Pale amber light - AE in a coma?

I have been using my Airport Express for a year or so, working fine. Some weeks ago, I unplugged it for some days, since I'd be away from home.
Next time I've plugged it in a pale amber or white solid light appeared and it stopped being recognized by my Windows XP PC. So I've tried to connect via Airport Utility using my MacBook, but it didn't find the AE either.
I have tried almost every solution people suggest in this forum: soft reset, hard reset, factory default, but nothing happened, the light didn't even blink. Connecting thru an ethernet cable failed too.
Is my AE in a coma? Will it ever wake up to green or at least yellow light? Any clues?

There is no orange light in the airport utility. There is an amber light. I clicked on it and the time capsule summary pops up. It looks like if there is nothing wrong only that the settings i had before, with the name and the backups i had are not showing up. Instead of the name being the one i chose before, the name now is Time Capsule.

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My time capsule stopped working. amber light comes on for a few seconds then turns off.

my time capsule stopped working. When I try to power it up the amber light comes on for about 10 seconds and then turns off. That's as far as it gets. Any ideas on how to solve this problem.

Kazandjaz, Welcome to the fourm! There is a 99.5% chance that your problem is caused by a failed internal power supply unit (PSU)! If you have operated it for about 18 months or so, that is the cause. Take it to your nearest Apple dealer and ask them to check it out.

Airport Express amber light is flashing, but I'm connected. How come?

Oddities abound in computerland, but this one takes the cake: I bought an Airport Express base station last week at the Danbury CT Apple Store, then spent hours, days, trying to set up a wireless base and establish a connection with my MacMini and my new AsusEee PC. I read and reread the Setup Guide; consulted every forum and every applicable website, all to no avail. I unplugged and replugged the cable modem, reset the A.E. to the factory settings, downloaded the latest version of Airport Utility, but the amber light flashed on and on.
Then, about fifteen minutes ago, after accessing various settings that had produced nada results on previous occasions, a window appeared on my monitor telling me I was successfully connected, and by gum, I am! But I have no idea why--by that time I was too confused to be able to retrace my path.
Then, with fingers crossed, I set up the little AsusEee PC for wireless connectivity, and that too connected successfully. BUT the Airport Express light, which has never turned green, continues to flash amber!
How can this be? I'm pleased as proverbial punch, but I don't dare touch anything for fear of turning gold to dust. Does anyone have any insightful comments?

When at first you don't succeed.....
Well, since my last post--4/18--I spent many more hours and resets trying to get the fool thing working, and yesterday when I was just about ready to pack the AX up and take back to the Apple Store, I connected. How and why I do not know. Maybe it was all the resets; maybe it was kismet. Anyway, the green light is on and steady; I was also able to connect my AsusEee, and for the time at least I'm a happy keyboard tapper.
Hang in there, guys!

Magsafe Adapter show amber light but it's not charging.

I have a problem with my Macbook Air (Mid 2011), when I plug the Magsafe AC Power Adapter sometimes just doesn't charge the battery, sometimes shows the green light and sometimes the amber light.
I tried restarting the SMC, also I tried to use other Magsafe Adapter. Even I tested the Magsafe with another Macbook and works fine.
I already cleaned both ports with a toothbrush.
I don't know what else I can do. Please help me.

Do you have a friend with a MacBook? If so try their power adapter and see if that works. If it does then you have a bad power adapter. And check this Apple Support article http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1713

TC solid AMBER LIGHT then dies. Apple won't help.

Over the weekend my time capsule powered off. When I tried to restart it, it went to a solid amber light for 15-30 seconds, and then died.
I unplugged it for half an hour, same problem, unplugged it overnight, same problem.
Soft reset won't work, hard reset won't work. Can't access it with ethernet.
Tried factory reset many times, solid amber light starts to blink, then when I release reset button (having held it for various amount of time) it goes solid amber, for a split second it sounds like it might start, then dies. No light. D E A D.
So, I've researched it online, and it seems a little different to the heat / power issue. I call Apple support, and the first tech just tries to order me a new one. My serial number 819 however prevents this. So a senior advisor comes on to tell me it can't be replaced. He get's cut off....
So I call back, and the tech reads the notes and basically tells me there is nothing that can be done, and is quite blasé about the whole thing. He offers me no advice and makes no attempt to diagnose the problem, just tells me it's done and I need to buy a new one as I don't have applecare.
I point out (nicely) it's only two years old, I expected more, it's supposed to be server grade, etc.
He replies "It's only a hard drive" which I found very interesting. ONLY A HARD DRIVE? So why did I pay $340 for it? He also tells me I should have backed up my back ups. So how many "server grade" back ups do I need to make? I need to buy 5 time capsules to back up my macbook incase 4 of them just give up suddenly? He also says that it's an electronic device and electronic devices fail. Just like that. May as well have just said "Tough luck, buddy!"
Later he tries to retract that statement and puts me through to another senior advisor. Predictably she tells me the same thing. No offer of repair or attempts to diagnose problem, just it's finished. She was as nice as she could be about it, but that's the conclusion. Eventually after I explained I was disappointed with this attitude, she said maybe I could take it to the genius bar to have the information taken off and moved to a new TC.
So basically, my new drive will be costing me in the region of $700 (given that my original $340 TC is only good for the trash).
My current thinking is I shall try and retrieve the data myself, use one of my other much, much cheaper external HD's that have been running flawlessly for years as a back up, and wait to see if Apple start to issue replacements for my serial number.
Ultimately I don't want a free replacement TC, I'd rather mine worked. I was expecting a better service, at least an attempt to make me feel like this was out of the ordinary, or they were concerned about me buying more Apple products in the future.... I was also expecting a server grade HD to last more than two years.....
Anyway, stepping off my soap box..... If anyone has any suggestions how I can get this going, or what the cause might be please before I try and retrieve the data myself.
Thanks!

