Synology DS211+ w/ 2 3TB Deskstars & Time Machine.. Your input please.

Alright, this is my first NAS server I'm setting up and I am wondering what the best way would be the set it up as.
For starters, how should these drives be formatted as? My main computers are two Macs, ocassionally I jump on a Windows 7 (32bit) machine. I also have a PS3 and an AppleTV (2nd Gen) that I would like to access the NAS.
I'm not so concerned about the Windows 7 machine. I've read that the 32bit OS has a limitation of only recognizing 2.2TB, but what about the other devices that I want to use?
How should I format these drives? If I went with HFS Plus would it lock out my PS3 from accessing it? Keep in mind that I also plan on using the NAS for my Time Machine backups and I've read that the best way is for HFS Plus to ensure compatibility and error-free backups. With that in mind, I may create a separate partition just for Time Machine, so that's not too much of a concern. I'm also being told that I can perform Time Machine backups without any issues on non HFS Plus partitions.
Thanks for your feedback.

Synology uses a Linux OS and EXT4 file format for the hard drives and supports the new 3TB hard drives (unlike Windows based NASs).
Just like Airport Extreme uses HFS+ and still allows PCs to access the file data, your Synology will not have problems sharing data with your PlayStation, AppleTV, PC and Mac.
I recently went thru setting up my Synology NAS for use with Macs and all the issues in choosing the right hard drives.
I'm hoping to start blogging about using Time Machine on my NAS and have found Pondini's FAQ invaluable. Based on his FAQ I haven't let my NAS take over the TimeMachine backup duties yet. http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/2.html
I'm just using the Synology as a shared iTunes NAS and it is working great for streaming to my Macs, PCs, iPhones and iPad. Apple TV is another issue. Non-hacked units need itunes served from a Mac or PC, not a NAS so you may be out of luck on the last part of the wish list.
Stephen Inoue
blogging about Macs and Synology at: http://macsynology.wordpress.com

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HT201250 What is Airport Utility and why do I need to access this in order to backup my iMac using Time Machine...PLEASE??

What is Airport Utility and why do I need to access Airport witeless devices in order to backup my iMac using Time Machine...HELP!!! PLEASE??

AirPort Utility is required to configure an Apple AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule.
Time Machine can use a Time Capsule or a locally connected volume. You only need to use AirPort Utility if you are using a Time Capsule.

How To Properly Use Time Machine...Please Assist

Hi,
I am new to Time Machine and am trying to figure out the best way to use it. I understand that Time Machine is a back up solution and not an archive solution. However, when the drive gets full am I able to control which files it begins to erase?
If the answer to this is no, then I need to find another place to store these files ie; dvd, tape back up for a long term archive.
Am I right to say that the best way to use Time Machine is as a redundant copy of your data so I can restore it any time and if I want to remove stuff off my hard drive that I want to keep I need to find another place to put it.
I am just confused as the way it was marketed was if you accidentally delete something, than you can go back in time to restore, but what if time machine decides to erase it arbitrarily?
Any assistance would be grateful
Thanks,

Elli Raynai1 wrote:
I am new to Time Machine and am trying to figure out the best way to use it. I understand that Time Machine is a back up solution and not an archive solution. However, when the drive gets full am I able to control which files it begins to erase?
No, it deletes the oldest monthly back ups first. It will warn you before it starts deleting anything. You have a choice at that time to use a different location to start a new Time Machine thus preserving all your old Time Machine Files.
If the answer to this is no, then I need to find another place to store these files ie; dvd, tape back up for a long term archive.
I think this is prudent. I make a disk image of my system the day I start a new time machine.
Am I right to say that the best way to use Time Machine is as a redundant copy of your data so I can restore it any time and if I want to remove stuff off my hard drive that I want to keep I need to find another place to put it.
This is what I do. I have one hard drive marked storage just for this purpose.
I am just confused as the way it was marketed was if you accidentally delete something, than you can go back in time to restore, but what if time machine decides to erase it arbitrarily?
For me it works as marketed. It does not atbitraingly delete stuff. It deletes the oldest monthly back up first and asks for permission before it does that. As long as you understand how it works you should not have a problem. I have never relied on one back up of anything even before time machine.
The bigger your Time Machine drive the longer back in time you can go.

