Error 45 When Using Time Machine with Iomega Iconnect Wireless Data Station

I have been fumbling in the dark for ages to the following problem:

I am using an Imac 7,1 (mid-2007) running a fully up-to-date Snow Leopard.

I set up from factory settings my new Iomega Iconnect Wireless Datastation, giving the device name of "[xxx].IomegaLink.com", as it reccomends.

I bought a 2TB Seagate drive to hook up to it for Time Machine backups. I went into the Iomega configuration page on my browser, and enabled Time Machine backups on my 'Seagate' drive. It never worked, giving me an error saying:

"Error 45 - Cannot create Sparsebundle.".

It drove me insane tweeking al the settings, but I DID get it right!

Here is the solution, rather key points you should follow:

Go to the configuration page of your Iomega Iconnect by typing it's IP address into your browser:

1. Settings > Device Setup

Make sure that the Iomega reccomended style of device name ("[xxx].IomegaLink.com") is NOT used. Use a simple device name, 8 characters or less, like "Bob" or "MyCloud". I believe the ".com" nonsense as a device name confuses things for Time Machine.

2. My device is connected directly by Ethernet cable to my wireless router, and my router issued IP addresses automatically (as they are normally set to do).

Settings > Network Settings

Check the box next to "Automatically configure all network settings", as the Iomega device will gather all network settings from your router.

3. Going instead to the AirPort menu, then click "Open Network Preferences...".

Click Ethernet (whether you use it or not) on the left pane, then click Advanced..., then click on the Ethernet tab.

Copy and Ethernet ID to the clipboard.

4. Go back to the Iomega configuration page. Settings > Backup and Restore > Time Machine.

Check Enable Time Machine Support.

in the Folder dropdown, choose which drive/device you wish to use as your Time Machine backup drive. In my case, "Seagate".

Click the + to manually add a backup folder.

The "Apple Network Hostname" is the name of your computer. To find this, go to your dock, and click Settings, then click Show All button, then click Sharing. Change the Computer Name to one that is 8 characters or less, and has no spaces. In my case, "Stuart".

Enter your chosen Computer Name into the Apple Network Hostname box.

Paste your Ethernet ID into the Apple Ethernet ID box. Click Apply. In a few seonds, youll see an entry in a new table with your computer name and a folder of around 830MB. Don't concern yourself with this.

5. In the Iomega config page, click the Users tab. In here, make sure that the user you intent to use has Read/Write access to the backup drive, and that the username itself is short and sweet, in my case, "admin".

Go into Time Machine as usual, choosing the backup device and allowing it to attempt a backup.

These 5 points should allow your config to meet the requirements of Time Machine and get you backing up. If you find this useful, or have no success thouroughly following these steps, comment away, but please be constructive.

Stuart