Reinstalled OS X on late 2013 Macbook Pro and can't get my data back from the Time Capsule. It is selected as the disk in the TC app, and I can see it and see my sparse bundle in finder, but can't copy from there either. HELP!!! Please.
MacBook Pro with Retina display, iOS 9.1
constantly "temporarily unavailable".
Thanks for the irony.
What OS did you reinstall.. as you don't say and not in the profile.
What model TC?
Did you install El Capo? If so there are many issues with networking and especially to the TC.
I presume you are using wireless.. as I think your MBPr is lacking an ethernet port.. please if at all possible, buy a thunderbolt to ethernet adapter.. they are not expensive and totally required in the age where wireless is still in voodoo black arts stage of development.
Here is my recommendation to get things going.. not everything is needed.. but go through the list starting from factory reset.
Note particularly the need to zap the pram.. or in modern terms.. reset nvram and smc which is the last point below.
Start from a factory reset. No files are lost on the hard disk doing this.
Factory reset universal
Power off the TC.. ie pull the power cord or power off at the wall.. wait 10sec.. hold in the reset button.. be gentle.. power on again still holding in reset.. and keep holding it in for another 10sec. You may need some help as it is hard to both hold in reset and apply power. It will show success by rapidly blinking the front led. Release the reset.. and wait a couple of min for the TC to reset and come back with factory settings. If the front LED doesn’t blink rapidly you missed it and simply try again. The reset is fairly fragile in these.. press it so you feel it just click and no more.. I have seen people bend the lever or even break it. I use a toothpick as tool.
N.B. None of your files on the hard disk of the TC are deleted.. this simply clears out the router settings of the TC.
Setup the TC again.
Then redo the setup from the computer with Mavericks--Yosemite--ElCapo. (MYELCAP)
1. Use very short names.. NOT APPLE RECOMMENDED names. No spaces and pure alphanumerics.
eg TCgen5 for basestation and TCwifi wireless name.
If the issue is wireless use TC24ghz and TC5ghz with fixed channels as this also seems to help stop the nonsense. But this can be tried in the second round. ie plan on a first and second round of changes to fix this.. hopefully.. I will point out other steps that can be round2.
2. Use all passwords that also comply with 1. but can be a bit longer. ie 8-20 characters mixed case and numbers.. no non-alphanumerics.
3. If the TC is main router you can skip this point. This is only an issue when the TC is bridged.
Ensure the TC always takes the same IP address.. you will need to do this on the main router using dhcp reservation.. or a bit more complex setup using static IP in the TC. But this is important.. having IP drift all over the place when MYELCAP cannot remember its own name for 5 min after a reboot makes for poor networking.
4. Check your share name on the computer is not changing.. make sure it also complies with the above.. short no spaces and pure alphanumeric.. but this change will mess up your TM backup.. so be prepared to do a new full backup. Sorry.. keep this one for second round if you want to avoid a new backup.
5. Mount the TC disk in the computer manually.
In Finder, Go, Connect to server from the top menu,
Type in SMB://192.168.0.254 (or whatever the TC ip is which you have now made static. As a router by default it is 10.0.1.1 and I encourage people to stick with that unless you know what you are doing).
You can use name.. SMB://TCgen5.local where you replace TCgen5 with your TC name.. local is the default domain of the TC and doesn't change.
However names are not so easy as IP address.. nor as reliable. At least not in Yosemite they aren't. The domain can also be an issue if you are not plugged or wireless directly to the TC.
6. Make sure IPv6 is set to link-local only in the computer. For example wireless open the network preferences, wireless and advanced / TCP/IP.. and fix the IPv6. to link-local only. Do the same for ethernet if you use it.
There is a lot more jiggery pokery you can try but the above is a good start.. if you find it still unreliable.. don't be surprised.
You might need to do some more work on the computer itself. eg Reset the NVRAM/PRAM/SMC.. has helped some people. Clean install of the OS is also helpful if you upgrade installed.
You're welcome. It's the least I can do when asking for help. On that, thanks for your great response. Still working through it, but here's the missing info:
Running El Cap 10.11.2 Beta, as I was previously when experimenting with a boot camp/win10 install-- Forget that.
Time Capsule is a 2TB model with no previous issue(s).
As you had mentioned, I'll pick up a cable to speed things up and level the playing field.
In the meanwhile I was finally able to mount the TC drive and access it, albeit slowly to restore important files. Yet, the most difficult task remaining happens to be getting my settings and favorites back in Firefox. Gone are the days of a simple directory only to be replaced by hours of searching, reading, and toiling, simply to remain in the place I began. I'm not terribly comfortable with the command line on a mac and am beginning to believe I should be if only to make hidden files viewable as I believe that's where my target may be hiding as it's just not visible by default.
Thanks again for your efforts!
Yet, the most difficult task remaining happens to be getting my settings and favorites back in Firefox.
It is indeed difficult..
I would suggest a different approach.. a full restore of the OS to a USB drive.
Go back to before your changes managed to lose your settings..
See this thread.. it was done from Yosemite but the difference should be minor..
What I achieved was to create a bootable external drive running an older OS.
You can then boot from it and export your settings and favourites.. and import them into your browser.
The advantage of this is to give you something that is usable without the issues of a command lines etc.
Ended up using terminal to set hidden files to visible, restarted Finder, went into library as user, was then able to see the "Library" folder yet not it's contents. Then copied the 40gb folder to the desktop where it was navigable and was then was able to successfully get to the goods.
Really ridiculous to channel our time so heavily into such a silly thing. Although this has made me reconsider my backup strategy, it hasn't forced me into signing-up to sync my matters elsewhere.... Which is what I think the original problem is derivative of.
I'm grateful for your taking the time to impart your very considered thoughts.
Best
Time Capsule constantly "temporarily unavailable".
