Corrupted Time Machine Backup on NAS

I'm just going to explain the steps leading to my problem so it's clear:
1. I created an encrypted sparsebundle disk image for backing up to a NAS at my workplace.
2. The time machine was working fine for a couple of months until my Macbook started shutting down randomly.
2a. This would always happen with CPU heating up to 94 degrees C and fan cranking up to 6400+ rpm. So I thought it was an issue with the heatsink.
3. I decided to do one final TM backup before giving it for service. I tried a number of times to backup to NAS but everytime the machine would just shut down in between leading to "unsuccessful backup".
3a. The CPU would still heat up during the backup but I was really desperate to do that one backup before giving it for service. So I tried doing the backup in a cold room (thinking it was just an overheating issue)!! The room temperature was close to 10 degrees C in the cold room and CPU temperature never rose abouve 60 degrees C. But the machine still shut down. (At this point I was sure this is some other issue and not just the heatsink! But the service engineer said they just 'reapplied the thermal paste for better heat dissipation'). This solved the random shutdowns but I don't understand how. Anyway that's probably for another discussion).
4. I did another TM backup on an external USB hard drive and gave the machine for service.
5. I got back the Macbook and I tried to revive the old backups from NAS and probably merge with the latest one on external drive.
6. I tried to mount the sparsebundle image and kept getting the "no mountable file system" error.
6a. I'm not sure if the multiple unsuccessful backups corrupted the disk image somehow (although I don't understand why it would).
7. Then I tried to repair the disk image with Disk Utility but got the error "Disk Utility cannot repair this disk. Backup the disk () and restore files". I tried this multiple times and got the same error with almost the same scan time.
8. I tried to repair with Disk Warrior and it said Directory cannot be rebuilt due to disk hardware failue (-36, 2747).
8a. It's a disk image on a network drive so I don't get why Disk Warrior says it's a hardware failure!
9. I tried a sudo fsck and got this:
9a. XXXXs-MacBook-Air:~ YYYY$ sudo hdiutil attach ...... -nomount
/dev/disk1                    Apple_partition_scheme
/dev/disk1s1                  Apple_partition_map
/dev/disk1s2                  Apple_HFS
XXXXs-MacBook-Air:~ YYYY$ sudo fsck_hfs -f /dev/disk1s2
** /dev/rdisk1s2
   Executing fsck_hfs (version hfs-226.1.1).
** Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
   The volume name is Backup1
** Checking extents overflow file.
** Checking catalog file.
** Checking multi-linked files.
   Incorrect number of file hard links
** Checking catalog hierarchy.
** Checking extended attributes file.
** The volume Backup1 could not be verified completely.
9b. Disk Utility also gives the same file hard links error when I try to repair.
10. I'm still not able to mount the disk from sparsebundle image. But when I attach the image, the partition shows up in Disk Utility sidebar and is greyed out.
I think this is just some software issue with corrupted links or the like and not a hardware failure of the NAS.
I had a few thoughts to solve this:
a. Is this an encryption issue? Is there a way to decrypt the sparebundle image with a third party software? I know the encryption password.
(Lesson learnt. Never encrypt the backup unless you really need to).
b. Could it be an issue with the plist.info file or something? Maybe a modification to the file would fix this?
I'm not sure how to do this and I don't want to try any more things and risk losing the data. The size of the disk image is the same as before so I think all the data is still there. It's a few months worth of TM backup so I would really like to restore it.
I would greatly appreciate any help! Thanks!

Extremely unlikely.
It is possible to use Back to my Mac to back up to a Time Capsule over the Internet, but many folks can't get it to work; even when it does, it's very slow.
I've never seen any posts about it being done to any other Internet destination.

Similar Messages

Can the time capsule be used as both a time machine backup and NAS storage

Can the time capsule be used as both a time machine backup and NAS storage? I want to use the drive as external, wireless storage for all of my files so all my PCs, MACs and iOS devices can access the files. Plus, I want to use the drive for backing up my iMac via time machine. Can the time capsule device be used for both these purposes simultaneously? If not, are the other suggestions on how I can do this?

Can the time capsule device be used for both these purposes simultaneously?
It can, but is really not recommended. Sooner or later there will be a fight for space on the drive between Time Machine and the other files.
If you have plenty of free space on the drive, you can do this......but.....have you thought about how you will back up the "other" files that are stored on the Time Capsule?

Overnight Time Machine Backup to NAS

Mid 2013 MBA on Yosemite
Ill start with I don't know if this is even possible or if it would work but..
How I currently have my Time Machine configured is on a .sparsebundle on a mounted network drive connected to my router. Have an automator program that automatically connects my MBA to the network drive and mounts the .sparsebundle that my TM is connected to, when I login to the computer (just opening the lid and waking the computer). It works flawlessly when awake.
I use the drive for other items, not only the TM Backup, so I always want it mount and run when I login. I would love to have the TM Backup run at night using the Power Nap.
So I guess my question would be, is it possible when Power Nap wakes the MBA for network access at night (normally does TM Backups when on power adapter) to have the network connect and drive mount to run the TM Backup?
If that all makes sense.. Thanks in advance for any advice.

