fixed : quickly share your Mac’s internet connection to your iPad

Question :

I just got myself a WiFi-only iPad, but I have no WiFi reception in my living room (that’s why my Mac in my living room is connected to my network through an Ethernet/UTP-cable). Is there an easy way to get internet connection on my iPad in my living room ?

Answer :

Yes, there is.

Your Mac can share it’s internet connection from one of it’s internal network-connections to another. So from Ethernet to WiFi in your case.

To get it working is easy :

– turn on your Mac (if your Mac isn’t running, this won’t work)

– go to System Preferences (under the Apple-dropdown menu in the upper left corner of the desktop/Finder-menu)

– in the window that opens, click on “Sharing”

– in the screen that opens, click on “Internet Sharing” in the list on the left

– then, on the right, select your incoming network/internet connection at “Share your connection from:” (so, in this case select “Ethernet” there)

– and then select your outgoing internet connection at “To computers using:” (so, in this case put a check mark at “Wi-Fi”)

– if you want your shared internet to be password protected, click on the “Wi-Fi Options…”-button and choose your preferred network name, the preferred password protection protocol and your preferred password. If you don’t need protection, just leave everything as-is.

– then put a check-mark at “Internet Sharing” in the list on the left and quit System Preferences

– now you will see that your AirPort/WiFi-pie icon in the upper right of the desktop / finder-menu has turned into a new icon with an arrow pointing upward.

– then, on your iPad (or iPhone or any other WiF-connectable device) go to Settings, click on WiFi and select your new local WiFi-network

– done ! enjoy !

Note : you’ve just turned your Mac into a local WiFi-router (also), so remember that your Mac has to be switched on to sustain the WiFi-network connection

tip : surfing the internet while in Rescue Mode

Question : My Mac’s network connection is messed up, and I need to download software to update of fix this – what can I do ?

Answer : Since OSX 10.7 Lion, there is an easy way to do this if your networking-problem is software-related, not broken hardware.*

1- restart with the ‘CMD’ + ‘R’ keys pressed (‘Rescue Mode’)

2- then use Safari (listed as ‘online help’) to go online

3- go into Safari’s preferences and change the download folder to a USB-stick or external hard drive (just make sure it has enough space to hold the file you’re going to download)

4- go to the site you need to get the download from, and download

5- restart your Mac normally and install the download from within OSX

* = in Rescue Mode you will be able to connect to the network (and the internet) both though a UTP/Ethernet-cable or WiFi/AirPort-wireless, so only if BOTH your Ethernet-hardware card AND your AirPort-hardware card are broken, this will not work…

BEWARE ! : FBI warns not to upgrade software through free-WiFi !

The FBI has reported that users of ‘out-of-home-WiFi’ (free-WiFi hotspots, hotel WiFi, etc.) have become infected with malware, while upgrading ‘a widely used software product’.

http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/e-scams

The original report states :

“Recently, there have been instances of travelers’ laptops being infected with malicious software while using hotel Internet connections. In these instances, the traveler was attempting to set up the hotel room Internet connection and was presented with a pop-up window notifying the user to update a widely used software product. If the user clicked to accept and install the update, malicious software was installed on the laptop. The pop-up window appeared to be offering a routine update to a legitimate software product for which updates are frequently available.”

Even though the software product is not mentioned by name, it is good to inform you that one of the most common software products using this type of upgrades is Adobe Flash… so watch out when upgrading Adobe Flash (and any other software upgrade that is offered) when you are not on your own private WiFi-network.

So… here are some useful guidelines regarding software updates while traveling :

1- if you can do without upgrading, don’t upgrade while traveling ; wait until you’re back home on your own trusted WiFi-network

2- if you really need to upgrade, take these precautions : when you are prompted to upgrade any software while on an ‘out-of-home-WiFi’-network, click to close the pop-up window that is urging you to upgrade. Then either use OSX’s built-in “Software Update…” feature, or open the (Mac) App Store to download your updates from there, or manually type the URL of the known software-maker and download the software update directly form their site (after having double checked that your installed version is not the latest one).

Note : in the case of of the Adobe Flash browser plugin, the software-maker’s website is Adobe.com

fixed : 10.7.4 refusing to see the Atheros AR9280 (same error as in 10.7.3)

Question :

After the update to OSX 10.7.4 the “WiFi : no hardware installed” error is back on my Mac that has an Atheros AR9280 AirPort card, how can I fix this ?

Answer :

The solution is the same as in OSX 10.7.3 :

(Re)install the “Edited Atheros Kext for Lion*3″ you can download here :

https://macmanus.nl/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/edited-atheros-kext-for-lion3-zip.doc

Note : after downloading the file “edited-atheros-kext-for-lion3-zip.doc” you need to rename the file to “edited-atheros-kext-for-lion3.zip” and double-click it to unzip. To install follow the instructions as lined out in the “CAUTION ! (Read Me).txt”-file

The latest version of the .kext-installer that’s needed can be downloaded here :

http://cvad-mac.narod2.ru/Kext_Utility

or here :

KextUtility for OSX 10.8

TIP : your Atheros AR9280 AirPort card and AirPort network are automatically detected when you restart in Rescue Mode… so restart with the ‘CMD’ + ‘R’ keys pressed (‘Rescue Mode’), then use Safari (listed as ‘online help’) to go online and download both files from the links above. If you get a warning that there’s no space in your download folder (because you’re in Rescue Mode), just go into Safari’s preferences and change the download folder to a USB-stick or external hard drive. Now do a normal restart and install the old .kext file and restart afterwards. Done.

