Time Capsule Constantly Failing To Be Recognized By Airport Utility

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Time Capsule Constantly Failing To Be Recognized By Airport Utility

I have a Time Capsule 3 TB. I also have an Airport Extreme and an Airport Express that extend my network.

The Airport Extreme is set to Bridge Mode and is located in my basement television room having an ethernet cable plugged into it. My Airport Express is set to extend the network as is plugged into a wall outlet on my second floor and wirelessly extends the network. My Time Capsule is plugged into my computer via Ethernet. I have a logitech security camera plugged into my Airport Express.

I find that the Airport Utility appears to periodically (about twice a week) drop the connection (report that it can't find the device-either Airport Extreme or Time Capsule). A yellow warning label with an exclamation point in it shows up next to the device and the only option I am given is for Airport Utility to "forget the device." The Airport Extreme and/or Time Capsule shows a green steady light on the front, suggesting no problems with the device even though Airport Utility is reporting it can't find it.

To get the device to show up in Airport Utility I have to unplug it (either Time Capsule or Airport Extreme) and plug it back in to power.

I have Airport Utility on my iPhone 6 and iPad. The utility shows the same message that is shown in Airport Utility on my Mac Pro late 2012 running OS 10.10.5.

Strange thing is that I appear to be connected to the internet even though the Time Capsule is reporting that Airport Utility can't find it. Additionally, I can back up to the Time Capsule via Time Machine when the Time Capsule is showing this error message in Airport Utility.

I'm not sure why I seem to have this "rolling" issue that appears about every three or four days on my network. I set up my network as if it were new about a week ago, but the problem has returned.

Part of the problem is that I used to name my backup drive on the Time Capsule. But when it is unplugged and plugged back in, then the backup can't be found and has to be created anew (which can take up to three days for 1.4 tb backup). So, I have left the backup named "Data" (which appears to be the default) and even then sometimes I get the error that Time Machine can't connect to the backup and I have to erase and do the backup all over again. I'm sure this is due to the rolling issue of having to unplug the device and plug it back in to get it to show up in Airport Utility.

The other strange thing is that the Time Capsule shows up at first, but the Airport Extreme doesn't. So when I unplug the Airport Extreme then the Time Capsule disappeared, rejecting the correct password and then then after a short while reporting it could not be found by Airport Utility although it was found just moments prior.

Anyone else having this issue? Any suggestions for correction?

Posted on Sep 27, 2015 8:55 AM

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Answer 1

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LaPastenague

Level 9

67,202 points

Sep 27, 2015 2:00 PM in response to Gene Surber

This is pure Yosemite.

Here is the start..

Start from a factory reset. No files are lost on the hard disk doing this.

Factory reset universal

Power off the TC.. ie pull the power cord or power off at the wall.. wait 10sec.. hold in the reset button.. be gentle.. power on again still holding in reset.. and keep holding it in for another 10sec. You may need some help as it is hard to both hold in reset and apply power. It will show success by rapidly blinking the front led. Release the reset.. and wait a couple of min for the TC to reset and come back with factory settings. If the front LED doesn’t blink rapidly you missed it and simply try again. The reset is fairly fragile in these.. press it so you feel it just click and no more.. I have seen people bend the lever or even break it. I use a toothpick as tool.

N.B. None of your files on the hard disk of the TC are deleted.. this simply clears out the router settings of the TC.

Setup the TC again.

Then redo the setup from the computer with Yosemite.

1. Use very short names.. NOT APPLE RECOMMENDED names. No spaces and pure alphanumerics.

eg TCgen5 for basestation and TCwifi wireless name.

If the issue is wireless use TC24ghz and TC5ghz with fixed channels as this also seems to help stop the nonsense. But this can be tried in the second round. ie plan on a first and second round of changes to fix this.. hopefully.. I will point out other steps that can be round2.

2. Use all passwords that also comply with 1. but can be a bit longer. ie 8-20 characters mixed case and numbers.. no non-alphanumerics.

3. If the TC is main router you can skip this point. This is only an issue when the TC is bridged.

Ensure the TC always takes the same IP address.. you will need to do this on the main router using dhcp reservation.. or a bit more complex setup using static IP in the TC. But this is important.. having IP drift all over the place when Yosemite cannot remember its own name for 5 min after a reboot makes for poor networking.

4. Check your share name on the computer is not changing.. make sure it also complies with the above.. short no spaces and pure alphanumeric.. but this change will mess up your TM backup.. so be prepared to do a new full backup. Sorry.. keep this one for second round if you want to avoid a new backup.

5. Mount the TC disk in the computer manually.

In Finder, Go, Connect to server from the top menu,

Type in SMB://192.168.0.254 (or whatever the TC ip is which you have now made static. As a router by default it is 10.0.1.1 and I encourage people to stick with that unless you know what you are doing).

You can use name.. SMB://TCgen5.local where you replace TCgen5 with your TC name.. local is the default domain of the TC and doesn't change.

However names are not so easy as IP address.. nor as reliable. At least not in Yosemite they aren't. The domain can also be an issue if you are not plugged or wireless directly to the TC.

6. Make sure IPv6 is set to link-local only in the computer. For example wireless open the network preferences, wireless and advanced / TCP/IP.. and fix the IPv6. to link-local only. Do the same for ethernet if you use it.

There is a lot more jiggery pokery you can try but the above is a good start.. if you find it still unreliable.. don't be surprised.

You might need to do some more work on the computer itself. eg Reset the PRAM.. has helped some people. Clean install of the OS is also helpful if you upgrade installed.

Tell us how you go.

Someone posted a solution.. See this thread.

Macbook can't find Time Capsule anymore

Start from the bottom and work up.. I have a list of good network practice changes but I have avoided Yosemites bug heaven.

Yosemite has serious DNS bug in the networking application.. here is the lets say more arcane method of fixing it by doing a network transplant from mavericks.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/01/why-dns-in-os-x-10-10-is-broken-and-what-yo u-can-do-to-fix-it/

Now this is the main router.. TC setup..

Once you have done that you need to do the airport extreme setup .. follow the same kind of rules..

Bridge the AE and setup create a wireless network (not extend wireless) with same name and security settings identical to the TC.

Then reset the Express and do that with your wireless extend.

After all that we are ready to start more troubleshooting if you find the issue has not improved..

I need screenshots of the setup after a reboot so I can track which is what in the setup.

I need to know what modem.. and the setup of the TC.. so as much as you can to fill in the picture.

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