A third-party NAS is unsuitable for use with Time Machine, especially if it's your only backup. I know this isn't what you want to hear. I know that Time Machine accepts the NAS as a backup destination. I know that the manufacturer says the device will work with Time Machine, and I also know that it usually seems to work. Except when you try to restore, and find that you can't.
Apple has published a specification for network devices that work with Time Machine. None of the third-party NAS vendors, as far as I know, meets that specification. They all use the incomplete, obsolete Netatalk implementation of Apple Filing Protocol.
If you want network backup, use as the destination either an Apple Time Capsule or an external storage device connected to another Mac or to an 802.11ac AirPort base station. Only the 802.11ac base stations support Time Machine, not any older model.
Otherwise, don't use Time Machine at all. There are other ways to back up, though none of them is anywhere near as efficient or as well integrated with OS X. I don't have a specific recommendation.

Time Machine Backup to NAS

I am desperately trying to figure out how to back up my MacBook Pro to a NAS. I am having trouble figuring this out. Here is what I have done so far:
1. I have enabled Time Machine to work with NAS by using the following command: “defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1”
2. I rebooted the machine to make sure that the above was implemented
3. I determined my Computer Name and MAC Address of local computer by using the following command: “ifconfig en0 | grep ether | sed s/://g | sed s/ether//”
4. I tried to make a new “sparsebundle” on the local disk by using the following command: “sudo hdiutil create -size 500g -type SPARSEBUNDLE -nospotlight -volname "Time_Machine" -fs "Case-sensitive Journaled HFS+" -verbose ./[NAME][MACID]” --> Where [NAME] is the computer name and [MAC_ID] is my MAC address.
But … this process asked for a password. I tried every password I have and none worked. In short, there was no password.
5. I then looked up this error and learned that this is a problem with my “sudoers” file. Following the directions, I then changed the permissions to allow me to edit this file (I have a stand-alone MacBook Pro that is not part of a work network or controlled by an administrator, so I am also the administrator and don’t know why I had to do this in the first place).
This seemed to work and it processed the “sudo” comment, but then it gave me another error that said: “sudo: /etc/sudoers is mode 0666, should be 0440”
6. Continuing to follow the online help, I then rand the “Disk Utility” to fix the problem. But, this just seems to reset the “sudoers” file and I am back to the same problem identified in point #4 above.
So, now I am stuck and don’t know where to go or what to do. Any help would be appreciated very much.

New2MacBookPro wrote:
James: Thank you for the response. I did not realize things had changed.
Regarding the NAS, I do believe that my NAS (Buffalo Terastation) does support Apple Talk Protocol.
But does it support Apple File Protocol (AFP) file sharing, as specified in [Disks that can be used with Time Machine|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/15139.html]?
Second, Time Machine sees my NAS, but gives me the following error once is tries to execute Time Machine: "Time Machine could not complete the backup." and "The backup disk image "/volumes/Backup/[NAME].sparsebundle" could not be created (error 45)."
In short, it seems like it should work, but it is not.
Thoughts?
Some folks seem to have made it work to some Buffalo devices; I don't know one of their models from another, much less how they work. That's the downside of using a 3rd-party NAS with Time Machine; the two (very different) operating systems have to work together seamlessly. And when there's a problem, there aren't many folks familiar with both.
Double-check that the NAS's software and setup instructions are up to date, and that you've followed them to the letter.
Have you tried the Buffalo folks? AppleCare?

Time machine backup on NAS using WebDav?

Hi, I regularly use Time Machine to backup my mac on a NAS using my home network (Synology instructions are for configuration using the afp protocol). I have been travelling a lot lately and Time Machine backups on my NAS are not a choice. I’m using an external drive as a temporary strategy until back home. Anybody knows if it is possible to configure Time machine to backup on a NAS using WebDav protocol? If so, how to do it?
I appreciate any information / help with this.

Extremely unlikely.
It is possible to use Back to my Mac to back up to a Time Capsule over the Internet, but many folks can't get it to work; even when it does, it's very slow.
I've never seen any posts about it being done to any other Internet destination.

