OS X Catalina and Time Capsule

Since they have never updated even a tiny bit of the TC firmware other than security I cannot see them compiling the firmware which is NetBSD btw,, to support SMB2 / 3 which of course are special Apple versions of MS main network protocol.

If you have another device on the network using the TC then it is simple to access in your Catalina. As long as you use IP address and NOT netbios names.

From another computer open airport utility and find the IP address of the TC.

All you need to do is click the icon of the TC.. the LAN IP is what you want if you are running it as main router.

So as you can see my TC is 192.168.20.193

Now in Airport utility of catalina go to the top menu, configure other.

Type in the IP address like so and the password.

And it should appear as available .. even if the stupid networking of catalina cannot find it.

Now go to Finder. Go. Connect to Server.

I am not sure whether it is best to use smb or afp .. try one then the other if it fails.

Click connect.. fill in the password and save in your keychain.

Once the disk is mounted in Finder it should be accessible by Time Machine..

The very fact that Airport Utility is still in the OS means you can still use the Time Capsule..

BIG FATT UGLY BUTT.

Catalina is not behaving very well network wise with the TC.

You may not have had issues but let me assure you plenty of people have had big problems since 10.15.0 and every patch thereafter. (As well as going back several versions of OSX. Catalina did not start the rot.. it just completed the structural members failure rate).

If you want the TC for Time Machine.. well the day may have arrived when that is not such a great idea.

You need a NAS for network backup that supports SMB2 /3 since SMB1 and AFP are only protocols Apple have ever supported on the TC. And Apple is trying their darnest to bury AFP. SMB1 is a huge security hole.

Synology NAS are proving quite good. Of course Apple can ruin that anytime they please.

How old is your TC? If it is 4 years I would just recommend replacement. It might go another year.. but Apple is happy with 3 years. That ends the issue.

I would say you can still use the TC under ideal network conditions with a better backup software like Carbon Copy Cloner. Better in that it is based on excellent rsync commands with a decent GUI front end. And is much more tolerant of non-ideal setup.

First step would be to get the TC working IDEALLY.

Reset the TC to factory..

Open the Airport Utility in your new Catalina and it should still discover a reset TC.

Go through the setup..

However use short names.. <8 characters, no spaces, pure alphanumerics.

Passwords the same rules but 8-20 characters.

I do not know if your TC is main router or bridged.

If bridged to 3rd party router it is best to set a static IP on it. So it can never get lost again.

Turn IPv6 to link-local only.

And fix up the domain if possible. It may not be but TC is local whether you like it or not.. so if you still use the TC set the main router to local as well.. it is minor point but is another factor that helps.

You can also then mount the TC hard disk by IP address instead of TC name.. this is another help when main router is not so bonjour aware as it could be.

Can give details on any of the above if you need them.

There is one thing to do .. if the TC is bridged.

It will be getting an IP address from the main router.. but it will change at times.. what I want you to do is set it static.

So open the airport utility on any computer.. Go to the Internet tab. It will look like my screenshot. Only the IP will of course be different.

Now this is exceedingly simple..

Switch over to Static instead of DHCP on the Connect Using.

None of the numbers will change.. all the existing values will be held.

But DNS server will grey out.

What you need to do is type in a DNS server. I recommend using a public address like 8.8.8.8

Note.. this is only to keep the bridged TC happy .. it is irrelevant to the rest of the network which is still working from the main router and getting IP and gateway / dns values from there.

And since I have got you here.. also click on the Internet Options near the bottom of the Internet tab.

By default it will look like this.

Change it to link-local only.

Then click save and click Update back on the main tab.. and the TC will reboot with fixed IP .. no changes need to be made to anything but the update might cause TM to drop out if it is backing up so wait until you can hear the hard disk is not spinning.

I also recommend to write that IP address on a paper label and stick it to the bottom of the TC.. because you will forget it in a week.

This just helps to ensure the IP does not jump around and the IPv6 setting helps to locate the TC. If you lose connection to it.. you may end up needing a script that mounts the TC disk at start up.. but I find if you leave the computer in standby most of the time it should not lose the link.