Problems with Airport Extreme Firmware 7.6.1. and Time Machine Backups to USB Disks

I found that when I upgraded to Firmware 7.6.1 my Airport Extreme was no longer able to maintain afp server connections to USB disks mounted to the APE. If I power cycled the APE it would work for a while and then fail again. This even applied for connectins on gigabit ethernet, not just wifi. Consequently my Time Machine backups became unusable. Rolling back to 7.6 fixed it, but I permanently fixed this by changing the IPv6 mode from "Automatic" to "Host". No problems since then.

I hate to have to tell you this, but backing-up that way is unreliable and not supported by Apple.   See:  Using Time Machine with an Airport Extreme Air Disk.

Similar Messages

  • Problem with Airport extreme and Time machine

    I recently purchased a 320gig external hard drive for Time machine. I connected it to my Airport extreme but it is not being recognized for some unknown reason. If I directly connect it to my iMac it works perfectly. I've updated with the latest firmware and it should work via USB with Airport extreme. Any suggestions why it is not working?

    angelop wrote:
    I have used the following for about two years.
    -MBP, Airport Extreme, External HD (1TB) for my time machine.
    You probably know, that's "iffy" and +*not supported by Apple.+* See the Using Time Machine with a USB drive connected to an Airport Extreme *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.
    To get around this issue, I have switched off the Time Machine, and am only turning on once a week or so, to grab any changes or additions I've made. I've been doing this for about 6 months now with no problems.
    Now whenever I do this, (It should only be backing up an album or two from iTunes,) it tries to back up my whole system again. EVERY TIME. It did not do this before.
    If you go too long between backups, Time Machine will do a new, full backup. And once it decides to do that, it will keep trying until it succeeds. There are some other possibilities as well. See #D2 in the Using Time Machine with a USB drive connected to an Airport Extreme *User Tip,* also at the top of the +Time Machine+ forum.
    If none of those seem to explain it, see #A1 there; download the TM Buddy widget, copy and post the messages here.
    Why are you only backing-up once a week? Time Machine was designed to back up changes hourly, as long as your Mac is awake and the TC is in range. It will protect you best that way, and unless there's a problem, those backups will usually be very quick.
    But if you're only going to back up once a week or so, then Time Machine is not the best app for you. See Kappy's post on Basic Backup, complete with links to the web sites of each product.

  • HT1218 why is streaming to my TV slowing to .4 mbps from 8.ombps while watching a netflix movie? this has become a problem in the last 2 months. This also happens on another TV but not concurrently.. Is it a problem with "airport extreme" or with the IP s

    why is streaming to my sony TV slowing to .4 mbps from 8.ombps while watching a netflix movie? this has become a problem in the last 2 months. This also happens on another TV but not concurrently.. Is it a problem with "airport extreme" or with the IP service? Airport extreme software is up to date.
    please advise
    Michaelgfrommet

    For what it's worth, you posted this in 2011, and here in 2014 I am still having this same issue. Over the last two days, I have had to unlock my apple account 8 times. I didn't get any new devices. I haven't initiated a password reset. I didn't forget my password. I set up two factor authentication and have been able to do the unlocking with the key and using a code sent to one of my devices. 
    That all works.
    It's this having to unlock my account every time I go to use any of my devices. And I have many: iMac, iPad, iPad2, iPad mini, iPhone 5s, iPod touch (daughter), and my old iPhone 4 being used as an ipod touch now.  They are all synced, and all was working just fine.
    I have initiated an incident with Apple (again) but I know they are just going to suggest I change my Apple ID. It's a simple one, and one that I am sure others think is theirs. I don't want to change it. I shouldn't have to. Apple should be able to tell me who is trying to use it, or at least from where.
    Thanks for listening,
    Melissa