I had the same problem while doing a backup. My Capsule is a 2008 model, but an "818" in the serial number so it's not part of the recall.
THIS IS HOW I RETREIVED MY DATA FROM MY DEAD TIME CAPSULE:
Put time capsule in Zip-lock freezer bag and suck all the air out of the bag using a straw.
Put time capsule into deep freezer for a few hours. (the zip lock is to stop/reduce humidity on the electronics inside the capsule)
Remove from freezer, cross your fingers and plug it in.
On mine, after the solid yellow light went out, there was loud fans and lots of noise. Let it boot for a couple minutes and either connect to it wireless/ethernet and start transferring your data. Depending on how cold your freezer is (deep freeze is usually -18C/0F and house freezer is -9C/15F) will probably depend on how long the TC is up and running. Mine ran for 45min straight, then i was done transferring and left it to see if it was fully operational again. Checked back on it an hour later and the drive had stopped and the light was off...
You could even try to run it from inside the freezer as well...
GOOD LUCK!!

A blinking amber light doesn't necessarily mean that something is wrong.

Yesterday I set up a new AEBSn in bridge mode so that an attached hard disk could be shared by two Mac computers connecting to the AEBSn wirelessly pending inauguration of a new DSL connection.
Although the configuration worked perfectly, the amber light continually blinked because the AEBSn sensed that an Ethernet cable was unplugged even though the configuration did not call for any Ethernet connections.
Interestingly, the blinking amber light turned to solid green as soon as I added two network printers via Ethernet cables.

Just wanted to make sure you know that if the amber light is blinking, you can run the new Airport Utility and when the wireless devices appear on the left hand side of the page, anyone that is flasking amber will show up with a flashing amber light. If you double click on that device a new window will come up. On the summary page you'll see a line that says name of device and it will have a status light next to it that is the same as the status light on the equipment. In this case a flashing amber light. If you double click on the flashing symbol it will give you the reason for the flashing amber light.
In most cases at this point, the flashing amber light is usually because there was no security applied to the system.
If you opt, you can also turn off the amber light if you can live with the problem.

Solid Amber light ????

I have my wireless network setup with a Linksys router and I have an airport express setup so that I can stream audio to my home stereo. I have hooked it up correctly (as far as I can tell) with the airport assistant and it works great - for about 2 or 3 days. Then the light goes from green to solid amber and it won't work again until I unplug the airport express and plug it back in. Any thoguhts? It's not a huge deal, but it ***** to have to reach behind the stereo and do this everytime I want to stream from iTunes. Thanks!!!!
-AV

Hi Armando,
The solid amber light means that it is completing its "startup sequence". It is not set up in WDS right? Anyways if it is solid and not working I would reset it. The link below will bring you to the Apple Tutorial on how to reset your Airport Express:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=108044
I hope that helps,
Jon

Solid Amber Light (LED) - out of nowhere.

I had a network running very well for a while, then all of a sudden, the main airport express gave a solid amber light, and now it won't reset (hard or soft).
I had:
- TW cable modem hooked up to
- main airport express
- second airport express picking up signal and sending out via ethernet to
- router, splitting to
- 2 desktops
all was running fine, now I can't get that main airport to stop with the amber light. I have tried unplugging and hard reset. I have not messed with firmware yet only because it took me a while to get that whole network together in the first place.
suggestions/help?
thanks,
-A

If plugging an ethernet cable won't help, hard/factory reset won't too, then you need to:
1- Submit a feedback to Apple at http://www.apple.com/feedback/airportexpress.html with explanation.
2- Call/Visit Apple to explain the problem hopefully they know the common issue that everyone's having these days and get you another one for free or even fix it.
References:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2031252&tstart=0
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2022396&tstart=0
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1979687&tstart=60
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2035806&tstart=0
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1932053&start=15&tstart=75
Have a good day.

