Time Capsule Network Corrupted

Do you have a solution for me to restore the original network in my Time Capsule so that I can see it in the Airport Utility and my Mac does recognize it to continue with backups as usual?

Potentially, yes. But as always In situations like this, you cannot know whether a potential "solution" will work until you try it.

I do not need the Time Capsule so much as the router for my network as I get better speed of my internet connection with the Linksys router.

You already have one router on the network.......the Linksys router. You don't want another router on the same network, since that will create conflicts with two devices both trying to control the same network. To avoid this, the routing functions on the Time Capsule need to be turned "off", so the Time Capsule will operate in Bridge Mode and allow the Linksys router to control the network while the Time Capsule becomes a network client, not a router.

In addition, the wireless function needs to be turned "off" on the Time Capsule if it will be located near the Linksys router, because you don't want two wireless networks being broadcast using the same name and password operating in close proximity, because there will be wireless interference between the Linksys and Time Capsule.

IF.....the Time Capsule will be located several rooms away from the Linksys router or one of the remote Linksys access points.......then.......you could enable the wireless on the Time Capsule and have it use the same wireless network name and password as the main router. This assumes that the Time Capsule will remain connected to the Linksys router using a permanent wired Ethernet cable connection.

You probably don't need to do this though, since the Linksys Velop system should be providing good Wi-Fi coverage throughout your home.

If I connect the Time Capsule to the Linksys router via ethernet (instead of connecting it to the modem of my ISP) I see the Time Capsule in the Airport Utility but I get a message that the Time Capsule was previously part of my network and I do not get and Edit option in the pop-up but just a Forget option

This is normal and expected. The Time Capsule was previously configured to work as the main router on your network.....not accept instructions from another router on the network. In other words, the Time Capsule was configured with settings to control your "old" network....and it still retains those "old" settings. But, the Linksys router is now in control of the network.

So, you have a "new" network with a new router, and the Time Capsule has not been configured with the settings that it needs to connect to your "new" network. In fact, it does not even know that you have another network at this point.

The Time Capsule needs to be reset to clear out the "old" network network settings so that it can be set up again to pick up the "new" settings that it needs to operate correctly on your "new" network.

Your next question might be whether or not you will lose your backup history on the Time Capsule when you reset the device. The answer is "no". But, it might take a few tweaks to get backups going again once the Time Capsule is up and running.

The bottom line......whenever you change service providers, the modem, or connect the Time Capsule to a new router, the Time Capsule needs to be reset and set up again.

If all of this seems to make sense, and you want to tackle the project, we can provide the steps if you need them. Things should work, even though what you will be doing is not officially supported by Apple. (They expect you keep the Time Capsule in charge of your network). Please note that the word should is not the same as the word will.

So, before you move forward, you might want to wait and see if another user has a different suggestion for you, or maybe give the Geek Squad guy another shot at getting things working correctly in 10-15 minutes.

Let's take one thing at a time and get the Time Capsule operating correctly on the Linksys network. Then....we'll go over some options if you need to erase the Time Capsule hard drive and start over again with a new backup and then move forward again.

It is important that you follow the instructions and steps that I provide very carefully, and do not try other things.

Make sure than an Ethernet cable (that you know is working correctly) connects from a LAN <--> Ethernet port on the Linksys router to the WAN "O" port on the Time Capsule.

Power up the Time Capsule if it is not already on and let the device run for a minute or two.

Then, hold in the reset button on the back of the Time Capsule for 7-8 seconds and release. Allow a full minute for the Time Capsule to restart. The indicator light on the Time Capsule should be slowly blinking amber at this time.

Click the WiFi menu at the top of the Mac's screen

Look for a listing of New AirPort Base Station

Click directly on Time Capsule, or it might say AirPort Time Capsule if you have a recent model

When you click on Time Capsule, that will start up the AirPort Utility setup "helper" or "wizard". The wizard will take a few seconds to analyze the network and then display a screen that looks like the example below, except that you will see a Time Capsule displayed......not an AirPort Express

Network Name......Type in a short simple name like TCNetwork. Later, we will disable that network if you want

Base Station Name......Type in a short simple name that you want to call the Time Capsule. For example, mine is TC

Password.......Type in a password that will be used to access the settings and WiFi on the Time Capsule

Verify......Type in the same password agin to confirm

Click Next

Wait for the setup wizard to set up the Time Capsule

When you see the message of Setup Complete, click Done

There should now be a green light on the Time Capsule and the Time Capsule should appear in AirPort Utility

Please post back on your progress and we will continue. Please.....do not jump ahead or try things on your own.

It would be good if I can delete old backups to release disk space but not erase the time Capsule entirely as I have other files stored there.

Unfortunately, this is basically an all or nothing deal with Time Machine. While it might appear that Time Machine will allow you to delete older backups, if you do try this, you will find that the space taken up by the "deleted" backups will not been regained.

It is possible to use Terminal commands to "compact" the files on the Time Capsule disk, but the Terminal is a scary place and I would not recommend that users even try this unless they are experienced using commands in Terminal. I cannot provide support with Terminal, but another user might be able to do this.

My recommendation would be to connect a USB drive to the USB port on the back of the Time Capsule and use the Archive function in AirPort Utility to copy all of the data on the Time Capsule disk over to the USB disk. Once that is accomplished, the Time Capsule disk can be completed erased and you can start a new "master" backup of your Mac and move forward with Time Machine.

If you need the other files that are now stored on the Time Capsule disk, you can copy them back over from the USB drive to the Time Capsule drive.

If you don't really need all the old Time Machine backups from weeks, months and even years going back in time.......few of us really do.......you could simply copy only the other files that you have on the Time Capsule disk over to a USB drive before you erase the Time Capsule drive, then copy them back over to the Time Capsule disk after it has been erased.