Time machine partion help please!

I know this isnt the most accurate place to post this, but it ties in with time machine.
i have a 500gb external hard drive, partitioned in 2. one half is a bog standard hard drive for both windows and os x, the other is os x journaled for time machine.
How do i get the time machine partition to use the entire 500gb drive, without erasing the data on the partiton?
its fine to delete the data from the normal hard drive partition, as its been backed up to the new drive.

BennyboyOxtoby wrote:
yes luckily its on the top. so i can click on the 2nd partition, click the minus symbol, and then drag the time machine partition down to the bottom?
Great! Then it's easy. Just be careful.
why does it work this way? is there a technological reason for it? or is it just because the draggable sections only support being pulled down rather than up?
It's because a partition is nothing like a folder. Partitions occupy contiguous physical space on a disk; and the directory is first in each partition. Even an "empty" partition isn't quite empty -- there's a whole directory structure on it. Depending on the Format of the partition, it may be about 200 mb. If you've ever done a +*Verify Disk+* or +*Repair Disk+* (not permissions), you'll see references to all the various parts. That structure can be expanded as you add data, of course, but it can't be moved, so you can't expand a partition "upwards" on the disk.

Time Machine-FileVault! Please help!

Hi,
I have tried looking extensively on the net and here, but can not seem to find an answer that I understand or that helps. I am not sure what else to do and need some advice.
To cut the story short, I decided to encrypt my macbook due to some confidential work files being on there. I run time machine as my back up. From what I could see, it backs up the entire drive. I have since seen on line that it only backs up when you log out, I find this a little strange.
Anyway, I had some issues which caused me to do a full wipe of the system and start again. I restored from the Time Machine and when it came to logging in, it would not allow me. I re installed Mac OSX and then tried to restore from back up, it seemed to copy across 23gb of something but whatever it was, it did not show anything on my system.
I have 10 years of photos, music and documents on there and would really love not to lose it all, I thought I was doing the right thing by backing up etc
I have a couple drives, the actual time machine I individually copied stuff onto recently before using time machine, I am thinking about paying to try and retrieve that stuff.
Can anyone help at all?
Thanks

To understand what's happened you need to learn how FileVault works:
Your home folder is stored in a sparsebundle disk image in /Users.
When you log in that sparsebundle is mounted as /Users/username
Because Time Machine excludes mounted volumes it ignores /Users/username
It cannot backup the sparsebundle while it's mounted which is why it only works when you're logged out.
Even though things are broken in terms of logging in, so long as you can find the sparsebundle file in /Users you can mount it and get to your stuff.
You're probably best off getting your machine to create a new admin user and use this working user account to locate and operate on the old account's sparsebundle. To do this you need to boot into single user mode and remove the /var/db/.AppleSetupDone file and then go through the original initial setup process which will create an additional admin account (and set itself up to autologin to the new account)
If this is not making sense to you then I'd recommend popping into an Apple Store for a Genius appointment if you can.
FileVault is probably best avoided unless absolutely necessary.