  • Big problem with Airport Extreme and Vivax Provider in Brazil

    Hello guys.
    I live in Brazil and I bought my Airport Extreme in a recent trip to USA.
    For some years I was a client of Telefonica and had an ADSL link, I had a D'Link G604T to do both the modem and router operation in the same box. I was happy with my connection of 1Mbps.
    In a recent promotion of Vivax I switched to a cable connection to have both TV and Internet at the same operator, my link now has 3Mbps.
    With this pack I also received free one RCA cable modem model DCM425B, it was installed fine in one computer only. Everything was fine my connection was faster the old one.
    So I went to install the Airport Extreme to make things even better.
    After I installed I went to see the web status of my modem, all parts were looking fine, but the modem could not see the computer. Bad sign.
    I talked to Vivax support people and apparently it was a problem with their network setup and they manage to make it right. My model now sees my computer.
    After that problem was solved I could not make AE to work with the modem, it had the green light and the setup looked fine, but I could not open any site. I tried to turn off my modem and AE, waited some minutes and turned on first my modem and after it was up I turned on AE. All lights looked fine but again no connection to any site.
    I called again the Vivax support center and they tried to help me but the don't know AE and they could not help me with all the details but said there was 2 10.x.x.x coming from my side. So I tried to use in bridge mode. I also selected the 192.x.x.x range instead of 10.x.x.x as default.
    After many setups and turn off and on again my connection is working but I have a big problem with wireless. If I turn it on I loose my connection, it seems that AE sends 2 equal ethernet address to Vivax and their network don't like it cutting me off.
    So my connection setup is like this:
    RCA Cable modem model DCM425B at 3Mbps using a 200.x.x.x ip
    Airport Extreme connected to a Mac and a Windows PC by wire using the 192.x.x.x range ip
    Wireless is off
    Bridge mode is on
    This the only way I could make it work.

    After a firmware update it worked fine.

  • Nortel VPN still broken with Airport Extreme firmware 7.1

    I've just recently started using the NAT'ed mode of my 802.11n Airport Extreme and the the Nortel VPN connectivity is still broken with firmware 7.1.
    I've setup a side by side config using the new Airport Extreme and my older Airport Express to make sure the issue is indeed with the Airport Extreme.
    Here are the details of my setup:
    ISP: NTT/GOL B-FLET (PPoE)
    Wireless Config #1 - Airport Extreme firmware 7.1
    Wireless Config #2 - Airport Express firmware 6.3
    Client #1 - Nortel Contivity VPN V06_01.014 Windows XP 802.11g
    Client #2 - Nortel Contivity VPN V04_86.033 Windows XP in Parallels 802.11n
    The odd thing is that it isn't totally broken. The VPN connection is made and low bandwidth transfers work fine (ie. ssh, http requests), but higher bandwidth transfer fail to complete (ie RDP/RDC, ftp's, Outlook xfers).
    When my clients are on the Airport Extreme Network, they have the issue but don't have the issue on the Airport Express network.
    Is anyone else still having problems with Nortel VPN ? Does Apple have any suggestions ?
    Thanks,
    Eliot

    I'm using Apani's Nortel VPN client (the most recent version) on my Mac mini, and the Windows version on my Windows XP notebook computer. Both were broken with the original AEBS firmware (7.0), but now both work well with the updated 7.1 firmware.
    Keep experimenting - I'm sure you'll get it working.

  • Intermittent re-connect problem with airport extreme 802.11n

    Hi,
    I'm having a problem with my 802.11n airport extreme. When my MacBook goes to sleep, it does not reconnect the my WPA2 personal wireless network. This problem happens about 80% of the time.
    I have updated the Airport Extreme firmware to 7.1. I have installed the recent AirPortExtremeUpdate2007002. I am running 10.4.9 and everything is updated according to software update.
    Apr 18 22:13:24 computername /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Resources/airport: Error: WirelessAssociate2() = 88001007 for network spiderweb. An unexpected error occured.
    Any help would be appreciated.
    Thanks
    MacBook   Mac OS X (10.4.9)  

    Yes, i am having a problem similar to this. Although my macbook does not go to sleep overnight, i always wake up to see it either 1) not connected to the wireless lan anymore or 2) having a self-assigned IP that doesn't work for the internet.
    The only solution to get things working again is to unplug both the modem and the router and then plug the modem back in and then plug the router back in. Very annoying.
    But yes, that is the message i get from Console.

  • Problems with airport extreme and windows vista

    Hi, I have windows vista and I'm having problems conecting it to air port extreme. The only way I can make airport extreme work is to disconect and reconect the powercord and then my computer reconizes it.
    Any sugestions would be helpful.

