You may try to zap the PRAM

command+option+P+R upon reboot

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Hi
Thanks for the possible solution - it looked like this could be the answer!

…but, alas, no.

I’ve only recently started to have the problem of the MacBook dropping the connection but now I get it to connect and it immediately disconnects.

(To get it to connect requires me turning off the airport and turning it back on which eventually works. Selecting the router in the airport menu always fails)

I have a MacBook 2.4Ghz (Feb 2008 model) so my install disc was Leopard and the IO80211Family.kext version is 2.1. The version that was in the Extensions folder is 2.1.4.

I’ve copied back the 2.1.4 version now as the 2.1 version didn’t work either.

It’s odd that this problem has crept up and got a whole lot worse and become unusable in the past week.

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Just wanted to let everyone know that my 2.4GhZ Powerbook 15″ was having similar issues and my airport card had to be replaced. NOTHING online/ software related would fix it. It would connect, then immediately disconnect.

Just wanted to let everyone know! Thank the lord it was under warranty!

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Thank you for finding out about this.

I have another common problem for Macbook Pros: the bad performance wifi connection, with continuous packet loss without any apparent reason.

Unfortunately I did what the original post described but could not fix the problem. Could it be that my install DVD is too recent, and includes the broken IO80211Family.kext?

I can see the version from the key CFBundleGetInfoString in the file Contents/Info.plist file within IO80211Family.kext . The DVD one is version 2.0, the one my up-to-date MacOS was running was version 2.1.2 .

Could I ask any of you who successfully managed to apply the patch, possibly with versions prior to 2.0, to zip it and send it to me? I don’t see a software copyright issue here, since we are all MacOS licensees.

Thank you in advance,
giacecco at giacec.co.uk

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Ha I know the Problem. Thank you that you found a solution.

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Thank you!!!!! The system did not pick up right away. A reboot did the job - I can find and connect to my wi-fi router again. Even with the hordes of people with airport problems with their MacBooks I guess it would still be too much to expect Apple to seriously look into this. But their focus has never been so much on functionality as with looks.

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Cheers for the insight, There are some posts I found quite interesting, in this blog.

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Thanks Maxwell!

Pacifist is really a great tool!

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Thanks for the help. I would add that, for those of us who aren’t as comfortable using the terminal, CharlesSoft Pacifist (shareware, http://www.charlessoft.com/Pacifist.dmg) does a very nice job of locating and installing individual package components from Apple System Installer volumes.

I was able to use Pacifist to locate and install the IO80211Family.kext file from the AirPort Extreme 802.11n Enabler for Mac application, replacing the existing resource on my MacBook (13″ core 2 duo) and enabling 802.11n capabilities.

Be sure to use Pacifist’s “install” feature so the file(s) get decompressed and moved to the correct default location(s). This also works to restore the default IO80211Family.kext resource (if it gets corrupted/overwritten) from your Apple System Installer DVD (I used the retail 10.5 installer that works for just about everything).

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Thanks Mark!

I didn’t notice there was a question in my comments in such a long time. I am so sorry erik. Hope Mark’s answer could solve your problem.

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