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Help installing Ethernet Adapter?

M

MacAttackMark

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 19, 2013
44
0
So I recently purchased a
TRENDnet USB to 10/100Mbps Adapter TU2-ET100
and downloaded the drive installer from the website (downloaded 10.5 version since they didn't have a 10.8 version) as I don't have an external optical drive.
After restarting my air, I hooked up the adapter and my air didn't even recognize it. Not sure if it's defective or incompatible. Any advice?

At this point I think I'm planning on just opting for an apple adapter to avoid this mess.
Would you recommend a Apple USB Ethernet Adapter or a Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter?
 
A 10.5 driver will be 32-bit and won't work with 10.8, which is 64-bit. There may be a third-party driver available but I can't advise any specifics.

Edit: The actual chipset appears to be an Asix AX88772. The Asix site provides this 64-bit driver so give it a go and see whether it works.
 
Thank you Nermal, I'll try that :)
Also is there anyway to uninstall the older driver that I installed? I'm use to Windows so this is a bit foreign to me
 
MacAttackMark said:
So I recently purchased a
TRENDnet USB to 10/100Mbps Adapter TU2-ET100
Click to expand...
Bad idea.

MacAttackMark said:
and downloaded the drive installer from the website (downloaded 10.5 version since they didn't have a 10.8 version)
Click to expand...
Worse idea.

MacAttackMark said:
After restarting my air, I hooked up the adapter and my air didn't even recognize it. Not sure if it's defective or incompatible. Any advice?
Click to expand...
Start this process over.

MacAttackMark said:
At this point I think I'm planning on just opting for an apple adapter to avoid this mess.
Click to expand...
Too late, you're already in a mess.

MacAttackMark said:
Would you recommend a Apple USB Ethernet Adapter or a Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter?
Click to expand...
Thunderbolt.
 
I installed it and restarted my air, but once I plugged the adapter my air suddenly restarted itself and an error message popped up along with a bunch of codes in the mac screen, and it was stuck in that loop until I went into safe mode and restarted it from there. What happened?
 
Mess? Drama? What are you talking about, I just needed some help/info on an adapter, calm down :p
 
MacAttackMark said:
Mess? Drama? What are you talking about, I just needed some help/info on an adapter, calm down :p
Click to expand...

Basically what they won't say, as they're diehard apple fans, is that because the Mac has shortcomings when it comes to stuff like this, it's better to stick with official apple devices and avoid going anywhere near kexts when it comes to OS X.

OS X isn't as friendly as Windows when it comes to third party accessories, basically.
 
MacAttackMark said:
Mess? Drama? What are you talking about, I just needed some help/info on an adapter, calm down :p
Click to expand...

1. Is your Newtrent Ethernet adapter working? No.
2. Can you plug your Newtrent Ethernet adapter in and not screw up your MBA? No.
3. Do you have both 32 bit and 64 bit files installed? Yes.
4. Did you have to start a thread to get help cleaning up the mess you created by installing 32 bit drivers into a 64 bit OSX? Yes

No, there's no mess or drama.

1. You need to identify and delete all the files installed by the 32 bit and 64 bit drivers and hope they didn't replace any OSX files. In other words, get your MBA back to the condition it was in before you did anything, aka, start over.
2. Reboot.
3. Install just the 64 bit driver.
4. Reboot.
5. Test.

mattferg seems to be the expert, perhaps he can start adding value to this thread.

If diehard Apple fan = I have better ways to spend my time than going through all this to save $10, then I'm a diehard Apple fan.
 
mattferg said:
Basically what they won't say, as they're diehard apple fans, is that because the Mac has shortcomings when it comes to stuff like this
Click to expand...

Such as?

----------
MacAttackMark said:
Would you recommend a Apple USB Ethernet Adapter or a Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter?
Click to expand...

Depends on what you plan on doing with the ethernet connection, but my guess is you want the connection to be really fast... in which case, you should get the Thunderbolt model. The USB version is version 2.0 only, and is limited to 100Mbps. The thunderbolt adapter provides Gigabit connectivity.

FWIW, there are some third party, USB3 ethernet adapters that are as fast as the Apple thunderbolt version, and get good reviews. However, you're probably making the right choice in just sticking with the Apple supplied adapters.

Sorry that the other people on here were unwilling to give you direct answers without a ton of attitude and without sniping at each other. Though some of them are right in saying that if the vendor hasn't updated their drivers (nor provide an uninstaller), it's not a good idea to mess with them, particularly since the 2013 MBA uses a new architecture with a lot of interface changes.

As far as removing the driver you installed: since you plan on no longer using that adapter, you're probably going to be okay with just leaving the driver in place. If you see any networking glitches or crashes, then absent an uninstallation script from TrendNet, you'd probably have to back up your files and re-install OS X as a fresh copy... OR wipe your drive and restore from a Time Machine backup that is dated prior to when you installed the drivers, if you are using Time Machine.

I have doubts that TrendNet provides a list of every file they write and their locations when you install their drivers, so hunting them down manually will be wasted effort; and if indeed OS level files were overwritten, a re-install will be the only real way to restore anyway.
 
Last edited:
Thank you mattferg, still getting use to a mac, but other than that little third party annoyance stills seems a lot better than windows 8.

Thank you as well scaredpoet, for the well informative post! :)
 
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