no internet - ethernet greyed out

H

hills david

Registered
G'day all

Have been using a 24" Intel Core 2 Duo (OSX 10.4.8) for a few months now, accessing ADSL internet via an ethernet network.

Last couple of days the internet has stopped working, and I have had to resort to dialup.

I have isolated the problem to the computer (it is not the cable, switches, network etc. - i have checked them all and they work fine on other computers).

I think the problem is to do with built-in ethernet and Apple Talk (I have enabled Apple Talk, but when I try to do anything with it I get errors like "Apple Talk not enabled" or "you are not connected to the internet").

Does anyone have any suggestions or fixes for this? Because of the time of year, it is a bit hard to find a computer shop open in this part of Australia...

Thanks in anticipation.

Cheers


David, Adelaide Hills
 
Hi David,

First of all, is there any reason why you want to use AppleTalk? It is a pretty old standard that hardly turns up anymore.

Can you have a look in System Preferences -> Network, and let us know if your ethernet port appears on the Network Status screen, and make sure that it is visible and checked on the Network Port Configurations screen (both of these can be selected using the "Show" drop-down at the top of the Network preference pane).

Finally, can you bring up the "Built-in ethernet" pane and tell us what it says. Or grab a screenshot, if that is easier for you.
 
Thanks for your response.

The problem is that the ethernet port does not show up at all on the network status screen - and when I open Network Port Configurations 'Built in Ethernet' is greyed out (so I can't tick the box).

My thinking is that this must mean there is a hardware problem of some kind with my computer (ie. the plug that the ethernet cable plugs into must not be working). Does that sound right?

Cheers


David

PS: I'm not sure what you mean about AppleTalk - I have my computers, printers etc. connected via category 5 cable (through various switches), and I thought you needed to have AppleTalk turned on for them all to talk to each other. Is there a better way?
 
From Wikipedia:
Today AppleTalk support is provided for backward compatibility in many products, but the default networking on the Mac is TCP/IP. Starting with Mac OS X v10.2, Bonjour (originally named Rendezvous) provides similar discovery and configuration services for TCP/IP-based networks.
Click to expand...
Some older laser printers may need AppleTalk, but mostly you can ignore anything Appletalk. And, Appletalk on or off has no effect on your ethernet connection.
easiest way to troubleshoot this: Plug a known-good ethernet patch cable in between your Mac, and a hub. Usually, there is a connect light on the hub that will show that you have plugged in to a port with an active ethernet. You can unplug/plug another Mac ethernet cable to see that happen. Unplug that good working one, and plug your new Mac into that same port. Doesn't light? try the other ethernet cable that was just working. Still doesn't light? Reset the PRAM on the new Mac, and try the ethernet connection again.
If you take to a service shop - they could boot your Mac to a known-good boot drive, and try with a good network. If it still doesn't connect, it will be in warranty, and can be repaired, probably by replacing the logic board. OR, you will find out that it's a software issue.
Try removing the NetworkInterfaces.plist file from the /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration folder. Just drag that to the trash (probably will ask for a password to do that. Do nothing else but restart, then recheck your Network pref pane for the presence of the built-in ethernet. Do a couple of checks, plug and unplug the ethernet patch cable, watching for the light on the hub. If you still get nothing, then likely a hardware fix is needed.
 
Thanks once again for all of that advice. I have done all the things you suggested - but still no internet.

Getting rid of the NetworkInterfaces.plist as you suggested did make 'Built in ethernet' reappear in the Network Preferences window - but I am now getting error messages such as "computer does not seem to be connected to a DSL or ethernet network etc.). It is connected to a network, and all the cables and switches are working.

So I guess it must be a hardware issue - which is a pain, because computer shops are all shut down for Xmas/New Year, and I need to work. The warranty isn't relevant really - the money involved pales into insignificance compared to the nuisance value of having to transfer all my data to another computer (I will have to do this in two stages, via an external hard disk, because the ethernet isn't working). Then once the computer is fixed, I will have to transfer it all back again...such is life.

Re: AppleTalk. I'm still not sure what you are talking about with TCP etc. I have never used either Rendezvous nor Bonjour. Is Bonjour an application I need to run or something? I must say I have had zero help or advice from the local Mac retail outlets about any of this stuff when buying computers, and I would love to be able to find a competent local person who could come and advise me on how to set up my network properly (I am happy to pay).

I am running a home office network with four or five macs and various other things, but it is always very creaky and flakey and I am never sure whether I am doing it properly.

Cheers (and thanks again)


David
 
Hi David,

Not sure if I can help here but as I too now have an iMac24" (beautiful) and connect to the internet via ethernet from another comp (my old G4) maybe I can help you out :)

as far as the appletalk thingy goes it's as simple as unchecking the 'make appletalk active' box in built-in-ethernet/appletalk - I've used my ethernet connection with and without this checked with no problems. I don't think you need to worry about this.

now I'm no mac professional but from my recent struggles with setting up my ethernet - my best guess is that your problem may lie with the computer that's supplying the internet?? - is it another mac running osxTiger? If so have you double checked that it is set up to share internet still?

for me I have set up my iMac24' 'built-in-ethernet' settings as follows:

First choose the 'PPPoE' tab and un-check the 'connect using PPPoE' tick box

Then choose the 'TCP/IP' tab - for the 'Configure IPv4' option choose 'Using DHCP' then click 'apply now'

from my limited experience I'm guessing it's your choice to use appletalk or not but you may not actually need it.

one thing that helped me was to double check the advanced firewall settings in system prefs / sharing / firewall - then click the 'advanced' tab and uncheck the 3 boxes when setting things up and in my experience feel free to re-check them when it's all sorted.

really sorry for the rather random advice here but if any of it sounds useful and you're not sure what I mean please let me know - hope it helps :)

Greg
 
Thanks very much to everyone for all your help - which was most illuminating. I ran every test and check you recommended (plus some more) and nothing worked.

I have finally found a Mac shop open, and I took the computer there for them to look at.

They didn't believe me at first, but after testing it they told me that I had a "very sick computer" - which I think is a technical term for the ethernet port not working (or some related hardware problem).

I am assuming this will be covered by warranty, but it sounds like I won't know for a few more days exactly what the problem was.

I think 7artist7 is right - the Apple Talk thing is a bit of a tangential issue (as far as I can work out, it doesn't matter whether it is on or off, unless you are using something that needs it).

I still intend to get someone competent to come and look at my network - but there is a bit of a skills shortage in Macintosh networking experts in our neck of the woods.

Cheers again all


David
 
Hey David - you're welcome:)

The one thing that's confusing me here is, after re-reading your initial post again, that you say you had a "Apple Talk not enabled" error message - surely you were not trying to use a program that needed appletalk on your intel iMac - so does this mean the computer you are getting the internet from that's at the other end of the ethernet cable is running OS8/9?? If so I'm very interested as to how you had it set up as that's my big struggle at the moment... :( (I have given up for now)

and to double check - is your 'built-in-ethernet' available to tick in the network port configurations now and have you dragged it to the top of the list? (I recently read that that shows the order of preference - so would guess if it were lower down the list it may not work??)

Oh yeah, did you notice this problem after installing an update to osx or any other program on your iMac or after updating anything to do with your modem/router? Also have you tried the ethernet connection with another mac running the latest tiger?

All the best,

Greg
 
Just to finish off this thread...

Turns out the problem was caused by a thunderstorm, which did some damage inside the computer.

I fixed it, installed surge protection, then the same thing happened again two weeks later.

So now I unplug everything when it looks like thunder.


Cheers
 
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