New Macbook Pro SLOW to find wireless connection

[Paul Steiner]

I just got a new Macbook Pro w/4GB RAM and would think that it could do everything very fast. What it can't do, either on restarting or waking from sleep, is find a wireless connection. I have the same problem everywhere I go: it takes 2:15, which, in geologic time, is how long it takes a glacier to melt, to find a connection. It's definitely this computer, because my old Powerbook connected almost instantly in the same locations.

I tried zapping my PRAM. That did nothing.

My company's IT guy looked at it and said that something got corrupted when I moved the files from my old PB, and supposedly he ran some fix-it program and took care of the problem. Only it didn't, and now he's out of town for a week.

If it means anything, it also takes about 4 minutes to run Disk Utility on this computer, whereas it usually tool <20 secs on the Powerbook.

Quoting the Fly in an urgent but pathetic voice, "help me. helllppp meeee..."

Thanks in advance.

 

[murc585]

reformat

I'd say reformat the thing. My Macbook has tons of little quirks when I first bought it with the factory image. I always had wireless connection issues, everytime i restarted spotlight would go crazy for 30 minutes at launch and my computer ran like molasses for that 30 minutes. just stick the disks in and start from fresh again.

 

[nitewolfgtr]

I have the new macbook pro and i'm having the same problem... The signal strength doesn't seem very good either...

 

[Paul Steiner]

Thanks. Once I get my backup software working properly (that's another issue I can't deal with until my IT guy is back), I can try that. In the mean time, there is no issue with signal strength once I'm online - it's just the glacial process of getting there.

 

[dal20402]

I don't know if you used Migration Assistant to move your stuff over. If you did, you should be aware that Migration Assistant is known to be very problematic when you're moving from a PPC to an Intel machine.

It may be that substantial parts of your system are running emulated under Rosetta.

If I were you, I'd reinstall from scratch (Erase and Install), install all your apps manually, and then copy over your data files. You'll have to reset all your preferences this way, but you'll have a much happier MBP. And you'll only have to do it once -- Migration Assistant works much better moving from one Intel machine to another.

 

[Paul Steiner]

Problems Solved!

OK, my IT guy called and solved both my problems, easily. In case anybody else needs to know, here's what he told me to do:

1. Getting the backup working was a simple matter of restarting the server, which is an older iMac. Maybe it has a bad power supply or logic board, but never mind, because the backup worked.

2. The slow wireless hookup was solved by going into the hard drive, selevting Library, then Preferences, then System Configuration. I put System Configuration on the trash (but never emptied the trash) and restarted the computer. Within 8 seconds of starting up, ten wireless networks became available, including mine, so I was connected within 12 seconds. I then put the computer to sleep, woke it up, and was connected within FOUR SECONDS.

I will now recommend this fix for everything. Dog pees on rug? Trash System Configuration. Girlfriend wants to talk about "where we're going" (when we're not in the car and have no plans to go anywhere)? Trash System Configuration. Looking forward to my new ATSC existence! Thank you MacRumors and thank you Adam Wunn, Frazzled Genius.