Another option.......I'm assuming that you do have backups of the other files that are now stored on the Time Capsule.......is simply erase the Time Capsule drive and then copy the backups of the other files back over to the Time Capsule. This is the simplest option by far.

For a short period of time.....it might be a day or two......you will not really have a current backup of your Mac until the new Time Machine backup completes. This occurs in other situations when the Time Capsule hard drive fails and you have to go out and get another Time Capsule or other hard drive to replace the Time Capsule.

Some users employ two backup plans......Time Machine and another like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper......in case one drive fails.......they still have a complete backup of their Mac on the other backup hard drive.

If you need help using AirPort Utility to completely wipe or erase the Time Capsule disk, post back for details.

That might bring up another point.....and another discussion....... if your Time Capsule might be 5+ years old or older. The Time Capsule starts to become suspect at about 5 years, so if that is the case here, you would not want to continue using the Time Capsule as your only backup plan. Another plan should be implemented along with the Time Capsule backup plan.

But it would be great if I can access the Time Capsule seamlessly as an external drive.

If you have other files on the Time Capsule, then you already know how to do this. If Time Machine works over the Linksys Velop network, then you should be able to access the drive using the Finder, like you did before.

I think we would need to turn off the WiFi Network that the Time Capsule is providing

Before we do this, please check with the Mac connected to the Linksys Velop WiFi network and make sure that you can run AirPort Utility on your Mac and "see" all the settings on the Time Capsule. If you can, you can safely turn off the WiFi function on the Time Capsule so it will act solely as a wired network hard drive.

You probably already now how to do this, but here are the steps, just in case:

Open AirPort Utility on your Mac (Finder > Applications > Utilities > AirPort Utility)

Click on the Time Capsule to select it

Click Edit in the smaller window that appears

Click the Wireless tab at the top of the next window

Change the setting for Network Mode from Create a wireless network to Off

Click Update at the lower right of the window to save the new setting

I think you can understand why I asked you to keep the WiFi on the Time Capsule "on" up until this time.....to make sure that we could access the settings on the Time Capsule if the Linksys Velop network would not allow this.

Perhaps you can help me with the instructions to erase the Time Capsule as I presume it may have more tweaks that simply hitting the Erase Disk button under the Disks tab in the Airport Utility.

That's basically it. When you click Erase Disk, another window will open with different options to erase the disk. Choose the Quick Erase option, then click Erase. It will only take a few minutes to erase the Time Capsule. In the example below, my Time Capsule disk is named Backups. Your disk is likely named Data, unless you have changed the name of the drive.

For the time being, I copied the 4,500+ files in the Time Capsule to a Cloud service I have. I assume I can copy them back to the Time Capsule later if needed.

Without knowing about the details and capabilities of your Cloud service, I can't say whether or not you would be able to copy the files directly back onto the Time Capsule, or whether you would need to copy them to your Mac first, then copy them to the Time Capsule.

If you were able to copy the files directly from the Time Capsule disk to the Cloud service, then it would be logical to think that you should be able to copy them from the Cloud service directly back to the Time Capsule. But, note that the word "should" sometimes does not mean the same as the word "will" though, at least in networking.

My Time Capsule will be 10 years old this October

Frankly, it is remarkable that the Time Capsule is still working. It should have failed 3-4 years ago, so you have had amazingly good luck with the product. I would not keep any files on the Time Capsule that I could not afford to lose, but its your call.

Apple discontinued the Time Capsule and other AirPort routers about 2 years ago. If you want a new or refurbished Time Capsule, products were still available at Ebay.com the last time I checked. My opinion would be that you don't really need a Time Capsule though, since you don't need another router and wireless network.

If you don't want to go with another Time Capsule, then the quickest and most reliable solution is connect a USB drive directly to your Mac. If you need to be able to back over the wireless, then you could look at a NAS, a Network Attached Storage device. Synology NAS products are highly recommended by those of us who answer questions on this support forum.

By the way, and I know this is another discussion, I haven't backed up my iPhone for months since iTunes started to refuse syncing. I do not have space in my Mac for the backup anyway and I do not want to pay a monthly fee for iCloud space, so backing up my iPhone to the Time Capsule would be great if possible.

Not the answer that you want to hear, but iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad cannot back up directly to a Time Capsule. The iOS devices can back up to iTunes on older Macs......or......to iCloud. That's it, I'm afraid unless some genius programmer has come up with another way......that would not be supported by Apple.

I cannot thank you enough for all the help you have given me

The volunteers here who answer questions are always happy to help. Good luck!

Nice work!

For now, leave the WiFi network that the Time Capsule is providing as is. Later, once other things are working correctly, we'll turn off the WiFi on the Time Capsule if you don't need another network for guests, etc.

Since you will be using the Linksys Velop wireless network as your main network, log your Mac back onto that network again and check again to make sure that you can "see" the Time Capsule using AirPort Utility.

If all is well at this point, the next check will be to see whether or not you are able to continue to run Time Machine backups to the Time Capsule. In theory, you should be able to do this at this time, but other "tweaks" may be needed.

Click on the Time Machine "clock" icon at the top of the Mac's screen and then click on Back Up Now.

If the process begins, you may see a "Preparing" message for a long time before the back up actually begins. Let the process run until the backup completes or until you see an error message.

If an error message appears, please post back with the exact text of the message.

Go ahead and delete the "old" disk and add the "new" disk and try to run a backup again.

You may need to also restart your Mac and the Time Capsule

Things are looking good. Let them run.

Please post back when the backup is done, and we'll go over some options at that time.