Help! Time Capsule and MacBook Pro not talking

I'm really hoping some bright spark out there has some suggestions.
I recently took my MacBook Pro and Time Capsule to an Apple store due to 2 problems:
1. The computer was slowing down and occasionally crashing.
2. Whenever Time Machine tried to back up to my previously happy Time Capsule, it said it "could not mount the back up disc image" and failed.
They suggested that changing the hard drive would fix both problems as the time capsule issues were probably related to the struggling hard drive. They then planned to get back the previously saved information from the Time Capsule to give me back all the stuff from the old hard drive. After a great deal of trouble getting the hard drive actually changed over (after doing a lot of backing up to USB sticks), they called to say they had some issues getting the info back out of the Capsule because it hadn't saved properly last time. They didn't seem interested in pursuing the idea of getting the most recently saved snapshot that had worked (a month or so ago now) so just gave me back computer and a Time Capsule that they said was working but apparently with my info imprisoned inside.
So, I took it home and I've now got a computer (with none of my user info) and a Time Capsule set up for direct connection rather than wireless. When I went to set up my Time Capsule as something connecting wirelessly to the computer, it updated the settings but the Time Capsule failed to reboot and ever since has been giving me the flashing amber light. Every time Airport Utility scans for wireless devices, it can't find the Time Capsule.
I've already tried:
- Re-installing my original Leopard from scratch.
- Updating to most recent Leopard and Airport utility.
I'm nervous about resetting the factory settings on the Time Capsule because I don't want to lose the data in there, I'm keen to try and get it back somehow (I've backed up most vital things but there are always going to be some things I'll lose otherwise.
Sorry it's a long entry but I'm looking for all the help I can get!
Thanks to anyone who tries.

The new TC will need to be setup again in the MBP..
Just go to TM and select the target disk for backup again.
If you have issues plug in by ethernet and make sure the wireless setup is configured correctly.
Read the stuff in pondini about resetting TM.. that can help.
A4 http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

Similar Messages

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    I just purchased a 4 TB Seagate Backup Plus...  If I can use the TC only as an external HD and backup with Time Machine to the new Seagate I’m willing to do that.
    The Seagate Backup Plus portable drives are Time Machine compatible so you shouldn't have any issues backing up your MacBook Pro to this drive. You also shouldn't have any issues using the TC as an "external HD" if you actually meant "network" drive. That is, it will still be available on the network as a storage device.
    The current plan is to move the iTunes library to the Seagate along with the new, and ever growing Aperture library (currently on the MB)...
    That shouldn't be a problem.
    ...while backing up both the MacBook and Seagate to the Time Capsule
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    How do I answer the “Do you want to use this new drive with Time Machine” prompt being that I’m currently not planning on backing up to the Seagate but want to backup the Seagate up to the TC?
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    Launch the Keychain Access application in any of the following ways:
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    ☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Keychain Access in the page that opens.
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    I'm not sure if you understand that 5 GHz has some upsides, but also some very significant downsides.
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  • HT3275 What if my error message is the following:  The backup disk image "/Volumes/********'s Time Capsul/****'s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle" is already in use. (I have redacted the name of the computer with asterixes)

    What if my error message is the following:  The backup disk image “/Volumes/********'s Time Capsul/****’s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle” is already in use. (I have redacted the name of the computer with asterixes)

    This is a complex procedure.  
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    tallswag wrote:
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    (5) On August 2, 2014, I switched from Comcast to AT&T and had the AT&T turn off the router function. (I have been using the router from my apple time capsule)
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    One poster observed regarding Photoshop: “If you find yourself working with large files, you may discover that TM is suddenly backing up your scratch disk's temp files. This is useless, find out how to exclude these (I'm not actually sure here). Alternatively, turn off TM whilst you work in Photoshop.” [http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1209412]
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    If you have recently created a new disk image or burned a DVD, Time Machine will target these files for backup unless they are deleted or excluded from backup.
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    Time Machine does not compare file for file to see if changes have been made. If it had to rescan every file on your drive before each backup, it would not be able to perform backups as often as it does. Rather, it looks for EVENTS (fseventsd) that take place involving your files and folders. Moving/copying/deleting/saving files and folders creates events that Time Machine looks for. [http://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/mac-os-x-10-5.ars/14]
    Installing new software, upgrading existing software, or updating Mac OS X system software can create major changes in the structure of your directories. Every one of these changes is recorded by the OS as an event. Time Machine will backup every file that has an event associated with it since the installation.
    Files or folders that are simply moved or renamed are counted as NEW files or folders. If you rename any file or folder, Time Machine will back up the ENTIRE file or folder again no matter how big or small it is.
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    *Backups WAY Too Large*
    If an initial full backup or subsequent incremental backup is tens or hundreds of Gigs larger than expected, check to see that all unwanted external hard disks are still excluded from Time Machine backups.
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    *FileVault / Boot Camp / iDisk Syncing*
    Note: Leopard has changed the way it deals with FileVault disk images, so it is not necessary to exclude your Home folder if you have FileVault activated. Additionally, Time Machine ignores Boot Camp partitions as the manner in which they are formatted is incompatible. Finally, if you have your iDisk Synced to your desktop, it is not necessary to exclude the disk image file it creates as that has been changed to a sparsebundle as well in Leopard.
    Let us know if the above helped.
    Cheers!

  • Installing Time Capsule on MacBook Pro w/malfunctioning CD player

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    click here and follow the instructions.
    or, you could enable *remote disc* on your machines with the same result. see this:
    The CD/ROM in my computer busted, so I decided to try to remotely mount the CD from another computer on mine. I know the MacBook Air can do this, so I reasoned that any Mac could. It turns out it is possible, but the solution is far from obvious -- after much searching, I found the solution here.
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