Time capsule and external hard drive

Can I attach a USB drive to time capsule to expand storage for my auto backups?

Just to add a warning.. the external USB plugged into the TC is very slow. It won't matter a lot for small incremental backups but you will really notice it for large backups.. Make sure the external is used for least amount of data transfer devices. And slower ones on wireless it will be less noticable.

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Please Help - Time Capsule and External hard drive Issues

Recently, I switched from Comcast to AT&T uverse as my internet provider and I started experiencing problems.
(1) I have a 4th generation Apple Time Capsule which I am using as my router.
(2) Connected to the Apple Time Capsule - USB - is an external hard drive (not for backup with Time Machine.)
(3) I have a 2011 Macbook pro which I use to access my file on my time capsule and external hard drive.
(4) I had been using my AT&T portable Hotspot from my cell phone to get internet access on my MacBook pro from remote locations to gain access to my external hard drive which is attached to the time capsule.
(5) On August 2, 2014, I switched from Comcast to AT&T and had the AT&T turn off the router function. (I have been using the router from my apple time capsule)
(6) Under Network I switched to bridge mode.
(7) And since August 2, 2014 my time capsule has not been backup.
THE PROBLEM - I need to be able to use the hotspot function from my cell phone to gain access on the external hard drive using my MacBook Pro which I was able to do before. Now it is showing time capsule under finder but unable to connect.
Do I need to reset my Time Capsule since I have a new service provider. Everything else works fine - meaning able to get internet signal but unable to access my external hard drive and backup my time capsule. Please HELP.

(5) On August 2, 2014, I switched from Comcast to AT&T and had the AT&T turn off the router function. (I have been using the router from my apple time capsule)
(6) Under Network I switched to bridge mode.
(7) And since August 2, 2014 my time capsule has not been backup.
If you got ATT to turn off router function in their modem..
Then 6. is wrong.. You cannot have the Network switched to bridge mode..
You must have it set to dhcp and nat.
That is also why you cannot backup.. the TC is off the network.
Please change back to router mode in the TC.
Ensure the internet tab shows dhcp and you create a wireless network.
Then power down the TC... power down the ATT modem.. wait about 20min (you can try 5min.. but it might not be long enough).
Power up the ATT modem.. wait 2min for things to flash lights in de right blinkin order.. then start the TC.
Open the airport utility and make sure your TC captured the public IP and is now working as the router.
That should fix that end of it.. the hotspot end??
Tell us what happens.

1st Gen Time Capsule and External Hard Drive Issues

I have a 1st generation Time Capsule and have never had any luck connecting an external hard drive (both Western Digital MyBook and Seagate FreeAgent Pro) via an USB hub for an extended period. They will connect for a few hours or up to a day or two before they lose the connection and look up the wi-fi connection (although the internet and connected printer don't seem affected). Thought it might be an issue with the powered hub, but have same issue with both (Belkin and APC). I have read that others have had similar issues.
For laughs, I connected a dinky personal drive (WD My Passpoert 750gb) to the USB hub and it came up instantly and had no issues for the 12+ hours it was connected. Question #1: can I run a portable drive for an extended period of time (weeks, months, years) via USB hub without killing it?
Also, I would like to house my large iTunes and iPhoto libraries to be accessed by 3 different MacBooks. Question #2: is a NAS drive connected directly via ethernet to the TC is the best answer?
I am spoiled by the simplicity of the plug-and-play connectivity of Apple products. Is there a mysterious sequence of procedures that I need to follow to get the Time Capsule to play well with the USB connected HDs?
Thanks in advance for your help.

