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time capsule cannot find backup disk

After replacing the hard drive on an iMac and restoring from a previous time machine backup, the time machine, "cannot find the backup disk." I would like to start backing up the hard drive, but I cannot configure time machine correctly to initiaite new backups. Any suggestions? Thanks.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Dec 21, 2011 5:51 AM

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9 replies

Dec 22, 2011 7:33 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Thanks for the reply and for the late response.


I will give the shortest history that I can manage to write. Two Sundays ago, I woke my 20' inch iMac from sleep, which was taking 10 to 15 minutes. It usually took a couple minutes at most. The applications on the computer just would not initiate. I force quit the apps and shut down the computer, and then I waited ten minutes. I attempted to restart the machine and got only the white screen. After several more steps, I had the nearest Apple Store replace the hard drive. I am currently in the process of restoring the iMac, which has been problematic. I used Migration Assistant to complete the restoration. One of the more serious issues is that I cannot the time machine to initiate new backups.


That's where it stands as of today. The time machine window states, "The backup disk could not be found".


Again, I appreciate your time and effort in help me with this problem.

Dec 23, 2011 11:56 AM in response to prstone64

I am still having this problem with my less than 1 year old 1 TB time capsule and my 27" iMac.

Odd times, for no good reason I get a message that my backup has been delayed because the backup disc cannot be found. A failure to connect to the time capsule, I can't even access time machine!

Usually I need to disconnect my Wifi, restart the Time Capsule, restart the iMac, and sometimes run Disk utility, then it will finally connect!

I've switched to a 5G network, deleted the files on my Time Capsule, started the downloads all over again, yet this still appears! Also this can happen after I do a simple restart on the iMac. Makes me not want to boot into Windows 7 anymore! I'm tired of this song and dance each time!

Next time it happens I'm going to give Apple a call and see if I really need to get the Time Capsule replaced!

I really don't want to do that again!

One further note, I've never had this happen with my Mac Mini that also shares the network and Time Capsule, it's my Home theatre machine and only sees use a few times a year... It has never had a failed backup!

Dec 23, 2011 1:06 PM in response to markfrommississauga

markfrommississauga wrote:


I am still having this problem with my less than 1 year old 1 TB time capsule and my 27" iMac.

Odd times, for no good reason I get a message that my backup has been delayed because the backup disc cannot be found. A failure to connect to the time capsule, I can't even access time machine!

That sounds like network problems. Try connecting your iMac to the TC via Ethernet cable. If the problems stop, you know it's something to do with WIFI. That can be tough to pin down, of course, but would eliminate some other things.

time capsule cannot find backup disk

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