    I just got off the HP "chat" technical assistance about my HP DV6500z doing this same thing. At least for my model there is an October BIOS update. She had me re-install the Broadcom drivers and run the BIOS update. Now the whole computer runs faster in addition to connecting wirelessly! Not only that, I can use the "closed" network feature through the Airport Utility to hide my network as I did in the past and the PC finds it! I guess through all of the very testy notes on HP's discussion board they finally came through (well, at least on this model). My model has the AMD processor so if yours is Intel it may not be the same. I recommend going to their TA chat line or type in your model on their Software & Driver page to see if there is a recent revision on your models BIOS. The one I downloaded was dated 10-2007.

  • I'm having a hard time setting up my external hard from with my AirPort Extreme and Time Machine Backups.

    I have been using a Mac Mini with an external hard and Time Machine.  I bought an Airport Extreme and have had problem setting up the hard drive using the USB port on the Airport Extreme.  I also just recently bought a Mac Book Air and hope to have both computers back up to the external hard drive using Time Machine and Airport Extreme.  I have been using the optical drive from the Mac mini to load programs into the Mac Book Air.  I think I'm just getting confused in Finder.  I am just not seeing the hard drive.  I ended up plugging the hard drive back into the Mac Mini and that is work fine again.  How do I setting the external hard drive up to the AirPort Extreme and use for both computers?  Or at least to start with the Mac mini.

    It's critical to understand that Time Machine (TM) stores backups differently between local and network drives. That would mean the TM backup on your locally attached USB hard drive will not be directly useable when it is connected to the AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBS). There is a way to copy a local version to a network version, but it is not fool-proof. When you do connect this drive and point TM to it, TM will start a brand new backup, leaving your existing backup as is.
    If your current backup is critical to you, you may want to consider getting a second USB drive to attach to the Extreme and use your existing one as a backup ... or use TM's multi-backup process to backup to more than one destination drive alternatively.
    So, at this point, you may want to make a decision on how you want to go forward to help provide a solution for you.
    To directly answer your question, when you go to select a destination for a Time Machine backup, the drive(s) that show up under "Backup Disks" are those that TM already recognizes and has backed up to. Those listed under "Available Disks" are drives (either local or on the network) that TM can back up to.

  • Airport Extreme and Time Machine backups using a USB drive

    Hi there,
    I checked through the threads/FAQ's for an answer to this but couldn't find anything...
    I have an AE set up with a USB drive attached as my Time Machine backup drive. When I start my MBP up and initiate a forced backup, Time Machine will go and find my drive (via the AE), mount it and carry out the backup without a problem. However, if I start my MBP up and wait for the scheduled hourly backup, TM doesn't see the drive (or perform the backup) unless I go and manually mount the drive first.
    I realise I can put the drive in my login items to auto mount on boot but I wondered if there was a way to get the scheduled backups to work without doing this (as with the forced backups).
    Thanks

    mattschenker wrote:
    Pondini,
    Actually, I wasn't thinking about theft. I was just thinking that for security in a possible data-loss "event," it was better to have the backup drive physically separated from the main computer. But maybe that's not necessary.
    That's unlikely. A power surge could take out both your Mac and connected external HD. You do have your Macs on good surge protectors or, better yet, U.P.S. systems, right? If not, see [Using a U.P.S. System with a Mac|http://web.me.com/pondini/AppleTips/UPS.html].
    But wherever the external HD is, unless it's on a surge protector or U.P.S., it's still exposed.
    Other things causing data loss are even less likely to affect your Time Machine drive (especially if there's no other data on it).
    Yes, I could hook something up to my Mac Mini. Good point! And that would really keep it separated, since it would be in an entirely different floor. But then again, Time Machine backups done wirelessly would probably take forever.
    The first one, yes. But if you have a good WIFI connection, subsequent ones shouldn't take too long or be too obtrusive, except when you've updated a lot of data (like installing an OSX update).
    See #22 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum), for setup instructions.
    But this just shows that there are a lot of options.
    Yes.
    I do wish Apple would solve the problem of Time Machine working via the Airport Extreme. That would be my favorite option.
    Not likely. Time Machine's been out since Leopard, about 3 years, and backups via an Extreme have never been reliable or supported. Just why they work well on a Time Capsule, or even a USB drive connected to a TC, but not an Airport, is a mystery, but that's the way it is.
    But it's always a good idea to keep secondary backups. See #27 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum), for some suggestions.

