Airport Extreme Base Station Losing Connection To USB Hard Drive.

I bought a new 5th gen AEBS and installed it yesterday updating the firmware to latest version and enabling the 300mbps 5GHz access point.
I formatted a 2.5" USB hard drive to Mac OS Journaled and connected it via USB.
Last night I transferred GBs of data with no problems. However I copied my iTunes media over night, and this morning it stated that it lost connection to the drive.
I since cannot connect to the drive again without disconnecting the USB drive and reconnecting it.
This seems to be a common problem with no evident fixes. Has anyone got a reliable connection out of this device?
I was using a MacBook Pro 2010 on SL.
If not then I suppose I might send this back and get a dedicated NAS.

I just found this thread - I am not sure the energy saver option will apply to non 'local' hard drives, i.e. the hard drive connected to the AEBS.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3616812

Similar Messages

Airport Extreme Base Station Internet Connection issue

I have a connection question for Airport Extreme Base Station.
I have Comcast cable broadband. I connect that to a Linksys router for
use with my Vonage phone, and then from the Linksys router I connect
via Ethernet to my iMac. I like the direct Ethernet connection for
performance reasons.
In order to set up a home network to connect my Tivo's (and eventually
my PC and printer), I have set up an Airport Extreme Base station and
connected it to the Linksys router from it's ethernet connection to the
WAN (cable modem) input on the Extreme.
I have connected to the Airport network with my iMac, but since I am
connected to the Internet via Ethernet, I cannot tell if my Airport is
connected to the Internet so that I can use it for my Tivo. My PC is
still in storage from a move, so I can't check with that.
My question: How can I tell if my Airport is connected to the Internet
without disabling my Ethernet connection on my iMac?
A few more info points/questions in case it helps answer:
1) I previously used this Airport to connect this iMac wirelessly.
2) Should I be connecting it to the LAN port since it's coming out of
the router?
3) If the connection issue is because I am going through the Linksys
first, can I connect the modem to the airport and then use the LAN port
to connect to the Linksys router?
4) If I have to disable the ethernet connection to test the Airport,
how do I do it? Just unplug it?
I appreciate any help as the online and manual help from Apple is not
quite up to par with such a complex configuration.
Regards
Bill

2) Should I be connecting it to the LAN port since it's coming out of
the router?
No, connecting to the WAN port is fine.
3) If the connection issue is because I am going through the Linksys
first, can I connect the modem to the airport and then use the LAN port
to connect to the Linksys router?
The issue is that you have two routers which effectively creates two networks. Unless this was your original intent, you will want to setup the AEBS as a bridge.
To set up the AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBS) as a bridge, using the AirPort Admin Utility, connect your computer directly (using an Ethernet cable) to the LAN port of the AEBS, and then, make these settings:
Network tab
- Distribute IP addresses (unchecked)
- Apply the new settings.
- Wait at least 5 minutes.
4) If I have to disable the ethernet connection to test the Airport,
how do I do it? Just unplug it?
Well, that's certainly one way, but an easier way is to temporarily disable the "Built-in Ethernet" in your network configuration.
System Preferences > Network > Show > Network Port Configurations
- Built-in Ethernet (unchecked)

Airport Extreme Base station cannot connect to Westell C90-36R516-01 DSL modem

Hi,
I just purchased a new Airport Extreme Base station for my 15" Macbook Pro. I set everything up this morning per the docs (all cables are connected properly) but the Airport Extreme is flashing an amber LED, which means it cannot establish communication to the network/Internet.
I'm using an old Westell C90-36R516-01 DSL modem that has been working fine up until now. I've tried switching out the Ethernet cables and different powering on/off combos but nothing appears to work. When I connect the Ethernet cable directly into my laptop, I have to power down the DSL modem, power it back on, and then do several refreshes before I finally get an Internet connection.
I read a previous post about unplugging the modem overnight and then plugging it in the next morning to wipe out the MAC address setting. I will be trying that tonight, but I was wondering if there was anything else I could try in the meantime? Or, is it simply a matter of having to get a newer modem from Verizon because this one is 7-8 years old?
Thanks for any help you can provide.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Hi Max,
Let's start from the beginning,
The ethernet from the modem should be wired to the Wan port of the Airport...
On page 28 of the users manual it says if the light flashes amber you should unplug the power of the modem, wait a few seconds and power up the modem.
I presume you installed the Airport utility from the disk that came with the Airport?
For more information about the reason the light flashes
Open AirPort Utility, select your base station, and then choose Manual Setup from the Base Station menu. ClickBase Station Status to display information about the flashing light
Here is a link to the Manual CLICK HERE
I was hoping to find out more about the Airport utility to see what's it's capable of doing...

