Help: Set up Time Machine Drive with Airport Extreme

I've read a few posts on this topic, none of which addressed my specific issue, but all of which stated that this functionality is not officially supported. I really hope this is not true because I bought my Airport Extreme and Hard Drive based on numerous Apple Store clerks assuring me that this was possible. So any help would be most appreciated. Here's the details/story:
I have a 13" MBP 2.53ghz, running 10.5.8 I've been backing up to a local 1TB HDD over FW800 since July with no problems.
I bought an Airport Extreme and am trying to move the drive to the AE to back up wirelessly. Here's what's happened so far:
1. I connected the drive with USB to the AE. It mounted no problem and I could see all my backups easily, but Time Machine did not recognize it as my back up drive. When I used the "Change Drive" button in the hopes of "finding" the drive, it just tried to start a new Time Machine back up set, wirelessly. So I think the broad concept is working, it just a matter of getting TM to recognize the back up set.
2. I plugged the drive in locally with USB (rather than FW800) and did a back up, no problem. After doing this, and plugging the drive back into the AE, TM no recognizes my backup set as mine, and tries to start the next backup, but I got an error message about not being able to write to the drive.
3. I did some reading online to get some ideas, I used Disk Utility to verify and repair the drive (over USB locally) Disk utility did find some errors, but it didn't seem like anything major.
4. Now, TM really starts to get going doing a backup, but when it actually comes time to transfer/write the new data over, I get an new error, that my drive is not formatted as a Mac OS Extended (Journaled). I use disk utitilty again, which confirms that the drive IS Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and is partitioned GUID (which I read is also a requirement)
And this is where I am. Any one have any ideas?
Thanks in advance for your help.

TSomers wrote:
I'd hate to think it's just to sell their $500 2TB Timecapsule (which is more than 2x the cost of competing 2Tb drives). Maybe Apple should share their secret sauce with the other drive makers so that they all can work.
Though you seem to hate it, you have indeed hit the nail... I also had issues with USB attached drives on my AEBS (Airport Extreme Base Station). This problem occurred before Apple had the policy statement in place and they ended up exchanging my AEBS, since it was crashing the AEBS when the USB drive did not become accessible (it was a WD brand that didn't play nice with any USB connection, as it later turned out). I suspect there was nothing wrong then with my original AEBS' USB connection, but the replacement was more reliable overall however, so it proved a boon. Perhaps Apple learned something from my previous problems.
Anyway, Apple is not without its reasons for this policy. That's the long story.
Short story? Use supported configurations only if you want a reliable backup. In my case, can easily move my drive to a Mini and have it run in a supported configuration whether by sparse bundle format or otherwise.
Network connections do indeed format the way described. You can check this very thorough article...Suggest you read the unofficially sanctioned discussion list article by Pondini (kudos for your thoroughness, sir/madam!) first. Many great suggestions and nifty storage ideas to maximize your use of available media in your particular situation will come from a careful reading.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1964018

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I've tried several configurations all of which started with formatting the drive with a single partition Mac OS Extended (Journaled) GUID.
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I use a Western Digital disk as a wireless Time Machine backup connected to the USB port on my Airport Extreme and it works great. My question is: can my girlfriend use that same disk for Time Machine backup from HER computer too? (I don't mind formatting the disk if needed.)
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I've gone through the manual setup and the assisted setup and can't seem to get my MacBook to use the Time Machine. Any thoughts or help would be greatly appreciated.
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http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/15139.html
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Message was edited by: Bob Timmons

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if've done my backup via usb, now i am owning an AirPort Extreme and would continue my backup; but Time Machine had start a new backup, how can i continue my old backup.

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Hi,
Yeah I got an answer to connecting my existing time machine to my airport extreme
The airport extreme will not let you connect any 'time machine' - new or existant - as it acts as a drag and drop type of saving.... so i.e. if I want to save a file - i will need to go to shared>airport extreme and then drag and drop my file there to save it- it will not do it automatically like time machine. This is so if you wanted the automatic wireless backup, you would have to go out and buy a time capsule.
hope that makes sense.

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I am pretty much resigned to going with Firewire 800 and plugging/unplugging the cable as necessary.
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Check to make sure that the drive is formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
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Hi,
I have just tried to set up an Airport Extreme with an external hard drive at home. I have 4 computers connected to the "network" - an iMac, a MacBookPro and 2 x windows machines. A printer is connected wirelessly to the two Macs.
I cannot find the hard drive - I have tried the steps mentioned by Bob Timmons Mar 17 2010, but the only things I see under "Shared" in Finder are the iMac and the printer - not the Airport Extreme (seems odd??), not the windows machines, and most importantly, not the hard drive connected to the USB port on the Airport Extreme.
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I just purchased a Time Capsule but after reading the discussion board it looks like it might conflict or override my Airport Extreme? Also, if I do connect it, will it ever erase any information on its own without me manually deleting? I think I'm experiencing buyers remorse. My main purpose is to free up space on my iMac. I could have just purchased a simple external hard drive but this seemed like a better choice at the time. Help!

My main purpose is to free up space on my iMac. I could have just purchased a simple external hard drive but this seemed like a better choice at the time. Help!
Depending on the age of the Mac a USB, Firewire or Thunderbolt drive would be a much better choice.. as an addition to the TC.. TC is still needed if you have no backup. If you store your files on the external drive think about where you want them to be backed up to.
it looks like it might conflict or override my Airport Extreme? Also, if I do connect it, will it ever erase any information on its own without me manually deleting?
No the TC and airport can live happily together.. just decide which is router and which is bridge.. as far as possible connect together with ethernet.. but you can wirelessly connect as well.
A TC is a backup device not really a NAS.. it has no means to back itself up.. but it will not erase anything without you deliberately erasing it..
Perhaps you mean the way Time Machine works.. if you erase something on the disk.. TM will eventually erase it from the backups.. this is very true.. but that is specific to TM and backups.. not to stuff you store on the TC. That is not erased unless you do it deliberately.
I think you should read over Pondini's FAQ to understand a bit more about TM and TC.
http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
I learned a heap from them.. the home pages as well.
http://pondini.org/TM/Time_Capsule.html
Although TM is loaded on every Mac since Leopard.. and very convenient to use.. it isn't the only show in town.. and other utilities can do disk images and incremental backups.. without half the issues that TM does. Although more limited in restore potential as well.

Help: Set up Time Machine Drive with Airport Extreme

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