When I first heard about the Time Capsule, I was excited... finally I'll have a wireless print server, wireless file server and wireless backup solution all in one. For the most part, it's been all that I had hoped for. I got over my immediate disappointment that external drives directly attached to the Time Capsule couldn't be covered by Time Machine. With a little work, I was able to give my Windows machines access to Time Capsule; I wanted a place for common files.
=== The Big Picture ===
Life has gone on largely without a hitch. Recently, however, some really strange things have happened. One of the PCs are dying and we've been feverishly shoving files from Windows to the Time Capsule. Suddenly, some resources once read/write on Time Capsule are read-only from the iMac. I can read/write Wirelessly from Windows. So I tried to go in as root to chmod the resources back into submission -- no luck. I started getting a little anxious.
Thank goodness there are many posts out on the Internet already regarding this issue. One such post hints that conflicting file systems might be at the heart of the problem.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/525377/
=== Theories ===
Let me get this straight. The Time Capsule was formatted for iMac originally; otherwise, it would not even show up for me to select as the backup location for Time Machine. There must be some kind of controller that Windows interfaces with (wirelessly), but even so, Windows writing wirelessly to Time Capsule must be doing so as if it were writing to an NTFS. While the iMac can read resources written by Windows to Time Capsule, it may not fully understand NTFS and so it interprets the permissions of the file as read-only. This phenomenon has most likely been happening ever since I used Time Capsule for file sharing between Windows and iMac, but I haven't realized it until only recently.
=== Problems ===
# I can't copy resources from the iMac to my Time Capsule anymore or the attached external hard drive for that matter
# I can't change file/directory permissions on my Time Capsule or attached external hard drive
# Time Machine can't access the backup location on Time Capsule anymore (it now has read-only access)
=== More Theories ===
Given the above assumptions, my only course of action appears to move Windows-only resources to an external HD expressly for NTFS and another external HD set aside just for OS/X (iMac). Furthermore, I've seen enough warnings from Internet postings that the Time Capsule should be used exclusively for Time Machine and not file sharing at the same time.
<ext HD: Windows (OS/X + NTFS)> ------> <Time Capsule>
<ext HD: iMac (OS/X)> -------------------------^
All resources copied over from Windows that I want on my iMac (like photos, music, etc.) I should be able to copy from the NTFS-infected files on Time Capsule to another OS/X-pure location; I am hoping that action will make the desired files read/write again. Once everything is moved off of the Time Capsule, then I hope to use AirPort or Disk Utility to wipe the Time Capsule drive and start fresh again. For the initial backup, I will hook up the iMac to the Time Capsule via Ethernet; otherwise it takes *forever*. If there is a way to put permissions on the two external hard drives so that Windows doesn't write NTFS on the external HD intended for iMac resources, I will do so; many Internet postings are discouraging in this area. Otherwise, strict vigil will have to be used to make sure Windows doesn't corrupt Time Capsule with NTFS entries.
=== Possible Solutions ===
# [iMac] Copy from Time Capsule to fix file permissions on desired resources
# Flush Time Capsule; reformat for OS/X
# Set up Time Machine; point to Time Capsule; use direct Ethernet connection for initial backup
# Setup external hard drive for iMac, connected to Time Capsule (USB)
# Setup external hard drive for Windows, connected to Time Capsule (USB)
I have spent a little bit of time trying to track down some solutions with mixed results. I'd really appreciate any advice before going down this road. I'm beginning to think not having attached HDs to Time Capsule might help me avoid a lot of pain, even though an attached HD to my iMac could also be a pain when I need to move my iMac to the other room.
Given all this, what would the ideal setup be for a home iMac/Windows network that wishes to share files?
=== The Big Picture ===
Life has gone on largely without a hitch. Recently, however, some really strange things have happened. One of the PCs are dying and we've been feverishly shoving files from Windows to the Time Capsule. Suddenly, some resources once read/write on Time Capsule are read-only from the iMac. I can read/write Wirelessly from Windows. So I tried to go in as root to chmod the resources back into submission -- no luck. I started getting a little anxious.
Thank goodness there are many posts out on the Internet already regarding this issue. One such post hints that conflicting file systems might be at the heart of the problem.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/525377/
=== Theories ===
Let me get this straight. The Time Capsule was formatted for iMac originally; otherwise, it would not even show up for me to select as the backup location for Time Machine. There must be some kind of controller that Windows interfaces with (wirelessly), but even so, Windows writing wirelessly to Time Capsule must be doing so as if it were writing to an NTFS. While the iMac can read resources written by Windows to Time Capsule, it may not fully understand NTFS and so it interprets the permissions of the file as read-only. This phenomenon has most likely been happening ever since I used Time Capsule for file sharing between Windows and iMac, but I haven't realized it until only recently.
=== Problems ===
# I can't copy resources from the iMac to my Time Capsule anymore or the attached external hard drive for that matter
# I can't change file/directory permissions on my Time Capsule or attached external hard drive
# Time Machine can't access the backup location on Time Capsule anymore (it now has read-only access)
=== More Theories ===
Given the above assumptions, my only course of action appears to move Windows-only resources to an external HD expressly for NTFS and another external HD set aside just for OS/X (iMac). Furthermore, I've seen enough warnings from Internet postings that the Time Capsule should be used exclusively for Time Machine and not file sharing at the same time.
<ext HD: Windows (OS/X + NTFS)> ------> <Time Capsule>
<ext HD: iMac (OS/X)> -------------------------^
All resources copied over from Windows that I want on my iMac (like photos, music, etc.) I should be able to copy from the NTFS-infected files on Time Capsule to another OS/X-pure location; I am hoping that action will make the desired files read/write again. Once everything is moved off of the Time Capsule, then I hope to use AirPort or Disk Utility to wipe the Time Capsule drive and start fresh again. For the initial backup, I will hook up the iMac to the Time Capsule via Ethernet; otherwise it takes *forever*. If there is a way to put permissions on the two external hard drives so that Windows doesn't write NTFS on the external HD intended for iMac resources, I will do so; many Internet postings are discouraging in this area. Otherwise, strict vigil will have to be used to make sure Windows doesn't corrupt Time Capsule with NTFS entries.
=== Possible Solutions ===
# [iMac] Copy from Time Capsule to fix file permissions on desired resources
# Flush Time Capsule; reformat for OS/X
# Set up Time Machine; point to Time Capsule; use direct Ethernet connection for initial backup
# Setup external hard drive for iMac, connected to Time Capsule (USB)
# Setup external hard drive for Windows, connected to Time Capsule (USB)
I have spent a little bit of time trying to track down some solutions with mixed results. I'd really appreciate any advice before going down this road. I'm beginning to think not having attached HDs to Time Capsule might help me avoid a lot of pain, even though an attached HD to my iMac could also be a pain when I need to move my iMac to the other room.
Given all this, what would the ideal setup be for a home iMac/Windows network that wishes to share files?