Thank you for looking at this.
Mac mini, macOS 15.0
Apple1984 wrote:
There two hard drives. The Time Machine is the 6 TB and data is on the separate 3 TB drive. Time could be the culprit, but they both failed at the same time.
Ah' OK
Thanks for the heads up on blending use for external hard drives. I recently purchased a 12 TB drive and partition into two drives (9 TB hard drive/3 TB for data) I'm not using the 3 TB any thing and it remains empty.
That is OK, depending on what you plan to do with each partition. Just keep in mind that if you put Other Files on the 3T Partition that they should be backed up to another drive.
I'll try the two options in with the cables and report back.
If the external drive(s) do not show up on the Desktop or Finder sidebar, check your Finder General and Sidebar Settings.
Then if they fail to show up in Finder, look for them in Disk Utility.
What external drive(s) and how old are they...?
an external drive can fail at any time and the failure rate increases with age.
If I understand correctly the 6T is used for Time Machine and other file storage...?
it is a very bad idea to use the same external drive for Time Machine and other file storage.
other file storage should happen on a separate external drive and then be backed up with Time Machine.
If connecting the 6T external drive directly to one of the Mac mini's USB-A ports doesn't work...?
try connecting it to one of the Mac mini's USB-C ports using an Apple or aftermarket USB-C to USB-A adapter.
There two hard drives. The Time Machine is the 6 TB and data is on the separate 3 TB drive. Time could be the culprit, but they both failed at the same time.
Thanks for the heads up on blending use for external hard drives. I recently purchased a 12 TB drive and partition into two drives (9 TB hard drive/3 TB for data) I'm not using the 3 TB any thing and it remains empty.
I'll try the two options in with the cables and report back.
Two External Hard Drives not mounting