Partition external HD to use it for time machine backup and nas storage

i have a macbook pro with retina display with 500gb of ssd storage runing yosemite and a airport extreme latest model.
what i want to do is to use an external drive (1TB) and use it to hold all my files of my macbook, and i want to make time machine backups for each drive over airport extreme.
so i have made in my mind a backup plan and im not sure if it will work.
im planning to buy a 4TB external HDD and make 3 partitions, one for my macbook of 500gb, another for my external drive of 1TB and a third to use it as a NAS.
im not an expert in storage but i have read a lot from internet.
Thanks.

so i have made in my mind a backup plan and im not sure if it will work.
It won't work with TM..
TM will either backup the internal disk plus external or internal only.. it cannot backup external only. So there is no point using 3 partitions.. just two will work fine.
You can buy Carbon Copy Cloner and it will work fine doing backups of internal and external as separate items.. but it is better over network to backup as sparsebundles.. much faster than direct copying.. but it does work.
As a NAS.. an Airport Extreme plus USB drive.. is slow.. might be ok over wireless.. because the wireless is even slower.. but it is not ok over ethernet. A Time Capsule or a cheap single disk nas will work a lot better.
So your plan can be made to work.. just need some adjustments.
BTW be very careful what USB drive you buy. Not all work on the USB of the Airport routers.
USB drive compatibility with Airport Routers. Help make database.

Time capsule as time machine backup and NAS?

I've read the TC section of the website and notice a blurb about computers able to connect to it as a HDD.
I realize the device has yet to be released but was wondering about this. I have a handfull of macs and a handfull of xp machines on my network (wired and wireless)
1 of my XP machine is just used as a file server. (1.5TB NTFS formated holding all video/audio/docs as well as having iTunes running to download HD podcast) All computers (Mac/XP) can access this. Five of my XP computers are MCE2005 which are configured to record SD and HD shows directly to this box.
I have yet to have a HFS formated drive to actually do time machine backups and I would like to start. I understand that going with TC I will loose some abilities I currently have by running a dedicated computer/file server but I like the fact that it is small and self contained.
I just want to make sure I understand the specifiations correctly. Can I make a various folders on TC and then map it to my Mac/XP machines via windows naming convention (ie \\TimeMachine\RecordedTV\)
I am in the process of upgrading my file server so this would be a perfect time to think about going this route. Should TC not meet my needs I will continue with my build of a Raid 5 server.

Until we get more information, at the present time the only certain thing we know about Time Capsule is that it will support TimeMachine backups.
What we don't know:
1. whether TimeMachine backups to network drives other than Time Capsule will ever be supported
2. whether the Time Capsule internal drive can be used for general file storage, or only Time Machine backups. Current information on Apple's web site could be interpreted either way. I suspect it can be used for general file storage - but that is just my opinion.
If it is not essential that you make a purchasing decision before Time Capsule ships within the next month (and more detailed information becomes available) I suggest you wait. My two cents worth of opinion - if it is general file storage that you want, and Time Machine automated backups are not a priority on the "wish list", then I think you would be far better off setting up your own network file server rather than using Time Capsule for this purpose.

Corrupted time machine backup and Migration tool

Thanks in advance to anyone that is able to help. Sorry for the long read.
Recently I replaced my hard drive because it was slowing down and had a very large number of bad sectors. After replacing the HD with a new one I tried to use migration assistant to move my information from the old one. As has happend with many bad hard drives it could not detect the old drive. This always happens if I try to migrate from a drive with bad sectors. The healthy ones always work.
So in an attempt to make the migration tool see the files and migrate them I am trying to use the old drive to spoof a Time machine backup.
First I set my old HD as the location of the new mac's TM backup just to get a TM backup file in place. The fist problem I ran into was that time machine backups are write protected at the kernel level and can't be modified. I found a helper module in the TMsafetynet kext that does this write protection and so, I can delete files in the backup like so.
sudo /System/Library/Extensions/TMsafetynet.kext/Helpers/bypass rm -Rfv /Volumes/TIMEMACHINEDRIVE/Backups.backupdb/whatever files to delete
And so, I removed and modified the files in the time machine backup slightly and migration assistant as well as time machine reflected the changes perfectly without error.
Next I deleted all that was in the time machine backup, I then moved the entire contents of my old drive into this time machine backup file in such a way as to mimic a normal time machine backup.
The good news is that time machine reads my jimmy rigged backup perfectly (which looks pretty wierd since there is no continuity between past and present), But migration assistant now does not see it.
If anyone is able to help that would be awesome. I replace bad hard drives all the time that won't copy with migration assistant, transferring the files manually isnt easy or clean. It's a pain.
Thanks a million for any advice!

