10.6.5 and wifi issues

Well, FWIW, that iTunes update didn't change my WiFi kext, still at the 10.6.4 version (3.1.1, april 2010).

All you guys who are seeing wireless issues after an upgrade, here are some tests I would recommend:
- Change your security mode to WPA2-PSK (AES ) or Open and check how your connection works.
- Change to the 5 Ghz mode if you are in 2.4 Ghz. Switch channels. Try not using DFS channels like 52,56 etc. Use channels 36/40/44/48 or 149 and above.
- Make sure you guys are not running into network loop issues/ Double NAT issues.
- If you are using an AEBS, have the AEBS be your DHCP server and disable the DHCP server from your ISP.
-Make sure your Access Point has the latest firmware update on it. They could have some old bugs that cause issues.
- Take your Mac to an Apple Store and have them look at it. Connect to the wireless network there and reproduce the issue.

It's not advisable to change the internal kext files as you are doing things that might affect the basic stability of your system. Also there is no guarantee that a future update won't mess your system up as you are doing something that is not recommended or expected by Apple.

If nothing work's, get a ADC account. File a bug with Apple and hopefully someone will get back to you.

With all due respect to your knowledge of wifi issues, some of us have been working on and with this problem for months. As far as I can determine, having read every single message in this thread, changing the kext back to 10.6.4 is THE solution. It worked for me, it's worked for others, and it is THE fix that has worked in the majority of resolved problems. All other fixes are a waste of time in most cases. Start with the kext solution first and follow tenortim's instructions.

Thanks to tenortim for the fix and original instructions!! I took the liberty to write a step-by-step tutorial for those who might not be as Terminal-saavy, aka those like me. I ended up googling a lot and learned a lot about Terminal, amongst other things. Hope this helps save someone time!

*THINGS YOU'LL NEED:* (direct downloads)
10.6.4 Combo Update: http://support.apple.com/downloads/DL1048/en_US/MacOSXUpdCombo10.6.4.dmg
Pacifist: http://www.charlessoft.com/Pacifist.dmg
Kext Utility: http://cvad-mac.narod2.ru/Kext_Utility/KextUtility.v.2.4.2.full.SL.x64.ready.by. cVad.zip

*TERMINAL COMMANDS TO LEARN:*
cd /path/to/directory
mv currentfilename newfilename
mv currentdirectory newdirectory
su root
sudo passwd root

*PART 1: DIRECTIONS before the update:* (I chose to download and install all necessary programs before the update while I still had an internet connection)

1. Mount the 10.6.4. Combo Update by double clicking on the file you downloaded
2. Mount and install Pacifist
3. Open Pacifist, wait 15 secs (Pacifist is shareware and will give you the option to enter a registration code or pay $20 for a code; if you wait, you'll be still be able to use it with full features by clicking <Not Now>)
4. Click <Open Package...> and navigate to the MacOSXCombo10.6.4.pkg from the update that you mounted earlier
5. Expand the subtree menu to: Contents of manual -> Contents of MacOSXUpdate10.6.4.pkg -> System -> Library -> Extensions
6. Find IO80211Family.kext, right-click and select <Extract to Custom Location>, and select a directory to extract it to - you will be asked to enter your administrator password - I chose my Desktop
7. Close Pacifist
8. Update to 10.6.6

*DIRECTIONS after the update:*
1. Launch Terminal
2. Switch to root by typing "su root" (no quotations for terminal commands), enter your password - if you don't know your root password or have not activated it enter "sudo passwd root" and follow the prompts, you should then be able to switch to root
3. Navigate to the /System/Library/Extensions directory by typing "cd /System/Library/Extensions"
4. Rename IO80211Family.kext to IO80211Family.10 66 (to back it up) by typing "mv IO80211Family.kext IO80211Family.10 66"
5. Move the IO80211Family.kext file you extracted from Part 1 to the /System/Library/Extensions folder by typing (in my case from Desktop to Extensions) "mv /path/to/Desktop/IO80211Family.kext /System/Library/Extensions"
6. Type "exit" to logout of root
7. Launch Kext Utility - you will be asked for your administrator password, allow to run until finished. Quit.
8. Restart your computer
9. Verify your firmware version by opening System Profiler (Apple -> About this Mac -> More Info) and under Network select Airport and in the right display panel you should see Firmware version 2.0.19.10

At this point, your wireless card should be working if your diagnosis of broken firmware for Atheros chipsets in the 10.6.5 update is correct.

You star! That's EXACTLY what I needed. A step by step guide without the jargon.

I have copied to a document for future ref. Meanwhile, although I had already gone through 90% of the suggestions with no success, I had not tried the continuous ping one because I didn't know what it meant.

I've now figured it out and I am now continuously pinging facebook. There are request timeouts in the report every so often, but for some reason (and I hesitate to say this for fear of jinxing it!) it seems to have stabilised the connection. For now.

