Solid amber status light on 2nd gen Time Capsule.

A solid amber light on the Time Capsule is unfortunately a symptom of a failed hard drive. The "clicking" that you hear is a confirmation of the hard drive failure.

Technically, it is possible to replace the hard drive by opening up the Time Capsule, but a 2nd Gen version of the TC....which is likely 4-5 years old is at or past the point where the main power supply tends to give up as well.

It would probably cost more to have a repair shop replace the hard drive and install a new power supply than a new Time Capsule would cost, so you are probably at the end of the line with your current Time Capsule.

LaPastenague, one of the experts on the forum, repairs Time Capsules, so hopefully he will see this post and offer his opionion on the feasibility of repairs.

Agree with Bob..

That noise is the dreaded WD drive triple death click. Apple swapped from Hitachi in Gen1 which I have yet to see a dead one.. probably the best drive they ever used.. runs hot as .. well that place you don't want to go to.. to WD blacks.. supposedly a good drive but I don't trust WDs.. and they are dying in numbers.

Apple moved in the next gen to Green drives which are a lot better heat wise.. the problem with Gen1 and 2 is the overheat which is dramatic.

That will have affected the power supply and so it depends on your DIY ability.

The cost of power supply repair diy is a few dollars worth of capacitors and a couple of hours of work.. but you need to unwrap the supply and solder in new caps.. I do not recommend it to the novice..

See instructions here. https://sites.google.com/site/lapastenague/a-deconstruction-of-routers-and-modem s/apple-time-capsule-repair/apple-time-capsule-repair-type2

Then you also need a new drive.. there is no fix for that dead WD. A 2TB green is the obvious choice.

If you need to buy a new drive plus a power supply kit, the cost is already a fair wack of the new version which is faster and better made.

You can however sell the old shell on ebay.. even dead ones are worth money for parts..

And you can pull out the hard drive and just use it as Airport Extreme for the time being. Even if the power supply fails the repair to just get board working .. albeit rough is just a 5v power supply and soldering a few wires.. you could even use a connector strip and not solder at all.

Well ****... I was having some issues with the drive spinning up and being recognized via my Mac, and I was guessing hard drive and thankfully already ordered a replacement Time Capsule... Getting a solid amber light on mine as well and no drive spinning up.

How can I go about cracking the case on this to remove the hard drive before I sell it for parts? I went to the link you shared in your post, but they don't get into how to initially open the case on the 2nd Gen TC.

Thanks again to LaPastenague... you've helped me with other Apple product questions before.

Never mind... I did the right thing and googled it and found how to remove the rubber base, etc, and just don't feel like the hassle. Thanks, still, for you guys confirming the dead drive diagnosis.