Thanks in advance to anyone that is able to help. Sorry for the long read.
Recently I replaced my hard drive because it was slowing down and had a very large number of bad sectors. After replacing the HD with a new one I tried to use migration assistant to move my information from the old one. As has happend with many bad hard drives it could not detect the old drive. This always happens if I try to migrate from a drive with bad sectors. The healthy ones always work.
So in an attempt to make the migration tool see the files and migrate them I am trying to use the old drive to spoof a Time machine backup.
First I set my old HD as the location of the new mac's TM backup just to get a TM backup file in place. The fist problem I ran into was that time machine backups are write protected at the kernel level and can't be modified. I found a helper module in the TMsafetynet kext that does this write protection and so, I can delete files in the backup like so.
sudo /System/Library/Extensions/TMsafetynet.kext/Helpers/bypass rm -Rfv /Volumes/TIMEMACHINEDRIVE/Backups.backupdb/whatever files to delete
And so, I removed and modified the files in the time machine backup slightly and migration assistant as well as time machine reflected the changes perfectly without error.
Next I deleted all that was in the time machine backup, I then moved the entire contents of my old drive into this time machine backup file in such a way as to mimic a normal time machine backup.
The good news is that time machine reads my jimmy rigged backup perfectly (which looks pretty wierd since there is no continuity between past and present), But migration assistant now does not see it.
If anyone is able to help that would be awesome. I replace bad hard drives all the time that won't copy with migration assistant, transferring the files manually isnt easy or clean. It's a pain.
Thanks a million for any advice!

Corrupted time machine backup on external hd connected to Airport extreme?

I have an Airport extreme 11n (not gigabit) and a Lacie external hard disk connected to the usb port. Time machine is set up to make backups wirelessly from my laptop to this external disk. It used to work fine, but no I have the following problem all the time: Time machine complains that it cannot perform the backup. When this happens, I cannot access the drive from the finder (normally I can). I check the drive physically and I notice that it's LED show that it is constantly reading/writing (is yellow instead of red). The solution is (as also suggested by Apple support) to use disk utility and perform a repair on the drive. This solves the problem, but... only temporarily. After one or two successful backups, the same problem: no backup possible, drive not accessible in finder, disk utility finds problems. What can i do?

Somehow I thought that with OS X 10.6 Time Machine did support disks connected to Airport devices, but I guess I'm wrong.
The LaCie disk has indeed its own external power supply brick. Is this relevant?
I found this article http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1550
which is not about airport disks, but I checked my LaCie disk and it has a Master Boot Record Partition Scheme. Should I change that?
It is also formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). I thought that this was the recommended format, but checking in the Help of OS X 10.6, I found an article "Disks that can be used with Time Machine" which says: "The most common format for a Time Machine backup disk is Mac OS Extended format, but Time Machine also supports Mac OS Extended (Case sensitive, Journaled) and XSan formats"
implying that the Extended format is more preferable than the Journaled format, right?
I don't think the disk drive is defective: I after "repairing" it with disk utility, I could back up again, at least one time, before the problem reappears.

How to repair a corrupt Time Machine Backup

I have been Googling & searching also here in the support community about how delicate Time Machine is. I think I've broken so many Time Machine "don'ts" that I NOW know what I did and where I need to do things differently. Moving forward.
I have a Time Machine backup on an external HD. I have also recently re-installed Mountain Lion and now need to restore my files from Time Machine.
This is where the problem starts. Time Machine won't restore, and when I (yes, I NOW know it's a no-no, please hold your foul comments) go into the Backups.backupdb folder manually, all the folders are now shortcuts, and they lead no where.
I have tried to no avail:
To repair permissions with Disk Utility
To repair the drive with DiskWarrior
Does anyone have any (constructive) suggestions? This backup contains the usual personal documents & photos that we can all agree are most important, but also I have stuff pertaining to legal matters that I can not lose under any circumstances. Having invested $99.95 on DiskWarrior just really burns me up at this point because that was the recommended fix for this problem.
Any advice or assistance I can get from anyone would be deeply appreciated!

When I go into the "star wars" Time Machine screen, all the backups are blank & black. My Backups.backupdb folder has gone from 483Gig, to 4.72TB on a 2TB drive. When I use the finder to manually look in the Backups.backupdb folder, all the folders inside are alias' and when I double-click them, they say that the alias is broken, do I want to delete it or fix it.
I know that all the Backups.backupdb is just a database that links to the files stored on the hard drive, and I need a utility that will repair the links to each file. If no one has something that does this, perhaps this is a great opportunity for someone to create such a utility.
I'm going to try using Data Rescue to just restore the drive completely and pick through it manually.

Unable to empty trash due to a corrupt Time Machine backup.

I have a 3TB Seagate Backup Plus for my Macbook Pro. On this drive, I had a Time Machine backup from a secondary Mac that was stopped half way through. In this folder is the file '2014-10-03-144053.inProgress'. I moved the whole folder to the trash of my MBP, and can not empty the trash because of it, nor can I move the file elsewhere. I have tried the following:
Secure Empty Trash... (results in the trash being stuck on 'Preparing Items to Delete')
Using a third party software (OnyX) to empty the trash.
Executing the script:
sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash
sudo rm -rf /Volumes/*/.Trashes
(This results in terminal being stuck executing the second command).
Moving the file to the desktop results in finder being stuck on 'Preparing to move ... to desktop.'
What should I do?

