I have been using the Nighthawk RAX200 router for slightly more than a year now. I had attached a Western Digital 2TB USB drive to the USB port of the RAX200 for use in Time Machine back ups to my iMac and Macbook Pro. It worked fine until the end of April, but now Time Machine cannot recognize that any router-attached USB drive exists. I am still able to access the router-attached USB drives via Finder, but Time Machine cannot. Also, Time Machine will recognize the USB drive when I attach them directly to the iMac or Macbook, but not when they are attached to the RAX200. This only started happening after the end of April. Has anyone else faced this problem? Any suggestions for troubleshooting? Thank you.

The firmware I'm running is V1.0.6.138_1.0.76. I haven't tried a factory reset or firmware downgrade yet as I'm in the beginning stages of troubleshooting.

Thanks. I just checked the firmware releases for the RAX200 and the last one was released on April 22. My Time Machine stopped working on April 23 (date of last back-up). I think we can conclude it is somehow related to the latest firmware. I will first try a factory reset with the current firmware and if that doesn't work, downgrade to the previous version and see what happens. I'll leave another post here with those results soon.

Good news, bad news. The good news is that I am now able to use Time Machine again. The bad news is that it will only work under the previous firmware version issues in September, 2021. The latest version released on April 22, 2022 has removed the recognition of the AFP path that is necessary for Time Machine to recognize that a drive is present. So for all you Mac users out there who want to use the two USB 3.0 ports on the RAX200 to back up your iMac or Macbook using Time Machine, you'll have to downgrade to V1.0.5.132_1.0.69 and forever keep to that version. Then you can use the path "afp://RAX200._afpovertp._tcp.local" to connect to the server. After that, Time Machine will recognize all USB drives connected to the RAX200 router. Unfortunately, you cannot get any important security updates after that. For me. the risk of data loss is the greater of two evils. Like quite a few other frustrated Mac users who have commented here, I just don't understand how Netgear can issue an "upgraded" firmware that removes critical functionality. Does anyone check? Or maybe there just isn't enough of us to matter. In any case, I won't forget this when the time comes to upgrade to a new router. And you can bet it won't be a Netgear product. Thank you Plemans (especially) for pointing me in the right direction during the troubleshooting. At least now I can use Apple's back-up system.

What firmware version are you on? there was a change around that time. did you try a factory reset or downgrading the firmware?

FYI, the former path that was recognized by Time Machine was: "afp://RAX200._afpovertcp._tcp.local"This no longer works. I tried "smb://readyshare" which allows the USB drives to be recognized by Finder, but Time Machine does not. Is there another path name that would allow Time Machine to be recognized? Any other settings I can adjust in the router? I really don't want to reset or downgrade the firmware unless I can be assured that it works.

Time Machine does not recognize USB drives connected to RAX200

11 Replies

plemans
Guru
May 15, 2022
What firmware version are you on? there was a change around that time.

did you try a factory reset or downgrading the firmware?
- stanfrench
  Luminary
  May 15, 2022
  The firmware I'm running is V1.0.6.138_1.0.76. I haven't tried a factory reset or firmware downgrade yet as I'm in the beginning stages of troubleshooting.
  - stanfrench
    Luminary
    May 15, 2022
    FYI, the former path that was recognized by Time Machine was: "afp://RAX200._afpovertcp._tcp.local"
    This no longer works. I tried "smb://readyshare" which allows the USB drives to be recognized by Finder, but Time Machine does not.
    
    Is there another path name that would allow Time Machine to be recognized? Any other settings I can adjust in the router? I really don't want to reset or downgrade the firmware unless I can be assured that it works.

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Time Machine does not recognize USB drives connected to RAX200