Backup Drive stopped working

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Level 1

12 points

Backup Drive stopped working

In September, my Seagate backup external drive stopped working. My iMac (24 inch 2023, OS Sequoia V.15.1) detects and recognises the device, and starts backing up data, but after about 5 minutes I get an error message, either "A problem has occurred. Device cannot backup data" or "Device not ejected properly". I have tried reinstalling the drive, changing the cable and using different input ports on the iMac but it has made no difference. The external drive has 1.91Tb of unused space. Any ideas?

iMac 24″, macOS 15.1

Posted on Nov 5, 2024 7:12 AM

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Answer 1

den.thed

Level 10

82,168 points

Nov 5, 2024 7:38 AM in response to Bernie5010

What model is the Seagate external drive..?

I had 4 of the Seagate Slim Portable external drives at one time. Two have failed and the other two are now only used for redundant backups because I no longer fully trust them.

What I suggest is to replace the Seagate with a more reliable desktop drive like the OWC to use for Time Machine.

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/owc-mercury-elite-pro

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Answer 2

AlWeir

Level 4

2,629 points

Nov 5, 2024 7:17 AM in response to Bernie5010

I would probably reformat the drive if it is a SSD. If it isn't (you didn't mention if it was a SSD or HD) I would probably buy one that is 2 to 3 times the size of your internal SSD on you Mac

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