Using AirPort Extreme Base Station to Connect a Hard Drive

I have a wireless network set up using a wireless device provided by my network provider. What I would like to do is to use my Airport Extreme Base station only to connect a hard drive to it. However when doing so, Airport Utility does not recognize or see the Extreme. The Extreme can only been seen if connected to the router provided by my network provider. How can I set up a wireless hard drive or printer with the Extreme without connecting to the network?

Samir, why you wanna use service provider wireless instrument when you have world class wireless device
you don't need 2 wireless ???
I am not expert but I used common sense, I had linksys N series router but recently I bought TC 1TB
so what I dumped my N router in store and went ahead with TC installation, Trust me it took me 10 minutes to configure my 4 HDD 5 computer printer etc with TC
I am sure you have a ethernet modem too separate from your wireless instrument
try to do a clean installation ( thats where all these people who has problem, trying to connect to their existing network
try setting up your AEBS as fresh wireless device connect to your modem and run Airport Utility
I am sure you will be a happy apple customer
good luck

ANOTHER Airport Extreme base station dropping connections

I think my network connectivity problems predate the latest Airport software update by a few days.
Our MacBook Pro's randomly drop an Airport connection when they are near a secondary access point operated in Bridged Mode.
My one-year-old Airport Extreme/Time Capsule had been working fine in 2.4GHz b/g/n mode with a gigabit switch and a link to a Comcast cable modem, all set up in the northwest corner of the house. I decided to replace it with a new, dual-band Airport Extreme/Time Capsule so that we could separately operate a faster 5GHz "n" network for modern notebooks along with the 2.4GHZ b/g/n network for older notebooks and iPhones.
We substituted the new Airport Extreme/Time Capsule for the old model and it now serves IP addresses to 5GHZ network devices. The old Time Capsule was moved to a new location in the southeast corner of the house, connected to the network via Cat 6 Ethernet, and also set it up to join the same 5GHz wireless "n" network in Bridge Mode -- it is an access point, but not serving DHCP addresses.
Now, whenever a laptop is near that device, it accesses the LAN through that Airport Extreme's 5GHz WIFi connection. The problem is this: every few hours (though sometimes sooner - its random), our MacBook Pro's lose their network and Internet connections (not simultaneously though). This only happens if the laptops are physically closest to the older, Bridged wireless access point. It can happen in the middle of Web surfing and always, when they wake from sleep. It NEVER happens if the notebooks are physically closer to the new Airport Extreme (and hitting it's 5GHz signal) and the iPhones NEVER lose their Internet connection to the separate 2.4GHz b/g/n network.
When it does happen, we have to Restart the notebooks to re-establish an Internet connection, though I suppose restarting the Airport Extreme/Time Capsule also might re-establish the connection. Sometimes, I can just move my laptop back to the northwest corner where the main Airport Extreme/Time Capsule is located and get right back online through that access point. But usually, I just sit in the back room, restart and rejoin the network through the secondary, wireless access point. Turning off/on Airport (at the MacBooks) accomplishes nothing and neither does Network Diagnostics.
This affects two new, MacBook Pro "n" laptops running 10.5.8, but does not affect the iPhones. So, it only seems to be a 5GHz issue. I don't think it's RF interference because I've tried three different 5 GHz channels. I've also tried reducing the secondary Airport Extreme's transmission power to 50% and, more recently 25%, to no avail.
This morning, it started happening again, so I finally used the Airport Utility to turn off the Wireless Mode of the secondary device for my next test (thanks to the Ethernet connections, it's still visible on the wireless network). We'll see if this solves the wireless connectivity problem.
Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? I wonder if it is some odd, configuration issue.

