[aadfadsfa39]

Perhaps someone can help me, a search turned up nothing. Some how, some way, I may have fried my ethernet connection on my 12'' Powerbook G4. My airport works fine, but when I try and connect to the internet through a cable, I get absolutely nothing. Network connect registers my ethernet as failed. This is concerning me. Unfortunately, I do not have my start-up disk so I cannot run the hardware check on it. I have a sinking sensation I may have to run it in for repairs, but because of my time here in Beijing I am thinking about waiting until next month when I return. Last ditch effort, anyone have any ideas what I could have done, or could do? Thank you

[uicandrew]

is there any other laptops/computer that you could form an adhoc network with over an ethernet cable? just see if you can transfer a file from one computer to another?

i don't have my system discs handy, but if you still have internet access of some sort, someone could use pacifist and extract "hardware check" as a pkg or dmg and upload it to yousendit.com or something like that where you can run it.

are you in beijing for business/school/pleasure?

[Gavin]

Look in the system profiler and see if that gives you a clue about the hardware. If the ethernet controller is broken or physically damaged it may not show up in the list.

apple menu > about this mac > more info...

click "network", you should see "built-in ethernet" and when you click that you should get some info about the hardware. If it's fried you may get an error message or maybe it won't show up at all.

Is the location set to automatic or do you have a custom setup? What does the network control panel say?
mine says: "the cable for built in ethernet is not plugged in" (because it isn't) It might say something different if there is a problem.

maybe log in as another user and try it from there.

also try trashing a preference file or two
like: home/you/library/by host/com.apple.PrefPane.Network.xxx.plist
or startup drive/library/com.apple.networkConfig.plist

instead of trashing it just drag it to the desktop, that way you can put it back if that doesn't solve it.

you might want to try some diagnostics in the terminal:
type
sudo ifconfig
hit return, give it your password (you need to be an admin user)

you should see a bunch of stuff like:
en0: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULT ICAST> mtu 1500

post it here. somebody may be able to spot something.

how are you hooking to the internet? router? dial up, cable or dsl? does it use DHCP, PPP or a static IP, etc.

Hope this helps

[chipchen]

In the mean time, go buy a USB > Ethernet adapter. Runs like $30-$50 here.

[aadfadsfa39]

Thanks to you three for your quick replies. Effectively, I walked back through Gavin's recommendations and found my problem. My network settings were changed by someone who will remain nameless. (set the PPPoE - and put in half the info) I, in my increasing frustration, passed right over the simple fix. But, life is restored to normal, blood pressure dropping. To answer the question, I am working here in Beijing for a study abroad program. Thanks again.

[tooki]

FYI, the Network Utility application lets you see the physical link status for any network port, which can tell you whether the port is actually fried, vs just misconfigured as in this case.

tooki