Time Capsule USB Port Uses...

birdwellccbirdwellcc
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I have placed an order for a new MacBook Air with the USB Super Drive add on, as well as a new 1TB Time Capsule. My question is, does anyone think I would be able to connect the USB Super Drive to the USB port on the Time Capsule, and have it show up as a wireless device, that I could access directly through the Finder to install software etc. on the machine?



I know you can connect a USB printer or external hard drive / thumb drive to the USB port on the Time Capsule and access them through the Finder.



If this is possible, it would make accessing CD's / DVD's etc. very easy, without having to connect the Super Drive directly to the MacBook Air, or having to install the bundled software that comes with the Super Drive on another Mac or PC, to allow access to the other machine's optical drive for installing software and such onto the MacBook Air.



Hope this makes sense, anyone's knowledge on this would be helpful.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 19
    iammacuseriammacuser Posts: 77member
    It would make sense to do this and would suprise me if it worked out of the box however if not im sure it would be available in an eventual software update to the time capsule.
  • Reply 2 of 19
    tontontonton Posts: 14,067
    It would make total sense to do this and it would be pretty sweet. Let's hope it works or works soon. Of course let's also hope the USB Superdrive is available as a stand-alone product, and is compatible with all computers, not just the Air.
  • Reply 3 of 19
    nofeernofeer Posts: 2,427member
    this is on many minds to allow expansion, unless apple has something they are not telling us.

    but i would think macworld will do a full evaluation to include this. i would hope that apple has some cool design hd's that can be "stackable" to continue the look. which i would be for. now if apple makes it that only their HD can be added is my big question. but easy expandability must be addressed in this ever growing digital need world.



    i still would like an apple home server to keep everything stored, accessible to all "home" units and connected to layered backup



    this is not a home server, i will still have photos video, music on 3-4 machines......that's not the apple way.....we need a clean home hub.



    is time capsule only available with leopard or will tiger work
  • Reply 4 of 19
    iammacuseriammacuser Posts: 77member
    tiger will work but not with time machine functions, it will still function as an airdisk
  • Reply 5 of 19
    nofeernofeer Posts: 2,427member
    is timecapsule "bootable" or do we still need a firewire backup for this purpose
  • Reply 6 of 19
    iammacuseriammacuser Posts: 77member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NOFEER View Post


    is timecapsule "bootable" or do we still need a firewire backup for this purpose



    I don't remember airdisk ever being bootable.
  • Reply 7 of 19
    datamodeldatamodel Posts: 126member
    Sharing the superdrive will only work if the AEBS/TC understands the various optical filesystems (ISO9660, UDF) - if not, it won't be able to mount them. I don't think the wireless points run on OSX yet, so they may well not.



    Cheers,



    Martin.
  • Reply 8 of 19
    birdwellccbirdwellcc Posts: 27member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NOFEER View Post


    is timecapsule "bootable" or do we still need a firewire backup for this purpose



    I don't think Time Machine is bootable, but I believe you can boot from the system DVD and use your Time Machine files as the source to restore your system. Kind of like reimagining it with your last backup, assuming you had a hard drive failure etc. Haven't tried it myself though.
  • Reply 9 of 19
    brunobruinbrunobruin Posts: 552member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by birdwellcc View Post


    I don't think Time Machine is bootable, but I believe you can boot from the system DVD and use your Time Machine files as the source to restore your system.



    Indeed you can. I had a hard drive failure and after installing Leopard on a new drive, Setup Assistant asked if I wanted to transfer the information from my Time Machine backup.

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tonton View Post


    Of course let's also hope the USB Superdrive is available as a stand-alone product, and is compatible with all computers, not just the Air.



    You can buy it as a standalone. But I can't imagine why it would not work with any computer; I mean, what could Apple have done to it so it wouldn't work with a USB port unless it was on an Air?
  • Reply 10 of 19
    tulkastulkas Posts: 3,757member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NOFEER View Post


    is timecapsule "bootable" or do we still need a firewire backup for this purpose



    I was wondering about this myself. Given that MBA has no Firewire port, how does one boot off of a restore disk....assuming you don't also have the USB DVD drive.
  • Reply 11 of 19
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Intel Macs can boot off of USB2.
  • Reply 12 of 19
    tontontonton Posts: 14,067
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BrunoBruin View Post


    You can buy it as a standalone. But I can't imagine why it would not work with any computer; I mean, what could Apple have done to it so it wouldn't work with a USB port unless it was on an Air?



    Well, apparently, they did something. It is available as a stand-alone product, for $99, which is a fantastic price.



    But it is only compatible with MacBook Air according to the system requirements as published by Apple. I guess we'll just have to wait and see until someone has one of these to work with.
  • Reply 13 of 19
    turkeytakenturkeytaken Posts: 4member
    Also, If your hard disk packs up you can use your Time Machine Disk to Restore your mac from the Leopard DVD, Can you do that with Time Capsule?
  • Reply 14 of 19
    birdwellccbirdwellcc Posts: 27member
    Yes, at this time we believe this is possible. You would boot off the Installer CD, and than restore your computer from the source of the Time Machine files, i.e. your external hard drive etc.



    However, you cannot use your internal disc, that Mac OS boots off to restore the OS, as you can restore and install the OS onto the same hard drive at the same time.
  • Reply 15 of 19
    datamodeldatamodel Posts: 126member
    I just did this from a USB disk and the options are there to look for a TM disk on the Wifi network. I did an erase and install, and after that, at the point where you get the option to copy from a target disk, you can also restore from a TM disk.



    I believe the MBA page says it can boot from remote disks for installation. i.e. put the disk in your desktop with the "Remote Disk" software and the MBA boot process can find it. Damned cunning if you ask me.



    http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?...80118143319155
  • Reply 16 of 19
    birdwellccbirdwellcc Posts: 27member
    Yes, it would have to work this way, because if not, you would never be able to do a format and install.
  • Reply 17 of 19
    terwalterwal Posts: 6member
    Time Capsule as an external HD ?



    Might be an obvious question, but not to me: can Time Capsule be also used as an external hard drive (i.e. not only as a back up appliance for Time Machine) ?



    Thanks for any clarification on this...



    W.
  • Reply 18 of 19
    john.bjohn.b Posts: 2,742member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Terwal View Post


    Time Capsule as an external HD ?



    Might be an obvious question, but not to me: can Time Capsule be also used as an external hard drive (i.e. not only as a back up appliance for Time Machine) ?



    From the Time Capsule page on Apple.com:



    "Time Capsule with Time Machine in Leopard is the ideal backup solution. But that doesn’t mean Tiger, Windows XP, and Windows Vista users can’t enjoy the benefits of Time Capsule, too. Because it mounts as a wireless hard drive, Tiger and Windows users simply access Time Capsule directly from the wireless network for exchanging and storing files quickly and easily."
  • Reply 19 of 19
    terwalterwal Posts: 6member
    Clear. Thanks John.
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