Can't connect to USB drives on Airport Extreme

Question

Can't connect to USB drives on Airport Extreme

I am unable to connect to any of my USB disks on my new Airport Extreme (I have four connected). I can see them when I click on the network in finder and the drives also show up when I connect with afp. When I try to connect by clicking on the drive names in finder, I get "The operation can’t be completed because the original item for “drivename” can’t be found." Sometimes it lets me connect by typing in the path afp://Name._afpovertcp._tcp.local and then clicking on the drives, but that is hit or miss.

I had been experiencing similar issues with my first generation Airport Express base station lately, too. I've retired that and replaced it with the new one and that hasn't helped.

I am using a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid-2015), OS X 10.11.6.

It's getting frustrating and making my work unmanageable.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Feb 8, 2017 12:05 PM

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Answer 1

Bob Timmons

Level 10

195,658 points

Feb 8, 2017 12:49 PM in response to Hudson_Ferris

I had been experiencing similar issues with my first generation Airport Express base station

You may have meant to say that you have a first generation AirPort Extreme.....since an AirPort Express will not support a hard drive at all.....only a compatible USB printer.

We don't want to ask you to waste time performing troubleshooting steps that you may have already performed, so it would be really helpful if you could tell us more about what you may have tried.

For example, have you power cycled the entire network? Connected a hard drive directly to the AirPort Extreme to see if it will function normally that way? Will other hard drives work that way as well?

The make and model number of the drive(s) would help, since other users may have the same products and be able to help that way.

The USB firmware on a new AirPort Extreme is going to be different than the firmware on an older AirPort, and Apple may have changed some of the parameters on USB drive compatibility, so the USB hub that worked before may not work correctly at this time.

There's just any number of possibilities......

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Answer 2

Mar 17, 2017 9:09 AM in response to Hudson_Ferris

This is a very recent issue for me as well. I have the latest AirPort Extreme. I seem to recall a recent firmware update--within the last couple months-- that coincides with my inability to access. I can plug the drive straight into my MBPro and it functions just fine. If I try to access through connecting to my AirPort I get the "can't find" error mentioned. The drive shows up in finder just fine though. It's a WD2T USB3 external, I believe it was the mac branded one.

Unfortunately, I do not have an additional drive to test.

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Answer 3

Mar 17, 2017 9:27 AM in response to GOVStooge

Just confirmed. Connect to server... "afp://AirPortName.Local/DriveName" will connect but it appears to default to SMB when going through finder

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