Airport Express Woes Revisited??

[Charlie Jefferson]

After a month of (mostly) superb connectivity I am having my first major meltdown when using AE/iPhone's remote app. I can't seem to access my iTunes library from either my iPhone or even stream songs "manually" from the computer to the AE. Although the AE's green light is on solid green there is nothing happening music wise. In fact the Airport Express tab has disappeared from my iTunes interface.

I've re-started the computer and the iPhone but to no avail. Any thoughts anyone?

 

[John Duncan]

Shh, Joel will hear...

Will discuss tomorrow when I have a bit more time.

 

[John Duncan]

(but reboot the router, the AE and the computer, in that order, for starters...)

 

[professorhat]

As John says, welcome to the world of wireless networks! Easiest way to reset the AE units is to unplug them and then plug them back in again. Sometimes you have to connect to them via the Airport tool and reboot them that way. Sometimes you even have to reset from default (which reminds me, if you haven't backed up your AE unit, do so once you have it working correctly).

It's generally just a random thing which can't be explained - I can't tell you the number of times I've had to sort out my Windows XP laptop as it's suddenly refused to connect to my wireless network so don't think this is purely an Apple thing. One day, wireless networks will just work. Unfortuntely, we haven't quite reached that day yet and every now and then, they need a little TLC and massaging to get them going again!

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

Thanks Prof/John,

It's up & running again. Restarting all three components seemed to do the trick.

Which brings me to another salient question: what is the most (cost) effective means of backing up my 500GB external hard drive? It's over three quarters full and houses all my digital tunes, so I need to do two things really. Increase the storage capacity and also be able to back it up. Is the answer simply one or two more external drives? Oh, and is it simple to back-up data from one external drive to another ext drive? The internal drive is kept music-free for family use, so that's not a factor.

ProfH, forgive me, but what do you mean exactly when you suggest backing up my Airport Express?

Peace in a wireless world. . .

 

[professorhat]

Another external drive is certainly the easiest way I know of to backup, and probably the cheapest given the prices at the moment. On backing up the AE unit, I can't remember if you have a Mac or PC, but for the Mac, you go into the Airport Utility, highlight the Airport device and click on the Manual Setup button. If you're prompted, enter the password to configure it and then go to File > Save a Copy As... and choose a location to save it. What this means is, if the wireless ever goes completely nuts and you have to reset it back to default, you can just choose File > Import... from the Airport Utility and choose your config file to restore it exactly as it was before, saving you having to go through the hassle of setting it all up again. Ideally, do this every time you make a change to the wireless setup and for each of your AE units.

 

[Charlie Jefferson]

Thanks for that.

I'm on a Mac , so will back-up the AE, as outlined. Seems a good time-saving idea for possible future times.