Maineboy22

Q: Macs won't recognize Ethernet after Power Outage

We had a brief power Outage this weekend and a couple of my Macs a brand new Macbook Pro 15" and iMac 21.5" late 2013 are not recognizing the Ethernet. tried several potential fixes that I found online deleting various preferences and other files nothing worked.  I tried deleting the Ethernet interface only to find that when I wanted to add it again it was no longer available in the interface drop down menu.  I re-booted, zapped the PRAM and deleted many many network preference files but nothing could it to recognized the Ethernet of Ethernet through the thunderbolt adapter

 

At this point I pretty much gave up and backed up all the user information an re-installed the operating system over the existing system using the network restore ( command R ).

 

Has anybody had this issue before?  Is there an easier fix?

iMac later 2013 running El Capitan

Posted on Feb 29, 2016 12:54 PM

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Q: Macs won't recognize Ethernet after Power Outage

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  • by Pmintz25,Solvedanswer

    Pmintz25 Pmintz25 Feb 29, 2016 12:58 PM in response to Maineboy22
    Level 4 (1,686 points)
    Feb 29, 2016 12:58 PM in response to Maineboy22

    Reset the SMC

     

    Reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

     

    The power outage could have messed with the SMC on the computer, which basically controls how the power is routed on the device.

     

    Also, have you tried connecting the devices with a new Ethernet cable? The cables themselves could have been damaged, or even your router.

     

    Best way to test is to take one of your devices to somewhere with an Ethernet cable to test the computer's Ethernet port. This could be done at an Apple Store if you are near one. Would help determine if it is an issue with the computers or the router/modem or cables.

  • by Maineboy22,

    Maineboy22 Maineboy22 Feb 29, 2016 4:13 PM in response to Pmintz25
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 29, 2016 4:13 PM in response to Pmintz25

    Resetting the System Management Controller seemed to do the trick.  Really strange, have not had that problem before.

     

    Thank you for you help

  • by killhippie,

    killhippie killhippie Mar 1, 2016 4:37 AM in response to Maineboy22
    Level 3 (852 points)
    Mac App Store
    Mar 1, 2016 4:37 AM in response to Maineboy22

    Apple actually released a silent security update which bricked peoples Ethernet ports on some macs when they rebooted, Apple released a updated version very quickly.

     

    'If the Ethernet connection on your Mac stopped working recently, check System Information to find out which version of “Incompatible Kernel Extension Configuration Data” is installed. If you have version 3.28.1, you need an update. If you can connect to WiFi, your Mac will update to version 3.28.2 automatically, or you can follow the steps in the link below to restore it manually'

     

    If the Ethernet connection on your Mac stopped working recently - Apple Support