Apple updates AirPort Base Station software

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Apple on Tuesday updated its AirPort Base Station software for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, as well as recent version of the Windows operating system.



The 11.4MB update began showing up via the Mac OS X Software Update application as "AirPort Base Station Update 2008-001" earlier this afternoon for those users who own one of the company's 802.11 routers.



According to Apple's "release notes," the update includes general fixes and compatibility updates for AirPort Utility, AirPort Disk Utility, and AirPort Base Station Agent.



Shortly thereafter, a similar set of updates were released via the company's website under the heading "AirPort Utility 5.3.1." Those distributions was made available as a 8.8MB download for Leopard, a 9.33MB download for Tiger, and a 10.28MB download for Windows XP and Vista.



"AirPort Utility v5.3.1 is the simple to use, setup and management utility for the AirPort Express Base Station, the AirPort Extreme Base Station and Time Capsule," Apple said in the release notes for those downloads.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 27
    gigigigi Posts: 65member
    Did this update contain the possibility to backup with time machine over the air with a regular airport extreme?
  • Reply 2 of 27
    ringoringo Posts: 329member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gigi View Post


    Did this update contain the possibility to backup with time machine over the air with a regular airport extreme?



    I sure hope so, but I don't see any mention of a firmware update being part of this.
  • Reply 3 of 27
    deapeajaydeapeajay Posts: 909member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gigi View Post


    Did this update contain the possibility to backup with time machine over the air with a regular airport extreme?



    Crossing my fingers that it does
  • Reply 4 of 27
    foo2foo2 Posts: 1,077member
    No problems before. Now with 5.3.1 I can't access the configurations of my AEs. Setup just sits and spins.
  • Reply 5 of 27
    aplnubaplnub Posts: 2,605member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Foo2 View Post


    No problems before. Now with 5.3.1 I can't access the configurations of my AEs. Setup just sits and spins.



    No problems here with my stuff.
  • Reply 6 of 27
    Anyone who has applied this update to an AEBSn want to let us know if the USB Disk sharing bug is fixed? I had applied the 7.2.1 update and lost the ability to see my USB drives on my local network.



    I finally downgraded back to the original 7.1 and all is well. Also, auto-mount of the drives was disabled under 7.2.1, so I hope this was fixed.



    dwilliams
  • Reply 7 of 27
    zandroszandros Posts: 537member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Foo2 View Post


    No problems before. Now with 5.3.1 I can't access the configurations of my AEs. Setup just sits and spins.



    Mine won't even see my Airport Extreme Gigabit Ethernet…



    /Adrian



    Edit: Issue resolved itself with a restart of the base station.
  • Reply 8 of 27
    Update applied fine for me.



    I hope this fixes the common disconnecting issue I have been experiencing over WiFi.
  • Reply 9 of 27
    dgandydgandy Posts: 2member
    So i just got the most recent update for the airport extreme and plugged my USB drive (w/ time machine backed up to it) into my airport extreme.

    Airport disk utility couldnt find it (of course) but when i went to "Go" --> "Connect to server" --> smb://[airport name]/Time Machine Backups" it logged in and a finder window popped up. Then Time Machine kicked in and started trying to backup (it said "preparing...") This went on for about a minute until it said "Time Machine Error" & "The backup disk image could not be created." Now when I click on "Select Disk..." the airport disk doesnt show up.



    it does seem like a start though and time machine definitely recognized the disk on the Airport Extreme, albeit for a brief minute.

    Also, when i clicked "backup now" from the little icon in the toolbar, it found the airport disk again and tried to backup, even though there werent any disks listed in the "select disk..." window.



    We'll see what happens.
  • Reply 10 of 27
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    If you have applied this update, please let us know if you can now select your Airport's external USB disk in the Time Machine control panel.



    Edit: thanks dgandy
  • Reply 11 of 27
    dgandydgandy Posts: 2member
    Don't know if this is standard or not, but when i selected "go" --> "connect to server" it never mounted the drive to the desktop; it only popped up the finder window of the airport disk.
  • Reply 12 of 27
    When I run Software Update I don't even see the update. I have an Airport Express, could that be why?
  • Reply 13 of 27
    i386i386 Posts: 91member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ringo View Post


    I sure hope so, but I don't see any mention of a firmware update being part of this.



