Setting up Time Capsule as a Time Machine backup disk

I just bought a new Airport Extreme base station unit. I set it up the wireless network just fine, and am running 2 Macbook Pro's and 2 wireless printers on the network. The newer Macbook Pro is an early 2011 model running Mavericks. Airport Utility is 6.3.2. Software is all up-to-date. When I enter Time Machine Preferences and select "choose disk", I see an external hard disk connected via USB (I had been using that as a Time Machine Backup prior to purchasing the Airport Extreme) and I also see a selection called "Other Time Capsule". When I select that option, the airport utility opens and it shows icons for "Internet" and "Airport Extreme". Both show green "lights". I cannot seem to select anything. The instruction manual says to follow the setup instructions at this point, however there are none. The Macbook Pro is connected wirelessly to the base station. (The older Macbook Pro is a 2010 model running Snow Leopard. The airport wireless network connection works fine but the OS needs to be upgraded before I could use the Time Capsule on this computer).
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

since Time Machine apparently does not work with a USB drive connected to the Airport Extreme.
Sorry we crossed wires..
The Time Capsule has a built in hard disk. The Extreme is exactly the same but they simply do not have a hard drive.. (cannot be added later either).
In the past Apple did not support Time Machine on the Gen 1-5 Extreme.. but with Gen 6 it is indeed supported.
There is info about it here.
http://pondini.org/TM/Airport.html
You can plug a USB drive in and make it available to the network for either computer to use.
But do note..
1. You cannot use the existing backups.. you will need to start over. Time Machine backs up differently on network drives cf local drives.
2. It is much slower. USB over network is half the speed of the USB drive locally and that is assuming USB2. If you have usb3 disk and computer then it is many many times slower plugged into the Extreme. It is however fast enough that if you backup over wireless it is not going to be a big hassle.
3. It is definitely less reliable. TM backup to local USB is faster and more accurate backup. It is simply more complex and hence more issues when attached to the Extreme. Still that might work out for you.

Similar Messages

My Time Machine / Time capsule gets the error: The backup disk image could not be mounted

My time machine / time capsule gets the error: The backup disk image could not be mounted.

Reboot the TC.
If you normally have multiple computers backing up, under Lion there seems to be some issues.. you need to force other users off the system. You can do that through the Airport utility, manual setup, disks, disconnect all users. Note carefully if you use Lion you probably need to download the real airport utility.. 5.6 to accomplish anything useful.

HT3275 My time capsule reports an error The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data-1/MacBook Pro.sparsebundle" is already in use.

Help !
The last few days my time capsule reports an error The backup disk image “/Volumes/Data-1/MacBook Pro.sparsebundle” is already in use.
To make things worse I seem to be loosing my screen so need to make a back up ASAP

Make sure that no other Macs are backing up at the time.
Pull the power cord from the back of the Time Capsule
Count to ten
Plug the power cord back into the back of the Time Capsule
This will fix the issue about 98% of the time. If you are in the unlucky 2% category, please post back for more assistance

Can I use Time Capsule only as a WiFi backup disk w/out having to configure it as my main router?

I already have an Airport Extreme that works great. Can I use Time Capsule ONLY as a WiFi backup disk w/out having to configure it as my main router with my Internet modem?

Can I use Time Capsule ONLY as a WiFi backup disk w/out having to configure it as my main router with my Internet modem?
Yes, you have two options here, each with advantages and disadvantages.
Option 1...connect the Time Capsule to your AirPort Extreme using an Ethernet cable connection. Turn off the wireless on the Time Capsule since your AirPort Extreme is already providing wireless.
Advantages...easy to configure, you can backup either over wireless or plug directly into one of the Ethernet ports to backup large files 3-5 times faster than wireless.
Disadvantages...none, except it requires a wired Ethernet connection to the AirPort Extreme.
Option 2....configure the Time Capsule as a wireless only hard drive.
Advantage.....you can locate the Time Capsule anywhere you want as long as it can receive a good wireless signal from the AirPort Extreme.
Disadvantages....harder to configure, backups will occur only over wireless.

