Time Machine - Wireless

jamessmells · Sep 1, 2009

I know of Time Capsule, but i was just wondering if I could plug my external HD into THIS, and be able to use it over wireless with Time Machine.

Thanks for your help.

wmprice1240 · Sep 1, 2009

You should be able to do this as long as the Mac can see the drives on your network and you have the unsupported volumes option enabled in OSX. This is essentially what I do with my AEBS/USB connected drives.

Here is one of many links showing how to enable this option:

How to enable Time Machine on unsupported volumes

A word of caution: unsupported means exactly that, 'unsupported'. While I have never had an issue with this setup, you can't go to Apple for support if there are any issues. You are sort of on your own outside of the forums and other non-Apple support channels.

jamessmells · Sep 1, 2009

thanks, thats fantastic XD

mbohn · Sep 1, 2009

jamessmells said:
thanks, thats fantastic XD

+1

BTW, what does that Belkin device cost?

mbohn · Sep 2, 2009

wmprice1240 said:
You should be able to do this as long as the Mac can see the drives on your network and you have the unsupported volumes option enabled in OSX. This is essentially what I do with my AEBS/USB connected drives.

Here is one of many links showing how to enable this option:

How to enable Time Machine on unsupported volumes

A word of caution: unsupported means exactly that, 'unsupported'. While I have never had an issue with this setup, you can't go to Apple for support if there are any issues. You are sort of on your own outside of the forums and other non-Apple support channels.

This does allow Time Machine to offer the wireless HD as its backup drive but when it comes time for a backup I get the following error:

The backup disk image could not be created.

I initially used this same HD via USB cable to get Time Machine started and that worked fine. Could moving this same HD to the wireless network be causing Time Machine a problem?

MacBirder · Sep 2, 2009

wmprice1240 said:
You should be able to do this as long as the Mac can see the drives on your network and you have the unsupported volumes option enabled in OSX. This is essentially what I do with my AEBS/USB connected drives.

Here is one of many links showing how to enable this option:

How to enable Time Machine on unsupported volumes

Hi, a newbie to all things Mac here. This has answered one of my queries re. Time Capsule (2TB) which I like the look of.

My next question is re. running it alongside an existing wireless router. My existing router is fine and I use it for web and wireless printing and see no reason to replace it (if it aint broke then it dont need fixing). Can I run Time Capsule alongside it as a standalone wireless backup drive? Or would it be recommended to switch all my wireless needs through one machine?

wmprice1240 · Sep 2, 2009

I initially used this same HD via USB cable to get Time Machine started and that worked fine. Could moving this same HD to the wireless network be causing Time Machine a problem?

Hmmm. I have never created via USB/Firewire and then moved the drive to the network. I believe OSX does encode certain information about the underlying hardware in the sparse bundle, so this could very well be the case. Again, I have only ever used one source and have never copied bundles to other drives and then attempted to use them again which I have read is possible but does require more work.

From the message you are seeing, it's almost as though TimeMachine is attempting to create a new bundle and it fails rather than actually mounting and using the old one.

wmprice1240 · Sep 2, 2009

Can I run Time Capsule alongside it as a standalone wireless backup dive? Or would it be recommended to switch all my wireless needs through one machine?

Probably not since you would be required to access the TC via the router built into the TimeCapsule itself. At the end of the day, the TC is a router first with the convenience of having a hard drive built in second. It's essentially the same device as the AEBS just with the disk mounted inside the hardware.

jamessmells · Sep 3, 2009

mbohn said:
+1

BTW, what does that Belkin device cost?

about £50 here in the UK

bobtomay · Sep 3, 2009

MacBirder said:
Hi, a newbie to all things Mac here. This has answered one of my queries re. Time Capsule (2TB) which I like the look of.

My next question is re. running it alongside an existing wireless router. My existing router is fine and I use it for web and wireless printing and see no reason to replace it (if it aint broke then it dont need fixing). Can I run Time Capsule alongside it as a standalone wireless backup drive? Or would it be recommended to switch all my wireless needs through one machine?

Yes you can and I do exactly that, although for a little different reason.

Have a D-Link DIR-655 at one end of the house connected to the modem providing ethernet to the computers in the office, network printer and a combo 'g+n' wireless network mainly for the PS3 at that end of the house.

Then ran an ethernet cable from the D-Link to the Liv Rm at the opposite end of the house where my TC sits. It provides ethernet to my HTPC, HD-DVD, Blu-Ray and satellite receiver along with a 2nd 'n' only wireless network primarly for use with my Macs and Time Machine along with extra storage available for non-valuable data since it's drive is not backed up.

This provides excellent wireless coverage throughout the house and pretty much no matter where I might want to sit outside with my Mac.

MacBirder · Sep 3, 2009

bobtomay said:
Yes you can and I do exactly that, although for a little different reason.

Have a D-Link DIR-655 at one end of the house connected to the modem providing ethernet to the computers in the office, network printer and a combo 'g+n' wireless network mainly for the PS3 at that end of the house.

Then ran an ethernet cable from the D-Link to the Liv Rm at the opposite end of the house where my TC sits. It provides ethernet to my HTPC, HD-DVD, Blu-Ray and satellite receiver along with a 2nd 'n' only wireless network primarly for use with my Macs and Time Machine along with extra storage available for non-valuable data since it's drive is not backed up.

This provides excellent wireless coverage throughout the house and pretty much no matter where I might want to sit outside with my Mac.

Thats great and exactly what I needed. Thanks. I now only need to justify the expense!