To answer the general question, a drive that is constantly spinning is both more likely to be damaged and less likely to give issues of access to the USB.. the one fights the other. Feel the small passport drive and see if it is continually spinning.. if so that could account for it maintaining connection.. although according to your testing 12hrs is not long enough to know for sure. Feel the other drives. If they spin down and then when you try to access them, do they spin up? Or is it the spin down time that dictates the time they are available on the network. It may simply be a case of usb connected to a router is not getting the correct spin up info.
IMHO a NAS is the right way to do this.. especially if you have multiple computers accessing it. USB is not a fast connection. Especially hanging off the TC series 1, were not renowned for speed. A NAS is not that expensive now and using a mirrored raid you at least have some protection. Remember to always have the source files in mulitple locations. A NAS can also work as an itunes server, which the TC cannot. And the connection from gigabit ethernet to sata is not made via usb.
As a secondary option.. open your series 1 TC and put in a 2TB hdd.. this is well documented.. larger sizes give trouble but the series one can easily be updated to 2TB.. remember also the power supply in a series one can go at any moment. Get ready for it, plan for it.. one day it will happen.

Setting up Time Capsule and external hard drive

Hi,
In the past i've been using Time Machine for backing up all my data from my Mac Book Pro to a 120GB lacie external hard drive.
I've now purchased a Time Capsule and want to know the best way to transfer my backup data from the External HD to my Time Capsule.
Once that is done, i want to mount my External HD to the Time Capsule so i can use it as external storage for music, photos etc. and access it from my laptop when required.
Is this possible and recommended.
I've also got a PS3 and was wondering whether i can hook this up to all of the above as well.

read these hypertexts and then you'll determine its a no no...different file system.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/04/04/exploringtime_capsule_feature_and_suitabilityreview.html

Time capsule and external hard drives

Good morning support group! I have a new Macbook and time capsule. My iPhoto library and iTunes are on external hard drives and are (gulp) not backed up properly. Can I set up the TC to back up the external hard drives and the macbook. If I set it up not to exclude the EHDs does it get upset when they are not connected or do I have to re-set it whenever I want to back them up? Can I go from wifi to ethernet or other type of wire to do the first back up as they are pretty big. So sorry many questions but really appreciate the help!

Of course you can back up your external drives, providing that they are formatted in HFS+ (it is also known as "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)". Just connect the external drives to your Mac, go to System Preferences -> Time Machine -> Options, and remove them from the excluded items list. You may have to press the padlock at the bottom left part of the Time Machine window in order to do that.

Airport Time Capsule and external hard drive issue

I have an external hard drive connected to my 3TB airport time capsule. It no longer shows up in the finder sidebar on my iMac, which is connected via ethernet. It does appear on my Macbook Pro, connected via Wi Fi. It worked normally when first set up. I no longer have a way to drag files from my iMack to the hard drive so I can share them with my MacBook Pro. I am running Mavericks.

This is crude but if you need a work around, just plug the USB drive directly into the iMac.. copy the files to it.. then plug it into the TC.
You also do not need to use the TC as an intermediary between your iMac and MBP.. just turn on sharing in the computer.. so you can directly copy files from one to the other.. Macs have public access directory preconfigured for each user account.
As far as mounting the TC..
In finder use Go, Connect to server.. and type.
AFP://TCname or TCipaddress
Where TCname is the actual name of the TC.. I strongly recommend you follow SMB network rules.. ie if your TC has a name like
Fred Blog's Time Capsule 2445566.
It is too long.. it has spaces and it has non-alphanumeric characters.
Shorten it to FredTC
No spaces no characters that are NOT alphanumeric.
TCIPaddress is simply the standard IP.
You can also use CIFS://TCname which according to the article forces the connection back to SMB1 rather than SMB2 which as usual is broken.
But I would definitely use AFP if possible. I cannot understand the decision to move to SMB as standard.

What is the best configuration with Mac Book air, time capsule and external hard drive?

Hi, I just bought a MacBook Air with the new Time Capsule and I was wondering what is the best set up:
Option 1: use the time capsule as my main drive and back it up onto an external drive plugged at the back of it
or Option 2: use the external drive as the main drive and use the time capsule as the back up? in that case, would the ext drive need to be plugged to the MacBook Air?
Many thanks

Option 2 is far superior.. and actually the only one that works.
That is without killing yourself or having continual issues accessing your files.
You do need to plug the external disk into the MBA.

