Backup drive ejects itself overnight
QI’m trying to leave my MacBook Pro running all the time, which I’m advised is preferred. When I do so, each morning I’m warned that its external Time Machine backup wasn’t ejected properly. Should I leave my Mac on overnight, and how can I work around this problem? bySTUART KING
AThe advice to leave Macs on as much as possible is mainly aimed at desktop systems, particularly those still spinning conventional hard disks, which wear out more rapidly the more they are started up and shut down.
Portable models are more commonly put to sleep at the end of the day, to allow rapid waking when they’re next needed. If your MacBook Pro has an internal SSD, that is probably the wisest way to use it.
That said, if you only use your MacBook Pro infrequently, or not at all over weekends, say, it’s often best then to shut it down altogether rather than leaving it asleep for prolonged periods.
The reason that you’re seeing these backup warnings when your Mac’s left overnight is that the external drive is going to sleep. In some external drives, this is difficult to turn off. Sometimes it can be controlled in the Energy Saver pane, by unticking the item to ‘Put hard disks to sleep when possible’, but other drives seem to ignore that setting, and go to sleep when they see fit.
Ideally, when your Mac wakes from sleep or starts up, any attached external drive is best running and awake. That ensures the disk is recognised and mounted, so that when Time Machine wants to make a backup, the drive is ready and waiting.