USB to Airport Extreme Printing minor problem...

I have an HP LaserJet 4650 that I use for my home office. It is connected through my Airport Extreme via a USB cable. I don't leave the printer on all the time but when I turn it on it won't print unless I unplug and plug the USB cable back in. This happens when I print from my Mac and when all the Windows based computers try to print from it. Once I disconnect and reconnect everything is fine. Any suggestions?

No ideas? Seems like Apple has problems with HP printers and Airport Extreme's, I have noticed lots of posts on here and other discussion boards about similar issues.

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USB and AirPort Extreme

Does anybody know if taking out a USB hard drive from a Airport Extreme causes any problems. I have taken a USB stick out and didn't know if I was hurting the Stick because I didn't eject it.
Thanks

It can.
Basically, depending on the file system in use and what's going on, you may have inadvertently removed the drive when it was in the middle of a write, possibly corrupting a file or the file system on the drive.
Further, if it's a USB-powered drive, it could also cause physical damage to the disk itself when it suddenly loses power.
If you're worried about it, run Disk Utility on the drive to check for any damage, and then don't do it again.

Will Time Machine work with an external hard drive connected (via usb) to Airport Extreme?

Will Time Machine work with an external hard drive connected (via usb) to Airport Extreme?

Sorry, but this article is about 4 years old, and was printed based on preliminary information at the time.
The bottom line here is that Apple does not officially support Time Machine backups to a drive at the USB port of the AirPort Extreme.
If it works for you, great.
You might want to review the Apple Support documents below, which are far more recent than the article you reference:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/15139.html
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2038
It is supported.....
This is NOT correct. Please do not post false information on the forums.

Airport Extreme, 5Ghz connectivity problems and poor media streaming

Hi,
I purchased an extreme from the apple store a little over a week ago, and before I send the device back I would like to solicit recommendations from this forum.
Some information about the setup:
- Single airport extreme (supplying wifi services for my non-wifi DSL router and a connected USB disk)
- Airport Extreme Firmware: 7.4.2
- iTunes: 9.0
- OS: Snow Leopard (10.6.1), Leopard (10.5.8), Window Vista.
- Harddrive: 2TB lacie, USB2.0 connection only
- 2.4 and 5 Ghz broadcasting mode
- The device is broadcasting on all supported protocols.
- Multiple clients (various: apple, microsoft, fujitsu)
- Small space, no major concrete/brick/stone walls, signal strength is 5 bars of goodness
- Country: Spain (I know there were 5Ghz restrictions here a while ago, but the device broadcasts on 5Ghz and is therefore not crippled).
If anything else could be of use, let me know and I'll update this list.
And now the problems:
1) 5Ghz connections fail
When connecting over the 5Ghz freq my connectivity to the extreme and the services it is offering (internet, disk sharing) is intermittent, at best. Basically, it has not worked reliably since I took it out of the box. This is equal for both of my macbooks and a fujitsu laptop (all with n support).
I've tried switching channels to avoid congestion - I don't live in a wifi-heavy area, and there are no other likely sources of interference (e.g. microwaves, cordless phones).
My connections to mounted disks come and go, I have to re-authenticate, and so on.
A general scan of the environment with KisMac does not show any major interference from other wifi networks (only 2 others in range, one is wimax).
I've tried to do some wifi analysis to see if I can spot any frame/packet related issues. Some rudimentary analysis indicates that when the connection stops working on the 5Ghz channel my laptop continually sends request-to-send packets to the extreme, but does not receive a clear-to-send. This occurs after a-few-seconds to a-couple-of-minutes of connectivity - the connection initially 'works' (i.e. wifi packets are sent/received correctly and I can access the internet).
2) Data access and media streaming from the connected USB drive is very poor
I've mostly had problems with itunes. I thought this might be related to the size of my library, but this shouldn't effect single track playing. Even enabling large buffering in itunes results in intermittent pauses and long track loading.
Note: this occurs over b/g connections; as stated already, n connections don't work. iTunes simply goes into a coma for while and then eventually fails. See above. Also, if I just stream from my macbook (i.e. HD connected via USB), it works flawlessly.
The extreme was running 7.4.2 - updated on first connection. It's now running 7.4.1, as I read on the forums that there were some perceived problems with 7.4.2 (although these perceptions may not be accurate.
Concl(f)usion:
I believe I've ruled out the following:
- Distance
- Interference
- Laptop related issues (the same problem occurs with 2 macbooks and a fujitsu laptop).
- Latest firmware
- Software (apps, OS, etc)
Which leaves me to ponder two possibilities:
a) The extreme is damaged.
b) The extreme is not a good product (surely this can't be so?!)
There is, of course, a c-possibility ... that the collective experience of the online community might be able to offer me an alternative path?
I would be very grateful if anyone could offer any suggestions, tips, tricks, spells or simply a hug before I contact apple to begin the process of explaining the issues and seeking some care.
Many thanks in advance,
Dave.

