Data on time capsule seems to be erased after installing it as a server (?)

Question

In have always used my Time Capsule as an external hard disk drive, connected via a LAN cable. I saved all my photo's and music on it and personal data. This is of course very valuable for me.
After purchasing a system to wirelessly play MP3 music, via the system setting I selected file sharing. However, the files on the Time Capsule were still not accessable. Via the airport Utility I selected file sharing.
Still the files could not be selected wireless on my music system.
After that I accessed the Time Capsule via Finder > Go > Connect to server. I filled in the IP address of the Time Capsule and I could see two partitions of the Time Capsule now. I had never intentionally installed partitions on it, but now 2 partitions are available:
1. Eteam1
2. EteamTimeCapsule
I think EteamTimeCapsule was the root directory all my files were saved in. Now it seems to be empty (except for a .sparcebundle file of the TimeMachine backup.)
I am a bit desparate, as I fear all my data is lost. Who has a solution for this? Would it be possible to recover any data?
Thank you very much for any help.
Everard.

Answer 1

The TC is designed to backup several laptops in a household. (yes its original intent was laptops since it is basically a wireless router with a hard disk inside) It is for incremental backups so each computer may use 2x or 3x the normal disk capacity. That means 2TB can be quickly consumed. The backup software needs a fair amount of free space on the drive to work. Let me assure you plenty of people fill up their drives. The backup is continually taking snapshots of the drive and saving all the files you are working on.. the idea is to go back historically to locate an earlier version if something goes wrong.
Now as to storing files.
Forgive me using a standard answer here.. this is being asked all the time.
Store files on the TC.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/24380694#24380694
This is asked several times a day.. obviously people are struggling with their latest SSD being too small.
The TC is not suitable for network file server.. but many people having no choice press it into service as such.
It cannot be partitioned. It was and is and ever shall be a backup device for Time Machine.
Major issues.
1. No backup.. no way Time Machine can backup a network drive. No place to backup to.. So all your files will be at risk. And you will need to buy a third party like CCC to do backup.
2. The TC cannot be partitioned and mixing TM backups and data is not great.
3. The drive is slow to spin up and quick to spin down.. there are no controls.
4. iPhoto in particular can easily corrupt its entire library with wireless networking causing a disconnection to one photo. Even if you do this;;; do not move your photo library... you have been warned!!
5. iTunes will constantly lose connection to the library. The disk is too slow to respond.. itunes on the computer will constantly spit out errors. Even in the midst of streaming the TC can spin down the disk due to caching.
6. Do not use any live files on the TC no matter what else you do.. if you edit files in whatever program the file must be on the local hard disk.
7. The only suitable location for most libraries is a computer. You can plug in an external hard disk.
Read pondini for some work arounds.
Q3 here. http://pondini.org/TM/Time_Capsule.html
Would a NASS or a simple external hdd be betten then? I think it would have the same disadvantages right?
A true NAS has the following..
1. Raid for data integrity.
2. Backup for saving data in the event of total failure.
3. Disk access to replace a faulty disk.
4. Power supply access to replace a faulty power supply.
5. Controls.. disk controls, file store controls, access controls.
TC has none of those. It is a sealed unit.. designed for one simple function.. TM backup of laptops.
For Desktop computers an external drive.. even USB2 is faster, cheaper and much more reliable. With new computers and now USB3 that is far more the case.
External hard disk is always the first choice to overcome internal disks that are too small. To the point where I recommend people do not use laptops to do desktop work eg movie editing if it requires more disk space than is available.. or get the internal disk replaced for a larger one.
Or pay for thunderbolt.. but actually thunderbolt is still so expensive it is cheaper to replace the internal drive.
I do not expect everyone will agree.. But I do repair TC.. and I have seen people in your situation enough times to know.. storing files on the TC is a bad idea.