Time Machine/Time Capsule where is the data?

Bought Time Capsule a month ago when I got a Macbook Air. First time with 2 computers. Today exploring and trying to connect an old hard drive and TimeCapsule has only 2 files, both in a data folder and each labeled with one of the two computers dot sparsebundle. The only way I can see the multiple time machine files is to ask time machine to back up. Then the old time machine icon comes on the desktop and can be opened to reveal the files. It disappears when time machine stops backing up. I have prefs set to show all disks and drives.
What is going on here? I tried connecting an old SimpleTech drive that has old time machine files on it but can not get the icon to show itself on desktop or the sidebar. Is this a related problem?
Thanks
Geoff

Geoff K wrote:
As I re-read my postd I see it's very confusing. Sorry 'bout that. Before I got the TimeCapsule I used the old SimpleTech drive for the time machine backups. The drive showed up on the desk top just like any other drive. If I opened the drive icon I could get folders in which all the individual backups were shown. Time Capsule only shows on the desktop when a backup is in place no matter what preference settings I try. Is there a way to open time capsule just like any other drive? I assume it's working OK but I can't see it's content directly, only via TimeMachine's etherial display.
As etresoft explained, Time Machine stores backups differently when they're on a network, inside a rather odd container called a +sparse bundle.+ Unlike a directly-connected external disk, the +sparse bundle+ does not remain mounted between backups, thus is not as easily available.
To see it via the Finder, you must mount the +sparse bundle+ (by double-clicking it via the Finder), then open it to see the data inside it.
When you invoke the "Star Wars" display, it mounts the sparse bundle automatically.
And anything you do over a network will be considerably slower than via a directly-connected external HD.
Not sure what you mean by avoiding the finder in backups. Am I correct in thinking Time Machine does it's own thing so I have no input and don't "use" anything.
TM backups have a rather complex structure, all interconnected via multiple "hard links" (sort of like aliases). Think of them as a giant database. You can use the Finder to look at them, but it's easy to accidentally move, change, or delete things that way, which can corrupt them, so it's a good idea to avoid using the Finder on them entirely. See [How Time Machine works its Magic|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Works.html] for details.
And while copying from them via the Finder is also possible, that's not recommended either, as the copied files may not have the correct permissions.
Everything you need to do with your backups can be done via Time Machine, although it's not intuitive or obvious how to do some of them, unfortunately.

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Unless the drive is in a format that isn't compatible with Time Machine, the files will not be overrwitten. However it is typically a better idea to keep your files and your backup separate, especially since files on the Time Machine drive will not be backed up by Time Machine.
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http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427
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gheefromsa wrote:
I am using Ethernet cable to connect TC to the modem. I am only backing up my mac book air within range of the TC. So I guess it will be OK from your reply. As a trial I did interrupt the back up by turning off the TC, disconnecting the Ethernet cable, turning TC back on. The mac would not connect wirelessly with the TC without the Ethernet connection.
It is not using ISP .. absolutely for sure. Well 99.999%.. absolute tends to be only in maths.
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--Bob

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Time Machine, Time Capsule, Keychain! I am totally lost!

Hi,
I desperately need some help here! I had my Time Machine setup correctly for a while and have been doing manual backups to Time Capsule without any issues until recently, my backup failed!
The first error I get from Time Machine is:
===
Time Machine Error
The network backup volume could not be mounted because there was a problem with the network username or password.
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===
I went to the preferences and selected change disk and re-selected my TC. I was prompted for a password and I entered the correct one. Now I get another error:
===
Keychain error -25299 occurred while created a system keycahin entry for the username "*" and URL "afp://**@***.local/**"
You can try using the keychain Access Utility to edit or repair your system keychain.
===
After searching the forums, here is what I did so far without any different outcome:
1- Did keychain first aid scan and repair (tested - same errors)
2- double checked all password files related to TC in system and login (tested - same errors)
3- Deleted all password entries related to TC & Network drive from Key Chain to recreate them automatically again (tested - same errors)
4- Reconfigured Airport and TC and changed device pass to disk pass (tested - same errors)
I should also mention that the TC mounts as a disk through the finder without any problems. Only when it is mounted in the finder TM is able to pick it up and display the blue disk icon, but still same errors and backup fails.
What do I do now?
Will I loose all my previous TM data?
Can I get TM to work again and continue where the last TM backup left off? Or do I need to backup my machine completely again?
It doesn't make any sense that an error like this could happen so easily! It kills the purpose of TM!
Any help would be appreciated ...

