Two Time Capsules, two users, two individual backups

Two Time Capsules, one connected via Ethernet, and one connected wirelessly to the first one to extend the network. My question is this: we are two users, and would each like to use one of the Time Capsules each to back up our data (individually). Can one of you fine minds out there tell me how you would set up the wireless network, considering my needs?
Thanks in advance.

we are two users, and would each like to use one of the Time Capsules each to back up our data (individually).
I assume that you have assigned different names for each Time Capsule, correct?
All that you need to do on each Mac that you want to back up is this:
Open System Preferences (gear icon on the dock)
Open Time Machine
Click Select Disk
Click to highlight which Time Capsule you want that specific computer to use
Click Use for Backup
Do the same thing from the other Mac, except be sure to choose the other Time Capsule in the list, of course.

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HT1178 i am setting u a new time capsule. i already have a wifi setup in my office. now i want to use this time capsule just as a wireless backup machine. do i still need to attached a DSL cable, or it can connect to my existing wifi and start working ?

i am setting u a new time capsule. i already have a wifi setup in my office. now i want to use this time capsule just as a wireless backup machine. do i still need to attached a DSL cable, or it can connect to my existing wifi and start working ?

You probably can, but this type of configuration is not recommended or supported by Apple.
Two cautions if you want to try this:
1) The Time Capsule has to be configured to "Join" your existing wireless network in this type of setup...and to do that, you must know the exact type of wireless security that your network is using.
2) Backups are likely going to take twice as long. The wireless signal must travel from your computer to the wireless router and then from the wireless router back to the Time Capsule. Two "hops"......even if the computer is located close to the Time Capsule.
If you want to try this, we can tell you how....but with no guarantees on your results....since this is not officially supported.

180 GB of my 639-GB Macintosh hard drive is used. 320 GB of my 498-GB Tie Capsule is used. Only one backup ("now") exists for the Time Capsule, which can no longer backup because of "insufficient space". How come? What is wrong?"

180 GB of my 639-GB Macintosh hard drive is used. 320 GB of my 498-GB Tie Capsule is used. Only one backup ("now") exists for the Time Capsule, which can no longer backup because of "insufficient space". How come? What is wrong?"

Thank you William for your most helpful response. I shall deal first with your three comments:
Not being tech savvy, I would not have been able to make that call myself but it sure makes sense.
I have updated my profiles as you suggest. Excellent tip.
This guidance is good. Being new to Apple Support Communities, I did not find the field a labeling and guidance to be clear, a point you make. Now I know, I shall do as you say and will use the small slim box as a header to the full message/question, which will place in the larger box below.
Secondly, I come to your question: Did anything change on your Mac recently, such as replacing the disk or main logic board?
The answer is “yes”. Two events have happened both of which concerned the Time Capsule:
The telephone company, with which I have access to the Internet and I have my email account, installed a new modum. After the technician left I had to try and get the Time Capsule and WiFi working again which ended with my having to call Apple for technical assistance. The Apple technician walked me through a number of procedural steps which effectively re-set up the Time Capsule.
Access to the Internet failed and the telephone company reset the modum. I had to call Apple again. This time the technician did not reset the Time Capsule but walked me through a number of steps tha included renaming the “site” (not the Time Capsule).
Another piece of information that may be relevant is that the MacBook Pro uses the Time Capsule for backup. Everything appears to be in order. When I enter the Time Capsule for this laptop I have backups going back for a long time.
Also, I do a weekly backup of the two computers onto another external hard drive using the Time Machine software. So I have another backup of both computers.

Can I use Time Capsule only as a WiFi backup disk w/out having to configure it as my main router?

I already have an Airport Extreme that works great. Can I use Time Capsule ONLY as a WiFi backup disk w/out having to configure it as my main router with my Internet modem?

