mdnsresponder and configd

I thought I had this problem fixed (with your help) by adding these files (mdnsresponder, configd, nmblookup) to my "allowed" list in the security pref pane. Since I have done this it had worked flawlessly until now when I upgraded to 10.5.3 I am back to the same problem as before. Something is not being allowed to load when I have "set access for specific services and applications" and I have to switch to "allow all incoming connections" each time I restart to get my (any) network to function. Any idea what the new files that are being blocked may be??? or if this is a new problem???

I confirm that 10.5.3 has fixed this issue for me as well - I upgraded just yesterday (was on a trip), then let my laptop sleep for > 24hours. After wake from sleep configd (ie. DHCP) works just fine, acquiring IP etc., where it previously failed to do so.

Regards, Michael

I too had resolved this issue using the suggestions listed in this post but after loading 10.5.3 on my mac they have just come back. I want a permanent solution to this issue. It is very Microsoft like in its symptoms. I switched to mac to run away from these types issues. Apparently not the case.

But I thought since others had their problems resolved with 10.5.3 then what would happen if I got rid of the work-around. So I went into the firewall list of allowed programs and removed mdnsresponder and configd from the list. So far so good. I was able to connect to the internet again and work as normal. Hope this helps.

Try a firewall reset (after upgrading to 10.5.3):

In terminal paste the following command:

sudo cp /usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/com.apple.alf.plist /Library/Preferences/com.apple.alf.plist

May help...

Krakatos wrote:
That's odd, even though I added configd and mDNSResponder to my firewall list, I am still prompted to accept incoming connections for them after rebooting.

How did you do that? I wanted to try adding configd and mDNSResponder to my permitted applications, but those two items were not locatable and therefore cannot be added.

EDIT: I just saw the instructions at the start of the thread.

Message was edited by: Steve P.

lstnmysphr wrote:
Try a firewall reset (after upgrading to 10.5.3):

In terminal paste the following command:

sudo cp /usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/com.apple.alf.plist /Library/Preferences/com.apple.alf.plist

May help...

This seems to only reset the Firewall preferences to the factory default setting of 'Allow All' and clears any existing list of specific applications. It did not fix the problem for me unfortunately, as I want to specify certain apps, not Allow All.

lstnmysphr wrote:
Okay, Wendy so I was in totally the same boat as you, with no idea how to do this. After playing around though this is how:

1. Download Main Menu ( http://www.santasw.com/)

2. Install and then it puts an icon in your menu bar. Click it, highlight finder (in the menu) and then click show invisibles. Finder will restart.

3. Clear the deksotop and open finder. Go to Machintosh HD (they'll be lots of folders, including the crucial usr folder).

5. Open system preferences, go the firewall section.

6. Click the add button and then in the finder window that you opened drag the usr folder onto the window (see this image: http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/9158/howtoue6.jpg)

7. Then naviagate to /usr/sbin/mDNSResponder and you can select it. This can also be repeated for configd (it was giving me problems).

8. Voila, problem solved.

This solution WORKED but only after I repaired disk permissions afterwards. None of the other suggestions worked.

I've found a solution to this problem that has worked for me. I simply replaced mdnsresponder, configd, nmblookup and nmbd with the same files from another computer. Amazingly, this fixed it. But, of course, it means you must have access to another machine running the same version of Leopard.

acd.

I am having the same problem under 10.5.4, however it only occurs when trying to connect either by wireless or with ethernet to my campus network. the only way to get it to work is to "allow all incoming connections." I've tried some of the tips in this thread - rebuilding Kerberos keys in Keychain, and setting the firewall to allow connections to mDNSResponder and configd. This still does not work once i wake my mac from sleep and try to reconnect. Also, the "allow only essential services" doesn't work either.

It sounds like this is a problem with my campus's network, but other friends' macs running Leopard connect, my ipod touch connects, etc with no problem. So i am confused, and would like to have a little bit of a firewall.

thanks

Had the same problem after i got back my MacAir from the shop (MoBo replaced), i tried everything posted here and the only solution that worked was replacing the files as posted by acdawson. I was lucky enough to buy a time capsule b4 my Air died so i have the original files in the time machine. It's been 5 days since i repaced them and the Air had been sleeping and rebooted quite a few times and i haven't seen the anoying questions about the configd and mdnsresponder having my firewall on at all times.