Solid Amber Light - Can't connect to TC...

Hi, my TC has become unreachable after I added a workgroup name to the config. I've 3 Macs, none of which can discover the TC using the airport utility and I'm starting to suspect that the actual TC is now faulty. I have tried hard resetting the unit by holding the reset button in until the amber light starts flashing. I've also tried the full reset by holding the reset button in whilst plugging the power in. The amber led flashes rapidly and the TC reboots. I can here the drive start up but the led remains amber and I still can't 'find' the TC using airport utility. I've noticed that the ethernet port, although brings the link up, does not request an IP address from my router. I suspect the TC's OS has screwed up but any ideas are welcome. If proven the consensus is that it IS faulty, will an Apple store exchange it if I just walk in off the street (its in Warranty until next May)?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Orsky

Orsky,
*_Time Capsule Has Disappeared From Airport Utility / Amber Light_*
Review this thread!!!! [http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1650087&tstart=0]
*Reboot ISPs’ Modem & Time Capsule*
If you are using the Time Capsule as your only router then power down your ISPs modem.
Unplug the TC from the wall outlet.
Wait 10-15 seconds.
Next turn your modem back on first. Let it initialize and acquire an IP address (about 30-60 seconds).
Re-plug in the TC again.
After it has restarted (30-60 seconds), does it show up in Airport Utilities?
If not try "Rescan" from the File Menu.
If the above doesn't work, then…
*Cycle Airport Preferences*
Open Network Preferences.
Click “Turn Airport Off”, wait 10 seconds.
Now click “Turn Airport On”. Close Prefs.
Does it now show up in Airport Utilities?.
If not go to the “File” menu and select “Rescan”.
Does it appears now?.
If not, unplug the TC, wait 10 seconds, and plug it back in.
Does the TC show up now in Airport Utility?
If the above doesn't work, then…
*Hard Reset*
Take a look at this KB article. It will explain how to reset the TC:
[http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1300]
Make sure you hold in the reset button for at least a good 10 seconds. Note: If you already have data on the TCs hard disk, this procedure +will not+ cause you to lose this data.
Then you should be able to see it. Now follow this KB article to set it up again:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1178
Cheers!

Trying to resolve a blinking amber light on my Time Capsule. The problem is i don't see the airport utilities under Apps/Utilities..any ideas?

trying to resolve a blinking amber light on my Time Capsule. The problem is i don't see the airport utilities under Apps/Utilities to try and reset..any ideas?

AirPort Utility should be here: Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities > AirPort Utility
If it is not there, you can download it from here:
http://support.apple.com/downloads/#airport
Temporarily, connect an Etherent cable from your Mac to one of the LAN <-> ports on the back of the Time Capsule
Open AirPort Utility - Click Manual Setup
Click directly on the word Status (2nd line) and a window will open to explain why the Time Capsule is complaining along with suggested actions to remedy the issue

Amber light without any blink

Hi!
I've got a 4 generation Time Capsule with 2TB that it worked perfectly until today. The amber light stays there all the time. I've tried to reset it, to unplugged it everything but it stays in amber and the time campsule doesnt answer so i cant get in with the airport utility to see whats happening.
Does anyone now how to fix this? I've read that maybe the hard disk is broken but its only 10 months old and i havent really used it.

A solid amber light on the Time Capsule is almost always an indication that the hard drive has failed. As Tesserax recommends, take the Time Capsule to an Apple Store, or contact Apple Support to discuss your options.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HE57
Since the device is within the 12 month warranty period, Apple will replace the Time Capsule with a "like product", which means that it may be a refurbished device. You might want to ask for a new Time Capsule, if Apple support does not offer this option to you.

First time startup- Blinking amber light. Not sure what to do.

So I just got my airport express and when i first started getting the airport utility downloaded for windows xp, i used my modem (time warner ubee modem) ethernet cable and all but I am just getting a blinking amber light. I don't know if it hasn't configured if I need to wait longer for to initally start. I am kind of derp when it comes to networking, so..

A persistent, flashing amber light indicates that any of the several potential conditions may require your attention:
The base station has not yet been configured because it is new, or the reset switch has been set.
You have selected a security configuration that is not recommended.
One of several other conditions, such as a disconnected Ethernet cable or invalid IP address has been detected.
(ref: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305101)
If you run the AirPort Utility, it will show an amber circle on the summary page next to the area(s) causing the problem. Click on this amber circle and it should provide an explanation. Please post back your findings.

