Happy 500GB Time Capsule Owner

There are definitely enough posts bashing the Time Capsule so I figured I would make one with a positive spin to it based on my experiences.
My network is rather simple but here is a diagram to help paint a picture.
During setup I used firmware 7.3. As of today I am using 7.3.1.
Cable Modem > TC > Wireless G > Vista Laptop
Wireless N > Macbook
Ethernet > Xbox 360
First lets get the bad stuff out of the way. Setting up the TC was quick but with minor problems.
1) Transfer speed via ethernet or wireless was horrible for the small amount of data I was trying to back up(30GB). I left my macbook on overnight and racked up about 15+ hours of transfer time. I have heard of some people with larger amounts of data taking literally days to do their initial backups.
2) I could not connect wirelessly to my Xbox 360 using the official Microsoft wireless adaptor. This was all under firmware 7.3. Now that 7.3.1 is out im curious to see if any progress has been made. (I'll edit that in later tonight when I get home)
3) With the standard 2.4GHz G/N - Automatic Channel wireless setup I would lose signal anytime I clicked on the airport icon on the top bar of OSX. Very odd... so I went into the TC via manual setup and changed the channel to a higher number since there were multiple 2.4Ghz signals near my home. I also turned on the "robustness" feature found via the options button in the wireless tab.
4) HEAT! The TC runs pretty warm during regular use(no active backups) and hot when performing a backup. It makes me nervous but then again I have never had a hard drive fail on me and I had plenty in some cramped/warm places. Apple says the HDD's are server grade so I guess I will have to trust their word on that.
5) Still having problems linking my HP PSC printer to my windows laptop. Works fine on my Macbook but although Windows can see the printer it is not connecting to it. Once I get some time I will sit down and hammer that problem out.
Yikes lots of bad stuff huh! Well the way I look at it is that I have never bought an electronic device and had it work flawlessly. Maybe I have bad luck or maybe its because I have exclusively used the Windows operating system since Windows 3.1. Har har. Most importantly this device is new to the market and buying something like this is unfortunately a risky situation. You pay for a item and expect it to work like a charm but the reality is a bit different.
With a little tweaking and some patience the TC is working like it should now. I wiped the HDD after 7.3.1 firmware update and the initial backup went much faster. I have had to use ethernet to get my xbox online instead of wireless but I am a patient person so its not a big deal right now. I expect future firmware updates to fix any existing problems and there do not seem to be any major issues I can not live with.
Overall I am happy with my purchase. I love having a very simple backup solution for my home network. If I had very crucial data I would get a drobo.

Hello. Good to hear everything went well for you. I'm contemplating a purchase of a TC when I get my MBP in a couple of weeks. Our setup is similar, the TC will provide wired connection for my xbox360 (refuse to go wireless because I think it'll make the lag worse).
From all the horror stories in the other discussions, I'm a little apprehensive but well, I have a few days to camp here to look out for some happy endings like yours.
Take care.

Similar Messages

  • I have reached full memory capacity on my 500GB Time Capsule. I am considering purchasing a 2TB Time Capsule. Do I need to resave all existing data on the new hard drive or can I start afresh? Or can I link both time capsules to operate independantly?

    Hi,
    I  have reached full memory capacity on my 500GB Time Capsule. I am considering purchasing a 2TB Time Capsule.
    a) Do I need to resave all existing data on the new hard drive or can I start afresh?
    b) Or can I link both time capsules to operate independantly?
    Thanks,
    Paul

    You may not need to buy a new Time Capsule. 
    You can connect a USB drive to the Time Capsule, and use it in addition to the TC's internal HD.  You may need a powered USB hub as well.
    Exactly what is on your TC?  If it's only Time Machine backups, you may not need to do anything -- Time Machine will delete the oldest backup(s) automatically when it needs room for new ones.  But if you have more than about 250 GB on your internal HD, that 500 GB may not be large enough to keep backups long enough.
    If you have other data on the TC's internal HD, besides your backups, you could back up to the external HD and use the internal for the other data, or vice-versa.  But TM backups cannot "span" two drives, and you shouldn't mix backups and other data on the TC's internal HD.

  • I have a 500gb time capsule. with 100gb free. i have a 160gm macbook with 40gm free. if i get a new 500gm macbook can i keep using my 500gm time capsule?

