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recompute · Jun 2, 2008, 11:06 AM

Hi there, I have searched these forums and checked the FAQs without any luck finding this problem. I am working on a PowerBook G4 550MHz that used to have OS 10.4.8 and when you would click on the wireless icon it would report 'No Airport Networks in Range' and it was greyed out. You could select 'Other' and try and manually enter the wireless settings with no luck. It doesn't matter how close you are to the base station, either, it will not pick up that there is a wireless network available. I have checked that the hardware is seated properly and it is. We even have a different Powerbook G4 800MHz that has the same airport card that works fine. I swapped the airport cards and still have the same problem. We have taken it to other wireless networks with the same problem. It will get on hard-wired networks fine.

Now, we threw in a new hard drive and loaded the original MAC OS 10.1 and got it updated to 10.1.5 but we still have the same problem, no wifi, it recognizes the hardware, it just won't see a wifi network and it will not connect manually, either, it's like the range is just terrible or something. Anyone have a clue what could be going on here? I didn't see any firmware updates though I could have missed something with that. Either way, it is very frustrating. Thanks.

BTW, The router works fine as you can get other PCs and Macs hooked directly to it without issue.

amazing · Jun 2, 2008, 11:33 AM

Since you've verified that the airport card works by swapping it into a PB-800, it's either the antenna or the system. In System Prefs, verify that the network configuration does indeed have airport turned on. After all, you can establish an ethernet-only network by turning off airport, so you do well to try verifying that first.

If that's on, then establish a second plain vanilla admin account, log into it, check the same things. If antenna is plugged in all the way, the only thing left to try is a "clean" install, namely erasing and installing.

If that fails, you can always buy 11.g PMCIA wireless cards, which will have better reception, better throughput than the internal card, because the antenna will be outside the metal Faraday cage. I had a PB-400, the reception was absolutely, positively lousy--the PMCIA wireless card solved the reception: The difference was night and day.

recompute · Jun 2, 2008, 12:46 PM

Thanks for the timely reply, The aiport is indeed turned on, as for your other suggestions I will try that here shortly. Out of interest, what kind of 11.G card do I need? Basically, is there a specific brand or model I am looking for that will be compatible? Thanks for your time.

amazing · Jun 2, 2008, 12:59 PM

Other World Computing has PMCIA wireless cards.

PCMCIA Expansion Cards (FireWire, USB, Wireless, and More) at OtherWorldComputing.com

What you're looking for is a Broadcom chip, which is natively supported in OS X. If you do some research and look around, you should find cheaper cards than the above. Years ago, I found one for $25 at Target, of all places (definitely no longer available.)

ghporter · Jun 2, 2008, 06:05 PM

It certainly sounds like a hardware problem (and thus I'm leaving this thread here instead of moving it to the Networking forum). The next best hardware troubleshooting step to take is to put a known good AirPort card in your PB and see if it works. If it does, it's your old card. If not, it's your antenna or the card connector. I think your PB had the "original" AirPort card, which was (near enough) an Orinoco/Lucent Gold card (with a Broadcom chipset as amazing noted). While it's hard to find the original AirPort card anymore, there are still some Orinoco cards floating around. More recent AirPort cards are more available.

Just remember that your PB has an built in antennas, so a direct replacement for your AirPort card needs a connector for those antennas. On the other hand, a PC card wireless card will have its own external antenna, so you won't need to worry about that if you go that route.

recompute · Jun 2, 2008, 06:44 PM

OK, well, the hardware is deninitely being seen, it gives the hardware ID and all that and you can turn the airport card on and off fine, just no networks being seen. The Antanae is seated well. What did you mean by saying it could be the 'System?' Are you thinking it could be the logic board? Or are you saying that it could be system files? Either way, the install of 10.1 is a clean install, so I doubt reinstalling it again is going to do any good. Any other ideas? Thanks for your time.

recompute · Jun 2, 2008, 06:47 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

It certainly sounds like a hardware problem (and thus I'm leaving this thread here instead of moving it to the Networking forum). The next best hardware troubleshooting step to take is to put a known good AirPort card in your PB and see if it works. If it does, it's your old card. If not, it's your antenna or the card connector. I think your PB had the "original" AirPort card, which was (near enough) an Orinoco/Lucent Gold card (with a Broadcom chipset as amazing noted). While it's hard to find the original AirPort card anymore, there are still some Orinoco cards floating around. More recent AirPort cards are more available.

Just remember that your PB has an built in antennas, so a direct replacement for your AirPort card needs a connector for those antennas. On the other hand, a PC card wireless card will have its own external antenna, so you won't need to worry about that if you go that route.

Hey Glenn, Sorry if I didn't mention it before, I DID try a known good Airport card from the good PB 800MHz and it did NOT work with the PB550. So, I am assuming it is the notebook. Unless you have any other ideas. Thanks!

tinkered · Jun 2, 2008, 07:17 PM

Even with the antenna comply broken, a wifi source a foot or two away should still be picked up by the card. Have you tried something like kisMAC kismacng - Trac or another stumbler to test if the card is able to detect the signal and SSID of your network and it the Airport software that is somehow blind to it?

tinkered · Jun 2, 2008, 07:23 PM

Here is a link to macstumbler MacStumbler , which is easier to use than kisMAC, although not a powerful. Also, it was designed for 10.1.

ghporter · Jun 2, 2008, 09:17 PM

Originally Posted by tinkered

Even with the antenna comply broken, a wifi source a foot or two away should still be picked up by the card. Have you tried something like kisMAC kismacng - Trac or another stumbler to test if the card is able to detect the signal and SSID of your network and it the Airport software that is somehow blind to it?

That's a good idea, but with the AirPort card fully installed within the PowerBook, and its only means of receiving a signal being its tiny connector, it's unlikely that much more than a hint of signal would get through from "a foot or two away." More realistically, with the bottom cover left off, it might get a signal big enough to read.

I'm thinking that an external, PC card wireless card is a very good idea here, especially since you can get a G standard card for cheap to replace the B original AirPort card.