xtremeg1
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: airport utility cannot find time capsule and is flashing a yellow (amber) light

Hello,

 

I am having trouble connecting my time capulse (2TB) with my mac through the airport utility feature. My time capsule was working last week with my old modem but this week though we changed our modem and now my Time Machine is not able to connect to the Time Capsule. I tried searching for the Time Capsule with the Airport Utility feature but it hasn't been able to find it.

 

Meanwhile my Time Capsule is continuously flashing/blinking a yellow/amber light. I have unplugged my Time Capsule and I have also unplugged my modem. After doing that, my Time Capsule still cannot find the internet connection. The Airport Utility also cannot find any airport base stations in the area. My Airport Utility feature is also running 6.3.2 and my Mac operating version is 10.9.2 . The Time Capsule is plugged directly into the modem through an ethernet cable. My modem has wireless connectivtiy (router) abilities.

 

Any advice on how to fix this would be appreciated.

 

Thank you for your time.

Time Capsule 802.11n (4th Gen), OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)

Posted on May 3, 2014 6:45 PM

by LaPastenague,Solvedanswer
LaPastenague LaPastenague
Level 9 (52,335 points)
Wireless
A:

Ok.. that is just Mavericks.

 

Do you happen to have a ipad or iphone with iOS 6 or greater.. if so download the airport utility and run that. It is often better than the one in the Mac.

 

Otherwise do the following.

 

1. Make sure you have wireless running.. the Airport utility depends now on wireless.

Ensure you have ipv6 set to link-local. If you use ethernet then make sure it is also the same setting.

 

eg wireless.

 

ipv6on.png

 

2. Now run through the utility. Apple have decided that the TC must be the main router.. just allow that and continue through the setup.

 

I do strongly recommend you use SMB type names.. because Mavericks is now using SMB network protocol by default.

 

SMB names are short, no spaces and pure alphanumeric.

 

So a good name for your TC is TCgen4

 

And a good name for the wifi is TCwifi

 

Anything you like as long as you follow the rules. short no spaces pure alphanumeric.

 

3. When the utility completes.. edit the setup.

 

edit.png

 

Go to the Network tab and select bridge.

 

bridgev6AU.png

 

Everything else should be fine.

 

Create a wireless network.. and dhcp for internet.

 

Now you can redirect your Time Machine to the TC with new name via the TM preferences.

 

Tell us if you run into any issues.

Posted on May 4, 2014 12:32 AM

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xtremeg1

Q: airport utility cannot find time capsule and is flashing a yellow (amber) light

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  • Helpful answers

  • by LaPastenague,Helpful

    LaPastenague LaPastenague May 3, 2014 7:44 PM in response to xtremeg1
    Level 9 (52,335 points)
    Wireless
    May 3, 2014 7:44 PM in response to xtremeg1

    Factory reset the TC.. every time you make major changes to the network structure.. like a new modem.. you need to do this.

    The TC just remembers too much of its old setup.

     

    The Factory Reset universal

     

    Unplug your TC/AE. Hold in reset. and power the TC/AE back on..  all without releasing reset and keep holding in for about 10sec. The time is not important.. it is the front LED rapid flashing that indicates you are in factory mode.

    Release reset.

    If it doesn’t flash rapidly you have released reset at some point and try again.

    Be Gentle! Feel the switch click on. It has a positive feel..  add no more pressure after that.

    TC/AE will reboot after a couple of minutes with default factory settings and will wipe out previous configurations.

    No files are deleted on the hard disk.. No reset of the TC deletes files.. to do that you use erase from the airport utilit

  • by xtremeg1,

    xtremeg1 xtremeg1 May 3, 2014 8:57 PM in response to LaPastenague
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 3, 2014 8:57 PM in response to LaPastenague

    This helped, but now it is asking to use my Time Capsule as a router and create a wifi connection. I just want to use it as a backup disk. It won't let me bypass this. Plus it keeps saying an unexpected error occurred.