I have had the same problem. Really frusrtating, expecially since the reason I bought the airport was because of all the wireless congestion in my neigborhood with only 11 channels on the 2.4 GHz spectrum.
Bought my airport dual band about a week ago. It had the firware 7.4.2. After extensive searching, I found other with similar issues. Apparently the last stable firmware may be 7.3.8. I am on 7.4.0 and not having any issues any longer (only testing one day now).
This may solve your issue. Login to your airport and choose manual setup. on the summary page, find 'Version' 7.x" and click on the word 'version'. This will allow you to rollback your firmware. I went with 7.4. Depending on what options you need with airdisk, Time Capsule, rolling back may remove those options, so experiment. You can always go back to 7.4.1 or 7.4.2 from within the interface.
Hope this helps.

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.

Disk, to Backup the disk connected (via USB) to Airport Extreme

Hi..
My 1.5TB disk (WD My Book Essential) is connected to Airport Extreme.
This disk contains photos, videos, etc. accessible/shared by some MacBook.
Now I need to back-up that disk, so probably I need 1 more disk as the backup disk, and the backup process can be scheduled.
Could someone please recommend me the solution. I am thinking of alternatives:
Alt-1. To have a NAS disk connected to the Airport Extreme via its ethernet port -- Is this a wise solution?
Alt-2. To split (using Hub) the USB from Airport Extreme into 2 hard disks (i.e. one disk is the existing 1.5TB disk for sharing files, while the other is one for the backup disk), and run the backup-process using Time Machine -- Is this a wise solution?
Thanks in advance.

Again, TM will not back up „airdisks“ (i.e. USB drives connected to the Extreme’s USB port or a NAS drive connected to one of the Extreme’s LAN ports). It will only back up drives that are connected directly to your Mac http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1733?viewlocale=en_US
The only option I can think of is to have the original drive hanging off your MacBook and another drive hooked to the Extreme (although this is not officially supported http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2038 , however, some have reported success going this route)
This would turn your lappy virtually into a desktop, though. I'm stuck with a similar set up until i get a mac mini to be my dedicated media server: 1 TB external FW drive holding my iTunes lib is connected to my MBP and backed up to my TC (along with my MBP's internal HD)

AirPort Extreme HD causing problems

I've finally got my hard disk (Maxtor OneTouch 250GB) working with my AirPort Extreme.
The problem is that I have folders with upto 80GB of files in them, which just dont open when I click on them. I'd rather not format the disk because I have way too much required data on it.
Is there any way of making the disk work perfectly without having to wait for 10 mintues for a folder to open (which may/may not open and causes the HD to be disconnected)?

Actually although my hard disk is connected via AirPort Extreme, my iMac is connected to the network on Ethernet. So my iMac isn't using the wireless at all to connect to the hard disk.
My hard disk has stopped going offline randomly, but it doesn't make a difference anymore because I can't even open any of the folders on the hard disk.
I was told that if I formatted the hard disk and created smaller folders then the computers on the network would be able to access files faster.
I'm trying not to format my hard disk, so if anyone has an alternative solution that solves this then I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

Printing problem from usb on airport extreme

Hi guys,
Anyone come up against this problem whch is sending me up the wall.
I've just purchased Airport extreme and my ibook works great wirelessly and I've used a lan connection to my windows pc which also works fine.
Using the usb port on extreme I've connected my epson cx3200 printer. The ibook prints fine wireless, but when printing from the pc it prints one line and stops..
Eventually the error window on the pc say "failed to print the document etc".
I've searched all the trouble shooting but nothing seems to work.
Any ideas
Many thanks
Gord ggg

Yes, it is in installed and I've used the Bonjour wizard and only once have I had a oage print successfully.
Cheers

Airport Extreme Printing Problem with HP Deskjet.

