Can't connect to external HD on Airport Extreme

I’ve got an external WD HD connected via USB to my Airport Extreme. In Media Player, when i choose “Add Share” my Airport Extreme shows up under AFP. When i click Test Connect though, it just says "AFP connection failed: unreachable network or incorrect login/password. Can anyone help me? I’ve tried entering “guest” as username and my AirPort password as password. Why does it want to connect via AFP and not SMB? 

I ran into the same problem. When adding the share, go into the server name and remove the period at the end of the name. This resolved it for me.

I am still having problems with recognizing my external HD to an AEBS.  First off, my Airport Extreme doesn’t get automatically get recognized so I have to add it manually.  Does the Airport Extreme get automatically detected under “AFP?”  After I let it sit, my router name does get recognized but under SMB.  I tried the same instructions and put in “Workgroup” under Workgroup but I’m still getting the same error message.  Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

My AirPort Extreme is found automatically under AFP and SMB. 

 

Here are my settings I use:

Share Type: AFP

Name: (the name of your AirPort Extreme, this is set in the AirPort Utility software), in my case the name is “xTreme”

Server: [name].local   (in my case xTreme.local)

Username: guest

Password: blank  (if this doesn’t work, try leaving using “guest” (no quotes). I can’t remember what I did off the top of my head)

=====

On your AirPort Extreme AirPort Utility software to to Disks and check “Enable File Sharing” and select “With AirPort Extreme Password”. Then set AirPort Disks Guest Access to “Read and Write”. Don’t forget to Apply the changes (it will restart your router).

 

Hope that helps

 

Thank you for the response!  I did all the instructions provided but it still doesn’t work.  My Airport Extreme’s name is “J2.”  Does it not like having numbers in the name of the router?

I also left the password blank, used the password “guest”, and used my Airport Extreme’s password and it did not work.  I also find it confusing that when I’m adding the share, even if it’s designated as AFP, it still asks for the workgroup name when I first am trying to add the hard drive.  When I go back to edit the settings for the hard drive, the Workgroup setting disappears.  It may be some sort of bug I don’t know.

ATV black has been great, but the main reason why I purchased it was so that I can have an external hard drive on, and not have my computer on to stream content.  If I can’t get this to work, it would be a great disappointment :-/.

OK.  It’s working now.  I set it to SMB, used username “guest” but left the password blank, and put in Workgroup as “WORKGROUP” as designated in my router settings.  Thanks!

You will find this info elsewhere if you search but your external hard drive should be formatted to FAT32 otherwise your appleTV won’t automatically find it. Windows format NTFS does not work. This is a restriction of the Airport Extreme not the Apple TV. Also if like me you are using Win7 you can’t format a hard drive to FAT32 with Win 7. With a bit of Googling I found Verbatims FAT32 formatter. I then had to move 750GB data off the USB HD reformat the HD then move the data back on. But then, magically, like they say on the advert, it just works. :slight_smile:

Yes!!! It works!!! JUST REMEMBER to not put any " ’ " in the .local name!!! i.e. Bob’s AE!!! leave it out!!

So I upgraded to the latest ATV Flash Black and I’m running Apple TV Software 5.2.  I’ve had to re input my external hard drive settings, and nothing seems to work. Here is my set up:

 

Server Type: SMB (I’ve tried AFP, and SMB is the only thing that seems to work.)

Name: MVP’s Airport Extreme

Server: MVPs Airport Extereme.local (I’ve tried without spaces, and using hyphens, nothing seems to work).

Username: Guest

Password: (blank)

Workgroup: WORKGROUP

The Airport Utility Software has changed where the “Secure Shared Disks” menu give me three options: With accounts, with disk password, with device password.  I’ve tried making an account with “Guest” and “guest” as password, that also does not work.

Please provide assistance, I am not sure why the software cannot auto detect the external hard drive that is attached to the Airport Extreme.

Still not working!  Purchased Firecore for the second time to get the lifetime updates, and I am getting no word from support.  Please help!

i also got an AE for my sister to get the hdd of movies and content on it on the Atv but ran in to the same thing BUT i fixed it :slight_smile: here’s how:

  1. the setup of the AE is key, the unit must be powered up with the HDD attached, then in the AirportUtility under the usb/hdd section you need to setup a user account

i called mine Apple TV and gave it a password “abcdefg” then save the changes, and reboot the AE (hdd attached) once it is done you are 1/3 done.

  1. now on a PC (AirportUtility installed) if you go to “my computer” and then you see the HDD you’ll now see a networked HDD, and another one too called Apple TV - they are the same don’t mess with them but you can now double click on the apple tv one and wirelessly access the HDD, and the transfer all your media in that file.

