how to set up TM to external HD with Airport Extreme Base Station?

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how to set up TM to external HD with Airport Extreme Base Station?

I need to set up TM on my MBA (3,1/10.9.5) so that it will backup to a 250 GB external HD via my Airport Extreme Base Station.

Do I plug the external HD to Airport? If so, need some other plug.

If I plug external HD to my iMac, it doesn’t appear when try to set up TM on MBA.

Background: The external HD used to backup my iMac, so I think it is Mac OS extended. then I switched and backed up both MBA and iMac to LaCie-2big-NAS. Worked fine for long time, but then MBA started getting error messages. Others said that problem was backing up to a third-party NAS with Time Machine. So, I foolishly stopped backing up MBA.

But now question is how do I set up it. Thanks.

OS X Mavericks (10.9.5), iMac (10.9.5) and MBA (10.9.5)

Posted on Aug 21, 2015 2:58 PM

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Answer 1

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BobHarris

Level 9

53,003 points

Aug 21, 2015 6:29 PM in response to ArmandoWyo

If this works (not sure it will), you do the following:

Plug the USB disk into your Mac
Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility and format the disk as an "Mac OS Extended Journaled". If it is already Mac OS Extended Jorunaled, then you can use it as is. Then again, erasing it and putting a new file system on it for Time Machine wouldn't hurt.
Cleanly eject the USB drive from your Mac

Now plug the USB disk into the USB port on your Airport Extreme base station.
From your Mac -> Applications -> Utilities -> Airport Utility -> Disks tab -> [X] Enable file sharing
If you wish to give it a password, you can do that in the Disks tab
DO NOT share the disk over the WAN (unless you want strangers to see your disk)

Back on your Mac, in the Finder sidebar should be your Airport Extreme shown under the list of "Shared" items.
Click on your Airport Extreme in the Finder sidebar
Double-Click your USB disk attached and shared via your Airport Extreme to mount it on your Mac

Now setup up Time Machine
System Preferences -> Time Machine -> Select Backup Disk...
Your USB disk you just mounted on your Mac should be one of the drives you can select.
Select it and click "Use Disk"

That should be all you need to do. In theory, Time Machine will remember all the information for the network shared disk so that it will automatically mount it if it is not currently mounted.

NOTE: I have not doing this myself. But years ago, I did do something like this to a shared disk on a Mac mini. I've since switched to using CrashPlan to that same Mac mini for my network backups, but that is another story.

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Answer 2

ArmandoWyo Author

Level 1

87 points

Aug 22, 2015 9:46 AM in response to BobHarris

Thanks Bob,

1. I can erase/clean the external HD by connecting it to iMac. It was previously connected. So, that is doable.

2. the OWC Mercury Elite Pro 250 HD came with a cable that is for Firewire 400/800, not USB. My Airport Extreme has 4 Ethernet ports and a USB port. Does that mean that I should buy a FW400-to-USB cable? Can't tell what I need. See some available, such as this one at Staples (http://www.staples.com/Insten-6-USB-20-to-IEEE-1394-4-Pin-Firewire-DV-Cable/prod uct_971305?cid=PS:GooglePLAs:971305&ci_s…). But these IEEE cable seem to be for video to USB. May not be correct cable.

The Airport also has an empty ethernet port. But can't find a Firewire to ethernet cable/adapter that seems correct. Plugging the external HD to Airport is a bigger problem than i thought.

3. The sidebar on my finder does not show the airport Extreme. the Airport is plugged to the iMac via an ethernet cable, but I've never seen the Airport Extreme in my finder window.

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Answer 3

ArmandoWyo Author

Level 1

87 points

Aug 22, 2015 10:08 AM in response to ArmandoWyo

bob, here's a photo of the ports on my OWC mercury Elite Pro HD.

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Answer 4

Aug 22, 2015 10:18 AM in response to ArmandoWyo

Which Airport Extreme device? The older "flat" models aren't supported for Time Machine use AFAIK, only the 2013-vintage "tall" models.

The OWC Mercury Elite Pro series is listed as having a USB 3 device connection, so you should not need to use the FireWire connection. I don't see a 250 GB model listed. USB 3 devices can be connected to a USB 2 connection, and will run at USB 2 speeds. (In your photo and right above the "OWC warranty" text, that square-ish port is a standard-B USB socket connector. B-to-A is a common USB cable.)

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Answer 5

ArmandoWyo Author

Level 1

87 points

Aug 22, 2015 11:03 AM in response to MrHoffman

MrH,

My Airport Extreme is an older flat model. My System Info says, AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0x8C); 802.11 a/b/g/n. It was backing up my MBA via TM to a Lacie 2Big NAS for a year.

