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My current generation MacBook Pro 15" (10.6.5) intermittently has problems turning the Wi-Fi (airport) on. The usual symptom happens when I:

  • Sleep the machine
  • Open from sleep
  • Wi-Fi is off (the airport signal is blank)

I click on Airport icon → Turn Airport On. But nothing happens.

One recommended solution was to delete the "Automatic" location and create a new one and enable the Wi-Fi, or I delete the "AirPort" from the location and add it back. But neither of these resolve the problem.

I also called AppleCare and they had me delete /Library/SystemConfiguration and restart, but that hasn't solved the problem. I have to reboot, which is very painful.

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migrated from serverfault.com Jan 26 '11 at 21:09

This question came from our site for system administrators and desktop support professionals.

4 Answers

up vote 2 down vote

I pulled a PC move and "forced" shut down (held the power button down until it the machine turned off) and BOOM, Wi-Fi was back in action after the next boot.

Not condoning this computer taboo, but it might be worth a try.

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Looks like its a well known issue (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2644274&start=0&tstart=0) with no tried and true solution. I'm running a late 2008 unibody macbook pro with 10.6.6 and I am not seeing this problem, so have you considered the 10.6.5 -> 10.6.6 update?

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Check the version numbers in your post. They don't make sense. – Daniel Beck Jan 26 '11 at 21:47
Fixed - Thanks for the pointer Daniel, it's been one of those days and one of those weeks so far. – DJ Pon3 Jan 26 '11 at 22:09
Thanks for the suggestion - I'll upgrade and see what happens. – Simon Jan 27 '11 at 17:13
Upgraded this morning to 10.6.6, put it to sleep and went into the office, no airport :( – Simon Jan 27 '11 at 18:47
Well sorry to hear it. I guess it must be something specific to current model MBPs then. – DJ Pon3 Jan 27 '11 at 19:19
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  • Go to applications - utilities - activity monitor
  • make sure you are showing "All Processes" in the comboBox
  • type mdns in the search field
  • click the mDNSResponder process and click "Quit Process"

Don't worry, it will restart.

This should get you back up a running.

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Do you have a source or explanation? DNS shouldn't affect WiFi connectivity in this way. – Daniel Beck Jun 16 '11 at 5:47
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up vote 0 down vote accepted

The problem turned out to be hardware related.

The apple store sent my machine off to a shop where they replaced the motherboard and airport card and that did the trick.

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Please accept your answer. Tis question was just bumped to the front page as the system considers it unanswered. – Daniel Beck Nov 6 '11 at 8:30
@DanielBeck thanks, I've accepted. – Simon Nov 7 '11 at 3:14
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