Waking for backup - USB unmounted...sometimes

It will take a couple of more days of experiments to define this problem, but I thought I would go ahead and post.
I have my system (20" Alu iMac) set to sleep after an hour of inactivity and wake up at 12:30am, if needed, to execute a cron job (haven't gotten launchd to work yet - it tries, but the program fails) at 1:00am. The cron job runs rsback, an rsync-based script to save rotating backups (backups need to be accessible by Linux systems in case the iMac fails, so not using TM) to my external USB harddrive - a WD 320GB MyBook. Normally, the external drive is mounted as /Volumes/WD320A.
For the first few days when I logged in in the morning, the backups would appear in a real, local directory /Volumes/WD320A and the USB drive was mounted as "/Volumes/WD320A 1" I suspected the drive was not waking when the computer did to run rsback. But this morning, the backup appeared on the harddrive. The only difference was that I did not log out last night when I finished work. I am suspecting that the drive remains mounted if a user is logged in, but unmounted if no users are logged in. I will have to do some experiments to confirm or deny this. My questions at this point are:
1) Is the USB drive really unmounted if noone is logged in, and does it stay mounted if someone is?
2) Is there command I can use to "tickle" a sleeping or force a mount of the drive prior to executing my backup (which runs as root).

Update. I have confirmed that if no one is logged in, the USB drive is not available for backups executed by cron as root. As long as I don't log out, its there and the backups proceed correctly.
Next step is to see if I can find a shell command to force the mount of the drive just prior to the backup.
Any suggestions?

Similar Messages

Is it possible to plug in an external HDD to the USB connection on my Airport Express for backups?

Is it possible to plug in an external HDD to the USB connection on my Airport Express for backups? As a kind of cheapo Time Capsule?

Unfortunately no, because the USB port on the AirPort Express will only work with a printer and a Keyapan remote control. Hard drives are not supported.
You would need an AirPort Extreme for that type of functionality.

Time Capsule best to dedicate for backup and usb external for other data or partition TC for dual

I have lots of video and photo and have 2TB drive on my iMAC and want to use TC for backup.
1) Since alot of video and photo, can plug in via ethernet or "cable/usb" vs. wireless to back up my main iMAC? Otherwise very slow via wireless and perhaps better to get Seagate Go Flex or WD and go Firewire right?
2) I do need and like to share other data shared vs. just TC to Time Machine Backup, reading this community input, can I confirm that best practice is to let TC have as much dedicated space as possible for Backup and mix partition to do 500GB per say for data on the TC?
Here's my use case:
1) Time Machine tied to TC for the 2TB via wired to main machine iMAC - I only have this 1 iMAC.
2) Like to share data with iPhone and iPAD some pictures, etc... so do this with USB port and see data on the shared drive via iPhone and iPAD - no need to backup - just viewing - but need wireless - how does iPhone and iPAD detect this device - do I need app or something to view shared drive stuff?
3) Like to share and light backup for couple PC Win7 laptops just to get files back and forth or share things between family member - nothing intense - but can PC win7 laptops see the shared drive via IP setup or something like that?
Sorry for multi questions - my first iMAC so still stumbling around to see what works best for me.
Thanks,
///don

don1217 wrote:
1) Since alot of video and photo, can plug in via ethernet or "cable/usb" vs. wireless to back up my main iMAC?
If I understand your question, depending on the signal strength, backing up over Wi-Fi can be rather slow. An Ethernet connection would be much faster, particularly for the first backup, which will the the largest. Backing up to a locally-connected disk will be faster still.
2) I do need and like to share other data shared vs. just TC to Time Machine Backup, reading this community input, can I confirm that best practice is to let TC have as much dedicated space as possible for Backup and mix partition to do 500GB per say for data on the TC?
I'm not sure what you mean by "mix partition to do 500GB per say for data on the TC". It's not recommended to share the same volume for Time Machine output and other things.
need wireless - how does iPhone and iPAD detect this device - do I need app or something to view shared drive stuff?
If you mean that you need wireless to give an iPhone or iPad access to the Internet, a Time Capsule would do that. If you want to give those devices access to content on a Time Capsule, that's still an immature technology, although things may improve with iOS 5 or updates beyond that.
3) Like to share and light backup for couple PC Win7 laptops just to get files back and forth or share things between family member - nothing intense - but can PC win7 laptops see the shared drive via IP setup or something like that?
A WIn7 computer will be able to see files on the drive(s) of a Time Capsule. I haven't tried that, but instructions are available.

