Time Machine in limbo

My time machine is stuck in limbo at the "Indexing backup.." step.
I'm backing up with a WD My Book Studio. It worked properly the first month. I put it out of my mind and recently checked my history of backups and found out it hasn't backed up since last Feb.
How do I reset it so that it will function properly?

Hi, and welcome to the forums.
Since you haven't had a backup since last February, your best bet is to simply start over.
Reformat it per #5 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
Then try a backup. TM will do a full backup, of course, which will take quite a while.
If there's a problem, Start with [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
It will show you how to locate the message(s) that describe the problem, then help you fix it. If that doesn't help, post back with details, including all the messages, what you've done, and the results.

Similar Messages

  • Time Machine won't back up to same volume

    I recently partitioned my HD and added windows 7, and I also upgraded from Tiger to snow leopard. My last backup was before this, and since I've added all of this, Time Machine recognizes my time machine backups external but it doesn't backup to the same file. It is a 500 gb drive with 167 gb free, and my previous two backups are on there. When I plug it in it starts to back up. However, it stops after a minute or two and says "not enough space to backup" but there is already a backup folder on there from before, so I don't think it's using the same folder.
    I am tempted to just delete the backup from the external and start backing up my entire macbook, but that makes me nervous to have all my data in limbo. Any Ideas?

    duderanch111 wrote:
    I recently partitioned my HD and added windows 7, and I also upgraded from Tiger to snow leopard.
    Hi, and welcome to the forums.
    Did you erase your startup volume at any time? If so, everything you put back on it is considered as changed, so will be backed-up. See the pink box in #C4 of [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
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    If the latter, exclude the virtual file(s) from Time Machine, per #10 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

  • IMac won't boot after replacing hard drive and restoring from Time Machine

    I was having problems with my iMac but upgraded to Lion when it came out. Had a few good days and then my hard drive died.
    I had the drive replaced and the repair people put Snow Leopard on the new drive.
    I then tried to restore everything from my Time Machine backup. At first when I tried to log on the computer wouldn't accept my password (i know it was right).
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    I read about Lion having some restore hd functionality but it doesn't show up when i restart with option key. Am I in limbo between operating systems?
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    Yes, if you picked a Snow Leopard backup, that's what you got. 
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  • Time Machine Restore Problem on A New Hard Drive

    I am trying to restore my data from my time machine after a hard drive replacement which was done for me at my local Apple Store today. I started my Mac with the new drive and it starts like a new Mac. It then asked me during the first boot if I wanted to transfer from my time capsule which I selected. The transfer process then commenced taking 8 hours. This completed and then it took me Registration Information. This is a form which I filled in but the Continue button is greyed out even though the form is complete. The only field that I cannot enter data into is My Account (a drop down which won't provide me with any options to select). I assume the reason for the continue button being greyed out is because I cannot choose from My Account. However there is no way to select it. So I am in Limbo here. My data has been transfered but I am stuck in this process and can't Go Back (it is also greyed out). ESC doesn't work either. Any suggestions.PLEASE HELP!

    Try restoring the specific files.
    http://pondini.org/TM/15.html

  • IPhoto Back-Ups From Time Machine/Time Capsule Are Useless.

    I use iPhoto constantly and I use a 2TB Time Capsule with Time Machine on and nothing omitted from it's back ups.
    When trying to recover my iPhoto library today with Time Machine using both the Time Machine Interface and the Finder, I kept getting incomplete albums that were missing photos, even if they were versions created after the photos were imported. I was stumped.
    A little research uncovered this support article from Apple: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4116
    Summary:
    +iPhoto libraries are not backed up by Time Machine if iPhoto is running during the back up process.+
    Oh No. I leave my iPhoto application open constantly.
    I bought the best MacBook Pro money could by with 8GB of RAM so I could have multiple applications open for my design work which can sometimes have me grinding away for hours, if not days on multiple projects, all using iPhoto and Photoshop.
    There is no "Save" function in iPhoto. Does this mean I am supposed to periodically quit iPhoto, perform a Time Machine back up, then restart iPhoto?
    Does that sound reasonable to anyone?
    This is an absolute horror show for me.
    If anyone knows where freshly imported photos go if they don't end up in the iPhoto library's back-up because iPhoto was running while the back up occurred, I would love to know. Is there a photo-limbo?