Time machine questions. Please help

So, I'm getting rid of my laptop and switching.    I've had my time machine external HD plugged into my airport extreme doing backups.   Well, I just plugged it into the laptop directly and hit backup
So is it really just as simple as plugging the HD into the next computer and hitting "restore"    Is there any extra steps?   Will it come back just like this one is set up?
I'm nervous that I accidently deleted an older backup in time machine through the finder to make space for the new back up.   I hope that doesnt mess anything up.    This backup is only like 90 mb.    IS that cause it took previous ones so its only adding the new data since the last backup an hour ago?
I want to not include my movies that are in iTunes,    They eat up about 60 gb of space and my new computer HD will be smaller.   Is tehre a way to do that? I currently have the movies themselves copied onto the external.    But cant seem to get them out of my iTunes library.    Couple of questions regarding that..
    1. Is this a good idea
     2. Is that the best way to do it
     3, will doing that mess with my backup at all?
     4. How do I get them out of my itunes library to shrink the overall backup?
If my backup IS larger than my new HD, can I pick and choose what I want to put into it or not? Or will it give me message saying the backup is too large?
I know this was a lot of questions. But if anyone could please help I'd greatly appreciate it.
Thank you for reading.
----Confused and nervous

In order to do a TM restore, that means erasing the hard drive and restoring from a TM backup which will put everything back the way it was before, including the operating system. However, since you're getting another computer, don't go that route. I would only use that when restoring to the same computer.
You said you deleted backups via the Finder. Wrong move. You may have damaged your TM backup. Always better to delete from within TM.
If you're switching to a new computer and you don't need backups from different times, I would erase that external and create a new backup, or clone your hard drive using Super Duper or Carbon Copy cloner.
With the new computer, when you first log in, you will be asked if you want to migrate your data. This is the Setup Assistant. You should have your backup drive plugged in and imediately migrate your user account from the backup drive. You can also migrate applications (any apps installed by you), or just reinstall them after if you want a clean installation. You should have the option to unselect any data from your user folder that you don't want to migrate.

Time Machine Restore Fails PLEASE HELP!!!

Hello,
I originally installed Leopard as an Archive and Install. However, I was having performance issues and decided it would be best to make a backup with Time Machine and then bring everything back over with Migration Assistant. Now during the process of backup installation my computer snags up at the end on an iWork 08 file. However, I cant delete the file from my backup disc because of insufficent privlages (the exact error message is something to the effect of "the file cannot be deleted) Now, this wouldnt be a problem to restore everything 1 at a time through time machine prefrences>choose backup dic except for the fact when I try to bring my software back over that came bundled with the computer when I originally bought it. Specificaly im talking about Final Cut Pro HD: it ask for a product key that I dont have. Is there a way to regain admin privelages or a way to delete that particular file. Also, I have found my itunes music library but I cant find where my Movies,RIngtones, TV shows and Podcast are located in the FIle Hierarchy. If I need to manually bring my library over I dont want to lose purchased content. Where are these files located? If anyone can help me with these issues I would GREATLY appreciate it. I know it was dumb to do in the first place but I expected it to work and thus far its to no evail. I have a ton of programs installed that I have no idea where my install cd's are or product keys. PLEASE HELP!!!

Erik,
Thank you so much for all the detailed help. I figured out the solution. To delete any file permanently in Time Machine you have to do this. Open up Time Machine Window. Select a backup other than the most recent named "today" (or something like that). Then select the file. In the upper Time Machine Window there is a cog. Select the cog drop down menu and you get some options. Click Delete permanently from all backups. This is the ONLY way other than fudging with the root to permanently delete anything from a time machine backup. Otherwise, you get an error message about how back up items cant be edited (same if you try to drag it in the trash). Then, I had to do what you said and actually use Utility under the Leopard Install Disc instead of Restore from backup within leopard setup or Migration Assistant after setup. This actually erases the current Volume and fully restores the previous volume. Im not sure why that file was holding things up but this seems like the right fix. Now, my fingers are crossed but I think this will fix the problem. Again, thank you so much erik for the help.
*Note to anyone viewing this thread*
To restore from a time machine backup use Utility under the Leopard Install Disc and select a Time Machine Backup to restore. NOT Migration Assistant after Install and not the function after the install process where you choose the backup with your name,apps et. ( basically Migration assistant again but in leopard). You must use Utility from the Menu bar after the Leopard install disc restores.
To PERMANENTLY delete an item from ALL time machine backup-- Within the time Machine application Window select a back up other than the most previous one (why this is I do not know). Highlight the document and in the upper menu bar select the "cog" looking icon. The menu then drops down. Select *DELETE PERMANENTLY FROM ALL BACKUPS*. You cant do it through finder. You cant right click delete. You cant drag it in the trash.
I hope this thread helps anyone if they have a similar problem.
Once again thanks to Erik for all the detailed help!!!!
Message was edited by: John Milan
Message was edited by: John Milan

Accessing photos in iPhoto from Time Machine. Help Please!

