Time Machine with 2 Macs = Problem!

[GDC15]

Hi guys,
Ive got an 11" MBA and the newest 21.5" iMac, I am trying to setup timemachine on both of them to an external 1TB NAS drive on my network. The MBA, which I had before the iMac worked fine and still does, however Im now trying to get the iMac to back up to the same drive, but it just wont. It recognises the external HD as a place to back up and Ive created a sparse bundle file for it but when I click back up it just says "Making disk available" for ages with the loading bar thing.
Help please!!

 

[ashman70]

Hi guys,
Ive got an 11" MBA and the newest 21.5" iMac, I am trying to setup timemachine on both of them to an external 1TB NAS drive on my network. The MBA, which I had before the iMac worked fine and still does, however Im now trying to get the iMac to back up to the same drive, but it just wont. It recognises the external HD as a place to back up and Ive created a sparse bundle file for it but when I click back up it just says "Making disk available" for ages with the loading bar thing.
Help please!!

How is the external drive connected to the iMac? You are using 'external drive' and 'NAS' together so its a little confusing. If the drive is connected to your network, TM should just see it as a location to back up to and that's it, you shouldn't have to create anything for it to work. Have you compared the settings of your two Mac's to see if there is a difference in the network settings? Is the iMac connecting to the drive over wifi or a wired network connection?

 

[GDC15]

Sorry, its just one NAS drive which is also an external HD, i meant the same thing. Both macs are connected wirelessly and the network settings all look the same. I cant see what the problem is :/

 

[cawesjmu]

Is there enough space left on the NAS for the initial iMac backup? I assume there is since it's a 1TB drive, but depending on how long you've had the MBA, and how often you change things, it might be running out of room.
I remember setting my initial backup via ethernet. That way it was more stable, and way faster. If you set it up via ethernet cable it'll still make the .sparsebundle file which it'll still recognize later wirelessly.

Or maybe this widget could tell you what's happening. TM Buddy

 

[GDC15]

Yep theres plenty of space on the NAS drive and yeah I'll try using ethernet with the iMac for the first backup thats how I started doing time machine backups on my MBA
Thanks!