Airport Express (A1392) Bricked by 7.6.9 Update

Question

Level 1

27 points

Airport Express (A1392) Bricked by 7.6.9 Update

After successfully updating one Airport Express (A1392) from 7.6.8 to 7.6.9, the update of the second Airport Express (A1392) from 7.6.8 to 7.6.9 failed.

I have tried all three Resets (Soft, Hard, and Factory) to no avail. It briefly blinks green and the Ethernet ports blink, then the light goes to a steady orange.

Can an Airport Express be “un-bricked” at an Apple Store e.g. by applying the firmware update via the USB port?

Thanks in advance — GetRealBro

Posted on Dec 15, 2017 11:10 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Bob Timmons

Level 10

185,018 points

Dec 15, 2017 11:21 AM in response to GetRealBro

Can an Airport Express be “un-bricked” at an Apple Store e.g. by applying the firmware update via the USB port?

Sorry, but no.

It briefly blinks green and the Ethernet ports blink, then the light goes to a steady orange.

Unfortunately, that is a symptom of a failed power supply. If you have AppleCare in effect on a Mac, Apple will usually replace an AirPort that fails up to three years from the purchase date of the AirPort. The "rules" are tricky, so you'll need to get with Apple to go over things.

Reply

Answer 2

GetRealBro Author

Level 1

27 points

Dec 16, 2017 7:53 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Bob Timmons wrote:

It briefly blinks green and the Ethernet ports blink, then the light goes to a steady orange.

Unfortunately, that is a symptom of a failed power supply. ..

So the power supply on my 3 yr old Airport Express failed, coincidentally with, or because of, my attempt to upgrade it’s firmware using Apple’s Airport Utility, rendering it useless. That would make this 3 yr old, pampered Airport Express the most fragile of the many Airports I’ve installed, configured, reconfigured, updated, and generally abused, since I pulled the ORiNOCO card out of my 2nd graphite Airport and put it in my PowerBook 2400c, to have a wireless network in my house.

A power supply failure coinciding with a firmware update is certainly possible, but seems less likely than a software glitch during the firmware update process damaging the "factory" firmware.

In any case, a new Airport Express is on it’s way. I’ll update it ASAP, in case the update bricks it too. You can still buy new Airport Expresses. But a new Airport Extreme that supports SNMP, is not so easy to find. So I won’t be updating my 5th Gen. Airport Extreme. Too much risk, for too little gain. We live in the country, where the only creatures close enough to execute a KRACK attack are the deer, raccoons, foxes, ….. 🙂

— GetRealBro

Reply

Answer 3

Bob Timmons

Level 10

185,018 points

Dec 15, 2017 5:42 PM in response to UCrazyKid

You have a different issue. This thread is about AirPort(s) that have a solid amber light.....not blinking amber.

You would not be able to even try to set up your AirPorts if your AirPorts had a solid amber light.

Please start a new thread for your issue. Include information on what device you are using to set up the AirPorts and what operating system is installed on the device.

Reply

Answer 4

Dec 15, 2017 4:42 PM in response to GetRealBro

I have 2 airport expresses and 1 airport extreme. After the 7.6.9 update 2 are now bricked. They have a steady green light but are not connected to the network and cannot be seen by Airport Utility. After a hard restart they can be seen on wifi but the process to set them up repeatedly fails. Apple has ruined 2 of my routers in one fell swoop. Help!

Reply

Answer 5

Bob Timmons

Level 10

185,018 points

Dec 18, 2017 2:29 PM in response to GetRealBro

Not sure what you mean by separate power supplies. The 5th Gen and earlier models used both an external and internal power supply on the product.

There was an external power supply "brick" that was easy to replace, and it would sometimes bring new life to the AirPort. Maybe that was what you mean by "separate".

But, the internal power supply was part of the main circuit board, and replacing that meant finding a working used AirPort, since Apple did not sell the part. But, if you could find a working used AirPort, it was much simpler to use that product rather than take it apart to rob the parts to install in the AirPort that had failed.

Reply

Answer 6

Dec 18, 2017 1:42 PM in response to GetRealBro

For what it’s worth, the update I applied yesterday bricked my 5th gen AirPort Extreme. Totally dead. No lights. No reset ability. Assuming the power supply someh was fried, but I don’t know.

Reply

Answer 7

GetRealBro Author

Level 1

27 points

Dec 18, 2017 3:05 PM in response to Bob Timmons

Good Point!

I was thinking the external “brick” might have failed, since there is no light activity at all. But after thinking some more, the “brick” is really just a transformer AC->DC. So it is much less likely to be stressed during a firmware update. Still it might be worth a try, just to be sure (e.g. assuming a friend has a “brick” to temporary lend for the test).

FWIW my new Airport Express arrived today and I have updated it to 7.6.9 with no problem 🙂

— GetRealBro

Reply

Answer 8

GetRealBro Author

Level 1

27 points

Dec 18, 2017 2:20 PM in response to Gr8lakertri

5Th Gen Airport Extremes have separate power supplies. So you should be able to replace it or find an equivalent fairly easily.

--- GetRealBro

Reply