Thanks Bob & tomvs for your quick replies. I tried both solutions but no change. I also tried changing the TC name so new password items will be created in the keychain, no change.
If I dont get any new suggestions or solutions, I might as well try resetting my keychain! but I dont know if I will lose my passwords and security notes if I do! But I think it leaves a copy of it somewhere, right?
by the way, after I changed the TC name, all password entries were successfully created in KC, or thats at least what it seams to me.
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A Macbook/Time Machine/Time Capsule epic - still in progress. Please help!

I'll try and keep this to the point.
I decided to upgrade my Macbook's 160GB Hitachi hard drive to a 500GB Samsung model. I also have a 500GB Time Capsule that has has an ongoing Time Machine backup going back to June 13, 2008.
I figured that I would change out the HD, then use the 'restore' function in Time Machine to bring the system back to where I left it. I figured that's exactly why I purchased Time Capsule in the first place.
The drive installed and formatted (using 'zero fill' to check for drive errors) just fine, and the restore kicked off great. The estimation was for something like 28 hours (for 49GB of data) which was a bit alarming but apparently not unheard of.
A day later, I found it stuck at 71% or so, and checking the install log revealed that I was getting 'error -36' messages for several music and video tracks in iTunes. It literally got stuck for about 8 hours, taking about half an hour to realize that each song was going to be an 'error -36' before moving on to the next one, and so on.
It was clearly never going to finish, at least not this year.
I clicked on stop, clicked to confirm that I was sure...and then it hung. I tried quitting the installer, which also hung, so in the end I was forced to do a hard power down. When I rebooted using the Leopard DVD, I attempted another restore, thinking I'd choose another date from which to restore. This time, however, opening up the Time Capsule drive hung.
OK, Time Capsule's Time Machine backup file is now toast. End of story.
Here's my question: I figure my next step is to figure out whether the HD in Time Capsule is faulty or whether the backup file itself is corrupt. I'm now 'zero fill' erasing the TC's HD. Does this give you a surefire way to tell that the drive is in good condition? If it fails, I guess it's under warranty. If not, I'll start a new backup from scratch (I don't see what else there is to do at this stage, frankly) and try to restore that and see how that goes.
Does anyone know what an 'error -36' is, anyway? Can anyone tell me if I've missed something, or some reason why this may not have worked as well as it was supposed to? Or anything that I should do next that I may not have thought of?
Thanks so much,
Michael.

I will remember to try to repair the TC disk via Disk Utility next time - I didn't even know you could do that until now! Thanks for that. In that case, I agree that I wiped the drive, because it would have been a great opportunity to try out the repair function and see if it could have made it work.
Well, the good news is that I have succeeded with my original intention, which was to replace my internal HD with a larger one, using Time Machine/Time Capsule to bring everything back. It worked perfectly, and I now have a Macbook with a 500GB drive. Awesome! By the way, I can recommend the Samsung drive if anyone is thinking of making the switch. So far, excellent performance, near-silent operation, and loads of storage space - for now!
The solution to the problem became clear once I erased the TC's HD and wanted to start over. My idea was that I would make a complete Time Machine backup, then change out the drive, then restore.
After the erasure, I found that the backup would not start, and everything about the Mac was sluggish! I cycled the power on the Time Capsule, and everything was like new once again. I restarted the backup and without delay, it started backing up - and fast.
Once this completed, I did a restore, and the estimated time was 8 hours. Big improvement from 24! After just 80 mins, it had restored 25% of the system - and this is wirelessly (using 'N')! Clearly, everything had become jammed up and during my previous restore attempt, it pretty much ground to a halt.
So everything is great now. It is possible that I didn't even have file corruption after all, perhaps just a refusal by the system to go any further. I won't know now, but should it happen again, I will power cycle first as well as run repairs on the disk via Disk Utility. I suspect that this is all that was needed.
Thanks for the responses again, and hopefully this post may help someone in the future.

Time Machine/Time Capsule where is the data?

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