Time Machine and AirPort extreme and 10.6.6 update

Two issues. One, I have an AirPort extreme in my basement with a IOmega drive connected to one of the ethernet ports. I use Time Machine to back up my iMac (located on the main floor) wirelessly to the drive. I just read you should not use the connections on an AirPort for backups.
Two, I discovered this because, while trying to update to 10.6.6 the computer would not finish the update. After 18 hours of trying to write the files I gave up and restarted the machine. Ran Disk utility and it's telling me the internal drive is corrupt and needs to be repaired. (Invalid volume count) I tried Tech Tool and it could not repair it. I'm afraid I may have to erase the disk, but before I do this I wanted to make sure my Time Machine is going to be able to restore my drive, which brings me back to issue #1.

If you didn't repeat running Repair with Disk Utility until you got a clean bill of health it is possible that your disk may still not be in good shape. Sometimes it takes multiple passes to get the job done.
You are skating on very thin ice trying to update your system that resides on a disk that has had recent directory errors without having even one known reliable backup. At this point you are down to zero known reliable copies of your data if the 10.6.6 update isn't successful.
If the 10.6.6 backup doesn't work boot from your Leopard install disk and run Repair until Disk Utility reports no errors. Then I would very strongly encourage you to restore your Time Machine backups to an external drive or make a bootable clone of your internal drive before you try to upgrade. Restoring Time Machine backups is the only way to verify that they are good. External drives aren't that expensive these days, particularly in comparison to risking losing your data.
If the 10.6.6 update doesn't work download the Mac OS X v10.6.6 Update Combo and use it to update.
Only after you have a working system should you erase your Time Machine backups and start over using an Apple supported method. Many people, including me, keep a Time Machine backup on one drive and a bootable clone on another. Carbon Copy Cloner and Super Duper! are both excellent cloning software products. CCC is donationware and Super Duper! has free and paid versions.
No one knows for sure why Apple does not support backing up to a NAS. It was a feature of the Leopard beta but was pulled before release. From what we have seen posted in this forum I assume it wasn't a particularly easy fix to get it working reliably.

Similar Messages

How to Set Up Time Capsule With Airport Extreme and Airport Express

Just got a new 1TB Time Capsule. I want it to be the main base station for my network. I already have a network set up with an older Airport Extreme base station and an Airport Express to extend it. I am thinking that rather than setting up the Time Capsule to "join" the old network, the best approach is to disconnect the Airport Extreme and Airport Express and reset them. Then set up the Time Capsule as a brand new network and bring the reset Aiport Extreme and Express onto the new network as if my original network never existed.
Is that the right approach or am I complicating it? Can I just join the Time Capsule to the existing network and still make it the main base station for the network?

evelK wrote:
Just got a new 1TB Time Capsule. I want it to be the main base station for my network. I already have a network set up with an older Airport Extreme base station and an Airport Express to extend it. I am thinking that rather than setting up the Time Capsule to "join" the old network, the best approach is to disconnect the Airport Extreme and Airport Express and reset them. Then set up the Time Capsule as a brand new network and bring the reset Aiport Extreme and Express onto the new network as if my original network never existed.
Is that the right approach or am I complicating it? Can I just join the Time Capsule to the existing network and still make it the main base station for the network?
I'd first use AirPort Utility to "Save a Copy As" of your AirPort Extreme settings. Then disconnect it, connect the Time Capsule in its place, and use AirPort Utility's "Import" function to read those settings. (Both of those functions are under AirPort Utility's "File" menu.) You may have to adjust a few settings. Once you have the Time Capsule working as you want, you can reconfigure your AirPort Extreme unit as you wish.

Using a current Time Capsule with Airport Extreme and Airport Express Older generation

I am looking to achieve a fast local network that allows streaming of music and video. I have bought a Time Capsule to replace the Telstra router (Thomson Router) by linking it using ethernet cable and then set up a network that also uses and older airport extreme and express router (g standard).
It would appear that the local network speed is slow - how can I assess the connection speed in the local network - both wireless and for ethernet? I believe that there is a speed indication on my two older macs running OSX 10.5 but not in OSX 10.6. Is there a tool to assess the local network speed?
The current set up works less well than previously only using the Thomson router, so the initial results are very disappointing. Not even streaming music seems to work and it stutters to halt.
I had expected that the dual band functionality would allow fast local connections where needed. What do I need to change?
Thanks you.
Tom