How to setup the WRT350N to use a USB NTFS Drive for backup storage?

My network consists of a WRT350N Router/AP/NAS (with a 500GB NTFS formatted USB drive), a Windows Vista Ultimate Desktop (wired connection), a Windows Pro SP2 Desktop (wired connection) and a Windows Pro SP2 Laptop (wireless connection).
Does anyone know what settings to use for the WRT350N and how to setup each of the computers to allow me to use the WRT350N for Backup file Storage?
For example: Can I/should I enable and use the ftp server functions? Can I just use the guest user account for all logins; etc.? Do I have to reformat the USB Drive to FAT32?
Any help would be appreciated!

Here is the clue to your question.
1.If you have formatted your Disk with the help of your computer it will be better if you reformat it with the "Erase" button
available on the Storage Tab of the Linksys
router's Setup page.
2.After that You need to make sure that you have
public IP address as your WAN IP on the status of the router to setup a FTP server.
3.You can use guest account for all your users but
please make sure that you select guest as group
while creating user.

I have a new macBook Pro 15 and need to purchase best, easiest usb for backup - help please

I have a new MacBook Pro 15" and need to purchase the easiest, cost-effective USB for backup. I have never done a backup and don't know what to buy. Thanks much from an obvious novice.

Look at these two links to OWC products. Note that one is for enclosures only so an appropriate HDD would have to be added. This at least should give you an idea of what is available.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/USB2/OWC_Express
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/on-the-go
Ciao.

Thunderbolt Adapter and USB for Backups to Time Capsule?

Hi,
Would there be any [speed] benefit in using the Thunderbolt port on my iMac (and MacBook Ar ) with the appropriate adapter to backup my devices to a Time Capsule, rather than just the network port, please?
I appreciate it would probably be better with my MBA over a wireless network, but the TB port doesn't seem to work :-(
Thank you.

Besides additional monitors, ThunderBolt is also for having high speed access to data. In order to do that the storage can't be just plain disk drives. They are so slow that many other bus structures can be used for them. In order to get the full functionality of ThunderBolt you must use things such as RAID Arrays that are able to move data faster.
For backup there is no really little or no need for speed and in fact the expenses involved in the high speed access would just be wasted on backup. It is really working with the data what that expensive is worth while considering.

Leopard applications all hang while Time Machine prepares for backup

I'm sure others have posted about this but I can't find a usable solution. I have the most recent version of Leopard, a 1TB external FireWire drive dedicated to Time Machine storage and about 400GB of backups on it. Every day at some point, Time Machine starts a backup, pauses while preparing, and the entire Mac grinds to a halt. New processes won't launch, open applications hang, Finder becomes unresponsive, menus and dock freeze in whatever position they were in at the point of launch, and I can't cancel the backup process.
The only solution is to turn off the backup drive while its running and wait for the Mac to wake up again (which it does in under a minute). I have no virus protection running. I have erased the drive and started fresh at least once to no avail.
Since I am effectively breaking a live connection every time I turn the drive off without unmounting it first (an obvious no-no), the data has great potential to be getting more and more screwed up. What can I do?

