Forgotten Pasword for Time Machine based on an external SSD.

You are probably correct, John.

Thanks for your input.

This poses the problem of tackling an external SSD that only shows in the Finder once its icon is clicked in the Menu Bar. This produces a window requesting the password, then only shakes [in disgust?] and invites another try. At least I can keep trying to guess the password, but I will not be holding my breath.

Of course, there is always the possibility of an alternative solution. Options are minimal, but I will try connecting the drive to Windows [or any other OS]. It may be possible to format and reformat back to nearly new if it can be automatically detected.

Thanks again, best wishes.

Thanks again, John.

Surprisingly, my searches failed to find THE simple solution. Many years have passed since I last used Disk Utility.

My mind was bogged down in resolving issues created by the need to clean the Mac HD, i.e., entirely clean.

I reinstalled Sonoma, attempting to resolve an unusual Mail problem, and then Apple Care repeated the process only to verify the best option was to erase it completely.

There were more third-party Apps to set up than anticipated. Fortunately, only one recorded password was not accepted for a new installation, but a few Apps withhold DMGs in the pretence of investigating eligibility.

Disk Utility > Erase was completed in seconds. Time Machine Settings were used to turn off the SSD storage destination and reenabled, ensuring encryption and password were deselected.

However, with just a few T-P Apps to install, Mail is starting its tricks again. Perhaps it is time to ascertain whether unused Apple Care can be carried over to newer kit. To be continued......?

Thanks for your prompt and very detailed reply, John.

I appreciate your time and effort and will respond as soon as possible.

My daughter is beginning recovery following brain surgery, and my daughter-in-law is in palliative care for cancer. At 86, with poor hearing and living at a considerable distance does not help matters.

My son-in-law has sent three eMail messages that were possibly wiped along with everything else on my MacBook. Yesterday evening, we communicated by phone and decided to share via WhatsApp, and that was done. He intends to send the missing eMail content today, although learning more about the situation has eased my mind. My daughter and son-in-law run a business, and of course, this is increasing his stress level.

Thanks for your understanding and patience. Best wishes.

I have tried many times to post the reply promised, but the outcome is always:

Your post could not be saved. Please try again in a few moments.

I cannot find any reference to a maximum character-space count, so this is being posted as a trial.

It was accepted and has been edited.

Most importantly, I am very thankful that my daughter, who suffered an aneurysm and brain haemorrhage, has had a successful procedure. Yesterday, she was moved from critical care to a high-care ward. Fortunately, sight, sound, and speech are unaffected. The consultant/surgeon told her she was a lucky lady. Most folk experiencing a brain haemorrhage do not make it to A & E.

Sadly, as anticipated, my daughter-in-law has deteriorated and has been returned to hospice palliative care.

Before the Sanoma installation, Mail ‘introduced’ several Mailboxes over many months.

I assumed this gradual growth of Mailboxes was due to something I was doing wrong. I intended to look into this, but Sonoma became available, and I foolishly rushed in.

After installing Sonoma successfully, Mail became more troublesome than usual. Mail or the ‘system’ ceased placing incoming messages in the iCloud > Inbox. Instead, a Folder named ‘eMail Requiring Response’ was formed without any action on my part. Possibly, this was due to Apple's default System Preferences.

I moved the single message in this New Mailbox to the Inbox and then deleted the unwanted mailbox.

However, this precipitated something that has to be witnessed to be believed.

About four to five minutes after moving the message, a replica message appeared in the inbox prefixed with 'Re: <message name>'.

Thirty seconds later, a further replica appeared prefixed with 'Re: Re: <message name>’.

A third replica rapidly followed, prefixed with 'Re: Re: Re: <message name>’.

This continued with ‘Re:’ being added to each successive message until an entire page was full [about 17 messages]. This happened with each incoming message. I named this ‘First Page Scenario’.

I arranged to speak with an Apple Care Specialist, and overnight, the Inbox garnered 1,471 messages.

Fortunately for my sanity, the Specialist witnessed the ‘first-page’ scenario mentioned above during a remote sharing session.

Eventually, it was determined that Sonoma required reinstallation, and this was achieved within forty minutes.

The bitter pill that had to be swallowed was that the new installation had yet to rectify the situation with Mail.

The only option to move forward was deemed to be wiping the Macintosh HD and starting from scratch.

My MacBook Pro M1, 1GB SSD, was partitioned to house Data [DATAonMBP]. With everything else happening, I failed to maintain my routine of backing up DATAonMBP to an external SSD [Old-DATA] using Carbon Copy Cloner. My insistence regarding preserving DATAonMBP clouded the need to move its content to an external drive. There was sufficient space on Old-DATA.

The session lasted three hours and stressed the Specialist and me. I needed a break.

The decision to wipe the Macintosh HD partition left the MBP devoid of an internet connection and unable to do anything other than repeatedly cycle through options that could not be engaged. The Specialist arranged for me to visit my nearest Apple Store.

A two-hour journey by Public Transport required an early arrival to be ready for the appointment, but a long wait before it was due. The other option was to risk being late for the appointment by taking the next available bus. My stress level was too high at this point.

The in-store Specialist advised that the best ongoing option for saving data would be to create a Folder in Macintosh HD and return it to a single partition. Always willing to learn, I agreed to the suggestion and requested that DATAonMBP be moved to the Old-DATA SSD that I had to hand, along with my Time Machine SSD. Better safe than sorry, but tired and hungry with the session far from finishing, I failed to ensure the safety of the data. The Specialist first processed the new installation on the single partition without moving DATAonMBP. 

Hooked up to the Apple store, Wi-Fi Mail worked satisfactorily. Apple had rendered my MacBook usable, but the full recovery is still in progress fourteen days later. One App to recover, but zero response from the developers. It is a subscription App and cost single figure $s [converted to £s in my case], now elevated to three figures. A case of getting rid of consumers in favour of big spending businesses? I am halfway to an alternative solution.

I have relocated DATAonMBP to an external SSD and am looking to acquire a Mac Studio to replace the MacBook. I also took on board the advice to encrypt.

Many thanks for the support given, John. It is sincerely appreciated.

I have just learned that my daughter will be released from the hospital today, Wednesday, 18 October 2023, a welcome relief for the family.

Best wishes, FG

Thanks, John.

I tried to update my 'test' post a second time to say it had reverted to being unable to send.

This one may go the same way.

Trying the full response right now.