My Network Application Layer Is Bust On Macbook Pro Running Mountain Lion

marinnen128

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I couldn't wake up mu late 2011 MacBook Pro (17", OSX 10.8.5) that was put asleep by closing the lid. I had to turn the power off and on to restart it. It booted without any apparent problem. However, upon logging back in, network application layer does not seem to be working:

- ping of any local or remote machine succeds, whether using a numerical IP address (104.96.132.166) or a URL (www.apple.com)
- Neither Safari nor Chrome browsers work. Eg. Safari error message is:
>> Safari can't open the page "www.apple.com". The error is "The operation couldn't be completed. Input/output error" (NSPOSIXErrorDomain:5)<<
- Connecting to a local network drive via afp fails.
- Connecting to a remote server via ssh fails. When run with verbose option on, it reports that connection has been established and times out waiting for authentication to complete.

Note that the firewall is off.

It appears that the forced reboot has damaged something, but what and how can I fix this?

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Forgot to add:

- Apple Mail client can't access mail servers at Apple and Google.
- ftp fails to connect to a remote server.

Haven't noticed any revealing error messages in the console system log file.
 
Shut down - so your Mac power is off. Unplug your power adapter. Press and hold Shift-Control-Option keys on the left end of the keyboard, then press and release the power button. Release all the keys.
Plug in your power adapter. Wait 5 seconds. Press and release the power button.
Do you have a working internet connection now?
Open the Network pref pane, and click the Assist Me... button, then click Diagnostics.
Select the network that you use, and click continue a couple of times.
Are all the lights green? Or, are some yellow, or even red? Which ones are NOT green?

OR, if you get the resulting message "Your internet connection appears to be working correctly", Quit the network Diagnostics, and try your browser.
 
I already got the 'Your internet connection appears to be working correctly' message.

You seem to have overlooked the fact stated in my original post above - ping works without any problem wtith both numeric and URL addresses. Implication is that things at the TCP/IP level, including the DNS, are working correctly. The problem is at one of the layers above, most likely at the application layer, as stated in the thread title.
 
(sometimes I respond without regard to knowledge level of the poster - because I have no idea what your experience may be. So, I start simple, eh? )

Seems like more often than not, flushing the DNS cache will get your browsers working again.
Maybe you can find some prompts on where to look in this cheat sheet...
http://krypted.com/mac-security/mac-network-commands-cheat-sheet/

In my (admittedly limited) experience, I usually end up trashing the /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration folder, then restart, and recreate the network settings for each network interface, which include network and sharing names, DNS settings, and selecting the correct interface after a restart . Only takes a few minutes to complete. That should get you going again.
And, particularly on my home system, where I do a fair amount of tryouts of strange network setups, just for a lark - I sometimes end up at a wall, where I can't get anything to work anymore, and I just grab my USB stick with bootable OS X installer, and "do the deed" with a quick reinstall of the system.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. Flushing the DNS cash did not resolve the problem. However, as far as your other suggestions, I was hoping for a more direct solution addressing the faulty OS-Application Layer interaction, rather than rebuilding the network layer and below that are working fine. Thanks anyway.
 
This site is relatively low traffic. You may get quicker (read: closer to knowledgeable :D ) at http://forums.macrumors.com
There is much higher traffic (quicker response, more results, maybe you will get lucky, and won't need to do a reinstall to clear your problem.)

Did you already try a simple OS X reinstall?
 
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll try that forum.

As far as os x reinstall, can't do it - I don't have a Mountain Lion installation disk, and can't install over internet because of the problem I've got.
 
If you are running Mountain Lion - have you tried booting to your recovery partition?
Restart, holding Command-R
That will boot to that partition. The software and network issues on your main partition do not affect the recovery system.
And, choose Reinstall OS X from the menu. That should work for you.
That's what I was calling a "simple reinstall"

Mountain Lion, as well as any OS X version since Lion, does not have an installation disk, and is only available from Apple as a download.
(Lion was available from Apple as a bootable thumb drive, but that was only for a short time when Lion was first released)
Most folks get around that by downloading the installer, and creating a bootable installer. There's several sources on the 'net with the steps to create the installer disk (an 8GB USB flash drive is the ideal size for anything 10.7 to 10.11)
Or, once you have the downloaded installer, you can also use the good DiskmakerX, which makes the bootable installer without a need to use the terminal. You will need the older DiskmakerX version 3.0.4, on that same page, for Mountain Lion. The bootable installer is a good one to keep handy, as makes recovering from situations such as yours pretty easy. It also gives you a quick boot to run Disk Utility from a system that is NOT on your hard drive,

Finally, if you boot while holding Option-Command-R, you will boot directly to Internet Recovery, which is booting directly to Apple's servers. That's what the spinning globe means when you boot with that method. You will have access to Safari, too. Again, that will work, as it does not depend on your installed software - only on your internet connection.
 
Thank you for these nuggets of advice. I've never done such a reintall over the internet. My concern is whether my data will be preserved if I do as you suggested since, due to this problem, I can't do regular backup over my local network.
 
The install via the internet connection reinstalls the system files, and assures that those parts of the system files are installed in the proper locations, and that the install is complete. It installs on top of what is already in place, and should not affect what is already there (such as your own files and apps). That doesn't prevent some problem with the file system causing some installer error because of some corruption in the directory or other files. I always run Disk Utility/Repair Disk (First Aid) manually before starting the OS X reinstall. The reinstall itself does run the same repair scan (I think) at the beginning of the install - but I run it, too. It saves the occasional "surprise" that might cause the OS X install to fail.

Suggestion: if you can't do a backup because of some difficulty with your local network - you COULD use OS X's Time Machine to back up your drive to a directly connected external hard drive. 'twould give you an easy-to-use automatic backup, without depending on your network.
 
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