Can I use Time Capsule ONLY as a WiFi backup disk w/out having to configure it as my main router with my Internet modem?
Yes, you have two options here, each with advantages and disadvantages.
Option 1...connect the Time Capsule to your AirPort Extreme using an Ethernet cable connection. Turn off the wireless on the Time Capsule since your AirPort Extreme is already providing wireless.
Advantages...easy to configure, you can backup either over wireless or plug directly into one of the Ethernet ports to backup large files 3-5 times faster than wireless.
Disadvantages...none, except it requires a wired Ethernet connection to the AirPort Extreme.
Option 2....configure the Time Capsule as a wireless only hard drive.
Advantage.....you can locate the Time Capsule anywhere you want as long as it can receive a good wireless signal from the AirPort Extreme.
Disadvantages....harder to configure, backups will occur only over wireless.

How can I close my Time Machine Sparsebundle so Time Capsule can do a scheduled backup?

"Time Machine couldn't complete the backup to "Your Time Capsule". The backup disk image “/Volumes/Steven Weinberg's Time Caps-1/Steven Weinberg’s MacBook Pro (4).sparsebundle” is already in use."
I have both a Time Capsule and a 2Tb external drive using Time Machine to back up my laptop.
Is it as simple as when the Time Capsule goes to do a backup and finds that the other drive is in the midst of using Time Machine to do its backup that I get this notice on my desktop?
It's 10:30 AM now. The last Time Capsule backup was almost 12 hours ago.
There have already been 6 Time Machine backups today on the 2nd drive.
Sounds like the Time Capsule really is being blocked from doing its job.
THe 1 Tb Time Capsule backs up to a .sparsebundle document which fills the Time Capsule at 985 Gb. You can't open and peek inside the .sparsebundle backup file.
The other drive backs up to a .backupdb folder within which are subfolders for each backup which appears to be a complete recreation of thebacked-up 500 Gb hard drive on my MacBook Pro laptop. And even though there are 37 separate folders with backups going back to Sept 2013 when I installed the second backup drive, it's only used about 500 Gb of its 2 Tb capacity.
1. How can I solve my primary problem of freeing up the .sparsebundle file for the Time Capsule?
2. Since both drives are using Time Machine to do the backup, why are they producing such diffrent backup file structures?
Steve

David Bean wrote:
So copying from a one-week-old TM volume was failing
Have you run Repair Disk on it?
I now realize that the folder in which the problem file(s) are stored on the backup,.DocumentRevisions-V100, is the folder in which OS X stores its versioning data for all users. I am now trying to work out whether I can safely delete these files from the backup
That does get damaged on occasion. I haven't seen it in quite a while, so it's pretty rare.
You can delete it from the backups, via the TM interface, but you must be able to show invisible items).
First, open the Terminal app (in your Applications/Utilities folder). Be very careful with this app. It's a direct link into UNIX, the underpinnings of OSX, but without the protections of OSX.
In Terminal, the prompt looks like this: <Computer Name>:~ <your name>$
(where <your name> is your short user name). It's followed by a non-blinking block cursor.
Copy, do not type, the following after the prompt:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles 1
and press Return.
You should just see the prompt again.
Then see Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #12 to delete all the backups of it.
and from the live system filestore so they don't get copied out to a backup again.
Yes. You will, of course, lose all previous versions, but since the file is corrupted, you may have lost some, most, or all of them already.
When done, run the same command to hide the invisible items, but replace the "1" with a zero.

My Time Machine / Time capsule gets the error: The backup disk image could not be mounted

My time machine / time capsule gets the error: The backup disk image could not be mounted.

Reboot the TC.
If you normally have multiple computers backing up, under Lion there seems to be some issues.. you need to force other users off the system. You can do that through the Airport utility, manual setup, disks, disconnect all users. Note carefully if you use Lion you probably need to download the real airport utility.. 5.6 to accomplish anything useful.

HT1178 Time Capsule used as External Hardrive Backup

If I want to use a Time Capsule as an external hardrive backup for my MacBook Pro, how do I do it?
What cords do I need and can I get it to back up wirelessly? I don't want my own wireless from it,
because we already have it in the house - I just want my own storage unit and I have one, but no
cords to go with it. Need to get cords - which ones?

