Problem with Time Machine on networked hard drive

[brsboarder]

I set up a mac mini which has an external hard drive attached to it.

I can connect to the computer through the connect to server.

In addition, if I do the share screen, I can click on the external hard drive

However, all of the sudden, I can't connect to the external hard drive through the connect to server, and now my time machine won't work.

I haven't changed any settings...any thoughts?

 

[techwarrior]

Do you have File Sharing enabled for the USB drive?

No problems for me to connect via Finder sidebar or Connect to Server from 10.11 to 10.13 Mac.

However, Time Machine is a different beast. i don't think USB Drives can be shared for TM across the network (without the Server app running on the host), but, is the drive formatted for mac OS?