Disappearing External Hard Drive

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Level 1

8 points

Disappearing External Hard Drive

I use a Synology Hard Drive for music storage. Until recently this was connected with an ethernet cable to an Airport Extreme which connected then to a Mac Mini which I use as a player. After a power shut down the Synology has become invisible/unusable when connected to the Airport (and the Hard Drive's LAN light doesn't come on). But when I connect it directly to an ethernet circuit (set up to extend a network established by another airport functioning as a router) the external Hard Drive becomes visible. The problems with that are that transfer speeds are much slower (although not slow enough to affect sound quality) and iTunes needs to have the file for each song identified and selected individually in order to play.

Any suggestions on how to make the Hard Drive recognisable again with a direct connection to the Airport? Is the glitch more likely to be with the Airport or the Synology drive?

Airport Extreme-OTHER, iOS 7.0.4

Posted on Sep 1, 2016 3:49 PM

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Answer 1

Sep 1, 2016 9:18 PM in response to petew16

When I saw the title I was sure this was going to be another USB Hard disk issue.. We don't get a lot of issues with Synology which are excellent products in the main.

I would say your test procedure indicates the issue is with the Airport Extreme. Since the Synology does work when plugged into an alternative device on the network.

The Network light not on shows a basic connectivity issue. I suspect the power shutdown has corrupted the configuration of the AE.. it is odd but it happens.

My recommendation is simply factory reset the AE and start with a new clean configuration.

If you're using a very old AE.. then let me add a couple of issues..

AE must be connected by ethernet to the rest of the network. And then in bridge mode and create a wireless network.. not extend..

Or it must be in extend a wireless network (from another Apple router) and no ethernet to its wan port.

You must not use Join a wireless network. That option is not even available in later Airport Utility for an Extreme.. but it is still possible to get it messed up using earlier utility.

Let me also say old AE can fail on the ethernet ports. What model exactly is the AE?? If it is more than say 5years it is time to update regardless.

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Answer 2

petew16 Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 1, 2016 9:40 PM in response to LaPastenague

Thanks for the careful, through and helpful reply. Until recently the AE was in 'extend a network' mode and connected with an ethernet cable via one of the LAN ports rather than the WAN port. It worked well: quick, readily accessible etc. and It's only since the power outage that the problem has occurred.

I'd already done a factory reset (in fact done it twice) and I've now tried both of the setups you suggest. None of these helped. So it probably is, as you say, down to an old AE (yes, it's more than 5 years old: Model No A1355 so I think I should follow your recommendation ASAP).

Cheers

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Answer 3

Sep 1, 2016 10:59 PM in response to petew16

Ok.. you will hardly believe it but I have tracked down ethernet problems on A1355 TC in the past.

https://sites.google.com/site/lapastenague/a-deconstruction-of-routers-and-modem s/apple-time-capsule-repair/new-issue-with-a1355-gen-3-tc

Check the bad or unreliable section.

If you have any DIYer skills.. the fix was terrible simple.. solder a capacitor into the 1.8v power line.

The issue is rare.. usually they die completely.

However it is time to think of replacement.. it has served well for >5 years.

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Answer 4

petew16 Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 2, 2016 12:24 AM in response to LaPastenague

Good pick up. Once upon a time I might've trusted myself to try this sort of fix but now I think I'm probably more proficient with a credit card than a soldering iron.

Thanks again. I thoroughly appreciate your efforts.

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