This is out of my area of expertise, but I believe you can set the Time Capsule up so it doesn't generate a network, but is on the existing network.
Then you can back up to it wirelessly.
You should still do the first backup via an Ethernet cable if at all possible, as it will be 2-3 times faster than WIFI, but then backups can be done without having to connect the cable.

HT3275 My time capsule reports an error The backup disk image "/Volumes/Data-1/MacBook Pro.sparsebundle" is already in use.

Help !
The last few days my time capsule reports an error The backup disk image “/Volumes/Data-1/MacBook Pro.sparsebundle” is already in use.
To make things worse I seem to be loosing my screen so need to make a back up ASAP

Make sure that no other Macs are backing up at the time.
Pull the power cord from the back of the Time Capsule
Count to ten
Plug the power cord back into the back of the Time Capsule
This will fix the issue about 98% of the time. If you are in the unlucky 2% category, please post back for more assistance

Time Capsule message:Unable to complete backup. time Capsule already in use. If I try to ess Time Macine, it says: that the sparse image is temporarily unavailable.acc

Normally, my Time Capsule backups without issue. however, recently, it failed and I was unable to either complete a backup (done automatically) or enter Time Machine. I received a message that:" Unable to complete backup. Time Capsule already in use" when backup is attempted. When trying to access Time Machine when this occcurs, The message is" sparse image temporarily unavailable". Why does this happen? How can fix it without erasing the who;e image and starting all over?
I have Mac OS Mountain Lion.

You might need to if the bundle is damaged.
You can verify the bundle.
Read A5 here http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html
Also try C12 and C17
Just a reboot of the TC might get it working again.

Question on if Airport Time Capsule is best type of backup to use

New to having a Mac, just ordered a 27" iMac, loaded, with a G-Drive Raid for second drive, and for backup...I ordered the 3 TB Airport TIme Capsule...as I thought that might be good idea, but...second guessing it.
     1. Neither the G-Drive nor the Airport will do RAID-1.
     2. I have an existing Wireless FireWall Router (Linksys WRT1900AC, just upgraded to it). Uncertain if it supports Time Machine, but, seems maybe all I really need is to hang a RAID-1 drive off of it, for a backup?
     3. Just hang a RAID-1 drive off of the iMac with Thunder or even USB3.
I kinda like the idea of the backup drive being remote from the computer, so maybe both won't be destroyed at same time, and, even if not RAID-1, changes of BOTH drives going south at same time are low.
What's best practice?
Thanks.

Time Capsule is designed to be used for a Time Machine backup, Apple never advised it was designed as a RAID drive so where you got that idea is unknown. Many users on these forums use redundant backups because when it comes to backing up you can never have enough. The schems I (any many similar users on this forum use) is to use Time Machine on one EHD and then use a cloning backup on a totally seperate EHD. Two popular cloning apps are SuperDuper and Carbon Copy Cloner. Both do the same, create bootable clones of your system so in the event of a HD crash you can boot from the clone and operate until you can get the internal HD replaced. Your TC is a good device as both a router and TM backup however in order to have a redudant backup you will need another EHD, one directly connected to your iMac.

Time Capsule not visible to Choose Backup Disk

I have a 500GB Time Capsule 7.4.2 and two 13" Macbook laptops (Mid 2007 - 2.16GHz and Mid 2009 2.13 GHz, both running 10.5.8)
Both Macbooks were using the TC for TM backups, wireless access point and a shared printer. A few months ago the 2.16GHz quit backing up to the TC. Still accesses the internet and prints to the printer. While troubleshooting, I turned off TM in system preferences, and now cannot get TM turned back on in the sys pref. When I select Time Machine ON, and select the "Choose Backup Disk" button, there are no drives listed
The 2.16 Macbook (troublesome one) can access the TC in AirPort Utility and view and update all the configuration, but still cannot see the drive in the Time Machine sys pref. In the finder this laptop can see the TC in the Shared Resources but when trying to connect gets the "this file server is running on your machine"
The 2.13 Macbook still updates to the TC with no issues. Also can access the TC in AirPort Utility and TM sys pref with no problems. When connecting to the TM in the Finder it connects and can view both Macbook parsebundles.
Neither laptop can view the TC in Disk Utility, but I think they need to be connected via CAT V to make that work.
Can any help me get the 2.16 Macbook backing up to the TC again? Thanks in advance.
Clake