Time Capsule not visible to Choose Backup Disk

I have a 500GB Time Capsule 7.4.2 and two 13" Macbook laptops (Mid 2007 - 2.16GHz and Mid 2009 2.13 GHz, both running 10.5.8)
Both Macbooks were using the TC for TM backups, wireless access point and a shared printer. A few months ago the 2.16GHz quit backing up to the TC. Still accesses the internet and prints to the printer. While troubleshooting, I turned off TM in system preferences, and now cannot get TM turned back on in the sys pref. When I select Time Machine ON, and select the "Choose Backup Disk" button, there are no drives listed
The 2.16 Macbook (troublesome one) can access the TC in AirPort Utility and view and update all the configuration, but still cannot see the drive in the Time Machine sys pref. In the finder this laptop can see the TC in the Shared Resources but when trying to connect gets the "this file server is running on your machine"
The 2.13 Macbook still updates to the TC with no issues. Also can access the TC in AirPort Utility and TM sys pref with no problems. When connecting to the TM in the Finder it connects and can view both Macbook parsebundles.
Neither laptop can view the TC in Disk Utility, but I think they need to be connected via CAT V to make that work.
Can any help me get the 2.16 Macbook backing up to the TC again? Thanks in advance.
Clake

Pondini wrote:
Hi, and welcome to the forums.
Most likely, the sparse bundle for that Mac is corrupted. Repair it per #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
Thanks for the help. I completed the Repair as directed in A5 of the trouble-some Macbook parsebundle. This had to be completed from the other Macbook since it was the machine in which I could see the parse bundle to drag to the disk utility.
I am still having the same issue. The 2.16 MB cannot see any drives to choose from when turning on TM. Also this same laptop cannot connect to the TC under the shared grouping in the Finder sidebar.
Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.
Clake

HT1178 i am setting u a new time capsule. i already have a wifi setup in my office. now i want to use this time capsule just as a wireless backup machine. do i still need to attached a DSL cable, or it can connect to my existing wifi and start working ?

i am setting u a new time capsule. i already have a wifi setup in my office. now i want to use this time capsule just as a wireless backup machine. do i still need to attached a DSL cable, or it can connect to my existing wifi and start working ?

You probably can, but this type of configuration is not recommended or supported by Apple.
Two cautions if you want to try this:
1) The Time Capsule has to be configured to "Join" your existing wireless network in this type of setup...and to do that, you must know the exact type of wireless security that your network is using.
2) Backups are likely going to take twice as long. The wireless signal must travel from your computer to the wireless router and then from the wireless router back to the Time Capsule. Two "hops"......even if the computer is located close to the Time Capsule.
If you want to try this, we can tell you how....but with no guarantees on your results....since this is not officially supported.

Ow can I use my time capsule as a time machine backup without using it wirelessly and not as a wireless router?

How can I use my time capsule as a time machine backup without using it wirelessly and not as a wireless router?

bzb888 wrote:
I have a wireless transmitter already, would like to use the capsule just as a back up drive, I tried hooking up from the ethernet port on the imac to the one of the ports on the capsule but then my Wifi would not work. do I hook the cable to the port with the circle or the arrows?
It is better to have the TC as part of the main network in bridge. You do not need to run wireless.
If you want to use the TC plugged in by ethernet and still use wireless for internet, that is possible but the setup is rather more complicated.. the computer must not get confused about which device to use as a gateway or dns server.
See info in this thread on setting this up.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4817218?tstart=30
I need to add.. a USB drive would be cheaper, faster and more reliable. It is really poor use of a TC.

Time Capsule setup with 2 machines: iMac and Windows XP

Long time reader, first-time poster.
OK, so I just got my new 1TB Time Capsule, set it up and am ready to start designing my backup strategy for home. I'd like to do a few things, and looking for some advice:
1. I am currently using Time Machine to backup my iMac to an external 250MB drive. I want to switch over my Time Machine backups to the new Time Capsule (which I think I can handle), but then I want to format my other external drive and move my video files over to it to free up disk space on my iMac. Once I do that, how do I tell Time Machine to look for that external 250MB drive as well so that it backs up my video files? I see how to exclude files from the Time Machine backup process, but I'm not sure how to explicitly tell Time Machine to back up other drives outside the main HD.
2. I also use a Windows XP machine for work and would like to configure Time Machine to look for that machine when I'm connected at home and back up certain files on the Time Capsule. Will it do this...or do I need to login to the Time Capsule from the Windows machine and do this manually over the network share (or use SyncToy or something). If this is the case, am I better off "partitioning" the Time Capsule drive so that Time Machine can use, let's say 750MB of the space and I keep 250MB in reserve for the WIndows Machine?
I haven't seen any postings like this in this forum, my apologies if someone else has already answered this...hope it makes sense.
Thanks in advance for any assistance!
~Monkey~

