Problem to connect to Time Machine

[Gonzalez49]

I have recently bought a new MacBook Pro 15 to replace an earlier model where the graphics card had done a wobbly. All is well, I have managed to do all the transfer stuff, but sadly, I am unable to connect to my Time Machine which has been faithfully backing up my (old) MacBook since 2012.

Is the Time Capsule that I bought in 2012 too old to connect to my brand new spanking 2017 MacBook Pro 15?

I am happy to erase what is on the Time Capsule and start again.

Any ideas out there, folks? Grateful for some help!

Gonzalez49

 

[honestone]

Unless the drive mechanism inside the Time Capsule has gone bad, it should still work fine with your new machine.

When you plug the Time Machine Capsule to your Mac, can you see it on the desktop? If nothing, maybe try a different cable and/or a different port on the Time Capsule (if it has multiple ports; sorry, I've never used one).

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

What Mac OS version did you run on the older Mac & do you have High Sierra on the new MBP?

I ask because I have 2 Macs, the first runs 10.4.6 & the 2nd runs 10.12.6 and 10.12.6 cannot communicate with 10.4.6 so if I have a Time Machine drive running Lion I cannot boot it up from Sierra. I wonder if this may be what is happening in your case?

 

[Gonzalez49]

Unless the drive mechanism inside the Time Capsule has gone bad, it should still work fine with your new machine.

When you plug the Time Machine Capsule to your Mac, can you see it on the desktop? If nothing, maybe try a different cable and/or a different port on the Time Capsule (if it has multiple ports; sorry, I've never used one).

Hi,
The Time Machine Capsule is linked by wi-fi to the computer. I can see it in Finder, and also the little icon is in the task bar at the top of screen. When I click on the icon it tells me (with grey text) that Time Machine is not configured. If I click on "Enter Time Machine" I just get the current Desktop screen in Finder with no history. I am wondering whether the post below discussing different OS versions might explain matters.

 

[Gonzalez49]

What Mac OS version did you run on the older Mac & do you have High Sierra on the new MBP?

I ask because I have 2 Macs, the first runs 10.4.6 & the 2nd runs 10.12.6 and 10.12.6 cannot communicate with 10.4.6 so if I have a Time Machine drive running Lion I cannot boot it up from Sierra. I wonder if this may be what is happening in your case?

I am running HighSierra on the new machine, with El Capitan on the old one. In the menu bar at the top of the screen I have the little Time Capsule logo, and if I click on it it tells me in grey text that the Time Machiner is not configured. If I go into Time Machine Preferences and click on Select Back-up Disk I have an icon for Data and a second icon for Other Airport Time Capsule. If I click on Data, I am unable to connect after I enter the password. If I click on Other Airport Time Capsule it starts the set-up process but tells me that the Device is not Found. It also says that "John's Time Machine was previously part of your network. Check that it is still in range of the network and plugged into a power outlet. Forgetting this device will remove it from the network." There is a Forget button, but I have not dared click that! I should perhaps add that the Time Capsule was full when it worked on the other machine, deleting old backups as it processed new backups.