How To Change password of Time Machine

Question

How To Change password of Time Machine

Today I went in and changed the password of my time machine back up drive through Airport Utility. It stopped backing up. I tried deleting numerous passwords showing up in Keychain but didnt work so I changed it back to the old password. I looked in Apple Tech support file but nothing indicated how to change the password. Does anyone know the proper way to change my password in my time capsule? I use it as my internet router as well.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on Nov 18, 2013 7:47 PM

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Answer 1

John Galt

Level 10

140,948 points

Nov 18, 2013 9:00 PM in response to edfromDurango

Use AirPort Utility. It is in your Utilities folder.

If you do not recall your Time Capsule's password, press its reset button for one full second but no more than that. Doing so will cause a "soft reset", disabling its password for two minutes, during which you can use AirPort Utility to configure a new password:

Resetting an AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule FAQ

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Answer 2

Nov 18, 2013 9:36 PM in response to John Galt

Thanks John but that is not the issue. Im just trying to change it. I went into Airport utility and changed it and everything (backup time machine) stopped working. So I changed it back now my iPad wont even connect to my wifi with the original password. It there a doc that tells how to change a password? Seems Im missing something... Never used to be this difficult as I remember.

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Answer 3

amacdona

Level 1

15 points

Nov 18, 2013 9:44 PM in response to edfromDurango

I have no Idea why your iPad wont connect but after changing your password you will need to go into time machine to reselect the disk that your backups were stored in. After that there should be a popup asking for the password to the time capsule. You will then be able to enter the new password and after that it should work.

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Answer 4

John Galt

Level 10

140,948 points

Nov 18, 2013 9:59 PM in response to edfromDurango

There are several passwords, and they are not necessarily identical:

Your Time Capsule
Your wireless network
Your Time Capsule's disk

It's not clear which of them you want to change, but any of them can be changed using AirPort Utility.

If Time Machine stopped backing up, open Time Machine's Preferences and turn off Time Machine. Choose "Add or Remove Backup Disks", choose the disk, then Remove Disk. Confirm with the Stop Using This Disk button. Add it again. You will be prompted for the disk's password (not the Time Capsule's). Time Machine will turn itself back on, a backup will then commence, and your existing backups will not be affected.

The iPad is a separate issue, but it has a similar fix: go to Settings > Wi-Fi, select your network then "Forget this Network". Select the network again, provide its password, and verify you can connect.

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Answer 5

Nov 19, 2013 9:54 AM in response to John Galt

John, I have another airport device that connects to my printer in another room. Its now showing yellow and Airport utility is not showing it as a device any longer and not seeing it. Any suggestions how to get it to see it?

I got the other working and a new password installed. Thanks for that.

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Answer 6

John Galt

Level 10

140,948 points

Nov 19, 2013 10:10 AM in response to edfromDurango

Rather than try a number of different techniques to get AirPort Utility to find that base station, it will be easier and faster to simply "hard reset" it and reconfigure it again. Changing the wireless network network password will make it time-consuming and tedious to reconfigure it any other way.

If you are running OS X 10.9 "Mavericks" and yours is an original A108x model Express, do not hard reset it. Original, 802.11b/g - only base stations can no longer be configured with Mavericks. This includes the original A1084 and A1088 AirPort Express and all "round" AirPort Extreme Base Stations.

To "hard reset" an AirPort Base Station: make sure it's powered up, then press and hold its tiny reset button and keep it depressed for five to ten seconds, long enough for its LED to flash amber rapidly. Release the reset button. Then, the LED will glow amber steadily for about a minute. Then, it will flash amber, slowly, about once every second or two, waiting for you to configure it with AirPort Utility.

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