Time Machine Backups on Time Capsule

[seme332]

Hey Guys,

I think this problem started when I installed Sierra, but I cannot be 100% sure actually. So I got a 2TB Time Capsule a while ago because I wanted to be able to wirelessly backup my iMac and MacBook. I setup the whole thing and even use it as a router. All of this worked fine on both Macs until a couple of weeks ago (I believe it was when I updated both Macs to Sierra). Basically what is happening now is that I have to unplug and plug the Time Capsule back in every so often so Time Machine keeps making Backups. It always works fine for a couple of days but then just stops making Backups and connecting to the Time Capsule. This issue does not affect my Wi-Fi though, which mostly has been fine (though randomly dropping in the past couple of days).

Let's say after 2 weeks I would look into Time Machine and see the last Backup was created a week ago, though there was no sign anything was wrong the past week. Then I click "Backup now" which will show "Looking for Backup disk..." forever until giving me a message that I should try backing up again when the server is available. I don't see a reason though why the server would NOT be available, since I'm connected to the internet through exactly that Time Capsule which is connected and working fine.
I then try connecting to the Time Capsule in the Finder, which is there called "AirPort". It tries to connect but the Finder window will just stay empty and it will say "Not connected". Also, if I press the "Connect" Button it won't do much other then showing me some connection error after a while.
What I do then is I unplug the Time Capsule, wait a second, plug it back in, wait for my Mac to reconnect to the Wi-Fi and it magically connects to the server. I can then run a Time Machine Backup without issues and even connect to the AirPort in the Finder.

Anyone having similar problems or anybody knows a fix for this? I really would like my Backup Solution to work without having to restart it every couple of days

Thanks!

 

[rugmankc]

I had the same issue about 2 weeks ago. Not real sure if it was before OS upgrade. Haven't checked lately to see it disconnected again. Will try to remember to do that.

 

[rugmankc]

I haven't had a reminder for awhile that Time Capsule hasn't backed up. I guess by saying -Today, 4.57pm it is backing up. Or, is that not what it is saying.

 

[rugmankc]

I show a backup at 4:57pm when entering Time Machine. But, when I open Time Capsule on left sidebar it shows not connected. Also, when I enter Time Machine, some of the backups say waiting. And, have blank window. I don't look at this stuff much. So, not sure what to take away from it. I guess it reconnects when needed??

 

[neliason]

I have the same problem though not with Time Capsule. I have two USB drives I have always connected to make alternating backups. Sometimes it does not make the next scheduled backup. In my case the next drive to use is still connected in Finder and I can browse the drive. I can manually chose to make a backup and it seems to work, though I'm not sure this causes the scheduled backups to start again. But once it fails to make a scheduled backup it seems to need some sort of intervention. I filed a bug report on this.

 

[Hermes Monster]

Bringing this up again ... I'm having the same issues, confident it's since upgrading to Sierra. My back ups aren't working via Time Machine, and I can't see the base station in AirPort Utility. The only fix I can find is restarting the Time Capsule, at which point AirPort Utility will see it, but then forgets it after x amount of time - though it does still show (grey'd out) with only an option to 'forget' it.

It does occasionally show up in Finder, but now shows the icon of a PC rather than the tower it used to. Very annoying

 

[Ianbuckley]

Bringing this up again ... I'm having the same issues, confident it's since upgrading to Sierra. My back ups aren't working via Time Machine, and I can't see the base station in AirPort Utility. The only fix I can find is restarting the Time Capsule, at which point AirPort Utility will see it, but then forgets it after x amount of time - though it does still show (grey'd out) with only an option to 'forget' it.

It does occasionally show up in Finder, but now shows the icon of a PC rather than the tower it used to. Very annoying

There is a software issue related to TimeMachine in macOS Sierra. Apple issued a statment on 8th December and that a fix has been released in macOS 10.12.2 Beta 5. The general release of 10.12.2 will probably occur at the end of the month.

 

[Hermes Monster]

There is a software issue related to TimeMachine in macOS Sierra. Apple issued a statment on 8th December and that a fix has been released in macOS 10.12.2 Beta 5. The general release of 10.12.2 will probably occur at the end of the month.

Thanks, I was aware the fix was coming but thought it was in the latest round of updates I'd just installed. Turning of Back To Mac seems to have fixed it for now though (after rebooting the TC so that AirPort Utility could see it, to allow the changes)

 

[xraydoc]

I've had some Time Machine/Time Capsule issues as well on my new 15" MBP. At first I thought it was just me and even ended up reformatting the machine and doing a virgin software install (originally did a migration from the 13" nTB MBP I was returning for the 15" model).

I've worked around the problem with Carbon Copy Cloner. May just continue with CCC instead of Time Machine on this machine for now, even when the TM bugs are fixed. Between a daily CCC backup of my data files, plus iCloud Documents/Drive/Desktop/Photos, DropBox and OneDrive, my laptop is sufficiently backed up (and all my cloud data is backed up on to two Time Machine disks attached to a separate Mac at home).
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Thanks, I was aware the fix was coming but thought it was in the latest round of updates I'd just installed. Turning of Back To Mac seems to have fixed it for now though (after rebooting the TC so that AirPort Utility could see it, to allow the changes)

Unfortunately, this was not the cause of my errors. BTMM has been off for me since day one with this machine and still lots of problems with Time Capsule backups.

Interestingly, CCC works just fine to the same network volumes, so it's not the laptop's wifi, the wifi router(s), or the Time Capsule itself.

 

[Essel]

I have the Airport Extreme.

It was working perfectly then developed the same problem that a few of you seem to have. It has to be reset, then after 5 minutes it drops out of view. WIFI still working.

It was 3 months out of warranty. I contacted Apple Support and we were on the phone for 20 mins or so. With no resolution he booked me an appointment with my local Apple store on Thursday. They agreed to swap it out for a replacement which I picked up yesterday.

I did notice this thread on Friday morning so I wasn't surprised when the replacement had the same fault.

I will leave it switched off till the next software update then try again.

Essel

 

[Honza1]

I had the same problem with my Airport Extreme yesterday evening.

Since December 6 all backups (multiple macs) to attached drive for Time Machne stopped, drive not found. AE did not show on any system (macOS or iOS) in network in Airport utility, but networking worked fine for everything else. My other two Airport express stations showed connected to greyed our Airport extreme. Since the Express stations are connected to the world through extreme base station, this network made no sense at all...

Solved - 3hours of work - and for now is working. Had to completely reset my Airport Extreme, change its name to different one than before (this seemed critically necessary), restore most (but not all, again, necessary) settings from backup of settings on my computer and configured rest of the settings manually.

For last 12 hours my network looks normally and Time Machine disks can be found again... weird situation.

Not sure how much macOS is responsible for this all, but it is all weird.

I assume everyone knows, that backing up settings of Airport Express/Extreme is trivial - and everyone does it, when it is still working fine, routinely? If not, DO IT. Especially for complex setups... easy to restore all or part of the setting.

 

[Essel]

Honza, I have tried your tip re switching off "Back To My Mac" in the airport settings. I removed my email address and I am now back up and working.

I didn't need to make any other changes.

My MBP is now backing up via Time Machine.

Thanks

Essel

 

[Hermes Monster]

Pleased to say that after three days, AirPort Utility and finder can still see my ATC and back ups are happening. This was doubly annoying for me, as I have an External HD attached to my ATC, which my Apple TV connects to so I can watch TV/Movies on it - while the ATV could still see it, I couldn't get any new files on/off over my network

oh well