My Time Capsule "went Kaput" but I "think" the Hard Drive is ok.

What model TC and what model hard disk.

If this is a WD green drive I can almost guess the issue.. it has lost format on the main partition.

But you need to get things right.. it is not AWS swap.. it is APswap.

If you use too big a drive in an old enclosure, the main disk partition will not show up.

Most older USB enclosures will not handle drives bigger than 1TB and some newer ones will not handle 3TB drives so limited to 2TB.. that means the main partition will not be visible.

There are three partitions in the TC drives. The first two are tiny.. absolutely the min format size the drive can use. The main partition will hold 98% of the drive. You have not listed it so I am assuming it is either wrong enclosure or it has lost format.

APconfig

APswap

Data (or whatever that partition was named in the TC.. this is the main data partition).

You will need to make sure your enclosure can correctly read drives of the size you are using.

If you are sure that is the case then the drive is corrupt.

You will need to use disk warrior or data rescue 3 (or other similar disk utility for Mac that can recover files).

Or finally if the disk itself has gone bad you will need to send to data recovery experts.. and uber cash payout for recovery.. but I have had good experience with data rescue 3 .. and you can download a trial version to see if it will work.. it is not a cheap software but to recover your stuff is a lot cheaper than recovery specialist.

I did some info on disks in TCs..

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4278497?start=0&tstart=0

Yes,, what brand is the drive.. how old is the TC it is out of?

It has lost format on the main partition so it no longer shows up.

Download the trial version of data rescue. Use that to see if there are recoverable files.

http://www.prosofteng.com/downloads/download.php?prodID=78

If there are, you can choose to purchase it.. or purchase disk warrior which I believe is more popular but the company has become arrogant and no longer provides a trial version.. at least I couldn't find one.

Data Rescue worked fine to recover files. You will need another disk, local or network to back the files up to.. it doesn't change the drive itself which is good.

I think Disk Warrior will try and fix the drive..

That way you don't pay for anything at least until you know it works.. Is $99 worth it for your videos.. only you can judge..

But we tell everyone the TC is not a NAS.. it has no backup for itself and no way TM can back it up.. therefore any files on a TC are at risk as you have discovered.

Ok the WD black drives that were used in the 2009 models are dying in droves.. It is interesting as the 1TB hitachi used in the Gen1 are still running fine. But the WD black just are not as good. You might find the stuff on the drive is really gone. Anyway it is always worth jumping on problems.. as soon as they start "acting up" and be thankful you got any warning at all.

Thanks for the feedback.. throw out your hub and buy a proper one.. no hub should stop you seeing all your files. But I will remember that for other.. I always assume people plug in directly. Hubs are a source of constant problems.

Well this is a timely discussion for me. Last night while trying to find out why our TC drive wasn't being recognized I restarted it and upon reboot it began its death-clicking. It had been quiet up until then but Airport Utility was saying it might be damaged. How prescient! I also lost WiFi connectivity, strangely.

Anyway I shut it down for the night and this morning upon rebooting it spun-up chattering but then settled down and now I only hear it report sporadically. The WiFi is back too. I'd hoped this might happen as I have experience with this. This is my second TC. The first one died during that period around 2009/10 when TCs were dropping like flies--right at the 18 month mark--and Apple was denying they screwed up by designing it with no ventilation causing TC's power supply to fry...or something like that. I know only enough to be dangerous.

So I've spent the day wondering what tack to take with this thing. I'm not clear on why it would disable the WiFi connectivity but that's what happened with the first one too. I can't imagine paying to recover 1TB of data so I was trying to figure someting else out. I thought about ripping her open to take out the drive but what then of the router part? Will that be useable any longer? I thought about trying to connect the TC to my iMac and attempt downloading files from the disc direct, if that were even possible, but I was assuming I'd need a crossover ethernet cable, which I had--once--but couldn't locate. I tried daisychaining a USB through some other externals to the iMac but that didn't work. However I had it in the back of my mind that TM created some sort of proprietary file system when backing up to TC and that they wouldn't be available anyway. Reading above I can't tell if I was right or wrong in that supposition.

Anyway, you all sound like a clever bunch. What would be the best approach to take here? I ordered myself a Netgear router from Amazon as a back up just in case. (I can return it within 30 days if I don't use it) Is it possiblle to remove the drive and just use the TC as a router?

I can't tell you what itereation of TC this is. The drive isn't being recognized so I can't get any info on it. It's at least from 2010, I should think. I think it may be a 3rd gen and my first one a 2nd gen but that would only be a guess.

Sorry to go on...

So I've spent the day wondering what tack to take with this thing. I'm not clear on why it would disable the WiFi connectivity but that's what happened with the first one too. I can't imagine paying to recover 1TB of data so I was trying to figure someting else out.

1. I thought about ripping her open to take out the drive but what then of the router part? Will that be useable any longer?

2. I thought about trying to connect the TC to my iMac and attempt downloading files from the disc direct, if that were even possible, but I was assuming I'd need a crossover ethernet cable, which I had--once--but couldn't locate.