    Dear Joel, I'm not an expert but I believe that it is simply impossible backing up something on progress; in other words since TM works through an incremental back up of the file, I think it's mandatory to stop working on a file before the copy of it is performed, that's to say you must close iPhoto.

  • Time machine backup space

    I'm making my first Time Machine backup of my PowerBook G4 since installing Leopard. There is 74.41 GB of data on my main hard drive (Mac OS Extended), but Time Machine says that it is taking 49.9 GB for the backup on my external backup drive. I understand that Time Machine doesn't compress files, so I'm wondering if it is normal that the first backup would take up less space than the original. Or is this an indication that I have Time Machine somehow incorrectly configured?
    Thanks for any thoughts!

    OK, so I figured out the backup space issue. Thanks for your thoughts on that.
    But, I am still getting mystery emails from the distant past (2005) appearing as unread messages in my very recent Mail Inbox Time Machine backups (i.e. from last night and earlier today). I can't remember if I did receive these messages in 2005 or if they have been sitting in virtual limbo since then, only now to appear now in my Time Machine backups (but not in my regular Inbox). Strange, no?

  • Iomega external hard drive either 'not found' by Time Machine or is now in 'read only' format

    I don't know what's going on with my iomega external hard drive.  Sometimes the HD is recognised by the computer; other times it isn't; if it isn't I can restore to an earlier back up via Time Machine app; but it's like the disk isn't writable.
    Ten days ago, I had trouble backing up my iMac using Time Machine.  After turning it off and restarting my external hard drive, it backed up successfully.
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    "Mac OS X can't repair the disk.  You can still open or copy files on the disk, but you can't save changes to files on the disk.  Back up the disk and reformat it as soon as you can."
    Annoyingly, despite my HD not showing in Finder or on my Desktop (as it usually does), when I simply turn it off I get that warning message "The disk was not ejected properly".
    Have tried verifying and repairing using Disk Utility, to no avail. 
    Am prompted to reformat but I don't have a good understanding of what this means and how to do it.  I'm guessing this would wipe the disk clean and I'd have to create the initial back up image all over again -- I'm reluctant to do this since this HD is my only back up and if it all goes tits up I'll be up that famous creek without a paddle.
    Thoughts, suggestions, input all welcome and deeply appreciated -- thank you!

    fzgy wrote:
    "Mac OS X can't repair the disk.  You can still open or copy files on the disk, but you can't save changes to files on the disk.  Back up the disk and reformat it as soon as you can."
    It's possible a heavy-duty 3rd-party disk repair app can fix it, but they're expensive (DiskWarrior is about $100), and there's no guarantee it can do it.
    Am prompted to reformat but I don't have a good understanding of what this means and how to do it.
    That will erase it.  See Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #5.
    It sounds very much like the disk is beginning to fail, although it's possible there's a bad port, cable, connection or power supply (if it has its own).
    I'd suggest getting a new one, and using it for your Time Machine backups; once you have a good backup there, reformat the old one (and select Security Options to write zeros to the whole drive -- if that fails, you know the drive is toast).  Use it for secondary backups, per FAQ #27.   If it has failed, get a second new one for secondary backups. 

  • Back up using time machine and external hard drive

    Hello,
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    iMac11,2
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  • Can not see historical data in Time Machine backup

    Hi folks
    First my setup:
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       Samsung Evo 840 SSD
       external USB 3.0 1TB as TimeMachine HD
       Mac OS X Mavericks
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    After updating to Mavericks I've made a full backup with Time Machine.
    Then I swapped the former 500TB HDD to the Samsung Evo 840 500TB.
    A clean setup of Mavericks follows.
    After that I restored the Backup from Time Machine.
    Everything ok. Til now.
    Because everthing works fine in the past, I did not control the Time Machine.
    Today I wanna restore a File from my "Pictures" folder.
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    All windows behind the current window have a black titlebar.
    In Mountain lion the titlebars are grey if there is data available
    and the title contains the date of the backup.
    What is the problem?
    Is there a bug?
    Did I something wrong?
    Thanx in adv.
          Stoiker

    Hi masong517
    What a treasure trove of hints and solutions.
    I didn't know this page.
    But  you are right with "E2".
    This solved my problem.
    Thank you very much.

  • Safe to delete file from Time Machine hard drive?

    Is it safe to delete a file from an external hard drive that's being used for Time Machine backups? The file is not a backup -- it's a .dmg from the manufacturer of the hard drive. Other than that one file, I don't use the drive for anything other than Time Machine.
    I'm just concerned because I don't want deleting the file to affect Time Machine in any way.
    Thank you.

