George Mayhew

Q: Dead Airport Card in MacBook Pro - any suggestions?

My wireless connection quit suddenly, and I suspect that the Airport Extreme card in my MacBook Pro is dead. I'm hoping I'm wrong, and that somebody knows the secret to reviving it.

Here are the symptoms:

1. No wireless connection, and no available wireless networks found. My wireless network is up, and other devices are working.

2. Airport is off, and will not turn on. When I start the system, Airport is missing from the network list in System Preferences. I can add it, but it will not turn on.

3. About This Mac>More Info indicates that the card is installed, with this information

AirPort Card Information:

Wireless Card Type: AirPort Extreme (0x168C, 0x87)
Wireless Card Locale: USA
Wireless Card Firmware Version: 1.4.3.1
Current Wireless Network: AirPort is currently turned off

3. Neither standard, nor extended, hardware diagnostics indicates a problem, but the Airport card does not show up in the hardware diagnostics hardware list, so the card is probably not being diagnosed.

I have tried the software fixes I found in the knowledge base:

1. Start in Safe Mode, then restart.

2. Reset the SMC (version 1.18f4)- all cables disconnected, battery removed, hold down power button for 5+ seconds.

All software updates are installed. The MacBook is functioning will it all other aspects.

I'll appreciate any feedback from the group.

Regards,
George

MacBook Pro 17" Hi-Rez, Mac OS X (10.5.4), 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo, 4 GB SDRAM, OS X 10.5.4

Posted on Aug 6, 2008 11:29 AM

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Q: Dead Airport Card in MacBook Pro - any suggestions?

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  • by neuroanatomist,

    neuroanatomist neuroanatomist Aug 6, 2008 11:48 AM in response to George Mayhew
    Level 7 (31,694 points)
    Aug 6, 2008 11:48 AM in response to George Mayhew
    Welcome to the Forums!

    I can suggest one more place to look: Applications > Utilities > Network Utility. Set the pop-up to "Network Interface (en1)" - that's the Airport card.

    But, most likely, you'll need to contact AppleCare or visit an Apple Store.

    Hope this helps...
  • by George Mayhew,

    George Mayhew George Mayhew Aug 6, 2008 1:30 PM in response to neuroanatomist
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 6, 2008 1:30 PM in response to neuroanatomist
    Thanks for your suggestion. The Airport card was already selected as the interface. I tried selecting en0, then en1 again, but it did no good.
  • by George Mayhew,

    George Mayhew George Mayhew Aug 9, 2008 11:48 AM in response to George Mayhew
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 9, 2008 11:48 AM in response to George Mayhew
    I have confirmed that this is a software problem.

    Using the netork utility in the OS X installer, I can configure the Airport card, make a wireless connection, and ping my router.

    With that bit of knowledge, I reinstalled OS X 10.5, but when I boot from the hard drive, the problem is unchanged.

    What might be blocking the Airport software?
  • by George Mayhew,

    George Mayhew George Mayhew Aug 9, 2008 11:23 PM in response to George Mayhew
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 9, 2008 11:23 PM in response to George Mayhew
    I've solved my own problem. Do I get points for that? (Just kidding)

    After reinstalling OS X didn't help, I looked for the most recently installed programs. As it turns out, Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) was the most recently installed, about three weeks ago. It had work correctly during that time, so I did not suspect it, immediately.

    I moved the RDC application to the trash, but Airport still would not turn on. I then deleted the Ethernet, Bluetooth, and Firewire connections, leaving only Airport. At that point, I was able to set up Airport, and connect to my network. I added the other services back in, without incident.

    The RDC that I had installed was version 1. I have now downloaded and installed RDC 2, and so far it is working. Time will tell, and I will report back if any more problems occur.