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Some background info for those interested :

What is installed by the 10.7.4 installer :

IO80211Family.kext (v4.1.2)
– including these Plugins :
AirPortAtheros21.kext (v4.3.1)
AirPortAtheros40.kext (v5.0.4)
AirPortBrcm4331.kext (v5.3)
AppleAirPortBrcm43224.kext (v5.0.1)
IO80211NetBooter.kext (v4.2)

…which gives the “no hardware installed” error yet again on systems with the Atheros AR9280 AirPort-card…

What I’ve tried and didn’t work :

1- normal restart with ‘reopen windows when logging back in’ unchecked ; still the same ‘no hardware installed’ error

2- repair disk permissions, followed by a full shut down with ‘reopen windows when logging back in’ unchecked, followed by a normal startup ; still the same ‘no hardware installed’ error

3- installing the OSX 10.7.4 Client Combo Update (from Apple.com) ; still the same ‘no hardware installed’ error

tip : new firmware that might improve WiFi/AirPort-stability

Apple has released firmware updates that might improve WiFi/AirPort-stability on your 2011 Mac after the OSX 10.7.3 update :

Mac mini (Mid 2011) EFI firmware update 1.6

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1500

MacBook Pro (Early 2011) EFI firmware update 2.7

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1499

iMac (Mid 2011) EFI firmware update 1.9

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1498

MacBook Air (Mid 2011) EFI firmware update 2.4

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1497

tip : official fix for iMacs with WiFi-problems since 10.7.3 update

Apple has just released a special fix for iMacs that have WiFi-connection-problems each time they ‘fall asleep’, since the OSX 10.7.3 update (but… it’s a iMac-only fix…) :

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1501

There is no accompanying info with it, so it is unknown if this update fixes the “no hardware installed”-error also…

…and is still remains unclear what the actual cause of this problem was…

fixed : 10.7.3 refusing to see the Atheros AR9280

UPDATE [2] :

Easiest fix so far (thanks to delifruit on InsanelyMac.com) :

(Re)installing the “Edited Atheros Kext for Lion*3″ you can download here :

https://macmanus.nl/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/edited-atheros-kext-for-lion3-zip.doc

Note : after downloading the file “edited-atheros-kext-for-lion3-zip.doc” you need to rename the file to “edited-atheros-kext-for-lion3.zip” and double-click it to unzip, after that download the Kext Utility using the “kext-installer for Lion (Kext Utility by cVad)”-link included inside the unzipped folder ; to install follow the instructions as lined out in the “CAUTION ! (Read Me).txt”-file

the latest Kext Utility can be downloaded here :

KextUtility for OSX 10.8

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UPDATE [1] :

Apple seems to have acknowledged this problem, and has withdrawn the basic 10.7.3 update ; everyone will get the 10.7.3 combo update now :

http://www.macnn.com/articles/12/02/04/apple.fixes.lion.upgrade.issue.with.combo.switch/

And there’s a special fix for iMacs that have WiFi-problems since the OSX 10.7.3 update (but… it’s a iMac-only fix…) :

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1501

I hope this fixes thing for all of us 😉

——————- ORIGINAL POST BELOW —————————-

The Atheros AR9280 was seen as a genuine AirPort-card by OSX…

…in 10.6 Snow Leopard

…and in 10.7 Lion it could even do AirDrop…

…until 10.7.3 that is…

10.7.3 for some mysterious reason lost it’s ability to detect the AR9280 at all…

…the AirPort-icon in the menubar is blank, and it lists “WiFi: no hardware installed”…

Oddly, when restarting the Mac mini in ‘Rescue mode’ (pressing Apple(CMD)+R during startup), AirPort instantly connects using that same AR9280 card… ???!!

…but that doesn’t last if you start up 10.7.3 the normal way.

So… after a lot of fiddling around I found the solution is quite easy :

Start by downloading the special .kext-installer here :

http://cvad-mac.narod2.ru/Kext_Utility

1- then… reinstall the IO8211Family.kext from 10.6 Snow Leopard and reboot (you can get that .kext-file from the Snow Leopard installer DVDrom)

if you only need WiFi-connection, that will do, but…

…if you also want to use AirDrop, you need to do step 2 also :

2- only after doing step 1, you will be able to successfully reinstall the IO8211Family.kext from 10.7.2 (the previous version of Lion ; the .kext-file you can get from your TimeMachine backup)

It is mind boggling why this works because :

– directly reinstalling the IO8211Family.kext from 10.7.2 onto the version in 10.7.3 doesn’t work – for some reason you need to downgrade to the Snow Leopard version first…

– the IO8211.kext from 10.7.3 appears to be exactly the same as the one from 10.7.2 ; they have the same version number (4.1.2) and have been created and modified at the exact same date…

…only thing is : this doesn’t seem to be an as stable solution as sticking with 10.7.2