Mac OS X 10.5.x Special Report: Wireless/AirPort issues

Card not recognized/will not power on -- new fix Users continue to report a serious problem where internal AirPort hardware is not recognized after upgrading to Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard).

We previously reported this fix, which has been successful for a number of readers: navigate to /System/Library/Extensions and drag the following files (if they exist) to the Desktop or another location outside the System folder (you will need to hold down the Command key while dragging the file to move it if you are not an administrator):

However, that fix is not universally successful. As described by MacFixIt reader Jason:

"I did an Archive and Install of OS X 10.5. Worked fine but on reboot, it won't power on the Airport card in my Mac Pro. It sees it is there, and I don't have the AppleAirport2.kext file in the system/library/extensions folder as recommended on Macfixit (the file is not there, I didn't delete it)."

"I get this message in the Console: ERROR: ACInterfaceCreate() no airport interface found for en2 AC interfaceCopyStatus() called with invalid interface."

Clear caches Some users have had success with clearing caches to reinstate recognition of built-in AirPort hardware. Since many of the shareware tools for clearing caches through a GUI have not yet been updated for Leopard, you can take a blanket approach and delete the entire following folder:

• /System/Library/Extensions/Caches

then restart.

MacFixIt reader Jeff writes:

"I had a problem with my MacBook Pro Airport card (upgraded with a MacPro "n" card) not being recognized. Instead of pulling the files you mention out of /System/Library/Extensions, I simply deleted the /System/Library/Extensions/Caches folder and restarted. On restart the Airport card was back."

Trouble connecting to WEP networks Some users are having trouble logging on to a network that has a WEP password. For example:

After installing Leopard, I've been unable to log into my home network. I have a Snow Airport base station, but when I try to join the network, I get a window that says my network requires a WEP password. Typing in my password results in a message that says "incompatible security". No go. But I can go to System Preferences, select "network", select Airport, click on "assist me", and run the diagnostics. Six or eight keystrokes later, I'm online.

Notice that in that case, logging on is possible through the Assist Me dialog.

Another reader suggests that WEP connection problems can be ameliorated by changing the password, and in particular, by changing it to a 128-bit hex key:

We are an ISP and have many different wireless DSL modems out in the field. We have had problems since Leopard with trying to connect to certain of the routers that were using WEP rather than WPA. This happens when there is an old PC in the house and it doesn't support WPA, so we have to go with WEP. We have generally gone with 64 bit WEP (10 chars) as with Windows you have to type it in twice, and getting people to type in 10 chars the same twice is a challenge. 128 bit WEP requires 26 chars, and getting anybody to type that in twice correctly is almost impossible.

However - it appears that we will have to do go to 128. After hours of troubleshooting on my own and with Apple, it appears that with certain DSL modems, there is a problem with using less than 128 bit hex keys. I have confirmed this on the Zoom X6 modem, yet the Actiontec modems work fine with the 64 bit keys.

Just so you know - both of these modems work fine with Tiger.

Wireless connection lost after sleep Other readers are reporting an issue where AirPort connectivity is repeatedly lost upon putting the system to sleep then waking it back up.

One reader writes:

"On mac mini, 1.5 core solo 1Gb ram, lose airport connection when waking from sleep. Have to re-enter network and join. Have applied keychain update, reset keychain and repaired keychain, all to no avail. Remember network name is checked. No problems on my iMac 17" 2.0 2Gb ram machine, however. Strange."

As described in our Wireless tutorial, you may need to delete then re-establish any encrypted AirPort network configurations in order to take advantage of automatic reconnection capabilities after sleep or restart.

You can also try deleting the following files from the ~/Library/Preferences/ directory (this is the Library directory within your User folder):

• com.apple.internetconfig.plist
• com.apple.internetconfigpriv.plist
• com.apple.internetconnect.plist

In addition, delete any other files that have are named as such: com.apple.internetconfig[...]

AirPort disks not mounting MacFixIt reader Larry Galanter reports an issue where his AirPort Disk(s) is not recognized after upgrading to Leopard.

"It could be something I've done wrong, but after upgrading to Leopard, I can't get the USB disk connected to my Airport Extreme to mount. Apple says that the upgrade erases the Airport Disk Utility, which it does. While Finder sees the USB disks attached to the Airport -- I've tried my Drobo and an ipod in disk mode -- neither can be mounted. Apple said they would get back to me on this problem. I wonder if this is just me or if others are having the same problem."

Problems connecting to routers (Apple Base stations and third-party), dropouts, timeouts A number of users have reported that they are unable to connect to AirPort Base Stations or third-party wireless routers after upgrading to Leopard. In fact, some users are reporting that their third-party routers are becoming non-functional after Leopard Macs attempt to connect. Some sample reports:

• "Installed Leopard (upgrade install over 10.4), rebooted. AirPort Card got turned on during installation processcame up with very low signal strength. Rebooted; came up as no wireless connection - and other computers lost contact with the Asante router. Turned of Aiport card, reset router, other wireless computers back on line. Reinstalled Leopard (Archive and Install); same as above except router still dead after after reset - will NOT come back, for wired OR wireless connections. Bad router? Swapped in spare FR1104AL; workd initially, but then turned on Aiport in Leopard as above. Now I have two dead Asante routers. It seems as though Leopard is trying to set/adjust/upgrade something in the router that it shouldn't and is killing them. I can't tell what, as I can't get back into either unit even after a hard reset." -- Scott Schuckert
• "I have a Mac Book and an iMac. Both were running Tiger and connecting to my DLink router without any problems. I upgraded the Mac Book to Leopard and have had nothing but trouble with it connecting since. Every time I try to connect to the router with the Mac Book, it kills the router; and I have to reboot it. The iMac with Tiger works fine, as long as I don't connect to the router with the Mac Book. Once I do, I have to reboot the router. So, I did a complete reinstall of Leopard (reformatting the hard drive); and the problem remains. My router is wide open, without and security on it. I have reset it back to factory default, checked for firmware updates, etc. I was going to replace the router until I heard that others are having problems with Leopard and wireless connections. Now I don't know what to do." -- Brad
• "After installing Leopard on my 12" Aluminum powerbook, I am no longer able to connect to my wireless LAN. My airport card can see the network, and those of my neighbors, but I am not able to connect to my LAN. I get a connection timeout error after just a second or two, which hardly seems like long enough for a timeout. [...] The thing is, I can just boot of my external drive which has a backup of my 10.4 system and everything works fine, plus my network cameras are all working fine, so I know the wireless LAN is fine. It just seems like Leopard is giving up prematurely on the connection." -- JJC
• "I have a G5 with dual 2.0 processors. Since upgrading to Leopard, I have been dropped regularly from my Belkin WAP. I was not transmitting my SSID and I'm now transmitting it in hopes that will help. I have two other Macs and they are not having any difficult with speed and staying connected. I've reset the WAP with no change. Very frustrating." -- Reno Pelletier

Fix: Hard-set channel In some cases switching channels on your AirPort Base station or third-party router can alleviate this issue. In order to switch channels on AirPort Base stations, use the AirPort Utility or AirPort Admin Utility -- depending on what type of Base Station you have (located in /Applications/Utilities). In AirPort Utility, you click your Base Station at left, then the "Wireless" tab, then select from the "Channel" menu. In AirPort Admin Utility: Click AirPort, and then choose a new channel from the Channel pop-up menu.

Consult your third-party router's manual for information on switching channels. This can usually be accomplished by accessing the router's configuration page -- open a browser and enter the address 192.168.1.1.

MacFixIt reader Nate, who had success with this fix, writes:

Resources

Wireless tutorial

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