  2. now the golden tidbit: in the media player section, in settings, where you need to select your “share” if it shows up good for you if not here you go :slight_smile:

in the add share section add you own one and this is how:

  1. make a note of what you called your Airport Extreme in the AirportUtility: (most of the time it uses your name and ads an 's) like Dan Dan’s make note of the name and the spelling and the capitals i.e. Dan’s AirPort Extreme

  2. so the share type: SMB

name: Dan’s AirPort Extreme

server: Dans-AirPort-Extreme.local (THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, NO ’ AND ENSURE YOU USE THE CORRET CAPS)

username: Apple TV (same as the user account we setup)

password: ******* (abcdefg - same as the account setup)

workgroup: leave blank

ok now test the connection - it will fail!!! test it again and it will pass!!! :slight_smile: save it and move on!! then go to your media player and in the

“My Files” section select the media and hold the select button and then select to add it to your favourites and exit and enjoy.

you are all welcome!!! just want to say a big fat thank you to all the people that helped me find all this…

THAT WOULD BE NO ONE!!! i got no help off fire core and google is empty on this matter, this was pure trial and stumbling error, 12hrs of it,

so i hope you all enjoy it, ps if you disconnect your HDD from the AE you need to retest the connection and save it, and it will fail the first time.

i also got an AE for my sister to get the hdd of movies and content on it on the Atv but ran in to the same thing BUT i fixed it :slight_smile: here’s how:

  1. the setup of the AE is key, the unit must be powered up with the HDD attached, then in the AirportUtility under the usb/hdd section you need to setup a user account

i called mine Apple TV and gave it a password “abcdefg” then save the changes, and reboot the AE (hdd attached) once it is done you are 1/3 done.

  1. now on a PC (AirportUtility installed) if you go to “my computer” and then you see the HDD you’ll now see a networked HDD, and another one too called Apple TV - they are the same don’t mess with them but you can now double click on the apple tv one and wirelessly access the HDD, and the transfer all your media in that file.

  2. now the golden tidbit: in the media player section, in settings, where you need to select your “share” if it shows up good for you if not here you go :slight_smile:

in the add share section add you own one and this is how:

  1. make a note of what you called your Airport Extreme in the AirportUtility: (most of the time it uses your name and ads an 's) like Dan Dan’s make note of the name and the spelling and the capitals i.e. Dan’s AirPort Extreme

  2. so the share type: SMB

name: Dan’s AirPort Extreme

server: Dans-AirPort-Extreme.local (THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, NO ’ AND ENSURE YOU USE THE CORRET CAPS)

username: Apple TV (same as the user account we setup)

password: ******* (abcdefg - same as the account setup)

workgroup: leave blank

ok now test the connection - it will fail!!! test it again and it will pass!!! :slight_smile: save it and move on!! then go to your media player and in the

“My Files” section select the media and hold the select button and then select to add it to your favourites and exit and enjoy.

you are all welcome!!! just want to say a big fat thank you to all the people that helped me find all this…

THAT WOULD BE NO ONE!!! i got no help off fire core and google is empty on this matter, this was pure trial and stumbling error, 12hrs of it,

so i hope you all enjoy it, ps if you disconnect your HDD from the AE you need to retest the connection and save it, and it will fail the first time.

I resolved my issue by using the DEVICE PASSSWORD option on the airport extreme for the disk settings.

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After I did this all worked well

Thanks guys for posting up the instructions. I’m out of town for thanksgiving but will be sure to give it a try soon. Thanks for taking the time to write the steps, it seems that Firecore won’t listen, which is a shame considering I paid again for the lifetime updates but don’t get any support except from other users posting on this board. Thanks again and will confirm soon as to whether I can finally get my HD to connect!

HOORAY.  After much trial and error, it finally worked!  The solution was a hybrid between the two suggestions.  I set up the hard drive to “use device password.”  Then when setting it up on Infuse, I used the following settings:

Share Type: SMB

Name: “MVP’s Airport Extreme”

Server: 192.168.24.85 (The IP address of the Airport Extreme.  Other names like “MVPs-Airport-Extreme.local” did not work.)

Username: MarkV (one interesting thing is that this was an account that I set up when in the Disk section of Airport, I set up this username.  Even though I’m using “Use device password” now, it is still recognizing the account i made when I set it to “use User accounts.”

Password: What I used to set up the MarkV user account.

Workgroup: (blank)

I then did “Test connection” and it instantly connected.  To test the connection first, I went on my computer to Finder to “Go -> Connect to Server” and put in smb://192.168.24.85.  Afterwards, it prompted me to enter the device password.  I put in the password for MarkV and it connected.  When I first set up the Disk in the Airport Utility to “Use Accounts,” Finder would show two connected disks: “MVP’s Airport Extreme” and “192.168.24.85.”  When I clicked on either, the hard drive would open, but there would be no files! I even connected the hard drive locally to my computer to Index it, and after connecting it again, the it still would show blanks in the hard drive.

 

Overall, I’m very thankful for everyone’s suggestions, and glad that it finally worked.  What is frustrating is how long it took to finally connect it!  I also still cannot explain why it accepts that user account, even though I set it to connect via “Use Device Password” instead of “Use User Accounts.” Anyways, as much as I appreciate Firecore for making this software, I am frustrated by the lack of support from Firecore, EVEN AFTER, I purchased again the upgrade to get lifetime updates.  I hope this will change soon.

Thanks for all the comments everyone.

It seems that my mistake was to type “Airport-Extreme.local” when it should be “AirPort-Extreme.local” (notice the capital “P”).