Here's a real stumper

[Zapski]

OK, this one's got me scratching my head in a big way.

I'm using an iBook running OSX 10.1, with the latest security patches.

The problem I'm seeing is this: My Airport range has dropped off drastically recently, but only in OS X. In OS 9, I get a strong signal throughout my house, but in X I get maybe 20 feet, and that inconsistently. The signal is reasonable when it shows up, but then I am booted with the "No detectable Airports in Range" message in the menu. Console shows nothing useful, but I'll quote it anyway.

WirelessScan 0 got an unexpected error: 20000109
WirelessScan 0 got an unexpected error: 20000109
Nov 5 08:11:22 localhost lookupd[179]: Caught SIGHUP - reset
Nov 5 08:11:22 localhost automount[313]: automount version 23
Nov 5 08:13:10 localhost lookupd[179]: Caught SIGHUP - reset
Nov 5 08:13:37 localhost last message repeated 2 times
Nov 5 08:15:30 localhost last message repeated 7 times
Nov 5 08:15:50 localhost last message repeated 2 times

I reinstalled 10.1, and the security patch, and for about an hour got a strong signal wherever I went. Then it once again went back to kicking me off. I've removed all my hacks (Transparent Dock, one or two preference panes) and there is no effect.

Any ideas?

 

[adambyte]

I used to run a Lombard PowerBook G3 (you know, the odd one with USB but SCSI instead of Firwire?) and thought AirPort was so cool when it first came out that I got a base station and Farallon card to use it. And I had a problem with connecting to the base station. I would get a good signal, but only for a half hour or so, and then it would drop out... I found out that the Farallon card was defective and ran WAAAY too hot, and because it ran so hot, the card failed. And as the Farallon Card aged, the singal-time got shorter and shorter... down to ten minutes at a time. I exchanged the card for another one, and it worked fine.

So maybe your signal fails because it's running too hot... afterall, OS X uses up way more processor and RAM... But since Apple makes your card and antenna, you should check with them, eh?

 

[Grecy]

Zapski,

I remember reading some time back there were issues with iBooks and the antennea in the monitor. On some 'books when the monitor was 'opend' or 'closed' this would pinch the cable, and kill any airport...

Try playing with the angle you have the monitor on ( relative to the keboard) and see what happens.

from memory, apple were fixing this for free.

-Dan

 

[Zapski]

I'm pretty sure it's not a hardware issue, since it functions perfectly in OS 9.

Any ideas if there's a *nix thing I could do to monitor what's going on onthat port?