external backup drive changed itself from r/w to read only and now isnt recognized by time machine or Mac?

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Level 1

5 points

external backup drive changed itself from r/w to read only and now isnt recognized by time machine or Mac?

the Passport 2TB external drive has been my back up since 2019 and it still has 500 GB. Recently started getting notices 'it's read only' and 'backups not happening'. I tried Disk utility first aid and didn't help. Now it's changed that finder doesn't show it as an external drive? I've shut machine down, unplugged drive still not recognized? I do have an internal 2TB HD with 1.5 TB left. How do I get the external passport reconnected as a R/W and backup Drive? I have Sequoia 15.4

iMac 27″, macOS 15.4

Posted on Apr 10, 2025 8:02 AM

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Answer 1

den.thed

Level 10

90,916 points

Apr 10, 2025 8:32 AM in response to aleopard

To start with, those off the shelf portable drive do not last forever.

What I would do, is set that portable drive aside and start new Time Machine backups on a new external drive.

Then go back to that external drive, erase it and use it for something less critical or toss if it fails to cooperate.

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Answer 2

Apr 10, 2025 8:34 AM in response to aleopard

The normal behavior now for Time Machine is to make the external backup drive read only. This is a protection for your back up data. As long as TM is using the drive for backup it will remain read only.

If you've already run Disk Utility's First Aid routine on the backup drive, then you may wish to simply erase the drive and start over with a fresh TM backup.

You might also try removing the drive from TM as a backup, and then adding it back. Do this in the Time Machine settings. Your data will remain when you remove the drive, and TM will pick up where it left off when you add it back.

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