I have an Apple Time Capsule running firmware v7.8.1. I have automatic updates switched on and that's the latest that it has installed although there is, i believe, a v7.9.1 out there. i am assuming that my TC version won't accept the latest firmware.
You have not indicated if your Time Capsule is first, second, third, or fourth generation model, but the latest firmware version is 7.9.1 (although I doubt the is the source of your problem).
However, Time Machine and Airport Utility keep losing sight of it even when I can still use it as a wifi access point. Time Machine says the back up device isn't configured and Airport Utility cannot see it at all.
- Is this true on both of your iMacs?
- When it is in a "down" mode can you see the Time Capsule using Airport Utility on your iPad?
- When you say "I can still use it as a wifi access point" am I correct in assuming you mean you still have a connection to the internet as well as your local area network?
The green light on the front of the Time Capsule remains a steady green and my Airport Utility > Preferences > Monitor Airport base stations for problems is ticked, as are the two sub-options of Only monitor Airport base stations that I have configured and Monitor Airport base stations over the internet using Bonjour.
The green light indicates the Time Capsule has power and is connected to the internet,
To be frank, i'm not fully sure what these last two do, but the description says that if an error is detected then Airport Utility will open automatically as a warning.
it never has.
..and as far as I know it never will, however if you launch Airport Utility, it will display an error banner on the Time Capsule icon in the Airport Utility display. (By-the-way, you can switch the second option off.)
Is my Time capsule failing? Is there something that I can do to stop the amazing partial disappearance trick? Am I being [more] stupid [than usual] and overlooking the bleeding obvious?
- I don't know if you time Capsule is failing or not. 👋
- IIRC from a few years back it is my understanding that the most common Time Capsule failure is losing its ability to create a WiFi network. Obviously this is not the case here. ðŸ‘
- The first and second generation Time Capsules were based on the draft 802.11n specification and although the differences were generally minor it does occur to me that might create issues with the latest MacOS/iPadOS updates. That is not something you have control over or can change. 👎
- There is a wildcard in the deck — environmental change. I am not referring to the too rapid meting of the polar ice caps rather to the possibility of local interference on your WiFi band that may be blocking the WiFi channel. Utilities like WiFi Explorer Lite will scan the signals in your environment and show all of the active WiFi signals, their channel assignments and signal strengths. Using something like that as a guide, you might try changing channel assignments or switching your computer from the 2.4GHz to the 5GHz band or vice-versa and see if that solves the issue. 🤞
- …or it just may be your Time Capsule is getting wonky and may have to be replaced. 🤬