Message logs:
October 12, 2009, 1:43:25 AM
Volume at path /Volumes/Racer BU does not appear to be the correct backup volume for this computer. (Cookies do not match)
Backup failed with error: 18
October 12, 2009, 11:32:32 AM
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Racer X
Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:kFSEDBEventFlagMustScanSubDirs|kFSEDBEventFlagReasonEventDBUntrustable|
No pre-backup thinning needed: 984.2 MB requested (including padding), 443.72 GB available
Copied 21948 files (368.1 MB) from volume Racer X.
No pre-backup thinning needed: 548.2 MB requested (including padding), 443.35 GB available
Copied 961 files (965 KB) from volume Racer X.
Starting post-backup thinning
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-215828: 443.35 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-205855: 443.36 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-195856: 443.40 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-185908: 443.46 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-175907: 443.51 GB now available
Post-back up thinning complete: 5 expired backups removed
Backup completed successfully.
October 12, 2009, 12:18:32 PM
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb
No pre-backup thinning needed: 954.4 MB requested (including padding), 443.51 GB available
Unable to rebuild path cache for source item. Partial source path:
Copied 16717 files (339.6 MB) from volume Racer X.
No pre-backup thinning needed: 569.5 MB requested (including padding), 443.17 GB available
Copied 634 files (18.7 MB) from volume Racer X.
Starting post-backup thinning
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-225832: 443.24 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-165828: 443.25 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-155855: 443.30 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-145857: 443.36 GB now available
Deleted backup /Volumes/Racer BU/Backups.backupdb/Eric’s Mac Pro/2009-10-10-135852: 443.38 GB now available
Post-back up thinning complete: 5 expired backups removed
Backup completed successfully.
October 12, 2009, 4:46:51 PM
Starting standard backup
Volume at path /Volumes/Racer BU does not appear to be the correct backup volume for this computer. (Cookies do not match)
Backup failed with error: 18
etc...
The long periods between backups are when it is "preparing for backup" and nothing is happening. Sometimes this is while I'm not using it and the machine is asleep.

Internal Time Machine "looking for backup disk" (not time capsule)

Hello,
I have the infamous "looking for backup disk" issue. My Time Machine drive is an internal drive, NOT a time capsule. It is mounted and visible, and the backups show up on it in the Finder. When I select to enter the Time Machine "starfield" UI, all my previous backups are browsable. But when it comes time to actually back up... it just says "looking for backup disk" forever. I've tried leaving it like that for something like 40 minutes, no joy. This is not a huge disk, there are about 700 GB of backups on it. The HDD activity light on my computer is NOT showing any activity when I am idling but it is "looking for backup disk," so I don't think it's scanning the drive or anything.
I have tried turning TM off and on, removing the drive and re-selecting it, unmounting it and remounting it, deleting the TM preference plist file from the library, rebooting, and all manner of combinations thereof. Nothing seems to work.
Anyone have any advice? This is on OS X 10.8.2 by the way. The TM backup worked fine through 10.8.1 and 10.8.2 with no problems until now. I don't recall doing anything specific to mess up TM or the disks in any way, although I may have turned TM during a reboot cycle prior to this happening (don't recall if this is actually the case, but in any case it shouldn't have caused such an error, no?).
Thanks in advance,
—Gabriel

