Time machine will not restore files

[davemchine]

I need to restore some files from my time machine back up. Every time I attempt it I receive an error -36 saying it cannot read or write the files. I’ve run disc aid, restarted, tried restoring to alternate locations, all with no luck. Any ideas?

[hal]

error -36 means that data can't be read or transferred for some reason - often the reason is that the drive is dying :-(

download SMART Utility https://www.volitans-software.com/apps/smart-utility/ and see what it says

edit - just realized that you'll need to install the little extension that goes with SMART Utility to test an external drive - a Big Sur version of that extension is not ready yet.

[davemchine]

No joy. The SMART utility only sees my internal drive and none of my external drives.

I tried running the command line tool and apparently the enclosure doesn't support that feature.

diskutil info disk8s2|grep SMART
SMART Status: Not Supported wrote:

[hal]

davemchine wrote:
No joy. The SMART utility only sees my internal drive and none of my external drives.

I tried running the command line tool and apparently the enclosure doesn't support that feature.

[quote=diskutil info disk8s2|grep SMART
SMART Status: Not Supported]

you need to install the little extension that comes with SU to have it work on external drives

from the website:

Q. Why are all of my external drives showing up as UNSUPPORTED? Why can’t SMART Utility scan these?
A. This is a limitation of the external drive enclosures, and possibly the drivers used. Put simply, there are special commands in the ATA specification (the protocol that the drives use to communicate with the motherboard, which includes IDE and SATA) that the drives understand to access the SMART data. Most external drive enclosures only support the bare minimum of the ATA specification over the external connection interface (USB, FireWire, or eSATA), and that does not include the commands to access the SMART data.

However, SMART Utilty now includes a driver called SAT SMART driver. This allows reading SMART data from some external enclosures. They only way to know which ones are supported is to just install the driver. It is very safe and stable. To install, go to the SMART Utility menu, and choose “Install SAT SMART Driver. An Installer window will pop up, and proceed to follow the instructions to install the drive. You should not have to restart SMART Utility or the computer.

[NewtonMP2100]

.....did you try.....going back in time......???