# What a disk's state means

> Every state BeamDisk shows for a disk, from Connected and Reconnecting to Reserved by another computer and Remount needed: its glyph, what it means, since when, and the one thing to do about each.

Every disk has one state: a glyph, a short label, a sentence saying what it means, and at most one thing to do. A disk in trouble also says since when: **Since 9:12 PM · 25 min**. The state shows in the sidebar, the Overview's table, the quick menu and at the top of the disk's page; in the window, hover over it for the full explanation.

## The glyphs

| Glyph | Means |
|---|---|
| Filled green dot | Connected and attached. |
| Half-filled green dot | Connected, with a note: read-only, or a remount is needed. |
| Spinning amber arc | Working on it: connecting, retrying, reconnecting or formatting. |
| Red dot with a cross | Needs you: can't connect, apps see errors, or another computer took the disk. |
| Hollow ring | Connected but not attached, or not shown because macOS can't read it. |
| Dashed ring | Empty: nothing on it yet. |
| Padlock | Another computer has the disk. |

## Connecting and outages

| State | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| **Not connected** | BeamDisk isn't connected to your servers: after Disconnect All, or before you connect. | Click **Connect All**. |
| **Connecting…** | BeamDisk is logging in to the server. | Wait a moment. |
| **Retrying** | The server didn't answer or turned the login away. BeamDisk says why and when it tries again. | Usually wait. Otherwise fix the cause and click **Try Again**: [A disk won't connect](https://beamdisk.app/docs/troubleshooting/wont-connect/). |
| **Can't connect** | The server refused the login, for the reason shown. | Fix the cause, then **Try Again**: [A disk won't connect](https://beamdisk.app/docs/troubleshooting/wont-connect/). |
| **Reconnecting** | The server stopped responding. BeamDisk is holding writes, counting up to the hold time; nothing is lost yet. | Usually nothing: [When the server stops responding](https://beamdisk.app/docs/disks/outages/). **Disconnect** (or **Eject**) only if the server isn't coming back. |
| **Apps see errors** | The server has been unreachable longer than the hold time, so apps see errors on the disk. BeamDisk is still reconnecting. | Check the server and the network. |
| **Remount needed** | The disk came back after an outage longer than the hold time. | Click **Remount**. |

## Another computer

| State | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| **Reserved by another computer** | Another computer is using this disk. It connects here once the other computer lets go of it. A disk ejected here shows it once another computer has started using it. | Release it there, or **Take Over…** if that computer is off: [One Mac per disk](https://beamdisk.app/docs/disks/exclusive-access/). |
| **Reservation lost** | Another computer took the disk while it was connected, so reads and writes to it fail here. | Find out who. **Take Over…** only if that computer is off or done with it. |

## What's on the disk

| State | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| **Connected** | The disk is attached and working. | Nothing. |
| **Empty disk** | Nothing on it yet. | Click **Format…**: [Format a new disk](https://beamdisk.app/docs/disks/format/). |
| **Formatting…** | BeamDisk is formatting it as APFS. It's attached when that's done. | Wait a moment. |
| **Read-only** | BeamDisk opens what's on it read-only: exFAT, FAT or NTFS, for example, or a disk written with 4 KiB sectors by Windows, Linux or another initiator. | Nothing, or see [File systems](https://beamdisk.app/docs/disks/file-systems/). |
| **Unreadable here** | macOS can't read what's on it (Linux or ZFS, for example), so BeamDisk doesn't show it: it can't be erased by mistake. | Use it from a computer that reads it. |
| **Not attached** | Connected to the server, but not attached on this Mac, so other computers can use it. | Click **Attach**. |

## Notes on a connected disk

A connected disk can carry a note under its state, with its own action:

- **Grew on the server**, with the old and new sizes. Click **Use the New Space…**: [Make a disk bigger](https://beamdisk.app/docs/disks/grow/).
- **…of this disk isn't used yet: its volume is smaller than the disk.** Click **Use the New Space…** to grow the volume.
- **Smaller on the server now**, with the old and new sizes. Check the server before using the disk: what was past the new end is gone.
- **Becomes read-only** (or **writable**) **the next time it's attached.** Click **Attach Again**.