Problem connecting to Mac for use with Time Machine

[JimInRoses]

Thanks for your good wishes, Jacko. Yes, I know that Apple don't actually support TM backing up to a NAS (with the exception of their own Time Capsule, of course), but I'd read that the WD-MBL worked and my work friend is doing very nicely with it. I'm sure he said it worked OK wirelessly, but I'll double-check that when I see him on Friday.

Of course I can use a USB drive with the laptop, but that ties the laptop to a cable. TM is supposed to b/u every hour in the background, and I don't want to have to run to the living room to plug the lappy in every time it, or I, want to make a b/u.

[JimInRoses]

Thanks, Tony. That's very interesting. I don't use AirPlay very often, but I have an Airport Express for that purpose. I'd decided that it was on the blink because it vanishes from the iTunes output menu a while after it's switched on, and the Airport Utility can't find it either when that happens, for all the light on the front is green. I thought it was just lying to me, so I bought another one (which is still in its box). Now, it seems, perhaps the router is to blame for that as well.

I'll get on to TalkTalk.

[Jacko1]

Time Macine Editor, free download, let's you set your own schedule, once a day, once a week etc.

[JimInRoses]

Yes, I have something similar in fact: Time Machine Scheduler. Even so, it doesn't work on NAS unless the b/u drive connects automatically, and it won't b/u to a USB drive unless I plug it in.

[Jacko1]

I think you will arouse a lot of interest on this forum if you are able to successfully carry out wireless TM backups that are restorable. Speaking for myself I wanted MBL to use as a NAS, therefore as it's only a single HD I consider using it for data and backups to be just to risky.

[JimInRoses]

I'm sure that it will arouse a lot of interest. People who don't have problems don't visit help forums, so it's only because my workmate who sits next to me says he has a faultless wireless setup (he only strings a cable if he knows that he has a big file to transfer, such as his iPhoto library) that a fix is in sight. He tells me that his ISP is PlusNet, and everything works fine with the router that they supplied, configured as it came out of the box. Tomorrow, he will tell me the make and model of his router.

It's always easier if you can point at something and say "this works, make mine the same."

Since the demise of my Time Capsule I've subscribed to iTunes Match, so my music is safe. I recommend it, especially for people who have been buying musing from ITMS for a long time. It allows you to upgrade all the music you've already bought to higher quality encoding, without DRM.

[Jacko1]

Do please keep us all posted as to progress. Personally I've never used wireless on my iMac as I don't need it, preferring instead to rely on Ethernet.

[JimInRoses]

OK, my colleague's ISP is PlusNet, and his router is a Thomson Tg585 v7.

He's also running Lion. I don't think that makes as much difference as the router though. Although I've stuck to Snow Leopard, I've seen some updates to my software in the app store in the last couple of weeks that require Lion, so I'll be upgrading from Snow Leopard soon whatever happens.

Next step: contact TalkTalk. I'll keep you all informed of progress.

[Jacko1]

Still not convinced the router is you problem - I have tried three different routers with my MBL - a Belkin, Netgear and a BT HomeHub which by the way is a Thomson.  All routers have performed very similarly.

One thing I have noticed, and this is following one of your posts.  I ticked the box in Finder preferences to mount the shares on the Desktop.  However, whilst this works in a fashion it is has caused unforeseen problems - mainly sleep issues again.  If MBL is asleep on Mac wakeup then the shares don't mount anyway, I have to wake MBL myself before the shares mount. I don't shut the Mac down but use instead the default, which as you know is "sleep".  With the shares mounted MBL either won't enter sleep or if it does it tends to wake up again at odd periods.  I don't have the option ticked "wake for network access" either on my iMac so not sure what is causing it.  If I eject the shares then MBL sleeps as normal.  

I do think "sleep" for MBL needs more development work for Mac's.

[JimInRoses]

I'm not going into sleep/not-sleep. I've noticed some contradictory behaviour. Sometime the MBL fails to waken, which causes the connection to drop; other times it seems to wake up for no reason.

I'm sure that the router must have something to do with it, but also its configuration. When the "Mac server" shares drop from the finder and the MBL disappears from Bonjour, it's no longer possible to find the Dashboard using the server name, only by trying the iP address (which I'm sure sometimes changes). As the DNS server is part of the router function (isn't it?) that seems to point a finger.  And it's rebooting the router, not the Mac, that sets stuff straight for a little while.

I don't have the time or inclination to compose an email to my ISP today, but I plan to ask them about configuring the existing router as well as the possibility of a replacement. They should be able to find out what settings PlusNet send out as defaults. I also plan to direct them to this thread.