    I have a 500gb time capsule. with 100gb free. i have a 160gb macbook with 40gb free. if i get a new 500gb macbook can i keep using my 500gb time capsule?

    On your Mac.......
    Open Finder > Applications > Utilities > AirPort Utility
    Click on the Time Capsule icon, then click Edit in the smaller window that appears
    Click on the Disks tab at the top of the window
    Click Erase Disk
    On the next window that appears, select the Quick Erase option, then click Erase
    The operation will only take a few minutes.
    Now you are ready to start new backups of both Macs.  Back up one Mac first, then back up the other.  Do not try to back up both Macs as the same time.

  • Help?  I keep getting "Unexpected Error" everytime I try to use my new Airport Express to extend my network from my 500GB Time Capsule.

    I am trying to extend my network from my 500GB Time Capsule using the new Airport Express I just bought, but no matter what I try I keep getting "Unexpected Error.  Try again".  The Express is still flashing Amber.  I cannot get it to turn green.  What am I doing wrong here?  Please help me.

    Locate the AirPort Express in the same room as the Time Capsule for the setup.
    Power off and restart the Time Capsule
    Shut down and restart the Mac. Turn on the wireless on the Mac and temporarily disconnect the Ethernet cable from the Mac to the AirPort Express. In other words, you want to set up the AirPort Express using wireless, since that is the way that it will be used.
    Hold in the reset button on the AirPort Express for 9-10 seconds and release. Allow a full minute for the Express to restart.
    Click the AirPort icon at the top of the Mac's screen and wait a few seconds for a listing of New AirPort Base Station to appear. Just below that, click directly on AirPort Express.
    AirPort Setup will open up and take a minute to analyze the network, then announce that the Express will be configured to extend the Time Capsule network.
    Enter a device name that you want to use and click Next
    Wait a minute while AirPort Setup configures everything, and hopefully announces a message of Setup Complete. Click Done.
    Now move the AirPort Express to a location that is about half way between the Time Capsule and the area that needs more wireless coverage. Avoid obstructions in the signal path between the Time Capsule and AirPort Express as much as possible. 
    Walls, ceilings, mirrors, heavy furniture, etc. just kill the wireless signal quality. Keep any cordless phones as far away from either router as possible.
    It would be much better if you could plan to connect the Time Capsule and AirPort Express using an Ethernet cable, as best case.....you will be losing about half of the network speed trying to use wireless to extend.

  • Is it possible to increase the internal hard drive capacity of my 500GB time capsule?

    I have a 500GB time capsule bought 2008.  I am now backing up two laptops to it, a macbook pro and a macbook.  It is likely that soon their combined data will outstrip the capacity of the time capsule.  (I increased the internal hard drive capacity on the macbook recently to 640GB).
    Is it possible to add to the internal hard drive capacity of the time capsule?  If so, do I just source extra capacity from a third party supplier as I did for the new hard drive for the macbook?
    Any experience or advice appreciated.

    It's possible to pull the hard drive from the Time Capsule case and replace it with a larger capacity drive, but you might want to keep in mind that since Time Machine will "see" this as a "new" drive, it will make a complete backup of both computers to start and then backup incrementally after that.
    If you were thinking of transferring the existing data on the 500 GB drive, that is possible as well.
    But, you will not be able to tell Time Machine to simply continue backups to those same files. For that reason, it might make sense to look for a separate drive enclosure to install the "old" drive in case you need access to your older Time Machine backups.
    After a few months, you may decide that you really don't need all the old Time Machine backups on the old driive and you may decide to simply erase the drive and use it as a spare.

  • [500gb Time Capsule] Initial Backup ALWAYS Fails

    I picked up a 500gb Time Capsule the other day to be used as my main router in my house and to be my new source for my Time Machine files.
    I began to do the Initial Backup to the 500gb Time Capsule, BUT EVERYTIME I run the Initial Backup it will fail and say "Time Machine Error. Unable to complete backup. A network problem may have interrupted the connection between your computer and the backup volume.".
    And here's the weird part; I also loose all connectivity to the Time Capsule as well. I loose internet, I loose the ability to access the network and when I run the Airport Utility it can't even see the Time Capsule until i restart both my Macbook and Time Capsule. The connection is still there though cause the green light where my network cable is plugged in on the Time Capsule is still lit up.
    I have tried to reset the Time Capsule multiple times, format the Time Capsule HD (multiple times and even wrote all zeroes to the drive), ran the backup over wifi and a wired connection and still nothing works.
    Help please!

