So it seems the hdd in my time capsule has taken a dump. The router functions still without issue. Is that drive replacable? Do I need to have a certain set of software or could I just crack it open and toss in a formatted drive? Also, if it is replacable, could I slap a 1TB drive in it?
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500GB Time Capsule HDD died
- Thread starter peeaanuut
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It's replaceable. They take standard 3.5" SATA drives. No need to preformat it as you can correctly format it from Airport Utility. I don't believe there is a limit to the size of a drive you can put in that will be reached with the next few years.
i was just reading that a heat gun helps. I have a variable temp gun that I was gonna try. Still probably gonna rip?
because that costs money and NASs have always failed on me. I have a few 1TB drives lying around that I could replace this drive with at no cost to me.
There's also no guarantee that a non-Apple NAS solution being used for TM will continue to work when Apple rolls out an OS update. The 3rd party devices that have worked in the past have stopped working when Apple makes changes, and then you are at the mercy of the 3rd party device manufacturer to update their firmware in order to make their storage solutions work again.
If you are just using it as a network drive, it's not as much of an issue, but if you are using it with Time Machine, there is always this risk.
I've replaced the original 500 GB drive in my 1st-gen Time Capsule, and it was really easy. I used a hair dryer to soften the glue holding the rubber pad on, while pulling slowly. It came off without any tears, and the remaining glue was plenty sticky enough to hold the pad on after I put it back together.
I put a 2 TB drive in mine. I've read some posts that 1st-gen TCs will work with a 3 TB drive, but oddly enough, newer TCs won't. (Unfortunately I forgot where on the web I read that.) Haven't heard of anyone putting a 4 TB disk in, yet. In any case, you should be fine with a 1 TB drive.
I think the only issue you might notice is whether the drive "spins down" or sleeps after being idle for 3-4 minutes, like the original drive does. Some people have reported that their replacement drives didn't spin down, and others did. Seems to be related to the drive model, and possibly the firmware revision...
I think there's no real harm if it doesn't spin down, apart from slightly more power usage and slightly more noise.
Good luck!
I put a 2 TB drive in mine. I've read some posts that 1st-gen TCs will work with a 3 TB drive, but oddly enough, newer TCs won't. (Unfortunately I forgot where on the web I read that.) Haven't heard of anyone putting a 4 TB disk in, yet. In any case, you should be fine with a 1 TB drive.
I think the only issue you might notice is whether the drive "spins down" or sleeps after being idle for 3-4 minutes, like the original drive does. Some people have reported that their replacement drives didn't spin down, and others did. Seems to be related to the drive model, and possibly the firmware revision...
I think there's no real harm if it doesn't spin down, apart from slightly more power usage and slightly more noise.
Good luck!
True, but Apple software also doesn't always work well with previously released Apple hardware. Anyway the problem of the failing disc will always be a feature of Time Capsule. Apple has merely kicked the can down the road by using an Enterprise grade drive in TC. If Apple were to make a RAID 2 drive replaceable NAS then this would go away, but it's against the Apple ethos so to do, I would guess.
