Mayden Vane

Q: iMac says CONNECTED but won't access Internet!

Ok, well I was connected to the Internet when I shut off my iMac one night... next morning, the internet stopped working! That's how the nightmare began.... I have another iMac on the same router, no problem connecting to the Internet. So it's not a problem at the ISP end. On my troubled iMac, both Ethernet and Wi-Fi are green lighted, and say "CONNECTED". However, I can't access the Internet. When I try to ping the numerical address of "YAHOO.CA" (I'm in Canada), I can receive packets. When I try to ping the numerical address of "GOOGLE.CA", it won't work. Nor will it work for "YAHOO.COM" or "GOOGLE.COM" or any domain name address I've tried.

 

WHAT I HAVE TRIED:

 

  • flushing cache (command: dscacheutil -flushcache)
  • resetting PRAM
  • deleting and recreating the network location (the Ethernet cable stopped being recognized, and this fixed that problem!!)
  • many alternative DNS addresses, such as Google's (8.8.8.8)
  • restarting router
  • removing and recreating the Ethernet and WiFi configurations many times

 

Again, all of my smartphones, Windows laptops, Macbook and other iMac are able to access the internet via the same router.

 

 

All I can say at the end of all this is..... Macs are HARD!

iMac, Snow Leopard 10.6.8

Posted on Mar 9, 2016 10:43 AM

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Q: iMac says CONNECTED but won't access Internet!

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Mayden Vane,

    Mayden Vane Mayden Vane Mar 9, 2016 11:36 AM in response to Mayden Vane
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 9, 2016 11:36 AM in response to Mayden Vane

    Can no longer edit my post, but I forgot to mention: I CAN access the internet via Ethernet in SAFE MODE. However, I don't know if this is normal but Wi-Fi is completely disabled under SAFE MODE. No networks are shown or accessible, and it says "No Airport Card Installed" in the status bar. So I can configure WiFi but it won't allow me to turn it on.

     

    There are only 3 small utilities in Login Items that start automatically, none of which are likely to interfere with the Internet. So I don't know what else is starting under NORMAL MODE that might be killing internet access, and that isn't starting under SAFE MODE.

     

    I have also tried:

     

    • Deleting all of my WiFi passwords from the system keychain
    • Resetting the SMC
  • by CMCSK,

    CMCSK CMCSK Mar 9, 2016 12:03 PM in response to Mayden Vane
    Level 6 (10,823 points)
    Mar 9, 2016 12:03 PM in response to Mayden Vane

    Not sure if this will work in Snow Leopard but you have nothing to lose....

     

    Trash the following plist files by going to Macintosh HD/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration

    com.apple.airport.preferences

    preferences

    NetworkInterfaces

    Repair permissions and restart your computer.  


    Another thing you can try.....

    System Preferences/Network

    Click the Assist Me button.

    In the next window that pops up, click the Diagnostic button.


    Solutions for connecting to the Internet, setting up a small network, and troubleshooting - Apple Support

     

    How to troubleshoot Wi-Fi connectivity in OS X Lion or earlier - Apple Support

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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  • by Mayden Vane,

    Mayden Vane Mayden Vane Mar 10, 2016 9:59 AM in response to CMCSK
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 10, 2016 9:59 AM in response to CMCSK

    Thanks for the leg up. I finally resolved the problem, so I'm posting details to help others....

     

     

    SOLUTION: I'm not really sure how I fixed it! It's a 3-part problem (nothing was working!), so I'll go through the parts:

     

    1. The Mac was not recognizing the Ethernet cable when plugged in. I thought the cable was defective, but not so, when known good cables would not be recognized. The solution to this problem turned out to be deleting the network location (in Network Prefs), which was titled "Automatic" by default, then simply re-creating it with the same title and all. Voila, it could now recognize the Ethernet cable. Macs are HARD!

     

    2. Once I could get on the internet via Ethernet cable, I found I still couldn't access the internet via Wi-Fi. Again, this turned out to be a weird cockamamie end-round solution of completely deleting the Wi-Fi configuration (- button), then recreating it (+ button), entering the SSID, password etc once again. Voila, it could now utilize wi-fi. Macs are HARD!

     

    3. This solution was actually the first one employed, and the thing that resolved the problem with the internet. Without this solution, neither of the above, Ethernet or Wi-Fi, would have worked. I say I don't know exactly what did, but here's what I did: Got a copy of "Clean My Mac", and used it to clean junk files and caches. Already had "Cache Out X", and used that to clean the caches. Once I restarted, the internet worked. (n.b. Previously, I had used "Applejack" to clean caches and repair permissions etc., that did nothing). Macs are HARD!

     

    Hope this helps, y'all.

     

     

    p.s. Another thing you can try.....

          System Preferences/Network

         Click the Assist Me button.

         In the next window that pops up, click the Diagnostic button.

     

    I tried this one I don't know how many times, it was the most useless waste of time ever! All it does is tell you to restart your router! And if that doesn't work it gives up on you!

     

    As far as Apple's "Assistants" are concerned, I think it would have been more helpful to have some little imp sit in a chair in a corner scowling at me the whole time, while quietly repeating "You'll never do it... You'll never do it... You'll never do it..."...