Express Amber light flashing

I have "installed" the Airport Express to my wireless network. However, the amber light flashes continuously no matter what. It has never established a green light. It shows up separately from the "network" through my Airport Extreme and does not work simultaneously with my network to allow me access to both the internet and iTunes through my stereo. What am I doing wrong?

Simple answer - the network isn't set up properly. Though it wasn't 100% clear from your message, I am going to assume you already had a working wireless network with an Airport Extreme Base Station.
Get everything back to a known state:
1. Unplug your Airport Express from power.
2. Run the Airport Admin Utility, select to view the configuration of your Airport Extreme Base Station. Under the Airport tab, make sure the box next to "Create a closed network" is NOT checked. Under the Access Control tab, make sure there are NO entries in the table shown. Under the WDS tab, make sure all fields are blank, no boxes are checked, no table entries are made. Update settings to your Base Station.
3. Do a factory reset of your Airport Express per:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=108044
To set up your network:
1. Plug your laptop, Base Station, and Airport Express into power, all in the same room (for now). Make sure the laptop is able to access the internet via the Base Station.
2. Run the Airport Setup Assistant. Use its guidance to configure your Airport Express as a new base station that "joins" the existing wireless network created by the Airport Extreme Base Station.
That's it!

AirPort Extreme Would like to eliminate comcast netgear router. Flashing amber light.

Hi. I have Comcast service for TV and Internet. The provided Comcast modem is an Aries and the router is a Netgear. Both are located on my garage at a panel box where all cables come in and get distributed around the house with an 8 port switch (large house- all wired with rg6 and coaxial). The layout is comcast main cable-aries modem-netgear router- netgear switch- wall jacks through out house. As expected the wired signal from the provided netgear router only worked near the garage. So I purchase an AirPort Extreme and hooked it up to the wired signal at the middle of house Internet jack. Questions:
1). My AirPort Extreme has a flashing amber light. Can't get a green signal. But it works
2). Can I get rid of the Comcast netgear modem? Compatibility with AirPort Extreme ?? I would save money from rental!!!
3). If so would the signal from the new AirPort Extreme cover the house from the garage?
4). Is there a better way of configuring the network? Or another piece of equipment that I need to buy?
Thanks

Confirm the Ethernet jack you are using is operative by connecting a computer to it and temporarily disabling the computer's wireless.
If you use AirPort Utility on a computer or iOS device, it will tell you the reason the Extreme's LED is flashing. I suspect it has not been configured as a bridge - change its "Connection Sharing" to "Off (Bridge Mode)". Make its wireless network name and security settings identical to your existing wireless network.
You will still require Comcast's Arris modem.
The signal from the new Extreme, plus that of your existing Netgear router, should be sufficient to provide wireless service for most modest sized houses. It's impossible to be certain due to the nature of wireless communication.
A garage is not the ideal location for either a wireless access point or a switch. Since both of them need to connect more or less radially to the devices that require it, a better location is in the center of a house. Panel boxes are almost always in a corner. That's convenient for public utilities, not so much for wireless. It's also the easy way if you're a Comcast technician. If your house is already wired for Cat 6 as well as cable, it would not involve much additional effort to relocate your Comcast modem and existing router so that your wireless network will serve your house more effictively. Two wireless access points as you propose will also mitigate this.

Blinking amber light for an invalid IP address

I'm stuck! This is the first time I've bought an Apple product and it took me more than 5 minutes to get it working! I just got the Airport Extreme and can't get it to connect to my cable modem.
If I plug the modem to my iMac my internet connection works just fine. If I connect the modem to the Airport Extreme router, it just blinks amber and the manual setup says it can't get an IP address.
I have Time Warner Cable in San Diego and they told me my network settings are Automatic/DHCP. I've tried power cycling on all of the devices, but still can't get rid of the blinking amber light.
I've tried searching apple.com/support/airport and the forums and can't find anything.
Anyone got any ideas?

Hello jianwakain. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
You just need to make sure you are providing sufficient time for a complete power recycle of your network components to allow the modem to "recognize" the new device connected to it.
Modem/Router Power Recycling - Quick
o Power-off the Cable modem, AEBSn, & computer(s); Wait at least 5 minutes.
o Power-on the Cable modem; Wait at least 5 minutes.
o Power-on the AEBSn; Wait at least 5 minutes.
o Power-on the computer(s)
If this fails to get the modem to "recognize" the Internet router, then try the "Full" version.
Modem/Router Power ReCycling - Full
o Power-off the Cable modem, AEBSn, & computer(s). (Wait at least 30 minutes. If possible, leave the modem off overnight.)
o Power-on the Cable modem; Wait at least 30 minutes.
o Power-on the AEBSn; Wait at least 5 minutes.
o Power-on the computer(s)

Pale amber light - AE in a coma?

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