Time Machine Drive Prevents System Boot

[clayfreeman]

Hello! I am having a strange problem with my computer. I have been running Mountain Lion since it was released with no problems. It is almost like a real Mac! Just yesterday, I encountered a problem with my system being able to boot. I knew that previously, this occurred and it was a problem with Chimera randomly breaking. So I updated Chimera, and alas, the problem still existed. So I went to unplug all my drives but the system drive, and I could boot just fine. SO then I started troubleshooting, trying to figure out which drive was causing the issue. I started with the Windows drive since it is a foreign OS and partition type, and it still wouldn't boot. Weird, I thought to myself. Next, I started to unplug my Time Machine drive, and my system would boot just fine. Could anyone help me come up with a reason as to why this is happening? The drive is new, and it isn't making any click noises. It spins up just fine, and seems to be seeking alright. It just halts Chimera at a hyphen with a blinking cursor under it. Windows just has a black bootloader.

Thanks!

 

[clayfreeman]

I can get OS X to recognize and use the Time Machine drive just fine if I plug in the drive after Chimera starts its countdown. I know that sounds sketchy as all get out, but it works.

 

[clayfreeman]

I just installed Chimera to the drive, and I am about to reboot to see if the bootloader on the Time Machine drive was the issue. Reading/Writing data to/from the drive is working too perfectly for this to be a failing drive.

 

[clayfreeman]

That didn't work. I am performing "Verify Disk" in Disk Utility right now to see if that will find anything. If not, I will have to buy another drive to copy all of the data to, and start fresh on this drive. Not a huge deal.

 

[clayfreeman]

There was nothing wrong found on the drive. Any suggestions before I buy another drive?

 

[Tentaor]

Do you fix it?

I have the same problem.

Thanks!

 

[Londonmark]

I also have this problem - now with Mavericks. Does anyone know how to solve it?

 

[EddyMac]

I realize this is an old thread, but was wondering if anyone ever figured out how to fix this problem. I have a secondary disk (not Time Machine, just storage for iTunes, iPhoto and such) that is acting exactly the same as described. Some time this past Saturday the drive just disappeared. I rebooted the computer and it got stuck at the hyphen and blinking cursor as described by the OP.

I can take this same drive and connect it to my other Hackintosh via an external dock and it works fine. Disk Utility declares it can't find anything wrong with it. So I'm kinda stumped.

Any help much appreciated.