Successfully restored my MacBook Air from Time Capsule

This is one occasion where the Superdrive is useless.
Here's why if you have an Air and a Time Capsule you should have bought the USB->Ethernet adapter. Don't leave home without it
Yesterday it seemed my Air got screwed up so I had to restore from my Time Capsule. This was non trivial at first because if you try to do it wirelessly it will take forever. This was a complete restore from the Install application not a selective file restore. It's not exactly clear how that's done but what you do is boot Leopard install DVD and then select under Utilities "Restore from Time Machine Backup" and follow the steps. Now the trick is that if you do it wireless it will take a very long time so in my case I wanted to do it over ethernet to the Time Caspule. Well doing that will take up the one USB port the MacBook Air has and you cannot boot into the Installer App via DVD and then remove the Superdrive thinking that it only needs the Time Capsule to do the restore. It seems to need to load more from the DVD during the restore step. So the only way this can be done with a device like Time Capsule is to use Remote Disk which frees up the USB port such that it can be plugged into the ethernet LAN port of the Time Capsule with the USB -> Ethernet adapter.
Doing it this way dramatically improves the restore time.
If anybody knows how this can be done over ethernet when you don't have another computer to use for Remote Disk I'd like to know about it. From what I could tell you always have to have the DVD available during the restore step which because the Superdrive has to be plugged into the MacBook Air's port only will take up all available ports.

I ran into this exact issue when I first purchased my MBA. The solution I came up with as is follows:
I partitioned my TM drive into two partitions. The first partition is 8gb and the second is the remainder of the disk. I made sure that the drive was set up to be bootable from an Intel Mac. I then made a backup of my install disk onto that 8gb partition again verifying that it was bootable. You can do this by creating a disk image of the install disk and then restoring that disk image to the TM drive.
I now have a full install disk on my Time Machine drive and can do a full recovery with just that drive plugged in.

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How to restore macbook pro from time capsule machine backup

ow do I restore my MacBook Pro from time capsule machine as hard drive was crashing and replaced with new hard drive.

OS X Yosemite: Recover your entire system
To follow the instructions, you'll need to start up either from Internet Recovery or from your installation disc, depending on the model.

After "restoring" my MacBook Pro via time capsule, all I get is a white screen with the apple in the middle and the little spin wheel spinning and spinning and spinning for 24 hrs now...

After "restoring" my MacBook Pro via time capsule, all I get is a white screen with the apple in the middle and the little spin wheel spinning and spinning and spinning for 24 hrs now...

Hello kdcha55,
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
To troubleshoot this issue where your Mac is stuck on the gray screen with a spinning gear, please follow the steps in the support article linked to below.
Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
Take care,
Alex H.

I cannot transfer my iTunes library to the new macbook pro from time capsule,what to do?

what to do to transfer itune library from time capsule into the new mac book pro(retina)?

You have an Apple Store across the street, how convenient... I think you should just walk over and ask.
NOTE: Your iTunes library exists on your computer. Unless you subscribe to Apple's iTunes Match service (which matches or uploads your library's songs and playlists into iCloud), you cannot use another computer and access your library.
However, you can download previous purchases from the iTunes Store (at no cost) into a different iTunes library (not your library), and then set up the iPod to sync to that library, or set it to Manually manage music and videos, and manually load the songs (and other content) to your iPod. The manual method may be better in this case, since you won't be accessing that computer's iTunes library again.
To do this, go to the iTunes Store Home screen. Sign in using your Apple ID (the one you used to make the purchases). Click Purchased under QUICK LINKS. On the Purchased screen, you can find and download previous purchases. It may not be available for audiobook purchases.
After the iPod has the content, you should probably delete everything you downloaded in the computer's iTunes library.

Can't restore to my MacBook Air from Time Machine

Dear All,
If anyone can help me solve this I'd be very grateful.
My MacBook Air's (MBA) hard drive had to be replaced (S.M.A.R.T. issues). All well and good, I backed up regularly by Time Machine before I took it to be replaced.
However, as the MacBook Air only has one USB port, I couldn't plug in the external HD that had the Time Machine back ups on it plus the SuperDrive with the Snow Leopard Installation Disk on it (you actually use the disk's Utilities section to Restore System From Backup). So there went that solution.
I tried using a multi-USB plug-in but this has NEVER worked with the MBA - it just doesn't recognize that anything is attached to it.
So I thought - ok - never fear - how about Migration Assistant? I tried using that to restore from a Time Machine backup, but it wouldn't recognize my external HD either.
Getting a bit desperate - because I have both a MBA and an iMac, I figured I would use the iMac's Remote Install OSX option in Utilities (Applications) - connecting the two computers over an AirPort network as it suggests - it all goes well on the iMac up to a point, but then the MBA never actually connects to the iMac and so I can't go any further.
I was going to use the remote install disk and then use it's Utilities option as mentioned above.
I just don't know what else to try and have reached my level of computer knowledge now.
I take my MBA to work at the office every day so I really need it up and running as it was.
Does any kind soul out there have a solution for me on this one? - and if it's highly technical would you mind explaining it step by step in layman's terms as I'm no IT genius ;-D
Thanks ever so much
Clair

ClairHL wrote:
I tried using a multi-USB plug-in but this has NEVER worked with the MBA - it just doesn't recognize that anything is attached to it.
This is a guess, but if you're referring to an bus-powered USB hub, I'd try a hub that has its own external power supply.