    I have done it without issue.

  • Forgot password to access my Airport Time Capsule, can't restore Time Machine backup

    It is stupid, I know, but after the first time I setup Time Machine in my Airport Time Capsule (6 months ago) i never had to use the password because it stayed stored in my Keychain.
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    I need to clean up my Airport Time Capsule and set it to factory default. I already accepted that I will lose all my data and it is okay. So far all I found was how to reset the wifi user/password but nothing about deleting stored data or reset to factory default without having the encrypted password. Can you please help me? Thanks in advance!  

    The encrypted data is not related to the Time Capsule.. that is purely Time Machine.
    Very sorry for you.. it is one big danger when you encrypt.
    Reset to factory.
    Factory reset universal
    Power off the TC.. ie pull the power cord or power off at the wall.. wait 10sec.. hold in the reset button.. be gentle.. power on again still holding in reset.. and keep holding it in for another 10sec. You may need some help as it is hard to both hold in reset and apply power. It will show success by rapidly blinking the front led. Release the reset.. and wait a couple of min for the TC to reset and come back with factory settings. If the front LED doesn’t blink rapidly you missed it and simply try again. The reset is fairly fragile in these.. press it so you feel it just click and no more.. I have seen people bend the lever or even break it. I use a toothpick as tool.
    N.B. None of your files on the hard disk of the TC are deleted.. this simply clears out the router settings of the TC.
    Wipe the hard disk. Open the airport utility go to the disk tab. Click on erase disk.
    Select just quick erase.. it just deletes the file table and is not secure but fine for your purposes.

  • Time machine won't back up since I have restored from time machine following hard drive replacement.  I am being told there is not enough space, however the back up is less than the hard drive size

    We recently had the hard drive replaced on our Mac as part of Apple's replacement programme.  Prior to sending it off for repair we did a final Time Machine back up, which was completed successfully.  SInce getting the computer back we restored everything from the backup disk using Time Machine, which all worked fine, however now we are having problems with it completing regular backups.  We receive a message each time telling up that the backup disk doesn't have enough space on it.  It is telling us that it needs in the region of 370gb and only has around 30gb available.  The computer hard drive is in the region of 350gb and the hard drive is a 400gb one.  It is almost as if it is not recognising that the data already on the disk is the back up of this computer and is trying to complete a completely separate back up as opposed to just updating the backup already on the disk.
    Has anyone else got any experience of this and therefore could give me some hints on what to do.  I am reluctant to wipe the backup drive and start again, however I would prefer not to have to buy another hard drive if I can avoid it as this one is technically big enough
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    Hi, I never use TM myself.
    Have you looked through Pondini's extensive TM help site?
    http://Pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html
    http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
    Can't imaging something not being covered there.
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  • How can I restore an iPhoto library from Time Machine (ML) - when I TM doesn't see the backup??

    Hi,
    I recently did a Time Machine backup of my MacBook Pro (Mountain Lion) onto an external HDD. Around the time of the last backup, my system was behaving funny so I decided to rebuild the OS X.
    Because the last TM backup was of a system that as mentioned, was somewhat 'unstable', and I only had a few backups available (didn't have TM running too long beforehand) - I decided not to use TM to 'restore' my system. I just did  a clean install of ML and planned on pulling files over manually. I'd done this before and it worked a treat.
    This time ran into a snag. The backup disk TM used was an external HDD which I wanted to upgrade (suffice to say it works fine). So, I needed to move the backup.backupdb directory to my other HDD. The copy seemed to work fine ... so far so good.
    I installed the new ML OS on my MacBook Pro and that was fine too. I was able to pull most of my files over by going into the TM backup and copying what I needed.
    BUT, for some reason, this didn't work for the iPhoto library?
    Alas, I found that you need to do a 'restore' iPhoto library file from whithin TM. So I fired up TM and noticed that it didn't recognise the old backup file located on the HDD. I.e. when I turned on TM, pointed it to the external HDD (where I copied the previous backup to), it started a fresh backup.
    So ... my question is - "How do I restore the iPhoto library if I can't get to it from TM?"
    Thanks in advance to anyone that can help! The last 15 years of photos are stored in this library!

    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!)