BDAqua wrote:
Hi again, are there maybe hidden files in those folders?
Show Hidden Files 1.0...
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/29096/show-hidden-files
Hidden Way is a toggle for hidden files view in Finder...
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/25716/hidden-way
Show hidden files in OSX Finder
Open the Terminal and type or copy/paste:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true
Reverting to the default of NOT showing hidden files:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool false
*Restart or Force Quit Finder required to take effect.*
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/developer/hiddenfiles.html
http://www.burobjorn.nl/blog/?p=96
Finder Force Quit, or restart required to take effect.
Not that I saw through Terminal's ls -all and Windows XP Pro. SP3 machine. Someone told me to try secured empty trash and it did more, but not fully.
I used the administrator (sudo) account in Mac OS X 10.5.8's Terminal to delete the trash, but it still failed:
$ sudo rm -rf *
Password:
rm: 501/2010/07252010/My Documents/My Pictures: Operation not permitted
rm: 501/2010/07252010/My Documents: Directory not empty
rm: 501/2010/07252010: Directory not empty
rm: 501/2010/01162010and05042010/My Documents/My Pictures: Operation not permitted
rm: 501/2010/01162010and05042010/My Documents: Directory not empty
rm: 501/2010/01162010and05042010/Favorites: Operation not permitted
rm: 501/2010/01162010and05042010: Directory not empty
rm: 501/2010: Directory not empty
rm: 501/06182011/My Documents/My Pictures: Operation not permitted
rm: 501/06182011/My Documents: Directory not empty
rm: 501/06182011/Favorites: Operation not permitted
rm: 501/06182011: Directory not empty
rm: 501: Directory not empty
I tried deleting this on an old, updated Windows XP Pro. SP3 machine and it had no problems! Weird. I wonder why Mac OS X 10.5.8 failed to delete it through its Finder and Terminal (sudo rm -rf command).

Time Machine Backup of NAS

I have an iMac with OSX 10.0 and a NAS Drobo 5N which has a Time Machine share. It will backup my local machine fine, but how do I get a backup of the NAS folders and exclude the Time Machine folder?

You can't. Time Machine doesn't back up a drive to itself, as that wouldn't really be a backup.

Time Capsule, External HDD as NAS, Time Machine Backup the NAS

Can I attach an external HDD to Time Capsule to use as a NAS? Then can I use Time Machine on my Macbook to backup both my Macbook and the NAS drive to the HDD in the Time Capsule?

Can I attach an external HDD to Time Capsule to use as a NAS?
Yes. Although it will not exactly be a NAS with its own "brains".
Then can I use Time Machine on my Macbook to backup both my Macbook and the NAS drive to the HDD in the Time Capsule?
No. In order to back up the hard drive using Time Machine, the drive must be connected to your Mac, not the Time Capsule.

Nas on airport extreme not recognized by time machine. same nas was previously used as time machine backup on different airport extreme. are there any configuration files that i can delete to fix this problem ?

nas on airport extreme not recognized by time machine. same nas was previously used as time machine backup on different airport extreme. are there any configuration files that i can delete to fix this problem ?

Time Machine has been working just fine, but in the last week or two it has given up the ghost. I reset the connections to the drive, and it will basically save a few bytes of data and then hang.
Although Apple originally announced, prior to the release of the first 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Stations (AEBSn), that it would support Time Machine backups to AirPort Disks, they removed that option before they did finally release the base station for sale.
Since then, Apple has posted (as you have noted) that they DO NOT support Time Machine backups to AirPort Disks. As far as I know, they have not changed from that position and those who do these backups find that they become corrupted over time. Sorry, but it sounds like you just confirmed that for yourself.
1) Has one of the recent updates either on the AE (firmware) or OSX disabled this function?
No. Again, this feature has never been supported by Apple for every generation of AEBSn released.
2) Are there any changes I can make to get this working again?
If your data backups are critical to you, then you will want to use a different solution for your Time Machine backup destination drive strategy. I would suggest that you connect your WD My Book directly to your Mac in the mean time.
Your other options would be to either use a Time Capsule (which interestingly does support TM backups to AirPort Disks) or a non-Apple solution like the Drobo FS or HP MediaSmart server.

