MacBook Pro "Airport Card not installed"

TPMann GB said:

Hello,

Just wondering if anybody else has experienced the same issue as this?

The Airport Card in my 2008 MBP 17" seems to work intermittently, sometimes when waking from sleep or restarting it shows up as "Airport Card not installed". Other times it will switch on fine.

I phoned AppleCare (I have 3yr) and they made me reset the PRAM & SMC, which initially worked, but now it back to it's old tricks of not working.

Not sure what to do, don't really want to send my MBP off for a week.

Cheers

Click to expand...

Maybe you have an actual faulty card or it's not sitting int he slot correctly.. Perhaps it's time to return the machine to Apple for some TLC. They'll will fix it.

TPMann GB said:

OK, it's been exceptional apart from this.

Would I be able to take it to an Apple Store rather than sending it back?

My nearest one is an hour away, not sure if it worth it.

Click to expand...

Perhaps it'll be wiser to call ahead before you make the trip... Maybe ask them do they service on site (in their apple store - cause not all of them do) would they have to send it away blah...

Go here for store search:
http://www.apple.com/retail/

My wireless is dying intermittantly too! It's causing lock ups and KPs as well.

my wirelss is pretty finicky. Sometimes it gets full bars..the next instant it looses connection and acts as if it can barely detect the network it was just connected to. and i haven't even moved the computer. using an airport extreme. when it does get full bars, it can transfer at the full rated 5 mbit (cable), confirmed with a speed test.

Go back to Exeter and politely tell them that the simple reseating of the card hasn't fixed the issue. You're nowhere near to having to email Steve Jobs/Executive about this, seriously.

did you ever figure out if this is a hardware problem? my gf's macbook has started doing the same thing.

interesting they didnt try replacing the Left I/O board first and went straight to the Logic Board.

Unless they replaced the Left I/O board the first time?

Just to add to repair stories from the Apple store. If you are getting the repair done in store and they need to order the parts, most of the time they will tell you ahead of time and let you take the machine with you until the parts come in. You will then have a week to get the machine back to them once they have the part. After that is is usually no more than 5 days to get the macine back.

I just had my Logic Board replaced and I turned it in on Dec. 21 and was able to pick it up first thing in the morning on the 26th...and thats with Christmas Eve and Christmas in there. Leaving the mall parking lot after picking it up took longer than the total time dealing with Apple to get it fixed (minus waiting for the repair to finish)

Argh. Having a similar problem with my 15" unibody MBP. Sometimes the airport is off and won't turn on, sometimes the MBP boots up and says "no airport card installed," sometimes the MBP freezes.

Oddly enough, the original signs of a problem were kernel panics and routine dock crashes at boot up. Even after an OS reload, I'm getting EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGBUS), KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE messages in the crash report.

Very frustrating!!! I really started thinking there was a hardware problem when the MBP froze the other day immediately after the screen had moved back about an inch (that glass be heavy, eh?) when I moved the laptop. I rebooted and got the "no airport card installed" message. Eventually it started working again (after some reboots), but it still flakes out from time to time. It's pretty intermittent though. I opened it up (just as far as you would if you were upgrading the RAM) and looked to see if the connectors going from the logic board to the base of the screen were loose. Nothing looked irregular, so it's either one of those "replace the airport card of logic board" issues or a bizarre software issue (perhaps related to one of the 10.5.x updates).

I would like to take it in to the Apple Store and have it looked at, but I can't reproduce the problem on demand (well, other than the dock crashes). I haven't purchased AppleCare yet, but I'm still within my first year. I'm thinking of going ahead and getting it now (thank goodness for Amazon).

Question regarding the Genius Bar / Apple Store... I have tried the typical stuff (reset PRAM, etc., even reloaded OS). I have a screenshot of the "no airport" message. Will they typically be reasonable and recognize an intermittent problem as a problem, or will the just blow me off and tell me to come back when it's doing it all of the time? I'm a Windows guy by trade (IS Manager for a manuf facility where we do app dev and site support), but I love my Apple stuff too. I'm hoping for a good experience.

Thanks,
Jesse

Dropped MBP 15" - No Airport Card Installed Message

Dropped new MBP from 36" table and managed to spill a cup of coffee all over it. Let it dry out in a sealed container with 5lbs of silica gel. Moisture is gone. Notebook works well except when I mouse over the Airport icon at the top of the screen, it says "No Airport card installed". Could the drop have jarred it loose? Is the airport card located behind the screen or is it integrated with the logic board? Is it replaceable? Could it be a software issue - should I reinstall the OS? Any thoughts?

If it worked before you spilled coffee on it, it's most likely a hardware issue. Since the airport card is located on the display, you're looking at a screen replacement which should run you about $1200.

Any chance you think the card could just be re-seated or is it an integral part of the screen assembly? Thanks.