[Just a note, TM only works on OS X Journaled drives (i.e. HFS+ drives). TM does not back up your FAT drive.]
Isaac:
If you unloaded the NTFS and FAT kexts, your TM backups might (might!) work again, but of course in that case you would not be able to see your FAT or NTFS drives in OS X, and if you removed the FAT kext then a lot of USB keys would be unreadable in OS X - not a good solution.
The kexts are specific to OS X, so removing them should not affect Windows... but may affect boot camp, I don't know how boot camp is programmed (which would be a problem). Luckily if your Windows drive became inaccessable from boot camp with removed kexts, it should be easy enough to simply boot back into OS X, restore the kexts, and then Windows should work again.
I would recommend not mixing partition types on drives with shared OSX/Win functions, it seems to "tempt fate" as it were with possible errors. I don't know what has precipitated this error in your case, if it was the MSE or disk error or something else, and unfortunately I don't have a real fix to offer beyond trying things with the kexts removed and seeing if they work.
NOTE THAT THIS IS AT YOUR OWN RISK, messing with kexts is not a very recommendable practice since these files enable core functionality in the OS. Make a backup before if you can, and consider your options carefully. In OS X, navigate to /System/Library/Extensions and you'll find a bunch kext files. The two you need are msdosfs.kext and ntfs.kext. Copy ntfs.kext into a backup folder (e.g., on your desktop). Delete the original ntfs.kext from the S/L/E folder. Reboot and see if you can still access windows. If so, reboot into OS X and see if Time Machine works again. If you're good on both those points, then consider going without ntfs.kext on a permanent basis – it is rare that you need to read an NTFS drive while in OS X. On the other hand, if this does not fix your problem, you may try restoring ntfs.kext, and backing up / deleting msdosfs.kext to see if THAT is the culprit. Unfortunately, if msdosfs.kext is causing the TM error, you're kind of out of luck, since going without FAT access will be pretty annoying any time you need to use a drive to swap files between Windows and Mac (using a USB key).
Ultimately I don't have a solution, as I have noted, so much as I've narrowed down where the error is occuring in some peoples' cases (like my own). Good luck!

Advice needed for backup strategy for office

My office is switching from PC to Mac (yay!) and I'm in charge of setting up the system. We'll be using 4 iMacs and a Mac Mini Server with ethernet connections. I'd like to ask what is recommended for backing up these computers.
My thought would be to back up the iMacs separately from the server - is this definitely the way to go?
I'm thinking to get a 3TB Time Capsule for the 4 iMacs so that Time Capsule will do automatic backups.
- Is it OK to have 4 iMacs backup to one Time Capsule like this?
As for the Mac Mini server, I'm not sure how to best back it up.
Since it has two 1TB drives, I'm thinking of using one drive for data and having it automatically backup to the other internal drive. Any thoughts on this idea?
Or, it is possible to connect an external USB drive to the Time Capsule's USB port, and have Time Machine backup the server to the external drive?
Any advice is greatly appreciated!

The TC is really a home solution.
For business I think you should consider something extra.
Although 4 computers and a server is not a big setup, it is worthwhile doing a more professional backup and use something more professional than Time Machine.
For instance..
http://www.retrospect.com/au/products/mac
I have not used it.. but I see it recommended in business / larger installs. It is not cheap but well worth considering.
I would not use the internal disk of the server for backup.
As for the Mac Mini server, I'm not sure how to best back it up.
Since it has two 1TB drives, I'm thinking of using one drive for data and having it automatically backup to the other internal drive. Any thoughts on this idea?
You can raid the two disks if you don't need the capacity.
But backup to a USB drive plugged in.. USB3 drives are cheap and speedy. Much more reliable than using network drives.
Raid for integrity of working data.. backup to separate change over disks.
So weekly you change over the USB drive for backup and store the other one at home.
I'm thinking to get a 3TB Time Capsule for the 4 iMacs so that Time Capsule will do automatic backups.
- Is it OK to have 4 iMacs backup to one Time Capsule like this?
You can do this.. It is fine to have 4 Macs backup to it. But if you are not using the wireless router it is a waste.. you can just backup over network to the server.. TM works fine on network.
You can buy another 3TB USB drive for backup of the clients.. normally though you want all the working data on the server and back that up. You are thinking a more peer to peer model.. once you introduce the server you can work on a more server client model where the current files are held on the server.

I have a belkin 7 adapter for additional USB slots for my Mac Pro. It was working well till just recently I am getting a message that says the usb port on the Mac Pro is shutting down due to a very high power drain. Then it shuts the usb port down.

I have a belkin 7 adapter for additional usb ports for my mac pro. It worked fine without problems till recently when the message regarding usb port drawing too much power and the computer shuts the port on the mac pro down. The strip comes with its own power supply adapter. The attachments are additional hard drives used as backups and independent data. Other than disconnecting it are there any fixes?

You're getting the message because you're exceeding the available current, probably as a result of bus-powered drives. The power sources for hubs are rather small. Try using drives with their own power supplies.

