Time Capsule Connection issues

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Level 1

4 points

Time Capsule Connection issues

Hi, I've just purchased a time capsule after finding out my iMac hard drive needs replacing. I'm currently logging in to my m are in safe mode and have initiated my time capsule. When I go to system preferences>time machine and switch the time machine on and select the back up disk, I get the error message

there was a problem connecting to the server "sp-time-capsule.local"

Check the server name or ip address and then try again. If you continue to have problems, contact your system admin.

I've tried shutting the capsule down and reconnecting. also tried a reset and oddly enough on start up the time capsule was ready and set up, so I'm not sure if I did reset the capsule.

My iMac is running 10.7.3 and is connected to the time capsule via an Ethernet cable. My time capsule has the latest firmware as it was only bought today.

Time capsul to Internet is good, as I've connected my iPad and iPhone to the time capsule wireless network and everything is fine.

Any ideas why I can't connect to the time capsule to initiate a back up.

Steve

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Mar 25, 2012 8:18 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Mar 26, 2012 9:18 AM in response to Stevep69

Sorry, but you cannot mount a Time Capsule disk in Safe mode, so you can't view or perform backups.

See Mac OS X: What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode? It's not entirely clear from the last paragraph, but that's what it means.

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Answer 2

Stevep69 Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 26, 2012 7:31 PM in response to Pondini

Thanks Pondi.

I wouldn't mind your thoughts on the options going forward.

1. Can I burn DVDs of my photos in safe mode and then have new hard drive installed

2. Hand my iMac over to authorized repair shop and have them remove hard drive back up and instal new hard drive.

I don't think I have any other options, do I?

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Answer 3

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Mar 26, 2012 8:00 PM in response to Stevep69

Stevep69 wrote:

Thanks Pondi.

I wouldn't mind your thoughts on the options going forward.

I'm not clear why you're running in Safe Mode -- won't your Mac run normally? If so, any idea why not?

What's wrong with your internal HD? Does it really need to be replaced, or is the directory structure corrupted?

Do you have access to another Mac that has a FireWire port? If so, you might be able to use Target Disk Mode to back up the internal HD. Post back if you want to try that.

1. Can I burn DVDs of my photos in safe mode and then have new hard drive installed

I've not tried it, but that should work (at least the Apple article doesn't say it won't). But that won't help with all the other things you need -- reconstructing all your settings, preferences, email accounts, etc., etc. would be a major pain.

Do you have access to an external HD? If so, you should be able to copy your internal HD to the external via the Restore tab of Disk Utility (I've not tried that in Safe Mode either, though). If there are directory problems, they'll be copied, too, but at least you'll have the copy. Post back if you want to try that.

2. Hand my iMac over to authorized repair shop and have them remove hard drive back up and instal new hard drive.

That's a bit scary. 😟

I don't think I have any other options, do I?

Are you anywhere near an Apple Store? If so, make an appointment: http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/

If you do, when you get there, make it very clear that you don't have backups and make sure they give you the old HD back. Then you'll have to buy an enclosure to put it it -- that will make it an exernal HD, and you should be able to recover at least some of your data from it.

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Answer 4

Stevep69 Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 26, 2012 8:16 PM in response to Pondini

Hi Pondi,

Originally my Mac wouldn't start and just hanged during start up. This started to happen about a month ago and after clearing pram and nvram. I had to use disk warrior and all was good and the Mac ran well. Then last week it just started to hang again during start up. Tried the above process and disk warrior advised it had fixed the disk image, but Mac still wouldn't start up, except in safe mode. The next option I saw was to reinstall OSx, but I was worried if this would wipe out stored files.

I went to the genius bar and they ran some checks and diagnosed a problem with the hard drive. The genius advised backing up my Mac and then havng the c drive replaced. He didn't realize that time capsule wouldn't work in safe mode. They said they weren't allowed to back up files, due to litigation issues if not successful.

So now I'm just trying to figure out the best option to hopefully save my photos, we don't really care about anything else. But the more the better.

Hope this helps explain why I'm running in safe mode.

Thanks for all your advice

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Answer 5

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Mar 26, 2012 8:27 PM in response to Stevep69

Rats -- I was hoping Safe Mode wasn't really necessary. 😟

If the HD is failing, then you don't want it running any more than necessary -- they rarely get better, only worse.

If you can copy your photos to DVDs, great -- try that first.

Then, get an external HD and try to copy the internal to it. See #1 in Using Disk Utility to format it, #7 to copy the internal HD to it. If the internal is failing, that may or may not work, but is worth a try.

And you can use the external HD later, for "secondary" backups. After this is sorted out, see Time Machine - Frequently Asked Question #27 for some suggestions.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

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Answer 6

Stevep69 Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 27, 2012 5:02 PM in response to Pondini

Hi Pondini, I've managed to reformat an external hd. Now for the next step of the restore process. Is it just a matter of following the instructions in option 7.

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Answer 7

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Mar 27, 2012 5:05 PM in response to Stevep69

Yup. 🙂 Just copy your internal HD (the "source") to the external (the "destination").

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Answer 8

Stevep69 Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 27, 2012 5:16 PM in response to Pondini

Just to recap select the internal hard drive in source. Do i use the image button for this and eternal drive in destination.

Some step by step help would make sure I dont go wrong

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Answer 9

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Mar 27, 2012 5:20 PM in response to Stevep69

Stevep69 wrote:

Just to recap select the internal hard drive in source.

Correct.

Do i use the image button for this

No.

eternal drive in destination.

Yes.

Some step by step help would make sure I dont go wrong

Isn't that what you see in the green box of #7 in Using Disk Utility?

If something there isn't clear, what, exactly?

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Answer 10

Stevep69 Author

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4 points

Mar 27, 2012 5:30 PM in response to Pondini

When I select the source as wd3200aajs-401vwa1 media i get the error message that the source cannot be validated - error 254?

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Answer 11

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Mar 27, 2012 5:32 PM in response to Stevep69

Sounds like you're selecting the main line for the drive, not the partition, indented under it (and probably named "Macintosh HD").

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Answer 12

Stevep69 Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 27, 2012 5:39 PM in response to Pondini

Thanks I selected the source as Steve & Lizzy iMac, this is the partition under the HD. When I hit restore it tells me

To use the disk as source, restart the computer using the recovery system and open disk utility again.......confused

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Answer 13

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Mar 27, 2012 5:50 PM in response to Stevep69

Ok, so start up from your Recovery HD and use the copy of Disk Utility there. See Using the Recovery HD if you're not sure how to do that.

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Answer 14

Stevep69 Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 27, 2012 6:15 PM in response to Pondini

Thanks and started in recovery mode. When I started the restore I get error message

restore failure, an error 22 occurred

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Answer 15

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Mar 27, 2012 6:37 PM in response to Stevep69

Error 22 is (or was) "invalid argument" according to a Google search.

I don't recall if you can see the log messages from the Recovery HD; if you can, click the Log tab in the toolbar, or select Window > Show Log in the menu bar. If there's a log, there may be a better message.

It may be that Disk Utility is refusing to copy the drive because of the damaged directory. 😟

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