  • by LaPastenague,Solvedanswer

    LaPastenague LaPastenague May 4, 2014 12:32 AM in response to xtremeg1
    Level 9 (52,335 points)
    Wireless
    May 4, 2014 12:32 AM in response to xtremeg1

    Ok.. that is just Mavericks.

     

    Do you happen to have a ipad or iphone with iOS 6 or greater.. if so download the airport utility and run that. It is often better than the one in the Mac.

     

    Otherwise do the following.

     

    1. Make sure you have wireless running.. the Airport utility depends now on wireless.

    Ensure you have ipv6 set to link-local. If you use ethernet then make sure it is also the same setting.

     

    eg wireless.

     

    ipv6on.png

     

    2. Now run through the utility. Apple have decided that the TC must be the main router.. just allow that and continue through the setup.

     

    I do strongly recommend you use SMB type names.. because Mavericks is now using SMB network protocol by default.

     

    SMB names are short, no spaces and pure alphanumeric.

     

    So a good name for your TC is TCgen4

     

    And a good name for the wifi is TCwifi

     

    Anything you like as long as you follow the rules. short no spaces pure alphanumeric.

     

    3. When the utility completes.. edit the setup.

     

    edit.png

     

    Go to the Network tab and select bridge.

     

    bridgev6AU.png

     

    Everything else should be fine.

     

    Create a wireless network.. and dhcp for internet.

     

    Now you can redirect your Time Machine to the TC with new name via the TM preferences.

     

    Tell us if you run into any issues.

  • by xtremeg1,

    xtremeg1 xtremeg1 May 4, 2014 1:42 PM in response to LaPastenague
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 4, 2014 1:42 PM in response to LaPastenague

    Thank you LaPastenague! This solved my issue. But why do you link-local only though? Why not set to automatically?

  • by Bob Timmons,Helpful

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons May 4, 2014 1:51 PM in response to xtremeg1
    Level 10 (105,018 points)
    Wireless
    May 4, 2014 1:51 PM in response to xtremeg1

    Because "automatically" does not automatically prevent errors until Apple fixes the bugs.

  • by LaPastenague,

    LaPastenague LaPastenague May 4, 2014 2:38 PM in response to xtremeg1
    Level 9 (52,335 points)
    Wireless
    May 4, 2014 2:38 PM in response to xtremeg1

    xtremeg1 wrote:

     

    Thank you LaPastenague! This solved my issue. But why do you link-local only though? Why not set to automatically?

    Actually I found a document from apple that is hidden deep down..

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4597

     

    It says to quote the exact bit.

     

    1. Choose Apple menu () > System Preferences, and then click Network.
    2. If a lock icon appears in the lower-left corner, click it and enter your admin name and password to unlock the pane.
    3. Click your network service (Wi-Fi or Ethernet) in the list, and then click Advanced.
    4. Click the TCP/IP tab.
    5. Choose Link-local only from the Configure IPv6 pop-up menu.
    6. Click OK.
    7. Click Apply.

    This is somehow or for some reason not the way the Mac OS sets up the computer.. the issue being if the TC is wrong then the Mac is wrong. You need to force it..

  • by xtremeg1,

    xtremeg1 xtremeg1 May 4, 2014 5:44 PM in response to LaPastenague
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 4, 2014 5:44 PM in response to LaPastenague

    Thanks so much for your help LaPastenague. I really appreciate it. And thnks again for the explanations.

  • by JessicaIlana,

    JessicaIlana JessicaIlana Feb 23, 2015 3:52 PM in response to xtremeg1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 23, 2015 3:52 PM in response to xtremeg1

    what if in the AirPort utility it says"no configured airport base stations have been found. airport utility ill continue to search"

  • by Bob Timmons,

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons Feb 23, 2015 3:53 PM in response to JessicaIlana
    Level 10 (105,018 points)
    Wireless
    Feb 23, 2015 3:53 PM in response to JessicaIlana

    Check your other post. Please do not continue on this thread.