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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

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Posted on Oct 28, 2011 12:45 PM

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

46 replies

Oct 28, 2011 1:08 PM in response to The Gryphonator

restart your computer and hold cmd+R which takes you into the recovery partition. Once there, go to disk utility and then verify and repair your permissions and disks. close Disk utility (bottom right botton) and then go into reinstall lion. before you do that, make sure you're on your internet connection and make sure your connection to the internet is decent. You could plug in your ethernet cord and turn off wireless before reinstalling lion, to make sure your own your network. Lion will reinstall itself. This takes a while so get up and stretch and let it do it's thing


once it is done, run software update until there are not updates to be had. if you have a printer or scanner, plug that in while running SU and Lion will try to find those drivers if it has it.


Hope this helps!

Oct 31, 2011 10:51 PM in response to TheSmokeMonster

It's a very weird process. It starts to become harder and harder to connect to the internet. Everytime I connect to the wifi on campus I have to type in my name and password (this is normal for my school), but just recently it stopped asking for my name/password. I opened up Celtx (A screenwriting software) and the default page has links that usually require internet access to see... but the name/password login screen appears in the boxes where the ads normally are... so that's how I was able to connect through wifi.


Today the Itunes store stopped loading. The homepage loads, but nothing else works beyond that. Twitter app won't update, App store wont even open. All applications that basically require internet it seems.


As far as my activity monitor. Everything appears to be normal. I'm not really sure what to look for. But it says 95% of my memory is free.

Nov 1, 2011 1:54 AM in response to The Gryphonator

Hi,


Are you using Safari as your Internet browser? Actually, this is not entirely relevant, but your Mac's Internet connection might have been hijacked. Do you use any content-blocking software/extension on your Web browser(s)? I do on all my browsers, and I've noticed that it does improve my browsing speed... and safety.


What do your DNS settings read (in System Preferences/Network, go to the DNS tab: primary should be greyed, secondary should be in black characters, and editable)?

Nov 1, 2011 6:41 AM in response to FrenchToast

I use Firefox. And I tried with Google Chrome and still have the same issues. I don't use any internet blocking content as I thought Macs don't get viruses.


I looked up DNS settings and see two collumns... the first is DNS servers and has an IP address in grey, and the second collumn says Search Domains and says Ashland.edu (my school). It's also in grey.


Also, I should have said this earlier, but I occasionally get this poppin up. Specifically when I open Cetx (screenwriting software).


studio.celtx.com:443 uses an invalid security certificate.


The certificate is only valid for the following names:

securelogin.arubanetworks.com , www.securelogin.arubanetworks.com


(Error code: ssl_error_bad_cert_domain)

Nov 1, 2011 6:50 AM in response to The Gryphonator

I also want to point out that sometimes i double click on apps to open them and they simply don't show up until I click on them again in the dock. My mail still can't retrieve anything, but luckily my iphone has been sending me everything.


EDIT: ANOTHER thing that just happened. I just downloaded Safari and started to install it but as soon as I click on the package file... Installer freezes!

Nov 1, 2011 9:43 AM in response to Twig

Alright, Gryphonator, looks like you're being hijacked. Try the following:


1) Go to this webpage and download the latest stable version of Opera (in case you don't know, it's a Web browser, and if you don't like it, you can ditch it whenever you want); save it to your Desktop


2) Reboot your Mac in Safe Mode by keeping the Shift key down on startup until you get the Apple grey backdrop AND a progress bar. Once this shows onscreen, you can lift your finger from the Shift key


3) Once in Safe Mode, you are not connected to the Internet (unplug your Ethernet cable before you do anything), and only the basic OS X kernel extensions are running, so try and install Opera on your regular user account


4) Plug your Ethernet cable and try to connect to the Internet (you should be able to)


5) Unplug the Ethernet cable, and reboot normally


6) Once your Mac is up and running, try browsing the Web with Opera


7) Let us know of your progress (or lack thereof...)


The point of installing/using Opera is that it doesn't yet exist on your system, so it can't have corrupt plist preferences files and the like. Installing it in Safe Mode will prevent whatever is playing with your Internet connection from wreaking havoc with install.


Finally, for all its flaws, Opera is probably the safest Web browser there is. I've never been hijacked once in all the years I've used it, even when using Windows as my primary OS (see, you CAN turn to the Dark Side of the Force and come back!)


Keep us posted!

Nov 1, 2011 10:04 AM in response to FrenchToast

I did everything you just said and everything seems to be working!


But what exactly happened? My computer was hijacked? I find that hard to believe since I live on campus and use the schools internet. Although I'm not really sure what hijacked means beyond "hacking my computer."


But could you offer any advice for the future? Is it safe to open up Firefox? Cause I dont really understand how installing Opera fixed everything.


Regardless, THANK YOU SO MUCH 🙂

Nov 1, 2011 10:24 AM in response to The Gryphonator

Long story short, it's a bit like when you were a wee kid, and you'd catch whatever virus your kindergarten brethren would bring with them: using a college Internet WiFi network doesn't mean you're safe from infection, it only means it's harder to bring malicious code inside the network. Once it's there, it resides in server caches, and can be "shared" with all users who happen to have a weak spot in their computer (more often than not, they're running Windows). The main task for a network administrator is to keep that kind of code outside of his/her network, but hey, crap happens, right?


By installing Opera, you've brought a new browser on your machine, one without a corrupt cache and/or preferences files. Opera is more impermeable to threats such as hijacking and spoofing, because it relies on its own servers for bringing data to your computer, especially pictures, that come in compressed, and are decompresssed within the browser itself.


I were you, I'd do two things:


1) Install a free antivirus such as ClamXav, or the latest version of Sophos; they're both good antivirus programs, and yes, malicious code bits that can infect a Mac do exist in the wild. Only the hardcore Mac users in these forums will deny it. Viruses for Mac are few and far between, that's fact. Aren't there any? That's wishful thinking. Once you've installed this antivirus app, update it to the latest version of its virus definition database and run it on your Home directory (you can leave the System directories for now, they're probably clean).


2) Keep on using Opera from now on if you don't mind it. It's a great browser, fully customizable, and once you've tried it, you won't feel like ditching it, I'm sure. If not, well, just drag it to the Trash.


By the way, when you uninstall an app by dragging it to the Trash, you usually leave a lot of preferences files behind, and those can mess with your system after a while. Use an app such as AppCleaner to uninstall applications (you can find it here). It'll take care of the leftovers for you...

Macbook Pro wifi and application issues, everything slow

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