Mac OS X 10.3.5 (#15): AirPort: Solution for some dropouts, card will not turn on; Insomniac 1.8 GHz G5s: Apple locks discussion

AirPort: Solution for some dropouts; card will not turn on; notes on overall reception

We continue to cover a number of AirPort-related issues that have sprung up since the Mac OS X 10.3.5, including AirPort Extreme dropouts at random intervals, as well as poor overall reception

MacStumbler shows high signal strength during dropouts An interesting note from one reader reveals that during AirPort connection dropouts, signal strength remains relatively high according to measurement utilities like MacStumbler. This indicates that there may be a problem with Mac OS X 10.3.5's recognition of an available signal, rather than actual drops in signal strength.

The reader writes "I have also noticed random, sudden failures in reception since installing 10.3.5 (via Combo Updater) - maybe a couple of times a day, there will suddenly be no "black bars" in the menu bar, and I can't access the web, etc. However, what's bizarre is that if I open MacStumbler, MacStumbler indicates that my 12" Powerbook's antenna IS picking up signal - at levels that usually give me normal web access. Rebooting the computer has always returned it to normal operation. It seems to me that somehow the Airport software is 'losing awareness' of input from the hardware - at least that's all I can think of."

Dropout solution #1: Setting up a separate NAT service One reader found that using a separate Mac as a NAT (Network Address Translation) service -- to distribute IP addresses to other connected Macs (rather than using the AirPort base station as an NAT service) -- reduced the number of dropouts significantly:

"Just thought I would add a little to this discussion. My AirPort Extreme BaseStation would also drop out quite often, also with no particular pattern. However, it occurred to me that BaseStations have always suffered when providing both NAT and DHCP. So, just to see, I set up a computer to provide NAT service (using BrickHouse), and set up the Base Station to do only DHCP (Share a range of IP addresses).

"The BaseStation has not crashed/dropped out since. I left the USB Epson printer connected to it, and, in all other respects, there have been no changes aside from NAT settings."

Dropout solution #2: Setting a higher multicast rate MacFixIt reader John reports that setting a higher multicast rate using the AirPort Admin utility results in better wide-range reception:

too noticed problems with dropouts with my AirPort Extreme. It seemed that my system would work fine for 30- 45 minutes with no dropouts and then begin experiencing frequent dropouts. I tried all of the recommended fixes that I've read about here and elsewhere. Nothing worked. I decided to try setting the "Multicast rate" under "Wireless Options" to a higher value. With this set at 5.5 the dropout problem has completely disappeared. I have been listening to music for the past three days without a single hiccough. I find it strange that no one seems to have mentioned this as a fix. At least I haven't seen this commented on elsewhere. I hope this may help others.

Changing the multicast rate is accomplished via the following process, as per Apple Knowledge Base article #150713:

• Open AirPort Admin Utility, located in Applications/Utilities.
• Select your base station and click Configure. Enter the base station password if necessary.
• Click the Wireless Options button on the AirPort pane, and choose a rate from the "Multicast rate" pop-up menu.

AirPort card will not turn off A number of readers have begun reporting an issue where an installed AirPort card cannot be turned off under Mac OS X 10.3.5:

Len Walther writes "I suddenly couldn't turn on the AirPort Extreme card via the AirPort Menu bar pull down, or in System Prefs. This behavior was identical, whichever User was logged on, including a pre-existing Test Admin account. However, I had a bootable FireWire drive running OS X 10.3.4, which not only booted my Powerbook G4, but there was no problem turning on AirPort and connecting to the Internet.

MacFixIt reader Jorge corroborates "If I go to the menu and tell the card to turn on it will not. But if I leave it and then restart, upon restart the airport card will be on at which point I can turn the card off and on like in 10.3.4."

Comments on overall AirPort reception Steve Prindle has some comments on overall Apple AirPort reception compared to PC counterparts:

"I have a 12-inch powerbook G4 (original version), and first became aware of this situation at wi-fi hotspots where I had no detectable signal while someone with, say, a Dell laptops would be blissfully surfing away. The apparent difference? Apple uses a built-in diversity antenna, while Windows laptops typically use a PCMIA card with an external antenna.

"Since current PowerBooks have a shell made of "aircraft aluminum," the internal antenna -- built into the screen housing -- is pretty well shielded, except for a pair of short plastic inserts.

