Time Machine backups to EX4100 fail over Ethernet: "Network Disk Disconnected"

My Cloud OS 5 Personal & Network Attached Storage My Cloud
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I’m unable to get my MacBook Air’s (Sequoia 15.0.1) Time Machine to work with my MyCloud EX4100 (firmware 5.29.102). I get a range of error messages as I work through my attempts, but the “final” one seems to be “Time Machine couldn’t complete the backup to <…>. The network disk disconnected from your Mac while backing up.”

For my tests, I’m using an Ethernet connection (from my Mac to my router to my EX4100, all over Ethernet cables). So the “disconnected” reason seems unlikely.

My steps on my EX4100 :

  1. Create a share on the EX4100
  2. Under “Settings,” enable Mac Backups, and “configure” the share’s upper limit – to 1.11 TB (which is well under the amount available on my EX4100, and more than my 250 GB Mac’s capacity) in my most recent attempt. (On the forums, someone said that picking a relatively small upper limit solved their problems…)
  3. Note: I’ve tried both having my share “Public,” and not, with read/write access enabled. Neither way works.

My steps on my MacBook Air.

  1. In Finder, log into the EX4100.
  2. Mount the share (via Go > Connect to Server > Select the volume you want to mount) .
  3. In Time Machine settings, create a new Time Machine entry for that share.

In response, TM first creates a sparse bundle with a GUID name, which then switches to <User’s> MacBook Air.sparsebundle. It goes for a little while, then stops, with the above error. (Generally the sparse bundle gets up to couple hundred MBs before it stops.)

One other peculiarity: Once created, I can’t figure out how to delete the sparse bundle. (I get an “it’s in use” error message.) And I’ve checked to make sure it’s not locked, and that I have read/write permissions. I’m good on both counts, but still can’t delete the file. I’ve also rebooted my MacBook to stop any potential lingering Time Machine processes. (During my attempts at troubleshooting, I fix this just by deleting and recreating the share.)

My intuition is that there’s some sort of locking or permission issue going on – but which I can’t see from the Finder’s “Get Info” panel.

Any advice?

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@ssickels You should try the sub-forum for your device. Use the link below.

Latest My Cloud OS 5 Personal & Network Attached Storage/My Cloud EX Series topics - WD Community

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Thanks! I just did. (Will ask the admin to delete my post here…)