Long time reader, first-time poster.
OK, so I just got my new 1TB Time Capsule, set it up and am ready to start designing my backup strategy for home. I'd like to do a few things, and looking for some advice:
1. I am currently using Time Machine to backup my iMac to an external 250MB drive. I want to switch over my Time Machine backups to the new Time Capsule (which I think I can handle), but then I want to format my other external drive and move my video files over to it to free up disk space on my iMac. Once I do that, how do I tell Time Machine to look for that external 250MB drive as well so that it backs up my video files? I see how to exclude files from the Time Machine backup process, but I'm not sure how to explicitly tell Time Machine to back up other drives outside the main HD.
2. I also use a Windows XP machine for work and would like to configure Time Machine to look for that machine when I'm connected at home and back up certain files on the Time Capsule. Will it do this...or do I need to login to the Time Capsule from the Windows machine and do this manually over the network share (or use SyncToy or something). If this is the case, am I better off "partitioning" the Time Capsule drive so that Time Machine can use, let's say 750MB of the space and I keep 250MB in reserve for the WIndows Machine?
I haven't seen any postings like this in this forum, my apologies if someone else has already answered this...hope it makes sense.
Thanks in advance for any assistance!
~Monkey~

How can I close my Time Machine Sparsebundle so Time Capsule can do a scheduled backup?

"Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to "Your Time Capsule". The backup disk image “/Volumes/Steven Weinberg's Time Caps-1/Steven Weinberg’s MacBook Pro (4).sparsebundle” is already in use."
I have both a Time Capsule and a 2Tb external drive using Time Machine to back up my laptop.
Is it as simple as when the Time Capsule goes to do a backup and finds that the other drive is in the midst of using Time Machine to do its backup that I get this notice on my desktop?
It's 10:30 AM now. The last Time Capsule backup was almost 12 hours ago.
There have already been 6 Time Machine backups today on the 2nd drive.
Sounds like the Time Capsule really is being blocked from doing its job.
THe 1 Tb Time Capsule backs up to a .sparsebundle document which fills the Time Capsule at 985 Gb. You can't open and peek inside the .sparsebundle backup file.
The other drive backs up to a .backupdb folder within which are subfolders for each backup which appears to be a complete recreation of thebacked-up 500 Gb hard drive on my MacBook Pro laptop. And even though there are 37 separate folders with backups going back to Sept 2013 when I installed the second backup drive, it's only used about 500 Gb of its 2 Tb capacity.
1. How can I solve my primary problem of freeing up the .sparsebundle file for the Time Capsule?
2. Since both drives are using Time Machine to do the backup, why are they producing such diffrent backup file structures?
Steve

David Bean wrote:
So copying from a one-week-old TM volume was failing
Have you run Repair Disk on it?
I now realize that the folder in which the problem file(s) are stored on the backup,.DocumentRevisions-V100, is the folder in which OS X stores its versioning data for all users. I am now trying to work out whether I can safely delete these files from the backup
That does get damaged on occasion. I haven't seen it in quite a while, so it's pretty rare.
You can delete it from the backups, via the TM interface, but you must be able to show invisible items).
First, open the Terminal app (in your Applications/Utilities folder). Be very careful with this app. It's a direct link into UNIX, the underpinnings of OSX, but without the protections of OSX.
In Terminal, the prompt looks like this: <Computer Name>:~ <your name>$
(where <your name> is your short user name). It's followed by a non-blinking block cursor.
Copy, do not type, the following after the prompt:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles 1
and press Return.
You should just see the prompt again.
Then see Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #12 to delete all the backups of it.
and from the live system filestore so they don't get copied out to a backup again.
Yes. You will, of course, lose all previous versions, but since the file is corrupted, you may have lost some, most, or all of them already.
When done, run the same command to hide the invisible items, but replace the "1" with a zero.

Can I use my time capsule as a time machine and a hard drive

Hi all,
Can I use my time capsule as a time machine and a hard drive?
I don't want to store much on my imac, I would like to store it on the time capsule.
If this is possible, how do I do it?
Thanks, Crankyhead.