"My somewhat kludgy solution was to buy a small Quickertek antenna, which boosts the signal strength approximately 50 per cent as measured by KisMAC. In the real world, this can make the difference between having absolutely no detectable signal and having a moderately strong signal.

"In order to use the Quickertek antenna, I have to remove the powerbook battery, operate off AC and plug the antenna's 24-inch cable into the airport card. Obviously, this puts a crimp in powerbook mobility. Owners of 15-inch and 17-inch powerBooks have to take a different approach by snaking the antenna cable in through the PCMIA slot, which has obvious trade-offs. They also have the option of using third-party wi-fi cards, if they wish, which I don't, seeing as a PCMIA slot is one of the features Apple left off in building 'the world's smallest full-featured laptop.'"

Insomniac 1.8 GHz G5s: Apple locks discussion thread; more Reports of single-processor 1.8 GHz G5s that refuse to fully sleep under Mac OS X 10.3.5 continue to pour in.

We first reported the problem on August 17th, noting that when the problem manifests, hard drives spin down and the monitor goes dark, but fans continue to run.

Apple later posted a Knowledge Base article confirming the topic, stating "After installing the Mac OS X 10.3.5 Update, a Power Mac G5 1.8 GHz single processor (SP) computer's fans can continue to run in sleep mode. When the computer goes to sleep with Mac OS X 10.3.5 installed, these things happen: The display goes dark, internal Apple disks spin down, internal third-party disks may spin down, internal fans continue to run."

Since then dozens of corroborating reports have filled the MacFixIt inboxes, and boards discussing the topic have been inundated with chatter from those experiencing the problem.

In fact, a thread on Apple's boards has topped out at over 330 posts, triggering Apple to lock the discussion, barring any new posts from appearing.

As reported previously, the only solution so far to this issue has been to revert to Mac OS X 10.3.4. If you choose to do so, your best bet in this scenario is to perform an archive and install process from the Panther CD/DVD, and then re-apply the Mac OS X 10.3.4 combo updater.

Solutions for blank-screen on wake-up We continue to report an issue where screens remains blank when waking from sleep since installing Mac OS X 10.3.5.

For some readers, simply putting the problematic Mac back to sleep after it displays a blank screen, then waking it up again, resolves the problem:

One reader writes "Instead of rebooting to recover from a blank-screen, you can just close the lid to to put it to sleep, and do the wake again. Works for me."

Another reader writes "Here's what works for me after the screen has gone blank subsequent to a wake-up.

"Hit the power button long enough to bring up the 'Would you like to shut down, restart, cancel or sleep'" dialog (if you could see it.) Hit the 'S' key to put your computer to sleep. You can tell because your 'sleep light' will begin pulsing. The machine will wake up normally at that point."

Meanwhile, MacFixIt reader Ron Granich reports that his iBook displays a blank screen on startup whenever an iMate USB-to-ADB adapter is plugged in, after updating to Mac OS X 10.3.5

"I have an iBook G4 and recently updated to OS 10.3.5. Now whenever I have my iMate USB-to-ADB adapter plugged into one of the USB ports at start-up, I get the blank screen every time. I have to un-plug the iMate and re-start to get the normal start-up sequence to work. Then I can plug in the iMate and it will load the driver and work.

We previously noted that for some users, the blank-screen issue only occurs when plugging in or unplugging a USB device while the system is asleep

Another potential culprit for the blank-screen phenomenon is active disk scanning or other high disk activity processes running when a system is put to sleep.

One reader writes "I've had a couple of occasions recently where the display on my G4 iMac has failed to wake from sleep. All occasions have one thing in common - I was running software intended to scan a hard disk attached through fireWire.

"On the first occasion this happened, I was using disk utility to try a repair on the hard disk. When trying to wake the display, all I got was a white pointer arrow on a black screen. I've also experienced the same problem when trying to run Carbon Copy Cloner to copy my iMac's hard disk contents to the fireWire disk. I had a similar problem today when using the eDrive in Tech Tool Pro 4 to scan the FireWire disk. Again, apart from the mouse pointer, the screen was blank.

"On each such occasion, I've had no choice but to restart the computer by holding down the power button. Subsequent attempts to complete the same tasks have only resulted in the same blank screen.

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

For more information on Mac OS X 10.3.5 problems and solutions, see our special report on the update.

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