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OK. My base Station is Version 7.8.1. My 2014 iMac Is using Airport 6.3.9.. And my OS is Big Sur 11.7.7.

Backups

I configure the Time Capsule to run with the Normal Time Machine Backup of the iMac. The initial back up did occur, but updates to time machine on the Airport Time Capsule are not occurring. The error message I keep getting is Drive not Visible".

When I go to Finder, I see the Network. I see the Extreme Time Capsule. I see the drive, I can send and receive data from the drive. But the Time machine won't trigger to save data to the Time Capsule.


Any ideas? Connection is Direct Ethernet, Wifi turned off. When I turn wifi on, it makes no difference.

Posted on Jun 14, 2023 7:23 AM

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Posted on Jun 14, 2023 8:11 AM

First try restarting the computer in Safe Mode per the directions in Safe Mode. It can take up to 10 minutes for the Mac to startup in Safe Mode so please be patient. After it has started in Safe Mode, restart the computer normally and tell Time Machine to Back up Now.


Also, please note that your Time Capsule External Hard Disk is at least 10 years old, well past its prime. It is possible it has failed or is failing, run Disk Utility 3-4 times on the TC and if any errors appear that simply means the drive has died and you need a new Time Machine solution.

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2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 14, 2023 8:11 AM in response to jjmcdonald

First try restarting the computer in Safe Mode per the directions in Safe Mode. It can take up to 10 minutes for the Mac to startup in Safe Mode so please be patient. After it has started in Safe Mode, restart the computer normally and tell Time Machine to Back up Now.


Also, please note that your Time Capsule External Hard Disk is at least 10 years old, well past its prime. It is possible it has failed or is failing, run Disk Utility 3-4 times on the TC and if any errors appear that simply means the drive has died and you need a new Time Machine solution.

Jun 14, 2023 3:28 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Your suggestion for running the Time Capsule Disk Utility was good, and I did the Erase Disk command. the disk responded in a timely fashion. (Disk Utility on the Time Capsule has to be run on the Time capsule) Drive is responding well.

The underlying problem was that the Keychain had too many entries for the Time Capsule for Disk Access. I eliminated all of them, (Keychain) and then went into the Time Capsule, told it to Save the Password and then set up the Time Capsule. I went to Keychain and verified that the NEW password was updated and was the only entry.

Now I am running a complete backup onto time capsule (Slower 249 Gig of data. Probably take an hour)


I just have to keep an eye on the Password file to make sure the correct PW is on both ends of the machine/Backup pair.

The Hard Drive in question was replaced in the Time Capsule with a new Seagate 6 TB Enterprise class drive 3 years ago.More Space and more backups then the initial drive, and lower heat. (I also removed the rubber base of the Time Capsule and put on 4 webbed feet on the corners of the stall base. The added ventilation kept the drive cooler.)

OK. My base Station is Version 7.8.1. My 2014 iMac Is using Airport 6.3.9.. And my OS is Big Sur 11.7.7.

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