Time Machine and External Hard Drive wireless backup over airport extreme

Ok can this be done? I have an external HD that I used a firewire to connect to my macbook pro and it backed up my movies,photo's etc without a problem.
When I realized I could plug the HD into the back of the extreme I tried that and I can see the shared HD in my finder but I cannot get time machine to backup wirelessly now and I can't see my previous back up in Time machine but I can see it when I look on the HD.
Can I continue to do my backups over the extreme wirelessly? How do i do this? Or do I have to plug the firewire and mac into the HD each time I want to back up using time machine?
Thanks,

I hope that support is added to the airport extreme. I would be disappointed in apple to learn that they have disabled it for the airport extreme and connected hard drive in order to only sell another piece of hardware (time capsule) that is simply the airport extreme with a hard drive built in.
There are reported work arounds for getting the airport extreme and external hard drive to work with time machine. A couple google search results outlined the process, it didn't look too complicated. I would prefer it was a feature and not a work around though.

How to backup MacBook Pro without AirPort Time Capsule or External hard drive

How to backup MacBook Pro without AirPort Time Capsule or External hard drive

This is crude but if you need a work around, just plug the USB drive directly into the iMac.. copy the files to it.. then plug it into the TC.
You also do not need to use the TC as an intermediary between your iMac and MBP.. just turn on sharing in the computer.. so you can directly copy files from one to the other.. Macs have public access directory preconfigured for each user account.
As far as mounting the TC..
In finder use Go, Connect to server.. and type.
AFP://TCname or TCipaddress
Where TCname is the actual name of the TC.. I strongly recommend you follow SMB network rules.. ie if your TC has a name like
Fred Blog's Time Capsule 2445566.
It is too long.. it has spaces and it has non-alphanumeric characters.
Shorten it to FredTC
No spaces no characters that are NOT alphanumeric.
TCIPaddress is simply the standard IP.
You can also use CIFS://TCname which according to the article forces the connection back to SMB1 rather than SMB2 which as usual is broken.
But I would definitely use AFP if possible. I cannot understand the decision to move to SMB as standard.

Using Time Capsule as external hard drive

Hi. I have a Mac Book Pro, and external hard drive, and now, a Time Capsule. Since I don't have a Mac, all photos and music (occasional backups, etc.) have been stored on the one external hard drive. I got the Time Capsule to replace the external hard drive as primary (keeping it as secondary)–in addition to using the Time Machine.
If I'm understanding correctly, I open finder, open Shared>AirPort>Data–and then drag and drop all the files currently on the external hard drive onto this window? Is this correct? Will it COPY, and be accessibe, and not cause problems?
Will it mean, as I hope it means, that my MacBook and iPad will be able to open and use iTunes and iPhoto through this AirPort? (Instead of having to plug-in the external drive.)
I'd love to use the Time Machine as well. But can hold off, continuing to back up only occassionally, since this dual purposing may not to be advised?
Thank you for your guidance.

Will there be a problem running Time Machine in the back ground while using the Time Capsule's internal hard drive manually?
No.
Thus far, instead of using Time Machine in an automated mode, I've turned it on when I want to make a new back-up. Will it be necessary to run Time Machine in manual mode only or can I use its automated feature?
Or–I may be seeing the light–will running the two in tandem allow me to save each new back-up on both devices simultaneously, keeping both drives up to date?
I would suggest that you consider changing your backup strategy. Time Machine was designed to be an automatic "run and forget" operation that performs incremental backups of your Mac's internal hard drive. It will also backup an external hard drive attached directly to your Mac. Running it manually is not very effecient and you stand the chance of not getting a very recent (they run once an hour) backup when you need it.
For Time Machine I would suggest that you continue to use your external hard drive as is and dedicate your new Time Capsule for Time Machine backups. If you still need more external storage, you can always add additional external USB hard drives to the USB port on the Time Capsule.
Even better you will also want to include a second "full-clone" method to your backup strategy. This method will make a full copy of your Mac's internal disk drive that is bootable. Why do this? In case your Mac has a fatal hard disk crash, you can use the clone backup to boot your Mac back up and continue to use it within seconds. Without the clone backup, you would first need to install a new drive, then load a fresh copy of OS X, and then, perform a restore from Time Machine. This can take a while.
To perform these clone backups, I would recommend that you get another external USB hard drive with a capacity at least twice that of your current internal drive. I use Western Digital My Passport drives for this purpose, but any similar drive should do. To create the clone backup I would suggest using either SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner.
I would suggest that you create a new clone backup at least once a month or more often if your data is critical to you. Just connect a dedicated clone drive to any available USB port on your Mac and run the clone software to make the clone backup.