I just started having a similar problem in the last week. I have three devices: the Gigabit AEBS is connected to my cable modem and is the DHCP server. An Airport Express (N) extends the wireless network. A second (G-Only) Airport Express is connected to one of the gigabit ports on the AEBS and creates a second wireless network for iPhone, G-devices and guests.
Lately, the connection from my May 2009 MacBook Pro has started acting strange. The Airport icon in the menubar shows I have full signal strength, but I'm no longer connected to the Internet and I can't browse other N computers on the network. Devices that are connected via the G network continue working fine and remain connected to the Internet. This is interesting because even the G network has to go through the AEBS to get to the Internet. It only appears to affect the Internet connection via the AEBS's own WiFi but not its ethernet ports. If I open Airport Utility from the MacBook Pro, the AEBS status shows as Normal. Turning off/on the Airport on the MacBook accomplishes nothing but I can restart the AEBS from the Airport Utility and then everything goes back to normal. A few hours or more later, the problem occurs again.
By holding the Option key when clicking on the Airport icon and looking at the Airport MAC address I can tell that the MacBook Pro is connected to the WiFi-N via the Airport Express extender. Like you, I may have to try and shut that one off and see if the problems occurs when it is connected directly to the AEBS. The problem with that is that since it is farther away in the house, the signal strength and thus my transmit rate will be slower. I'd be curious to see if your experiment by shutting down your secondary AE will still cause drops.

Airport Extreme Base Station to connect MacBook Pro to internet?

With a new MacBook Pro do I need an Airport Base station or something other purchase (product) to connect to the internet wirelessly while I travel?
Thank you very much in advance for your time in this matter.

Duane is correct.
The wireless is built in. Whoever you are connecting to will have a base station. If you want wireless at home you need a base station connected to your internet connection.
Good luck.

AirPort Extreme (MC340AM/A) won't recognize USB hard drive

Hi,
It was working fine (at least that's what I believe) to one point, and then all of a sudden, AirPort utility won't recognize my external HD connected to USB port of my AirPort.
Just to eliminate possible confusion... drive is formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and I had another one as well, sitting on my desk that's formatted as FAT32. Both of these drives were connecting fine to AirPort utility till last night. All of a sudden, absolutely nothing happens when I connect either one of these two and turn it on. AirPort Utility/Disks pane shows: NO DISKS FOUND.
I even replaced this USB cable just to eliminate this possibility, still nothing.
Could it be that my USB port just died? I have 14 days to return it and I'm on my second day, so I want to know before I run out of my return bonus.
Thanks in advance!

OK, I just tried another external HD. This time it was LaCie 1Tb. As soon as I connected it, it was recognized by AirPort Extreme. What's puzzling is, that same thing happened with my SimpleTech 1Tb one last night. It was easily recognized by AE and then all of a sudden AE would never recognize it again.
At first, I though maybe these HDs are not supported by AE, but that's not the case. One is LaCie with Samsung HD103UJ drive inside purchased at Apple store, another one SimpleTech with WD inside, and other two are both super reliable Sygate HDs (never ever had any problems with them).
Hmm... I just disconnected LaCie one and tried SimpleTech one more time and it worked. AE can see it again. What's going on in here? Something is definitely not right.
Can't test this port through printer since I don't have one available at the moment.

Ghost Drives on my Airport Extreme Base Station.