    Finding these sorts of errors in the system log:
    Nov 30 08:40:50 Jonathan-Clarkes-Computer /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[351]: Error: (-36) SrcErr:NO Copying /Library/Audio/Apple Loops/Apple/iLife Sound Effects/Jingles/Vino.aif to /Volumes/Backup of Jonathan Clarke’s Computer/Backups.backupdb/Jonathan Clarke’s Computer/2008-11-28-180142.inProgress/DFF23BC7-895A-4B26-B97B-B1DB5F34F90E/Maci ntosh HD/Library/Audio/Apple Loops/Apple/iLife Sound Effects/Jingles
    Nov 30 08:40:50 Jonathan-Clarkes-Computer /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[351]: Stopping backup.
    Nov 30 08:41:13 Jonathan-Clarkes-Computer kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.
    Nov 30 08:40:50 Jonathan-Clarkes-Computer /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[351]: Error: (-8062) SrcErr:NO Copying /Library/Audio/Apple Loops/Apple/iLife Sound Effects/Jingles/Vino.aif to /Volumes/Backup of Jonathan Clarke’s Computer/Backups.backupdb/Jonathan Clarke’s Computer/2008-11-28-180142.inProgress/DFF23BC7-895A-4B26-B97B-B1DB5F34F90E/Maci ntosh HD/Library/Audio/Apple Loops/Apple/iLife Sound Effects/Jingles
    Nov 30 08:41:13 Jonathan-Clarkes-Computer kernel[0]:
    Nov 30 08:41:13 Jonathan-Clarkes-Computer /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[351]: Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Library/Audio/Apple Loops/Apple/iLife Sound Effects/Jingles/Vintage News Medium.aif to (null)
    Nov 30 08:41:13 Jonathan-Clarkes-Computer kernel[0]:
    Nov 30 08:41:13 Jonathan-Clarkes-Computer kernel[0]: disk0s2: I/O error.
    Nov 30 08:41:13 Jonathan-Clarkes-Computer /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd[351]: Copied 310 files (15.4 MB) from volume Macintosh HD.
    Nov 30 08:41:13 Jonathan-Clarkes-Computer kernel[0]:
    Could this be related?

  • Only 465.8gb on 500gb Time Capsule?

    My 500gb time capsule says it only has 465.8gb of memory capacity. Is this true? I had to erase some old back-ups and I'm not sure I've completely erased them.

    Hello Blink1974. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
    To best answer your question, I'll use an excerpt from Wikipedia:
    "Since the early 2000s most consumer hard drive capacities are grouped in certain size classes measured in gigabytes. The exact capacity of a given drive is usually some number above or below the class designation. Although most manufacturers of hard disk drives and flash-memory disk devices define 1 gigabyte as 1000000000bytes, the computer operating systems used by most users usually calculate size in gigabytes by dividing the total capacity in bytes (whether it is disk capacity, file size, or system RAM) by 1073741824. This distinction can be a cause of confusion, as a hard disk with a manufacturer-rated capacity of 400 gigabytes may be reported by the operating system as only 372 GB large, depending on the type of report."

  • Constantly losing connection with 500GB Time Capsule

    I have a cable modem plugged into a fairly new 1TB Time Capsule. It is creating a wireless network (both a 2.4GHz, a guest network and a 5GHz network). I then have another (older) 500GB Time Capsule connected directly to my Mac Pro (which lacks an airport card). It is connecting to the 5GHz network as is an Airport Extreme downstairs (both of the time capsules are upstairs about 100 ft from one another).
    Particularly recently (since activating "Back To My Mac" on both of the Time Capsules but also before, the older 500GB TC is losing its connection to the network all the time. The unit still appears in the Airport Utility and the light is green but my Mac Pro has no Internet access and the Airport Extreme stops working for music. Restarting the TC fixes the problem but only temporarily, often for only a few minutes to an hour.
    What in the world can I do to fix this???
    Thank you!!

