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analogue SPRINKLES · Oct 19, 2007, 04:23 PM

Ok does Time Machine wirelessly backup to a hard drive plugged into an Airport Extreme or not?

SOME of the older leopard literature says it does but when I tried it on my 559 Beta it didn't even see the drive in the TM prefs.

Any final word?

freudling · Oct 19, 2007, 06:43 PM

analogue:

This is a great question and one I immediately thought off while watching the video. If it does not support this, I will be very disappointed. It "should" suppor it, because the drive is mounted on the computer. I can live with having to mount the drive, however, before using TM, but not having to plug it in all the time.

wr11 · Oct 19, 2007, 11:45 PM

I'm quite interested in getting an answer to this as well. I was hoping that it would support any AFP networked drive. Steve did mention that you could back up to a disk attached to an airport extreme. I'm getting myself a NAS that can share via APF 3.1 so hopefully time machine will be compatible with it.

Some people are saying they had some success by creating a file on the root of their shared drive ".com.apple.timemachine.supported" to enable time machine.

analogika · Oct 20, 2007, 12:50 AM

http://forums.macnn.com/90/mac-os-x/...ine-what-type/

bxs · 12:55 AM

It was supported in previous Apple's web site on Leopard TM features. However, their latest web site has dropped any mention of this AirDisk feature. I suspect Apple and their beta testers ran out of time with bugfixes while testing and with Apple wanting to release Leo on Oct 26.

I strongly suspect they will bring it back in .1 or .2 updates. I will be very surprised to see it with 10.5 on Oct 26.

While build 9A559 did support it in some fashion by applying some unadvertised hacks it would very unwise to use these in 10.5 if AirDisk is not supported by Apple. TM is all about safeguarding user data and applying hacks could very well compromise the backup data integrity leading to some very unhappy users down the road.

Use of the /.com.apple.timemachine.supported file should not be attempted. This is a file that is normally hidden from the user and I suspect it's either created by the Disk Utility when a HD is formatted or is defined as part of the mount process. It is crucial for TM configuration and for the TM pref panel recognising a Volume suitable for TM backups.

My advice is to wait for this feature to be officially supported by Apple. I'm sure they will do so in near future.

You will also notice that Apple intended for TM to use encryption but this along with AirDisk is now absent from their TM web site descriptions.

analogue SPRINKLES · Oct 21, 2007, 07:00 PM

Originally Posted by bxs

It was supported in previous Apple's web site on Leopard TM features. However, their latest web site has dropped any mention of this AirDisk feature. I suspect Apple and their beta testers ran out of time with bugfixes while testing and with Apple wanting to release Leo on Oct 26.

That had better not be true as I bought a new Aiport Basestation a couple months ago as leopard was supposed to have this feature!

Horsepoo!!! · Oct 21, 2007, 07:22 PM

It doesn't work and it never will...MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

bxs · Oct 21, 2007, 07:43 PM

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES

That had better not be true as I bought a new Aiport Basestation a couple months ago as leopard was supposed to have this feature!

As I said above - I strongly suspect Apple will make the AirDisk feature available for Leopard's TM at some point in near future. If it is available with 10.5 on Oct 26 I would be very surprised as Apple's web site is quite clear about AEBS not being supported at this time.

mduell · Oct 21, 2007, 08:05 PM

Originally Posted by bxs

You will also notice that Apple intended for TM to use encryption but this along with AirDisk is now absent from their TM web site descriptions.

No encryption?!?! Way to destroy an otherwise useful feature, Apple.

64stang06 · Oct 21, 2007, 09:33 PM

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES

That had better not be true as I bought a new Aiport Basestation a couple months ago as leopard was supposed to have this feature!

Funny because right on the Leopard site Apple had a disclaimer that features were subject change. I bought one for that reason also but it turns out, I love the base station and am not too concerned if Time Machine doesn't work with it just yet.

analogue SPRINKLES · Oct 21, 2007, 10:04 PM

Originally Posted by 64stang06

Funny because right on the Leopard site Apple had a disclaimer that features were subject change. I bought one for that reason also but it turns out, I love the base station and am not too concerned if Time Machine doesn't work with it just yet.

It's funny you have to say that as yes obviously it is subject to change and I am not talking about suing them.

It is just a bummer, wish they would have kept it in.

64stang06 · Oct 21, 2007, 10:37 PM

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES

It's funny you have to say that as yes obviously it is subject to change and I am not talking about suing them.

It is just a bummer, wish they would have kept it in.

I wasn't being rude about it

analogue SPRINKLES · Oct 22, 2007, 11:13 AM

Apple might want to be more careful as the description of Leopard on Amazon still mentions it supports time machine updates to Airdisk.

mitchell_pgh · Oct 22, 2007, 12:04 PM

Who knows, there could be a 10.5.1 update by the time we get 10.5.0 home on the 26th.

Yes, they shouldn't have said anything if they couldn't deliver, but IMHO, very few people will have this configuration, that being said, my good friend just asked me the same question. Seems like a TON of network traffic.

analogue SPRINKLES · Oct 22, 2007, 06:08 PM

Originally Posted by mitchell_pgh

Who knows, there could be a 10.5.1 update by the time we get 10.5.0 home on the 26th.

It is something I can wait for if it came in a 10.5.x update but it would really suck to wait for 10.6

I'mDaMac · Oct 23, 2007, 09:52 PM

I believe the omission of this feature has more to do with the AEBS' current faulty firmware and less with Leopard itself. I returned my AEBS because AirDisk was way too buggy for everyday use. Once the firmware issue is resolved I'm sure Apple will add this feature back in one of their .1 updates.

At least that's what I'm hoping happens.

mdc · Oct 23, 2007, 11:19 PM

That'll suck if it's not in 10.5.
I have two USB drives plugged into my Airport Extreme that I use all the time. My AppleTV streams off one and my PowerBook backs up to the other one, along with random file storage.
I have not had any issues with either drive connected to the basestation. The speed over my G network isn't great, but it's not terrible. It'll definitely be a lot more usable when I upgrade to N.

I was excited to be able to have my PowerBook send files across the wireless network every hour to my TimeMachine backup. Hopefully the feature is there, or comes soon.

- - e r i k - - · Oct 23, 2007, 11:51 PM

Originally Posted by I'mDaMac

I believe the omission of this feature has more to do with the AEBS' current faulty firmware and less with Leopard itself. I returned my AEBS because AirDisk was way too buggy for everyday use. Once the firmware issue is resolved I'm sure Apple will add this feature back in one of their .1 updates.

Yeah, no sh*t. I had to downgrade the firmware to even get AirDisk working.