How do I restore an iPhoto library from Time Capsule

My iMac was stolen. I have a MacBook Air running Yosemite version 10.10.2. The iPhoto Library was not on the MacBook. How do I restore my iPhoto Library from a Time Machine backup on my Time Capsule onto my MacBook? I am using iPhoto version 9.6.1.
Two complications:
1. I have several hundred photos from a different iPhoto library on my MacBook.
2. I think the iPhoto library that is hopefully on my Time Capsule is too big to fit on my MacBook. I have 50 GB free space remaining on a 256 GB SSD.
Thank you.

If the library to be restored is too big for your boot drive you'll need to get an external HD, formatted OS X Extended (journaled) with ownership set to be ignored, and restore the iPhoto Library to it according to the instructions in the following screenshot:
With the restored library up and running you can use the paid version of iPhoto Library Manager to merge the Macbook library into the restored library on the EHD. A possible candidate for the EHD is the OWC Mercury On-The-Go Pro USB 3.0 / FireWire 800. It lends itself nicely for portable use.
Once you are satisfied that the merge was successful you can delete the Macbook library from the Pictures folder.

Help! How can I restore iTunes/iPhoto library from Time Capsule to new Mac?

Sorry to trouble you, because it looks like this should be an easy thing, but I can't find an answer anywhere...
I've got an 2008 MacBook Pro that suddenly began to suffer start up problems. Sometimes it boots to a black/grey screen and sometimes the screen/mouse freezes after only a few minutes of use.
I've borrowed my brother's Mac until I can find out how to get mine repaired, so I'd like to copy over my iTunes and iPhoto stuff from a Time Capsule (where I'm hoping it hasn't been damaged) to his Mac. I only want to copy the iTunes and iPhoto stuff, without filling up his computer with all my other junk.
Is there an easy way to do this? Thanks!

Hi ...
I've found a solution to my problem.
Time Machine locates extenal HDD backups differently depending if they were done via a network or via a USB/FireWire/Thunderbolt connection.
My initial backup was done via a direct Thunderbolt connection. I ran into the above issue b/c the second time when I tried looking for the backup file the HDD was conencted to my iMac and I was accessing it via a network conenction.
I simply connected the drive directly to my MacBook pro and ... voila. I was able to see the backup, select the iPhoto library and begin the restore.
Hope this helps.
BTW - I found this out by reading the 'blue box' selection on this page: http://pondini.org/TM/E2.html
(Thanks goes to Pondini!)

Restoring new hard drive from time capsule

I am attempting to restore my new macbook pro hard drive from my time capsule. I follow the prompts at start up and select "from time machine or other disk" when I get to the "transfer infromation to this mac" screen. the next screen says "select source" it shows the picture of a time capsule, which is not selectable. When I click "conitnue" i get the spining circle and "looking for other computers..." it never goes any further. I was able to connect to the time capsule from another computer, so, I assume it working---don't know what else to do

Try this:
Drive Preparation and Installation for Lion/Mountain Lion
1. Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
7. After formatting is done quit DU and return to the main menu. You can now select the option to restore from a Time Machine backup, then click on the Continue button.

Restore full macbook pro from time machine backup stored on Synology DiskStation DS411

Hi,
I backed up my macbook pro (running Mac OS x 10.8) with time machine on a Synology DiskStation DS411.
I never had any problem to backup my entire computer (~330gb) with Time Machine, others colleagues do so.
Recently my hard drive failed and I had it replaced. I want to restore the full computer from this DiskStation. When I turn on the computer with the new drive, It proposes me to restore the data from a disk but can't find it even though I am plugged on the netwrok.
I tried to copy and paste the entire folder on an external hard drive with a windows 7 machine, then plugged the hard drive to the macbookpro but it could still not see the hard drive.
I don't really know what to do anymore. Can anyone help?
Thanks.
J

Backing up to a third-party NAS with Time Machine is risky, and unacceptably risky if it's your only backup. This is an example of what can happen.
If your only backup is on the NAS, contact the vendor for support.
If you want network backup with Time Machine, use as the destination either an Apple Time Capsule or an external hard drive connected to another Mac or a mini-tower (802.11ac) AirPort base station. Only the 802.11ac base station supports Time Machine, not any previous model.

I have a macbook air and time capsule...

Is there anyway of using the usb on both the time capsule and macbook air to do a full back up as it takes ages wirelessly and the macbook air has no ethernet port to do this.
thanks rob

Don't think so. The Time Capsule is looking for external drives & printers on the usb not Macs. Even if it saw it, Time Machine on your Mac would create the wrong kind of backup file on the capsule. If you have the drive connected via usb it'll create a regular folder with the backups. If you connect via network it'll create a sparse image bundle instead. So you can't even create the initial backup via usb and then transfer it to the capsule.

