Give Us One Minute

{Update: Everyone should be aware that this issue has been resolved now that Apple has finally updated their AirPort firmware and OS X 10 to support backups to AP over WiFi. That should save a few of you some reading and tinkering around time. - the management}

With all the hub-bub about the new Time Capsule NAS device from Apple and the lack of current AirPort Extreme owners not being able to use this feature (currently that’s the case, but I’m betting that will change in a soon to be released update) I noticed something very peculiar yesterday. My MacBook Pro began using Time Machine to back up my data to the USB drive I had attached to my AirPort extreme. And I have NO idea why it began to do so. It’s very strange indeed.

Most recent update to this blog post = {Date: 2008-01-26 16:47:28}

Here’s what I know and what I did. First off, I’m using Leopard Version 10.5.1. I had physically connected the USB drive to my MacBook Pro previously and set up Time Machine on my MacBook Pro to use this drive as the Time Machine drive. I completed one full backup to the USB connected drive and had not performed another back up (it was kind of a pain in the neck quite honestly). A week ago, I connected the drive to my AirPort Extreme to use a a file sharing point. Yesterday I connected to the USB drive by selecting my AirPort Extreme from my Shared listing in Finder and entering my password. I logged in and all the sudden Time Machine prepared my data for a backup and then performed the backup. It’s been working ever since. Below is a copy of my File Sharing options on the AirPort just in case this should shed some light on the subject.

I thought this wasn’t supposed to work? Anyone else been able to duplicate this? If so, leave your comments and let us know.

{Update: 2008-01-22 18:51:41 }Time Machine just completed it’s first full back up over WiFi. The next backup is scheduled for about an hour from now. I’ll keep an eye on it.
{Update: 2008-01-22 20:51:59}Yep…still backing up files!
{Update: 2008-01-26 16:43:05}After a few days of syncing, here’s what I’ve found. While Time Machine is syncing my files and there are several daily “sparse” files (daily incremental changes) none of them appear when activating Time Machine to restore a file. I only see the current day’s back up files, not previous dates. Drat! At least backups are being created. The next test is to reconnect the USB drive directly to the MacBook Pro and see if the daily changes then appear. I’ll keep updating this blog post to let you know.

Tags: apple, time machine, airport