  • I want a new and more powerful (non-Apple) wireless router but I still want to use my existing Time Capsule to continue with my Time Machine backups and I still need the Time Capsule's Network Attached Storage (NAS) features and capabilities

    THE SHORTER STORY
    My goal is to successfully use my existing Time Capsule (TC) with a new and more powerful wireless router. I need a new and more powerful wireless router in order to reach a distant Denon a/v receiver that is physically located in a master bedroom some 50 feet away from my modem. I need to provide this Denon a/v receiver with an Internet connection so that it can obtain its firmware updates and I need to connect this Denon a/v receiver to my network in order to use its AirPlay feature. I believe l still need the TC's Network Attached Storage (NAS) features because I am not sure if the new wireless router will provide me with the NAS like features / capabilities I need to share files between my two Apple laptops with OS X 10.8.2. And I know that I absolutely need my TC's seamless integration with Apple's Time Machine (TM) application in order to continue to make effortless backups of my two Apple laptops. To my knowledge nothing works with TM like Apple's TC. I also need the hard disk storage space built into the TC.
    I cannot use a long wired Ethernet cable connection in this apartment and I cannot use power-line adapters. I have read that wireless range extenders and repeaters are difficult to successfully set-up and that they will reduce data speeds, especially so when incorrectly set-up. I cannot relocate my modem and/or primary base station wireless router.
    In short, I want to use my TC with my new and more powerful wireless router. I need to stop using the TC to connect to the modem. However, I still need the TC for seamless TM backups. I also need to use the TC's built in hard drive for storage. And I may still need the TC's NAS capabilities to share files wirelessly between laptops because I am assuming the new wireless router will not provide NAS capabilities for OS X 10.8.2 (products like this/non-Apple products rarely seem to work with OS X 10.8.2/Macs to provide NAS features and capabilities). Finally, I want to continue to use my Apple laptop and AirPlay to wirelessly access and play my iTunes music collection stored on the TC's hard drive. I also want to continue to use my Apple laptop, AirPlay and Apple TV to wirelessly watch movies and TV shows stored on the additional external hard drive connected to the TC via USB. Can someone please advise on how to set-up my new Asus wireless router with my existing TC in such a way to accomplish all of this?
    What is the best configuration or set-up to accomplish my above goals?
    Thank you in advance for your assistance!!!
    THE FULL STORY
    I live in an apartment building where my existing Time Capsule (TC) is located in my living room and serves many purposes. Specially, my TC is at least all of the following:
    (1) Wi-Fi router connected to Comcast Internet service via Motorola SB6121 cable modem - currently the TC is the Wi-Fi base station that connects to the modem and has the gateway address to the Internet. The TC now provides the DHCP service for the Wi-Fi network.
    (2) Wireless router providing Internet and Wi-Fi network access to several Wi-Fi clients - two Apple laptop computers, an iPod touch, an iPad and an iPhone all connect wirelessly to the Internet via the TC.
    (3) Wired Ethernet router providing Internet and Wi-Fi network access to three different devices - a Panasonic TV, LG Blu-Ray player and an Apple TV each use one of the three LAN ports on the back of the TC to gain access to the Internet.
    (4) Primary base station in my attempt to extend my wireless network to a distant (located far away) Denon a/v receiver requiring a wired Ethernet connection - In addition to the TC, which is my primary base station, I am also using a second extended Wi-Fi base station (a Netgear branded product) to wirelessly extend my WiFi network to a Denon receiver located in the master bedroom and requiring a wired Ethernet connection. I cannot use a wired Ethernet connection to continuously travel from the living room to the master bedroom. The distance is too great as I cannot effectively hide the Ethernet cable in this apartment.
    (5) Time Machine (TM) backup facilitator - I use my TC to wirelessly back-up two Apple laptops using Apple's Time Machine (TM) application. However, I ran out of storage space on my TC and therefore added external storage to it. Specifically, I added an external hard drive to my TC via the USB port on the back of the TC. I now use this added external hard drive connected to the TC via USB as the destination storage drive for my TM back-ups. I have partitioned the added external hard drive, and each of the several partitions all have enough storage space (e.g., each of the two partitions used by TM are sized at three times the hard drive space of each laptop, etc.). Everything works flawlessly.
    (6) Network Attached Storage (NAS) - In addition to using the TC's Network Attached Storage (NAS) capabilities to wirelessly back-up two Apple laptops via TM, I also store other additional files on both (A) the hard drive built into the TC and (B) the additional external hard drive connected to the TC via USB (there are additional separate partitions on this drive for these other additional and non-TM backup files).
