Is Time Capsule half dead?

All Gen4 TC are now out of warranty. They are at least 4 years old.

But this discussion is old now.. and we have discovered more about the problem.

The old slap or drop technique lead to taking a more serious approach of removing the main board and reflowing the solder in oven.. please read the details here.

Gen4 A1409 issues - LaPastenague

The set of symptoms is normally no light at all comes one.. the board is dead.. but the power supply is working and the disk still spins. There are variations in symptoms.. but as long as the power supply is actually working then the TC should be repairable by the solder reflow method. This has proven to work very well.. if it does fix the TC it seems to be pretty permanent. That doesn't mean it will last forever of course.

As a BTW the Gen4 TC came into service June 2011 and was replaced by Gen5 TC June 2013 so an older TC is 5-6years old and that is about the max lifespan you can expect from domestic routers running 24/7.

It is simply time for a replacement.

This is sadly the typical failure characterisitics of the Gen4 TC. It is completely different problem to any of the previous generations.

You may try the old slap up.. with the TC unpowered. Hit it fairly hard. You probably think I am joking but no.. for some this fixes it.. albeit briefly. The power supply has not failed.. that is proven by the hard disk spinning up. This is likely a poor solder join on the board.

What I do strongly recommend is to do your best to get apple to replace it. Even if out of warranty applecare on a computer covers the TC. But there are other ways if it is less than 2years old.

https://sites.google.com/site/lapastenague/a-deconstruction-of-routers-and-modem s/apple-time-capsule-repair/gen4-a1409-issues

If I didn't unplug it, it would still be on right now but because I unplugged it, (look out)!

It will still eventually fail.. but yes, start up is the problem once it is off.

Where do you hit it upside the head & knock some sense into it from the bottom or the top?

I would bring it down on the table .. so on the rubber base with a decent thud.. Try a power on.. if it runs great..

No luck then open palmed slap across the 1/3 next to the power and ethernet ports. All the electronics is in there. The other 2/3 is the hard disk which you really don't want to hit at all. (I can hardly believe I am writing this.. it is crazy. 😢)

The TC is sandwiched fairly tightly.. so knocks from either side should really hit the same things.. it is just a case of which side of the board is the problem on.

I would only bother with this if there is data you want off the TC.. if not get it replaced.. you should have done that at the first sign of trouble.. it was never going to get better.

Now when I get the new one should I delete the sparse bundle off the time machine

A new one is clean.. no sparsebundle.. you simply direct TM to the TC and it will start afresh when it sees there is no backup.

There is no repair program.. your old one will not be fixed.. it will be scrapped because there is no choice.. apple supply no parts. You will get a new one with a new disk.. If you remove the disk of the present one you break the warranty so don't do it.

Now you said when I get the new one there won't be any sparse bundle. Is that just starting in and rejoining the network or is that starting from the beginning again. Create a new network.

You are confusing two things.

The network setup which must be done.. naturally a new one has no network configuration yet.. so it must be plugged in and setup for your network.

Once you do that, then using Time Machine to back up to it.. that is entirely different matter. You can use the TC without connection to the current network if you so choose.. and simply use it for backup device.. that is more complicated really but the two things are completely and utterly different.

Since this one is broken this is what it's asking me to do now because it lost the network name and is just asking to rejoin my network but I don't have to start from the beginning again it's more like it's saying that my existing network isn't available from the list of already available networks (which are other people's networks in the network list) and just asks me to re-input the network name, security and password and then has a button (join). But it can't join because it can't find the failed Time Capsule.

Plug your computer by ethernet into the main router.. you do not need the TC. Or you can buy another wireless router.. you do not need a Time Capsule for backups.. there are other ways to skin the cat.

So when I get the new one do I have to join a new network from the beginning again or will it do now and just ask me to put in my Network name, security and password. That I don't think would be starting from the exact beginning because all the information is still in Airport Utility you see.

New TC is blank.. empty.. defaults.. name is combo of Airport Time Capsule and MAC address.. same for wireless. That is how everyone arrives.

So when you get the TC.. you need to setup the router part. Open the airport utility and run through the setup wizard. At the end of that 2min process you have a working router.

Then you can delete the TM current settings. And start over.

See A4 here. http://pondini.org/TM/Troubleshooting.html

The new TC will have a blank disk. You will start all over again to create a backup.

Also when I get the new one should I delete the Time Machine plist file so that it starts fresh or does this sparse bundle automatically go away when a new Time Capsule is hitched up and forces you to start over from the very beginning again in Airport Utility?

The A4 above covers this..

You seem to think there is detailed info about the setup on the computer.. actually there is hardly anything.. merely the name of the TC and its wireless. You simply start over.. clean and fresh. use completely new names.. short no spaces and pure alphanumeric. Not the names the setup in airport utility will suggest. It is much better that way.

LOL.. 🙂

It is the threat of a good slap..

I find all kinds of things start working when i start waving the hot soldering iron over it.. (or sharpening the axe!!)

I have probably a similar problem with my 4th gen TC. After making some configuration changes, my TC does not seem to boot anymore. The amber light is solid and this doesn't seem to change. Resetting does not work (it seems to not respond to the reset button at all), neither does unpowering. I feel the TC slightly fibrating, so the disk has spun up. Any suggestions?

Leave it overnight to cool right off.

But the normal problem with solid amber is dead hard disk.. The vibration you feel could be the fan running.

A dead disk is easy to repair or get apple to replace if you can.

Very rare there can be power supply problems. But Apple used the cheapest WD green drive in the Gen4 and they are not the most reliable drive.

I didn't know the TimeCapsule has a fan. That may be indeed what has been fibrating. Will try again tomorrow. Thanks for your reply!

After having had my TC turned off for an hour or 6, I turned it on again. The led is solid amber still, but when I power the TC on I clearly hear the HDD spin up. What I wonder about is why the TC would not boot up in case of a broken HDD. I mean, the TC's OS is probably stored on a separate flash device.

Anyway, my 4th generation TC appears to be dead.