No Airport Card Installed?

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No Airport Card Installed?

Hello,

Today I returned from my trip, which, in the hotel, I used an ethernet cable, and connected to the hotel internet just fine after paying. When I got home however, my wifi icon was empty, and when I clicked on it, the dropdown says 'No Airport card installed.' I'm on a 15' MacBook Pro, Version 10.6.7. I've tried everything. Used system prefrences 'Network' tab to diagnose and assist, I've called apple, but do not have apple care, and tried 'vg88's' advice:

Mar 9, 2008 9:57 AM (in response to Pym Cantellow)

"I had the same issue and called apple care (I have a macbook pro running os 10.5.2). They had me shut down the computer, remove the power cable and battery. I then had to hold down the power button for 5 seconds. I reinserted the battery and attached the power cord. I was instructed to hold down the command, option, p & r keys will pressing the power button. I had to keep the command, option, p & r keys pressed down until I heard three start-up chimes. After the computer booted I turned on my airport and it was working fine. Hope this helps."

After doing this, the internet worked fine (I forgot to mention, at home I use a regular Netgear wireless network) Then my computer wouldn't wake up after I put it to sleep (not really a problem, but I was really aggravated) so I forced a shut- down, and when I rebooted, My wifi card was 'not installed' once again. Oh yeah, i the process I stripped all three screws that hold in my battery, so I cut them to be flathead screws on top (does that make sense?) I love mac so much, but I am absolutely fed up with this problem. Was it something I did? I don't care, I just want to know how to fix it! Any help would be greatly appraised. Thank you, Lindsey

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on May 31, 2011 7:34 PM

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Answer 1

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tjk

Level 9

51,116 points

May 31, 2011 7:41 PM in response to lsample

Hi Lindsey,

What you describe are a PRAM reset:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238

and SMC reset:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

I would do them again, but first check SMART, run Repair Disk, and Repair Permissions:

First check the S.M.A.R.T.status on your HD: Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility > in thepanel at left, select the first item in the list/your HD mechanism > look atthe bottom of the main window next to S.M.A.R.T. status and see if it says“Verified” or something more ominous like “Failing.”

If S.M.A.R.T.status is "Verified," run Repair Disk: Boot from install disc (insertdisc > restart > immediately hold down c key and keep holding it untilyou see “Preparing Installation”) > at first screen select the language andclick Continue > click on the Utilities Menu in the menu bar > open DiskUtility > select your HD in the panel on the left side> click Repair Diskat bottom of main window. Run this at least twice, and keep running it until itsays “appears ok” twice in a row. If that doesn’t happen, you may need astronger utility such as DiskWarrior or if the directory is damaged beyondrepair, you may need to reinstall the OS, or you may have a damaged HD (repairutilities can only repair the directory structure, not the HD itself). Whenthis is finished, quit Disk Utility, quit the installer, and restart. Oncebooted normally, go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility and runRepair Permissions.

Also, do you have at least 15% free space available on your HD?

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Answer 2

lsample Author

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May 31, 2011 7:47 PM in response to tjk

Thank you! Can you walk me through this please? I am on disk utility, and it says verified for the S.M.A.R.T. status. However, verify disk is open, and repair disk is grey-ed out. Both permissions are clickable. What should I press/ click? Sorry, I'm not very good at this, thanks for the help!

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Answer 3

tjk

Level 9

51,116 points

May 31, 2011 7:58 PM in response to lsample

You can run Repair Permissions where you are.

Follow the directions I posted above to run Repair Disk. You need to boot from your install disc or a different bootable volume (like an external HD).

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Answer 4

lsample Author

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Jun 2, 2011 7:32 AM in response to tjk

What does that mean, to boot from my install disk? I'm sorry, I'm so confused. I do have an external HD and I do back up regularly on it. What should I do with it?

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Answer 5

tjk

Level 9

51,116 points

Jun 2, 2011 1:31 PM in response to lsample

Insert install disc

Restart

Immediately hold down the c key and keep holding it until you see “Preparing Installation”

At this point you will be booted from the install disc

Continue following the directions I posted in my earlier post

What kind of backup do you have on your external HD? Time Machine? CarbonCopyCloner? SuperDuper!?

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Answer 6

mengkai

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Aug 22, 2011 9:32 AM in response to tjk

This issue troubled me for months. Finally, I brought my laptop in, and it was a very simple fix. The cable connecting the airport card was bad --- not the card itself. Cheap, fast, and effective repair.

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Answer 7

vscalici

Level 1

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Mar 1, 2013 5:41 PM in response to lsample

Ok - so for my 15 in. MacBook Pro with the same problem - I first used tjk's suggestion to check S.M.A.R.T. then v86's PRAM reset and IT WORKED (I feel sooo smart now - haha) thank you so much for your suggestions and wisdom! I am very glad I did not have to take to the Apple hospital 🙂 by the way I had to look this up on my "baby mac" which is my 2005 little white 13 in. MacBook -which STILL WORKS AND IS GREAT (so long as it's plugged into the power source as the battery died last year).

Valerie 😁

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Answer 8

May 27, 2013 11:07 AM in response to lsample

Hi!

I have the same problem , I bought a Wifi usb adapter, but it doesnt comes with instructions for Mac 😟

After the Airport card not installed problem , I had someone update my mac software to mountain lion, and it turns that the Wifi icon disapeared completely from the upper right side of the screen ( I dont have any more the airport card not installed problem)

Do you know , or any one, if the usb will still work?

I hope its not an obvious answer 😟 but I really have no idea

Thanks!

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Answer 9

tjk

Level 9

51,116 points

May 27, 2013 3:07 PM in response to steffestrada

Hi s,

It used to be that you couldn't use an external wi-fi adapter with an AP card installed. I don't know if that has changed or not, but I doubt it.

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Answer 10

Sep 8, 2013 11:05 PM in response to lsample

I am using the USB Wifi card and seems to be working fne. Its the cheapest solution.

I spnt a lot of money trying to fix it. repalced the card to find out its the antena in the monitor and have to change the screen. The apple tech basically told me to buy a new computer.

it wa s bit ahrd to figure out since all the instructions are for windows but i did get it working.

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