I want a new and more powerful (non-Apple) wireless router but I still want to use my existing Time Capsule to continue with my Time Machine backups and I still need the Time Capsule's Network Attached Storage (NAS) features and capabilities

THE SHORTER STORY
My goal is to successfully use my existing Time Capsule (TC) with a new and more powerful wireless router. I need a new and more powerful wireless router in order to reach a distant Denon a/v receiver that is physically located in a master bedroom some 50 feet away from my modem. I need to provide this Denon a/v receiver with an Internet connection so that it can obtain its firmware updates and I need to connect this Denon a/v receiver to my network in order to use its AirPlay feature. I believe l still need the TC's Network Attached Storage (NAS) features because I am not sure if the new wireless router will provide me with the NAS like features / capabilities I need to share files between my two Apple laptops with OS X 10.8.2. And I know that I absolutely need my TC's seamless integration with Apple's Time Machine (TM) application in order to continue to make effortless backups of my two Apple laptops. To my knowledge nothing works with TM like Apple's TC. I also need the hard disk storage space built into the TC.
I cannot use a long wired Ethernet cable connection in this apartment and I cannot use power-line adapters. I have read that wireless range extenders and repeaters are difficult to successfully set-up and that they will reduce data speeds, especially so when incorrectly set-up. I cannot relocate my modem and/or primary base station wireless router.
In short, I want to use my TC with my new and more powerful wireless router. I need to stop using the TC to connect to the modem. However, I still need the TC for seamless TM backups. I also need to use the TC's built in hard drive for storage. And I may still need the TC's NAS capabilities to share files wirelessly between laptops because I am assuming the new wireless router will not provide NAS capabilities for OS X 10.8.2 (products like this/non-Apple products rarely seem to work with OS X 10.8.2/Macs to provide NAS features and capabilities). Finally, I want to continue to use my Apple laptop and AirPlay to wirelessly access and play my iTunes music collection stored on the TC's hard drive. I also want to continue to use my Apple laptop, AirPlay and Apple TV to wirelessly watch movies and TV shows stored on the additional external hard drive connected to the TC via USB. Can someone please advise on how to set-up my new Asus wireless router with my existing TC in such a way to accomplish all of this?
What is the best configuration or set-up to accomplish my above goals?
Thank you in advance for your assistance!!!
THE FULL STORY
I live in an apartment building where my existing Time Capsule (TC) is located in my living room and serves many purposes. Specially, my TC is at least all of the following:
(1) Wi-Fi router connected to Comcast Internet service via Motorola SB6121 cable modem - currently the TC is the Wi-Fi base station that connects to the modem and has the gateway address to the Internet. The TC now provides the DHCP service for the Wi-Fi network.
(2) Wireless router providing Internet and Wi-Fi network access to several Wi-Fi clients - two Apple laptop computers, an iPod touch, an iPad and an iPhone all connect wirelessly to the Internet via the TC.
(3) Wired Ethernet router providing Internet and Wi-Fi network access to three different devices - a Panasonic TV, LG Blu-Ray player and an Apple TV each use one of the three LAN ports on the back of the TC to gain access to the Internet.
(4) Primary base station in my attempt to extend my wireless network to a distant (located far away) Denon a/v receiver requiring a wired Ethernet connection - In addition to the TC, which is my primary base station, I am also using a second extended Wi-Fi base station (a Netgear branded product) to wirelessly extend my WiFi network to a Denon receiver located in the master bedroom and requiring a wired Ethernet connection. I cannot use a wired Ethernet connection to continuously travel from the living room to the master bedroom. The distance is too great as I cannot effectively hide the Ethernet cable in this apartment.
(5) Time Machine (TM) backup facilitator - I use my TC to wirelessly back-up two Apple laptops using Apple's Time Machine (TM) application. However, I ran out of storage space on my TC and therefore added external storage to it. Specifically, I added an external hard drive to my TC via the USB port on the back of the TC. I now use this added external hard drive connected to the TC via USB as the destination storage drive for my TM back-ups. I have partitioned the added external hard drive, and each of the several partitions all have enough storage space (e.g., each of the two partitions used by TM are sized at three times the hard drive space of each laptop, etc.). Everything works flawlessly.
(6) Network Attached Storage (NAS) - In addition to using the TC's Network Attached Storage (NAS) capabilities to wirelessly back-up two Apple laptops via TM, I also store other additional files on both (A) the hard drive built into the TC and (B) the additional external hard drive connected to the TC via USB (there are additional separate partitions on this drive for these other additional and non-TM backup files).
