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Forum Discussion
Can't get Time Machine to work with Nighthawk
Mac OS Mojave 10.14.3
Nighthawk(R) X4S R7800
Router Firmware Version
V1.0.2.62 (just updated)
V1.0.2.62 (just updated)
I bought a new 1TB Seagate SSD external HD. I formatted it according to the instructions lower on this page:
It's set to MacOS Journaled, and the partition is set to GUID Partition Table. I have it connected to my Nighthawk.
I can connect to it via SMB, copy files to it, etc., but I don't ever see an "admin" folder after I connect, but it says I'm connected as admin. It says the location is "readyshare", connected as admin, and then one folder called USB_Storage. I've even tried creating subfolders as shares through the router UI, which works fine, but it still does not show up for Time Machine.
When I go to Time Machine, I don't see any option to use this device, though I am connected it to it.
What is not set up right? Is there something in the router that needs to be set up for this device?
66 Replies
I purchased a Costco version of the 7900 series which is not listed in any Netgear documentation. Tech Support doesn't even recognize the model number. It's a Nighthawk X6S AC3600, R7960P-100NAS. Firmware automatically updated to V1.0.1.34_1.0.20 when I installed the router with the iPhone app. My external Segate 8TB Time Machine drive was working perfectly with a Time Capsule, but the wifi on the TC was poor, so I wanted to join the modern world and upgrade it. So far, I've spent close to five hours with Tech Support, who take over my computer with Team Viewer, they have no idea how to operate a Mac, and they faff around coming to the same conclusion that I could have told them in 30 seconds, there is a fundamental problem with how they mount the USB drive that is incompatible with Time Machine. This could be SMB, I can't get AFP to work. I tried SMB on Mojave 10.14.4 as well as an older workstation running Mountain Lion 10.8.5. The result is exactly the same, the drive mounts on the desktop but is not visible in the Time Machine menu of selectable drives. It is notable that ReadyShare renames the drive, that is a red flag AFAIC. I'm ready to give up and try another router.
Hi sonorelli,
I had the same issue at the beginning. The solution for me (with the Nighthawk X4S and MacBook Pro Mojave) was to:1) Activate "Admin Password Protection" for the MacShare option of the router
2) Set read and write permissions for the share only to "admin"
3) Connect to the share with the admin credentials (of the router)
After these changes the USB drive showed up in the time machine menu.
I hope this can help you or other fellows with the same problem further.
Best,
TixamasterRunning High Sierra with this router running Firmware V1.3.1.64_10.1.36.
I have a USB drive attached to the USB 3 port and can mount the volume via smb://readyshare/USB_Storage
Initially via Command-K (Connect to Server) I enter the admin credentials to log in to the R7000P. So far, so good. However, when I open Time Machine's preferences and click "Select Backup Disk..." first I am presented with the option to choose a disk and I click "USB_Storage. I click "Use Disk" and first get a dialog box saying, "You are attempting to connect to the server "R7000P." I click "connect" and get another login window. I choose "Registered User," enter my credentials to login to the server and it gets rejected as if either the Name or Password is wrong. I can't think of any other credentials that would work here other than the sames ones I used to log in in the first place.
I have changed the password a couple of times after reading on the NETGEAR forum about possible issues with characters, particularly the $ sign. I also shortened the password to see if that was an issue. Nothing has made any difference. I get to that same spot in the seteup and my credentials get rejected.
One other oddity to me is that if I click the shared volume in the Finder's sidebar it opens up with R7000P and readyshare which appear as folders. If i double-click "readyshare" it shows I am connected as admin. If I double-click R7000P it shows: "Connected as: Guest." If I click the "Connect as.." button it then shows as "Not Connected." If I back out of that window and then return it shows me as connected again. I cannot disconnect and cannot connect as admin. This strikes me very odd but perhaps it is expected behaviour. The same behaviour occurs when double-clicking readyshare. I click "Disconnect" it changes to "Not Connected" but if I back out and then return by double-clicking readyshare it shows me again connected as admin.
