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Time Capsule - blinking amber light

am using my time capsule with an imac for back up only. the back up seems to be working fine but i keep getting this blinking amber light. do i ignore it ?

Posted on Apr 7, 2012 7:49 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 7, 2012 7:52 PM

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.

11 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 7, 2012 7:52 PM in response to Sureshreddys

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.

Aug 4, 2012 2:11 PM in response to Sureshreddys

the amber blinkiinng light indicates a couple things


1> Firmware update

2> Not fully configured

3> Network wiht out password

4> Not a vaild IP

5> No dns servers

6> double nat

7> ethernet cable unplugged


Best thing to do would be to open Airport utility And see what the status says.


If its just a back up then you mostly likely you didnt connect ethenet canles and its going to be 3 errors. > error 4/5 and 7 fromt eh list above >> just ignore all the errors

May 29, 2016 1:16 AM in response to Sureshreddys

Try this as to establish if there is an issue or only a firmware update to be done


  1. Open the "OTHER" icon on your Mac Settings
  2. Select Airport Utility - you will see a pictogram of both your computer and Time Capsule - it will immediately tell you if an update is required.
  3. If an update is required - simply click on the text below the picture of the Time Capsule - and the firmware update will begin.
  4. The Time Capsule will carry out a re-start on completion of the firmware update.
  5. Once complete, your flashing yellow light should be solid green again.



WGB

Jul 25, 2013 11:30 AM in response to jamestrenda

turns out it was actually a problem with a drive connected to time capsule. i noticed this because as soon as i unplugged that drive from time capsule, the light turned green. so i connected that disk directly to my computer and ran disk utility, which revealed a problem with the partition map and "loader space"...whatever that means. I tried to repair it, but it failed the first time as it has 3 partitions. i had to verify each one, which I did so successfully. once each one was verified, i was able to go and repair the whole disk, even though I believe only one of the partitions, the Time Machine partition, was the culprit.

May 31, 2016 11:21 AM in response to Sureshreddys

I had the same issue but the simple and easy fix is as follows:


1. Open the "AirPort Utility" and you will see the blinking amber light next to Time Capsule along with other wireless devices such as AirPort Express.


2. Click on the red number beside it (as if it is an unopened email) and the system will ask for a password.


3. Click on the password box and tada, the system will state to update firmware. Do that and the system will update the firmware and within a few minutes, your blinking amber light will change back to being a happy solid green light.

Time Capsule - blinking amber light

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