Airport Express stuck in continuous boot cycle

I have two of these APE (draft-n), Experienced same same situation an year ago with one of the APE, wasn't using as I replaced it with latest Time Capsule (WiFi ac) + APE 2012. Today, while searching again on this issue, came across the page then started again every possible reset without break as a first shot.

After multiple tries, firmware roll back and updates, this didn't work, and was still in reboot loop. Then I given up and had cut this down. I used kitchen knife with teeth, and followed the joining gap between two plastic cases. It's hard polycarbonate body, not sure how Apple fused them from inside. Anyway, after trying from the top I used prying tools, and separated them as the box front (LED Side), back sticker face worked like hinge. I opened enough so I could eject and re-insert the power connector to logic board.

This trick has worked, I tested before fixing it. When successful, I used grinder a bit to fix little uneven surface. Removed plastic dust, and used strong white tape to cover sides. It doesn't looks that good, but working as new one, added to my network replacing APE 2012 for BOSE system.

I appreciate and thanks Gladden and Team to figure this out, it was just a weight in my drawer before.

@ Apple - What stopping you to use screws in Airport Products ? If warranty is concern, that goes for an year but the device lives longer, at least we can easily try our own to fix issues you don't even notice.

Hi - you will have to a factory default reset? - unplug the Express - push in the reset button and hold it while you plug it back in - wait untill the light blinks fast and release the button - when the light starts to blink slowly, it is in factory default mode and you can re-configure it with the Airport Utility.

Thanks for the update - when you said hard reset, I was just hoping that you hadn't tried a factory reset yet - if a factory reset doesn't fix it then I am afraid that you may be correct about the overheating issue - I don't think that a firmware rollback will help - I think that a replacement may be in the future - let me know how you make out.

Charlie

I have a similar problem with mine, minus the occasional working thing. Just flashes amber. Tried all kinds of resets and Airport facility, nothing!

I had a similar problem:

I got a reboot loop, but could get out of it when disconnecting the network cable, diconnecting the power for about 10 minutes, shutting off all wireless activity which tried to connect to the APE and pressing the reset button when powering on the APE. When trying to connect wirelessly to the APE it usually entered the reboot loop again, I could not finish the setup with Apples AirPort Utility.

Believe it or not, what helped me was to crack it open, unplug the cable that connects the "power supply half" and the "network half" of the APE, and reconnect the cable after about 10 Minutes. Plugged the network cable and the power back in - now its working fine.

I am not an electronics expert, but all the electronic parts looked fine (meaning no visible thermal damage).

I have no explanation but can only guess that unplugging the cable really cuts off all power to the electronic circuits causing a "real" reset.

Pictures and a howto can be found when searching the web for "Installing Apple AirPort Express Base Station Power Supply Kit".

The aforementioned connector cable can be seen and is disconnected in step 3.

HansDampft has it figured out. So like all of you I had an APE-1264 from ebay that was not acting right. Stuck in a boot loop when plugged in. Would flash green, then solid amber for a while, then off for a moment, flash green once, then back to solid amber. From reading around, it sounded like it was never getting out of its boot cycle. Some forums had some witchdoctor solutions "plug, unplug, 5 mins press reset button, eat salted fish, take a big dump, plug it in again and it will work" kind of stuff. Tried a few but no luck, finally read Hans and a few others saying that they cracked theirs open (no mean feat), but were able to fix it by simply unplugging/replugging a little cable that connected the two halves together. So iFixit has a tutorial on how to get it open, which looks pretty **** hairy (https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Apple+AirPort+Express+Base+Station+Power+Supply+Kit /7090). I decided that a dremel isn't a good plastic cutting tool, and that I was going to cut it open with a plastic pipe cutting tool, pictured in image 1.

Was a beast, but I was able to cut the thing open with minimal damage to the case. I went around a few times, starting from the power plug area, and cutting deeper with each pass. You only need to cut on the following faces: The face next to the power plug without the sticker (as shown in the pic) and the face that has the led light. The side with the ports isn't glued, and the side with the sticker can act as a hinge if you cut the other two sides well. Eventually I was able to pry it open, not sure of the original state of the cable, because the opening was somewhat sudden.

I plugged the little cable back in after letting it sit for a few mins and then stuck it into the power strip. I felt pretty hardcore running my APE with the top down and chrome spinning.

At first I thought it was BS, because it did the same thing, but after a min, it started flashing yellow, and I was able to log in and configure it as usual. A bit of packing tape and its good as new(ish).

Anyway, a decent little fix 🙂

You can also replace the caps in the original power supply .. it is better IMHO to use an external supply but this will leave your Express as Apple as possible for a unit sealed as well as it is..

See https://sites.google.com/site/lapastenague/airport-express-repair

Thank you Gladden & HansDampft!!!!! Woo hooo!!! After two days of failure, and trying every reset possible, breaking the little plastic cover and disconnecting the black cord joining the two halves did it. The LED light fell out in the process -- but not to worry. You can easily plug it back in with the small plastic brackets. I used a nice pair of garden clippers, a copper pipe cutter and a woodworking chisel. Not pretty, but hey, now it works 🙂. Thanks a million - especially for the great pictures.