    I use the TC's NAS feature with my Apple laptop and AirPlay to wirelessly access and play my iTunes music collection stored on the TC's hard drive. I also use my Apple laptop, AirPlay and Apple TV to wirelessly watch movies and TV shows stored on the additional external hard drive connected to the TC via USB. Again, everything works wirelessly and flawlessly. (Note: the Apple TV is connected to the network via Ethernet and a LAN port on the back of the TC).
    The issue I am having is when I try to listen to music via Apple's AirPlay in the master bedroom. This master bedroom is located at a distance of two rooms away from the TC's current location in the living room, which is a distance of about 50 feet. This apartment has a long rectangular floor plan where each room is connected to the next in a straight line. In order to use AirPlay in the master bedroom I am using a second extended Wi-Fi base station (a Netgear branded product) to wirelessly extend my WiFi network to a Denon receiver located in the master bedroom and requiring a wired Ethernet connection. This additional base station connects wirelessly to the WiFi network provided by my TC and then gives my Denon receiver the wired Ethernet connection it needs to use AirPlay. I have tried moving my iTunes music directly onto my laptop's hard drive, and then I used AirPlay on this same laptop to connect to the Denon receiver. I always get a successful connection and the song plays, but the problem is that the connection inevitably drops.
    I live in an apartment building and all of the many wireless routers in this building create a great deal of WiFi interference on both the 2.4 GHz and 5GHz bands. I have tried connecting the Netgear product to each the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands, but neither band can successfully maintain a wireless connection between the TC and the Netgear product. I also attempted to maintain a wireless connection to an iPod touch using the 2.4 GHz band and AirPlay on this iPod touch to play music on the Denon receiver. Again, I was able to establish a connection and successfully play music, but after a few minutes the connection dropped and the music stopped playing. I therefore have concluded that I have a poor wireless connection in the master bedroom. I can establish a connection, but it is intermittent with frequent drops. I have verified this with both laptops by working in the master bedroom for an entire day on both laptops. The Internet connection in this master bedroom proved to drop out frequently - about once an hour with the laptops. The wireless connection and the frequency of its dropout are far worse with the iPod touch and an iPhone.
    I cannot relocate the TC. Also, this is an apartment and I therefore cannot extend the range of my network with Ethernet cable (I cannot drill through walls/ceilings, etc.). It is an old building with antiquated wiring and power-line adapters are not likely to function properly, nor can I spare the direct power outlet required with a power-line adapter. I simply need every outlet I can get and cannot afford to block any direct outlet.
    My solution is to use a more powerful wireless router. I found the ASUS RT-AC66U Dual-Band Wireless-AC1750 Gigabit Router which will likely provide a better connection to my wireless Internet in the master bedroom than the TC. The 802.11ac band of this Asus wireless router is totally useless to me, but based on what I have read I believe this router will provide a stronger connection at greater distances then my TC. And I will be ready for 802.11ac when it becomes more widely available.
    However, I still need to maintain the TC's ability to work seamlessly with TM to backup my two laptops. Also, I doubt the new Asus router will provide OS X 10.8.2 with NAS like features and capabilities. Therefore, I still would like to use the TC's NAS capabilities to share files on my network wirelessly assuming the Asus wireless router fails to provide this feature. I need a new and more powerful wireless router, but I need to maintain the TC's NAS features and seamless integration with TM. Finally, I want to continue to use my Apple laptop and AirPlay to wirelessly access and play my iTunes music collection stored on the TC's hard drive. I also want to continue to use my Apple laptop, AirPlay and Apple TV to wirelessly watch movies and TV shows stored on the additional external hard drive connected to the TC via USB. Can someone advise on how to set-up my existing TC with this new Asus wireless router in such a way to accomplish all of this?
    Modem
    Motorola SB6121 SURFboard DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem
    Existing Wireless Router and Primary Wi-Fi Base Station - Apple Time Capsule
    Apple Time Capsule MC343LL/A 1TB Sim DualBand (purchased June 2010, likely the Winter 2009 Model)
    Desired New Wireless Router and Primary Wi-Fi Base Station - Non-Apple Asus
    ASUS RT-AC66U Dual-Band Wireless-AC1750 Gigabit Router
    Extended Wi-Fi Base Station - Provides an Ethernet Connection to a Denon A/V Receiver Two Rooms Away from the Modem
    Netgear Universal Dual Band Wireless Internet Adapter for TV & Blu-Ray (WNCE3001)
    Addition External Hard Drive Attached to the Existing Apple Time Capsule via USB
    WD My Book Studio 4TB Mac External Hard Drive Storage USB 3.0
    Existing Laptops on the Wireless Network Requiring Time Machine Backups
    MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2012) OS X 10.8.2
    MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2010) OS X 10.8.2
    Other Existing Apple Products (Clients) on the Wireless Network
    iPod Touch (second generation) is model A1288.
    iPad (1st generation)
    Apple TV (3rd generation) - Quantity two (2)

