Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Ethernet Disconnecting

So I have recently had issues with connectivity so I bought a new router and plugged in Ethernet. Now oddly enough around every 40minutes or so I disconnect and have to wait 2-3minutes for it to connect. This gets very irritating and I have tried a lot of "solutions." Thank you. Also I am using Ethernet connected to an All-In-One Motorola Surfboard Router!

MacBook Pro (15-inch Mid 2012), OS X Mavericks (10.9.1)

Posted on Dec 20, 2013 9:13 PM

Reply
24 replies

Dec 20, 2013 9:27 PM in response to XPlushy

If your Mac is losing the internet connection, you can't broswe the internet, every 40 minutes even when you are connecting to your router with a Ethernet cable then it has noting to do with your Mac computer. For some reason your modem is dropping the connect to your ISPs network.


Contact your ISP to have your connection checked.

Dec 21, 2013 3:34 PM in response to XPlushy

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.


Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Boot in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. Note: If FileVault is enabled on some models, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.

Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal boot may also be somewhat slow.

The login screen appears even if you usually login automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.

Test while in safe mode. Same problem?


After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

Dec 21, 2013 11:25 PM in response to XPlushy

If you don't already have a current backup, back up all data before doing anything else. This procedure is a diagnostic test. It changes nothing, for better or worse, and therefore will not, in itself, solve your problem. The backup is necessary on general principle, not because of anything suggested in this comment.

Third-party system modifications are a common cause of usability problems. By a “system modification,” I mean software that affects the operation of other software — potentially for the worse. The procedure will help identify which such modifications you've installed, as well as some other aspects of the configuration that may be related to the problem.

Don’t be alarmed by the seeming complexity of these instructions — they’re easy to carry out. Here's a brief summary: In each of two steps, you copy a line of text from this web page into a window in another application. You wait about a minute. Then you paste some other text, which will have been copied automatically, back into a reply on this page. The sequence is copy; paste; paste again. That's all there is to it. Details follow.

While investigating the problem, you may have started the computer in "safe" mode. If possible, these steps should be taken while booted in “normal” mode, not in safe mode. If you’re now running in safe mode, reboot as usual before continuing. If you can only boot in safe mode, you can still use this procedure, but not all of it will work. Be sure to mention that in your reply, if you haven't already done so.

Below are instructions to enter UNIX shell commands. The commands are safe and do nothing but produce human-readable output, but they must be entered exactly as given in order to work. If you question the safety of the procedure suggested here — which you should — search this site for other discussions in which it’s been followed without any report of ill effects. I am not asking you to trust me. If you can't satisfy yourself that these instructions are safe, don't follow them.

The commands will line-wrap or scroll in your browser, but each one is really just a single long line, all of which must be selected. You can accomplish this easily by triple-clicking anywhere in the line. The whole line will highlight, and you can then copy it.

Note: If you have more than one user account, Step 2 must be taken as an administrator. Ordinarily that would be the user created automatically when you booted the system for the first time. Step 1 should be taken as the user who has the problem, if different. Most personal Macs have only one user, and in that case this paragraph doesn’t apply.

Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:


☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)


☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.


☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.


When you launch Terminal, a text window will open with a line already in it, ending either in a dollar sign (“$”) or a percent sign (“%”). If you get the percent sign, enter “sh” and press return. You should then get a new line ending in a dollar sign.


Step 1


Triple-click anywhere in the line of text below on this page to select it:

PB=/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy; PR () { [[ "$o" ]] && printf '\n%s:\n\n%s\n\n' "$1" "$o"; }; PF () { o=$($PB -c Print "$2" | awk -F'= ' \/$3'/{print $2}'); PR "$1"; }; { o=$(( $(vm_stat | awk '/Pageo/{sub("\\.",""); print $2}')/256 )); [[ $o -gt 1024 ]] && printf "\nPageouts: %s MiB\n\n" $o; o=$(kextstat -kl | grep -v com\\.apple | cut -c53- | cut -d\< -f1); PR "Loaded extrinsic kernel extensions"; o=$(launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.apple|org\.(x|openbsd)|\.[0-9]+$/{print $3}'); PR "Loaded extrinsic user agents"; o=$(launchctl getenv DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES); PR "Inserted libraries"; o=$(crontab -l); PR "User cron tasks"; o=$(cat /e*/lau*); PR "Global launchd configuration"; o=$(cat ~/.lau*); PR "Per-user launchd configuration"; PF "Global login items" /L*/P*/loginw* Path; PF "Per-user login items" L*/P*/*loginit* Name; PF "Safari extensions" L*/Saf*/*/E*.plist Bundle | sed 's/\..*$//;s/-[1-9]$//'; o=$(find ~ $TMPDIR.. \( -flags +sappnd,schg,uappnd,uchg -o ! -user $UID -o ! -perm -600 \) | wc -l); [[ $o -eq 0 ]] || printf "\nRestricted user files: %s\n\n" $o; cd; o=$(find -L /S*/L*/E* {,/}L*/{A*d,Compon,Ex,In,Keyb,Mail/Bu,P*P,Qu,Scripti,Servi,Spo}* -type d -name Contents -prune | while read d; do ID=$($PB -c 'Print :CFBundleIdentifier' "$d/Info.plist"); ID=${ID:-No bundle ID}; egrep -qv "^com\.apple\.[^x]|Accusys|ArcMSR|ATTO|HDPro|HighPoint|driver\.stex|hp-fax|JMicron|microsoft\.MDI|print|SoftRAID" <<< $ID && printf '%s\n\t(%s)\n' "${d%/Contents}" "$ID"; done); PR "Extrinsic loadable bundles"; o=$(find /u*/{,*/}lib -type f -exec sh -c 'file -b "$1" | grep -qw shared && ! codesign -v "$1"' {} {} \; -print); PR "Unsigned shared libraries"; for d in {,/}L*/{La,Priv,Sta}* L*/Fonts; do o=$(ls -A "$d"); PR "$d"; done; } 2> /dev/null | pbcopy; echo $'\nStep 1 done'


Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Then click anywhere in the Terminal window and paste (command-V). I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key after pasting.

The command may take up to a few minutes to run, depending on how many files you have and the speed of the computer. Wait for the line "Step 1 done" to appear below what you entered. The output of the command will be automatically copied to the Clipboard. If the command produced no output, the Clipboard will be empty. Paste into a reply to this message. No typing is involved in this step.

Step 2


Remember that you must be logged in as an administrator for this step. Do as in Step 1 with this line:

PR () { [[ "$o" ]] && printf '\n%s:\n\n%s\n\n' "$1" "$o"; }; { o=$(sudo launchctl list | sed 1d | awk '!/0x|com\.(apple|openssh|vix\.cron)|org\.(amav|apac|calendarse|cups|dove|isc|ntp|post[fg]|x)/{print $3}'); PR "Loaded extrinsic daemons"; o=$(sudo defaults read com.apple.loginwindow LoginHook); PR "Login hook"; o=$(sudo crontab -l); PR "Root cron tasks"; o=$(syslog -k Sender kernel -k Message CReq 'error|GPU |hfs: Ru|I/O e|find tok|n Cause: -|NVDA\(|pagin|timed? ?o' | tail -n25 | awk '/:/{$4=""; print}'); PR "Log check"; } 2> /dev/null | pbcopy; echo $'\nStep 2 done'

This time you'll be prompted for your login password, which you do have to type. Nothing will be displayed when you type it. Type it carefully and then press return. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. Heed that warning, but don't post it. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.

You can then quit Terminal.

To prevent confusion, I'll repeat: When you type your password in the Terminal window, you won't see what you're typing.

Note: If you don’t have a login password, set one before taking Step 2. If that’s not possible, skip the step.

Important: If any personal information, such as your name or email address, appears in the output of these commands, anonymize it before posting. Usually that won't be necessary.

Remember, Steps 1 and 2 are all copy-and-paste — type only your password. Also remember to post the output.

Ethernet Disconnecting

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.