Using an old TimeCapsule external hard drive in a new enclosure?

Question

Level 1

40 points

Using an old TimeCapsule external hard drive in a new enclosure?

Expert help please,

My Time Capsule had a catastrophic failure. (I had used Time Machine to do previous back-ups.) I salvaged the hard drive and purchased a new enclosure. After installing the old HD in the enclosure I've hooked up the new device (via USB) to my iMac.

When I go to disk utility I see 3 "partitions"---APconfig, APswap and Data. From the size of the files on each I assume that Data are my old files. But what about the other 2 (APconfig and APswap)? I've renamed Data to be more friendly ("new back-up").

If I go to Time Machine now and designate "new back-up" will it start all over again with a complete back-up? Or will it just back up from the last back-up? I could just erase the disk (I think) since I have had no lost files, I never have a need to regain lost files and the only back-up purpose is disaster recovery (which of course I don't expect in the next day or so).

And, is Time Machine the best/easiest application to use for such automatic back-ups?

Thanks,

JimH

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9), ipod Touch (32Gb,3G)

Posted on May 23, 2015 2:42 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

LaPastenague

Level 9

67,202 points

May 23, 2015 3:00 PM in response to JimH

When I go to disk utility I see 3 "partitions"---APconfig, APswap and Data. From the size of the files on each I assume that Data are my old files.

Correct.. Data is the only partition you can see on the TC.. the swap and config are for local use only..

If I go to Time Machine now and designate "new back-up" will it start all over again with a complete back-up?

Yes, it will start again..

TM backs up differently to a local drive than to a network drive (as TC).

TM can open the sparsebundle to find your old backup.. but you must convert it to local by extracting the backup for it to work.

See Q18 here. http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html

However we have discovered it is less than great.. attempting to move backups and still using them often results in the loss of everything.. it is better to preserve your old backups.. and start anew.

TM should be able to use your old TC disk without harming the old backup.. it will simply ignore it. That means you have your old and new backups sitting together.. and in a few months time you can delete the old ones.. to regain the disk space. How old was the TC, and what size disk? Remember old disks are not as reliable as new ones.. especially if it has already run for several years in a nice hot TC.. If the drive is a WD black from Gen2 or a Samsung spinpoint from gen3 I would seriously consider replacement.. even the old WD green from later ones are SATA 1 drives and slow.. plus can fail after a few years.. and that time is rapidly approaching.

And, is Time Machine the best/easiest application to use for such automatic back-ups?

Easiest yes.. it is built in set and forget.

Best is open to debate. In later OS like Mavericks and especially Yosemite.. I advise people to run both TM and a clone like Carbon Copy Cloner.. which can get you out of trouble really fast.. TM is great for restoring to a new computer.

Reply

Answer 2

JimH Author

Level 1

40 points

May 23, 2015 3:15 PM in response to LaPastenague

Thanks for your prompt reply. Just for your info---my defunct TC was model A1409 with a WD Green. I sent it off to Larry at i-Tronics (from your list). He diagnosed that the PSU was really still operative, but the logic board was fried. I let him keep the PSU and had him return the HD. I purchased an enclosure from OWC which came today.

When I've backed up and it's all working OK I'll connect it to my Airport Extreme for wireless back-up (I hope).

Reply

Answer 3

May 23, 2015 3:54 PM in response to JimH

When I've backed up and it's all working OK I'll connect it to my Airport Extreme for wireless back-up (I hope).

Yes, that is the typical failure of the Gen4.

Note that when you backup locally .. and then plug it into the Extreme .. it will then be able to see the old sparsebundle from the disk being in the TC.. it will not and cannot use the local backup in network.. nor can it use the network backup when in local.. so you are then running two backups.. not a problem as long as you know what is happening.

And hi to Larry .. good guy.

Reply