It's not going to damage anything is it? The continuous ping?

tenortim: you, sir, are an actual Apple Genius, unlike those fraudsters at the Apple Store who take the name but don't know what you are talking about, although it is an established issue, and have no idea how to fix it, and resort to patronising and insulting denials of anything wrong. I actually find it both amusing and incredible that it has taken a user to figure this out and provide us with a fix, whilst those highly paid engineers toe the corporate line and blame users and hardware. If I were an Apple manager I would issue this as a patch double quick and I would also offer profuse thanks to tenortim, and make sure he got a thousand dollars credit at the Apple Store. Seriously. And I would make sure that the engineers do their jobs properly next time.
Thanks also to jsix for his walk through which enabled novices like me to fix it. The only thing I would add for novices is that in his instructions the command 'mv /path/to/Desktop/the kext file' is to be altered to suit your computer. I know it's obvious but it took me a few goes, because I thought my path was HD/Users/myname/Desktop(or wherever)/ . In fact all you need to fill in is mv /Users/yourloginname/Desktop (or folder etc).
Good luck everybody, it works a treat.

I uploaded IO80211Family.kext from OS X 10.6.4 here: http://cl.ly/4bkR

Download, unzip, and save it to a location on your computer (remember the path!) and follow the directions after the update (*NOTE: Step 5 will be slightly different* - Move the IO80211Family.kext file you unzipped to the /System/Library/Extensions folder by typing (in my case from Desktop to Extensions) "mv /Users/myusername/Desktop/IO80211Family.kext /System/Library/Extensions":

j*six wrote:
*DIRECTIONS after the update:*
1. Launch Terminal
2. Switch to root by typing "su root" (no quotations for terminal commands), enter your password - if you don't know your root password or have not activated it enter "sudo passwd root" and follow the prompts, you should then be able to switch to root
3. Navigate to the /System/Library/Extensions directory by typing "cd /System/Library/Extensions"
4. Rename IO80211Family.kext to IO80211Family.10 66 (to back it up) by typing "mv IO80211Family.kext IO80211Family.10 66"
5. Move the IO80211Family.kext file you extracted from Part 1 to the /System/Library/Extensions folder by typing (in my case from Desktop to Extensions) "mv /path/to/Desktop/IO80211Family.kext /System/Library/Extensions"
6. Type "exit" to logout of root
7. Launch Kext Utility - you will be asked for your administrator password, allow to run until finished. Quit.
8. Restart your computer
9. Verify your firmware version by opening System Profiler (Apple -> About this Mac -> More Info) and under Network select Airport and in the right display panel you should see Firmware version 2.0.19.10

At this point, your wireless card should be working if your diagnosis of broken firmware for Atheros chipsets in the 10.6.5 update is correct.

tenortim: Many, many thanks for all the research and troubleshooting that went into the solution that seems to be working for nearly everyone. I considered this fix as a success as soon as I saw I had the 10.6.4 version of the Airport driver installed, just because I had read so many positive results on this thread.

Then I disconnected the mag power cable and went for a walk to find that I could now keep my connection 15 feet from the router, and then it dropped out again. Bottom line is that I know it's working better than before this fix, but it's still not back to normal.

The more elaborate version of your steps by j*six gave me more confidence that I did it right. I must have changed something else in the last few days of troubleshooting that still has me tethered to my WAP.

Just wanted to post that this fix definitely helped me out, even if I have more work to do. So far I have reset the PRAM and reset the SMC. I suppose I have to tear into the AEBS settings to see if I screwed up something in my reckless desperation.

Hi,

I'm wondering if the fix posted only applies to atheros? I'm running Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.10.131.36.1).

I don’t know what happend to my MacBook, but from one day to the other – without a change – mine is working fine again. Last week, by accident airport was turned on, found the network and connected.

In my case, it was only the network in the office, that didn’t work. The one at home was fine all the time. Unlike many of the others here, my MacBook has the Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.10.131.36.1).

I still cross my fingers. And nevertheless I would like to know, what’s behind all this. But neither the network nor the settings on my MacBook have changed.

Ive had good results removing all objects from menu bar.......

Eh? What did u doo to remove them?

Or if you didn't try deleting some plist files but before that repair permissions.

Have you been mixtering with your user account?

Hi, can anybody tell me if I should try the fix posted by tenortim. it seems that it applies to the atheros firmware but I'm running broadcom?

For whatever it's worth to this discussion, I finally convinced the Genius Bar to replace my Airport card and everything is back to normal. Not only do I have wireless connectivity again wherever I go in my house, but it seems faster than it was right before the signal problem surfaced.

I'm holding fast at 10.6.4 for now.

God help me, I've got no idea how to apply tentorim's fix. But I am going to throw this thing out the window if the intermittent internet is not solved.
Am i best advised to go to a "Genius" (inverted commas intentional)?

thanks heaps