About time capsule and external hard disk

I have got rMBP. I also have got time capsule. External WD hard disk is connected to time capsule.
I have got 3 users in my rMBP:
(1) Admin : Administrator
(2) User A : I normally do all my work from this user.
(3) User B: I recently added this new user.
Here, using Finder tabs, User A can see time capsule and External WD hard disk. But, Admin and User B cannot. I also want User B to have the ability to see WD hard disk (and time capsule). For User B and Admin, time capsule does show up, but it shows as not connected. How can I provide User B the ability to see External WD hard disk (since User B needs to store large different files there)? Any permission issue on hard disk?
(Amazingly backup does take place automatically even if I am connected as User B or Admin).
I will appreciate your feedback. Thanks.

Emma1609 wrote:
Hi,
hi emma, and welcome to discussions
Once the external HD is turned on my Time Capsule is not longer recognized. I can't connect to Time Capsule and make any backups. It is also no longer appearing in the Airport settings.
you could try a power cycle on your devices. turn off modem, TC, and HD for, say, 10 minutes. turn the modem back on for 2 minutes, followed by the HD, followed by the TC.
then go airport utility > manual setup > disks. see if your HD is showing beneath the TC

Using Time Capsule as external hard drive on a PC, and beyond...

I need to achieve two separate things with my new 500GB TC. The first is to send it to a friend on the other side of the country for her to use Time Capsule with her PC as an external hard drive.
I then want to take those files (once sent back to me from CA), and put them on my computer. After that I just want to use Time Capsule with Time Machine, but I'm pretty sure I can figure that set-up out.
My question is, is this possible? And if so, what is the easiest process to tell my PC friend in order for her to connect Time Capsule as an external?
The reason I am attempting to do this is because I didn't see a need to buy an external and TC as well. The guy at the Mac store said it would be easy to do this, but I'm rather computer illiterate.
That being said, I apologize for my ignorance in regards to the use of Time Capsule, but any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Brody M. Nasse

Well, you just hook the Time Capsule up (either wirelessly or wired via ethernet) and for the PC you will want to install AirPort Utility, run it, and then she will be able to copy files to it. Then when it gets back to you you can run AirPort Utility (it is located in Applications/Utilities) and then access the files she put on your Time Capsule.

Old Time capsule as external hard drive and hub?

I am thinking about purchasing a new AirPort Extreme. I have an old Time Capsule that I would like to repurpose as an external hard drive attached to the new AirPort Extreme. Would I still be able to use the Ethernet ports on the Time Capsule as a router to provide Internet access to a computer or printer? I am currently using all the ports on the Time Machine (Ethernet and USB) and wonder if I need a hub (Ethernet or USB) to now connect the Time Machine to an Airport Express and still handle all the existing connections or if the Time Machine can act as the hub.

You can just plug the TC in bridge mode into your new Extreme or express.. you swapped terms freely.. Express however has only one LAN port.. and the TC will still need to use one port to connect leaving you 3 WAN ports.
If you buy the Extreme it has 3 LAN ports.. one of which will be used for the connection and so you will add 2 LAN ports for usage on the network.. if that is not enough simply buy a gigabit switch.
BTW if you buy an express it has 100mbit ports not gigabit.. so I do not recommend the express.. you will slow everything down 10x.
You will gain a USB so if 2 is enough you will not need a USB hub.