This is often asked.. and we always have the same answer. have you thought this through?
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4830944?tstart=0

Time Capsule crashes when Time Machine starts a backup

I've not searched through the postings here to see if other people have seen a similar problem. I've not attempted to repeat the problem I've seen here so I'm not very clear about the cause.
I'm using a MacBook Pro with OS 10.5.4 connected via a network cabled directly to a Time Capsule which is connected to a DSL/Cable modem. The Time Capsule is updated with v 7.3.2 of the firmware. I've got Time Machine enabled but I'm also using the Time Capsule disk (1TB) to store photos that I've previously archived to CD. I'm in the process of copying all the data from CD to the Time Capsule.
Having copied some photo data to the Time Capsule I was trying out some photo cataloguing SW to see if it was any good (iPhoto is no good to me as I don't want to store photos on the local drive of my machine) - Kodak EasyShare v6.1. Having loaded some images into EasyShare I tried to use finder to search for the file names of some of the images to check that EasyShare was not copying images to my local drive. While I was doing this I think Time Machine tried to kick in and start doing a backup. I believe that Time Capsule crashed at this point. Finder froze and after I restarted it (via Force Quit not a re-boot) I discovered that I had no network connection and Mac OS couldn't see the Time Capsule under FInder or via AirPort Utility (the Time Machine backup also timed out and failed). Time Capsule just sat there with the disk spinning and a green light on the front as if all was OK. Actually - the disk just kept spinning (Time Capsule normally shuts down the drive after it is idle for a while). Because of this I'm pretty sure that Time Capsule had crashed.
I experimented with re-booting my Mac but still no network etc so I tried power cycling the Time Capsule and everything came back to life.
I'm guessing that my doing a search (or some other drive activity on Time Capsule) at the same time as Time Machine kicking in with a backup caused Time Capsule to crash.
Perhaps this is not a very interesting point if this problem is not repeatable but - well, I'd be interested to know if others have seen similar behavior...

I'm having a very similar problem and it is detrimental.
Here is the scenario: I have a 1TB Time Capsule as my primary router. I am able to perform backups on all but one of my machines. My iMac backs up via 1GB ethernet to the TC, my MacBookAir (60GB,SS) backs up via wireless N (270mb) and my other MacBookAir (80GB,IDE) also backs up via wireless N without any problems.
I used to use a 500mb external drive to backup my iMac but outgrew it, so I started backing up to the TC instead. No problems at all.
I also used to back up my Intel MacMini running Mac OS X Server 10.5.5 to a similar external hard-drive but haven't in a while.
I decided it finally made sense to backup ALL my Mac's to the same 1TB TimeCapsule but it's just not working out!
On the MacMini; I turn on TimeMachine, the TimeCapsule has been chosen as a backup location, it prepares backup for a moment, mounts the backup drive and then appears to begin backup up... No...! First I get a message the the TimeCapsule closed the connection, next I lose Internet connection across my entire network both wired and wireless and then the TimeCapsule light turns amber, flashes and essentially does a completel crash / reset and then comes back to life a few moments later. I can backup any other computer except the MacMini to the TimeCapsule without "crashing" it and it makes no sense! Every computer is completely up to date with all the latest patches and the TimeCapsule is running 7.3.2
I sure hope this gets resolved, seems like other people are pretty disgusted with the performance of the TimeCapsule with problems that have no resolution.

How to delete all content on a time capsule created by Time Machine, and begin again creating a new savings bundle

How to delete all content on a time capsule created by Time Machine, and begin again creating a new savings bundle ?

You make a sparse bundle.. but don't ask me how that is different to a bundle of savings. Sparsebundle is what the special TM backup is called. It is a kind of disk image I think.. what makes it sparse is unclear as well.
Anyway.. you are on Lion I guess.. download 5.6 utility for Lion. http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1482
So you can get a utility that does utilities.. and not pretty faces.
And go to the disk page and erase the drive.. a quick erase is plenty and is pretty fast.

180 GB of my 639-GB Macintosh hard drive is used. 320 GB of my 498-GB Tie Capsule is used. Only one backup ("now") exists for the Time Capsule, which can no longer backup because of "insufficient space". How come? What is wrong?"

180 GB of my 639-GB Macintosh hard drive is used. 320 GB of my 498-GB Tie Capsule is used. Only one backup ("now") exists for the Time Capsule, which can no longer backup because of "insufficient space". How come? What is wrong?"

