Old Time Capsule not working, how can I destroy data?

Why do you say that once out of the TC, I might better plug it into a computer, erase and copy .... why would I be able to do this after it is removed when I can't do it now?

Excellent question.

I have come across very few truly dead hard disks from a Time Capsule.

The erase 35 times has clearly failed.. so I assume the disk in your TC is actually bad.. yet even having the ability to start an erase means the disk is not dead dead.. it is unreadable perhaps but I would say in 90% of cases the issues are not the disk but the electronics or power supply in the TC. (I have repaired several hundred.. so it is one area I do claim to know something about).

Plugging it into a computer gives you a chance to see if it is the disk .. and if it is dead.. unreadable then you don't have to worry.. nobody else (without NSA tools and a lot of money/time to waste).. is going to be able to access data.

But I suspect power supply or actual poor board soldering are as much to blame.. The Gen4 did have a reasonable power supply.. although it is now 6 years old or more.. (-2 years in storage perhaps but degradation of electronics is usually time and not just power on hours). A lot of faults .. some very odd ones are caused by under temperature solder flow on the original manufacturer assembly line.. Apple has had more problems in this area than most.. lots of boards and graphic cards they used died and can be resurrected after a solder reflow.

See this .. how to fix the vast majority of dead Gen4 TC is by reflow of the solder.

Gen4 A1409 issues - LaPastenague

It is also I guess a question of just how likely it is that someone is going to get info out of the drive. Apple used to offer a return scheme.. you buy a new TC and hand in your old one.. Apple would dispose of it safely. Mostly of course that means they refurbished them, and resold without giving you anything.. but peace of mind. In Refurb a bad hard disk would be replaced. Some with good SMART data very carefully checked and low level erased. Ask at your local Apple store.. they might still offer some such service.. due to the problem of TC design.. unlike most NAS you cannot replace or access the disk without disassembly. AFAIK the service has stopped.

In my work of repair I often wiped disks on behalf of people who no longer wanted them.. if you have a trusted computer service centre they will also do the job with ease. Computer techs after all carry an enormous amount of trust.. we actually know customers passwords and thus their bank details etc.. plus your browsing history and naughty stuff people get up to.. yet it is really seldom that a Tech betrays that trust.

I understand that when unplugged (2 years), and then plugged in, Airport Time Capsule will self-diagnose and repair itself and that other than that there is nothing I can do to repair the disk

That's the theory. When the Time Capsule is powered up, it automatically goes through a number of checks to fix any software problems that might exist on the drive.

If the disk.....hardware..... is physically damaged or failing......then your only option would be to physically remove the drive and destroy it.

Try to erase the drive first, so see if that can be accomplished. A Zero Out Data secure erase will take 5-8 hours or so depending on how large the hard drive might be. Try that option, then check to see if the Time Capsule is operational again. In other words, if the error messages go away, the Time Capsule is still good.....although 3-4 years is about the average useful life of a Time Capsule.

A 7 Pass Erase will Zero Out the drive 7 times, so it will take 7 times as long as the Zero Out Data option. Use the 7 Pass Erase if you are the really insecure type that tends to believe in most conspiracy theories.

A 35 Pass Erase will Zero Out the drive 35 times, so that might take weeks. No reason to do this unless you are storing nuclear codes or other things that would interest the NSA.

If you want to destroy the drive, then there is no reason to waste time erasing it. Pull the drive out of the Time Capsule and crush it in a vise or give it some good hammer blows. This would assume that you still want to try to use the Time Capsule as a WiFi router......like an AirPort Extreme. If you don't want to do that, then just crush the entire Time Capsule in a vise.

Removal of the disk from a TC Gen4 is easy..

Read the details here.

Apple Time Capsule Model A1302 Hard Drive Replacement - iFixit Repair Guide

Even though an older model the design is identical.

Once out of the TC you can dispose of it in any way you like or better plug it into a computer.. erase and copy a bunch of useless files to it. e.g. linux distributions. But just a one pass erase which is a low level format in the TC is plenty for anyone except NSA.. and I would not be greatly concerned unless you are involved in nefarious activity.

Put the disk back into the TC and sell it on eBay.. there is a good market for the parts. Just say it has a failing hard disk.