I didn't know what that socket was. So, all I need is a cable such as this one at Staples: http://www.staples.com/Staples-11-Gold-Series-USB-A-B-Cable-18803-/product_83752 4?

The OWC 250 is discontinued.

Thanks again.

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Answer 6

BobHarris

Level 9

53,003 points

Aug 22, 2015 1:57 PM in response to ArmandoWyo

I didn't know what that socket was. So, all I need is a cable such as this one at Staples: http://www.staples.com/Staples-11-Gold-Series-USB-A-B-Cable-18803-/product_83752 4?

Yes. If you have a USB printer around, it uses the same cable.

And I agree with everything MrHoffman has said.

By the way, the picture was an excellent idea. It made it easy to see that your drive had USB support.

And here is the Airport Extreme USB port

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Answer 7

ArmandoWyo Author

Level 1

87 points

Aug 23, 2015 3:32 PM in response to BobHarris

Thanks to all for help. Hooked up printer cable from Airport to external disk. TM backed up to external disk. TM shows a completed backup, although in Preferences > TM, it shows no backup and says next backup is “when Mac is plugged in.” Also I have Time Machine widget, and it says, “No Time Machine information is available.” So, not sure if all is well.

I could not do a few steps, and don’t know if those were critical.

• Now plug the USB disk into the USB port on your Airport Extreme base station.

• From your Mac -> Applications -> Utilities -> Airport Utility -> Disks tab -> [X] Enable file sharing

I couldn’t find the Airport Utility in Utilities. Never did Enable file sharing.

• Back on your Mac, in the Finder sidebar should be your Airport Extreme shown under the list of "Shared" items.

• Click on your Airport Extreme in the Finder sidebar

• Double-Click your USB disk attached and shared via your Airport Extreme to mount it on your Mac

Not sure if accomplished this step. I did everything as listed. But nothing seemed to happen. So, unsure of result.

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Answer 8

BobHarris

Level 9

53,003 points

Aug 23, 2015 7:01 PM in response to ArmandoWyo

I couldn’t find the Airport Utility in Utilities. Never did Enable file sharing.

Airport Utility is suppose to be included with Mavericks, so if you did not find it, then there is something amiss with your Mac Mavericks installation.

How do you manage your Airport Extreme? I suppose you can be managing it with the iPhone Airport Utility, which also allows you to mess with File Sharing & Disks.

Not sure if accomplished this step. I did everything as listed. But nothing seemed to happen. So, unsure of result.

If you Airport Extreme is not offering file sharing, then it cannot be a Time Machine destination.

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Answer 9

ArmandoWyo Author

Level 1

87 points

Aug 24, 2015 8:32 AM in response to BobHarris

Bob,

I’ve never managed the Airport Extreme. I can share files between my iMac and MBA. I don’t know how to manage with iPhone.

Still don’t know what TM is actually doing on MBA. In Preferences, TM says it’s backing up now but no back ups from earlier or before; there was a backup yesterday that isn't there today. TM only shows current backup, nothing earlier. This is exactly how TM was operating on MBA a year ago, when I was backing up MBA to Lacie 2Big NAS and was getting warning “an error occurred while copying files,” and I was told that backing up to a third-party NAS with Time Machine was problem. I turned TM off on MBA, but I have continued to backup iMac to third-party NAS w/o problem.

I’ve been researching Apple support pages, and it appears that Airport Utility is a separate download. I have an AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0x8C); 802.11 a/b/g/n. Can’t tell which Airport Utility is the appropriate, AirPort Utility v5.4.2 or 6.x. Is my AirPort Extreme considered 802.11 a/c or 802.11n? appears that either can use Airport Utility 6.3.1. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201669. My iMac is hardwired to Airport Extreme, and MBA is connected via wifi network. Which device should download Airport Utility, or both?

This is like peeling an onion, huh?

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Answer 10

Eric Root

Level 10

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Aug 24, 2015 10:21 AM in response to ArmandoWyo

Probably best to do both.

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Answer 11

BobHarris

Level 9

53,003 points

Aug 24, 2015 11:08 AM in response to ArmandoWyo

I’ve been researching Apple support pages, and it appears that Airport Utility is a separate download. I have an AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0x8C); 802.11 a/b/g/n. Can’t tell which Airport Utility is the appropriate, AirPort Utility v5.4.2 or 6.x.

6.3.2 is the current Airport Utility for Mavericks

Is my AirPort Extreme considered 802.11 a/c or 802.11n?

It is 802.11n (the 802.11ac Airport Extreme is a vertical tower, not the flat device you have).

Which device should download Airport Utility, or both?

Both, as it does not matter, and you never know which system you will want to use to manage the Airport Extreme from. And if you have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, you can get get an Airport Utility from the iTunes store:

<https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/airport-utility/id427276530?mt=8>

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