AEBS + USB Drive = No Time Machine , Alternative Backup Solution ??

[Philgr]

Ok, so i went looking for a backup solution for all my kit, looked at all the options, time capsule, etc... and finally settled on a AEBS and a MyBook 1TB drive for flexibility and later expansion if required. from reading the forums it was a valid option.
both bits of kit landed yesterday, and i set the hard drive doing an initial back up via firewire / timemachine of my 200gig worth of data from my Imac.

All going good, unbox AEBS and a doddle to set-up, promps for a firmware upgrade - done, Timemachine finishes its first backup, move new drive to AEBS, i can see it as share, no probs, BUT timemachine cannot see the drive WTF !!, im now reading the the ast firmware update for AEBS breaks timemachine support 😡

Sooooo, finally getting to the point im looking for a backup alternative to timemachine using my new 1TB drive plugged into my AEBS, to backup my IMAC, Macbook, Photos, Movies, Music etc etc

Please please can someone come up with a simple scheduled back-up solution

Phil G

 

[scienide09]

Officially, Time Machine backups via a USB drive connected to your AEBS is not supported. However, it still works, which is why (I suspect) you were able to find information here on that.

I don't know what the problem is at your end. The latest firmware update for the AEBS did not affect my ability to backup to a USB through AEBS drive at all -- I have the same connectivity I've always had.

What exactly is the problem when TM tries to connect to the drive. Do you get an error message, does it time out, or what? When you can see the drive as shareable, are you actually opening it at all? Your system should prompt you to 'connect as' (if your AEBS is password protected). Time Machine won't start until you've authenticated the connection.

I hope that helps.

 

[Philgr]

Thanks for the reply scienide09

It appears you are correct i could see the share but i was not connected to the drive 🙄

i mounted up the drive and went off to work, back now to find timemachine backing up my Imac to the AEBS shared drive Result 😀

I have now added the timemachine backup volume to my start-up items, is this correct ???

One thing i have noticed though i appear to have used up 350gig of my usb drive, the total Imac backup is 175gig, has it backup up the drive twice ???

 

[Hands0n]

Spaces in volume name

I was quietly going insane trying to work this out. I had the same config of 1TB My Book USB drive and AEBS with the latest firmware. But while I could find the drive and mount it in Finder the Time Machine steadfastly refused to see the My Book as a valid drive.

After a lot of searching around I found the simple answer, it was the space in the volume name I had given it "My Book". I changed it to "MyBook" (no space between the words) and problem solved.

So easy once you know! Why don't Apple state this in their documentation. B ah! I wonder how many AEBS and My Books have been returned to Apple for refunds because of such a simple and avoidable configuration faux pas.

Doh!