Airport Express issues
Posted by: thesherrif on 09 March 2008
There has been much discussion re streaming music files from a pc/laptop to an Airport Express (AE) connected to an amplifier. I (in case anyone hasn't twigged)am a fan of the technology, using the digital output of the AE fed into a Supernait optical input.
I wanted to share with you my recent experience which you would do well to avoid if you go down this path. One of my sources is to stream from a laptop running Windows XP, to the AE etc. No problem in setting up the AE (if you ignore the rubbish documentation) and the results are impressive if the rips are lossless. So, recently I decided to buy another AE for my daughter so that she could set up a similar itunes /AE set up on her system.
Could I get the AE installed? Could I buggery. After much head scratching and cat kicking I resorted to the internet for help.......and found the answer. Windows VISTA cannot run the AE instal program! Windows XP can, but Vista cannot.
I eventually found a "work around" but..... before anyone rushes out and buys an AE....... BEWARE !
Posted on: 09 March 2008 by Exiled Highlander
sherrif
quote:
and found the answer. Windows VISTA cannot run the AE instal program!
Ah! So Apple is slow to produce a Vista install program/driver for Vista...I wonder why that would be?
Cheers
Jim (owner/user of 3 AE's at home).
Posted on: 09 March 2008 by u5227470736789524
Anyone else having trouble with their AE after upgrading to Leopard ? My AE shows connected to my wireless network but when scanning for a AE to control from iTunes it is unable to locate a base. Sorry for that explanation, I don't really speak the lingo, but it was all setup and running fine prior to Leopard.
Jeff A
Posted on: 09 March 2008 by garyi
Yea its not like vista has any issues with any other hardware out there. Curse that apple
Posted on: 09 March 2008 by Exiled Highlander
Jeff
Does the AE show up in the Airport Utility program? I guess this will end up in the Padded Cell since it is not really an audio topic though...
Cheers
Jim
Posted on: 09 March 2008 by u5227470736789524
quote:
Originally posted by Exiled Highlander:
Jeff
Does the AE show up in the Airport Utility program?
Cheers
Jim
No, it does not, but it shows in the Mac network as "turned on" with the address. I have reset, unplugged, reset, etc the AE so many times over the past month, I gave up. Lost my internet usage at one point (the AE did not show "on" in the network ) and determined that was more important than sending stuff to the AE.
Agree, other than thesheriff using a Supernait, the topic more appropriate (and I belong) in the Padded Cell.
Jeff A
Posted on: 09 March 2008 by Edot
Jeff,
I'm having some problems. I recently got a new black iBook and am running the latest version of Leopard. When I click the Airport logo it indicates that it's scanning for a base station. It seems to do this continuously. My older iBook only scanned when looking for a new base station. My Express now sometimes hangs and never did in the past. Turning Airport off then on and restarting Safari usually solves the problem. Hopefully this will get fixed in the next Leopard update but it's not too big a problem.
Posted on: 09 March 2008 by Exiled Highlander
Jeff
If it is installed properly I believe it should show up in the Airport Utility....why don't you run setup on it again? I have no problems with any of mine at all with Leopard...
Cheers
Jim
Posted on: 09 March 2008 by garyi
Sounds like it wants are hard reset and setting up again.
Posted on: 09 March 2008 by u5227470736789524
quote:
Originally posted by Edot:
Jeff,
I'm having some problems. I recently got a new black iBook and am running the latest version of Leopard. When I click the Airport logo it indicates that it's scanning for a base station. It seems to do this continuously. My older iBook only scanned when looking for a new base station.
Sorry you are having problems as well. I barely understand any of this and when it doesn't work right, it wears me out. Once in a blue moon, the scan finds it and when I try to set it up, it goes into "update", freezes, and drops out. The AE has been flashing yellow for over a month except for a momentary green when I have been lucky enough to get far enough in Utility.
Jeff A
Posted on: 09 March 2008 by u5227470736789524
Thanks for the info Jim and Gary, I have tried hard reset and setup numerous times, it rarely finds a base station for setup.
I have actually found a comfort zone with no AE (bought a new CD player
), but this thread (and a similar conversation with our IT contractor at work) prompted me to ask.
