Mountain Lion/Mavericks 'breaks' wifi base station - Snow Leopard works fine

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Level 1

14 points

Mountain Lion/Mavericks 'breaks' wifi base station - Snow Leopard works fine

Greetings all,

(Tried this in the OSx forum with no answers. Hopefully better luck here.)

I've been reading my way toward blindness through countless threads, here and elsewhere, from countless people, having problem with Mountain Lion and Wi-Fi these last few days, but some are using Airport, some are using third-party Wi-Fi routers, some aren't really specifying what they're using, so I thought I'd be as specific as possible about my situation - and add the fact that everything is still working fine if I boot into an old backup using Snow Leopard.

===

So here's the situation. I have a Intel Mac Mini which I use as a Wi-Fi base station for a Intel PowerBook Pro and an iPod 5. The Mini has been running Snow Leopard, and the PowerBook had been upgraded to Mountain Lion a few months ago. Things were still working fine at that point - the PowerBook's shift from SL to ML didn't affect its connectivity as a 'receiver' at all. This past weekend however, I finally upgraded the Mini to Mountain Lion as well (so that I could install the current version of Adobe Lightroom) and lost my Wi-Fi Internet access.

When I turn Wi-Fi on at the PowerBook, the Mini's network is visible, and I get the solid Wi-Fi fan showing a full connection, but I cannot access the Internet (indicated by the exclaimation point inside the fan for the first few seconds). The same is true on the iPod - I get the checkmark showing that I'm connected, but when I try to access any Internet services will get a pop-up box telling me that the Internet is not connected.

After going through pages and pages and pages of people struggling with similar issues on sites like this, and following suggestions like deleting my preference files changing IP addresses etc. I got no further. But since I had cloned my hard drive just before the upgrade from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion (thank you SuperDuper), I can reboot into Snow Leopard, and everything still works fine. With that advantage, I copied and re-created EVERY SINGLE preference in the system preferences for Network and Internet sharing* from the Snow Leopard into the Mountain Lion system. (I even went so far as to create a network in Mountain Lion's prefs. with WEP encryption instead of the newer WPA just in case that would make any difference at all.) But even with identical settings on the Mini regardless of booting into Snow Leopard or Mountain Lion, Mountain Lion remains the same - no problem connecting with the network, but complete inability to access the Internet. Then, hoping against hope that an upgrade to Mavericks might reset things into some sort of working mode, I tried that - but no better result.

(*) I note that the wifi heading in the preference panes has changed from "AirPort" in Snow Leopard to "WiFI" in Mountain Lion and Mavericks, but I'm assuming that's just a change Apple made in its terminology to avoid confusion with the external AirPort options.

I would appreciate any suggestions any of you could give. And I would ask that you specify whether any suggested changes are to be made on the originating Wi-Fi station (in this case the Mini), or the receiver (in this case the MacBook). Many of the threads I've read to date can be confusing simply because they're not specifying on which machine any suggested changes need to be made, and while I'm sure there's nothing that needs to be changed at the MacBook, please specify if I'm wrong.

Thanks again,

OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Oct 25, 2013 7:16 PM

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Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

250,595 points

Oct 25, 2013 11:59 PM in response to Jregann

Hi, might try this...

Bootup holding CMD+r, or the Option/alt key to boot from the Restore partition & use Disk Utility from there to Repair the Disk, then Repair Permissions.

Reboot.

Make a New Location, Using network locations in Mac OS X ...

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2712

10.5, 10.6, 10.7 & 10.8…

System Preferences>Network, top of window>Locations>Edit Locations, little plus icon, give it a name.

10.5.x/10.6.x/10.7.x instructions...

System Preferences>Network, click on the little gear at the bottom next to the + & - icons, (unlock lock first if locked), choose Set Service Order.

The interface that connects to the Internet should be dragged to the top of the list.

If using Wifi/Airport...

Instead of joining your Network from the list, click the WiFi icon at the top, and click join other network. Fill in everything as needed.

Setup your Intenet Sharing again.

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Answer 2

Jregann Author

Level 1

14 points

Oct 26, 2013 2:22 PM in response to BDAqua

Thanks for the options. Tried them, but no change.

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

250,595 points

Oct 26, 2013 2:39 PM in response to Jregann

Hmmm, so it's still connecting but no "connection"?

I wonder if it's a DNS problem?

For 10.5/10.6/10.7/10.8, System Preferences>Network, unlock the lock if need be, highlight the Interface you use to connect to Internet, click on the advanced button, click on the DNS tab, click on the little plus icon, then add these numbers...