    Hi guys,
    I hope you guys won't mind if I join this discussion.
    I just posted a problem of mine on another thread, but after reading this thread I think Bob can really help me atleast with some advices.
    My problem has been with connection drops. I've been experiencing this issue for quite some time now and late it's become more severe.
    the internet service seems to be OK because when I connect my laptop to LAN line it works OK and speed is really fast.
    So I'm narrowing down my issue to my network set up.
    I use a Time Capsule as a wireless network and a Linksys modem/router.
    I've downloaded iStumbler and my "samples" average out at -50dbm and -90dbm
    Right now I've set up my Time Capsule so that it works only on 5ghz.
    There's no competition for 5ghz in the area, but I see 21 wireless networks on 2.4ghz on iStumbler! I never realized there were so many!
    Most of them have signal strength of about 15%, while mine averages out at 50%.
    I sit about 15 feet from the TC and it has clear line of sight. No walls. The TC is close to a corner of the room.
    I've tested using 3com router as a wireless network and signal strength seems stronger from the same position, but 3com's connection drop is much worse than Time Capsule.
    Do you think the connection drop is coming from the interferences or my ISP?
    If it's interference, what is your suggestion...?
    I was thinking to get airport extreme, but now that I see this thread I hope you can provide some suggestions before I make my next move.
    Thanks and sorry again for cutting into the middle of this discussion.
    Hopefully my problem will also help Thread Creator fix his problem as well.
    Message was edited by: RUnited
    Message was edited by: RUnited

  • Plugging an external hard drive into my 500gb Time Capsule.

    I'm looking to buy a new external hard drive, this one in particular: http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/wd-my-book-essential-external-hard-drive-2tb-037011 39-pdt.html
    I was wondering if I plugged it into my time capsule it would be recognised on my macbook?
    If this is possible, but not with this particular external hard drive, can anyone recommend one?
    Thanks
    Mark

    markjwinter86 wrote:
    I'm surprised you said that about WD though, I've heard nothing but good reviews from friends and co-workers.
    ha, search these here forums for "WD drives" and see for yourself ...
    Do LaCie or Iomega have similar sized and priced drives? I've not heard of them makes so know nothing about them.
    check their sites or google for their products:
    http://www.lacie.com/us/index.htm
    http://go.iomega.com/de/?partner=4760
    also, check this site http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/ for more options.
    edit *if it comes to my precious data, i don't look so much @ the price but @ quality !*
    happy computing !
    JGG
    edited by the Jolly Green Giant (where Green stands for environmentally friendly)

  • Will the older 500gb time capsule work with lion

    I have  an Imac 2.4ghz core 2 intel. Will the older 500gb yime capsule work with Lion.

    Time not Yime

  • Playing iTunes through 500gb Time Capsule

    Is it possible to play my iTunes through the wireless connection just on my mac? I'm looking through reviews and stuff on the web and its all really confusing...

    In order to stream iTunes, the host (PC or Mac) must have iTunes installed. The iTunes music library may be located on a different device: external hard drive, Time Capsule, etc. iTunes could then be streamed from the host, using AirTunes, either wirelessly or by wire to the AirPort Express Base Station (AX).

  • Continual "indexing backup" with 500GB Time Capsule - fix?