    Thanks Bob Timmons.
    In regards to a Plan B, I hear ya brother. I am already on what feels like Plan Z. Getting WiFi to a far off room in an apartment building crowded with WiFi routers is a major pain.
    I am basing my thoughts on the potential of a new and more powerful router reaching the far off master bedroom based on positive reviews on cnet.com, pcmag.com and pcworld.com. All 3 of these web sites have reviewed the Asus RT-AC66U 802.11AC wireless router as well as its virtual twin cousin 802.11n router. What impressed me is that all 3 sites rated this router #1 overall in terms of both range and speed (in both the 802.11n and 802.11AC flavors). They tested the router in real world scenarios where the router needed to compete with a lot of other wireless routers. One of the sites even buried this Asus router in a media room with thick walls and inside a media cabinet. This Asus router should be able to serve my 2.4 GHz band wireless clients (iPod Touch and iPhone 4) with a 2.4GHz Wireless-N band offering some 50 feet of dependable range and a 60 Mbps throughput at that range. I am hoping that works, but it's borderline for my master bedroom. My 5 GHz wireless clients (laptops) will enjoy a 5GHz Wireless-N band offering 150 feet of range and a 200 Mbps throughput at that range. I have no idea what most of that stuff means, but I did also read that Asus could reach 300 feet and I got really excited. My mileage may vary of course and I'm sure I'm making some mistakes in my interpretation of their data. However, my Winter 2009 Time Capsule was rated by cnet.com to deliver real world performance of less than that, and 802.11AC may or may not be useful to me someday. But when this Asus arrives and provides anything other than an excellent and consistent wireless signal without drops in the master bedroom it's going right back!
    Your solution sounds great, but I have some questions. I'm using OS X 10.8.2 and Airport Utility (version 6.1 610.31) and on its third tab labeled "Wireless" the top option enables you to set "Network Mode" to either:
    Create a wireless network
    Extend a wireless network
    Off
    Given your advice to "Turn off the wireless on the TC," should I set Network Mode to Off? Sorry, I'm clueless in regards to how to turn off the wireless on the TC any other way. Can you provide specific steps on how to turn off the wireless on the TC? If what I wrote is correct then what should the rest of this Wireless tab look like, or perhaps it is irrelevant when wireless is off?
    Next, what do you mean by "Configure the TC in Bridge Mode?" Under Airports Utility's fourth tab labeled "Network" the top option "Router Mode" allows for either:
    DHCP and Nat
    DHCP Only
    Off (Bridge Mode)
    Is your advice to Configure the TC in Bridge Mode as simple as setting Router Mode to Off (Bridge Mode)? If yes, then what should the rest of this "Network" tab look like? Anything else involved in configuring the TC in Bridge Mode or is it really as simple as setting the Router Mode to "Off (Bridge Mode)"?
    How about the other tabs in Airport Utility, can they all stay as is assuming I use the same network name and password for the new Asus wireless router? Or do I need to make any other changes to the TC via Airport Utility?
    Finally, in regards to your Plan B suggestion. I agree. But do you have a Plan B for me? I would greatly appreciate any alternative you could provide. Specifically, if you needed a TC's Internet connection to reach a far off corner of your home how would you do it? In the master bedroom I need both a wired Ethernet connection for the Denon a/v receiver and wireless Internet connection for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
    Power-Line Adapters - High Cost, Blocks at Least One Wall Outlet and Does Not Solve the Wireless Need
    I actually like exactly one power-line adapter, which is the D-Link DHP-540 PowerLine AV 500 4-Port Gigabit Switch. This D-Link power-line adapter plugs into your wall outlet with a normal sized plug (regular standard power cord much like any other electronic device) instead of all of the other recommended power-line adapters that not only use at least one wall outlet but also often block the second outlet. You cannot use a power strip with a power-line adapter which is very impractical for me. And everything about my home is strange and upside down. The wiring here is a disaster and I don't have faith in its ability to carry Internet access from the living room to the master bedroom. And this D-Link power-line adapter costs $90 each and I need at least two to make the connection to the Denon A/V receiver. So, $180 on this solution and I still don't have a dependable drop free wireless connection in the master bedroom. The Denon might get its Ethernet Internet connection from the power-line adapter, but if I want to use an iPhone 4 or iPod Touch to stream AirPlay music to the Denon wirelessly (Pandora/iTunes, etc.) from the master bedroom the wireless connection will not be stable in there and I've already spent $190 on just the two power-line adapters needed.
    Extenders / Repeaters / Wirelessly Extending the Wireless Network
    I have also read great things about the Amped Wireless High Power Wireless-N 600mW Gigabit Dual Band Range Extender (Repeater) SR20000G and the My Net Wi-Fi Range Extender. The former is very powerful and the latter is easier to install. Both cost about $150 ish so similar to a new Asus router. However, everything I read about Range Extenders points to them not being very effective for a far off corner of your house wherein it's apparently hard to place the range extender in the sweet spot where it both gets a strong enough signal to actually effectively extend the wireless signal and otherwise does not reduce network throughput speeds to unacceptable speeds.
    Creating a Roaming Network By Hard Wiring with Ethernet Cable - Wife Would Say, "**** No!"
    Even Apple seems to warn against wirelessly extending your network (see: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4145#) and otherwise strongly recommends a roaming network where Ethernet cable is used to connect two wireless base stations. However, I am in an apartment where stringing together two wireless base stations with Ethernet cable would have an extremely low wife acceptance factor (WAF). I cannot (both contractually and from a skill prospective) hide Ethernet wire in the walls or ceiling. And having visible Ethernet cable running from room-to-room would be unacceptable, especially to the wife.
    So what is left? Do you have a Plan B for me? Thanks in advance for your help!