I have connected 4 external hard drives to my Airport Extreme Base Station via a powered USB Hub. The drives are recognized under he Airport in my sidebar, and I can double click on them and they mount to my desktop. The problem is that none of my data shows up. They appear to be blank. However, when I disconnect the hub from the airport, and plug it directly into an open USB port on my laptop, all the drives come up and mount automatically, and all data is accounted for. Now I'm not a wirless network guru by any stretch, but I assumed it was sharing preferences. I went through and enabled to share connected drives via accounts and entered all required criteria and updated the settings to my Airport. Still to no avail. Also, just for kicks, I opted to Connect to Server from the Go menu in Finder, and attained the network address by mounting the drives individually and gettting info on them, copying the address and entering them into the Server Address, clicking to add them as favorite Servers. Still same result. They mount as an Airdisk, but no content is shown. I know it's an easy fix, but I just do not know what I'm missing???? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
P.S.- MAC for President 2012!

What troubleshooting steps have you already performed?
For example, If you do not connect the powered USB hub to the AirPort and connect only a single drive to the USB port on the AirPort, what happens?
If the drive works, then add the powered hub back in to the setup and connect the drive again. What happens?
If the drive works, add another drive. What happens?
If the drive does not work when you plug in into the powered hub...but it does work when you plug it in to the USB port on the AirPort directly, then you likely have a bad hub. They do fail. Some cheap USB calbles will work, others won't.
If you plug the hard drive directly into the USB port on the AirPort and you still cannot "see" the drive, that suggests a problem with the USB port electronics. Have the AirPort checked out at the Apple store or a servicer.

How do I view a file from a usb hard drive connected to my airport extreme base station on my ipad 2?

Hi,
I just purchased the airport extreme base station. I have a usb hard drive connected to the base station. Is it possible to view this hard drive on my ipad 2? I have been unable to do it. Any help would be appreciated.

You can't, not natively. An app like FileBrowser:
http://www.stratospherix.com/products/filebrowser/
may make this possible, though.
Regards.

What's the most recent opinion about Time Machine backups to Hard Drives connected to the USB port on the Airport Extreme Base Station (5th generation)?

I have been searching the Apple communities and Internet for a final answer. I just bought an Airport Extreme Base Station (5th generation) and LaCie d2 quadra 1TB external drive as a replacement for TWO failed Time Capsules, neither of which Apple would replace due to failed power supplies. I formatted the 1TB drive using Disk Utility (Mac OS extended (journaled)) from my MacBook Pro, and then plugged into the Airport Extreme Base Station USB port. The Airport Extreme Base Station see the Hard Drive, and my MacBook Pro sees the Hard Drive in my finder under shared resources. Time Machine, however, does not see the drive. Is there a solution for this problem? If Time Machine will not work, is there another software product out there that will work, like Carbon Copy. Having to plug the backup drive into the USB port of your laptop every evening kind of defeats the purpose of having a laptop. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Keeping in mind that this is not supported by Apple, I have been successful at doing the following:
1) Format the entire drive (1 Partition) as Mac Extended (Journaled). You must click in Options and set it as a GUID Partition Table (first option)
2) Plug drive via USB to AEBS
3) Using Airport Utility, use Manual Setup, then under Disks, select the new Disk and click File Sharing, then Enable File Sharing and Secured Shared Disks (recommended, of course). Other settings are up to you.
4) IMPORTANT: you will NOT see this Disk in Time Machine until you open Finder and double-click on it. You will not need to do this again (hopefully).
5) Now it should appear in Time Machine. Remember to exclude any large files like Virtual Machines, since they will be re-backed-up (is that a word?) every time it changes in any way.
6) Remember that the first backup (over WiFi) is the longest. Leave the computer alone during this period.
Good luck, and let us all know how it went for you!

How do I find a hard drive connected to Airport Extreme Base Station?

*Apple Says:* "If your base station supports it, you can connect a USB hard disk to the USB port on your base station and computers on your network (both wired and wireless) can connect to it to access, share, and store files and data."
Cool. So I followed the instructions. The drive is recognized by the base station and listed in the Airport Utility. It looks like it's ready to go...
So... How do I access the drive? I don't see it on my desktop, it's not under network. I've tried "Connect to server..." and browsing, I can't see the drive, anywhere. Yeah, I've searched the crap out of this issue on google and this message board as well as apple support knowledge base. I'm sure this is a simple issue and I'm just missing the obvious. Help me out.