Thank you William for your most helpful response. I shall deal first with your three comments:
Not being tech savvy, I would not have been able to make that call myself but it sure makes sense.
I have updated my profiles as you suggest. Excellent tip.
This guidance is good. Being new to Apple Support Communities, I did not find the field a labeling and guidance to be clear, a point you make. Now I know, I shall do as you say and will use the small slim box as a header to the full message/question, which will place in the larger box below.
Secondly, I come to your question: Did anything change on your Mac recently, such as replacing the disk or main logic board?
The answer is “yes”. Two events have happened both of which concerned the Time Capsule:
The telephone company, with which I have access to the Internet and I have my email account, installed a new modum. After the technician left I had to try and get the Time Capsule and WiFi working again which ended with my having to call Apple for technical assistance. The Apple technician walked me through a number of procedural steps which effectively re-set up the Time Capsule.
Access to the Internet failed and the telephone company reset the modum. I had to call Apple again. This time the technician did not reset the Time Capsule but walked me through a number of steps tha included renaming the “site” (not the Time Capsule).
Another piece of information that may be relevant is that the MacBook Pro uses the Time Capsule for backup. Everything appears to be in order. When I enter the Time Capsule for this laptop I have backups going back for a long time.
Also, I do a weekly backup of the two computers onto another external hard drive using the Time Machine software. So I have another backup of both computers.

Error Dialogue: "Time Machine Backup Disk Can't be Found"

Hello -
I am trying to "Enter Time Machine" (which is on a Time Capsule); but when I try this, I am met by the error message "Your Time Machine Backup Disk Can't be Found" with the option given to "Set up My Time Machine".
Needless to say, my Time Machine has been set up for months. When I look in the preferences, it clearly shows the disk I'm connected to (here's a screenshot of the error dialogue alongside my Time Machine preferences: http://cl.ly/1HGk).
Any idea what the best course of action is here.
ADDITIONAL NOTE: notice from the screenshot that Time Machine thinks the earliest backup is only 1 day prior. This is also strange as I have said I've had Time Machine working on this Time Capsule for months. I called Apple about this and was told that a software update had gone out yesterday that reformatted the drives and started the backups all over again. While completely fishy - I don't remember agreeing to any software update dialogue about erasing my Time Capsule - I took them at their word. Not sure if this is related, but thought I should mention it.
Thanks Crew!

MattLat wrote:
Hello -
I am trying to "Enter Time Machine" (which is on a Time Capsule); but when I try this, I am met by the error message "Your Time Machine Backup Disk Can't be Found" with the option given to "Set up My Time Machine".
Needless to say, my Time Machine has been set up for months. When I look in the preferences, it clearly shows the disk I'm connected to (here's a screenshot of the error dialogue alongside my Time Machine preferences: http://cl.ly/1HGk).
Any idea what the best course of action is here.
The +sparse bundle+ containing your backups may be corrupted. Repair it, per #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of the +Time Machine+ forum).
If that doesn't help, try a "full reset" of Time Machine, per #A4 there.
ADDITIONAL NOTE: notice from the screenshot that Time Machine thinks the earliest backup is only 1 day prior. This is also strange as I have said I've had Time Machine working on this Time Capsule for months. I called Apple about this and was told that a software update had gone out yesterday that reformatted the drives and started the backups all over again.
That's the first I've heard of that. They may have been referring to the +Time Capsule Backup Update 1.0+ update several weeks ago, that some folks got but others didn't. If it finds a problem, it sends the message in this article: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4076 The existing sparse bundle is renamed and locked, and a new one made.

How do I backup my time capsule to another time capsule over the internet

I have a Time Capsule that I use for backups locally within my own home. My parents have one as well that they use for their backups. Ideally it would be great to have my backups offsite -- if your house burns down it doesn't help that your backups were in the house...
So is there a way to copy (automatically) the image from one TC to another and vice versa over the internet?

No, there isn't, and even if there was, it would take forever, or possibly longer.
Any backup done over the internet will be quite slow; upload speeds are generally much, much slower than download speeds. Some of the companies that do internet backups, such as Mozy, Carbonite, etc., actually ship you an external HD for the first backup. You ship that back, they load it onto their servers, then do "incremental" backups of what's changed over the net.
In addition, it's not a good idea to back up a backup; any problem with the original will be copied to, and perhaps magnified, on the copy.
A much better approach is to get a portable external HD; do backups to it, then take it to a secure off-site location. See #27 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions for some suggestions, especially the pink box there.
It still might be a good idea to have some limited data backed-up over the internet, such as relatively-small things and/or things that rarely change.

Setting up Time Capsule as a Time Machine backup disk

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