Ok. Intel iMac 17", fresh reinstall. 10.4.4
The person that was troubleshooting it before me told me that the 'ethernet worked' until the regional broadband isp tried to install some smc usb->ethernet usb adapter, and it hasnt worked since- but he informed me that if you do a fresh install, the 'ethernet works' after the fresh install but when you reboot it never works again.
so, i was troubleshooting internal NIC and then I realized something shocking. Internal NIC was refusing to give a link light, ifconfig continually reported that en0 was up but that the media type was "unknown type" status inactive. I tried several things and when I did a dmesg I realized something. It was reporting the "airportpci_mm" mac address and i took note that it ended in :84-- but this was the exact same mac address that i had seen earlier in the system profiler under 'built in ethernet'.
immediately it dawned on me, but no, surely my suspicions could not be correct, could they? i thought to myself 'what if... what if OSX is hard coded to believe that "en0" IS the built-in ethernet regardless. if the ethernet card is dead, that would make the airport card detect as "en0" instead of "en1"'
but surely my suspicion could not be correct, could it? sure enough, if i go to network utility and select "en0" not only does it report the same mac address and say that its the 'built in ethernet', but it lists at the bottom 'vendor: apple', 'model: wireless network adapter'. can you believe this? im not making this stuff up
i recalled that the first time i did a fresh install it detected my wireless network and during the end of the setup process popped up a window asking to save the profile for the wireless network. i know that the guy before me had a wireless network as well, so i put 2 and 2 together and realized that he was mistaken, the ethernet card did not work after a fresh install, it was actually the wireless card that he was getting a connection through, and after the first reboot the system would no longer acknowledge that en0 is usable as a wireless adapter.
So here i am still tinkering, i did another fresh install and have not rebooted. it asked if i wanted to set up the profile for my wireless network that it detected and, sure enough-- ifconfig reports that en0 is up and it very much is. dhcp has given a lease and the wireless card is connected to my home network. yet, if i click the wireless signal icon at the top right of the screen near the clock it says 'airport not configured'. when i go to my network system preferences it has a green light next to 'built in ethernet' and yet, it is soooo not connected through ethernet right now. and airport is not even listed under the network system preferences-- i know that if i reboot it will be listed under network system preferences, but it will be greyed out, because 'en1' is not detected.
so i am unsure how to proceed. either the onboard ethernet needs to be fixed somehow, which currently isnt detecting at all, or, i need a way to force the airport card to detect as en1. ideas?
The person that was troubleshooting it before me told me that the 'ethernet worked' until the regional broadband isp tried to install some smc usb->ethernet usb adapter, and it hasnt worked since- but he informed me that if you do a fresh install, the 'ethernet works' after the fresh install but when you reboot it never works again.
so, i was troubleshooting internal NIC and then I realized something shocking. Internal NIC was refusing to give a link light, ifconfig continually reported that en0 was up but that the media type was "unknown type" status inactive. I tried several things and when I did a dmesg I realized something. It was reporting the "airportpci_mm" mac address and i took note that it ended in :84-- but this was the exact same mac address that i had seen earlier in the system profiler under 'built in ethernet'.
immediately it dawned on me, but no, surely my suspicions could not be correct, could they? i thought to myself 'what if... what if OSX is hard coded to believe that "en0" IS the built-in ethernet regardless. if the ethernet card is dead, that would make the airport card detect as "en0" instead of "en1"'
but surely my suspicion could not be correct, could it? sure enough, if i go to network utility and select "en0" not only does it report the same mac address and say that its the 'built in ethernet', but it lists at the bottom 'vendor: apple', 'model: wireless network adapter'. can you believe this? im not making this stuff up
i recalled that the first time i did a fresh install it detected my wireless network and during the end of the setup process popped up a window asking to save the profile for the wireless network. i know that the guy before me had a wireless network as well, so i put 2 and 2 together and realized that he was mistaken, the ethernet card did not work after a fresh install, it was actually the wireless card that he was getting a connection through, and after the first reboot the system would no longer acknowledge that en0 is usable as a wireless adapter.
So here i am still tinkering, i did another fresh install and have not rebooted. it asked if i wanted to set up the profile for my wireless network that it detected and, sure enough-- ifconfig reports that en0 is up and it very much is. dhcp has given a lease and the wireless card is connected to my home network. yet, if i click the wireless signal icon at the top right of the screen near the clock it says 'airport not configured'. when i go to my network system preferences it has a green light next to 'built in ethernet' and yet, it is soooo not connected through ethernet right now. and airport is not even listed under the network system preferences-- i know that if i reboot it will be listed under network system preferences, but it will be greyed out, because 'en1' is not detected.
so i am unsure how to proceed. either the onboard ethernet needs to be fixed somehow, which currently isnt detecting at all, or, i need a way to force the airport card to detect as en1. ideas?