208.67.222.222

208.67.220.220

(There may be better or faster DNS numbers in your area, but these should be a good test).

Click OK.

Though with Internet Sharing, the ones getting the Sharing might need the IP of the one doing the Sharing.

Oh, is Web Sharing enabled?

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Answer 4

Jregann Author

Level 1

14 points

Oct 26, 2013 6:05 PM in response to BDAqua

Thanks again (this effort is genuinely appreciated). No Joy, unfortunately.

I've attached an image of the relevant (I think) control panels on the Mini and MacBook Pro. The Mini captures are from the SnowLeopard operating system and have worked all along (and are working again at this moment, as I've run out of energy after fighting with Mavericks for the third day in a row, and so restarted on the old system and am typing this on the laptop right now. Despite the fact that some of what I've read (from oh-so-many pages on this problem) in the last week or so would indicate potential problems with these settings (eg., one forum stated that the laptop's Router number should be the same as the Mini's IP number, or that the Subnet numbers should match), this combination actually does get me internet access on the laptop (and simultaneously on the iPod - by just changing its IP address to 10.0.2.3 instead of 10.0.2.2).

My starting point back when I first lost internet access from the laptop after upgrading to MountainLion (and again when I moved on to Mavericks), was to replicate these settings exactly on the Mini. When they didn't work, Ive tried various combinations of matching router numbers to IP numbers, manually assigning an IP address to the Mini's AirPort panel (though as I understand it, the MINI doesn't need an IP assigned to AirPort since it's accessing the internet through the Ethernet connection), using a WEP password on the Mavericks system (just to make it match the SnowLeopard settings as completely as possible), and even turning Internet Sharing on on both units (though I have no need to share the laptop's internet connection with anything else).

If anything leaps out at you from looking at this, I'd appreciate hearing it - though I'm getting closer to just throwing my hands up and buying a cheap wireless router (though I can only IMAGINE how ****** I'll be if I still can't connect with the third-party router).

Thanks again, and again,

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Answer 5

BDAqua

Level 10

250,595 points

Oct 26, 2013 8:48 PM in response to Jregann

I just connected a 10.4.11 eMac to a 10.8.5 iMac using Internet Sharing.

On the iMac I created a Network uner the Apple icon, no encrytion for this test, called im24, allowed my iMac's Ethernet to shate TO computers using Wifi.

On the eMac, under the Wifi/Airport icon I choze Join other, filled in Network name with im24, the eMac joined ^ got Internet! 🙂

You can't use Manual IPs for Internet Sharing as far as I know, must be DHCP.

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Answer 6

ciru86

Level 1

5 points

Oct 26, 2013 11:17 PM in response to Jregann

Looking at your screenshot I think there may be problems with IP settings... When you're sharing the internet you are using 2 different interfaces, en0 (ethernet) and en1 (wifi). The settings of ethernet are OK, if you're able to access the internet with your mac mini. Wifi network is a completely different network which is using another interface (en1) so it must be treated as such. In your screnshots I see that mac mini IP address is 192.254.14.94, while the macbook is trying to connect to a router with address 10.0.2.1, which is a completely different range of IP. What was the original wifi address of your mac mini, before you started trying different options?

Exclamation point does not mean "No Internet Connection", it means "conflicts with ip addresses"! Try to set manually your macbook pro wifi ipv4 with the values of the mac mini (EG IP Address 169.254.14.95, subnet mask 255.255.0.0, router 192.254.14.94)! By now the biggest problem is that in macbook pro network settings the computer is trying to establish a connection with 10.0.2.1 which is not your mac mini wifi ip address (it is by now 192.254.14.94).

I think you've messed up a little with the IP and Subnet Masks configuration, if this doesn't work I think you're best option is to start all over again setting up your internet sharing with default values.

If changing parameters does not work delete both in your mac mini and macbook pro

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/NetworkInterfaces.plist

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plist

reboot and start all over again. Beware, you will lose all Wifi passwords stored and your ISP configuration, so write down your mac mini ethernet network configuration! Hope it will help

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Answer 7

ciru86

Level 1

5 points

Oct 26, 2013 11:53 PM in response to ciru86

I've replicated your problem and the solution was quite straightforward.