    I'm posting this for my father, who's having the issue; I have remote access to the system and can get any further information for you.
    In short, he's having one of the infinite-wait "indexing backup" issues (ten days now). Spotlight errors show in the system log:
    Jan 21 18:54:04 btmbp mds[29]: (/Volumes/Backup of Brian Tregaskis’s MacBook Pro/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V1/Stores/651D26C7-A00F-48DE-8372-DEF8051CF7E1)(Error ) IndexSDB in si_writeBackDBO:Error 27 storing dbo(2dffe6,430,61,47db13a136344,0,a8d19,30)
    This is despite Spotlight being disabled for the backup drive through Privacy.
    I have followed the following instructions from the FAQ:
    1. disabling and re-enabling Time Machine
    2. repairing the sparse image (led to a 90% successful backup; Spotlight errors then hit, the backup cancelled itself and we're back to indexing backup again)
    3. changing all the system names
    None of this appears to have made much of a difference, except the almost-successful sparse image repair (although that took twelve hours.)
    Does anyone out there have any further ways of fixing this which go beyond the FAQ? The machine hasn't backed up for a good ten days now.
    Thanks a lot for any help. Here is a log from the Dashboard extension:
    Starting standard backup
    Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://Brian%[email protected]/Time%20Capsule%20Disk
    Mounted network destination using URL: afp://Brian%[email protected]/Time%20Capsule%20Disk
    Disk image /Volumes/Time Capsule Disk/Brian Tregaskis’s MacBook Pro_001ec2037a21.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Backup of Brian Tregaskis’s MacBook Pro
    Backing up to: /Volumes/Backup of Brian Tregaskis’s MacBook Pro/Backups.backupdb
    No pre-backup thinning needed: 425.9 MB requested (including padding), 410.37 GB available
    Waiting for index to be ready (100)
    Waiting for index to be ready (101)
    Waiting for index to be ready (100)
    Waiting for index to be ready (101)
    Waiting for index to be ready (100)
    Waiting for index to be ready (100)
    Waiting for index to be ready (101)
    Waiting for index to be ready (100)
    Waiting for index to be ready (100)
    Waiting for index to be ready (101)
    Waiting for index to be ready (101)
    Waiting for index to be ready (101)
    Waiting for index to be ready (101)
    Waiting for index to be ready (101)
    Waiting for index to be ready (101)
    Waiting for index to be ready (101)
    Waiting for index to be ready (101)
    Waiting for index to be ready (101)
    Waiting for index to be ready (101)
    Waiting for index to be ready (101)
    Waiting for index to be ready (101)
    Waiting for index to be ready (101)
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    Waiting for index to be ready (101)
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    Waiting for index to be ready (101)

    Ross Tregaskis wrote:
    Jan 21 18:54:04 btmbp mds[29]: (/Volumes/Backup of Brian Tregaskis’s MacBook Pro/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V1/Stores/651D26C7-A00F-48DE-8372-DEF8051CF7E1)(Error ) IndexSDB in si_writeBackDBO:Error 27 storing dbo(2dffe6,430,61,47db13a136344,0,a8d19,30)
    This is despite Spotlight being disabled for the backup drive through Privacy.
    Hi, and welcome to the forums.
    Spotlight isn't the only user of the mds process. Time Machine is another, so that's probably where this message came from.
    Disk image /Volumes/Time Capsule Disk/Brian Tregaskis’s MacBook Pro_001ec2037a21.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Backup of Brian Tregaskis’s MacBook Pro
    You didn't get all the names. The Computer name, +Brian Tregaskis’s MacBook Pro+ has an apostrophe and embedded spaces (yes, that's what OSX puts there, and none of it makes any sense, but sometimes TM gets cranky about them). Be sure you get the Computer Name, Local Hostname, Network Name, and Time Capsule name. See #C9 in the Time Machine - Troubleshooting *User Tip,* also at the top of the +Time Machine+ forum.
    Also try the things in #D2 there.

  • Please post if you are happy with Time Capsule

    Of course I know that folks generally only post here if they are unhappy or having a problem with something. I am seriously considering purchasing the 1TB TC and would really like to hear if others are happy with its performance, both as a router and as a backup device.
    I have 4 Macs (24" Intel iMac, 20" Intel iMac, 2 Intel MacBoks) and one Win XP to be sharing the internet ......not all at the same time, of course. Only the Macs will be backing up to TC.
    What kind of network speed can I expect? Will I get the faster n speeds from this setup? Will having 4 computers backing up to TC affect the speed at all?
    I am simply interested in hearing from anyone who is successfully using TC and find it working well for them. Anyone like that out there? I hope, I hope, I hope .....
    Thanks!
    Kathy

