Multiple Computer Names for MacBook Pro in Finder

Yes, and wait till you see what this does to Time Machine backups... Mine are starting all over again... 14 Macs. Pretty big BUG to have happen on such a buggy OS update...

It doesn't matter what I do, this "Computer Name" issue just keeps coming back... Reboot AE at home or Time Capsule at work - doesn't help... This is a BIG DEAL because it has caused some of my Time Machine Backups to start over (network backups) which takes hours and hours. Apple has had this problem in the past at major OS X updates then fixed it in later updates... Same with wifi issues... I don't get it...

I just tried this and it seems to be holding - with airport extreme & time capsule:

• login using airport utility

• under the wireless tab - DISABLE GUEST NETWORK - this seems to stop the ghost mac

• in the wireless options tab - DISABLE 5GHZ NETWORK - this seems to stop the ghost mac

- UPDATE YOUR AIRPORT OR TIME CAPSULE - RESTART YOUR ENTIRE NETWORK

- RESTART ALL DEVICES

• on Mac's / Syst Prefs / iCloud / uncheck Back to My Mac / re-check Back to My Mac

I have never gotten better speed, reliability or distance with 5GHZ anyway...

SpeedTest.net says 90MB download / 6MB up with 5-GHZ turned on or off. Tested on my Mac, MBP, MBA and iPhone

Working so far, we will see...

I just tried this and it seems to be holding - with airport extreme & time capsule:

• login using airport utility

• under the wireless tab - DISABLE GUEST NETWORK - this seems to stop the ghost mac

• in the wireless options tab - DISABLE 5GHZ NETWORK - this seems to stop the ghost mac

- UPDATE YOUR AIRPORT OR TIME CAPSULE - RESTART YOUR ENTIRE NETWORK

- RESTART ALL DEVICES

• on Mac's / Syst Prefs / iCloud / uncheck Back to My Mac / re-check Back to My Mac

I have never gotten better speed, reliability or distance with 5GHZ anyway...

SpeedTest.net says 90MB download / 6MB up with 5-GHZ turned on or off. Tested on my Mac, MBP, MBA and iPhone

Working so far, we will see...

Hi. I have followed your instructions above. Did not have to disable the 5GHZ for the multiple instances to disappear on my wife's 2011 Macbook Air. All I did in the AirPort Utility was turn off the Guest Network. Rebooted the Time Capsule and my wife's Air and only one instance now showing. I do have a question. In the Devices section of the Finder, it still shows the Air listed as "KarenAir (8)". Any idea how to get rid of the number? If I go to Finder - Go - Computer, it just shows "KarenAir". I tried renaming it which it allowed me to do, but it did not update in "Devices" on her computer or in the "Shared" section on mine. Both still show the "(8)". Any ideas? Does this resolve itself in time? Why after renaming the HD on her machine would it still show up with the old name under Devices? I since have named it back to "KarenAir". Before doing that, I rebooted to see if that would have an effect. It did not.

BTW, "Back To My Mac" was never checked on her machine. So nothing was done as far as that goes.

Once again the question is how can the name be updated to NOT show the number under Devices in Finder.

Thanks for your help and for figuring out/posting the solution above.

Hi all

I followed the above suggestion on my macbook air, and the next day I see the incremental numbers are back. It has not fixed it for me. what is interesting is that we have 3 macbook airs at home and an iMac. The highest increment to date has been the iMac, which has gone as high at 12. This seems to suggest it gets an increment every time it comes out of sleep mode. So does it request a new IP address when it does that? I set my IP address life to 21 days but it still happens.

No one from Apple come back on this yet? Looking around it seems to be a wider issue not just confined to Yosemite or Mavericks. I have seen people reporting issues with Apple TV too, and the common thread between us all so far is using the Airport Extreme......

I cannot remember seeing this in Mavericks or Lion, but others have reported it from what I have seen. So do we have an issue with the Airport Extreme?

regards

Peter

Hmmm. It has held so far for me. I still have the "(8)" after my wife's Air's name in the Finder under devices, but no multiples.

To get rid of the numbers on your devices you will need to relaunch finder. Go to your top menu bar to the little black Apple all the way on the left. Click on the Apple, drop down to force quit then select finder and hit relaunch. The numbers after your devices in your finder will be gone.

That didn't quite work. It changed the "KarenAir (8)" to KarenAir (2) on my wife's machine, meaning it got rid of the (8). There is still only one instance on her Mac, which is good. On my other Macs, I now have both (8) and (2) showing under Shared. Before I only had (8) after following your instructions above.

Did some further digging and this helped me:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1799812

Apple doesn’t routinely monitor the discussions. These are mostly user to user discussions.

Send Apple feedback. They won't answer, but at least will know there is a problem. If enough people send feedback, it may get the problem solved sooner.

Feedback

Ok, so after writing my last post I went onto the Airport Extreme and reserved IP addresses for the MacBook air and iMac based on their mac address. Since then I have not had a reoccurrence of the issue.