Hello Timothy Uhl. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
Try the following to mount the disk...
o Click on the Desktop to enter Finder
o Go > Connect to Server...
o Enter 10.0.1.1 for the server
o Enter Disk Password
o Connect
If this still doesn't solve the problem, let's double-check your disk sharing settings...
AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBSn) - File Sharing Setup
Either connect to the AEBSn's wireless network or temporarily connect your computer directly (using an Ethernet cable) to one of the LAN ports of the AEBSn, and then, using the AirPort Utility in Manual Mode, check these settings:
Disks - File Sharing
o Secure Shared Disks: <With disk password | With base station password | With accounts >
(Note: Choose "With a disk password," or "With base station password" if you want to secure the shared disk with a password, or choose "With accounts" if you want to secure the disk using accounts.
If you choose to use accounts, click Configure Accounts, click the Add "+" button, and then enter a name and password for each user that will access the disk.)
o Guest Access: <Not allowed | Read only | Read and write>
o Share disks over Ethernet WAN port: (unchecked)
(Note: Select the "Share disks over Ethernet WAN port" checkbox if you want to provide remote access to the disk over the WAN port.)
o Advertise disks globally using Bonjour: (unchecked)
o Workgroup: <Windows workgroup name>
o WINS server: <WINS server IP address>

How do I connect my Synology NAS to my AirPort Extreme base station?

I'm considering replacing an Apple AirPort Extreme base station with my current 5 year old router. I would appreciate if someone could tell me how the AirPort Extreme differs from any regular router. I do not have any OS X devices, but I have a lot of iOS devices. If my understanding is correct, I can set up the AirPort from an iOS device.
Also, I need to know how I would connect my Synology NAS system to the AirPort Extreme network via an Ethernet cable. I would need to be able to acces the files on the NAS through Windows clients. My Synology NAS currently has a web interface....would I still be able to access that web interface with the AirPort?
Thanks for all your help in advance as I am VERY new with networking devices.

I would appreciate if someone could tell me how the AirPort Extreme differs from any regular router.
The AirPort Extreme is a combination router, wireless access point, and Ethernet switch. It also provides both external USB hard drive and printer sharing. So, it is not much different than most other routers on the market today. The one main difference is how you administer it. Unlike most other routers that employ a web-based administration interface, the AirPorts use a dedicated utility, called the AirPort Utility.
I do not have any OS X devices, but I have a lot of iOS devices. If my understanding is correct, I can set up the AirPort from an iOS device.
Yes. There are versions of the AirPort Utility for OS X, Windows, or iOS devices.
Also, I need to know how I would connect my Synology NAS system to the AirPort Extreme network via an Ethernet cable. I would need to be able to acces the files on the NAS through Windows clients. My Synology NAS currently has a web interface....would I still be able to access that web interface with the AirPort?
Your Synology NAS would connect to the AirPort Extreme pretty much the same as for any other manufacturer's routers. That is, you would connect it to one of the available LAN (opposing arrows) ports on the Extreme. You would still use the same web-based interface as before.
Note: When connected to an Ethernet port, the NAS would still function as usual. The AirPort Extreme would not provide any file sharing functionality when connected in this manner. All file sharing features would be the responsibility of the NAS device.

Wirelessly Connecting HP Laserjet P3015 to Airport Extreme Base Station

Hi, I just purchased a new Airport Extreme Base Station, and was able to establish an internet connection to it. I'd like to find out if it's possible to connect the HP Laserjet Enterprise P3015 to the Extreme, wirelessly rather than via a USB Cable. I've looked at the HP page for this printer, but I'm baffled by all the lingo. I believe it's a newer model of HP printer (or maybe it isn't?) but I bought it new from HP recently.
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/DocumentIndex.jsp?contentType=S upportFAQ&lang=en&cc=us&docIndexId=64178&taskId=101&prodTypeId=18972&prodSeriesI d=3815797&printver=true#10
Is there a term for the type of printer that can be wirelessly connected? Should the printer, by default, give off a signal that I can pick up? I don't see anything popping up in Airport Utility 6.3
I'm using OS10.7.5 by the way.
I'm off to post a message on the suitable HP forum (if I can find it ) but I'm so used to the Apple Community knowing what's what, that I was hoping that some kind soul here might just have experience with this.
Thank you.
PS. From what I can understand from the "Trouble-shooting FAQ," wireless printing is possible, but I just don't see an option for syncing it up with a MAC? Maybe it only works with Windows?