ON MAC MINI

- Make sure ethernet connection is working

- turn on internet sharing

- when you try to change the settings of wifi it gives you a bogus autoassigned IP address and subnet mask so:

ON IPOD

- open wifi settings on your ipod

- dissociate from your mac mini wifi

- reconnect to your mac mini wifi

- click on the "i" near the name of your wireless connection

- write down the ipv4 configuration numbers (in my case Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0, router 192.168.3.1)

ON MAC MINI

- set manually the IP address of wifi according to what you found in your ipod settings (in my case, IP address 192.168.3.1 - your mac mini is the router -, subnet mask 255.255.255.0, router blank)

ON MACBOOK PRO

- set DHCP while connected to mac mini wifi (or alternatively manually enter the values
IP: whatever you like IN THE RANGE OF IPs OF THE MAC MINI WIFI

SUBNET MASK: the one you set in mac mini

Router: the wifi IP address of your mac mini (in my case 192.168.3.1).

Voila!!

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Answer 8

Jregann Author

Level 1

14 points

Oct 27, 2013 7:03 AM in response to BDAqua

BDAqua: Thanks, that's pretty much what I've been doing, and while it commects to the IP address on the base station, it can't get internet through the base station. I've tried without a password as well - even with the firewalls off - not as a permanent solution of course, but just to see if it made any difference, and no go.

As for DHCP, although my Mini's connection to the ethernet and my internet provider is DHCP, it has never worked to date in connecting my laptop to the mini - the only way I've ever gotten a connection (and it's worked great up till now) is by manually assigning numbers. In my countless experimentations this last week or so, I've tried the DHCP option on the laptop, but it made no difference.

ciru86: Thanks too - especially for working through your own 'mockup' on my behalf.

I know that by all I've read while researching this problem, I SHOULDN'T be expecting the two IP ranges to play nicely with each other - I only know that when I boot from Snow Leopard, they do. (With your reference to "I see that mac mini IP address is 192.254.14.94," I'm guessing that you're referring to 169.254.14.94 in the third panel on the left. This is a 'dummy' self-assigned IP that the system generates sometimes, and as you'll seein the second panel on the left, comes with a warning that that IP can't connect to the internet. I can only assume it's irrelevant to my situation as I'm not trying to connect to the internet through the Mini's wifi, since even with that number assigned on the Mini, I can access the internet through the Mini on my laptop in Snow Leopard with these settings.

(Tried trashing preferences on a few occasions, with no change.)

And finally, I've attached another set of screen captures, replicating your recreation of my problem (I even went so far as to copy the IP numbers you used) just to see if I correctly interpreted your suggestion. As you'll see from the menu bars, the Mini is broadcasting, and the full WiFi fan shows the laptop is receiving (on those occasions that the exclaimation point has appeared, it has only been temporary, but in many setups like this one, it goes straight to the full fan - but in both cases, I get no internet access.

Thanks again folks.

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Answer 9

ciru86

Level 1

5 points

Oct 27, 2013 10:41 AM in response to Jregann

Ok, let's try with this..

MAC MINI

Go to Terminal

write:

sudo ifconfig en0 down

and press enter button. Write your password. Then write

sudo ifconfig en1 down

and press enter button

Go to "sharing" and turn off internet sharing. Go to "Network", click on "Location" on the upper side of the window and create a new location (give it the name you prefer).

Click apply, then go back to terminal and write

sudo ifconfig en0 up

and then

sudo ifconfig en1 up

Go back to preferences, go to network and look if ethernet connection is up. If ethernet's ok, go to "sharing", enable internet sharing and don't change the settings of Wifi in network (don't even put WPA or WEP, leave it unprotected).

MACBOOK

On "network" create a new location like you did on mac mini, then click apply.

Try then to connect with your macbook to wifi (it should use DHCP by default, leave it that way). When connected click on advanced and add DNS servers (for now just use google ones, 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4). If everything's fine it should work. If not, try to repeat the steps that I described in the post above, trying to figure out what settings you should apply.

In my macbook the default network was 192.168.3.x, check what is yours using the iPod, because I don't think your IP can be the same of mine (I have 3 routers in cascading at home with 2 different subnets, 192.168.1.x and 192.168.2.x, that is why I think my macbook chose the subnet 192.168.3.x). Try then with a 255.255.255.0 subnet instead of 255.255.254.0.

If this does not work, go to Terminal and digit

ifconfig

press enter and copy the output on this post.

By doing all these steps we are doing all the plausible steps for troubleshooting, let me know because I'm curious (I think this should definetively work)!

