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Airport Utility shows "unexpected error - please try again" when connecting to Time Capsule

Hello there


I'm having an exact replication of the situation in this thread:


https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5268093


However, I'm running Mavericks, and apparently Airport Utility 5.6 will not run in Mavericks


Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated


Rene

2TB Time Capsule-OTHER, OS X Mavericks (10.9.1)

Posted on Jan 18, 2014 9:21 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 18, 2014 12:53 PM

It should still be possible to access the TC.


Is this a new TC you have never setup before?


What is the network setup if the TC has already been working? What modem/router do you have? How is the TC setup, bridge or router?


I would recommend the following steps.


1. Make sure ipv6 is set to link-local on both the ethernet (if applicable) and wireless on your computer. For example in wifi network prreferences open the advanced and go to TCP/IP tab.


User uploaded file

Plug into the TC with ethernet.. LAN port <--> to your computer. Try and use a different computer if your existing one has no ethernet.. or buy the thunderbolt to ethernet adapter which is useful and not over expensive.


2. Check the router address in the box above.. in your setup if the TC is bridged it will have the IP of your main router which is a bit useless to us.. but if the TC is the main router you will see its address.. by default it is 10.0.1.1


3. Now attempt the setup again using the utility. No luck.. factory reset it.


4. Factory reset instructions.

Unplug your TC/AE. Hold in reset. and power the TC/AE back on.. all without releasing reset and keep holding in for about 10sec.

Release it when the status light flashes rapidly. If it doesn’t flash rapidly you have missed it and try again.

Be Gentle! Feel the switch click on. It has a positive feel.. add no more pressure after that.

TC/AE will reboot after a couple of minutes with default factory settings and will wipe out previous configurations.

No files are deleted on the hard disk.. No reset of the TC deletes files.. to do that you use erase from the airport utility.


5. Now try again with the airport utility. You can do this in full isolation if necessary.. just the computer and the TC.. don't over worry if it puts the TC in the wrong mode.. You can fix it after the event.


6. If things keep going wrong try using the iOS version airport utility as it is somewhat more robust to do this initial setup.


If everything goes pear shaped.. it is always good to start over again.. another factory reset.

This time do it manually and ensure you use ethernet.


These are the steps for manual configuration.


1. Make sure you are getting an IP in the computer from the TC.. the router must show 10.0.1.1 after a reset.


Check the network preferences and the same screenshot as above will give you the details.


2. Open the airport utility and go to the top menu area. Open File / Configure Other.


User uploaded file

3. Type in your IP address.. after a factory reset there is no password required. But if it complains it is public

Click ok.

User uploaded file



4. You will then get the full edit screens where you can manually setup the TC to whatever you want.


User uploaded file


5. For mavericks I strongly recommend changing to all SMB compatible names, ie short 2-20 characters.

No spaces and Pure alphanumeric.

eg

User uploaded file


6. Use same rules for wireless. Set security to WPA2 Personal..

use a password of 10-20 characters mixed case and numbers... but still pure alphanumeric.

User uploaded file

You can use a different name for 5ghz if you want.


User uploaded file

You can also set channels at least for 2.4ghz I am not sure if 5ghz is relevant for AC models.


7. Set up correct mode. Open the network tab.


either router. This is what NAT means.. that the TC becomes a NAT router.

User uploaded file


or bridge. That makes the TC into a non-routing device.. WAN is allocated to LAN and

the TC is a dumb Wireless Access Point, Switch and network hard disk.

User uploaded file

8. Make sure the Internet is set correctly.. for most people it will be dhcp.

PPPoE is for adsl bridged modems in the most part.

(Static is tricky and generally used

only when the ISP allocates you a block of IPs.. although I use it for changing DNS. )


User uploaded file

3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 18, 2014 12:53 PM in response to ryrasmussen

It should still be possible to access the TC.


Is this a new TC you have never setup before?


What is the network setup if the TC has already been working? What modem/router do you have? How is the TC setup, bridge or router?


I would recommend the following steps.


1. Make sure ipv6 is set to link-local on both the ethernet (if applicable) and wireless on your computer. For example in wifi network prreferences open the advanced and go to TCP/IP tab.


User uploaded file

Plug into the TC with ethernet.. LAN port <--> to your computer. Try and use a different computer if your existing one has no ethernet.. or buy the thunderbolt to ethernet adapter which is useful and not over expensive.


2. Check the router address in the box above.. in your setup if the TC is bridged it will have the IP of your main router which is a bit useless to us.. but if the TC is the main router you will see its address.. by default it is 10.0.1.1


3. Now attempt the setup again using the utility. No luck.. factory reset it.


4. Factory reset instructions.

Unplug your TC/AE. Hold in reset. and power the TC/AE back on.. all without releasing reset and keep holding in for about 10sec.

Release it when the status light flashes rapidly. If it doesn’t flash rapidly you have missed it and try again.

Be Gentle! Feel the switch click on. It has a positive feel.. add no more pressure after that.

TC/AE will reboot after a couple of minutes with default factory settings and will wipe out previous configurations.

No files are deleted on the hard disk.. No reset of the TC deletes files.. to do that you use erase from the airport utility.


5. Now try again with the airport utility. You can do this in full isolation if necessary.. just the computer and the TC.. don't over worry if it puts the TC in the wrong mode.. You can fix it after the event.


6. If things keep going wrong try using the iOS version airport utility as it is somewhat more robust to do this initial setup.


If everything goes pear shaped.. it is always good to start over again.. another factory reset.

This time do it manually and ensure you use ethernet.


These are the steps for manual configuration.


1. Make sure you are getting an IP in the computer from the TC.. the router must show 10.0.1.1 after a reset.


Check the network preferences and the same screenshot as above will give you the details.


2. Open the airport utility and go to the top menu area. Open File / Configure Other.


User uploaded file

3. Type in your IP address.. after a factory reset there is no password required. But if it complains it is public

Click ok.

User uploaded file



4. You will then get the full edit screens where you can manually setup the TC to whatever you want.


User uploaded file


5. For mavericks I strongly recommend changing to all SMB compatible names, ie short 2-20 characters.

No spaces and Pure alphanumeric.

eg

User uploaded file


6. Use same rules for wireless. Set security to WPA2 Personal..

use a password of 10-20 characters mixed case and numbers... but still pure alphanumeric.

User uploaded file

You can use a different name for 5ghz if you want.


User uploaded file

You can also set channels at least for 2.4ghz I am not sure if 5ghz is relevant for AC models.


7. Set up correct mode. Open the network tab.


either router. This is what NAT means.. that the TC becomes a NAT router.

User uploaded file


or bridge. That makes the TC into a non-routing device.. WAN is allocated to LAN and

the TC is a dumb Wireless Access Point, Switch and network hard disk.

User uploaded file

8. Make sure the Internet is set correctly.. for most people it will be dhcp.

PPPoE is for adsl bridged modems in the most part.

(Static is tricky and generally used

only when the ISP allocates you a block of IPs.. although I use it for changing DNS. )


User uploaded file

Jan 19, 2014 7:28 AM in response to ryrasmussen

Thank you LaPastenague,


It was an old TimeCapsule, that's been running for a year and half.

About 14 days ago, its wireless network started behaving oddly, until I finally lost all contact a couple of days ago.


I finally restablished contact by doing a factory reset of the TC and connecting them with a ethernet cable, while also disconnecting them from all other connections - wired and wireless.


(then it took a factory reset of my broadband service providers router to restablish connection to the internet - but that's another story)

Airport Utility shows "unexpected error - please try again" when connecting to Time Capsule

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