I use the TC's NAS feature with my Apple laptop and AirPlay to wirelessly access and play my iTunes music collection stored on the TC's hard drive. I also use my Apple laptop, AirPlay and Apple TV to wirelessly watch movies and TV shows stored on the additional external hard drive connected to the TC via USB. Again, everything works wirelessly and flawlessly. (Note: the Apple TV is connected to the network via Ethernet and a LAN port on the back of the TC).
The issue I am having is when I try to listen to music via Apple's AirPlay in the master bedroom. This master bedroom is located at a distance of two rooms away from the TC's current location in the living room, which is a distance of about 50 feet. This apartment has a long rectangular floor plan where each room is connected to the next in a straight line. In order to use AirPlay in the master bedroom I am using a second extended Wi-Fi base station (a Netgear branded product) to wirelessly extend my WiFi network to a Denon receiver located in the master bedroom and requiring a wired Ethernet connection. This additional base station connects wirelessly to the WiFi network provided by my TC and then gives my Denon receiver the wired Ethernet connection it needs to use AirPlay. I have tried moving my iTunes music directly onto my laptop's hard drive, and then I used AirPlay on this same laptop to connect to the Denon receiver. I always get a successful connection and the song plays, but the problem is that the connection inevitably drops.
I live in an apartment building and all of the many wireless routers in this building create a great deal of WiFi interference on both the 2.4 GHz and 5GHz bands. I have tried connecting the Netgear product to each the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands, but neither band can successfully maintain a wireless connection between the TC and the Netgear product. I also attempted to maintain a wireless connection to an iPod touch using the 2.4 GHz band and AirPlay on this iPod touch to play music on the Denon receiver. Again, I was able to establish a connection and successfully play music, but after a few minutes the connection dropped and the music stopped playing. I therefore have concluded that I have a poor wireless connection in the master bedroom. I can establish a connection, but it is intermittent with frequent drops. I have verified this with both laptops by working in the master bedroom for an entire day on both laptops. The Internet connection in this master bedroom proved to drop out frequently - about once an hour with the laptops. The wireless connection and the frequency of its dropout are far worse with the iPod touch and an iPhone.
I cannot relocate the TC. Also, this is an apartment and I therefore cannot extend the range of my network with Ethernet cable (I cannot drill through walls/ceilings, etc.). It is an old building with antiquated wiring and power-line adapters are not likely to function properly, nor can I spare the direct power outlet required with a power-line adapter. I simply need every outlet I can get and cannot afford to block any direct outlet.
My solution is to use a more powerful wireless router. I found the ASUS RT-AC66U Dual-Band Wireless-AC1750 Gigabit Router which will likely provide a better connection to my wireless Internet in the master bedroom than the TC. The 802.11ac band of this Asus wireless router is totally useless to me, but based on what I have read I believe this router will provide a stronger connection at greater distances then my TC. And I will be ready for 802.11ac when it becomes more widely available.
However, I still need to maintain the TC's ability to work seamlessly with TM to backup my two laptops. Also, I doubt the new Asus router will provide OS X 10.8.2 with NAS like features and capabilities. Therefore, I still would like to use the TC's NAS capabilities to share files on my network wirelessly assuming the Asus wireless router fails to provide this feature. I need a new and more powerful wireless router, but I need to maintain the TC's NAS features and seamless integration with TM. Finally, I want to continue to use my Apple laptop and AirPlay to wirelessly access and play my iTunes music collection stored on the TC's hard drive. I also want to continue to use my Apple laptop, AirPlay and Apple TV to wirelessly watch movies and TV shows stored on the additional external hard drive connected to the TC via USB. Can someone advise on how to set-up my existing TC with this new Asus wireless router in such a way to accomplish all of this?
Modem
Motorola SB6121 SURFboard DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem
Existing Wireless Router and Primary Wi-Fi Base Station - Apple Time Capsule
Apple Time Capsule MC343LL/A 1TB Sim DualBand (purchased June 2010, likely the Winter 2009 Model)
Desired New Wireless Router and Primary Wi-Fi Base Station - Non-Apple Asus
ASUS RT-AC66U Dual-Band Wireless-AC1750 Gigabit Router
Extended Wi-Fi Base Station - Provides an Ethernet Connection to a Denon A/V Receiver Two Rooms Away from the Modem
Netgear Universal Dual Band Wireless Internet Adapter for TV & Blu-Ray (WNCE3001)
Addition External Hard Drive Attached to the Existing Apple Time Capsule via USB
WD My Book Studio 4TB Mac External Hard Drive Storage USB 3.0
Existing Laptops on the Wireless Network Requiring Time Machine Backups
MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2012) OS X 10.8.2
MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2010) OS X 10.8.2
Other Existing Apple Products (Clients) on the Wireless Network
iPod Touch (second generation) is model A1288.
iPad (1st generation)
Apple TV (3rd generation) - Quantity two (2)

