Time Capsule

[naftalim]

Set up Time Capsule last night, my first not so great experience with an Apple Device. I previously had the AEBS with a LaCie drive backing up with SuperDuper and it worked great. I also have an MBA and an Apple TV and all worked very well with the AEBS.

Setting up the router part of TC was ok. Trying to set up the Time Machine part of it was not so great. Did find that a lot of people had problems.

Called AppleCare this morning and they walked me through it.
First, I had to make sure that my TC name was short and with no apostrophes or anything like that. Then I had to shut down Airport. As well, disable screen saver and sleep for the initial large backup. It would have been nice to know this up front.

I also had trouble getting Apple TV working with TC properly, eventually resolved that by resetting the TV to factory settings and starting from scratch.

So, this setup process needs some refinement. We shall see how the backup went when I get home.

 

[alphaod]

Time Capsule backup part is a crappy experience; it's slow, unwieldly, and did I mention it's slow as molasses?

You're better off with a Airport Extreme and an external Airdisk.

 

[siurpeeman]

Time Capsule backup part is a crappy experience; it's slow, unwieldly, and did I mention it's slow as molasses?

i completely agree with this. i'm very much disappointed with my time capsules. i wound up going back to an external hard drive for my backups (which take seconds instead of minutes/hours).

 

[kepardue]

Wow, I found this thread because I was curious as to whether or not I'd be able to notice a difference going form the external Iomega 1tb drive I have to a Time Capsule. I was thinking the Iomega was painfully slow, good to know the Time Capsule is that much slower so I don't waste money.

 

[gwsat]

Wow, I found this thread because I was curious as to whether or not I'd be able to notice a difference going form the external Iomega 1tb drive I have to a Time Capsule. I was thinking the Iomega was painfully slow, good to know the Time Capsule is that much slower so I don't waste money.

In the interest of full disclosure I post to report that I have had my Time Capsule for six weeks and it has performed as advertised. If you decide to do the first backup wirelessly, rather than with an Ethernet connection, if will of course be slow. Nevertheless, I had no trouble using wireless to backup 80 gig of data, although it took about 20 hours. So what, though? I just left my MB Pro open until the first backup was completed. In the meantime, I was able to use my computer for other applications without any problems. Incremental backups have been fine, too. Each one generally takes less that 15 minutes from start to finish. On rare occasions an incremental backup will fail but the next one after that is just fine, so it’s not a problem.

In addition to storing Time Machine backups, I use my TC as a repository for my MP4 movie files, which I use in iTunes and an Apple TV. The TC works well in that application, too.

The difficulty with trying to gauge how truly reliable the TC is from reading technical forums, such as this one, is that you generally only hear from those who have had problems but not from those whose experience has been good. Don’t get me wrong, I am not finding fault with those folks who have reported the trouble they have had. In fact, I am grateful but wanted to report my own, much happier, experience.

 

[rayward]

FWIW, I'm with gwsat. I had over 100gigs on my iMac, which is connected via ethernet, and the initial backup took about 7 hours (IIRC). Ongoing backups take minutes, if that. I'd set up a TC for someone else previously, and agree that the initial wireless backup took forever.

The good news is that I notice no downturn in performance when the Mac is backing up. The only way I know it is doing anything is because I can feel a light buzz on my desk when the TC is spinning.

 

[Maxime]

I have a question about time capsule.
How do you mount it as a simple hard drive? When I connect it it does show up in finder. Only way I was able to make it mount was to select it in time machine.

I tried to format it or erase data that I had transfered on it using disk utility but it's not in the list of drives that I can format or erase.

What am I doing wrong?

Im new to macs in case you can't tell.

 

[jonnylink]

how are others finding time capsule. I'm considering a purchase myself, but it is gonna be a headache I'd just as soon spend my money elsewhere. I don't care about a big first backup, that's a no brainer. But have people had any other positive or negative experiences?

 

[gwsat]

I have a question about time capsule.
How do you mount it as a simple hard drive? When I connect it it does show up in finder. Only way I was able to make it mount was to select it in time machine.

I tried to format it or erase data that I had transfered on it using disk utility but it's not in the list of drives that I can format or erase.

What am I doing wrong?

Im new to macs in case you can't tell.

The TC is a network device in most applications. As such, it’s hard drive won’t show up in Disk Utility, although it will appear in Finder as a Shared device.