I'm using the Time Machine Backup Hard drive from my iMac on my macbook pro to access my files whilst travelling. I'm having difficutly with accesing my iphotos. What do I do when I get this message: "The iPhoto Library is a Time Machine backup, and so cannot be used as the main library. Relaunch iPhoto with key held down to choose another library."
I have created two libraries but swapping between them still brings up this message.
Thanks for any assistance.

You can not open a Time Machine backup wusing iPhoto - you must launch TimeMachine, selet the library and restore it -- http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427
LN

Can not installed mountain lion msg" macintosh hd is using for time machine back up" please help

I downloaded mountain lion but can not install, msg" macintosh HD is using for time machine back up , how can I change that...thanks

Somehow, a Backups.backupdb folder got created on your startup drive.
You won't find it via a Spotlight or Finder search, so open your internal HD via the Finder.
That folder is at the top level. Just delete it.

External Drive locked after time machine restore. Please help

I've restored my Mac OS x (10.6.8) from a time machine backup after reformatting the iMac's hard drive.
After restoring all my files the external drive that time machine uses is locked and I cannot seem to get it to unlock itself.
I've tried resetting the permissions on the "get info" panel without any success (Did a restart after every change- it just seems to go back to custom priviledges). I've also toggled the "Ignore Ownership" toggle on and off- again followed by a restart each time.
I have no idea as to what else I can do.
The external drive is connected by Firewire 800 and is a RAID 1 configuration using two 2Tb drives.
I don't want to lose my existing time machine files on that external disc- hense formatting it is out of the question..
Any ideas or suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thanks for the reply guys.
Unfortunately none of what you said was helpful ds store. **** of a lot of effort and risk to go through just to get the drive unlocked. It might work though.
baltwo, thanks for the link. Those computer lingo sentances scare me big time. I'm a photographer, not some IT junkie! Thanks for the link as that got me reading some other posts and I then came accross other variations of " a+rx" that work for some but not for others. Sounded a bid dubios to me, especially since I'll have absolutely no clue as to what to do if things do go pear shape.
Nevertheless, I found the best sullution: a small app called BatChmod. (http://www.lagentesoft.com/)
Yeah, just what I needed!

Using TIme Machine on a MacBook Pro with an AFP connected External HD

I have successfully been able to setup my MacBook Pro to use TM to an external drive connected to my MacPro - however there are some interesting limitations/observations/
To make this configuration work - I had to go into the sharing system preferences and select file sharing and then add that external drive to my shared folders list.
Now if I have shut down my laptop and then come back home and plug it back into the network via Ethernet - TM will try to run the backup job at its next scheduled time but will fail! What I have to do to make it work is to open a finder window - click on my shared MacPro desktop which then pulls up all of the folders that are shared including the external TM hard drive (by the way), but it will still not be enabled via the system preference. This is especially odd since within the title bar of that finder window - it clearly states that I am connected to this computer as "William Harris" What I then have to do is double click on the folder that represents that external HD and as soon as I do that - the system preference shows the name of the external HD in bold (no longer grayed out) and the TM backup starts immediately!!! This will then continue to work without my intervention until I shut the laptop down again.
So - the fact that I must manually "re-connect" the connected AFP share point before TM will start to work again IMHO is a bug!
Anyone else seeing this function working differently?

