sparsebundle = "no mountable file system"

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by dnanian

Why are you using an image written to the drive, rather than writing directly to the drive? The long delay was likely because the OS was repairing the drive, which was due to some sort of corruption (typically due to a bad shutdown or unplug).

I originally kept this image file on a server and moved it to this drive after I got it so I could store the image offsite. It's a 500 gig drive and it seemed a waste to use it all to back up the MBP's 325 gig HD.

Maybe creating two partitions is a better idea: one for the backup and the balance for other data? Since it looks like I'll have to start a completely new backup, would this make more sense?

BTW, starting over isn't too big a deal other than the time; I also keep an active TM backup.

Thanks!

[sjk]

Originally Posted by Breeze

Maybe creating two partitions is a better idea: one for the backup and the balance for other data? Since it looks like I'll have to start a completely new backup, would this make more sense?

Whenever possible I'd rather use separate volumes than a disk images for storing SD! backups, which might be specifically recommended in the documentation and/or forum topics. It's faster and less susceptible to problems.

[Breeze]

Thanks guys. That's what I'm going to do from now on.

[dnanian]

In addition to what sjk suggested, remember that the "other volume" (for other data) needs to be backed up too!

[Breeze]

Just as an FYI: turns out the drive was dying and died prematurely, still under warranty and has been sent off for warranty replacement. I managed to get the non-backup data off the drive intact before it keeled over (whew).

I'm surprised: since I used the drive only for backups, it should in theory have outlasted the MBP's drive. It was a Hitachi GST Travelstar 7K500 2.5". It got super hot at the end... got a WD Black 2.5" now (5-year warranty).

[dnanian]

Alas, you can't predict drive death - MTBF doesn't mean "at least this long"!

[sjk]

Wikipedia's MTBF page shows the math.