Issues with the Time Capsule

I’m a bit confused. Perhaps it’s outside the scope of what you’re discussing, but Time Capsule is designed to be a network (is router the correct term here?) for Time Machine, isn’t it? Would it be more accurate to say that Time Machine without a Time Capsule is not designed to work over a network? Or that Time Machine is not designed to work with NAS?

Somewhat veering away from the current subject (NAS) that had veered away from the thread topic (Six Lessons…), I have used a Time Capsule to be what I believe a Network Attached Storage is. In short, I used the Finder to mount the Time Capsule hard drive, saved something to it, and retrieved it from a different computer. Is this good, bad, or indifferent? (It certainly would have been faster to save the material to an external drive and carry it to the other computer, but that’s not the question.)

I’ve always thought the Time Capsule was a terrible idea (or a fabulous hack, whichever you prefer) because it has all the network problems with Time Machine AND combines those with the vulnerability of mixing two unrelated devices (backup drive and Wi-Fi router).

I do regret having bought the Time Capsule, and I do have an external drive dedicated to Time Machine attached to each of three Macintosh computers commonly used by residents of the house. Last Saturday, the Time Capsule (for at least the fifth time and likely more) tossed its cookies and said it needed to generate a new backup for me. I’ll go with terrible idea rather than fabulous hack.

However, I do not use it as an internet access point and its Wi-Fi is turned off, so I am avoiding the mixing of backup drive and Wi-Fi router. The local Macintosh computers are connected to its ethernet and access a printer connected to Time Capsule’s USB port. The local Macs also use it (as well as their external drives) for Time Machine. The Macs get internet from an Airport Express connected to the ISP’s device (or, in one case and part time, ethernet from the ISP’s device).

Ouch. Sorry to hear it. That’s all too common of a refrain from Time Capsule owners. It can be a good way to share a USB printer, though!

Sorry, forgot to reply to this. I don’t offhand see any problem with this approach. The real issues with the Time Capsule hit when Time Machine is transferring large quantities of data constantly, such that any hiccup can cause corruption. In normal file server usage, that’s much less likely.

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This post belongs in a different topic, but I can’t find that other topic. Sorry.

I read (in that other topic) about sharing a hard disk by connecting it to the USB port on a Time Capsule. I disconnected the printer, connected a hard disk, and sure enough (after telling the Finder to connect to the Time Capsule), there it was. Next, I disconnected the hard drive (after telling the Finder to dismount all volumes associated with Time Capsule), connected a USB hub, and plugged both the printer and the hard drive into the hub. My Mac could print, but the hard drive no longer appeared when I connect to the Time Capsule. Suggestions? Thanks.

When I connect to the Time Capsule, I am prompted for a password. Even though I check the box to save the password in my keychain, I get prompted for the password each time. Suggestions? Thanks.