Time machine won't connect to my shared external hard drive connected to my airport utility

I connected my hard drive directly to my iMac and have backed up my system. Ive since connected the external hard drive to my airport utility. I can save documents to my hard drive wirelessly however when I've tried to back it up again I'm unable to do so. The drive is visible when I go into utility settings I just can't back up to it. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Officially, like Bob said, it's not supported by Apple at all. Unofficially, it is really hit/miss for most people but may be worth a shot if you've got a spare afternoon to try it out.
As an anecdote, I had a first-generation 802.11n AEBS and it did not work for me at all. However, a few years later, I upgraded to a 3rd Gen AEBS (Dual-Band), it has worked just fine. In fact, it recognizes the drive as a Time Capsule backup.
My guess is it has or had something to do with converting Ethernet/Wi-Fi––>Router––>USB––>SATA (HDD) whereas the Time Capsule is simply Ethernet/Wi-Fi––>Router––>SATA (HDD). The Time Capsule is an ideal setup but if you've already got an AEBS and don't need two routers, it may be worth a shot.
I'm using a Western Digital 2TB "green" drive with a cheapie Acomdata USB 2.0 enclosure between an iMac (ours) and a Macbook (hers). I still back my personal laptop up manually simply because of the tradeoff of speed vs. convenience. For instance, our iMac is wired via Gigabit Ethernet to the AEBS while my wife's Macbook is always wireless (via 802.11n). The difference in backup speed for either of them is rather indistinguishable but the initial backup takes more than a few hours depending on how many GB of data you have. Hooked up directly, the backup is a fraction of time in comparison. Therefore, the point is: If you regularly make LARGE backups (i.e. Virtual Machines, Videos, etc.), it's worth it to backup locally. Otherwise, if your backups are rather small (i.e. Text docs, a few songs, pictures, etc.), it's a wash.
The idea of NAS for Time Machine backups is really nice but hardly ideal if you're routinely backing up large files (or equally large changes to them).

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I upgraded to Mavericks and now Time Machine won't back up to my external hard drive.

I upgraded to OS 10.9 on my iMac and now I get messages that Time Machine will not back up to my G-Force external hard drive. What do I do to restore back up capability?

Check the More Like This section at the right particularly i upgraded my imac hard drive to a 2tb drive. how do i use time machine to get my computer back to normal?

How can I "Put Back" a time machine backup from the trash to my external hard drive?

Basically what happened was I accidentally put an older time machine backup from my external hard drive into the trash on my macbook. Since then, time machine has made new backups onto my external hard drive. How can I either "Put Back" or replace the deleted backup back into my hard drive?
Whenever I try to move it it says "A newer item named “Backups.backupdb” already exists in this location. Do you want to replace it with the older one you’re moving?" I click replace and after a few minutes of loading, it says "Cannot replace. An item named "" already exists."

As long as you don't delete the trash, the files should be recoverable.
I suspect using the Put Back command could take a long time, so be patient.
If your Time Machine backups are mixed with your daughter's backups you might want to buy a larger drive and move the Time Machine files to the new drive.
Regarding missing photos in iPhoto...There might be options to rebuild/recover that data from iPhoto rather than trying to revert to a Time Machine backup.
Check out this third party app, iPhoto Library Manager. It has a demo.
http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/
Options for a larger drive.
I like the Seagate USB 3.0 Backup plus drives. Works on USB 2.0 ports. They come formatted for PC but easy to format in Disk Utility.
I don't recommend Western Digital because of the boot problem with some of their drives.
LaCie makes good drives.
All Mac formatted drives will cost more and it’s easy to reformat with Disk Utility. Do not use the software that comes with the drives. It’s recommended that you use Apple’s Disk Utility.
Prices vary but this gives you an idea of what you’ll find. As you notice the second and third TB is usually only $15 more per TB. Normally, you’ll find these prices but right now the 1T is more than the 2T
Seagate Backup Plus 1 TB USB 3.0 $85
Seagate Backup Plus 2 TB USB 3.0 $99
Seagate Backup Plus 3 TB USB 3.0 $115
I have seen the 3T on sale for $99.
Locally, Best Buy seems to have the best prices.

Can I have mavericks time machine on one partition of a WD external hard drive and snow leopard data on another

can I have mavericks time machine on one partition of a WD external hard drive and snow leopard data on another

If you want to and it is so large that it has room (350% is a good estimate for TimeMachine), then use a partition(s) to hold system restore images or bootable clones. Or VM images.
Using SSDs most Mac Pro models can easily hold 6 or more storage devices inside, except the nMP cylinder 6,1's; which do need external Thunderbolt and USB3.
System drive / data / scratch / backup data / backups of system / ....
I recommend a couple system backups, especially when faced with dual boot situations as well as an OS that is still undergoing updates and changes.