Pondini wrote:
Hi, and welcome to the forums.
Most likely, the sparse bundle for that Mac is corrupted. Repair it per #A5 in Time Machine - Troubleshooting (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
Thanks for the help. I completed the Repair as directed in A5 of the trouble-some Macbook parsebundle. This had to be completed from the other Macbook since it was the machine in which I could see the parse bundle to drag to the disk utility.
I am still having the same issue. The 2.16 MB cannot see any drives to choose from when turning on TM. Also this same laptop cannot connect to the TC under the shared grouping in the Finder sidebar.
Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.
Clake

Time Capsule gets stuck at "Preparing Backup..." every time.

This has been happening for about two months now. I was sure 10.5.5 would fix the problem, but it still occurs. My Time Capsule seems to not work any more - it gets stuck "Preparing Backup..." permanently. I have left it running for two days straight and it makes no visible progress. Any ideas? I don't even know where to start.

Jeffrey,
Consider these factors regarding an extended period of "Preparing...":
*Recent Crash or Other Major System Event* (Deep Traversal)
The reasons for this process are described in an article by George Schreyer. “During the preparation step it checks the FSEvents log for consistency. If it determines that something isn't quite right it has to rescan the whole disk. This can take quite awhile. A full rescan is always triggered by a crash, an unplanned shut down event or by booting from some other bootable disk between backups…. After a crash, Time Machine must scan the whole disk to determine what it has to do because it cannot trust the information that it left behind. Connected via an Ethernet connection, this phase would typically take 20 minutes on an older PowerBook. Being connected wirelessly stretches this phase out to over 3 hours.” [http://www.girr.org/mac_stuff/backups.html]
According to the following KB article it can sometimes take a very long time if Time Machine begins this “deep traversal” and has to compare data inventories. This may apply to your situation, particularly if many Gigs of data are involved. (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1516)
*Software Updates*
Installing new software, upgrading existing software, or updating Mac OS X system software can created major changes in the structure of your directories. Time Machine will backup every file that has changed since the installation.
*Anti-Virus Software*
Running anti-virus software can interfere with the backup process. Either disable it altogether, or try the suggestion outlined here, “If you use third-party anti-virus scanning software and have issues, make sure your Time Machine back up folder (Backups.backupdb on the Time Machine disk) is excluded from virus scanning.” (http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1516)
*Stalled .inProgress Files:*
It may be that the previous backup attempt was ungracefully interrupted leaving remains that Time Machine can’t deal with.
Open your Time Machine drive.
Open the folder labeled “Backups,backupdb”.
Now open the folder containing backups of the computer in question.
Are there any “.inProgress” files there. Delete them.
(For Time Capsule Users)
Select the TC in the SideBar of the Finder window.
Click "Connect as...". Enter your TCs password.
Double click the blue folder that appears in the finder window. The sparsebundle should now be visible.
Double click the sparsebundle and then click “Skip” in the checksum message.
Once “Backup of (Users Computer)” mounts in the Sidebar, click on it and open the “.backupdb” folder. Now open the folder containing backups of the computer in question.
Are there any “.inProgress” files there. Delete them.
Unmount the sparsebundle, then unmount the TC, and try backing up again.
Let us know if any of the suggestions above helped.

Time Capsule can't function as backup drive?

