wifi error saying "kernel Error storing postMessage 74"

dear Apple community,

since upgrading to Catalina I have issues connecting only at work. Everywhere else where I use wifi-networks there is no problem. On exactly the same office others on other operating systems have no problem. My iPhone SE with the latest iOS also has no problem connecting. I use the Personal Hotspot to connect my MacBook Air now.

I deleted these files to see if that would make any difference:

preferences.plist

NetworkInterfaces.plist

com.apple.wifi.message-tracer.plist

com.apple.smb.server.plist

com.apple.AutoWake.plist

com.apple.airport.preferences.plist

I also created a new, fresh location in the Network System Preference.

When I open Console to read wifi.log I see the message

<kernel> Error storing postMessage 74

Unexpected payload found for message 74, dataLen 104

often mentioned. This also sounds bad:

<airportd[242]> ERROR: rapportd (321) is not entitled for com.apple.wifi.join_history, will not allow request

<airportd[242]> ERROR: sharingd (361) is not entitled for com.apple.wifi.join_history, will not allow request

The user interface shows the wifi icon in the menu bar endlessly trying to connect. With patience it sometimes connects and then I can load one or two pages. Then it stops again. The browser says "Server not found". But there is an IP-address for my machine in the 192.168.etc range.

Any suggestions anyone? Anything greatly appreciated. The whole morning I could not work because of this.

MacBook Air 13", macOS 10.14

Posted on Oct 22, 2019 4:26 AM

Similar questions

23 replies

Nov 5, 2019 1:55 AM in response to ReindeR Rustema

Back in the office. The switch is from Unify. https://rrustema.stackstorage.com/s/srVCeCNqR6wTOiP and the access point on the ceiling looks like this https://rrustema.stackstorage.com/s/c8sWzGN1yLvthQ4

Strangely enough, I could transfer the pictures from my iPhone to my MacBook Air by connecting to the problematic wifi network and use Airdrop. That worked very briefly, then the connection stopped. Nothing works anymore.

Nov 5, 2019 3:00 AM in response to thiago_ochsendorf

Exactly the same here! Turn off wifi for a little while, then back on and for a few minutes the connection works. And stops again. With the familiar error messages in wifi.log through Console:

"Error storing postMessage 74"

"Unexpected payload found for message 74, dataLen 104"

Only at work, but in many other locations with wildly different wifi setups it works.

Did you try installing WiFi_kexts as suggested by indomen on 3 November? I am hesitant because that seems like something Apple, not endusers, should fix if it requires going that deep.

Nov 8, 2019 12:33 AM in response to thiago_ochsendorf

Rightfully so. I will just improvise with a workaround at the office until Apple solves this. Will report it here when there is an improvement after an update. Saving you from upgrading and downgrading if an update does not help.

Nov 25, 2019 9:54 PM in response to ReindeR Rustema

Hi,

I consult for a College in South Australia and we have seen a similar issue with Catalina on upgrades (10.14 to 10.15) and fresh installations.

Catalina devices associate and authenticate reliably if they are connecting to a wireless network when using WPA/PSK or WPA2/PSK, it only seems to be EAP with RADIUS authentication that causes the problem. e.g. WPA Enterprise (which is used in many work places and office environments).

The symptoms are: macOS Mojave (10.14) devices can associate and authenticate like they always have.. i.e. reliably.

macOS Catalina (10.15) will associate, but fails to authenticate. The result is what looks like a connection with no IP address.

note: Thousands of 'other' devices on the network such as Windows devices and macOS version 10.14 and below are still working reliably.

Clients will eventually authenticate (making this problem intermittent). Once authenticated, a connection from Catalina is as stable and reliable as any other client.

Resetting the saved network credentials and SSID settings on the client, no change. Resetting all network settings on a Catalina client as well as a fresh install of Catalina and they all exhibit the same problem.

We are seeing the same entries in wifi.log as above.

If you are desperate, you could try setting up a WPA2/PSK network in the office environment and see if that works until a fix for this issue is found.

Nov 26, 2019 1:51 AM in response to cb_zaphod

Thank you. This also explains why I can now connect at a certain access point of the dozen or so in the office. It is the one I have been trying the longest. Apparently eventually it does connect.

I would like to confirm that in my situation I use EAP with RADIUS authentication, but don't know where to find this.

Dec 10, 2019 12:16 PM in response to ReindeR Rustema

Hi RR, thanks for the update. Sadly I really can't see the hardware on my office (its a complicated office) and will be using previous MacOS version for a while.

I think it's really weird what is happening in this case, still think the issue is on the network driver version shipped with Catalina. Soon TPlink is going to release a driver to the usb-wifi dongle (the one I have) for Catalina and then I am going to try the upgrade. I do believe it is going to work but then, it will be like a new network interface and it is supposed to work anyway.

Feb 7, 2020 1:25 AM in response to ReindeR Rustema

No luck on 10.15.3 either. Someone else also brought a MacBook to the office with Catalina. She is also in trouble.

I reported this at apple.com/feedback hoping it will make Apple look at this thread:

Nov 1, 2019 6:30 AM in response to thiago_ochsendorf

Same here, except for the faked MAC address. I also created a new user on my machine with fresh settings. To no avail.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

wifi error saying "kernel Error storing postMessage 74"