Time Machine Can't find Drive connected to other networked Mac

I have a Drobo external drive array connected by firewire to my primary home computer - a Mac Pro.
For the last year I've backed up two Macbook Pros (mine and my wife's) to this Drobo using Time Machine (The Mac Pro is always on and the laptops backup through the home network, through the Map Pro, to the Drobo).
I recently did a fresh reinstall of Lion to all 3 computers. Now for some reason Time Machine can't kick the backup off. It gives me a "Can't backup - the backup drive us not available," or something like that.
A couple of key points:
* Through the primary computer, I have opened read/write file sharing permissions for all drives, including the FW connected Drobo
* From the laptops, I can see and read/write to the Drobo through Finder
* Through Time Machine preferences, I can select the Drobo as a backup destination - it's only when I kick off the backup that I run into the error.
* If I create a test admin account to try, I get the same problem when trying to back up.
* As a safegard, I have run a manual backup successfully to a separate external drive (mobile g-drive)
What am I missing? Seems like it's gotta be something straightforward - perhaps on the laptop?
Thank you,
-bh-

no - sadly not:)
Okay - I gave it a shot - no dice - here's a screenshot -
Couple of interesting things (at least to me and my limited knowledge...):
* the reset of Time Machine seemed to reset how my laptop connected to the primary computer - defaulted to connecting through AppleID rather than Administrator
* Perhaps I'm using wrong Admin credentials in my File Sharing preferences?
* When I connect to the main Mac Pro ("connect as...") with Admin credentials...though I see the drives and can read/write, it still shows a "connection failed" message above. sending one other screenshot to show you.
Thanks for all your help,
-bh-

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Message was edited by: Pondini

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Hi all forum virgin here, so be gentle.
I'll get straight to it. Much net trawling hasn't resulted in a definitive answer on this which surely I'm not alone in
I have: MBP networked to TC (where TM resides) and USB drive connected.
A- I simply want to TM backup not only MBP but USB drive on network as well?
As far as I can see there is no way of selecting this and after TM back has finished the only way I can check is
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Slymon2000 wrote:
B- when I remove from MBP and TM backs up again will it see it's not there and delete as a change?
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Obviously not a reliable solution.
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Using Time MACHINE with a USB drive connected to an Airport Extreme

Disclaimer: Apple does not necessarily endorse any suggestions, solutions, or third-party software products that may be mentioned in the topic below. Apple encourages you to first seek a solution at Apple Support. The following links are provided as is, with no guarantee of the effectiveness or reliability of the information. Apple does not guarantee that these links will be maintained or functional at any given time. Use the information below at your own discretion.
Please click here:
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Using Time Machine with an Airport Extreme AirDisk
|
Note: If you got here by clicking a link that looks like this:
_. . . discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2299608#Q1_
Note the number at the end, after the +*pound sign,+* (#) and click the corresponding item below:
Please pardon the inconvenience.
|
QUESTIONS
*Q1. Can I use the USB drive(s) for Time Machine backups AND other data?*
*Q2. How do I set up Time Machine to back up to a USB drive connected to my Airport Extreme?*
*Q3. How do I delete backups?*
*Q4. How do I back-up my backups?*
If you don't see your question here, try Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.
|
PROBLEMS
*P1. The Backup disk image could not be created.*
*P2. Time Machine could not complete the backup . . sparsebundle could not be accessed. (Error 109).*
If you don't see your problem here, try Time Machine - Troubleshooting
This is the 3rd version of this tip. It was submitted on May 16, 2010 by Pondini.
Do you want to provide feedback on this User Contributed Tip or contribute your own? If you have achieved Level 2 status, visit the User Tips Library Contributions forum for more information.

Hi, Nubz!
Yes, I just saw that, and am still chuckling.
Maybe that will mollify the Jive gods?
Thanks again,
Jim

Time Machine Can't find Drive connected to other networked Mac

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