Airport - intermittent problem on G4 in 10.4.11

[wasleys]

G4 733 running 10.4.11

This problem has only recently arisen.

Symptoms are that the Airport icon turns grey but retains four bars. Usually no networks are shown in the dropdown menu. Turning Airport off/on has no effect. Sometimes it will return on its own. However sometimes networks are shown in the menu and then connection is usually possible.

It originally started to show itself when the Mac had been in use for some hours and would then mean that Airport would not show any network virtually continuously until shutdown. Now at boot it maybe OK for several hours, a few minutes or not at all. During the day it will sometimes come back for hours or just minutes.

Laptops used in the same room are OK.

No nearby networks are on the same channel. Our router is on automatic channel selection but I have tried all channels to no avail. I have rebooted our router.

I have deleted com.apple.airport.preferences.plist and zapped PRAM.

Booting from two other HDs (10.4.2 and 10.4.11) the same problem appears, which to me suggests the cause is within the G4.

Suggestions welcomed.

Thanks,

Michael

 

[Satcomer]

Did you try to reset the wireless access point? Is other computers using the wireless network without any problems?

 

[wasleys]

Did you try to reset the wireless access point?

Thanks for response.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'reset the wireless access point'. The settings in Network Preferences were deleted and replaced, also the Airport entry in Keychain Access. The router was rebooted.

Is other computers using the wireless network without any problems?

Yes. There is another G4 with similar configuration which is rock steady. When the faulty G4 was playing up a PowerBook and EeePC tried alongside it were fine.

 

[djackmac]

Starting to look like either the airport card or the logic board. I'd at least try reseating the card and removing and reconnecting the antenna. Make sure the antenna cable isn't pinched anywhere.

 

[wasleys]

I'd at least try reseating the card and removing and reconnecting the antenna. Make sure the antenna cable isn't pinched anywhere.

Thanks.

I forgot to say that I had reseated the card. I pressed but did not remove antenna. I'll try that.

Starting to look like either the airport card or the logic board.

The logic board thought had crossed my mind and I'd tried to dismiss it. If it is the logic board is the problem likely to be specific to Airport or might it effect ethernet as well? (Or indeed everything - but no other oddities have been noticed, just Airport.)

 

[djackmac]

The logic board thought had crossed my mind and I'd tried to dismiss it. If it is the logic board is the problem likely to be specific to Airport or might it effect ethernet as well? (Or indeed everything - but no other oddities have been noticed, just Airport.)

I doubt if it would affect ethernet as well if its a bad card or bad logic board. I've personally seen a few laptops I've seen that would kernel panic whenever an airport card was plugged into the logic board, but would boot and run fine with ethernet.

 

[wasleys]

In the end it began to seem that it was resulting from a problem with USB via ADC so I gave up, brought forward a planned rearrangement of furniture and am now using ethernet.