matteocaldari

Q: 10.6.5 and wifi issues

Since I upgraded to 10.6.5, my MacBook Pro (Early 2006) cannot connect to my USR9110 (802.11 g) access point. 
From 10.6 on, there's been always troubles when resuming after sleep, but now even at startup the connection goes timeout.

All other devices (an iPhone,an iPad and a MacBook Pro (Late 2006) with 10.5) work perfectly.

I tried rebooting, changing  the wifi channel, updating the access point firmware, turning on and off airport, resetting the SMC, switching to WEP, switching to WPA, switching to unencrypted. Nothing changes, connection timeout. 

MacBook Pro 1,1, Mac OS X (10.6.5), early 2006

Posted on Nov 11, 2010 5:53 AM

Close

Q: 10.6.5 and wifi issues

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

first Previous Page 23 of 34 last Next
  • by Spydermann,

    Spydermann Spydermann Jan 10, 2011 7:57 PM in response to elfribo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 10, 2011 7:57 PM in response to elfribo
    Network stable for 4 hours now. Looking back at all the notes I’ve been taking with the WiFi issue, I’m reasonably confident that the group update key is the issue.

    A few days ago I switched just one wireless iMac on at 4:50pm then checked at 5:00 and every 15 minutes later. At 6:00pm, my connection was gone. The next day repeated same and after about 50 minutes switched on the second wireless iMac which then lost connection after 10 minutes. This indicates that the update interval starts counting when the first wireless connects. Hence the random dropouts within first hour. Also appears that my Dell NetBook was suffering same problem but was hidden by my obsession with the 2 x iMacs. The laptop and PC on my network worked fine. The culprit would appear to be the firmware in the wireless cards (some, but not all). Cannot believe Apple have let this go on for so long, assuming that the firmware is the problem.

    Footnote: Suspect that the Apple Call Centre (located in Brisbane) has become of victim of the floods. A call I was promised at 9:00 am this morning didn’t happen.
  • by pookeyblow,

    pookeyblow pookeyblow Jan 10, 2011 8:44 PM in response to Spydermann
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 10, 2011 8:44 PM in response to Spydermann
    I tried to change the wireless channel and it connected immediately. Seems like it's working now!
  • by pookeyblow,

    pookeyblow pookeyblow Jan 11, 2011 4:22 PM in response to pookeyblow
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 11, 2011 4:22 PM in response to pookeyblow
    Did anyone find a solution? My AirPort has been working fine since yesterday after I changed the wireless channel in my Linksys router settings.
  • by ctmurray,

    ctmurray ctmurray Jan 11, 2011 8:01 PM in response to pookeyblow
    Level 1 (80 points)
    Jan 11, 2011 8:01 PM in response to pookeyblow
    pookeyblow wrote:
    Did anyone find a solution? My AirPort has been working fine since yesterday after I changed the wireless channel in my Linksys router settings.

    Changing the router channel is a known solution to these problems. It is one of the first suggested to new people with problems. Easy to try and it has worked for several.

    Not sure why an OS upgrade would affect which channel works best. Could be a coincidence. Glad this works for you.
  • by j*six,

    j*six j*six Jan 11, 2011 8:13 PM in response to chromatic8
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 11, 2011 8:13 PM in response to chromatic8
    When the 10.6.5 update was released, I upgraded and was disappointed to find that I could no longer connect wirelessly to my router. I performed all the typical solutions to no avail, and ended up downgrading back to 10.6.4. After the 10.6.6 release, I hesitated to upgrade, but finally gave in because I wanted to experience the App Store and thought Apple might have fixed the issue. But it's the same story. I am again experiencing connection timeouts for no apparent reason.

    Since reading chromatic8's post, I investigated to see what chip is in my 2006 white MacBook.

    It's the Atheros 5416 chip.

    I am currently typing this on my iPad as I again downgrade... Apple - please fix this! I want to use the App Store.
  • by goborobo,

    goborobo goborobo Jan 11, 2011 10:32 PM in response to chromatic8
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 11, 2011 10:32 PM in response to chromatic8
    c8: Thanks for your efforts and the most knowledgeable and logical post on this issue since I started following the 10.6.5. wifi problem about 3 months ago. I hope Apple starts paying some attention to this and gets a fix out.
    After upgrading and developing this problem on my MacBook, the only solution was to downgrade to 10.6.3.

    Specs on my Airport card are:
    Card Type: AirPort Extreme (0x168C, 0x87)
    Firmware Version: Atheros 5416: 2.0.19.10
  • by Sikosis,

    Sikosis Sikosis Jan 12, 2011 1:26 AM in response to buetschgi
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 12, 2011 1:26 AM in response to buetschgi
    So, how did you downgrade your OS X to 10.6.4 from 10.6.6 ? I didn't think it was possible without reinstalling ? Or is there a plist you can edit to trick OS X into thinking it needs updating ?
  • by tenortim,Solvedanswer

    tenortim tenortim Jan 13, 2011 12:03 PM in response to goborobo
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Jan 13, 2011 12:03 PM in response to goborobo
    OK, my wife just went through this ordeal (2007 MBP, Atheros 5424 chipset).
    Thanks to the work of others diagnosing this, I found a solution that doesn't require a full downgrade, although a little bravery might be needed.