I have searched everywhere I can think of and tried random suggestions, obviously none of which worked.
I sure hope someone is following this thread and has suggestions because I am baffled by this and frustrated I cannot get Time Machine to work as advertised for this router.
I too am using a Seagate hard drive. I have tried everything I can find on the internet, including the instructions shown here. This is very frustrating! I can see the drives/partitions and add and delete data from them, but can't see them in Time Machine. Even if I could sign in as a "Registered User", I'm not convinced that would solve the problem. I don't understand why the techs at Netgear can't write clear instructions that work. Arrrrrgh!
Folks, NG has a list of tested and verified USB drives for routers. See https://kb.netgear.com/18985/Will-my-USB-drive-work-with-ReadySHARE.
Yes, there are probably many others that work, but are not on the list.
That said, I have never seen any drives larger that 5TB's reported as working. USB drives also have other requirements due to NG's FileSystem used in the router. One is it must be a single partition. Another is the load it places on the port, so generally some portable drives that derive power from the port might need more than available.I suggest testing with a 2TB or smaller drive to see if that will work.
As for the file system on the drive requirements, check here, https://kb.netgear.com/24059/What-are-the-USB-drive-requirements-for-my-Nighthawk-router.
Well, the final answer is that Nighthawk routers no longer support Time Machine. That's a pity, as TimeMachine support was why I purchased this router in the first place.
TomWolfe wrote:Well, the final answer is that Nighthawk routers no longer support Time Machine. That's a pity, as TimeMachine support was why I purchased this router in the first place.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Netgear. In their infinite wisdom they decided that folks wanted Armor over the services that were listed on the box/documents. In order to do that they had to remove features like yours. Bet you were really wanting/hoping you could get Armor! ;)
Now is not that nice? You bought this router for, in your case Time Machine. Now kiss that good by unless you want to stay on a back level of firmware and never get updates. Aren't you glad you bought Netgear? Firmware support IMHO is crap and has been.
Folks, we're mixing many routers in this thread. The Original one was for an R7800 it and the R7900 at least as of now, has not had that feature removed.
R7000, R8000, R7900P, and the R8000P all (I don't think there are more) have with the lastest f/w releases lost that feature and others as well. DLNA is gone too, but not documented in some f/w README's.
I had the same problem. Formatting WD Easyshare 10TB to just one partition NTFS with GUID worked (you can't find this from official documents)
t.
The newest firmware update as of 1/8/19 for my Nighthawk X6 R8000 is 1.0.4.46_10.1.63 and the release notes say that time machine is not supported. I use time machine daily so I called Netgear support and they said my time machine would not work if I updated the firmware. I decided not to upgrade it. I complained to tech support that time macine is so valuable for many mac users and it seemed rediculous that this option would be removed. They did not offer any work arounds so I'll keep this firm until the next router. See example below.
New firmware is found. Do you want to update the firmware? Current GUI Language Version: 1.0.4.28_2.1.49.1 New GUI Language Version: 1.0.4.46_2.1.49.1 Current Firmware Version 1.0.4.28 New Firmware Version 1.0.4.46_10.1.63 Release Notes: 1. [Warning] Note that starting with this firmware release (V1.0.4.46), the following features are no longer supported: iTunes Server, Kwilt Photosharing, DLNA, Time Machine Backup, TiVo support for media sharing, and the Downloader feature (which was in beta). If you want to continue using these features, do not update the firmware. 2. [New Features and Enhancements] Supports NETGEAR Armor 3. [New Features and Enhancements] Removes the following features: iTunes Server, Downloader, Time Machine, Kwilt, DLNA and TiVo 4. [New Features and Enhancements] Modifies the router web interface to support DDNS GDPR v3 5. [Security Fixes] This firmware fixes security issues. 6. [Bug Fixes] This firmware fixes stability issues that occurred under heavy loading. Yes, and the R8000 isn't the only router they've done it on. The assumption is they needed the RAM space to install Armour, which is a new money stream for them. They'd rather have that then care about what prior owners used the router for and with what features.