Suggestion for backup drive for Air

I've enjoyed getting to know my MacBook Pro this past year or so, but I'm still new to the Airbook and need some assistance. I'm going to help an elderly friend move data from her old iMac to her 1st Gen. Airbook. I'm insisting she get a backup drive, but the Seagate Free Agent I recently bought won't work for her, because it is either FireWire, which Airbooks don't have, or it requires two powered USB ports. Given that the Air has one USB, would we be able to get around it by using a powered USB hub? Is there a specific drive that anyone can suggest? I'd prefer Mac formatted/ready to go, but not absolutely necessary. An external drive with a built in power supply tends to be bigger than we'd prefer. What about a USB flash drive? I don't think she's filled the 80 GB solid state drive on the Air so she doesn't likely need a huge capacity drive. Any help you can give would be most welcome.

Hi SFMacNewbiew,
Happy to hear that you're enjoying your MacBook Pro.
I have the following drive currently:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/TR043ZM/A
What's nice about it, is that I have FW flexibility. The cable for the USB has the double USB cables and I've been backing up to it using the single USB (power & data) without problems for 4+ months now.
I've also used this one as well:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/TV523VC/A
When you think about it, the second one is a better bang for the buck. It is, however, USB only.
One thing you mentioned is that she has an older iMac, so getting a drive with a FW interface wouldn't be all that bad and with enough storage she could theoretically use the HD with both machines. I've yet to come across a reasonable priced portable HD that I've had to use with a powered USB-hub.
Regarding the thumb drives, I'd recommend against them. Even a "base install" with some data is 12-19 GB on most MacBook Airs unless she did a custom installation.

How to configure Time Capsule etc as a local network server with remote access server and for backups

I'm trying to set up new 3TB Time Capsule as a wireless network server (with remote access) and for backups for use in a small office (of two Macs). We have a late 2011 Intel MBP and a brand new MBA both running 10.8.3. We have two external 1TB hard drives that until now have been attached the MBP for storage and backing up that computer, which up until now was the only machine in use. The MBA is for a new employee and we need to share and work on the same files, both here in the office and ideally remotely too via Back to my Mac. The MBP needs constant access. The MBA only occasional. The TC has 7.6.3 firmware and we've set it up using AirPort Utility 6.2. It is currently attached to the MBP via ethernet and it has internet access via a Sagemcom router attached to TC's WAN port.
We've managed to set up a wireless network and both have wireless internet access through the TC
But there are so many issues I don't know where to begin - so I'll start with a description of what we're trying to achieve:
I planned to use the TC as the main server drive and place all the key folders and files there so that both of us can access them wirelessly and remotely. The MBP would back up to the TC and to one or two of the external hard drives - one being attached to the Mac via USB and the other being attached to the TC's USB port. We would back up the important data on the TC using SuperDuper and copy it to both external USB drives.
So , first of all, is that a sensible configuration? Should the 'server' be the one of the external hard drives attached to the TC USB port, backed up regularly to the TC using SuperDuper?

But when you say 'So using USB drive does make sense if you want to use it as a file store', do you mean a USB drive plugged into the TC? I hope that I can attach an external drive to the TC so we can all access and read/write the content wirelessly via the TC network or remotely.
Yes, USB.. as it prevents the sparsebundle mixing with data files. I guess it does depend on how much data you are talking about.. you can use the TC internal disk if you are careful and setup the sparsebundle with fixed sizes once you create them..
And to be clear, I wasn't planning on backing up remotely via BTMM - only to access the shared folders on the TC data drive or USB external drive attached to it. I'm assuming that's ok?
Yes, that is fine. Sorry I got the impression you were going to do backup over internet.
What is the alternative? Having a Mac Mini that's always on? Do I need OS X Server etc.?
A mini would be great.. you don't need server edition.. but I would see how the TC goes.. since you have it and it is much lower power consumption device. It is just that its design is not really for file storage.
One big problem I have is to do with the sharing permissions. For everything on the TC or attached external drive attached to it, it says I have only custom access and every time I try to change permissions it says I don't have the permission to do that. And if I try to change the owner it says my user name is not valid.
How is the security setup on the TC?
The security is a bit tricky.. I must admit since I run windows computer in the network, that I simply turn on the guest account to read and write access. For a business setup that might not be adequate but it allows me full access to all the files.
If you setup the TC with user accounts then you are in trouble. That makes it very difficult to access, especially if one person already has the file open you may find a second user cannot login. I am not sure as I have avoided the security. IMHO it is meaningless.. since anyone with physical access to the TC can press the reset for one second and has full access.. and can add or change passwords.