    I am now. At first it had some problems, from what I can tell ALL related to the machine/device names having apostrophes in them. This is a standard Apple thing. When you setup your device (a Mac) it says enter your name. I entered "mrh" without the quotes of course. Many things got labeled: "mrh's thing..."
    So when TC arrived I hooked it up and had all kinds of problems with connections, backups failing, etc. When someone posted taking out the apostrophes in the names it all clicked and started to work.
    It does run warm. I put mine on my old aluminum heat shield for my MBP 15. The thing ***** heat away from it and it is staying nice and luke warm now.
    Speeds for me are acceptable. The only concern I currently have is I have two macs... 1 - MBP17 my main work Mac. 2 - MacMini used for music.
    The MacMini recently was freshly reloaded with leopard. It has little on it. When TM backed it up it said it was gonna back up 38g. That is what it did. The sparse bundle on the TC shows 38g roughly for the Mini.
    My MBP17 (which is hard wired) said it needed to backup 138g. At about 1/3 of the way through the backup it suddenly (unfortunately I was gone) said it was done. When I look at the sparse bundle for the MBP it shows barely 42g. So my question is did the initial backup work or not? It seems not. However TimeMachine is quite happy with the way things are and is showing history and everything just fine.
    I relay on TimeMachine for file recovery. So I'm not too concerned if it did miss something. I use SuperDuper on a weekly basis to a different disk for total recovery. I figure if everything really crashes I can replace the MBP (either it or it's drive) and use SuperDuper to do a full restore, then TM to get any files that need to be brought up to date.

  • Using External HD connected to Time Capsule

    I am posting this mainly as a success story, but if anyone sees a potential pitfall with my setup please speak up. I am a brand new Mac user as of two months ago. I purchased a new iMac (intel) with OS(X) Leopard and a 500GB Time Capsule. The learning curve has been significant but I am very happy so far. A couple of days ago I bought a 1TB external Hard Drive with the idea of connecting it via USB to the Time Capsule. With only a couple of surprises along the way it seems to be working fine even though I have it set up opposite the norm. That is I am using the External drive for the Time Machine back ups and the Time Capsule as extra storage. I also decided to partition the external drive into two parts so that Time Machine would not fill up the whole drive. The reason being I wanted to backup a few things manually rather than with Time Machine. One partition named TM Backups and the other Manual Backups.
    Now for the surprises. I made my first backup to the External Drive by connecting it directly to the computer since it is a faster connection. I did both a Time Machine and a manual backup that way. The first surprise was that Time Machine did not produce a sparsebundle file like I was used to seeing but rather a Backups.backupdb folder that I could explore using finder. When I unplugged the drive and reconnected it to the Time Capsule, the first thing I got was an error message claiming that the drive was not formated in Mac OS extended (journaled) as required. The best I remember, I clicked past that and opened Time Machine Preferences and reselected that drive to be used with Time Machine and had to enter the password for the Time Capsule. After that is seemed to connect fine. However Time Machine proceeded to back up the whole computer from scratch this time using a sparsebundle file which took about 4 hours. So basically it did not save any time to do the initial Time Machine backup directly connected to the computer, although the files I backed up manually that way did save time. The next surprise was that once connected through the Time Capsule I could no longer explore the Backups.backupdb folder with finder. I could see all the folders but none of the files in them. I briefly reconnected the drive to the computer and they were all still there but I could not see them through the Time Capsule USB connection. So Time Machine uses different methods of storing backups when connected through the Time Capsule versus a direct connection. I'm just going to leave it that way as it does not seem to be causing a problem. The last surprise is that when the Time Machine backup file is mounted (which I still don't fully understand what it means to be mounted) and I select it with finder and select "get info" it tells me the volume is formated in Mac OS Extended (Case-Sensitve, Journaled). When the drive is connected directly to the computer it says it is formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled). What the **** how can that be???
    And is that normal? Well . . . it seems to be working perfectly. Does anybody think this will be a problem down the road?

    Da Soundman wrote:
    Now for the surprises. I made my first backup to the External Drive by connecting it directly to the computer since it is a faster connection. I did both a Time Machine and a manual backup that way. The first surprise was that Time Machine did not produce a sparsebundle file like I was used to seeing but rather a Backups.backupdb folder that I could explore using finder. When I unplugged the drive and reconnected it to the Time Capsule, the first thing I got was an error message claiming that the drive was not formated in Mac OS extended (journaled) as required. The best I remember, I clicked past that and opened Time Machine Preferences and reselected that drive to be used with Time Machine and had to enter the password for the Time Capsule. After that is seemed to connect fine. However Time Machine proceeded to back up the whole computer from scratch this time using a sparsebundle file which took about 4 hours.
    Yes, that's correct. Time Machine stores it's backups differently when they're done via a Time Capsule or Airport Extreme vs. directly attached via FireWire or USB. The two cannot be merged or combined.
    What you can do, however, is perform that first backup while connected via Ethernet; the backups will still be stored in a sparse bundle, so subsequent backups can be done wirelessly, but be done much faster than wireless.
    I'm just going to leave it that way as it does not seem to be causing a problem.
    Except for the space the first set takes up.
    The last surprise is that when the Time Machine backup file is mounted (which I still don't fully understand what it means to be mounted) and I select it with finder and select "get info" it tells me the volume is formated in Mac OS Extended (Case-Sensitve, Journaled). When the drive is connected directly to the computer it says it is formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
    Yes, Time Machine does that, just why is not clear, as it can cause significant problems when restoring items when the capitalization of their names has been changed.
    And do be *very careful* when using the Finder on your backups, not to move, change, or delete anything. That can corrupt them. To browse or restore from them, use the Time Machine application (the "Star Wars" display).
    You might want to review these:
    Time Machine Tutorial
    Time Machine 101
    How to back up and restore your files
    Time Machine Features
    Apple - Support - Mac OSX v10.5 Leopard Time Machine
    and perhaps browse the Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip* at the top of this forum.