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Answer 10

ciru86

Level 1

5 points

Oct 27, 2013 10:48 AM in response to ciru86

Clarification, if it does not work you should type

ifconfig

in Terminal on your Mac Mini, not Macbook, and then post it on this page! If you're feeling uncomfortable posting your internet IP address just obscure the IP from the en0 section of ifconfig, I just need en1 parameters.

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Answer 11

ciru86

Level 1

5 points

Oct 27, 2013 11:06 AM in response to ciru86

Try also to digit in Terminal, both on Macbook and Mac Mini

dscacheutil -flushcache

we're trying to fix also the unprobable issues!

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Answer 12

Jregann Author

Level 1

14 points

Oct 27, 2013 12:34 PM in response to ciru86

Tried your suggestions without success,

Here's the ifconfig from the Mini...

with ‘Self-Assigned’ IP Address on WiFi

————————

ifconfig

lo0: flags=8049<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 16384

options=3<RXCSUM,TXCSUM>

inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128

inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000

inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1

nd6 options=1<PERFORMNUD>

gif0: flags=8010<POINTOPOINT,MULTICAST> mtu 1280

stf0: flags=0<> mtu 1280

en0: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500

………..

………

nd6 options=1<PERFORMNUD>

media: autoselect (100baseTX <full-duplex,flow-control>)

status: active

en1: flags=8963<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500

ether 60:33:4b:15:5f:20

inet 169.254.252.104 netmask 0xffff0000 broadcast 169.254.255.255

nd6 options=1<PERFORMNUD>

media: autoselect

status: active

fw0: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 4078

lladdr d8:a2:5e:ff:fe:ea:cc:4e

nd6 options=1<PERFORMNUD>

media: autoselect <full-duplex>

status: inactive

p2p0: flags=8802<BROADCAST,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 2304

ether 02:33:4b:15:5f:20

media: autoselect

status: inactive

bridge100: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500

options=3<RXCSUM,TXCSUM>

ether c6:2c:03:d1:aa:64

inet 192.168.2.1 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.2.255

Configuration:

id 0:0:0:0:0:0 priority 0 hellotime 0 fwddelay 0

maxage 0 holdcnt 0 proto stp maxaddr 100 timeout 1200

root id 0:0:0:0:0:0 priority 0 ifcost 0 port 0

ipfilter disabled flags 0x2

member: en1 flags=3<LEARNING,DISCOVER>

ifmaxaddr 0 port 5 priority 0 path cost 0

media: autoselect

status: active

————————

For what it’s worth, when the Self Assigned IP address doesn’t work and I manually change the Mini’s WiFi settings to 10.0.2.2 and 255.255.254.0

Terminal now displays…

en1: flags=8963<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500

ether 60:33:4b:15:5f:20

nd6 options=1<PERFORMNUD>

media: autoselect

status: active

..the third line from the first report, “inet” seems to be missing entirely.

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Answer 13

BDAqua

Level 10

250,595 points

Oct 27, 2013 1:02 PM in response to Jregann

The 169.254.x.y IP is OK for the one handing out Internet Sharing here, now at a different location & using WEP on different Macs, G5 Sharing from Ethernet to Mini using Airport.

G5 Airport IP of 169.254.215.127 no Router IP

Once Mini joined G5's created Airport...

Mini IP 10.0.1.2 Router IP 10.0.1.1

All Internet on the Mini works fine.

You cannot do this Manually very easy, you must let the Mac handle the NAT.

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Answer 14

ciru86

Level 1

5 points

Oct 27, 2013 1:22 PM in response to BDAqua

Yeah, I agree, I've checked my ifconfig and the self-assigned IP is correct, and all the values on ifconfig are OK. My best shots at this point are subnet mask (if I connect to my mac with shared internet the default subnet mask is 255.255.255.0 and not x.x.254.0) or wrong router IP address.

My advice is not to change manually the Mini Wifi IP(as you see inet's not showing, so changing IP broke the network) and leave it self-assigned.

Why DHCP on macbook is not working? Even if internet is not working it has to show the settings it's receiving from router, what are they?

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Answer 15

Jregann Author

Level 1

14 points

Oct 27, 2013 1:40 PM in response to BDAqua

BDAqua:That was my guess from the working Snow Leopard settings, in fact if you check the first set of screen captures above, you'll see it's pretty much what you're describing (apart from me using 10.0.2.2 and 10.0.2.1). And though it works fine in Snow Leopard, those same settings get me nowhere in Mavericks.

Ain't technology grand?

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