I really liked how they called this "[New Features and Enhancements] Removes the following features: iTunes Server, Downloader, Time Machine, Kwilt, DLNA and TiVo"! Removing something is a "new feature", I don't think so!
Also, not upgrading you will not get true New Features or Bug Fixes, not to mention Security Updates... some day you'll be forced to upgrade ot get a new router. I didn't wait and jumped ship.
NG's new motto should be "It is all about the money!".
An example of how much Netgear likes their customers. Remove the features that folks bought the router for. Don't even announce it. Just let them find it out the hard way by either reading the notes with the firmware or installing the firmware and finding out things are no longer available. What a way to NOT run a company.
I was never a fan of USB storage on a router from way back so I have had a NAS for years. Latest QNAP backs my MACbook up without issue and I have proven I can restore from it.
I realize this thread is a year old, but I was having the same issues. I finally figured out how to enable this, and since I couldn't find anywhere else that explained it, I figured I would do it here since I found this thread when looking for answers myself. I know the OP already did some of this, but I'm going to make it a step by step guide.
If you don't care about why we have to do it this way, you can skip to section 1. But basically, Time Machine looks for mounted drives in OSX, which happens automatically with AFP. Some netgear routers support AFP, but many do not. Lots of them, the C7000 included, only support the SMB protocol, which cannot be "mounted" by OSX. So, we're going to give OSX a way to mount an image ON the external drive, which we're connected to with SMB.
1. SETTING UP THE DRIVE
** WARNING **
This will erase all content on the drive. If it's already Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and GUID Partition mapped, you may be able to skip this section.
a. Plug the external drive directly into the computer.b. Launch "Disk Utilities" through spotlight or through Finder -> Applications -> Utilities.
c. You should see the external drive on the left side pane. It should have multi-levels, like you see in the OVAL in the screenshot attached. If it's only 1, click the "View" button (highlighted by the red ARROW in the screenshot attached) and select "Show All Devices"
d. Select the top level for the external drive, like in the OVAL in the screen shot attached, then click erase (SQUARE in the screen shot attached). Choose a name for your device, then select "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" for the format and "GUID Partition Map" for the Partition Map
e. Wait for that to finish. Depending on what's on the drive, this could be a few seconds, or take a little while.
f. DO NOT let Time Machine start backing up to this drive yet.
2. CREATING THE SPARSEBUNDLE
The sparsebundle is what OSX will mount and Time Machine will be able to back up to. A couple words of warning: This is going to take a looooong time. This step took roughly 12 hours for me on a 4TB drive.
a. First, figure out how much usable space you have that you want to devote to backups. This space will ONLY be available to backups, and can't be adjusted later. You have to have AT LEAST as much space available as your hard drive that you'll be backing up. I used 3.9TB and left 100GB free for file storage on my 4TB drive.
b. In Disk Utility, go File -> New Image -> Blank Image. Put "TimeMachine" or similar into the "Save as" and "Name". Click the down arrow all the way to the right of the "Where:" dropdown box - this will expand your selection - and choose your external drive. Put your size as what you determined in step 2A. GB = gigabytes, TB = terabytes. Format should be "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)", Encryption = "None", Partitions = "Single Partition - GUID Partition Map", Image Format = "read/write disk image"
c. Click "Save" and then go about your business. It's going to take a long time.