Time Machine won't back up to my ext hard drive - 'read only' error

My (two week old) external hard drive that is used for Time Machine has just given me this warning: Files can't be copied onto the backup disc because it appears to be 'read only'. It tells me to repair or reformat the disk using Disk Utility. I have my doubts as this is the third EHD that has gone this way over the past month. I use an iMac, OS 10.6.8. Is this a Time Machine issue that I can fix via changing some settings - I can't realisticallly accept that two top end La Cies and one brand new G-Tech G-Drive have corrupted in one month due to their own faults. Can anyone shed any light on this? I'd be really grateful.

Please look over Time Machine FAQs & Time Machine Troubleshooting. If you don't have any luck finding your issue then please repost in the Snow Leopard forum, because TM is part of OS X and there is a TM section in the Snow Leopard forums that is where you are more likely to find someone that has the expertise you may need.

Time Machine back-ups of files in an external HD drive connected to the Mac?

I usually use Time Machine for automatic back-ups of all the content in my Mac, into a Time Capsule device.
I intend now to transfer my heavier files (domestic video files for example) to a new external Hard Drive, in order to release storage espace in the Mac itself. But I want to keep the automatic back-up feature that I have already for my Mac content, also for the files that will be transferred to the external drive. I do not want to take the risk of loss of these external files without having a back-support for recovering in case of damages.
The question is: How can I configure the Time Machine to make automatically the back-up of the external drive content into the Time Capsule, in the same automatic way than the rest of files in the Mac? Is that possible for such an external drive?
Thanks in advance for your support and best regards,
Alejandro

External drives are automatically added to the TM exclusion list. To back them up, all you have to do is remove them from that list in the TM preference pane. Click Options.

Can time machine back up an imac and an external hard drive?

I currently back up my imac via time machine but to reduce space on my hard drive I want to move my itunes library onto an external hard drive. If i do this can time machine still back up my imac and the external hard drive with the itunes library on automatically?
Regards
Toekoms

toekoms wrote:
I currently back up my imac via time machine but to reduce space on my hard drive I want to move my itunes library onto an external hard drive. If i do this can time machine still back up my imac and the external hard drive with the itunes library on automatically?
yes, given enough space on the destination drive (your library may grow over time). also, the drive needs to be connected directly to your Mac.
you might want to make sure the drive is not excluded from TM backups by checking in system preferences > time machine > options.
also, as for moving your iTunes library, see this read for tips/instructions.
JGG
edited by the Jolly Green Giant (where Green stands for environmentally friendly)

My Time Machine does not recognize my newly-reconnected external hard drive, so I cant set it up

I have unplugged and restarted the external drive and the notebook itself multiple times. And done some troubleshooting. The drive is simply NOT recognized by the notebook (macBook 2007). It was however working fine until last night when I dismantled the whole system (to clear the table top for a party).
Now setting up again my NEW (bought 2 weeks ago) LaCie (2 TB USB-connected external drive) neither the Time Machine NOR the Mac itself recognizes the external drive, so I can't select it when I'm asked to configure the Time Machine.....
What is going on here. The disc is far from full and I've shut down and rebooted everything. Disconnected and reconnected everything (drive from Mac too) Trouble shooting included finding the preferences in Library and deleting the old com.apple plist file which I've copied below (could not attach it here)
Thanks.
bplist00Ÿ
YHostUUIDs_ RequiresACPower_ SkipSystemFiles[BackupAlias_ DestinationUUID_ LocalizedDiskImageVolumeName_ AlwaysShowDeletedBackupsWarning]ExcludeByPathZAutoBackup° _ $00000000-0000-1000-8000-0019E33631FD
O        LaCie≈ ∂ΩH+ LaCie ≈ ∂Ωˇˇˇˇ
LaCie ≈ Ó˝ ≈ Ó˝   LaCie:LaCie   LaCie   LaCie   /Volumes/LaCieˇˇ_ $E896BFA8-4C77-3A14-BC5D-B8530F38011C_ Time Machine Backups
¶      _ (/Users/susan/Library/Mail/Envelope Index_ </Users/susan/Library/Mail/Metadata/BackingStoreUpdateJournal_ -/Users/susan/Library/Calendars/Calendar Cache_ O/Users/susan/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.DotMacSync.0019e33631fd.plis t_ 0/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/PlayReady_ 4/Users/susanjmorton/Library/Calendars/Calendar Cache   %7IUgÜ®∂¡√ÍÎÏ ˆ   4 5 < g ¶ ÷ ( [ í    ì

Does Disk Utility see the external?
(Applications / Utilities / Disk Utility)

Time Machine Backups.backupdb with "Lacie Rugged 500GB External Hard Drive"

