My Mac Pro (early 2008) for some reason is not detecting the internal ethernet network ports, when I check in system report it says:
This computer does not appear to have any PCI Ethernet cards installed.
I looked inside the system and the ethernet is part of the motherboard, could this be driver problem or hardware problem?
Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.7)
thanks Linc, I already tried that but no luck!
Back up all data.
Boot into Recovery by holding down the key combination command-R at the startup chime. Release the keys when you see a gray screen with a spinning dial.
Note: You need an always-on Ethernet or Wi-Fi connection to the Internet to use Recovery. It won’t work with USB or PPPoE modems, or with proxy servers, or with networks that require a certificate for authentication.
When the OS X Utilities screen appears, follow the prompts to reinstall the OS. You don't need to erase the boot volume, and you won't need your backup unless something goes wrong. If your Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade, so make a note of those before you begin.
Thanks Linc,
Before I do what you suggested, do you think maybe the ethernet ports have physically been damaged due to power surge hence the reason why the system doesnt see it?
Or is it an OS problem?
My only concern is that since I only have Wifi working, when I reinstall the OS and it asks me for user name and password it may not work as it is not going through the Ethernet port where I originaly downloaded the OS from Apple Store and as you know if the Etherent port changes Apple does not allow updates from another source such as Wifi.
It si really frustrating as most of my apps arent working now, everytime I launch them it asks for Apple ID and password and I give the correct information and it tells me "something went wrong, try again"
Thanks
just to let you known I tried to install the OS X as you suggested and as I gathered when it asks for my Apple ID and password and I enter it, it tells me "something went wrong, try again" this is because it is going through the Wifi.
Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store to have the machine tested.
Back up all data on the internal drive(s) before you hand over your computer to anyone. If privacy is a concern, erase the data partition(s) with the option to write zeros* (do this only if you have at least two complete, independent backups, and you know how to restore to an empty drive from any of them.) Don’t erase the recovery partition, if present.
Keeping your confidential data secure during hardware repair
*An SSD doesn't need to be zeroed.
OK fantastic I will do what you suggested. Is it OK to remove my other 3 internal HDDs and just keep the main one in there?
thanks
Yes. You can remove all the drives, if you want, as long as you can reproduce the problem when booted from a clean installation on an external drive.
Hi Alex, Just a suggestion u might want to try (my apologies if I missed it in the thread) to ascertain that your issue of the failed en ports may NOT BE hardware and that is to..
Simply restart your macpro from another bootable file system. Do this if u can Nd determine if you Ethernet ports are available or unavailable on your alternate system.
If the former is true you can breathe a sigh of relief and then isolate the software issue and fix that ..
If the latter then likely hardware issue.
Post your results for others to see.
Warwick
Hi Linc, Warwick,
Thank you so much for your time and suggestions. I was actually on the phone with Apple support for over 2 hours and in the end thye couldn't figure out if it was software or hardware problem.
I was about to re-install the OS then saw your message Warwick, so I created another bootable Disk and booted from the new Disk and unfortunately once again the internal ethernet ports werent detected. So this means that for sure it is hardware problem and I probably need ot change my Logic board which is going to cost and arm and a leg!
I would rather buy a new Mac Pro but then again I hear rumours the new Mac is supposed to come out soon, if there's any truth to that.
So really don't know what step to take 😕
Hey
Seems i have exactly same problem.
Did you find a solutions?
Thanks for your reply!
I have the same problem as well. I use my Mac Pro daily -- less than a year old -- and just today decided to restart the computer before doing some editing. When it started back up, the Ethernet ports stopped working, just says "Cable Unplugged." Wi-fi is working fine. Did anyone in this thread find a solution?
If you are running 10.11.3 installed by software update:
>> To fix your own problem, I recommend: download and apply (manually) the 10.11.3 combo update. The most current version is found in a link off this article:
[Description of] Download OS X El Capitan 10.11.3 Combo Update
There was a problem in a software Update versions's Blacklist that called out the Ethernet driver as "not approved".
.
I was indeed running off the 10.11.3 version installed by software update but I did install the Combo Update you linked to and the problem still exists, unfortunately. Seems very strange as it happened just after restarting the system. I have several other devices connected to the same hub with no problem, and I've tried different cables and different ports.
mac pro ethernet ports not detecting