  • Time Machine on Snow Leopard just doesn't work.

    So I've had huge nightmares over the past few days over Time Machine.
    So I've always been a big proponent of Time Machine. I always tell everyone that you NEED a backup solution, and while Time Machine may not be the be all and end all, it's a great starter solution for those that don't want any fuss.
    But perhaps not anymore.
    It just works, right? Well apparently not.
    So a little while ago I performed a Time Machine-assisted hard drive swap for a MacBook (not mine). That is, I install a new drive, boot from SL DVD, perform a HD wipe, then restore from Time Machine. It seemed to go well.
    Fast forward to more recently, I went on a trip overseas (Taiwan). While there, I obviously took a lot of photos, and it became that time again - purchase a new hard drive with more capacity for my MacBook Pro! HD were a little cheaper where I visited, so I not only bought a new drive for my MBP, but also a new drive for my wife's MB, as well as new external drives to upgrade our Time Machine drives.
    While I was there, I decided to update my own Time Machine first - following the instructions from Apple's own knowledge base on the matter:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427
    I transferred my existing backups to the new drive to continue my Time Machine. I didn't notice any problem at the time.
    Then I returned to my home country (New Zealand). First thing I did when I got back was to perform the Time Machine-assisted HD swap after making sure the OS were up-to-date as were their respective backups, on both my own MBP and my wife's MacBook.
    That's when the troubles started.
    First off, I noticed that a few images from my Aperture Library were missing. The album data and everything were there, but the actual files were not. They also did not exist anywhere on the Time Machine drive and as such never made it over to the new HD. Weird, I thought. They were there, clear as day on my original drive. They simply weren't backed up.
    Now I'm aware of a few TM niggles, such as the false backups after verifying a disk, but I hadn't done that.
    The second issue was much more major. My Wife's MB would be endlessly stuck on the white boot screen with the grey Apple logo. As it turns out, it's exactly this issue here:
    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2738620?threadID=2738620&tstart=74
    In short, the fresh Time Machine backups I made before transferring to the new HD showed no sign of updating the /System/Library/Framework/Security.framework/Versions/A/Security package, which is REQUIRED for the Mac to boot into 10.6.7 (it had an old one from before).
    Great, I thought, but maybe I can fix that by installing a fresh 10.6.7 combo update on the MB via target disk mode.
    No dice. On trying, it goes all the way to the end, and then fails installation. I had to resort to copying over the correct, more recent security package just to get it to boot.
    After booting, what to do? Who knows what other files Time Machine failed to update, and what consequences they would have. After putting back the original security package, I tried updating 10.6.7 again. Nope, no dmgs would open - i HAD to use the new Security package for anything to open. Fair enough, but even with that, the installation would inevitably fail.
    Problem with the package? Nope. Tried a fresh download, and checked the SHA and everything.
    Time to do some blitzing. I pulled out my trusty Snow Leopard DVD and did a reinstall on top. That's gotta get my problem, right? Well, nope. After resetting to 10.6.0, the 10.6.7 combo updater STILL failed on installation. Furthermore, the updater no longer worked on MY MBP either.
    What gives?
    As it turns out, it was related to this:
    https://discussions.apple.com/message/11317470?messageID=11317470
    In short, some files had the user immutable flag switched on, preventing changes from being made to those files (manifests as a little lock icon on the file icon). They included (and I'm sure not limited to) the Acknowledgement.rtfs in /Library/Documentation/, as well as a majority of the fonts in /Library/Fonts.