Multiple Hard Drives: one for system & applications, one for backup

I am planning the upgrade of my hard drive setup. Presently, I have only the original 74.53 GB internal drive that came with my June 2004 G5 1.8 dual CPU. I have two goals for the upgrade. First, more hard drive space. Second, a drive for automatic backup. Since I am running OS 10.4.11 and not intending to upgrade to 10.5 at this time for application reasons, I will be using something like Carbon Copy Clone for the backup software (not Time Machine, which requires OS 10.5). My thinking, so far, is to install a 1 TB internal drive for system and another internal or external 1 TB drive for the backup. In perusing the discussions here, it looks like an external drive is always used for the backup. Is this true or would an internal drive work just as well for backup? I want the backup to be as free as possible from any corruption or problems that might arise on the system drive or other computer parts. Does the Firewire or USB connection of an external drive offer a greater amount of freedom from potential corruption as opposed to the direct SATA connection of an internal drive?
I realize that burnt DVD’s offer the greatest amount of freedom from corruption but one doesn’t burn a DVD hourly, daily, weekly or so on. Hopefully, if a problem arises my work underway is residing on the backup drive unaffected. I’m not sure how close in time this can be. I imagine this probably depends on the backup software used and how often the backup is run. I’m not yet fully aware of the options.
For the internal system drive is there any good reason to partition it? I f so, why, and in what way? Do the OS and applications need to reside on the same partition? If not (or better that they don’t), how should a 1 TB drive be partitioned?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions on the best configuration of my hard drive upgrade.

1) The backup drive is best to be external (security from computer failure).
Yes. I am not sure about the "in some ways" my esteemed colleague qualifies.
2) The external backup drive should be connected by Firewire (ability to be bootable & greater speed).
Yes. Just beware that some of the Western Digital models have presented problems. Not the drives themselves but the enclosures. [List of Western Digital bootable and non bootable models|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=9022456#9022456]
Is a Firewire connected drive any less vulnerable to damage by computer hardware failure than an internal drive?
Yes & no. The yes: I don't know about G5s (they use a different connector from the G4s and earlier with which I am familiar) but in some computers the drives will share the same controller. If the controller goes then all connected drives can be corrupted. The no: Then too, I have had two Firewire drives be corrupted. One was by trying it with a PCI card (not what you're using) that was incompatible with my model computer. The other was when the power source in the enclosure went bad.
This is almost leading me to think that 3 drives would be the best! One internal for OS system & applications (1 TB), one continually connected for auto backup (my original 74 GB), and one (a bootable clone) attached only during occasional backups (2 TB).
The more the better. I usually buy drives in size increments that make sense for my configuration. I have two 120GB internal drives so I bought a 250GB external drive for backup and partitioned it into two so I could just back up one internal to one partition and the second to the other.
I'm perplexed with both your feelings about burnt media. I was not aware of this and fortunately have not experienced problems. However, it is only recently that I gravitated from 700MB CD's to 4.7 GB DVD-RW's for backups. I've been using Maxell
There's backup and there's archiving. Backup is for having a copy of what you're actively using. Archiving is storing stuff that is unlikely to change. Optical media is lousy for backup because files are constantly changing. Backing up a 120 GB onto 4GB media either requires a super organized person or you're spending a day sticking DVDs into your computer.
Optical media is less lousy for archiving, but still not great. Where's the floppy drive on your computer? Where will the DVD drive be in 15 years? It's also a lot faster archiving onto hard drives, and the cost of drives has come down to where the per GB cost is about equivalent of less than high-quality, archival-grade DVDs. Yes, drives change too, but it is also easy to copy from drive to drive. I have items archived on drives that are over 10 years old and as long as I make sure I keep on top of being able to connect those drives to a computer they are usable.
BTW: I tried to quote your messages for this reply, went to "Help" to learn how that is done and found this: "If you want to quote specific text from the original message, click Quote Original to add all the text from the original message to the Message box." I could see no such button "Quote Original". Can anyone please tell me where it is?
There's a '"' icon in the compose window when you type a reply. If I'm doing a lot of quotes (as I did here) I use that, then edit out the bits I don't want. Otherwise I copy and paste the text and add a > before the line to get it to appear in the special format.