Well if your warranty is out/void at this point, and if you're daring (I haven't tried this), iFixit has a teardown process for the unibody. Now, I suppose there's an off chance that they might still cover it, but not much, considering it got dropped AND wet.

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/First-Look/MacBook-Pro-15-Inch-Unibody/590/1

On page 4, the second picture shows the airport card:

http://s2.guide-images.ifixit.com/igi/rfsXa21jMvXTDmLD.standard

It looks like you could disconnect/reconnect it, but it takes a lot of careful work getting to that point. Good luck! Let us know how it turns out.

Took MBP to local Apple authorized repair center. Airport card will be about $200 to replace ($80 for card and $120 for labor). I have some pixelation on my screen. It'll run about $800 to replace the display. I can live with the screen. I ordered a Mvix Nubbin for $39 directly from Mvix. It's a USB wireless adapter that is tiny. And it works with OSX. For now that's a better solution for me than the $200 to replace the Airport card. It looks like he coffee got into the hinge area where the Airport card is located and behind the display.

Thanks for the post for the teardown of the MBP. I'm not ready to tear it apart. Oh, yeah - my Applecare is voided with the drop and the coffee spill.

I think I'll wait to find a display when prices come down.

My early 2008 17 inch MBP started doing this today, but oddly enough the airport card works in Windows 7. I'm going to try to reset pram and smc when I get home tonight, any other suggestions?
Edit: I have 10.6.2

Airport card not installed

I have exactly the same symptoms discussed on the forum. I have a 17" 2009 MacBook Pro and I had the airport off and cannot be turned on after the machine was suspended. Sometimes on power-up, I get airport card not installed. Sometimes, it just works and I cannot detect any pattern for the machine's behavior. I am nearly ready to take it to the apple store since it is under warrantee. Then it works for an extended period of time. I have really enjoyed the machine. I hope I am not headed for a number of repairs for this symptom.

I have just had a similar issue.... I borrowed my GF's MBP 2.4 17" older style (non uni) and i DROPPED IT! it was in a backpack and landed on the side of the superdrive. however now I dont have any sound(headphone or speakers) or airport. I havent checked usb ports yet. I opened it up and checked the airport card and it was still connected. do you think it is the logic board or the left io board? im an idiot and now I need to fix it.
Thanks
Dave

Same Problems - Solved! =]

When I turn on the laptop, log into my user, it is able to detect the wireless network. I then connect to this network. It does so perfectly. After about 3 (or more) hours of usage, it stops connecting to the internet. When I look in the upper right hand corner of the screen I see that the airport status bar shows it to be fully connected (all levels are in black.) However, when I go to network in system preferences it says that my airport has been turned off! This means it essentially turned itself off and that’s what caused my computer to not be connecting anymore. Okay, so then I press the “Turn Airport On” button. Now, strangely, the airport in the upper right turns OFF. Now when I go to Network Settings and click on Turn Airport On, nothing occurs. This also occurs when I try to turn airport on via Network Diagnostics AND the upper right hand icon. This is the condition I now present my Macbook. (Re-booting seems to eliminate the problem, but then it just persists over and over. I’ve tried this multiple times.)

Now, this is the alternate situation, which happens sometimes, but not as frequently. I turn on the laptop, log into my user, and it is able to detect the wireless network. Now, for some reason, it asks for my password when I click on the router (usually it just uses the password that is stored and doesn’t ask for one). I input the password (correctly!) and it says “Connection Timed Out.” I tried restarting computer. This allowed me to connect for some period of time, then disconnects me and when I try to re-connect the “Connection Timed Out” appears again.

This must be the Airport Card, maybe something is loose.


I’ve tried: resetting the PRAM, changing network settings, changing security on router, resetting router, restarting the computer (which fixes it for a little longer and then either situation occurs and persists), changing the channel of the router, removing and putting the battery back in place, changing the location/deleting old locations and creating a new one (seems to work then fails), deleting airport and creating a new one (which also seems to work but then fails the second you reboot/put it to sleep/turn off and back on/continually use).
This router, with the same settings, and internet functioned perfectly with my other Macbook Pro. I also have the same IP and internet settings as I had with my old one. I’m certain that something is wrong with the Airport Card.

I gave them a printout of the above description of the problem and what I tried to do to fix it. On my first visit, they re-installed Mac OSX even though I kept insisting that it must be an Airport Card problem. (They don't listen to teenagers.) So I went back today, as re-installing Mac OSX did not help at all. On my repair description it says that they replaced the LIO/Audio Board with Insulatior and the airport extreme card. It seems to work perfectly now. (I've been online for 6 hours straight now.)

Hope this helps someone else. I looked for a solution for a long time. Also, can anyone care to explain what a Lio Board is and how that helped to fix the problem? I'm very curious and don't quite understand what it is. Peace out.

Nice post... interesting !