J.Oscar

Wow - I had my PowerBook lose the settings again when the battery went bad. Neither updating to 10.5.5 (which I hoped would solve the issue), nor the KDC re-init helped. I know there's application signing involved, so somewhat skeptically, I copied /usr/sbin/mDNSresponder and /usr/sbin/configd from my intel iMac (fortunately, they are fat binaries), and lo' and behold, the PowerBook gets its IP after a restart just fine - I am floored! Now, I hope it still works after prolonged sleep, though from the following it should:

I noticed that configd had a different length, but mDNSResponder matched:

-r-xr-xr-x 1 root wheel 423808 Mar 12 2008 configd
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root wheel 423792 Mar 12 2008 configd.orig
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root wheel 679200 Aug 15 16:58 mDNSResponder
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root wheel 679200 Aug 15 16:58 mDNSResponder.orig

This is weird.

MD5 (configd) = 67b3ef1697620fdea940d78a1930a172
MD5 (configd.orig) = 7dfcc66791c9f9e991fb1e3f1c82d51f
MD5 (mDNSResponder) = db310ac7b4c582585cccf58c9fc3617d
MD5 (mDNSResponder.orig) = db310ac7b4c582585cccf58c9fc3617d

On both systems, configd is supposed to come from:

/Library/Receipts/boms/com.apple.pkg.update.os.10.5.3.bom,

and mDNSResponder from:

/Library/Receipts/boms/com.apple.pkg.update.os.10.5.5.bom

Hmm - let's see:

$ lsbom -f /Library/Receipts/boms/com.apple.pkg.update.os.10.5.3.bom | grep configd
./usr/sbin/configd 100555 0/0 423808 3344730380

$ cksum /usr/sbin/configd /usr/sbin/configd.orig
3344730380 423808 /usr/sbin/configd
492968119 423792 /usr/sbin/configd.orig

Hmm - only the transferred file matches the chksum from the BOM. I wonder how the ".orig" got trashed ... If you've got the same problem, have a look.


Thanks to gokaroto and acdawson!

Regards, Michael

This was the only solution that worked for me also. I replaced the two files from another Leopard machine, and it worked like a charm. No more disabling my firewall just to get an IP address through DHCP. Thank you very much!

This brings up a question: Why did this happen in the first place? Even turning off my MacBook abrupty (hard power off or removing power and battery), these files should NOT be corrupted. They're running in RAM, not off the hard disk. All I know is that a few days ago, my comp started asking to allow these services again, and it started doing the "self-assigned ip address" thing shortly after.

Groovetrain

These applications aren't corrupt, but are being resigned.

Here's what's happening (at least to me)

1) My clock was reset to 2001
2) The code signature is no longer valid for the various system binaries, because the current time is outside of the validity period of code signature.
3) Mac OS prompts the user to Allow/Deny network access
4) Mac OS re-signs the binaries using a adhoc certificate instead of Apple's certificate
5) Mac OS doesn't allow the binaries network access unless specifically allowed, because it's no longer signed by Apple

This is definitely a bug of sorts; I would think that Apple shouldn't allow resigning of Apple's binaries.

The solution is to replace these binaries with the originals; I'm going to try to reinstall the Combo 10.5.6 updater and see if it fixes it for me. Otherwise, I think it'll require an archive & install.

Genius, this sounds quite reasonable to me!

I do not suffer these problems, and I get:

codesign --display -vvvv /usr/sbin/configd

Executable=/usr/sbin/configd
Identifier=com.apple.configd
Format=Mach-O universal (i386 ppc7400)
CodeDirectory v=20001 size=1102 flags=0x0(none) hashes=50+2 location=embedded
CDHash=c06a4a48d331bedaa9b07de742839e443de82be0
Signature size=4064
Authority=Software Signing
Authority=Apple Code Signing Certification Authority
Authority=Apple Root CA
Info.plist=not bound
Sealed Resources=none
Internal requirements count=0 size=12

The above is for

ls -la /usr/sbin/configd
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root wheel 423808 May 23 2008 /usr/sbin/configd

Maybe this can help investigating?