  • MacBook to Time Capsule gigabit connection

    Posted March 25, 2008 16:41 Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete Message
    I recently bought a 500GB Time Capsule to go on a mixed client home network and I have to say I love it. I tried a cheap alternative of a Belkin Network USB Hub first but that just didn't cut the mustard. The Time Capsule does everything I want. Having gotten to that point, I was happy for about a day, then I got to thinking...
    Though my Netgear router only supports 100mbit/s wired, my MacBook supports 1000mbit/s and that connects to the Time Capsule which also supports 1000mbit/s. The MacBook connects to the router using the Time Capsule as a relay so if I'm just transferring files between the MacBook and the Time Capsule, surely I can take advantage of the gigabit connection between them, right?
    I changed my cat5 cable for a cat6 one (I was looking for a cat5e but came across the cat6 one first, so what the heck). In System Profiler on the MacBook, I saw it was only showing 100mbit/s on the ethernet connection so I went into System Preferences -> Network -> Built-in Ethernet -> Advanced -> Ethernet and changed the default 100mbit/s to 1000baseT, full-duplex, flow-control, with a MTU of standard(1500) whatever the heck that is. I saved the settings, rebooted the MacBook and Time Machine (not straight away but eventually, you get where this is going) and tried my speed test again.
    The test was to copy a 700MB Ubuntu iso file from the Time Capsule to the desktop. For comparison, I did the same test from the Time Capsule onto my (gasp) PC which only has 100mbps network card. On the PC, this transfer took around 4:45. On the MacBook (which I was hoping would be around 30-60 seconds) it took 4:30, the same as before I changed the ethernet settings to the gigabit option.
    For reference, the MacBook is a 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. I had a look around the Time Capsule console to see if I could find anything about setting it to work at 1000mbit/s but couldn't see any options and so assume it handles that automatically.
    Am I missing something blindingly obvious or do I just have crazy expectations?
    Any help is gratefully received.

    Thanks for the suggestions. I'm fortunate enough to have an Apple store that just opened in my town a couple of weeks ago so I popped in there on my lunchbreak and had a chat with someone at the genius bar. The suggestion was a not too surprising 'disconnect everything else from the network' so it's just the MacBook connected to the Time Capsule with no other complicating factors and take it from there. This is something which should have (but didn't) occur to me last night.
    On trying that suggestion this evening though, it's not quite that simple. I removed all the other connections and promptly couldn't connect to the Time Capsule. Not surprising really because my Netgear router (now not plugged in) is acting as the DHCP server. So I plugged the router back into the Time Capsule, tried again and the connection was restored. Unfortunately so was the transfer rate.
    I assume that the Time Capsule has the capability of acting as the DHCP server on the network, but I'd rather not redesign the whole network architecture to find a way around this.
    The thought occurred, if both the MacBook and the Time Capsule had static IP addresses, they'd connect to each other without the router being connected, wouldn't they? Well, it was a nice idea, but it didn't work. Even though I'd set the IP address of the Time Capsule and knew what it was, when I tried to ping it from the MacBook, it couldn't be found. I'm sure for the more network aware of you out there that would be blatantly obvious, but it seemed like a reasonable hypothesis to me.
    It's beginning to look a lot like the cure is going to be a lot more painful than putting up with a slower network connection than I should have.

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