The timing with Leopard could be coincidence.
Jeff A
Posted on: 09 March 2008 by garyi
Most people do not bother to read the instructions and this is a shame.
For mac users plug the express into the mac via ethernet then plug it into a wall, it will be found by the aiport utility then set it up.
For windows users plug it into the router via ethernet then set it up.
Most people seem to assume they can set it up wirelessly. You cannot. You need to set it up wired first.
Posted on: 09 March 2008 by Exiled Highlander
Garyi
quote:
You need to set it up wired first.
Not true IMO....sorry, but I set all mine up wirelessly...
Jeff
It sounds like it could be a hardware fault....worth trying another one just to see....
Cheers
Jim
Posted on: 09 March 2008 by u5227470736789524
quote:
Originally posted by garyi:
Most people do not bother to read the instructions and this is a shame.
For mac users plug the express into the mac via ethernet then plug it into a wall, it will be found by the aiport utility then set it up.
For windows users plug it into the router via ethernet then set it up.
Most people seem to assume they can set it up wirelessly. You cannot. You need to set it up wired first.
Gary, I respect you know way more about this stuff than I do.
Mine was initially set up with no ethernet cable from the chair I am in at the moment, perhaps I was just lucky but it "held" and worked fine for 6 months.
I used the instructions during initial setup, and you may be right about me doing it wrong as the unit did nothing the instructions led me to anticipate (not unusual for me and computers, I would still use a rotary phone if I could and no, I don't own or use a cell phone), except work in the end. I will attempt to uninstall, reinstall and setup using a connection to my MacBook .... but some other day.
Thanks for your interest and help.
Jeff A
Posted on: 09 March 2008 by u5227470736789524
quote:
Originally posted by Exiled Highlander:
Garyi
quote:
You need to set it up wired first.
Not true IMO....sorry, but I set all mine up wirelessly...
Jeff
It sounds like it could be a hardware fault....worth trying another one just to see....
Cheers
Jim
Jim, if by hardware fault you mean the AE base, I only have the one, no others or spares. Thanks for your input.
I appreciate that you and Gary have spent time helping me. Someday I will revisit AE.
Jeff A
Posted on: 09 March 2008 by garyi
Highlander. The airport express to be set up fuss free and easily needs to be hardwired intially otherwise hows it going to get onto your secured wireless network?
It is secured I assume?
Posted on: 09 March 2008 by Exiled Highlander
Garyi
Yes it is secured. I secure it at the router by allowing only the MAC addresses I specify access to my wirless LAN. So right now, 4 Mac's, 1 Dell and 3 AE's have network access granted by me as the adminstrator.
Oh, and yes I have a very secure password on the Linksys router.
Cheers
Jim
Posted on: 09 March 2008 by Exiled Highlander
Jeff
Try
this also. It may help.
Cheers
Jim
Posted on: 09 March 2008 by u5227470736789524
quote:
Originally posted by Exiled Highlander:
Jeff
Try
this also. It may help.
Cheers
Jim
Thanks for the link.
Posted on: 10 March 2008 by Asp
quote:
Originally posted by garyi:
otherwise hows it going to get onto your secured wireless network?
I can only speak for Windows XP.
What the setup progam does is take over Windows's wireless and set it to work in ad-hoc mode (even if you initially had it setup in infrastructure mode). It will then connect directly to the AE bypassing your access point. You then setup the AE including keying-in WEP/WPA keys. Windows' wireless setting will then be reset to its original state after the setup.
quote:
Originally posted by thesherrif:
Windows VISTA cannot run the AE instal program! Windows XP can, but Vista cannot.
Found this out the hard way too when trying to setup a friend's AE about a year or so back when he got a new Vista notebook.
However I bought a new AE a couple of months back and it clearly states on the box that it supports Vista. Apple's website does too:
http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/specs.htmlI haven't tried it though.
Posted on: 16 March 2008 by Guido Fawkes
quote:
before anyone rushes out and buys an AE....... BEWARE !
Anybody who rushes out and buys Vista should beware.
Hardly Apple's fault that another company's latest OS doesn't have the backwards compatibility to run tried and tested software.