gogetgil wrote:
Run a Synology DS211 and trying to get Time Machine on my MB Pro (Lion) to work with my NAS as backup. It show work...but...My Macbook Pro doesn't recognize the NAS when opening Time Machine, it doesnt show the NAS as an option. However, in Finder it does see my NAS and I can work with it. Can somebody explain in steps (for my MB Pro and NAS) what I am doing wrong?
I don't use one, but many folks use Synology NASs with Time Machine. However, a number of 3rd-party NASs need to be updated to work witih Lion, so check with Synology to be sure your model is compatible and/or has the latest updates.
It can be a bit tricky setting them up, however, as part of it must be done on the NAS, with the NAS's software, so follow Synology's instructions very carefully.

Run a NAS as Time Machine on a MacBook Pro

Run a Synology DS211 and trying to get Time Machine on my MB Pro (Lion) to work with my NAS as backup. It show work...but...My Macbook Pro doesn't recognize the NAS when opening Time Machine, it doesnt show the NAS as an option. However, in Finder it does see my NAS and I can work with it. Can somebody explain in steps (for my MB Pro and NAS) what I am doing wrong?
thanks in advance.

gogetgil wrote:
Run a Synology DS211 and trying to get Time Machine on my MB Pro (Lion) to work with my NAS as backup. It show work...but...My Macbook Pro doesn't recognize the NAS when opening Time Machine, it doesnt show the NAS as an option. However, in Finder it does see my NAS and I can work with it. Can somebody explain in steps (for my MB Pro and NAS) what I am doing wrong?
I don't use one, but many folks use Synology NASs with Time Machine. However, a number of 3rd-party NASs need to be updated to work witih Lion, so check with Synology to be sure your model is compatible and/or has the latest updates.
It can be a bit tricky setting them up, however, as part of it must be done on the NAS, with the NAS's software, so follow Synology's instructions very carefully.

Time machine fails with Synology NAS

Help...
I can't get Time Machine Back-ups to work with my synology NAS.
I can see shared folders in finder.
Have tried with a shared folder on drive in NAS (get error message: cannot create sparsebundle...)
Also tried with USB drive connected to NAS (process get started and get to around 10M backed up and then fails with error message: )
Tried with Mac and NAS on same switch - and got same results.
Appreciate any advice you can offer.

A third-party NAS is unsuitable for use with Time Machine, especially if it's your only backup. I know this isn't the answer you want. I know Time Machine accepts the NAS as a backup destination. I know that the manufacturer says the device will work with Time Machine, and I also know that it usually seems to work. Except when you try to restore, and find that you can't.
Apple has published a specification for network devices that work with Time Machine. None of the third-party NAS vendors, as far as I know, meets that specification. They all use the incomplete, obsolete Netatalk implementation of Apple Filing Protocol.
If you want network backup, use as the destination either an Apple Time Capsule or an external storage device connected to another Mac or to an 802.11ac AirPort base station. Only the 802.11ac base stations support Time Machine, not any older model.
Otherwise, don't use Time Machine at all. There are other ways to back up, though none of them is anywhere near as efficient or as well integrated with OS X. I don't have a specific recommendation.
If you're determined to keep using the NAS with Time Machine, your only recourse for any problems that result is to the manufacturer (which will blame Apple, or you, or anyone but itself.)

Yosemite: Time machine app backs up but won't launch

Since upgrading to Yosemite, my MacBook Air continues to run Time Machine backups (to a Synology NAS) but the actual Time Machine application fails to launch - the icon reacts to the clicked state but then nothing.
I'm running OSX 10.10.1 and my NAS is a DS211+ running DSM 5.1-5004 accessed via an Airport Extreme running 7.7.3
Any clues?

