No Ethernet Connection

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No Ethernet Connection

Hi, my mid 2010 Macbook Pro running 10.9.1 seems a bit confused on ethernet. I was in system preferences under network and noticed that I have two wifi connections. One is labeled wifi and the other is labeled ethernet. The reason I say that they both are wifi is because they both have the wireless wifi symbols next to them. The ethernet labeled wifi says connected and the wifi connection says off. If I plug in a ethernet cable, it doesn't work. What I would like to do is make the wifi connection say connected and have the ethernet connected say not connected like it should be. Also if I go to click the plus button to add a new connection, I don't have an ethernet option to choose. What is wrong with my Mac?

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.1)

Posted on Feb 2, 2014 7:03 AM

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Answer 1

ElfLord10 Author

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Feb 3, 2014 6:19 AM in response to ElfLord10

Bump. Anyone have any ideas? 🙂

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Answer 2

Feb 3, 2014 6:35 AM in response to ElfLord10

As I recall (my memory is fuzzy at times), that depiction exists when you are bridging (wi-fi connection). I am far from a networking "expert," by the by 😉

FWIW, if your network/wi-fi is working properly, I suggest you ignore what is in the network pane.

Barry

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Answer 3

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,559 points

Feb 3, 2014 10:37 AM in response to ElfLord10

Delete the Ethernet connection from the service list and create a new one.

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Answer 4

ElfLord10 Author

Level 1

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Feb 3, 2014 5:22 PM in response to Linc Davis

I can delete the ethernet connection but I cant create a new one. My only choices are wifi, firewire, bluetooth DUN, VPN, PPPoE, or 6 to 4. I would assume that there should be an ethernet choice listed but there isn't one. Also the original connection labeled wifi doesn't work. Only the wifi connection labeled ethernet works. The other day I clicked "make service inactive" for the wifi connection labeled ethernet. Then it asked if I wanted to switch the radio to the wifi labeled wifi connection. I said yes and my wifi logo at the right top of the screen had an x where the signal strength should be. When clicked on it said, "wifi not setup" or something similar to that. Not sure where to go from here. As Barry said above I could leave it alone since the wifi is working properly. I would like to have a working ethernet connection just in case my wifi goes down or I go to a location without wifi that only has a ethernet cable. Hopefully I can get this fixed without too much trouble. Thanks for the help so far!

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Answer 5

LowLuster

Level 6

12,105 points

Feb 3, 2014 5:31 PM in response to ElfLord10

Delete both the one that says Ethernet and the one that says WiFi. Shut down your Mac and then do a SMC reset.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

Once you do that let your Mac startup. Both should be recreated at startup. If the Ethernet doesn't show up then your Wired NIC card has failed. The only way to fix that is to replace the logic board as it is part of the logic board.

Go into System Info and look at the Network section. you should see something like this.

If there is no Ethernet card listed then it has failed.

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Answer 6

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,559 points

Feb 3, 2014 5:31 PM in response to ElfLord10

If you haven't rebooted since this started, please do that now and see whether there's any change. Otherwise, see below.

Step 1

Back up all data.

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

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration

Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select

Services ▹ Reveal

from the contextual menu.* A folder should open with an item named "SystemConfiguration" selected. Move the selected item to the Trash. You may be prompted for your administrator password. Reboot and recreate the network settings.

*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combinationcommand-C. In the Finder, select

Go ▹ Go to Folder...

from the menu bar, paste into the box that opens (command-V). You won't see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

Step 2

Reset the System Management Controller.

Step 3

Reset the PRAM.

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Answer 7

ElfLord10 Author

Level 1

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Feb 4, 2014 1:38 PM in response to LowLuster

So I just tried lowluster's solution. I deleted the wifi and ethernet connection and shut down the computer. Then I tried to do a SMC reset. I read the article that lowluster gave me and chose the "resetting the SMC on portables with a battery you should not remove on your own" option. Is there any confirmation that it worked correctly? I didn't see any changes in color on the power cord light like the article said. When I restarted the computer both connections were still gone. 😟 I went to add connections and was only able to add a wifi connection not an ethernet connection. I then checked with system info and there is no ethernet listed under the network tab. According to lowluster, if I don't see the ethernet listed then my card has failed. Is this true? I might try Linc Davis's solution next and see if that gets me anywhere. I really am hoping that nothing is wrong with the ethernet card since I would have to replace the entire logic board. I don't want to do that. What are your thoughts on the ethernet card being broken? Any other ideas on what to do? Thanks for the help!

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Answer 8

LowLuster

Level 6

12,105 points

Feb 4, 2014 2:26 PM in response to ElfLord10

Other than the AC adapter light might change color, it never has on my Mac when I've done a SMC reset, there is no other conformation.

All computers and computer parts fail eventually. I personally have never had an Ethernet card fail but other people have.

You can get a USB to Ethernet adapter instead of having to replace the logic board. That should get you through until you buy a new computer.

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Answer 9

ElfLord10 Author

Level 1

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Feb 4, 2014 5:34 PM in response to LowLuster

I called Apple to get their thoughts on this. They had me reset the PRAM just in case. It didn't help. They recommended that I take it to an Apple store and go to the genius bar. Apparently they can do a diagnostics test and tell me if the ethernet card is busted. Even if its broken I'll just leave it as is. Hopefully I can get another 2 or 3 years out of the computer. Then I'll get a monster mac! Either a top of the line iMac or another Macbook Pro. 🙂 Thanks for all the help. This is a great forum!

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