Time machine not backing up "read only"

What does disk utliity say about the drives?

TimeMachine isn't the problem, the disk is apparently mounted read-only. What format was used? NTFS by any chance?

Hey @Taylor.Armstrong So its formatted for normal osx extended journaled. It seems to be a couple machines that can't write to it. But mine is fine.

so When reformatting the the drive. It doesn't mount the partition.

So it looks like this might be a thing with SeaGate? I downloaded the app the recommend to fix it. It does get the hard drive to mount but time machine still wont back up to it.

http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/item/ntfs-driver-for-mac-os-master-dl/

@jalcorn when you do a diskutil list from Terminal with the drive connected to your computer does the output look similar to mine below? I'm using an external 500GB USB hard drive named Backup with Time Machine. When the drive is formatted in Disk Utility you need to make sure the partition scheme is set to GUID partition scheme. If it is using something else, I think you will have issues with Time Machine working properly. My understanding of the the file you linked to is that it allows you to write to an NTFS formatted drive. You really want to use a Mac OS Extended (Journaled) drive with a GUID partition scheme with Time Machine.

/dev/disk1 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *500.1 GB   disk1
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk1s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Backup                  499.7 GB   disk1s2

Hey @mpermann So it looks a bit like it. Beside time machine the external drive is stuck in read only and i can't change it. In Disk Utility I am doing it as GUID OS X extended journaled and im hitting my head against a wall with it. Still not working for me. Any thoughts?

@jalcorn if that's the only drive connected to the computer I'm wondering why it's being identified as /dev/disk2/? Can you verify that is the only external disk connected to the computer and restart the computer and re-run the diskutil list command to see if you get any different listing on the disk descriptor?

Edit: You can scratch that request. I see the internal drive is FileFault encrypted and and the virtual drive is taking up /dev/disk1 so it does make sense the external is set to /dev/disk2. Run diskutil info /dev/disk2 and see what it says for read-only media.

@mpermann Thanks again for you help on this its drive me mad. It says no for read only so i hate it.

@jalcorn do you know if the included Seagate software was installed on the computers that are having problems with the drive being read-only? Generally the manufacturer's software is not needed when using an external hard drive with Time Machine. Just to clarify something, if you erase the drive on a test computer with Disk Utility that has never had any Seagate software installed are you able to use the drive with Time Machine on that computer? When I Googled the BUP Slim SL one of the links returned was an FAQ about that model drive. A ways down it states:

Q: What is the cross-platform Paragon driver? Does it work with Apple Time Machine®? A: Each Seagate Slim product supports two scenarios for use with a Mac. When you connect a Seagate Slim drive to a Mac, you will be presented with a utility to configure the drive for use. There are two scenarios in which Seagate Slim drives are supported for use with a Mac. If you want to use your Seagate Slim drive solely with a Mac, the utility will reformat the drive into the HFS+ format, which allows you to use the drive with Time Machine software included in the Mac OS. If you would like to be able to “shuttle data” back and forth between a Mac and a PC, a special driver (included with the Seagate Slim drive) needs to be installed onto the Mac that allows it to access a Windows-formatted drive (i.e. NTFS). Time Machine will not work in this case. Q: When is it appropriate to reformat my drive versus using the included cross-platform Paragon driver? A: If a user wishes to use their Seagate Slim with a Mac only and would like for it to work with Time Machine software, the drive should be reformatted to be an HFS+ "Journaled" drive. This is the only format recognized and supported by Apple Time Machine software.

I'm wondering if the Seagate software is somehow interfering with Time Machine. If possible, I would try formatting the drive with Disk Utility on a test computer that has never had the Seagate software installed and try and select the drive in Time Machine and see if it will backup. If it does, then you know the drive isn't the problem it's the computer itself. Then you'll probably have to try and remove the Seagate software to see if that will resolve the issue.

@mpermann Oddly enough I have a western Digital drive with the same error now. Yet my computer has no problem with these drives. Also a mac. Everything is the same. This is starting to seems like black magic.

I am having exactly the same problem (after upgrading to High Sierra). Could you explain how to you changed the USB policy, removed the management, and added it. I am a fairly knowledgable Mac user but am not an IT professional. Thanks.

@jalcorn I am also having the same problem, can you please explain how you changed the USB policy, removed the management, and added it etc.

This problem is driving me nuts. Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks, David

@daviddmoss So under configuration profiles a checked off the restriction that you couldn't write to USB drives. There was a group of graphic designers that i didn't want to be in this restriction so i made a static group and said not these people. But if i had someone new to the team and i added them to that same group after they were enrolled they still couldn't write to an external drive. I found myself having to do sudo jamf -removeframework (might be frameworks) and then i would restart the mac, start the time machine back up and when the first back up was do i would reenroll them again.