Hello ... I wonder if any helpful folks can assist me with my printing problem? I am using Tiger on a new Intel imac with a HP Deskjet 960C. This printer is listed as having the latest drivers included within Tiger and works perfectly when connected via USB so my problem I guess is not with the software....I have disconnected everything and plugged everything back together again. I also deleted the printer from the printer list within the Printer Setup Utility application.... The imac recognisies the printer and upon pressing the print button everything feels as though its just going to work. The blue barber shop scroll appears but the printer fails to kick into gear and I get the big red exclamation mark appearing in the status box .... I would really love to try and sort this annoying error ... Any ideas? Thanks. Book G4 Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Hello jds17. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
Unfortunately, not all USB printers are compatible with AirPort base stations.
Take a look at one of these iFelix Unofficial AirPort Printer Compatibility links, depending on which AirPort base station you have:
o 802.11g AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBS) or AirPort Express Base Station (AX)
o 802.11n AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBSn)
If your printer isn't listed, it doesn't necessarily mean it won't work, but simply that it has not been verified. iFelix also provides the following workaround for printers not on the list that would certainly be worth a try.
Also, you may find the following Apple article helpful.

Airport Extreme printing problem w/ HP7 410 all-in-one

I just purchased a HP officejet 7410 all-in-one.
I can print using USB cable connected to printer.
However, I CANNOT print connecting the USB cable from printer to Airport Extreme and using Bonjour printing? The print job spools than just stops?
Any help would be appreciated....
macbook pro Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Hello HevnLgh,
Thank you for your input. I tried to follow your instructions but had trouble right from the start. I got to HP uninstaller and clicked continue but there was no printer listed. It just said "device" and uninstall was greyed out. I decided to just continue so I reset the printing system and repaired the disk permissions.
It took me a couple of tries to reinstall the printer from the Apple website because at first it couldn't find the device to add so I tried using the IP address on the next tab and that seemed to do something but it still wouldn't print. The printer was found after I went back and tried again and everything seemed to work this time (whew).
I tried the update procedure on the printer itself and it still can't connect with the server, but the original problem with the duplicate copy on shut down seems to have resolved itself.
The bottom line is my printer is working like it's supposed to (for now anyway) and I didn't get two copies of my printout so thank you again for your help. It's good to know I can go somewhere for help when I have a problem.

Airport Extreme: Printer (Samsung CLP-500) Problem

Sometimes my Airport Extreme doesn't find my USB-printer (a samsung clp500 laserprinter) anymore. The only way to solve this problem is to restart the airport. I have already installed the latest firmware of the airport but this didn't help. This happens at random.
Are there people who have had the same problem? And does anyone know a solution for this problem?

Yes, it turns to sleep. But thats not the cause, already tried it.
Could it be that when you connect the printer you cannot turn it off? Because the problem only occurs when i have turned off the printer and turn it back on. In 2/10 cases this will hapen.
So when I let my printer on and let him sleep the problem doesn't happen.

Airport Extreme - printing problems with window desktops

Hello everyone;
I a mac book and 3 more pcs (window) at home. I recently bought a airport extreme router in order to able to print from my mac book via wireless. everything is nice when I print from my mac book buy I'm not able to print from the pcs. This is annoying. I really need to get this working. Please send me step by step how to this thing works.
thanks,

Hey there BobKier,
It sounds like you have a printer connected to your Airport Extreme and you cannot print from it. I suggest the troubleshooting steps from the following article to help troubleshoot the printer:
USB printer troubleshooting for AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme, and AirPort Time Capsule
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1253
Check for software updates
Be sure that you have the most recent OS X or iOS software updates, and the latest firmware for your AirPortproduct before trying to print.
Note: Printing via an iOS device requires an AirPrint enabled printer. Refer to AirPrint Basics for a list of AirPrint enabled printers.
Disconnect and reconnect
Disconnect the AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme or AirPort Time Capsule from a power outlet.
Turn off the printer.
Be sure the USB cable from the printer is connected to the AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme or AirPort Time Capsule.
Turn on the printer.
Reconnect the AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme or AirPort Time Capsule to a power outlet and wait for it to become ready.
Try to print.
Check your printer driver
Check the website of the printer's manufacturer for the latest driver version.
Reset Printing System
Use these steps on your Mac if the above steps do not help.
Open System Preferences > Print & Fax preferences.
Control-click or right-click in the Printers section on the left.
Choose Reset printing system....
Click OK.
Click the + button to add your printer again.
Try to print.
Still not working?
If your printer still doesn't work with AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme or AirPort Time Capsule printer sharing, but does work when directly connected to your Mac, contact the printer manufacturer for additional information and to verify that printer sharing is supported.
Additional Information
Refer to this article for additional help setting up a USB printer on your Wi-Fi network.
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
All the very best,
Sterling

