Well, it finally happened.
After a pretty solid 5-year run, my 2008-era 1st-gen Time Capsule has apparently bit the dust. It's deceased. An ex-Capsule.
And unlike the last time, I'm not sure if I want to repair it. But let's consider the options.
You may recall that this isn't the first time our Time Capsule has had an issue - a few years ago, the hard drive died.
But that was an opportunity to do something better! We took out the old 500GB drive, and replaced it with a brand new, low-speed, cool running 1TB drive. Problem solved!
For a few years, anyway. Eventually, the Capsule succumbed to what appears to be a very common malady - it won't power up anymore.
Apparently, there was an issue with some of the internal components - specifically, some bad capacitors. Over time, they overheat and blow out.
Some users in the Apple Forums had this issue after 18 months. I got 5 years. I was lucky!
But I'm not really seeing the advantage of repairing a 5 year old piece of tech. I'm not that great with a soldering iron, and the repair will be subject to a similar risk of overheating.
Besides, our home wifi is already being handled by an Fourth Generation AirPort Extreme (A1354), which is better than the Capsule.
And, apparently, backup duties could be handled by something better than a Time Capsule, too. Something with redundant storage. Something.... bigger.
That said, my Time Capsule still has some value. Not on eBay - dead Time Capsules are virtually worthless there.
I'm referring to the 1 TB hard drive that's trapped inside. It has a full Time Machine backup on it -- and it should continue working as a Time Machine disk if I connect it to the iMac directly. (And eventually, it will move into one of 4 bays in the Synology Home Server we're going to be installing!)
Looks like I'll be opening up the Capsule one last time, pulling the HD, and heading off to Fry's for an external HD enclosure after work today.
I'll update this post tonight when the swap is complete.
(And, I suppose, I'll be posting the Time Capsule on eBay with no drive, and its original box and manuals, for 25 cents or so. May as well let some Apple Completist get the 1st Gen Time Capsule box they've been searching for.)
After a pretty solid 5-year run, my 2008-era 1st-gen Time Capsule has apparently bit the dust. It's deceased. An ex-Capsule.
And unlike the last time, I'm not sure if I want to repair it. But let's consider the options.
You may recall that this isn't the first time our Time Capsule has had an issue - a few years ago, the hard drive died.
But that was an opportunity to do something better! We took out the old 500GB drive, and replaced it with a brand new, low-speed, cool running 1TB drive. Problem solved!
For a few years, anyway. Eventually, the Capsule succumbed to what appears to be a very common malady - it won't power up anymore.
Apparently, there was an issue with some of the internal components - specifically, some bad capacitors. Over time, they overheat and blow out.
Some users in the Apple Forums had this issue after 18 months. I got 5 years. I was lucky!
But I'm not really seeing the advantage of repairing a 5 year old piece of tech. I'm not that great with a soldering iron, and the repair will be subject to a similar risk of overheating.
Besides, our home wifi is already being handled by an Fourth Generation AirPort Extreme (A1354), which is better than the Capsule.
And, apparently, backup duties could be handled by something better than a Time Capsule, too. Something with redundant storage. Something.... bigger.
That said, my Time Capsule still has some value. Not on eBay - dead Time Capsules are virtually worthless there.
I'm referring to the 1 TB hard drive that's trapped inside. It has a full Time Machine backup on it -- and it should continue working as a Time Machine disk if I connect it to the iMac directly. (And eventually, it will move into one of 4 bays in the Synology Home Server we're going to be installing!)
Looks like I'll be opening up the Capsule one last time, pulling the HD, and heading off to Fry's for an external HD enclosure after work today.
I'll update this post tonight when the swap is complete.
(And, I suppose, I'll be posting the Time Capsule on eBay with no drive, and its original box and manuals, for 25 cents or so. May as well let some Apple Completist get the 1st Gen Time Capsule box they've been searching for.)
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