Ever since I upgraded to Sierra OS - I cannot get time machine to back-up to the time capsule. The Apple support team tells me that Time Capsule is not reliable and I should attach an external drive to back-up. Why the heck did I waste money on Time Capsule?
iMac with Retina 5K display, macOS Sierra (10.12)
The Apple support team tells me that Time Capsule is not reliable and I should attach an external drive to back-up.
What? No. If that were the case I wouldn't use them, and I use several. I rely upon them. They have always been 100% reliable, not 99.999%, but 100%. Zero failures of any kind, ever.
Of course I've only been using Time Machine for about eight years so anything's possible. Of course additional redundant backup devices, directly connected or not, is always a good idea.
Please read If you can't back up or restore your Mac using Time Machine .... There are additional help resources so if that one doesn't seem to help, please write back.
Don't shoot the messenger!
After about 2 hours on the phone with Apple Support - their best answer was connect an external drive - Time Capsule is not reliable. I have tried all the usual routes and work arounds - none work. I followed all the steps on the link you posted before I called for support.
Any one else have a possible solution - please?
Are you quite certain you called Apple and not some scam outfit fraudulently representing themselves as Apple?
Perhaps your Time Capsule is not reliable, in which case it should be repaired or replaced, but I doubt that's the case. To characterize the Time Capsule as an unreliable product is simply not a credible answer, and it should be summarily disregarded.
The only reasonable explanation is to characterize wireless communications as generally unreliable, which it can certainly be, due to the vagaries of that communications medium. To identify potential wireless communication problems so that you can explore possible solutions to them, please read Check for Wi-Fi issues using your Mac - Apple Support. It's very informative. So far, you have been misinformed.
As I wrote there are additional help resources, such as the following: If a Time Machine backup takes longer than you expect - Apple Support. There are many factors involved. I suggest you review all of them.
Mr Galt - one can only assume your sarcasm was simply a failed attempt at humor. The Apple contact was via their website and I followed their web links to connect with Support team members.
The facts are that I'd already tried all posted support remedies (including your suggestions) prior to contacting Apple.
The Apple support conclusion strikes me as unacceptable. I posted the situation to see if others have experienced it or had issues with time capsule and Sierra OS.
Constructive assistance is greatly appreciated. Sarcasm is not.
You are mistaken. There is no sarcasm. Complaints regarding scam outfits fraudulently representing themselves as Apple are commonly reported on this site. The answer you received was absurd and consistent with those unauthorized sources.
The Apple support conclusion strikes me as unacceptable.
As well it should. If the Time Capsule is not working for you, I suggest you insist upon a cash refund, because its stated purpose and capabilities were unequivocally repudiated by Apple's own support personnel – a service for which you paid, as part of a TC's purchase price.
The fact he or she is simply wrong is irrelevant. You have a legitimate grievance. Proceed accordingly.
I too can not back up to Time Machine. I have a MacBook Pro and an iMac. Since upgrading to Sierra neither machine will back-up.Both machines display "TIME MACHINE NOT CONFIGURED". They've both been using this device for almost five years... It's been reset twice and no such luck.
I have the same issue. I haven't contacted apple yet, I'm reading through the support forums.
Really?
And what did you do next because i'm still in search of a fix!
I upgraded to Sierra 10.12.1 this morning and my Time Capsule has been "preparing backup" for in excess of 3/4 of an hour so I stopped it. I did notice during the setup process for iCloud that I was asked if I wanted all items from the Documents folder and the desktop copied to the cloud. The default is yes and that box is checked.
Is Apple making the TC obsolete and trying to sell more iCloud space? Time to get a different external hard drive for my backing up.
Please start your own Discussion. This one has become corrupted with distracting information irrelevant to your concern.
To learn how to do that please read Writing an effective Apple Support Communities question.
I upgraded to Sierra 10.12.1 this morning and my Time Capsule has been "preparing backup" for in excess of 3/4 of an hour so I stopped it.
If you stop "Preparing", Time Machine has to start all over again with "Preparing" the next time that you want to continue using Time Machine.
"Preparing" is going to take a long time after "updating" to Sierra. It might be 2-3 hours or more if you are using wireless to back up, so if you have a faster Ethernet connection option, that would be the way to go for the next backup.
Once the backup is done, you can switch back to wireless to continue incremental backups.
Thanks for the kind answer, Bob. I just let it go and it's now backing upo after a couple of hours.
Thank you Bob, for the comment.
It is logical, yet not working for my instance. I've been waiting for the Time Capsule to finish "preparing" for over 36 hours. It is still not backing up.
Do you have any other suggestions? The Time Capsule router is running the latest & greatest firmware. The OS X is the latest version. Apple support has not been helpful to date.
Please start a new post for your question including details on what Apple Support has asked you to do.
The forum experts who answer questions will assume that you are not running any type of anti-virus on your Mac, or any other application that claims to "optimize", "keep", "speed up" or "clean" your Mac. Would that be correct?
Cannot back-up to time capsule using Sierra OS