    As has already been stated, the version of the firmware for the Atheros cards changed in 10.6.5. This seems to be the culprit. Did anybody bother testing this fully? The new firmware is unable to maintain a connection under conditions that the older firmware handles with aplomb. Anyway, we clearly need the older driver/firmware, but downgrading to 10.6.4 seems rather draconian, so I set about finding a solution that just fixed that problem.

    To cut to the chase, you can run the 10.6.4 drivers on 10.6.6. To do so,
    1) Download the 10.6.4 Combo update and the Pacifist program that allows one to extract files from, amongst others, ".pkg" files.
    2) Mount the update .dmg, open the package in pacifist, extract the subtree "/System/Library/Extensions/IO80211Family.kext" to a convenient location.
    3) As root, cd to /System/Library/Extensions, rename IO80211Family.kext to IO8021Family.1066 (or anything else to back it up), and copy in the replacement IO80211Family.kext that we extracted from 10.6.4.
    4) Download, install and run "Kext Utility" (Google it, it's at Insanely Mac). It should ask for your password, run, and fix up the kext permissions and caches.
    5) Reboot. You should now be on the new (old) driver/firmware. Verify by running "About this Mac" -> "More Info" -> "Network" -> "Airport". As stated, the newer firmware is 2.1.14.5, the working firmware is 2.0.19.10.

    After doing this, my wife's MBP is back to full functionality and domestic harmony is restored. Apple, please revert this driver and inform Atheros that it does not work correctly.

    Message was edited by: tenortim (fix typos)
  • by chromatic8,

    chromatic8 chromatic8 Jan 13, 2011 1:39 PM in response to tenortim
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 13, 2011 1:39 PM in response to tenortim
    tenortim, you rock! I tried doing something like this based on a little googling shortly after 10.6.5 broke my macbook but ended up messing things up to where I had to reinstall the macbook from a 10.6.4 backup. I don't know what I did wrong so your step-by-step recipe is a real timesaver. Now if I can just make this an automator script to survive future "updates" Thanks again.
  • by Sikosis,

    Sikosis Sikosis Jan 13, 2011 3:46 PM in response to Sikosis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 13, 2011 3:46 PM in response to Sikosis
    I just put in my Snow Leopard disc and ran the Installer ... it went for about 45 minutes and when it was finished I was running 10.6 and Wifi works with no issues at all. I didn't delete any settings or have to setup my network again or put in the WPA password or anything. This proves it's an issue with 10.6.5 and above.
  • by Spydermann,

    Spydermann Spydermann Jan 13, 2011 4:48 PM in response to tenortim
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 13, 2011 4:48 PM in response to tenortim
    tenortim.

    From my testing, I absolutely agree with your diagnosis. Just hope Apple is reading this. I have Atheros 9280: 2.1.14.5 and had same issues and concluded that it's the Atheros firmare that is the issue. I overcame it by changing a setting on my router rather than trying for a firmware update. I'd rather the firmware as my security is a bit loose until then.
  • by JuanSkom,

    JuanSkom JuanSkom Jan 13, 2011 5:05 PM in response to chromatic8
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 13, 2011 5:05 PM in response to chromatic8
    It's simpler to do with Applescript than with automator.

    Open Applescript editor: /Applications/Utilities/AppleScript Editor

    Paste this code into an empty file:
    ------
    set sourcefile to "/folder/folder/file" --replace path with what it needs to be
    set destination to "/folder/folder" --replace path with what it needs to be

    set shellcommand to "cp " & sourcefile & " " & destination

    do shell script shellcommand with administrator privileges
    ------

    set the file paths to what ever you need them to be.

    Save as with file format "Application" and give it a nice name.
    You have the script application done. Run it as any application, place where ever you want. That's it.



    NOTE! The script will overwrite any file with same name without warning!

    Message was edited by: JuanSkom
    dummy path names made more clear
  • by Doc O,

    Doc O Doc O Jan 14, 2011 1:27 AM in response to tenortim
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 14, 2011 1:27 AM in response to tenortim
    I can confirm that the mini I'm having the problem with also has the Atheros 5424 chipset. I don't have time to do a reinstall again on the chance of failure right now, but thank you for giving what looks to be the first non-voodoo, reasonable solution!
  • by RVDT,

    RVDT RVDT Jan 14, 2011 2:21 AM in response to Doc O
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 14, 2011 2:21 AM in response to Doc O
    tenortim,

    Rock Star! It has made a huge difference with old driver from 10.6.4. Thanks for your info.

    Interfaces:
    en1:
    Card Type: AirPort Extreme
    Firmware Version: Atheros 5416: 2.0.19.10
    Locale: ETSI
    Country Code: GB

    Harmony here as well!
  • by itsagh,

    itsagh itsagh Jan 14, 2011 6:26 AM in response to matteocaldari
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 14, 2011 6:26 AM in response to matteocaldari
    I've singed up for an account purely to add my support to tenortim's fix!
    All smooth at the moment on my imac i7, fingers crossed over the next few days then.

    Card Type: AirPort Extreme
    Firmware Version: Atheros 9280: 2.1.9.8.1

    Thanks!
first Previous Page 23 of 34 last Next