Problems moving Time Machine drive from USB to Airport Extreme

Greetings compadres.
I'm using a WD external Mac hard drive for my Time Machine backups. I was using a USB hub and directly connecting my MacBook to the hub, thus a seamless connection to the external hard drive.
Now, I want to connect my external drive to my Airport Extreme for wireless back ups. I tried this before and I couldn't figure out a way for the system to recognize the drive to continue my previous back ups. Eventually, I just reformated the drive and started my back ups over.
Is there a way to switch to wireless and continue my old back ups?
Much obliged,
- robert

That's not supported by Apple, but Pondini has some advice on the matter here: http://pondini.org/TM/AEQ2.html

Airport extreme/hard drive problems

Any advice appreciated...
Our airport extreme only intermittently recognizes our Lace hard drive and it's driving us crazy. We bought macbook, the airport, and hard drive at the same time (yes we abandoned the PC world) and had a friend hook it up. For two months everything worked fine and we even hooked our printer to the airport and printed wirelessly.
Then for no particular reason, the harddrive disappeared and we can no longer access it wirelessly. We can, however, plug the harddrive USB into the Macbook and we can use the harddrive perfectly. Also, interesting, if we open airport utility and click on "disks", the harddrive is there, but it doesn't show up on the desktop or Finder and we can't access it.
I've called Apple tech support numerous times (We bought the extra service, but sadly that didn't keep us from having to spend an extremely obnoxious time on hold. We thought Apples were supposed to easy. but that's another story..). So far, we did get the airport and Macbook to recognize the hard drive by simultaneously renaming the harddrive and unplugging the hard drive and Airport. That worked for exactly 18 hours. Then the harddrive disappeared again. I called tech support twice but after 45 minutes on hold each time, I lost my patience. (They make us hold for the first step, then hold again for the product specialists. Gee we sure are glad we spent extra for the extended service!)
Other interesting tidbits: We've never had a problem with wireless internet service and have always been able to wireless send jobs to the printer.
Any ideas?
Signed and thank you,
Not so sure switching to Apple was a good move.

This is the most acceptable solution I have come up with:
Either go to the DHCP tab under internet settings on the router and "reserve" IP numbers for any hardware that interacts with the drive or manually set IP numbers in your network instead of using DHCP. The problem occurs when an IP number to any computer connected to the drive changes unexpectedly. This would be whenever the DHCP lease renews if your computer is asleep when this happens. I have not had a single drive issue since I set this up.
If you need to access your drive from a remote location where you don't have control over how the network there operates, then avoid letting your computer sleep while it is connected to the drive.
I chose to manually assign an IP number to my desktop and also to remote base stations, however this is not so convenient for my laptop because it then wants to use the manual settings everywhere unless I set up another "location" which has to be manually changed. This is where reserving IP numbers under the DHCP tab was really useful. The laptops on my network are still getting their numbers from the DHCP server but the server knows to give each one the same number based on their MAC addresses.
If you take a look at the default settings for DHCP, you will notice that not all the available numbers are being assigned through the DHCP server. You can use numbers outside this range (other than x.x.x.255) for your manually assigned IP numbers and still have DHCP running for when guests come over to use your network.
Message was edited by: Tom Alperin

Airport Extreme Printer: Error 306

I have just upgraded my Airport Extreme firmware to Version 5.3.1 (531.9) and suddenly my Canan MP160 printer having problem. It prints a few lines and then stops with Error 306. I have tried to removing the printer, adding it again, updating the driver, resetting my iMac - all did not work.
Any help would be appreciated.

just went through the same issue, and did the same things. Then, I restarted my airport extream and then deleted the bonjour printer, readded, and named it something new, and voila!
give it a try.

USB to Airport Extreme Printing minor problem...

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