So I bought a Macbook Pro Yesterday. I have a black Macbook from a few years ago and wanted to transfer my Hard Drive onto the new Macbook Pro. I have an external hard drive called "Lacie", made by rugged/neil poulton with 500GB of space. So yesterday I plugged it into my old Macbook and used time machine to store all of my data on the external hard drive. After it was done I plugged the external hard drive into my new Macbook. I ran Time machine and it took about an hour. Then I clicked on my "LACIE" hard drive icon on my desktop, and dragged the folder "Backups.backupdb" into my Hard Drive on my new laptop. Then a Copy window popped up and said "preparing to copy to Macintosh HD". After about 5-10 minutes the Copy Window displayed "Copying 489,020 items to Macintosh HD, Zero KB of 206.96 GB- Estimating time remaining..." I've left this window open for the past 2-3 hours and nothing has happened. It's still remaining at "Zero KB of 206.96 GB-Estimating time remaining...". Does anyone know how I can fix this problem? Did I skip a step? I feel like after 3 hours it would have at least transferred something or changed somehow. Should I rerun Time Machine?
Thanks a lot.
-Luke

jpdemers wrote:
Copying a Time Machine archive from one hard drive to another is a very slow process, especially over a USB connection. You're talking about almost half a million separate files, and the drive not only has to write them all, it has to create a directory that lists and locates all of them. I'm not sure why the Finder's "Copy" window sticks at zero KB., but if you're patient (we're talking 15 hours or thereabouts, depending on the performance of the drive), it will all get transferred eventually. You can see the dated folders popping up on the target disk, if you check on it from time to time.
I've done it for archiving purposes, prior to getting Firewire drives, but this is entirely the wrong way to transfer files to a new system. (For one thing, you're copying thousands of system files that aren't relevant to the new Mac, and thousands more that already exist.) Why do things the hard way, or the wrong way, when Setup Assistant was created for this specific task?
Amen.

I am trying to restore my old Macbook Pro data using Time Machine on a new Mackbook Air from external hard drive, but when I install I get two different loggin accounts and I only want one loggin account

I am trying to restore my old Macbook Pro data using Time Machine to a new Macbook Air from an external hard drive, but when I restore I get two diferrent loggin accounts and I only wnat one loggin account to access all my data/files?

This web site might answer all of your Time machine questions:
http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html
Ciao.

Can I install my time machine back up onto a properly formatted external hard drive?

I have a MacBook Pro with a 750GB harddrive, with 500+ Gb of data on it. Just before I traverse to Europe, I did a TimeMachine back up.
I now want to give my Mac to a friend, and buy a AirMac when I get home. Even if I get the one with the largest drive it will not hold the full 500+'back up.
I have an 8 year old Mac Book pro at home as well. It will be a few months before I can buy the new AirMac. So my question is ....
Can I install my current backup on a properly formatted external hard drive, and will it then run like a computer --until I get my new AirMac?
Thanks for your help (and please don't be too tough on me for what may see to de a dumb question)
Soper777

The Time Machine backup is not bootable
You will have to install Leopard first

Has time machine deleted the other files on my external hard drive?

i used a la cie external hard drive for time machine and now i can't find the files that i had stored on the drive previously, there is only the time machine bck ups - are the files gone forever?

V.K. is entirely correct.
For future reference, the way to keep "other" files on a TM drive is to partition it. TM will, eventually, fill the space provided to it with backups.
Also, if other data is in the same partition and you ever need to delete all your TM backups and start over, you'll be in something of a pickle (technical term). If it has it own, exclusive partition, all you have to do is erase the partition with Disk Utility.

Time Machine wont back up iPhoto Library on External Hard Drive

I have tried and tried, but I cannot get Time Machine to successfully back up my iPhoto Library on an external hard drive. I found out the hard way that TM was not backing up iPhoto. Sometime TM would work and other times it would not. I realize now that the times it worked was the times I had iPhoto open. The times it did not was when iPhoto was closed.
I have checked the troubleshooting steps, repaired disks ,etc - but still nothing. Anyone have any suggestions?

I bought a new MacBook Pro in late august this year, and since then I`ve had some serious problems backing up my iPhoto library. I have searched severals forums in both english and norwegian, with no luck. But today, I found this... http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4116
Thank you so much, Pondini. You made my day
Kind regards, Erlend.

How do I remove files from my Time Machine Backup and then how to exclude external hard drives from Time Machine?

How can I remove external hard drives from the Time Machine and exclude them in the future?

For deleting backups from Time Machine: http://pondini.org/TM/12.html
For excluding things from backups: http://pondini.org/TM/10.html
For general Time Machine advice (all courtesy of Pondini): http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html

"Time Machine" Backup Using Western Digital 160 GB External Hard Drive

I'm trying to use "Time Machine" to backup to a Western Digital Passport 160GB USB 2 external hard drive. The message that I continuously get after starting "Time Machine" is "Preparing...." and the backup process never begins. I've ejected the drive and plugged it back in. The drive is good, as I've been able to drag and drop files on the external drive icon, which is on my desktop. Has anyone else had a problem using a WD USB 2 external hard drive in conjunction with "Time Machine?" Thanks in advance for any insight into this problem!

Suggest you post your question in the Leopard Time Machine forum @ http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1227
 Cheers, Tom

Time machine won't connect to my shared external hard drive connected to my airport utility

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