Thanks Bob Timmons.
In regards to a Plan B, I hear ya brother. I am already on what feels like Plan Z. Getting WiFi to a far off room in an apartment building crowded with WiFi routers is a major pain.
I am basing my thoughts on the potential of a new and more powerful router reaching the far off master bedroom based on positive reviews on cnet.com, pcmag.com and pcworld.com. All 3 of these web sites have reviewed the Asus RT-AC66U 802.11AC wireless router as well as its virtual twin cousin 802.11n router. What impressed me is that all 3 sites rated this router #1 overall in terms of both range and speed (in both the 802.11n and 802.11AC flavors). They tested the router in real world scenarios where the router needed to compete with a lot of other wireless routers. One of the sites even buried this Asus router in a media room with thick walls and inside a media cabinet. This Asus router should be able to serve my 2.4 GHz band wireless clients (iPod Touch and iPhone 4) with a 2.4GHz Wireless-N band offering some 50 feet of dependable range and a 60 Mbps throughput at that range. I am hoping that works, but it's borderline for my master bedroom. My 5 GHz wireless clients (laptops) will enjoy a 5GHz Wireless-N band offering 150 feet of range and a 200 Mbps throughput at that range. I have no idea what most of that stuff means, but I did also read that Asus could reach 300 feet and I got really excited. My mileage may vary of course and I'm sure I'm making some mistakes in my interpretation of their data. However, my Winter 2009 Time Capsule was rated by cnet.com to deliver real world performance of less than that, and 802.11AC may or may not be useful to me someday. But when this Asus arrives and provides anything other than an excellent and consistent wireless signal without drops in the master bedroom it's going right back!
Your solution sounds great, but I have some questions. I'm using OS X 10.8.2 and Airport Utility (version 6.1 610.31) and on its third tab labeled "Wireless" the top option enables you to set "Network Mode" to either:
Create a wireless network
Extend a wireless network
Off
Given your advice to "Turn off the wireless on the TC," should I set Network Mode to Off? Sorry, I'm clueless in regards to how to turn off the wireless on the TC any other way. Can you provide specific steps on how to turn off the wireless on the TC? If what I wrote is correct then what should the rest of this Wireless tab look like, or perhaps it is irrelevant when wireless is off?
Next, what do you mean by "Configure the TC in Bridge Mode?" Under Airports Utility's fourth tab labeled "Network" the top option "Router Mode" allows for either:
DHCP and Nat
DHCP Only
Off (Bridge Mode)
Is your advice to Configure the TC in Bridge Mode as simple as setting Router Mode to Off (Bridge Mode)? If yes, then what should the rest of this "Network" tab look like? Anything else involved in configuring the TC in Bridge Mode or is it really as simple as setting the Router Mode to "Off (Bridge Mode)"?
How about the other tabs in Airport Utility, can they all stay as is assuming I use the same network name and password for the new Asus wireless router? Or do I need to make any other changes to the TC via Airport Utility?
Finally, in regards to your Plan B suggestion. I agree. But do you have a Plan B for me? I would greatly appreciate any alternative you could provide. Specifically, if you needed a TC's Internet connection to reach a far off corner of your home how would you do it? In the master bedroom I need both a wired Ethernet connection for the Denon a/v receiver and wireless Internet connection for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Power-Line Adapters - High Cost, Blocks at Least One Wall Outlet and Does Not Solve the Wireless Need
I actually like exactly one power-line adapter, which is the D-Link DHP-540 PowerLine AV 500 4-Port Gigabit Switch. This D-Link power-line adapter plugs into your wall outlet with a normal sized plug (regular standard power cord much like any other electronic device) instead of all of the other recommended power-line adapters that not only use at least one wall outlet but also often block the second outlet. You cannot use a power strip with a power-line adapter which is very impractical for me. And everything about my home is strange and upside down. The wiring here is a disaster and I don't have faith in its ability to carry Internet access from the living room to the master bedroom. And this D-Link power-line adapter costs $90 each and I need at least two to make the connection to the Denon A/V receiver. So, $180 on this solution and I still don't have a dependable drop free wireless connection in the master bedroom. The Denon might get its Ethernet Internet connection from the power-line adapter, but if I want to use an iPhone 4 or iPod Touch to stream AirPlay music to the Denon wirelessly (Pandora/iTunes, etc.) from the master bedroom the wireless connection will not be stable in there and I've already spent $190 on just the two power-line adapters needed.
Extenders / Repeaters / Wirelessly Extending the Wireless Network
I have also read great things about the Amped Wireless High Power Wireless-N 600mW Gigabit Dual Band Range Extender (Repeater) SR20000G and the My Net Wi-Fi Range Extender. The former is very powerful and the latter is easier to install. Both cost about $150 ish so similar to a new Asus router. However, everything I read about Range Extenders points to them not being very effective for a far off corner of your house wherein it's apparently hard to place the range extender in the sweet spot where it both gets a strong enough signal to actually effectively extend the wireless signal and otherwise does not reduce network throughput speeds to unacceptable speeds.
Creating a Roaming Network By Hard Wiring with Ethernet Cable - Wife Would Say, "**** No!"
Even Apple seems to warn against wirelessly extending your network (see: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4145#) and otherwise strongly recommends a roaming network where Ethernet cable is used to connect two wireless base stations. However, I am in an apartment where stringing together two wireless base stations with Ethernet cable would have an extremely low wife acceptance factor (WAF). I cannot (both contractually and from a skill prospective) hide Ethernet wire in the walls or ceiling. And having visible Ethernet cable running from room-to-room would be unacceptable, especially to the wife.
So what is left? Do you have a Plan B for me? Thanks in advance for your help!

Corrupted Time Machine Backup on NAS

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