A third-party NAS is unsuitable for use with Time Machine, especially if it's your only backup. I know this isn't the answer you want. I know Time Machine accepts the NAS as a backup destination. I know that the manufacturer says the device will work with Time Machine, and I also know that it usually seems to work. Except when you try to restore, and find that you can't.
Apple has published a specification for network devices that work with Time Machine. None of the third-party NAS vendors, as far as I know, meets that specification. They all use the incomplete, obsolete Netatalk implementation of Apple Filing Protocol.
If you want network backup, use as the destination either an Apple Time Capsule or an external storage device connected to another Mac or to an 802.11ac AirPort base station. Only the 802.11ac base stations support Time Machine, not any older model.
Otherwise, don't use Time Machine at all. There are other ways to back up, though none of them is anywhere near as efficient or as well integrated with OS X. I don't have a specific recommendation.
If you're determined to keep using the NAS with Time Machine, your only recourse for any problems that result is to the manufacturer (which will blame Apple, or you, or anyone but itself.)

Transfer Time Machine files to larger drive

I've searched the forum but can only find references from 2011 and earlier. I'm suspicious that my problem might be Mt. Lion related.
I've outgrown my 3TB external Time Machine drive so have purchased a 4TB one. I had hoped to find a 5TB but I guess I'm ahead of the times for that.
I have the instructions for transferring TM files and followed them to a "t" (formatted new drive, turned off TM, Finder-dragged files from old TM drive to new drive). All went well for the first day; the copying chugged along nicely and in less than 24 hours 1.91 TB (of 2.86 TB) had copied over. That was at about 7pm yesterday. I left it overnight and when I got up this morning it was still sitting at the very same figures, obviously hung. I clicked the "cancel" X in the copy box, went and got breakfast, ate it ... and the Copy box was still thinking about cancelling, so I Force Quit the Finder. I've reformatted the 4TB drive in preparation for starting the copy process again. In the meantime, I figured I'd run the TM backup again so that it's current.
While I'm waiting for that to finish (I had to start it twice, as the first time the icon stopped spinning after a couple of seconds and just sat there, with the menu saying "Preparing". Now that I've stopped it and started it again, it's behaving as expected and the icon is spinning while it's "Preparing Backup") I thought I'd ask if it's even *possible* to copy so much data in Mt. Lion? I've been reading through some pages found via Google and it appears that Mt. Lion doesn't handle copying very well. Is that true? I'd prefer not to spend another day and a half waiting for a copying process that won't ever complete.
Is it possible to copy the TM Backkups.backupdb folder a bit at a time? In other words, create an empty folder with the same name on the new drive, then copy the files over a few at a time? I did try this when I had problems going from the 2TB drive to the 3TB drive, back in Snow Leopard, so I don't want to spend a lot of time trying it now if it is destined to fail.
Any insight into this situation will be appreciated. TIA!

Linc Davis wrote:
if I leave the current backups on the 3TB drive and just start anew on the 4TB drive, what would the likelihood be that I could retrieve a file or files from the old drive if necessary?
100%.
Absolutely correct! Not that I doubted your reply; it's just that weird things seem to happen to my computer(s) which never happen to anyone else, so I'm pleased to report that yes, I can access the files on my old 3TB drive.
Now I have another question. I found an old (2008) post in this forum telling me how to use Terminal to release the backups.backupdb folder from Time Machine so I can delete/move files if I so desire. Unfortunately, Teminal tells me "sudo: fsaclctl: command not found".
The original instructions, posted by Link Dupont in 2008, were:
"First, turn TM off in system preferences. then run the following in terminal.
"sudo fsaclctl -p /Volumes/"Time Machine drive" -d
"put the name of the Time machine drive in the above. keep the quotes. you'll have to enter your admin password (which you won't see). that's normal. the command will turn off the ACLs on the TM drive.
rename the backup folders for the old computers. DO NOT touch the folder with your current backups.
turn the ACLs back on with the following command
"sudo fsaclctl -p /Volumes/"Time Machine drive" -e
Turn Time Machine on."
Is there a new command I can use in Mt. Lion?

Synology DS211+ w/ 2 3TB Deskstars & Time Machine.. Your input please.

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