To erase the TC’s hard drive open Airport Utility, click Manual Setup, click the Disks icon at the top of the window and you will see an Erase option. I haven’t had to use it but am confident that it will work if you select it.

 

[YoungCreative]

I give up!

how are others finding time capsule. I'm considering a purchase myself, but it is gonna be a headache I'd just as soon spend my money elsewhere. I don't care about a big first backup, that's a no brainer. But have people had any other positive or negative experiences?

Time Capsule is the first Apple product that I have purchased that I cannot recommend to others...and I have been buying Apple products since my original 128K Mac! TC, in my opinion, is not ready for primetime. I have switched back to using my old Netgear router and, with only G speeds, my Internet connection is smoother, faster, and more reliable.

My TC worked okay at first, even though EVERY backup is slow, but the past week has been a week from hell with my TC and now it won't even show up in the Airport Utility or as a network volume when using Ethernet. I'm not sure if it died or the latest firmware update is buggy. All it does is flash an amber "not working properly" idiot light. I have seen many comments with the same problem on the Apple Support forums.

Tomorrow, I am visiting the "Genius Bar" at the Apple Store. I hope Houdini is working! If not, I'm going to get a refund and seek an alternate solution.

 

[Digital Skunk]

What is everyone doing wrong, mine works perfectly. I wish that Time Machine allowed me to only backup every few days or weeks without hacking into the OS though.

 

[rfrankl]

Mine works great too. Use it to back up iMac and Macbook.

 

[paduck]

I helped my mother setup her Time Capsule with her Macbook. It replaced a Linksys router and now gives her peace of mind that there is a backup happening (somehow, somewhere...). The TC also pushes a laser printer and a photo printer via USB - without any problems.

The initial backup of about 60GB took about five hours over direct Ethernet (if I remember correctly). Since then, it just does its periodic backup on schedule and she never notices. The router, etc. seem to work fine. She also has an iTouch which picked up the TC router after she entered her WEP password.

I don't want to oversell the Time Capsule. It is absolutely ideal for my mother's purposes - some level of backup and journaling, which she might not ever use, but an automatic backup in case something happens. She has an all Apple environment now with networked printing, so that helps as well.

I've been using Time Machine with external HD's on my sole iMac for backup. It has worked well and on a couple of occasions allowed me to pull a file back from the grave.

I have wondered about adding a Synology DS207 RAID with a pair of large hard drives to do my Time Machine backup via the network rather than getting something like Time Capsule. I figure there is some comfort in redundant backup that way, flexibility with networked storage, flexibility in capability, etc. However, I'm just not entirely sold. I think I might be able to do better for $700 and I wonder what my needs actually are... My network includes a VOIP box, but that shouldn't be a problem for the TC to push if I went that route. I just don't have as much flexibility as the other solution. I will be moving to two iMacs next year (kids get the old G5), but I don't think that changes the equation. The TC keeps me at one piece of hardware, so the benefit is price and simplicity.

Anyone have any observations?

 

[YoungCreative]

Tomorrow, I am visiting the "Genius Bar" at the Apple Store. I hope Houdini is working! If not, I'm going to get a refund and seek an alternate solution.

Well, Houdini wasn't on duty, but he wasn't needed. It turns out my TC was missing the reset button and had become nothing more than a pretty, white brick. They gave me a new TC and I now have it up and running without problems...but then the other one also worked fine for its first month.

The jury is still out on Time Capsule. Pardon the pun, but time will tell.

 

[gwsat]

Although as I reported in Post #5 above, my TC had worked well for the most part, I started having terrible problems over the weekend, which I still have not solved. Before this weekend, the only problem I had experienced with my TC was the failure of an occasional incremental backup, which I could usually correct by simply waiting for the next scheduled backup or, at worst, by rebooting my MB Pro.

The problem I started experiencing this weekend arose from my trying to either stream or sync movies from the TC to my Apple TV. This happened in two different iTunes installations, one on my MB Pro and the other on my XP desktop, which is also on the network. So much instability in the network connection developed that the TC would disconnect from the network, the streaming would stop or the sync fail, and then the TC would come back up with a different IP address. These failures would often cause me to go through reconfiguring the iTunes computer and Apple TV to work together. Worse, it was causing my Belkin Pre-N wireless router, which handles routing services on my TC’s network to spontaneously lose its Internet connection. The Belkin is connected directly to the cable modem, so if the Belkin crashes, so does the Internet.