3. TIME MACHINE SETUP
a. Now that that's completed, find and double click on the .dmg file it created on your external drive. You should see this "mount" on your sidebar in Finder.
b. Open Terminal, either through spotlight, or through Finder -> Applications -> Utilities.
c. Type in `sudo tmutil setdestination /Volumes/TimeMachine/` (without the ticks) and enter your password. **NOTE! If you named your image something other than "TimeMachine", you should enter that instead of "TimeMachine" like in this example.** That will tell Time Machine that even though it did not recognize the disk image as something it could write to, it definitely is.
d. Open up Time Machine preferences, and you should now see your "TimeMachine" (or whatever you called it) drive listed! Success! But don't let it go to your head. There's still more steps below.
e. While not explicitly needed, it's always faster to do your first backup while you're physically connected to the drive. So start your first backup now, if you like.
f. Once you're ready to attach your Time Machine disk to the router, click the "eject" button next to the external drive and the "Time Machine" disk image. Both should be on the sidebar in Finder.
4. ROUTER SETUP
a. Plug the USB drive into the router.
b. Log in to the router (Mine is http://192.168.0.1, but yours may be different), then click the "Advanced" tab, and click "Reboot" under the Cable Information box. In different versions of the software, the reboot button may be located somewhere else, but that's where it is in v1.03.01 on my C7000v2.
c. Once rebooted, you should see the drive listed in the "Basic" tab, under "ReadySHARE", in the "Available Network Folders"
5. MAC SETUP (aka RETURN OF THE MAC)
a. Open up Finder, then, from the menu bar, choose Go -> Connect to Server.
b. Enter in "smb://readyshare". (If you changed the name of your Network/Device Name, use that instead of readyshare)
c. You may need to login, but use your router username and password (ex. "admin" and whatever password you used to login to the router in step 4).
d. It may prompt you to select which drive to mount. You will probably see 2: Something like T_Drive and USB_Storage. I don't think it makes a difference, but select the T_Drive (or similar) and click "Ok"
e. You should now see your "readyshare" external drive on the sidebar in Finder. Click on that, then "T_Drive" (or similar), and you should see your "TimeMachine.dmg" or whatever you named it. Double click to mount.
f. Go into to Time Machine settings on your mac and it should already be selected, but you can click "Back up now" and it should start backing up to the external drive! You've done it!
g. The last step is setting up the Drive to automatically mount on startup. To do this, go to Apple Button -> System Preferences -> Users and Groups -> your user name. Click the "Login Items" tab, then the "+" button at the bottom of the pane. Choose your "TimeMachine" mount on the sidebar and click "Add". It should now have a Time Machine icon and say it's a "Volume". Sweet!
h. Weep softly
Hope that helps!
This method works perfectly on my Nighthawk R7900P. Thank you for posting it!
Oh so close. Your detailed instructions are great. But when I try to backup with the HD connected to the router, I get a Time Machine failure "don't have required permissions" to write to the disk. I can't change the permissions to Read&Write. Any way around this? Thanks again.
Does it work when it's connected directly? Was it a clean drive beforehand and you formatted it during this process?
I completed all steps through 5.a. For me, the only way I can access the two USB hard disks plugged into the router is to go to the Finder, choose "Connect to Server..." (which is command-K), type "smb://routerlogin.net", enter my username and password, and then click the disks to mount them. One disk has the TimeMachine.dmg on it. When I double-click this to open it, I get an error: "The following disk images couldn't be opened", and it lists TimeMachine.dmg and reason is "Input/output error". I've tried to open TimeMachine.dmg via Disk Utility, verifying it there, but neither will work.
Oh, and I've spent about 90 minutes on hold and getting transferred and hung up on when I've called Netgear several times over the past three days. The four people with whom I spoke each told me they needed to get me to the next specialist who could handle my issue. Some of them didn't know what Time Machine was.
Any help will be seriously appreciated.
Can you read/write the drive when it's plugged directly into your computer?
Hi all. Thank you for all of the information you've posted. My issue with Time Machine is that the router-connected drive does not automount when my mac connects to the router's wifi signal. While I haven't tried most of the steps recommended (as I was somehow already able to manually mount and start a backup to the drive), I'm stuck on step 5.
For starters, while I was able to connect to smb://readyshare through the finder "Go" menu the other day, I get an error now:
There was a problem connecting to the server “readyshare”.