  • Is the Airport Extreme Hard Drive sharing ok for Time Machine?

    With leopard on the eve of its release, I wanted to get a large network accessible storage solution that would allow my wife's and I's Macbook pros to use time machine on the network drive when we were at home. Since we rarely use our laptops while sitting at a desk connected to an external drive, I figured this would be a great idea and started to look into various NAS solutions.
    Surprisingly, most generic (netgear, western digital) network drives require you use proprietary software to connect to them, and are only compatible with windows xp. After seeing the options the airport extreme opens up in terms of network storage I figured it would be the best bet.
    Do you have any other suggestions besides getting an airport extreme? I would rather not have to buy a full blown mac that I have to leave on 24/7 to share the drives. Or do you see any possible pitfalls to this idea? Such as, would time machine forget to use the network drive after a while since it wouldn't always be available to it when away from home?

    Unless the content of time machine is minuscule, USB will perform the worst at consistent data throughput. You might consider an ethernet storage device instead. The base station supports Gigabit Ethernet (though Wireless 'n' is maximised well below that).

  • Can Time Machine backup a USB drive connected to Airport Extreme?

    Hi all,
    I have an airport extreme that I used to run a shared USB drive for the family. I have a network drive attached to the airport extreme which I used for Time Machine backups, how do I tell Time Machine to back up the USB drive also?
    All help very gratefully recieved.

    Thanks for your reply,
    When I open Time Machine preferences I can either select a different disk to use as the backup disk or exclude items from the back up. I cannot find an option to add the USB drive attached to my airport extreme. Apologies if I am being a little dumb.

  • Problems with Retina Macbook pro and time machine backup

    I was able to successfully copy over data from myn old macbook to the new pro via a time machine backup.  But now can not get it to use the time machine to start creating backups.  I have tried with two different time machines (home and office) and on both I am getting the same error: unable to create sparse bundle.  Tried updating the airport firmaware reboot etc, any ideas?

    Here is the actual error:
    The backup disk image “/Volumes/Test/new mac book.sparsebundle” could not be accessed (error -1).

  • Restore with install DVD and Time machine backup that excludes system

    Hi, I need restore my PB G4.
    I backed up my data using TM but excluding all system files. Is there a possibillity to reinstall the system with the DVD and then rebuild the individual accounts using Time machine?

    Yes, you have several options: (In all cases Mac OS 10.5 Leopard is required as previous OS X versions can not work with Time Machine backups.)
    *Full Restore Via Migration Assistant & Time Machine*
    You can use the installation DVDs that came with your Mac and reinstall Leopard (Mac OS 10.5). During the installation process you will be asked if you would like to Migrate data over from your Time Machine backups. The advantage here is that you start with fresh system software. The disadvantage is that you may lose many of the personal preferences/settings that had been established with the previous system. But this may be only a minor inconvenience to reestablish these. Depending on whether you choose to migrate your applications over as well, you may be required to reinstall any 3rd-party software or standalone Apple programs. Don’t forget to run Software Update once the initial installation is complete to bring your system up to date. Using Disk Utility at this point to repair any permissions issues is advised as well.
    *Full Restore Via Time Machine Only*
    Alternatively, you can use the installation DVDs to do a full system restore. Insert the installation DVD. When the welcome window appears, go to the Utilities menu and select “Restore System From Backup…” and choose the drive that your Time Machine backups are on. Then select the date of the backup you would like to restore from. This will completely erase your internal drive and restore your system to a relatively same condition it was in on the date of the backup you choose. (See this article for a list of files that TM does not restore, http://shiftedbits.org/2007/10/31/time-machine-exclusions/) The advantage here is that you retain many of the personal preferences/settings that had been established with the previous system. Additionally, no further installation of 3rd-party software is required. The disadvantage is that BECAUSE you retain many of the personal preferences, settings, and system files that had been present with the previous system, you run the risk of reintroducing problems you experienced with the previous installation, including any issues that necessitated the OS reinstall in the first place. Using Disk Utility at this point to repair any permissions issues is advised as well.
    *Full Backup After Restore*
    Bear in mind that in all cases Time Machine will perform a full backup after a full restore. This is normal. Time Machine will resume incremental backups after the full backup has completed. To view previous backups, Control-click or right-click the Time Machine icon in your Dock or Option-click the Time Machine menu extra and Choose "Browse Other Time Machine Disks," then select your previous backup volume. You will enter Time Machine and be able to browse your previous back ups and restore files. (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1338)
    Hope this helps.