    Firmware still the same 7.2.1 for the old Airport Extreme, as for Time Machine doesn't recognise it either (thought as much... )
  • Reply 14 of 27
    i386i386 Posts: 91member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by burkstrom View Post


    When I run Software Update I don't even see the update. I have an Airport Express, could that be why?



    I think it's only for the Extreme, the update doesn't include firmware as far as I can see.
  • Reply 15 of 27
    I installed the AirPort Utility 5.3.1 update, restarted my AEBS and didn't spot anything new - then a few minutes later the fan kicked in on the CPU - what's going on I thought and then noticed the new Leopard Time Machine display at the top of the screen rotating in an encouraging way - opened the Time Machine preferences and lo and behold, it was beginning the arduous task of backing up 65GB of data to my LaCie USB drive connected to the AEBS. This is further than it's ever gotten before so leaving it to run overnight and see if it succeeds.



    Note that the LaCie USB drive already had been hooked up locally to my PowerBook and Time Machine'd and then I'd moved it back to the AEBS and I'd tried out many of the subterfuges to get the AirDisk / Time Machine combo to work, but it never got past the initiating phase before quiting with an error. And despite the fact there is a valid Time Machine config on the LaCie USB drive, seems in this instance that's been ignored and Time Machine is backuping up afresh over wireless.



    Also I haven't seen anything of the 'AirPort Base Station Update 2008-001' - it's not coming up in Software Update - all I was offered by SwUpdate was the AirPort 5.3.1 package. Does the former item contain firmware updates, as AirPort 5.3.1 package didn't contain any?
  • Reply 16 of 27
    crebcreb Posts: 276member
    Well, bloody fantastic as I updated, and then tried to find out the details but now the update has been pulled from Apple's own site! I wonder what's in store for me now?
  • Reply 17 of 27
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AstroFish View Post


    Also I haven't seen anything of the 'AirPort Base Station Update 2008-001' - it's not coming up in Software Update - all I was offered by SwUpdate was the AirPort 5.3.1 package. Does the former item contain firmware updates, as AirPort 5.3.1 package didn't contain any?



    I just checked out the equivalent update on my XP machine and Apple Software Update actually reports the update as "AirPort Base Station Software Update 2008-001", "Version 5.3.1", "13.59MB" so suspect this was equivalent with my Mac update but the "2008-001" part was probably obscured. On the XP version, the following blurb came with the update:



    "The AirPort Base Station Update 2008-001 includes general fixes and compatibility updates for the following applications:



    - AirPort Utility



    - AirPort Base Station Agent



    - AirPort Disks Control Panel"




    So no firmware updates for AEBS then, seems it was all AirPort Utility's fault that TM didn't work to AirDisk ...
  • Reply 18 of 27
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AstroFish View Post


    I installed the AirPort Utility 5.3.1 update, ..... it was beginning the arduous task of backing up 65GB of data to my LaCie USB drive connected to the AEBS. This is further than it's ever gotten before so leaving it to run overnight and see if it succeeds.



    Ach, should have kept an eye on what was going on - returned to my Mac and screen was blanked and couldn't revive it - had to reboot - and now Time Machine reports that the last backup failed because "The backup disk image could not be mounted" - despite the AirDisk being displayed in Time Machine Prefs and Finder has mounted the AirDisk and I can navigate to the TM backup directories therein. A false dawn for me - hope others find a way.
  • Reply 19 of 27
    foo2foo2 Posts: 1,077member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Foo2 View Post


    No problems before. Now with 5.3.1 I can't access the configurations of my AEs. Setup just sits and spins.



    5.3.1 doesn't like jumbo frames. Turning them off fixed the issue, which arose on all platforms tested.
  • Reply 20 of 27
    stepstep Posts: 11member
    Anyone tested the "Add wireless client" functionality ('pin' or 'first attempt' method)? I just tried this yesterday unsuccessfully (several times) when a friend came over with a Win XP laptop. I finally gave in and just typed in my WPA2 key, but would like to be able to easily give access to future guests!
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