I did something stupid, and I think it broke my airport extreme base station…
My airport extreme base station was working just fine. I was using a cheap USB hub to share a few external hard drives on my network. I was doing some changes so I unplugged the power to the external hard drive and the power to the USB hub. While reconnecting, I accidentally swapped the power cables and plugged the external hard drive's power cable into the USB hub while it was still connected via USB to the AEBS. I think it was too much power and it overloaded the AEBS. Now it won't turn on (no lights, can't find it with software).
Is there a way to fix this? In case it matters, the model number of the airport extreme base station is A1354.
Best Answer
Try disconnecting all power supplies from the outlet/power source and the device. After 3 minutes hold the reset button down on the AEBS and then connect the power. Continue to hold the reset button down until the light on the front starts flashing amber fast or 5 seconds has elapsed (which ever happens first). If after the factory restore [not hard reset] that if the device doesn't turn on in a minute it's AppleCare time. The AEBS should be covered under the AppleCare Protection Plan of an Apple computer or AppleTV purchased within two years of the AEBS. If they won't swap it out for you, ask for an exception :)