It takes about 5-7 hours to erase a 2 TB drive using the Zero Out Data option. 35 Pass will do this 35 times, so it is going to take 175-250 hours or 7- 10 days. No way that a 35 pass erase could occur in less than a week, despite what you might think.

Unless you are really paranoid though, a single Zero Out Data run will replace everything on the hard drive with zeros. This is what I use when I sell a Time Capsule to another user.

If you want to recoup a few dollars, sell the Time Capsule on Ebay.

If you don't want to sell the Time Capsule, there is no point in trying to open up the Time Capsule to pull the hard drive......unless.....you plan to try to continue to use the Time Capsule as an AirPort Extreme only.....without a hard drive.

If you don't want to go through the effort of opening up the Time Capsule and don't intend to to use it as an AirPort Extreme, you can crush the entire Time Capsule in a vise. This will destroy the hard drive in the process.

After the Time Capsule has been crushed in a vise, hit the remains with a hammer a few times, so you can get some sleep.

Is the router, which was working still safe to use without the fan and HDD?

Yes, without the hard drive

No, without the fan

Can I drown the HDD to remove the data or make it dysfunctional?

No. The data could be easily retrieved from the disk if someone wanted to do this.

I'm assuming the vise suggestion (above) was for humor.

Not at all. The goal is to destroy/crush the hard drive unless you are going to keep it in a safe or something similar. If you do not have a commercial crusher handy, you can accomplish the same task using a vise or other similar tool. If you do not have a vise or something similar to crush the hard drive, a half-dozen hammer blows will do the job nicely.

Is the router, which was working still safe to use without the fan and HDD?

The TC works fine without the HDD.. although you will get an error that the hard disk is not working.. the Gen4 TC becomes a Gen5 AE as the main design is identical even if it is a totally different board.

I have run the Gen4 without a Fan with no problem.. It is helpful to improve the natural ventilation. Loads of info on the site I made.. which I linked to before.

there is another casing to get into to get to the data

You can buy a USB dock for $20.. it really isn't as hard as you think.

Any big computer store, online store or ebay etc. Just search for hdd dock.

You plug it by USB into your computer and simply drop the hard drive into the dock.. easy peasy.

Then you can access it via disk utility on computer.

First, I am assuming that the hard drive is damaged, so that it cannot simply be securely erased.

If you need to crush or destroy the drive, just use your common sense.

Replacement fans are available if that might help.

Apple A1470 fan - Apple AirPort Time Capsule A1470 CPU cooling fan$14.55battery-adapter.comFree shipping, no tax

This is Gen4.. and the fan for the Gen5 won't work.. nor is the fan the problem.. he ripped the socket off the board.

I am assuming that the hard drive is damaged, so that it cannot simply be securely erased.

I am more inclined to think the TC board or power supply is giving issues..

If the drive is damaged.. which is easy to check there is no need to destroy it.. it is already destroyed.. no data can be accessed without removing platters.. one or two hits with a hammer on the top to bend the spindle mounts will stop that happening.

You are going to have to open up the Time Capsule to get at the hard drive to remove it.

Once you have pulled the hard drive out, you will need a SATA to USB converter or caddy to connect the hard drive to a USB port on your Mac to see if it might be possible to erase the hard drive. Something like this:

Amazon.com: StarTech.com USB 3.0 to 2.5” SATA III Hard Drive Adapter Cable w/UASP – SATA to USB 3.0 Converter for SSD/HD…

LaPastenague may have another device that he recommends.

If it turns out that the hard drive cannot be erased, then it is useless and should be destroyed.

On the other hand, if the drive can be erased and it still has problems when you reinstall it in the Time Capsule again......this indicates that the Time Capsule has a power supply or circuit board problem. In this case, the real issue is not the hard drive.....it is the Time Capsule electronics.

There is a way to try to repair/fix the Time Capsule circuit board if this might be the case, but it is a totally different operation to this discussion.

If everything else inside the Time Capsule is still working correctly......(the power supply is suspect on any Time Capsule older than 5 years)......then you can reassemble the Time Capsule without the hard drive and use it as an AirPort Extreme.

So.....you need to first find out if the drive is good or not. That will determine your next step(s).