  • Is there a software problem with Airport Extremes?

    I recently bought a new 802.11ac next generation AE to replace my old generation AE mainly for the increased wifi speeds.  I have been having trouble though getting my proper wired speed using the router though.  I didn't have problems with the previous version in the past.  But now using the new one I get low speeds at times, but its not constant.  I have comcast and get 60 mbps speeds when hooked up straight to my PC. Using the AE, at times I get the same speeds, but usually now it drops all the way to like 12 mbps. I don't understand what it is, and thought about returning the AE but I have past my purchase time to return.  The other night I used speedtest.net and I got 12 mbps. So I unplugged the comcast modem and restarted everything and it went back up to 60 mbps.  But it seems to drop down to 12 constantly.  I tried the same process last night, and it did not return to 60 mbps, it stayed at 12.  So I still have my old AE, and hooked that up figuring I would not have the same issue.  Yet I totally did.  12 mbps again.  So is this some sort of software issue that is making this happen, I don't understand it.  I see people having trouble with WiFi speeds on here, but this is a wired connection.  I also thought I would test the wifi for the heck of it while I was getting 12 mbps wired through my AE.  So I used my phone connected to wifi and ran speedtest, and I got 23.  So how can my wifi speed get higher returns than my wired connection?  Can anyone help?
    Thanks,
    Eddie

    I'm having a similar issue. I have TWC turbo cable in Manhattan. I get 20Mbps download speed when I connect a Mac directly to the modem via ethernet. When I use the current gen AirPort Extreme, my internet speed gradually decreases to unusable. Less than 1Mbps. Websites timeout before loading. My LAN still works, but internet crawls. Doesn't matter if a device is wired directly to Airport or wirelessly connected - internet crawls, if I'm lucky.
    This is after weeks of things running perfectly with this airport. Over the past few days, I'm dying.
    I spent time with TWC to make sure it wasn't on their end. Reset the modem. Ran signal tests. Rebooted everything. It's not an issue on their end. As soon as I plug directly into their arris modem, I'm golden. 20Mbps download again.
    I hard reset my AirPort Extreme, and set it up as if it was brand new. But internet speeds still drop to slow to unusable when I'm going through AirPort Extreme.
    Had some luck getting speeds up to usable by specifying DNS servers from TWC in airport, but this was false hope. Overnight, internet speeds were back down to less than 1Mbps.
    Again, if I connect a mac directly to the modem, I'm getting 20Mbps speeds again, as I should.

  • HP Color Laserjet 3600 Printing Problems with Airport Extreme & JetDirect

    I have a HP Laserjet 3600n connected via ethernet cable to our Airport Extreme base station using the built-in JetDirect functionality of the printer. Prior to installing Snow Leopard we had no problems and every computer on the home network could see and print with full functionality on the printer.
    After installing Snow Leopard, it took a while but I got the printer working again with the same setup. Then we had a power outage and the printer was no longer visible on the network or in the airport settings. Again it took a while but I once again got it to work. But now it seems like it keeps falling off the network and the printer itself either shows an IP address of 0.0.0.0 or another random one. The IP address should be generated by DHCP by the airport.
    I don't know if this is a problem with Snow Leopard, the airport extreme, or the printer. The way I got it to work the last couple times no longer fixes the problem. Someone please help.
    Message was edited by: balistikboy

    I don't know if this is related, but...
    My MacBook Pro (Airport) has always been dicey connecting to an HP LaserJet 4000 on my wired LAN. Before Snow Leopard, I used AppleTalk rather than IP printing because it just worked.
    But Snow Leopard doesn't support AppleTalk any more, so I reinstalled the printer to connect via JetDirect (which supposedly provides more features). When it works, it works fine. But very often I get a message that it can't connect to the printer. The only thing I've found that fixes the problem is power-cycling the printer, which somehow enables queued jobs to print. Needless to say, this gets old.
    Is there some trick I'm missing?

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