Macbook Air and Time Capsule

I have my air connected to time capsule with an ethernet cable/usb adapter. I cannot connect to it directly. I can only connect if the time capsule is connected to the internet with the ethernet cable, and it doesn't need to be connected via usb.
I am trying to use time capsule as a HD, and wanted to have imovie / idvd files on it, but imovie will not read it.
I do have TC passworded.
Any thoughts?

Thank you.
So, to conclude, it is not possible to use TC with imovie, in any manner, even if I had a disk image on TC, and put my files on the disk image. Therefore, no need to try to make a disk image and mount it, if in the end it won't work for imovie.
It would seem that the imovie programmers should find a way to make it as friendly as iphoto or aperture, both of which can open files from the Time Capsule. I can even open IDVD files directly from TC!
So, if this is the case, I thank you for your answers, and I will mark this as answered.
No one at apple support could resolve this question. One rep told me to use a usb cable to connect from the TC to the mac air, which didn't work either. I'll be returning that cable!
Thanks for the help!

Internet Connectivity issue on my MacBook Air using Time Capsule.

My brand new Air has a connectivy problem on my home network. My iMac, iPhone 4 and iPad all use the same time capsule network with no drop of Internet. My air is showing full strength wifi signal but it loses the Internet connection every 5 minutes or so, and reconnects after 3 or 4 minutes with no help from me.
The Air shows no such problems using the office wifi network.
Please help! The Air is 4 days old and might be heading back to the iStore (or off the balcony) if I can't solve the issue soon.
Many thanks

What exactly is crashing?

Anyone else had success with Kodak 5100 printing from Time Capsule?

So I recently bought a Time Capsule and until now have been happily printing from USB port on PC and now on Mac.
We were going to buy a wireless printer but found out that the Time Capsule supports that capability by connecting a printer to the USB on the Time Capsule.
So, set it all up, connected my Kodak 5100 and it appears to see it and lists the printer in the print utility on my Mac as location "Time Capsule".
Printer is on, paper in, ink levels ok.... print a test page and my Mac thinks it's printing but the Kodak 5100 Easyshare (!!) is doing nothing!
Having searched the blogs for a while, and mindful that the Kodak 5100 is a couple of years old now, I eventually found a solution that appears to work!!
You can download an older software for the 5100 here http://www.userdrivers.com/Printer/Kodak-All-in-One-Printer-Software-3-5-for-Mac -OS-X/download/
I have to thank someone else for suggesting this back in 2009 on another post on this forum but I can't find the post so thank you whomever it is, this still works! When you set up the driver, you need to select that you are connecting to the printer through another Mac - I think the only other option I had was to select USB connection. Once you are in, you'll notice that the software is not as user friendly as the latest versions but if you can print wirelessly from your Mac, then I'd like to think you won't care about the UI of the printer software!
I've only just done this and tested with a colour excel from MS Excel for Mac so will let you know if anything else doesn't work!

I've tried using an ethernet connection. It does work faster and I seem to get more files over, but it STILL eventually hangs. I've given up with Time Capsule and now backup to a Lacie 1Tb disk. It would nice to know what is going wrong you Apple guys!

Restore just iPhoto Library from Time Capsule, to a new machine

Hi,
To free up space on my MacBook Pro, I backed up my iPhoto library to Time Machine before moving the library to a seperate external hard-drive. My EHD was excluded from automatic time machine backups, and when it subsequently got unrepairably damaged about 4 weeks later I lost about 4 weeks of photos - luckily not a big problem. I checked time-machine and my old iPhoto library was still there in an earlier backup, not the latest - naturally that shows the current state of my MPB without an iPhoto library.
Now, I'm trying to restore the iPhoto library to a Mac Mini rather than to my MacBook Pro, however, I'm not having much luck. I've tried the following:
Use migration assistant, selecting only photos - this created a new account, (even though I didn't want it to) but the photo library was blank. I think this may be because my last time-machine back up was after I'd moved iPhoto to an EHD
Use finder to navigate to the correct iPhoto folder in time-machine... I get an error message saying I don't have permission to access the file
I have used the same apple ID when setting up the the Mac Mini as I did on the MBP, but the accounts have slightly different names.
I would appreciate any help you could give.

Setup Assistant would be my recommendation for this if possible.
Migration Assistant can work, but there may be some issues with file ownership and permissions.
See Pondini's great support document on this:
http://pondini.org/OSX/Setup.html

Macbook air restored from time capsule backup cannot find ms office product key

Had a moisture problem on my Macbook Air. Had to replace with newer pc as could not wait a week for repair. Had been using Time Machine and a Time Capsule hard drive to back up and the final backup was about 5 minutes before the spill.
So, I was able to fully restore the new laptop from Time capsule. Only problem is that I had purchased MS Office and while the programs are restored, when I launch MS Word, it wants the product code. I cannot find my cd and packaging with the product code from my original purchase. Any way to get the code off the Time capsule backup? It must be stored there somewhere but I wonder if it was encrypted and somehow linked to a physical something on the damaged MBAir.
I'm hoping to not have to buy MS Office again.
Thanks for any advice.
JC

Here you go:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2279109

Successfully restored my MacBook Air from Time Capsule

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