My main work computer's logic board fried yesterday. (Under AppleCare, so shouldn't be the end of the world, just a pain). I have it set for continuous hourly backups to a 1TB Time Capsule. So I should have all my files accessible.
I'm working on another computer now, that uses Time Capsule as a router, but doesn't back up to it. I need to pull some files off the Time Capsule in order to continue working. Is this possible? Calling Apple Support indicated that it was not, but then why tout this thing as a backup drive?? What's the point of having backups if you can't access them from anywhere but the computer that they were backed up from?
I'm desperate here. Any help would be hugely appreciated.

Below are two ways in which to get a file from the Time Machine backup.
When Time Machine does a backup it creates a 'sparsebundle' image file on the backup disk. This file is named after the computer so to locate and identify it easily. All you need to do is mount the 'sparsebundle' (by mouse double click or other method) from any computer that has access to the backup disk. When mounted it should show on the desktop or in a Finder window (depending on your Finder preferences).
Once mounted you can manually browse the disk by opening this newly mounted disk (named after your computer - example: backup of yourcomputer). When you open it, there should be a folder inside named 'Backups.backupdb' and inside are all the contents of the backup - just find what you need and copy and paste. Or once mounted, right mouse click (or hold 'control' and mouse click) on the Time Machine icon in the dock and select 'browse other disks' (or click the icon in the menu bar - upper right of screen - and when the menu comes out press and hold the 'option' or 'alt' key to bring up the 'browse other disks' choice). And it should now show the 'backup of yourcomputer' available to browse. You will now enter the Time Machine as normal. To retrieve a file - locate the file you want and then click the action (or gear like) icon and select the 'restore to' option and choose a location to put the file.

New Time Capsule: Assign DHCP address and backup to USB disk?

Hi all,
I am setting up a new Time Capsule and have two questions:
- I am successfully backing up my MacBook Pro to the internal TC disk. I like loooong backup histories, so I would like to backup my iMac to a separate Time Machine disk attached to the TC via USB. I have googled and not found anyone saying it can be done. I have attached a USB disk and tried to configure TimeMachine to see it, but it is invisible. Is this even possible?
- I want to assign a specific IP address to a Linux server (Ubuntu Jaunty) on the internal network of the Time Capsule. I can get a "random" DHCP address assigned, but I cannot get a specific one assigned. I have tried to create DHCP Reservations for the Linux box using both its MAC address as well as the DHCP client ID (preferred). No matter what, I still get the random DHCP address. On the linux box, I have made sure to set the Client ID as well as removing the old leases file. Any hints?
Thanks in advance for any help on either front!

...so I would like to backup my iMac to a separate Time Machine disk attached to the TC via USB.
That is not possible with Time Machine.
Time Machine will backup any files residing on your Mac or residing on any disk connected via USB or FireWire directly to your Mac.
Time Machine will NOT backup files residing on a network drive like the USB drive connected to a Time Capsule.
I want to assign a specific IP address to a Linux server (Ubuntu Jaunty) on the internal network of the Time Capsule.
The default settings of the Time Capsule use the addresses 10.0.1.2 to 10.0.1.200 for DHCP clients. If you want this server to have a fixed IP address, simply configure the server to have a manual IP address in the range 10.0.1.201 to 10.0.1.254.

Time Capsule: Will a windows PC backup play nice with my MacBook's?

Hi all,
I have two Macbooks I keep backed up with Time Capsule. Is it possible to install the airport utility on a Dell Windows PC (so not Boot Camp or anything) and also back it up on the same Time Capsule, or is the file storage system incompatible? Thanks everyone!

thedangercometh wrote:
Is it possible to install the airport utility on a Dell Windows PC (so not Boot Camp or anything)
Yes.
and also back it up on the same Time Capsule, or is the file storage system incompatible?
The file storage is inconsequential for the PC since it is a network share. You just need a Windows backup program that can backup to a network share (NAS). You can check out Norton Ghost v.14, but I don't have any experience with their newer products.

Two Time Capsules, two users, two individual backups

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