3. I tried daisychaining a USB through some other externals to the iMac but that didn't work.

4. However I had it in the back of my mind that TM created some sort of proprietary file system when backing up to TC and that they wouldn't be available anyway. Reading above I can't tell if I was right or wrong in that supposition.

Anyway, you all sound like a clever bunch. What would be the best approach to take here? I ordered myself a Netgear router from Amazon as a back up just in case. (I can return it within 30 days if I don't use it)

5. Is it possiblle to remove the drive and just use the TC as a router?

6. I can't tell you what itereation of TC this is. The drive isn't being recognized so I can't get any info on it. It's at least from 2010, I should think. I think it may be a 3rd gen and my first one a 2nd gen but that would only be a guess.

Sorry to go on...

I have added some numbering to help answer.

Let me start with number 6 because it matters.

6. Get the model number off the rubber base mat.. it is A1xxx .. you may need strong glasses to read it.

It can make a huge difference if it is gen2 or gen3.

1. You can remove the drive.. the TC then becomes an airport extreme. But the power supply might be dead.. particularly if it is gen2.

2. You do not use cross-over cables anymore.. and haven't for several years. All networking is now auto sensing. And yes, if the disk still works then plug in TC to the computer by standard ethernet patch cable direct to the computer. You might need to factory reset to get it going.

3. USB is only for disk and printer connection to the TC. You cannot link to TC via USB.

4. The file system of the TC is standard Mac HFS+.. but the sparsebundle is not directly readable.. you need to use TM to get the files out of it.. that is possible even with hard disk out of the TC.. if the disk still works. See Pondini http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html Q14-17 on how to get info out of the TM sparsebundle and Q18 on how to move the files.

5. Yes, we covered that one.

Basically you have to pull off the rubber peice on the bottom- its a pain- you wind up ripping it off.

Heat the rubber mat with a heat gun or even just a hair dryer on highest heat lowest fan setting.. heat for a good 5min and then slowly peel.. the glue will all come up with the mat.. keep heating if it catches. I have never ripped one.. (repaired around 100 of them if I heated the mat).

Best instructions for disassembly here.

http://www.ifixit.com/Device/Apple_Time_Capsule

It includes the use of heatgun.

Was your initial problem that the Time Capsule would sometimes work and sometimes not? Mine sometimes appears in Airport Utility and sometimes just goes away.

Does the TC act as both, a router and as a hard drive? I ask this because, even when the TC goes away and appears to be off-line, my wi-fi network, throughout the house, is still functioning.

JM

Wow...great responses all. Thanks so much!

--WIlliam Huisking 1: great instructions and good news, for sure. I will get on that asap. I am actually a long-time customer of OWC and have several enclosures I could employ, but yes, I do already own one of those docks for plugging in raw drives (from OWC!) I actually had it in mind when I pondered the posibility of getting the data off my TC drive.

--la Pastenague: Thanks. More good stuff to work with. I don't have time to look this up because I'm running out but are you the guy with the site that details the TC break wherein a fan can be retro-fitted to finally give the TC some cooling? I found that site when the first TC died and I was first becoming aware of the TC debacle (my description) I toyed with that idea but I just didn't have the energy (or courage) to attempt that. But anyway, thanks for this.

--Jay Miller3: The initial problem was that TM would no longer recognize the TC drive for backup. We WERE using the TC as both router and backup HD. And yes, our WiFi did continue to function, up until I started trying to figure out why the HD wasn't being recognized. But then, I have frequently had problems with my Airport network. Even if I changed the password (say if a guest wanted to use the netwrok and I didn't want to give out my official password) I would do so and for some reason it would take me half a day to the thing up and connected again! But that's another issue...

Well I am feeling better about this all. Thank you all again. My Netgear router should be arriving this afternoon and the process of killing that miserable TC can begin its final stages. I will NEVER buy one of those things again and will counsel anyone who will listen not to either...

...Apple...ugh. Don't even ask me what I think of what they did to FinalCutPro 😉

ps--for some reason I'm not seeing anything to allow me to rate this as "Solved" Sorry!

BTW the, model number. You said it would be "A1xxx." Well I found that but it's part of a larger FCC I.D. so, while I assume this is the number, I can't be possitive. So this is the full FCC ID:

BCGA1355 IC: 579C-A1335

I went to the Wiki page and see that A1335 would be a 3rd Gen. (20 Oct. 2009) which sounds about right. So, la Pastenague, what does this tell me? (and yes, I definitely needed a magnifying glass!) Does this mean there is greater liklihood of reusing the box as a simple router?

I am about to do surgery on this puppy and I will report back.

alan b

Wow. That was fast and easy. The rubber pad came off easy peasy. I took out the drive (I found this helpful site: http://www.applefritter.com/node/23907), put it back togerther and the router is working perfectly. Thanks one and all.

I see there are tiny pegs screwed into the drive to hold it in place. They will have to be reomoved before I can put the drive into the Voyager and see what I can retrieve.

But this begs the question: do I bother buying a new drive for this thing? I presume improvements had been made to the 3rd Gen. TCs; this one did last twice as long as the first one we had and indications are it was drive failure and not an issue with TC per se.

So what say you? Is it worth it?