    Checking back in the backup drives, it was clear that Time Machine was the culprit - instances of those files in the backups were also locked. When did that happen? Looking back, it looks like it happened when I transferred the backups from one Time Machine drive to another. But it wasn't all at once - in the first backup on one drive, one of the Acknowledgement.rtf files was locked, and the other one wasn't, but in the second onwards, both were. It was clear that Time Machine seemed to be doing it to those files. Which files and why? I have no idea.
    So removing the uchg flag with "sudo chflags -R nouchg /" in terminal finally allowed me to apply the 10.6.7 combo update without failure.
    So were the troubles over then?
    Nope.
    While checking if everything was fine, I noticed iPhoto on the MB had all the thumbs missing - after rebuilding, they weren't back, and only a .plist trashing fixed it (I consider this pretty normal - probably looking for the files on the old UUID drive or something).
    But what gives? ALL the photos taken on the trip were gone! Not just the thumbs - the actual files were missing from the iPhoto Library! The data in the albums existed, just the actual files, just like my instance in Aperture on my own MBP.
    Checked the Time Machine - again, it was clear Time Machine had completely stuffed up - the files were nowhere to be found on the Time Machine drive.
    So currently, I've returned the original internal drive to the MacBook, performing a FRESH on new reformatted disk Time MAchine, and will use THAT to restore.
    Nightmares, indeed. It's several days of work doing all the restores, considering I have limited drives to work with. And yes, rest-assured, I was doing enough permission repairs, and PRAM resets to ensure they weren't issues.
    It occurs to me there are several faults with the most recent version of Time Machine (maybe 10.6.6 or something as that's when people had some of the issues above):
    1) At some point in time, Time Machine may not update a necessary Security package (and probably other files too - I believe the files around it were also not updated), meaning that if you use that Time Machine to restore, the outdated package will cause your computer to fail to boot.
    2) Transferring your backups to a new destination Time Machine drive may cause certain files to become user immutable or 'locked', with one consequence being you cannot update the OS.
    3) Time Machine may fail to backup image files with the Aperture or iPhoto Library. Trying to remember back, I *think* this may be related to the fact that we changed time zones, as the unupdated image files were after the zones were changed. Strangely, every other file within the Library packages were updated, as album data was updated - just not the actual image files and folders.
    Conclusion? I no longer trust Time Machine. The basic foundation of a backup service is that you trust it to do what it's supposed to do. After all this, how can I?
    You might think they are isolated incidents, but they were occurring on two Macs that I have, and they same errors can be found in others.I think I have detailed some root causes, but who really knows.
    At any rate you should keep an eye on at least these files I have detailed. Would love to hear Pondini on the matter, as I know he knows a lot about Time Machine.

    Someone has suggested just installing Snow Leopard on the machine. Will that work?
    If you can find a copy of the workstation version of Snow Leopard shipped with the same model of Mac mini, yes. Apple has not, to my knowledge, shipped a retail version of Snow Leopard new enough to boot your mini.
    I've also heard there is a way to install SL while connected to my old Powerbook in order to suck the entire old drive onto the new machine in an operable manner. Is this accurate, and can this be done if my old machine is the Powerbook on the old apple chip when the new machine is intel based
    No, it's not accurate. The OS on your PowerBook will not boot your mini.
    what are the differences between the single pack and the family pack?
    If you mean single and family pack of Mac OS X, the single pack is licensed for installation on one computer only, while the family pack is licensed for installation on up to five Macs.
    Regards.
    Message was edited by: Dave Sawyer

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