7.5.2 Update causing skipping when playing via AirPlay

My configuration is a WDS. Main, relay and then remote. I'm sure I'll get somebody that says "you know that WDS causes your wireless to run slower". answer is: yes I know. ... It is Not the problem. hummed along just fine before ..... doing large transfers, surfing, etc. it took a lot to break it before and now it seems to be on the Harry edge of always breaking. just using the airport utility to ck my settings causes it to skip. I am not using NAT. all points are set to the same channel, off bridge mode and I manually configure the ip so they don't wander off to another network. multicast 2mbs, transmit at 100%.

Here's how I reverted to 7.4.2:

1. Open AirPort Utility
2. In the Base Station menu, select Upload Firmware ...
3. A menu should give you the option to upload any version, including 7.4.2 -- select 7.4.2
4. Once it uploads, AirPort Express should reboot on its own

I had to do this for both AirPort Express and my Airport Extreme base station to eliminate the skipping. Good luck.

I think I may have figured it out.

For those having problems, have you updated your AirPort Utility software to 5.5.2? I hadn't, and then I read this support document that recommended that Airport Utility be upgraded before updating AirPort to 7.5.2: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1106

I just updated AirPort Utility and then reinstalled 7.5.2 and am no longer having the skipping issues. Again, I'm not technically savvy enough to know why this was necessary, but it resolved the issue in my case.

Is your WDS remote/relay working ? Does it go green amber green or does it stay green all the time ?
I would recommend factory resetting the WDS remote/relay and re-configuring it.

Wifiguru, it is green all the time.

I typically don't like to do factory resets unless I can see the reason why ie: specific issue like clearing register xyz and why that register wouldn't clear. My experience is that this might fix the problem for a awhile but I will have spent time to reconfigure and later be back on the board again.

It sounds like I might have better results rolling back to previous version of FW. I'll do that if I don't see a fix by Friday AM. My SLA requires that I have non-stop music for Christmas dinner or else I have to pay a ton in penalties.

A bit of a side car: I am concerned about the amount of updates/fixes that Apple now requires. I understand the complexity of new code and adding more features but with the tools available today testing has become significantly easier. OS9 was great, OS10 was an improvement but we saw many more problems especially with the pro apps as new versions of OS10 were released. If Apple looks at these forums then this is my Christmas wish: Go back to the old school process...test this stuff longer. I don't need a new feature every six months. I would appreciate better performance and reliability in every new version (remember six sigma). OK, Jump'in off Santa's lap.

Kyam, very interesting. Just so I'm clear... are you saying that we need to be on 5.5.2 before updating the FW or else it won't get loaded correctly? I'm not certain the order in which I updated (airport utility first or FW first). If I updated the FW first then I guess I fit your fix. So do I need to roll back to 7.4, make certain my Airport Utility is at 5.5.2 then upload the FW to 5.5.2? Thanks for thinking through this.

Joe -- That's what worked for me. I went back to 7.4.2 for a day. Then I read where Apple recommends an AirPort Utility update before installing 7.5.2.

So I updated AirPort Utility to 5.5.2 while my AirPorts were running 7.4.2, reinstalled 7.5.2, and have had no skipping problems since. I'm running Pandora from iPhone to AirPort/stereo right now with perfect streaming.

It's worth a try. If it doesn't work, you could always go back to 7.4.2.

Kyam, I will try tonight. I'll report back.

This corrected my problem. Thanks.

Kyam,

Since I didn't know the order that I updated the system (FW or Airport Utility first) I went back to 7.4 as you prescribed. Updated the FW back to 7.5, ran for a few hours without an issue.

THANKS!

Now I won't have to be obsessing about music skipping during Christmas. Sounds strange but thats a great gift....sanity.

Great fix and I hope Apple sends you a little something for figuring it our for them. Happy Holidays!

Fixed my problem to, thx.

I'm having the same problems but it seems to be only causing the skipping with the Optical Audio Out, not the HDMI output.

Nitesher... Are you talking about Apple TV or Airport Express/Extreme? I don't recall the AE's having those kind of interfaces. If they do, I would like to know more about the device.

I was talking about the Apple TV.

Turns out, my TOS Optical Audio Cable was faulty...Apple TV update working fine for me now.

Yes I have this too. AE in lounge, latest version, works fine through iTunes from iMac and macbookpro wirelessly, Without skipping.
Try with either iPad or iphone4 on latest versions, and skips like a kangaroo. Most annoying. Tried the fw back to 7.4 for a while and the AU is at 5.5.2 latest. All the same skipping still.
Now updates the AE to latest version as suggested on thread, but skips still, almost immediately. So bit stuck now, as want to play iTunes through airplay from iPhone and it's not impressing the guests!
Any ideas, ?

Really annoying....

Matt