The server may not exist or it is unavailable at this time. Check the server name or IP address, check your network connection, and then try again.
I am able to connect to afp://routerlogin.net (manually), but not with my credentials. I've tried every combination of username and password I can think of. admin/<passoword I set on the router> definitely does not work, even though it does work when logging into the admin panel at http://http://www.routerlogin.net/.
I am able to connect as a Guest and start the backup. The main issue I'm having is the automount. Even before reading this thread, I performed step 5g. However, after a disconnect and reconnect to the network, the window for that step shows two yellow triangles (can't figure out how to insert a screenshot here) next to the drives I want to automount on login. The help menu for that preferences panel states:
If you see a yellow triangle next to an item, the item won’t open automatically because it was moved or deleted.
I have to return to the Finder and again mount the drives through afp://routerlogin.net as a Guest.
Another oddity is that, when I first mount the drive, Finder tabs for both USB_Storage and T_Drive (which is a separate partition on the external HDD) automatically pop up, but they don't show up in the left pane of the finder window. All that does show up is a "Location" object called R7000P, which I assume is my router as that's the router's model number. When I click that object, the finder window shows no files, only a message "Connection Failed" on the top left and a "Connect As..." button on the top right. If I click that button, the two drives immediatly unmount and there is no prompt to log in again. I have to again go to the Finder -> Go -> Connect to Server... menu and again log in and mount the drives through afp://routerlogin.net as a Guest. This is driving me absolutely batty!! (FWIW, after remounting, when the finder tabs open for the partitions, I am able to do a Get Info on each one, and they show "Server: afp://routerlogin.net/USB_Storage" and "Server: afp://routerlogin.net/T_Drive" respectively.)
Any ideas would be very much appreciated. I tried tech support 2 days ago when the router spontaneously rebooted and wiped the logs during a video conference call, and after more than an hour of waiting, the support person concluded the router lost power due to inclimate weather. The skies were blue and clear. The sun was shining. The birds were chirping. And no other electronic device in my apartment--including ones connected to the same power strip--suffered any loss of power. In short, there's no way in helll I'm going through that again.
Firmware Version
V1.3.1.64_10.1.36macOS Catalina 10.15.5
I made it all to way to the "TM is backing up, estimated time remaining: " stage! Unfortunately, the NAS unmounts about 3 min into the TM backup. I've tested large files transers outside of TM and those work fine, but for some reason it won't complete a TM backup. Very annoying. I've followed all the steps outlined above (creating sparsebundle .dmg, smb://myIP, etc. etc.). Has anyone encountered this issue and developed a solution? I've searched the forum exhaustively and cannot figure out my TM is unmounting from the network during backup... note that when it unmounts, it is not just the .dmg, but the entire NAS drive, requiring me to re-connect (it won't auto reconnect).
Router: Netgear R7960P (Costco)
NAS drive: Seagate backup+ formatted as Mac OS Extended Journaled
Computer: 2019 16" MBP running OS Catalina
Operator: Frustrated human
Hi Guys, I finally made it for my Mac to backup anywhere.
I used part of this guide to create a sparsebundle. Then I have put the sparsebundle (remember, it must be formatted the same as the main drive, preferring cryptography if FileVault is on, and choosing a max size). Copy the sparsebundle in any read/write folder on the network drive. Now you can force set the sparsebundle on Terminal. First mount it opening it, and then digit this command on Terminal:
sudo tmutil setdestination /Volumes/VolumeName
Where VolumeName should be eth0MACaddress_hostname.
Now Time Machine is forced to backup on that sparsebundle.
Keep a relyiable link between the Mac and the router or it will get easily get disconnected, LAN is advised for first backup.
Well, all of you missing one step.
This must happen when your mac detects your storage meant to be used as a Time Machine backup in the left panel of Finder window.
To enter into Safari the address of afp://routerlogin.net
The access must be as admin. The admin privileges are the same as for your router admin/password.
Anyway, here is the link where is clearly described how-to:
