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Macbook Pro wifi and application issues, everything slow

Hey guys,

So my macbook pro has been giving me a lot of issues lately. It doesn't appear to be one particular problem and it's spread out across applications. Here's my situation:

The wifi connection in my dorm room wont work all of a sudden. It's the schools wifi, so I can't mess with. But my roommate, who also has a macbook pro, is having no problems at all. So I think it's just my computer. It SAYS I'm connected to the internet and has full connection, but it doesn't go through.

Here's the weird thing... I CAN connect to any other wifi on campus just fine. And all ethernet ports work fine.

I'm also having trouble with a variety of applications. My Twitter app, mail wont load anything, Itunes store is slow or doesn't work, the App store wont open, Celtx.....

I think it's all programs that require some sort of internet connection to function. And it's really strange how all these applications still don't work right even when I DO have internet connection (through ethernet or other wifi).

Few notes: I've tried reseting the permissions, and I have 40GB free on my harddrive. It's been happening for a week now, and I've tried rebooting many times. I did a large software update right before it started happening, but I'm not sure if they are related.

What do you think? Is this something I can fix on my own? Or is something damaged on my computer?

HELP!

MacBook Pro, iOS 4

Posted on Oct 28, 2011 12:27 PM

Best reply

TheSmokeMonster

Level 4

3,246 points

Posted on Oct 28, 2011 12:45 PM

what OS are you on? what's your computer model?

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46 replies

Nov 1, 2011 10:35 AM in response to FrenchToast

Interesting. I'll try to work with Opera for now. The trackpad scrolling issue is really annoying, and apparently something that Opera has known about for years but can't fix, but I'll try and use it for a while at least.

I'll definitely be downloading the antivirus software and the AppCleaner.

I still don't really understand how installing Opera made everything work again. Could you go into details about how it fixed it? I only ask because I don't want this to happen again. It felt so good when I reinstalled Lion and everything was working properly... only to return to chaos a day later.

Once again, thank you. 🙂

Nov 1, 2011 10:50 AM in response to The Gryphonator

Well, as I said, it's just about not relying on files (caches, preferences, etc...) already on your Mac, and probably corrupt too. Installing a new browser will let you go on the Internet without bringing "old" webpages you've already visited, and that are stored in your previous browsers caches. There's such a thing as "persistent storage", mainly cache and cookies related to the use of the Flash technology in webpages. Those are stored in a separate cache in every browser, and are often used to track your browsing habits, sometimes to play with your head...

Opera did just that: bring new blood in your Mac, some software that wasn't corrupt by prior use. Opera also has a strict policy as far as security certificates are concerned. It'll always warn you when you're trying to visit a site whose certificate has expired, or who's trying to redirect you to another, often hidden, domain. That's why it's one of the best browsers, security-wise.

I don't know about this Trackpad issue: I use Opera every day (I'm posting from it), and I've never experienced any problem with the stable releases. If you do, just type "opera:config" (without the quotes) in the address bar, then type "smooth" in the search bar that will appear, and uncheck the smooth scrolling, then restart Opera. Tell me if your problem persists.

Nov 1, 2011 12:00 PM in response to FrenchToast

That fixed the trackpad issue. I've just uninstalled firefox and google chrome (using app cleaner) and am starting to customize Opera.

Next I'll download the antivirus software.

Again, thank you so much. Hopefully this is the last I see of this issue. If not, well... I guess I'll post here agiain.

But Thanks!!!!!!! 🙂

Nov 1, 2011 12:01 PM in response to The Gryphonator

what anti virus software are you using??

Nov 1, 2011 12:08 PM in response to TheSmokeMonster

I was gonna use ClamXav, since that's what FrenchToast named first.

Unless if you have any other suggestions?

Nov 1, 2011 1:45 PM in response to The Gryphonator

I don't use any 😀

one last thing, did you do an SMC reset as this is known to fix your issue with slowness..

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3964

Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

Resetting the SMC on Mac portables with a battery you can remove

Note: Learn about removing the battery on MacBook and MacBook Pro.

Shut down the computer.
Disconnect the MagSafe power adapter from the computer, if it's connected.
Remove the battery.
Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.
Release the power button.
Reconnect the battery and MagSafe power adapter.
Press the power button to turn on the computer.

Resetting the SMC on portables with a battery you should not remove on your own

Note: Portable computers that have a battery you should not remove on your own include MacBook Pro (Early 2009) and later, all models of MacBook Air, and MacBook (Late 2009).

Shut down the computer.
Plug in the MagSafe power adapter to a power source, connecting it to the Mac if its not already connected.
On the built-in keyboard, press the (left side) Shift-Control-Option keys and the power button at the same time.
Release all the keys and the power button at the same time.
Press the power button to turn on the computer.
Note: The LED on the MagSafe power adapter may change states or temporarily turn off when you reset the SMC.

Nov 1, 2011 2:01 PM in response to TheSmokeMonster

No, I didn't do the SMC reset. But everything seems to be fine now. So I'll wait and see what happens.

Thanks!

Nov 1, 2011 2:36 PM in response to The Gryphonator

Glad you got your problems solved! As far as antivirus is concerned, I'd recommend you use one, since you're often connected via your college network, where intrusions do exist, unfortunately... Both ClamXav and Sophos are free, and they can do real-time protection too. I just did a scan with ClamXav, and it found two threats in the Trash of my IMAP folder in Thunderbird; both were dubious email I had trashed from my Gmail spam folder...

Keep your head down! :-)

Nov 28, 2011 8:29 PM in response to FrenchToast

Okay, so I hate to say this... but I'm still having problems with a few of these issues.

Opera has been fantastic and seems to be running normal. The only problem I'm still having is apps like iTunes, App Store, Mail, Twitter, etc (all which require internet) occasionally are just unable to connect to the internet. I have no idea why this happens.

A simple reboot solves the problem though. Every time. But for everything works fine but then randomly stops working right. This could happen the same day as I reboot, or perhaps a few days after.

Not the biggest issue, but it's still a problem.

I also want to point out that when I try to restart, I ALWAYS have to force quit Mail. If I go to File>Quit, it's greyed out and wont let me quit. And it wont restart until Mail quits. So maybe this detail might help with figuring out the issue.

Thanks!

Nov 29, 2011 9:59 AM in response to The Gryphonator

Can you go to Applications/Utilities, open a Terminal window, type "ls -al" there, press Enter, and post the resulting text here?

Nov 29, 2011 10:12 AM in response to FrenchToast

It says no command found.

Nov 29, 2011 10:14 AM in response to The Gryphonator

drwxr-xr-x+ 29 Daniel staff 986 Nov 15 11:05 . drwxr-xr-x 6 root admin 204 Oct 28 17:56 .. -rw------- 1 Daniel staff 3 Mar 2 2009 .CFUserTextEncoding -rw-r--r--@ 1 Daniel staff 24580 Nov 23 23:48 .DS_Store drwxr-xr-x@ 4 Daniel staff 136 May 27 2009 .DownloadManager drwxr-xr-x 3 Daniel staff 102 May 7 2011 .MacOSX drwx------ 8 Daniel staff 272 Nov 28 15:24 .Trash drwxr-x--x 4 Daniel staff 136 Feb 15 2011 .adobe -rw------- 1 Daniel staff 3429 Jul 22 2009 .bash_history drwxr-xr-x 2 Daniel staff 68 Mar 29 2009 .codeblocks drwx------ 3 Daniel staff 102 Apr 22 2009 .cups drwx------ 11 Daniel staff 374 Nov 28 21:48 .dropbox drwxr-xr-x 3 Daniel staff 102 Jan 30 2011 .gem drwx------ 3 Daniel staff 102 May 26 2009 .ssh drwxr-xr-x 2 Daniel staff 68 Mar 28 2009 .wapi drwxr-xr-x 3 Daniel staff 102 Nov 10 20:25 Applications drwx------+ 25 Daniel staff 850 Nov 29 00:22 Desktop drwx-w--w-@ 27 Daniel staff 918 Nov 27 22:05 Documents drwx------+ 73 Daniel staff 2482 Nov 27 20:24 Downloads drwx------@ 16 Daniel staff 544 Nov 28 15:25 Dropbox drwxr-xr-x 2 Daniel staff 68 Mar 18 2009 FX drwx------@ 56 Daniel staff 1904 Nov 28 14:05 Library drwx------+ 10 Daniel staff 340 Nov 1 18:11 Movies drwx------+ 12 Daniel staff 408 May 21 2011 Music drwx------@ 53 Daniel staff 1802 Nov 27 21:01 Pictures drwxr-xr-x@ 7 Daniel staff 238 Jun 28 2010 Public drwxr-xr-x 2 Daniel staff 68 Feb 22 2010 Retrieved Contents drwxr-xr-x+ 6 Daniel staff 204 Mar 3 2009 Sites drwxr-xr-x 2 Daniel staff 68 Dec 7 2010 untitled folder daniel-griffins-macbook-pro:~ Daniel$

EDIT: Sorry, I thought the L was an i

Nov 29, 2011 10:15 AM in response to The Gryphonator

Have you typed "ls -al" (that's an "L" in "ls" and in "al")?

Nov 29, 2011 10:26 AM in response to FrenchToast

OK, we cross-posted... 😁

Do you have AppleJack installed? It's a free utility that can be found here: http://applejack.sourceforge.net/

Once installed, it can only run in Single User mode, by keeping the Command/Apple and S keys down on startup. You get a black screen with white letters, and at the prompt ($) sign, you type "applejack AUTO restart" without the quotes, then press Enter, and let it do its job. Will clean caches, repair permissions, clear virtual memory, etc... Worth a try.

Dec 1, 2011 11:12 AM in response to FrenchToast

Didn't work... any other suggestions? This is getting really frustrating...

Macbook Pro wifi and application issues, everything slow