Airport Express shows 'offline'
 

I have reset my Airport Express remote stations and tried to add it to a different network AE netweork (I only want to run Airtunes through it). I can see the Airport Express in Airport management tool and in Airport Setup Assistant but I can't get it to join my network: it says it's 'offline'. When I try to change its setting it asks for the password which I put in and then it locks up the Management Tool and I have to force quit it. iTunes can see it but can't play through it. I've tried a Factory reset as well but with no luck.

Initial setup is via cabled Ethernet only, is that what you're trying ?

Details about your network architecture and reasons why re-configuring (rather than resetting) didn't cut it would likewise be helpful.

MAC filtering does not appear to prevent devices sending Bonjour service discovery packets across the network, but connecting to them is usually not possible.

Is the network using MAC filtering, but the filters haven't been updated to include the base station?

When I've added a new Airport Express in the past I plug it in and boot up Airport Admin Utility. It identifies the new AE and askes me how I want to configure it. I've never had to plug in an Ethernet cable before.

My problem now is that after resetting the AE I can see the AE with the Admin Utility but I cannot configure it to play iTunes as an outstation of my AE network.
iTunes can see the AE, and recognise it by the name I've given it when setting up in Airport Admin facility, but it won't play to it.
I try to configure it by opening it in Airport management Utility but whilst it sees the AE in Rendezvous it can't configure it.

Have purchased new AE and it configured successfully straight on to network.
My old AE I haven't given up with yet. I have noticed that the new AE and my existing one that works both have IP addresses beginning 192 whereas the one that I can't get working and remains offline begins 169.

Any help?

It sounds like your Airport Express is malfunctioning. Is it still under warranty?

It seems to be malfunctioning but I'm not sure: It may be doing what it's supposed to do just not what I want it to do.

It's two years old and I think it's out of warranty.

Well I did a factory reset and AE appeared as a new network so I configured it as a new base station and played iTunes through it. Then I tried to add it to my old network - the one I access the internet from, print from and play music in other rooms from. I opened Airport Set Up Assistant but it wouldn't let me add it to my existing network. So I factory reset and now it's offline again. two of my AEs have 192 IPs and the other has 169 IP and they won't talk to each other.

Previously when I've added an AE from another network I'm sure Airport Set Up has let me add it.

Use wired ethernet for setting up the AEs and some planning how you want to set up your network and things will be just fine.

When you say 'use ethernet' do you mean connect my computer to the AE via an Ethernet cable. If so where do I look for the AE once I've plugged it in? Does it appear on the Desktop or in Airport Admin Utility?

In the Airport Admin Utility.

Should an AirPort ever show up on the Desktop, it's really time to lay off the booze ;) .

I'm beginning to think I would be better off with a drink!

OK I configured it with Ethernet through Airport Admin Utility - could only get Utility to recognise it on Ethernet if I turned of Airport on computer. So I want to add it to my network but I can't see my network because I've turned off Airport on computer. Turn Airport on computer back on, configure new base station via Admin Utility and wait for new AE to appear on my network.

It appears in Admin Utility but with different IP address 169. not 192. and says it's offline. Back where I started from.

Just to be clear, I can reboot the AE and make it a new network and even play iTunes through it but I can't get it to join my existing network.

Help!

Putting wired Ethernet first in the list of interfaces in the networks prefpane should be good enough, you can keep your Airport card running. But configuring is a completely distinct step from joining the APEs network you just set up - try not to mud up things - it's moderately complex to set up a network with more than one base station.

How would you like to configure your collection of AirPorts ?

What is the desired topography of the network ?

Once you got that part figured out, set up the APEs one by one according to your plan and that's it.

Thanks for reply.

I have three AEs. One is main base station and the second, which I bought new last week, I plugged in, turned on Airport Setup Assistant and asked it to add new AE to my existing network main base station. No problem, it took about 5 minutes from opening box to playing through iTunes.

My difficulty is the third AE which I had previously had connected to my network, for about two years, which decided not to connect to my network, to display itself as offline, and to take a different IP address - 169 instead of 192: this is the one I have been having dificulty with. And this all happened before I bought the second one I mentioned above.

I have another new AE on order but I am really frustrated that I can't get the old one to behave.

How many of your APEs are configured to serve as DHCP servers ?

You only want one of those in the whole network.

Do you use any encryption and if so, did you check the settings of the one that has difficulty joining ?

Apple has some really well done documentation on this - you might want to read some of it.

Only one is configured as a DHCP server. They're all set to the same 40 WEP.

Have read as much Apple documentation as I can find.

Not sure what else to do.

My Airport Express has also begun act oddly. In the last few days I've experienced the dreaded AirTunes dropout problem. And, when I use a network scanning program (like WakeOnLan) the AE shows up twice; once with a DHCP assigned IP address and once with 169.254.193.76 (which I assume is self-assigned). The Mac address for both IP's is the same: the wireless interface.

Very interesting. We seem to share the 169 IP address problem. I think I better understand what the problem isn't now so I'm going to strat a new tread.

Can't add AE to my network
 

I have a network of two computers both with Airport connecting wirelessly to two AEs one (the main) of which is connected to my router (via eternet) and one runs Airtunes. I want to add a third AE running Airtunes in another room. Normally it's easy to add an AE via Airport Setup Assistant but with my latest AE once I've tried to add it to the network (via Set Up Assistant or via Airport Admin Utility) it won't play airtunes because it is "offline" and shows a 169 IP address whereas my other two AEs show 192.

I have hard reset and factory reset but although I can set up the AE as a new base station and play airtunes through it, I cannot then add it to my existing network.

Not a problem to begin with.

Bad idea, unless you have a really new topic, otherwise we just lose context and gain nothing but redundant threads with similar replies.

I agree - I have merged Janner's new thread with this one. The topic certainly seems similar enough. (Janner's post from that new thread is #19 above)

Well you're the moderator but it seems that this thread has run out of replies and I am still no nearer resolving the issue.

Any more help would be much appreciated.

Don't neglect the possibility of the problem being a simple hardware failure.
Try swapping one of the AE's that is working with the troublesome one.

Thanks

I've swappped AE and can confirm that it's the troublesome AE which is giving me the trouble. I don't understand why it's behaving in a different way to the others: I wish I could find out.

It could be a hardware fault: there are some other threads on this forum which I've subsequently found which seemed to be different when I wrote the original post but I now think they're probably the same issue. But they're all unresolved.

Well, moderation is never perfect.

Same thing recently happened to me. Thread took a wrong turn and ran out of gas. I tried to restate the issue in a new thread. Mods merged the new thread into the old one and it stayed dead.

I posted the new thread with the improved title and language on a different forum and got an answer right away.

Maybe you should try a different venue or ask the mods to change the title of this thread to more accurately state the issue.

If you have two pieces of what is supposed to be identical hardware, both configured identically, and one of them works and the other doesn't, that seems to definitely point to a hardware problem.
The solution is to throw away the bad unit and buy a new one.
You must have spent more time (= money) on this already than the cost of a new one.

You mean, in theory.
In practice (on these forums), it is.
:)

Hayne

Thanks for your encouragement.

I certainly have spent more time than I should have on trying to fix an inexpensive piece of hardware. When my new AE arrives (any day now, I'm told by the store) then I'll happily pack the troublesome one away in a cupboard until a rainy winter's evening. In the meantime it just niggles at me that there seems to be something I should be able to fix that I can't: I'm sure many our your correspondents feel the same.

Anyway I have no further changes to add but for all you readers I woulkd welcome any more ideas.