bevanatthebeach
Level 1 (11 points)
Mac App Store

Q: cannot connect to WD Mybook Duo when it is plugged in to Time Capsule

I have a new Western Digital MyBook Duo 4TB (2 TB per drive) which I want to access from any of three Macs in the house.

 

All the Macs use the Wifi station that is built into my Airport Time Capsule. My Book Duo is plugged into the USB socket on the back that is provided for external HDDs.

 

However, while all of the Macs can see the MyBook Duo, none can use it.

 

Info: Each Mac is running El Capitan.   The Time Capsule and MyBook Duo are running the latest firmware.

 

In Finder, each Mac can see the Airport Time Capsule, under "Shared" in the left pane. When clicking on that, each Mac can see both the Time Capsule's internal HDD and the external MyBook Duo HDD. When I click on that, I get the same darn message every time:  "The operation can’t be completed because the original item for “My Book Duo” can’t be found."

 

If I connect the MyBook Duo directly to any Mac's USB port, all works fine. But that is not how I want to connect.

 

The Airport Time Capsule is supposed to effectively (via it's USB port) let you have a networked external HDD, and that is how I want to use MyBook Duo.

 

Can anyone help, please?

Posted on Aug 6, 2016 7:53 AM

by bevanatthebeach,Apple recommended
bevanatthebeach bevanatthebeach
Level 1 (11 points)
Mac App Store
A:

Thank you very much.

 

Coincidentally, I was not getting a very good WiFi signal around the house, so decided to move the Airport Time Capsule (which is my WiFi router) to a better location.  (I had an electrician do some cabling so that I would have an Ethernet connection from my Broadband modem through to the new location of the Airport Time Capsule).

 

As soon as this was done, I executed the steps suggested by LaPastenague above.

 

The first thing I found, after moving the WD MyBook Duo to the new location of the Airport Time Capsule, and plugging it in to the same power strip (whereas it was previously on a different power strip) is that I could immediately access the WD MyBook Duo from Finder on my Macbook Air.

 

I left everything connected and have found that every time since (over a period of 3 days) that I attempt to connect to WD MyBook Duo with my Macbook Air, it works perfectly.

 

For what it's worth, I am posting this so that if anyone else has the same problems I originally had, you can effect the same few changes that I made.

 

I don't know which, if any, of the changes I made solved the problem.

 

Following is a list of the changes. One of them may be the solution for you?

 

1. If you do not have a strong WiFi signal strength from your Airport Time Capsule, change its location so that you do. I did this.

2. Move the Airport Time Capsule and WD MyBook Duo to a place where they are (a) sharing the same power socket and (b) where they are not close to a lot of other power or telephone cables or your Broadband modem - keep them distant from those and from each other - have them just close enough to connect. I did this. (I wonder if EMF was the problem).

Posted on Aug 15, 2016 2:52 PM

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bevanatthebeach

Q: cannot connect to WD Mybook Duo when it is plugged in to Time Capsule

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Oliver.James,Helpful

    Oliver.James Oliver.James Aug 6, 2016 2:57 PM in response to bevanatthebeach
    Level 1 (127 points)
    Aug 6, 2016 2:57 PM in response to bevanatthebeach

    Hello,

     

    Have you made sure the MyBook Duo drive(s) are in the right format? It should be formatted as HFS+ (also known as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

     

    Hope this helps, Good Luck !

  • by bevanatthebeach,

    bevanatthebeach bevanatthebeach Aug 6, 2016 2:58 PM in response to Oliver.James
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Mac App Store
    Aug 6, 2016 2:58 PM in response to Oliver.James

    Thank you for your answer, Oliver.

     

    Yes, the MyBook Duo is formatted as OS X Extended.

  • by LaPastenague,Helpful

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Aug 15, 2016 2:41 PM in response to bevanatthebeach
    Level 9 (53,016 points)
    Wireless
    Aug 15, 2016 2:41 PM in response to bevanatthebeach

    Fact is not all drives work.. sadly.

     

    What I would suggest as experiment.. unplug the WD drive from the TC and plug it back in again.. make sure the drives spin up.. if they don't spin up also disconnect power.. you must force the drives to spin up..

     

    While the drives are spinning so be quick and ready.. see if you can open the WD drive from a Mac.. if it fails.. sorry.. it is simply not compatible. It is far better using an ordinary drive than a drive array which often do not work properly because the TC lacks the drivers.

     

    If you do get access for a few minutes while the drives are spinning what could be happening is the drives are failing to get spin up command. About the only way around this is to force the drives to never spin down.

  • by bevanatthebeach,Apple recommended

    bevanatthebeach bevanatthebeach Aug 15, 2016 2:52 PM in response to LaPastenague
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Mac App Store
    Aug 15, 2016 2:52 PM in response to LaPastenague

    Thank you very much.

     

    Coincidentally, I was not getting a very good WiFi signal around the house, so decided to move the Airport Time Capsule (which is my WiFi router) to a better location.  (I had an electrician do some cabling so that I would have an Ethernet connection from my Broadband modem through to the new location of the Airport Time Capsule).

     

    As soon as this was done, I executed the steps suggested by LaPastenague above.

     

    The first thing I found, after moving the WD MyBook Duo to the new location of the Airport Time Capsule, and plugging it in to the same power strip (whereas it was previously on a different power strip) is that I could immediately access the WD MyBook Duo from Finder on my Macbook Air.

     

    I left everything connected and have found that every time since (over a period of 3 days) that I attempt to connect to WD MyBook Duo with my Macbook Air, it works perfectly.

     

    For what it's worth, I am posting this so that if anyone else has the same problems I originally had, you can effect the same few changes that I made.

     

    I don't know which, if any, of the changes I made solved the problem.

     

    Following is a list of the changes. One of them may be the solution for you?

     

    1. If you do not have a strong WiFi signal strength from your Airport Time Capsule, change its location so that you do. I did this.

    2. Move the Airport Time Capsule and WD MyBook Duo to a place where they are (a) sharing the same power socket and (b) where they are not close to a lot of other power or telephone cables or your Broadband modem - keep them distant from those and from each other - have them just close enough to connect. I did this. (I wonder if EMF was the problem).