Do I need to keep the Capsule plugged in to my cable modem in order to use it for backup?

The location of my cable modem is really inconvenient. I'd like to move the Capsule to a different room. Do I need to keep it connected to the cable modem in order to be able to use it as my Time Machine backup device?

I assume your cable modem is a router.. as such the TC should be wired to it in bridge. It will not do anything worse than now for the network in the house.. and the TC can then be accessed as per normal.
TC is designed to be plugged into the modem or main router by ethernet.
You can move it anywhere you like in the house as long as you have ethernet connection back to the modem.
You can run the TC by wireless .. it will have the following effects.
1. Super slow backups. It will simply reduce the current wireless speed by half or more for backups.
2. Since there is no QoS your internet will stop during backups. Or near to.
3. You will affect all wireless clients during the backups.
It can work, if your backups are very small.. but the TC becomes a near to useless dumb client in the network.. ethernet ports are off, wireless becomes mere client.. so you cannot even connect directly to it.
If you try the TC in stand alone.. ie a secondary network.. that can work.
1. The computer will then have backups or internet not both. You will need to deliberately connect to the TC to get backups working. That is assuming you use wireless.
2. You can do it with ethernet. and have internet by wireless. but the setup is tricky.. tell us if you want to proceed this way.
3. The problem is, the TC now becomes useless to the whole network and is only used by one computer. You may as well have bought a cheap USB drive, which is more reliable and faster.

What is the best external hard drive for backup on powerbook g4 17-inch?

i need to get a good external hard drive for backing up my files on my 2004 powerbook g4 17-inch. up till now ive been using thumbdrives, but i have way too much to backup now. i was thinking of getting the time capsule, but i don't have leopard version with time machine.
what would be an advisable backup to get without buying a new mactop yet?
please include model # if possible.
thanks in advance for anyone's input!

What I've done is buy the case and drive separately. The case I use is similar to this one: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MEFW91UAL1K/ (looks like they don't offer this case with Firewire 800 anymore), and the hard drive is a Western Digital 3.5" Parallel ATA 320GB which Newegg carries at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136109. The reason I like a combination like this is that the enclosure uses the Oxford 911 chipset, and Oxford chipsets have a good track record working with our macs. The Western Digital drive comes with a 3 year warranty (many pre-packaged hard drives only have a one year warranty). It is very easy to install the drive ... you plug in the power and data connectors to the hard drive, and screw the hard drive to the case.
Whatever external hard drive you get, recommend one with a Firewire connection. Our Powerbooks can boot from a Firewire connection, however, cannot boot from a USB-only connection. Also, be aware that for a USB-only connection, if the external hard drive relies on power from it there may be a problem. This is due to the Powerbook putting minimal power out on USB. There are many people who have found that they've had to either get a dual USB cable, a USB powered hub, or an external power supply for their USB-powered external hard drive. The case I mentioned above has it's own external power supply. Firewire-powered drives don't have this problem.

Waking for backup - USB unmounted...sometimes

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