Airport Express 2nd Generation - Flashing amber/green LED

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Airport Express 2nd Generation - Flashing amber/green LED

Hello.

I just picked up another 2nd Generation Airport Express. I did the hard reset to get it back to factory settings. Now, the LED is displaying 3 fast flashing amber, then 3 slow flashing green. I tried just about everything to get this thing up and running. The guy I got it from told me that it was up and running when he took it offline to sell to me.

Here's a few other issues I've had with it. I connected it to my windows PC directly (PC to WAN port) and I"m getting all sorts of errors when I try to configure it, so I connected it to my iMac 27 and went through the setup process, it gave me a strange (169.254.x.x) address. I then plugged it into the LAN side, and it gave me a 10.0.1.2 address. This allowed me to get into the system but not make any changes that would allow the device to access my WIFI network or access the network via Ethernet.

I tried downgrading the firmware to 7.8 then upgrading again to 7.8.1, no joy.

Has anyone else experienced an issue like this? I hope this thing isn't toast, it wasn't terribly expensive but if its a brick i'm going to be upset.

Thanks!

Dave.

Posted on Dec 20, 2019 2:02 PM

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Answer 1

Dec 20, 2019 5:04 PM in response to AtlantaBlue

It is useless plugging ethernet into the WAN side of the Express to your computer.

Plug the Express WAN port into your main router LAN port .. whether airport or whatever.

Do a full factory setup.. Power off.. hold in reset.. power on without releasing the reset for another 10sec. Front LED has to flash rapidly.

It should now be possible to run through the setup on the Mac .. if you have trouble try using iOS version of the airport utility as it is somewhat better behaved.

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Answer 2

Dec 20, 2019 7:46 PM in response to AtlantaBlue

I did the hard reset to get it back to factory settings

A Hard Reset does not reset the AirPort Express back to factory settings......it erases the current network settings, but older previous settings are still stored on the AirPort, which can create issues or conflicts with a new setup.

Best to perform a Factory Default Reset when you are having issues to get the AirPort back to a true factory default state. Even then, the current firmware settings are still stored, not the original firmware settings that were present when the AirPort was new.

To perform a Factory Default Reset........which can be tricky and almost require 3 hands........

Power off the AirPort for a few minutes

Hold in the reset button first, and keep holding it in for another 10 seconds or so while you simultaneously plug the power back into the AirPort

Release the reset button after the hold period and allow a full minute for the AirPort to restart to a slow, blinking amber light status

If the AirPort still exhibits a quick amber flash alternating with green after a few tries of a Factory Default Reset, you have a defective Express.

Assuming the AirPort is OK now, run through the setup again using the AirPort Utility setup "wizard" on your Mac or an iPhone / iPad.

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Airport Express 2nd Generation - Flashing amber/green LED

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