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Using a NAS drive for TM - problem with 2nd NAS drive

I've got a NAS drive, Buffalo, with two physical drives. I've set it for "normal" operation (Not raid0 or raid1), and designated one of the drives for TM use. Works fine backing up the Mac drive, but it won't back up the other drive in the NAS device. In the past TM has always backed up any drive I had connected to the Mac. Are NAS drives a problem? Any work-arounds?

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion, Seagate FreeAgent Pro 1TB External HD

Posted on Mar 6, 2013 7:08 PM

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Posted on Mar 7, 2013 1:36 PM

Hi, is it formatted correctly?


http://pondini.org/TM/32.html


To add a volume to this list, click the little + button...


http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/backing-up-your-hard-drive-with-time-machi ne-in-ma.html

6 replies

Mar 7, 2013 8:04 PM in response to BDAqua

Well, thanks for the links. But... I think I've found the problem. It's a NAS device, connected over ethernet, plugged directly to my router. I've designated the drives to be formatted as AFP, but they are not formated as an OSX volume. Disk Utility doesn't see the drive (or any volumes), so I can't format it.


One of your links indicated the only way to do this was to connect the drive directly to the Mac via a USB connection. The drive has a USB port, but that's seems designated to be used to attach another USB drive. I have a feeling Disk Utility still won't see the drive if I hook it up. May give it a try.


Again, I had to drop a little hunk of code in to make the one drive function with Time Machine. This was easy enough, the Buffalo firmware offers a simple check box. When I did it, the drive (or actually 'server') downloaded something briefly. I'm assuming it was a specific driver.


NAS devices are great, but a word of caution to potential buyers - they are not completely plug and play if they are not Apple manufactured.

Mar 9, 2013 1:30 AM in response to BDAqua

What I've discovered is that the workaround is to create a disk image on the NAS drive then format it OSX. TM will then recognize it and back it up. But - there is the 500MB limit to a disk image, so it's pretty worthless for video. Too small.


You're correct. TM seems to work really well on a drive directly connected via Firewire, but it's really not well behaved on this NAS drive. Long delays to mount the volume, and when you enter TM expect long delays when switching dates or volumes. Way to long. I'm going to rethink this whole thing.


**** it, 4TB sounded so sexy...

Using a NAS drive for TM - problem with 2nd NAS drive

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