Time Capsule as external hard-drive, as back-up drive with Time Machine

Two questions today:
I understand that I can use the Time Capsule as an external hard-drive while using it as my back-up location, using Time Machine. It has been suggested that to do this, it is best to partition the Time Capsule to prevent the TM program from confusing the files it manages, the data files from the backed-up files. (I hope I got that right.) I believe I read in this forum that one can partition the TC after the fact, and not destroy any data on it. Is this possible? A clerk at the Apple Store in San Francisco told me that I would want to partition, but that it would require that I erase the TC. Which to believe?
Secondly, how does TM create the back-ups? I have used SuperDuper and appreciated the difference in how (and what) it backs up. My example: my first back-up involved having an 80gb external drive attached to my computer and TM backed up both my HD and the External Drive. I then turned off the TM. Today I turned it on and allowed it to back-up every hour as it is designed to do, but without the 80gb External drive attached. When I checked the newer back-ups, they all showed the original configuration of HD and 80gb external drive.
So for it's incremental back-ups, does TM back up new files and updated files without deleting missing files? Is it an additive process? Or does it at some point delete missing files from it's most recent back-up? Or since it recognized that it was backing-up two different drives, it will always keep them separate, maintaining one (80gb External drive), even as it backs-up and changes the other (the HD)?
O.K. a third request. Has anyone published a manual on TM and/or TC with this level of understanding so we can make the most of it's 1 TB storage capacity?
Thanks in advance, LeRoy

LeroyHoward wrote: So, does this mean that TM never deletes a file?
It will when it starts to run out of space and it should likely be the oldest deleted files first.
As I understand it, as long as I have a multi-linked file icon on the TM, I have the original data. And everytime the TM backs-up, it recreates every multi-linked file icon on the previous back-up. Right? So, if you delete a file by mistake, you can go back and find it. But I see a contradiction here. If you delete it on your desktop, shouldn't it be deleted from the back-up of that desktop? We expect it to be on earlier back-ups, but not the most recent one right? So, eventually as the TM fills up and begins deleting earlier back-ups, that data will be lost.
The newest timeline will not point/display the deleted file(s), but it still exists on the backup until the backup drive fills up and needs to erase deleted data.
I'm trying to understand this aspect of the TC and TM, because we want to use it as both an external HD and as one of our back-ups. Any light you can shed on this will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, LeRoy
Read Glenn's response to dedicating TC to TM backup and the difficulty in partitioning the TC HDD.
Glenn Carter wrote:
However, this is not an option for Time Capsule users as there is not an easy way of partitioning the Time Capsules’ internal had disk without elaborate effort. In this case, use the Time Capsule hard disk solely for Time Machine backups. Then attach an additional hard disk to the Time Capsules USB port and store additional files there. This added disk will still be available to all Macs that can access the Time Capsule.
This works to share the files on the USB HDD attached to TC, but if you want this drive backed up by TM (and this drive is formatted HFS+), then it needs to remain plugged into the Mac directly for TM to back it up.

Copying data to time capsule from external hard drive too slow....

is there a way to make the transfer of data from a external hard drive that is plugged into the time capsule, transfer faster?
im transfering 11gb and it says it will take 3 hours to complete.
there must be a faster way to transfer all my data, in less time?
thanks,

If you are copying any important information to the TC directly (example: iTunes library, iPhoto library, Movies), please make sure that you implement a backup solution for these files. The Airport Utility has an Archive function which will backup the entire TC to an externally attached USB drive.
For faster data transfer, you could try connecting your Mac to the TC with Gb Ethernet and than attach the external USB drive to your Mac. I would expect a Mac connected drive to transfer faster to the TC (faster than a USB drive connected to the TC) as the Mac has much more memory and compute power.
You could connect the drive to your Mac and observe the transfer rate before waiting 3 hours on the other configuration.

Time capsule and external hard drive

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