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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)
I bought a new 1TB Seagate SSD external HD. I formatted it according to the instructions low...
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?
After playing around with this for a little bit, I was able to get the attached error message (which I think is the one you're reporting) by trying to connect to "smb://readyshare/T_Drive" and then mounting the .dmg file. It is fixed by ejecting both the "TimeMachine" and "readyshare" mounts from the sidebar in Finder. Next, still in Finder, go to the menu bar and choose Go -> Connect to Server and typing in only "smb://readyshare". It pops up with a message box and I choose "T_Drive" (USB_Storage is also available but unselected) and then clicking Ok and mounting the .dmg file. It would then work correctly.
Note - as always, if you changed any of the names for the ready share or anything you will have to change them in the examples above.
Hope that helps!
wkuchrisn, I tried your fix, but Time Machine still can't write to the mounted dmg that contains the initial backup. Nothing I do changes the permissions on the mounted T_Drive disk. Just for fun, I connected the HD back up to the laptop with the USB cable to see if I could do an incremental backup, and I now can't get Time Machine to recognize the mounted dmg. It recognizes the HD that contains the dmg, which has a small amount of free space, but it dooesn't recognize the 3.5TB dmg. I am really stuck. Is there anything else to try? I don't really want to go back to the beginning to recreate the dmg again. I am ready to toss this router and get one that works with TimeMachine.
Try going to system preferences/security & privacy/privacy, select Full Disk Access from the left pain, and add Terminal in the right pain. With the drive connected to your computer dirrectly via USB, re-run the command from wkuchrisn's instructions.
Other option is to get a standalone NAS. Routers were meant to route. IMHO things like you are trying to get done is like an ugly wort on a pretty face. I decided long ago to not subject myself to the pain and suffering of getting disk sharing working on a router. With my NAS my MAC is backed up without even worrying about it and since the NAS has mirrored drives I can lose one and not lose my info unlike when using the USB drive function on a router.
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?
Yes, I can read/write the drive when it's plugged into my computer. And last night I did the first Time Machine backup with the drive plugged into my computer.
This is one the most amazing posts I have seen. It works PERFECTLY. Take you time and you can do it.
One Q: Does this solve the "identity has changed" problem that has plagued TimeMachine.
Still weeping softly.
I followed all the instructions, and the backups worked when directly connected to the drive, but once I connect it to the router it starts preparing the back up and then I get the following error... "backup disk not available. Try backing up again when TimeMachine" is available." I can see the drive connected through the finder.
I'm on an RAX45 (costco) and have firmware V1.0.2.72_2.0.45
Hi, don't use manual it's completely wrong. Use afp://routerlogin.net and all will be OK.
rsneddis wrote:I followed all the instructions, and the backups worked when directly connected to the drive, but once I connect it to the router it starts preparing the back up and then I get the following error... "backup disk not available. Try backing up again when TimeMachine" is available." I can see the drive connected through the finder.
I'm on an RAX45 (costco) and have firmware V1.0.2.72_2.0.45
where do I use the afp?
Thank you so much for taking the time and trouble to write those thorough and detailed instructions! This worked for me on a Nighthawk R7900P with a Seagate external USB hub.
The soft weeping is for joy.
Worked like a charm, you are brilliant !!!!