Hi Bob,
The two old airports (extreme and express) are connected wirelessly to the time capsule base station with the following use:
- round extreme base station supports a printer only - remote WDS indicated in set up
- airport express supports remote speakers - set up does not indicate WDS status
I noticed in another note to provide a second network name to 5GHz network and connect the modern computers, ipad (seems to be able to connect) and apple tv to the 5 GHz network, leaving the other on the separate network. Also the two computers, apart from the laptops are connected via ethernet to use the GB ethernet, but I am not sure whether that speed is achieved or whether a firewire connection between the two would be better. use examples are:
1. Wirelessly I am trying to use three speakers - computer, apple tv and express - to have to listen to the same music in three rooms.
2. Over ethernet, I am using the the powermac as a file server to mac mini, but would like to be bale to access photo libraries (both Iphoto and Aperture) ideally over the network. It works well with starting the powermac in target disk mode but seems slow over what should be a very fast ethernet network.
The connection with the service providers router and time capsule is bridged - seems to be the only way of providing internet access - however, it also seems to allow for shared devices to be visible across the two time capsule and the Thomson network.
Obviously, this will need some more experimentation but any input would be appreciated.
Thank you and regards,
Tom
PS> Timezone wise I am currently living in Australia - must change my profile one day.....

How to move external hard drive (time machine) off airport extreme network?

For several years now, I've had an external hard drive connected to my airport extreme and it's servered as an awesome external back-up of my Macbook via Time Machine. However, now I've had to remove the external hard drive from my network (that's a whole other story). Anyway, when I connect the external hard drive to my MacBook, it doesn't recongize it as my Time Machine back-up. It is still looking for "My Book" on my network, which obviously doesn't exist anymore. Can I simply re-direct it to "my book" that is now connected via USB to my computer? Do I have to start over? If possible, I'd like to keep the back-ups I already had and simply continue with my new back-ups. Please advise! Thanks!

First thing to do is go to the Pondini tips page, then follow the link to his full TM site for all the details.

HT201250 Accession files on Time Machine through Airporter Extreme

Understand there is an incompatibility issue with Time Machine and Airporter Extreme. Also if files were backedu up directly from the MacBook Pro to the external hard drive there's a problem accessing Time Machine if the external hard drive is plugged into Airporter Extreme so that two separate MACs can access Time Machine through the WiFi at the same time. Any info?

If that happened to me, I would use the Recovery Disk bootstrap and do a "Restore from Backup".
Here is how:
Restart your computer, holding the "Command" and "R" keys until you see the Apple logo. This will boot into recovery mode. You can then choose a "Restore from Backup" once you establish your WiFi, etc.

Time Machine with Airport Extreme

I just took the bait and ordered a refurbished Airport Extreme from Apple with free overnight shipping.
Now, I would like to know a few things.
Can anyone tell me if:
I can connect 3 or 4 USB drives to the AE and access these via WIFI? Maybe they would need a hub?
I can connect a Time Machine drive to the Airport Extreme and be able to backup all all USB drives (which are also connected to AE) including the internal drive of my IMAC?
As an alternative, can I connect all of my USB drives to the Airport Extreme and have just the Time Machine USB drive connected to the IMAC? CAn I now backup all USB drives which are connected to the AE?

andrzej21 wrote:
I can connect 3 or 4 USB drives to the AE and access these via WIFI? Maybe they would need a hub?
Yes, a powered USB hub.
I can connect a Time Machine drive to the Airport Extreme and be able to backup all all USB drives (which are also connected to AE) including the internal drive of my IMAC?
No. I hate to have to tell you this, but backing-up that way is unreliable and not supported by Apple. See: Using Time Machine with an Airport Extreme Air Disk.
And Time Machine cannot back up from any network location anyway.
If you have an iMac, your best bet to back it up is to a directly-connected USB or Firewire drive. But Time Machine still can't back up the network drives.
The 3rd-party apps CarbonCopyCloner or Chronosync may be workable alternatives for that.

Is anyone using NETGEAR Push2TV with a MacBook Pro and AirPort Extreme and does it work well for you?

I am interested in buying a NETGEAR Push2TV display TV streamer to use with my MacBook Pro and AirPort Extreme.
I saw on the Netgear site that a Intel Wireless Display/WIFI driver software is required for PC's; do we have this software installed already on our MacBook Pro's? Is any one using this box and does it work well for you, any problems or setup issues?

trying to find out same thing , store said works with new intel processor, My mini dont finding.....

Can I use time machine through airport express and an external hard drive?

I want to be able to use time machine remotely. I own a WD 1TB passport external hard drive. If I connect it to an airport express, will it backup my macbook pro?

Not sure what you mean by "remotely". Remotely on your network, or remotely over the Internet?
In either case, the AirPort Express does not support a hard drive. You would need an AirPort Extreme for that.
Trying to use Time Machine over the Internet is incredibly slow and unreliable. Remember, you are uploading. Upload speeds are often 10 times slower than download speeds with most Internet Service Providers.

Apple TV, Time Capsule (or Airport Extreme) and streaming movies without running iTunes?

I'm thinking of buying an Apple TV but as far as I know I'll need my computer on to run movies from my iTunes account, which is something I really don't want to do every time I want to watch a movie, just wondering if this can first of all be confirmed?
Also, If I buy Apple TV and an apple time capsule (or an Airport extreme connected to a HDD), can I stream movie files located on the time capsule (or HDD) to the AppleTV without having to turn on the computer and run iTunes?

Yes you need your computer on if you want to stream from its library, even if the library is on an external or network drive.
However any purchases you have made from iTunes can be stream from the iTunes Store at any time without your computer being on.

Adding time capsule to airport extreme and airport express

I am new to the Mac world. I have the airport extreme with an airport express extender at home. I want to buy the time capsule. Will this replace the airport extreme?

You could configure it that way. If so, the easiest way to configure it is probably to use AirPort Utility to do a File > Export Configuration File with the AirPort Extreme followed by a File > Import Configuration File with the Time Capsule.

Windows XP SP 2 Home and Airport Extreme and Mac OS X 10.4.11

At this time my girlfriend just had a Comcast connection in Howard County Maryland installed. She does though want eventually to connect a MacBook Pro running 10.4.11 to the Comcast connection. I don't know where to read the settings to copy into the Airport Admin Utility of an 802.11n Aiport Extreme base station so both the Mac and the PC will be able to share the same connection, and then what settings to configure on the PC to be able to see the airport settings. If someone has a step by step set of instructions I can see to read in XP, I'll see if I can follow them. Bear with me, as it may take a couple days for me to get over to her machine and see where the settings are. I won't be doing it until after I purchase a Time Capsule to replace my existing base station at my home, and move the Extreme base station to her apartment.

Comcast's cable internet service uses the standard DHCP protocol to provide client computers with a connection and an IP address. Since this is the default configuration of Apple's base stations, they should "just work" when plugged in to Comcast's cable modem. Resetting the modem connection is often necessary if it has previously been connected to a computer - do this by unplugging the modem from power for five minutes or so.
There is no special configuration required on either Macs or PCs to establish a wireless connection to an Airport base station, particularly one that hasn't yet been configured for wireless security (ie the default state). Just select the Base Station's wireless network and connect to it - that's it.
In its default configuration, the Airport Base Station will be able to connect with Comcast, share the connection, and allow PCs and Macs to connect to it wirelessly. The only configuration of the Base Station that should be done is to (a) give it a unique admin password, (b) give it a unique name for the wireless network it is transmitting, and (c) select a security protocol (preferably WPA) and a wireless security password. That's it - and the Airport Utility will walk you through that whole process the first time around.

Time machine with airport extreme - Yes or No?

I've seen many questions about this and both answers. The last answer I read said someone had Apple support help them connect a 3TB drive via USB to their Airport Extreme to be used as a wirless Time Machine backup for their computers. Is this supported / reliable or not? Thank you.

Is this supported / reliable or not?
Not officially supported by Apple. Some users say that it works for them while others report difficulties when they try it.
It might work for you. It has not worked reliably for me...and I test after each update or new operating system is introduced.
Even if it does work, you always wonder if tomorrow will be the day when you get the dreaded message that your backups are corrupted.
If you want to try it, it would be a good idea to have a secondary backup plan in place as well, if preservation of your data is important to you.

How do I know "Roaming Network" is working with Airport Express and Airport Extreme and should I use extended wireless network for third Express?

Attempting to eliminate a dead spot in Wifi coverage [and implement AirPlay] have one Airport Extreme 802.11n and two Airport Express 802.11n's.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4145
The Airport Extreme is of course connected to cable modem and Ethernet switch, and one Airport Express is connected to the Ethernet network. As per instructions for creating a "Roaming Network", Airport Express is set to same SSID, security type, and Password.
Questions:
1. How does the client device know which Airport to connect to? In other words, will it switch to the closer WiFi transmitter automatically? The WiFi reception problem is intermittent in the fringe areas so what I do not want it for it to stick with the more distant Airport Extreme in the basement when the Airport Express which is closer will work better.
2. How can I tell which of the Airports the attached client device is using?
The third Airport Express will be in a third location - I was planning on using it also for expanding coverage but after reading the warnings about performance suffering when purely using WiFi for the expansion in this location ("Wireless Extended Network" without an ethernet connection) I have figured that the single wired Airport Express will be adequate and will use the third Express to do Airplay only.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4259
Question: Can I use this second Airport Express to extend the wireless network via "Extended Wireless Network" while the other two are in "Roaming Netowrk" configuration? Without bogging down??
Mitch

1. How does the client device know which Airport to connect to?
The Mac computer will automatically connect to the wireless access point with the strongest signal...which is probably the closest AirPort. An iPhone or iPad may not do this and will tend to stay connected to one AirPort.
2. How can I tell which of the Airports the attached client device is using?
On a Mac, open Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities > AirPort Utility. Click on one of AirPorts. In the area to the right, locate the AirPort ID and jot that down. Then do the same for your other AirPort.
Move your Mac near one of the AirPorts and log on to the wireless. Hold down the option key on the Mac while you click the fan shaped AirPort icon at the top of the screen. Look for the BSSID. That is the AirPort ID of the device to which you are connected.
If you are close to the "remote" AirPort, and you see the AIrPort ID of the "main" router when you are testing, then you know that the network is not configured correctly.
Can I use this second Airport Express to extend the wireless network via "Extended Wireless Network" while the other two are in "Roaming Netowrk" configuration? Without bogging down??
There will be a modest 10-15% bandwidth loss with the "extend" setup, assuming that the Express is located where it can receive a strong wireless signal from the AirPort to which it is associated. You can avoid the bandwidth loss if the Express is also connected via Ethernet as part of the roaming configuration.

Mail and Airport Extreme and iCloud?

I'm certainly receiving to my .me mail account but for some reason the little spinning wheel is constantly spinning beside my .me/icloud mail account - as though it is continuously trying to get messages - ??? This seems wrong and must clog up my wifi network.

Apple compares the products for you here:
http://www.apple.com/compare-wifi-models/
In general, the AirPort Extreme will run circles around the AirPort Express in terms of performance, so unless there is a special reason that you need the AirPort Express, you might want to give the Extreme a closer look.

TIme Machine verification issue (Drobo and Airport Extreme)

Hello. I recently purchased a Drobo (1st gen, off ebay) to replace a 1TB WD MyBook I was using as a Time Machine backup and Media Server.
The Drobo is connected to an Airport Extreme base station over USB 2.0. My Mac is connected by ethernet to the Airport Extreme.
I followed the instructions on the Drobo website to create a separate 500 gb partition for Time Machine and the rest to accommodate my media collection. http://support.datarobotics.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/67/related/1/session/L2F 2LzEvc2lkLzdta1VHNmZr
The Time Machine backup seems to go OK, taking several hours to backup 160gb of data. Later on in the day, I'll get a message that says:
"Time Machine completed a verification of your backups. To improve reliability, Time Machine must create a new backup for you."
I've tried redoing the backup 4 or 5 times now. I've tried repairing permissions and the repairing the disk on both the Mac and the Drobo. I've learned that Time Machine Backups to Airdisks aren't officially supported by Apple (Although I never had a problem with my previous hard drive attached to the Airport Extreme, and Drobo say it's fine on their website - "Time Machine with a Drobo device connected to an AirPort Extreme or network attached (NAS) works. Just make sure you have updated Time Capsule or Airport Extreme to firmware 7.3.1 or later."
Every time, after a couple of hours, I get the verification warning and have to delete the backup and start again. I wouldn't mind just going and buying another 500gb external drive to just attach to my Mac, only I now have a separate 500gb volume sitting on my Drobo that I can't do anything with and I can't delete because I don't have anywhere else to transfer the data from my Drobo while I reformat it!
I'm running out of ideas and would love it if someone can offer some advice. Thanks guys!

Hi. Thanks for the response and sorry for the double post in the Airport forum. I'm really just not sure if this is a Time Machine, Airport or Drobo issue.
Everything is updated to the latest versions and I've been looking at the Drobo support site, but all I see is that Drobo is 'supposed' to work with Time Machine over Airport Extreme. However, I've tried everything I can think of and scoured forums over the weekend to try and get to the bottom of this. It's just bizarre that a cheap WD hard disk used to work, and a much more expensive Drobo doesn't.
I've posted the same message to the forums over at the Drobo site, so we'll see what comes of it. I'm not that hopeful. This mysterious black box on my desk seems to have a mind of its own. Even now, even though I'm not reading or writing any data to it, I can hear the Drobo accessing data on the disks and moving things around. I'm not surprised if it's a bit too much for Time Machine to handle. I'm just a bit annoyed that I followed all of the advice from Data Robotics to the letter and it doesn't work, even though it should.
I think I'll just give up and buy a firewire drive (I'm out of USB ports). I'm sure I'll find something I can move onto this redundant 500gb partition. Thanks for your help.

Time Machine and AirPort extreme and 10.6.6 update

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