I have done some troubleshooting of my own on this issue and reached an impasse. Since the next available Genius Bar appointment is on tuesday afternoon I decided to seek some outside opinions here!
The system:
Macbook Pro (late 2008). Returned to stock configuration for troubleshooting. (2gb ram, 250gb HDD)
The issue:
Airport can not get an IP and thus can not access the internet. Issue began while browsing on Airport, it spontaneously turned off and I could not re-enable it in the network system preferences panel. After a reboot I was able to, but it has not been able to get an IP since. I have experienced 3 lock ups since. (no pinwheel, frozen screen) One while viewing the list of available wifi networks, one during the wifi setup portion of an OSX reinstall and one when opening 'about this mac' after the reinstall.
A wired ethernet connection works fine.
The troubleshooting to date:
- removed aftermarket RAM (crucial) and drive (intel).
- updated fully in system update tool.
- reset PRAM and PMU.
- Assigned a static IP to the MBP. MBP could not access web pages or ping, even to the local network.
- renewed DHCP
- Disabled the firewall
- turned Airport off and on repeatedly
- deleted com.apple.airport.preferences.plist found in /Library/Preferences
- reinstalled Leopard from system restore discs.
- tested on 3 separate wifi networks. One with no security, two with WPA. One Verizon FIOS router, one Buffalo, one unknown. MBP worked on all 3 before the initial incident.
At this point I am convinced that the issue is either a bad Airport card or a bad Motherboard and plan to make that clear to the Genius I work with at my appointment on Tuesday. Does anyone have any suggestions for me before then?
The system:
Macbook Pro (late 2008). Returned to stock configuration for troubleshooting. (2gb ram, 250gb HDD)
The issue:
Airport can not get an IP and thus can not access the internet. Issue began while browsing on Airport, it spontaneously turned off and I could not re-enable it in the network system preferences panel. After a reboot I was able to, but it has not been able to get an IP since. I have experienced 3 lock ups since. (no pinwheel, frozen screen) One while viewing the list of available wifi networks, one during the wifi setup portion of an OSX reinstall and one when opening 'about this mac' after the reinstall.
A wired ethernet connection works fine.
The troubleshooting to date:
- removed aftermarket RAM (crucial) and drive (intel).
- updated fully in system update tool.
- reset PRAM and PMU.
- Assigned a static IP to the MBP. MBP could not access web pages or ping, even to the local network.
- renewed DHCP
- Disabled the firewall
- turned Airport off and on repeatedly
- deleted com.apple.airport.preferences.plist found in /Library/Preferences
- reinstalled Leopard from system restore discs.
- tested on 3 separate wifi networks. One with no security, two with WPA. One Verizon FIOS router, one Buffalo, one unknown. MBP worked on all 3 before the initial incident.
At this point I am convinced that the issue is either a bad Airport card or a bad Motherboard and plan to make that clear to the Genius I work with at my appointment on Tuesday. Does anyone have any suggestions for me before then?