wuzradioman
I don't see where the P3015 printer is wifi capable. Therefor, you cannot use wifi to directly communicate with it.
Thanks for the reply Wuzradioman. I dug around (several) of HP's sites and it looks like the info was slightly different for the same printer listed on both the Home and Business sites. I did find a link on a 3rd HP page (which I've since misplaced!) that indicates that the P3015 requires a wireless card to be installed. But when I clicked the link for "accessories and additional hardware" a link to the card was nowhere to be found. I'll try to dig up that link in the event that some other poor soul has the same printer and a similar question.
Vernon Alexander
I find the HP printers (they're called wireless printers by the way) to be cumbersome to connect wirelessly. there's a lot of manual work involved that can be time-consuming. For example, I found it incredibly irritating to enter the wireless access passcode.
Thanks for the reply. After talking to some other people, this seems to be the consensus on wireless printing. I guess there's a reason, esp. in enterprise environments, that printers are often hard-wired.
Bob Timmons
you can run an Ethernet cable over a much longer distance than a USB cable, so Ethernet might be the best option, and the one I would prefer.
As far as wireless, If you connected an AirPort Express to the printer and disguised it near the printer, then you could locate the printer anywhere you want and have it connect using wireless to the network.
Instead of installing a wireless "card" inside the printer, you use an outboard device to accomplish the same task.
Thanks Bob. I did end up hooking up via a Cat-5e cable from printer to Airport Extreme base. Previously, I had the printer hooked up via USB cable (at a shorter distance) to my Airport Express, which the Extreme now replaces.
Unfortunately, I can't seem to get the HP Laserjet P3015n printer recognized after having connected it via Cat5e cable to the Airport Extreme. 1) there's still somethign about it being attached to the old Airport Express (which is now used to extend my network. 2) The P3015 is identified as a P3010 - which is a carry-over from when I had originally set up the printer on my (then) main base station which was the Airport Express. I didn't (or rather "stopped") questioning the fact that the P3015 was recognized as a P3010 just because it was the only way I could get the printer to be recognized at the time.\\
But I suppose this new challenge merits a separate thread, which I'll start after I do a search of the support forums. Maybe there's something obvious I'm not doing to get the printer sorted out.

How can I get Time Machine to back up an external hard drive (iPhotos) that is attached to airport extreme base station. Note: Time machine is usb to macbook pro and external drive with iphotos is usb to airport extreme base station. Help please. Thanks!

How can I get Time Machine to back up an external hard drive (iPhotos) that is attached to airport extreme base station. Note: Time machine is usb to macbook pro and external drive with iphotos is usb to airport extreme base station. Help please. Thanks!

Once you have the drive connected to your Mac, click System Preferences (gear icon) on the dock
Click Time Machine
Click Options
Be default, the hard drive will be Excluded from backups. Click the drive to highlight it, then click the "-" (minus) button at the bottom of the list to remove the drive from Excluded items.
The drive will be backed up on the next Time Machine pass
Everything above assumes that the hard drive has been formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as Time Machine will only backup drives in that format.

Connect AirPort Extreme Base Station to air card

How do you connect AirPort Extreme Base Station to Verizon Air Card?

Sorry, but the Air Card cannot be used with the USB port on the AirPort Extreme because that port will only work with a hard drive and/or a printer.
Suggest that you check with Verizon to see if they have an adapter or wireless router for the Air Card that will provide an Ethernet signal to the AirPort Extreme.

Airport Extreme Base Station Losing Connection To USB Hard Drive.

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