I spent a great deal of time on the phone with various AppleCare tech support folks but they couldn’t solve my TC's problems, either. On Monday, I disconnected the TC to see if the Belkin’s spontaneous Internet failures would cease. They did, so I am now satisfied that my Internet problem was solely the TC’s fault.

I noticed yesterday afternoon that Apple had made new firmware available for the TC, Version 7.3.2, and I installed it earlier this morning. Regrettably, my network is now unstable whenever the TC is up and running, even when I am not doing backups or using it with iTunes. I am at wits end. As matters now stand the TC is unusable, even worse than it was before. Apple has demonstrated that they don’t know what to do to fix it, so I am out of ideas.

Can anyone confirm that if I reset the TC to its default settings, my backups on its hard drive will be preserved and available to me after I complete reconfiguring it?

 

[YoungCreative]

...The Belkin is connected directly to the cable modem, so if the Belkin crashes, so does the Internet. ...

Try switching the two so that the TC is connected to the cable modem. I also have a mixed environment (PCs and Macs) and was at my wits end until I put the TC in front of the Netgear router. I now have the TC set for N only and the Netgear handles all of the b/g traffic along with a hard wired PC. That way I can use Netgear's filtering and service blocking schedules to keep my kids off of the Internet "after hours." ;-) Using solely the TC, I could not control PC internet access.

Another note, My TC is set for a 2.4 GHz N network. Every time I try to set it for a 5 GHz network, it disappears from the network and my MacPro (8-core) can't even see it. The only way to get it back is to use the reset button. I have since given up on the 5 GHz and settled for the 2.4 GHz and everything is working fine... except the PCs can't see any printers connected to the TC's USB. Oh well, a small price to pay to keep a laptop wielding teenager off the Wi-Fi after midnight.

 

[AppleFan360]

I love my Time Capsule. I use it in bridge mode hooked to a linksys router. Not only does it backup my iMac and Macbook, it runs a bridged 5 GHZ network. That way all of the wireless G stuff in the house connects to the linksys and the Wireless N Apple stuff (Macbook, Apple TV, Airport Express) connects with the Time Capsule. Wireless speeds are fantastic and I couldn't be happier.

As far as backup, yes, the initial backup is slow but all subsequent backups only take a few minutes. Not a big deal. I just let it run in the background and forget about it.

While the time capsule is not the best backup solution, it's easy and does the job.

 

[gwsat]

Try switching the two so that the TC is connected to the cable modem. I also have a mixed environment (PCs and Macs) and was at my wits end until I put the TC in front of the Netgear router. I now have the TC set for N only and the Netgear handles all of the b/g traffic along with a hard wired PC.

Another note, My TC is set for a 2.4 GHz N network.

In my original setup I had the TC connected directly to the cable modem and then connected the Belkin to the TC. Also, the TC was set to provide routing for the n clients, rather than being in bridge mode, as it is now. It was stable but, as you noted, a printer on the TC’s network couldn’t be accessed by the printers on the b/g network. In my case it was the opposite, my network printer was attached to the Belkin via Ethernet and could not be accessed by any of the clients on the TC’s n network. In order to print, from my MP Pro, I had to shift from the TC’s network to the Belkin’s. That setup was stable, though, even at 5 GHz wide channel, which was in stark contrast to what I have been experiencing lately.

I would love to be able to use the TC only but it lacks the range to allow me wireless access in many parts of my house. That kind of failing was why I bought the Belkin Pre-N to replace an old Linksys 54G WAP, which was also short on range. Also, setting the TC for both b/g and n would seem to defeat its purpose, as it’s my understanding that the only way to get n speeds with n clients is to have an n only network.

The bottom line is that, because of the unshirted hell I have gone through with network configuration miseries I still don’t know what I’ll try next to get the TC back into circulation.

 

[gwsat]

This is a follow up to my post from earlier today. I have stopped trying to have both my old Belkin Pre-N wireless router and the TC on the network and have shifted to the TC exclusively. So far, so good.

The new combination b/g and n network has been stable. Time machine has found all of my old backups on the TC via the new network and has done several incremental backups this afternoon. I have been able to connect my network printer via Ethernet and it is now the default printer In OS X, in the VMware Windows installation I have, and on my XP desktop machine. I have reconfigured my Apple TV so that the iTunes installation on my MP Pro found it. I have a few movies on my TC that have not been synced to the Apple TV but have not yet worked up the courage to try to do it. More later.