Is my Time Capsule dead?

[Simol]

My six-year-old Time capsule fails to connect to the Internet. I have done a hard reset, disconnected it, reconnected it from both power and the network hub. What else should I do before I call time on the old girl?

 

[MacInWin]

Is the modem from your ISP showing a connection to the Internet? Have you tried calling your ISP to see if there is an issue on their side? From your description, it seems to be connecting to your local network, right?

 

[Simol]

The home network works fine for all our domestic devices. The setup indicates the capsule is connected to the home network, but a message says no ethernet cable is found, yet the ethernet cable is definitely plugged into the home hub.

 

[lclev]

And can I assume you tried a different cable? Tried plugging it into a different port on the home hub? Can you access it using the Airport utility on your mac?

Lisa

 

[Simol]

Tried all those things. The Time capsule is accessible through the Airport utility but it has a yellow triangle alongside it. In the past, it has had an orange dot and a red dot with the number 3 in to.

 

[lclev]

Did you tap on the yellow triangle and see if there is a prompt as to the issue?

And it may be it has died....sorry!

Lisa

 

[pm-r]

In the past, it has had an orange dot and a red dot with the number 3 in to.

Wasn't one of those dots an indication that there was some sort of software upgrade or something??? But probably too late now.

And do I dare say that I am surprised that that Time Capsule had still been working as I thought they had all died by now.

They didn't seem to have the best reputation for longevity, at least not in my experience. ?
Too bad because they were theoretically a good design.



- Patrick
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[lclev]

I have four of them still working great. The only thing I use them for is as Time Capsule backups. I have had all three for many years - not sure just how many. All are still going strong.

Lisa

 

[pettycash]

I have the same problem but just realized lately as I did not use much of it as backup anyways, not user-friendly and sometimes confusing. Does it have anything to do with my upgrade to macOS Big Sur? My MBP version is:MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014)

If I cannot connect, is there any way I can reset or remove the data before ditching it?

 

[Slydude]

We need more info to figure out the problem. I have an old Time Capsule I've been using off and on for years. It has been working fine under Monterey. In fact, I accessed some files on it two or three days ago.

One thing to keep inn mind though is that the hard drives inn those units are getting older. There is always the chance of drive failure. If mine fails I might look into replacing the drive.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Wasn't one of those dots an indication that there was some sort of software upgrade or something??? But probably too late now.

And do I dare say that I am surprised that that Time Capsule had still been working as I thought they had all died by now.

They didn't seem to have the best reputation for longevity, at least not in my experience. ?
Too bad because they were theoretically a good design.

I have one still going strong here. I actually just replaced its HDD last year to increase the capacity.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

The home network works fine for all our domestic devices. The setup indicates the capsule is connected to the home network, but a message says no ethernet cable is found, yet the ethernet cable is definitely plugged into the home hub.

I would honestly be gobsmacked if the port and just that port has failed. Not saying impossible, but highly improbable. Have you restarted the cable modem? And to be absolutely certain.... the ethernet cable coming from the modem is plugged into the bottom port on the Time Capsule?

 

[pm-r]

I have one still going strong here. I actually just replaced its HDD last year to increase the capacity.

That is good to hear, and I wonder how many "failed" Time Capsules were discarded due to drive failure???

Drive replacement doesn't seem to be an insurmountable task for one of the airport models:

Airport Time Capsule A1470 Hard Drive Replacement

Outgrown your Time Capsule? This guide describes how to swap the hard drive in a Time Capsule A1470 from the original 2TB Seagate drive to a 6TB WD...

www.ifixit.com

- Patrick
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[pigoo3]

...not user-friendly and sometimes confusing.

Apple Time Capsules are very very easy to setup & use. Pretty much any other method will be more confusing & difficult. TC is easy to setup...and then it's all automatic. Also...not that many other systems out there that will do backups wirelessly.

If I cannot connect, is there any way I can reset or remove the data before ditching it?

Depends what the issue is (could be as simple as TC is not connected to the proper WiFi network)...if you're connecting via WiFi. On the other hand if the hard drive is failing or failed...this could be more serious (need HD replacement).

But as far as the data on the TC. If you haven't had any problems with the devices being backed up to the TC...no real reason to get access to the data anyway.

Also...if you have no backup system currently in place...would be advisable to get one in place quickly...just in case there is an issue. Issues rarely give you any warnings...any storage device in any device could suddenly fail at any point.

Nick

 

[pigoo3]

I also (relatively recently) replaced the HD in my Time Capsule. It's probably a 10 year old model...and I figured after that long...probably a good idea to replace the HD before it fails.

Upgrade also included a storage increase from 1TB to 2TB.

Nick