Using Time Machine with an Airport Extreme AirDisk

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A USB drive connected to a recent dual-band Airport Extreme may work as a destination for Time Machine backups, but it’s not recommended.

This works well for some, not so well for others, and not at all for still others.  Even when it appears to be working well for days, weeks, or even months, suddenly the backups may become corrupted. Sometimes Disk Utility can repair them, sometimes the 3rd-party app Disk Warrior can, but other times they're useless.  Then you must erase them and start over!

And it's not supported by Apple.  See the second paragraph in  OS X Lion: Disks you can use with Time Machine.   Help for all versions of OSX that support Time Machine is the same.

If there's trouble with this setup, you won't get much, if any, help from Apple.

There are other ways to back up with Time Machine.  See Time Machine FAQ #2.

However, the Online Apple Store page on Airport Extreme does not even hint at this, and some Apple Store employees have told customers it will work.

If you decide to take the risk, you'd be well advised to have other backups; don't depend on these 100%.   See Time Machine FAQ #27 for suggestions.

Most Time Machine questions & problems are not unique to using a USB drive on an Airport. For those, or if you don't find what you need here, try one of these:

                Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions

                Time Machine - Troubleshooting


Contents

QUESTIONS:

    Q1.  Can I use the Air Disk(s) for Time Machine backups AND other data?

    Q2.  How do I set up Time Machine to back up to an AirDisk on my Airport Extreme?

    Q3.  How do I delete backups?

    Q4.  How do I back-up the AirDisk connected to my Airport?


    If you don't see your question here, try Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions.

PROBLEMS:

  1. If you’ve forgotten your Airport Extreme password, or it’s not responding as expected, see this Apple Support article:  Resetting an AirPort Base Station or Time Capsule FAQ.

    P1.  "The Backup disk image could not be created."

    P2.  "Time Machine could not complete  . . . sparsebundle could not be accessed. (Error 109)."

    P3.  " . . . Time Machine must create a new backup for you."

    P4.  "Backup volume could not be mounted."


    If you don't see your problem here, try Time Machine - Troubleshooting.