Shows "no airport card installed" on a 2008 MacBook and read this:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1399798?start=15&tstart=0

How do I turn on AppleTalk? Can't find it under Network Control Panel. Already did PRAM, few other things.

Since nobody else has responded, I took a look. (Note that I've got no experience with AppleTalk...just did some searching, the results of which may obviously be taken with a grain of salt, but this will at least get the ball rolling.)

1. This is the only thing that Mac Help in OS X 10.6.8 came up with...


2. Wikipedia offers...


3. I didn't find anything that suggests that AppleTalk can be used to connect to the Internet, which is what I'm guessing you're after.

You may be stuck for either a USB Internet connection, a possibly costly Genius Bar visit, or a new AirPort card. (I've got no idea if your recalcitrant card is user serviceable.)

Edit: I think the first thing to do if your card is user serviceable is check to make sure that its connecting plug is firmly in place.

afaik, appletalk is a LAN protocol, like bonjour, not intended to automatically route / cross subnets. Bonjour certainly looks like an upgraded appletalk in many respects. Auto-discovery of LAN services being its basic founding feature.

It can be used to connect to another computer for other purposes that may look like IP networking, doing things like File Sharing (AFP/SMB) which you can also do with a routing protocol like TCP. Maybe that's where the confusion is getting in. Routing protocols can connect on the LAN to look like a plain LAN protocol, but not vice-versa.

I don't need to 'use' AppleTalk, I'm trying to solve the problem that the 2008 MacBook doesn't show there is an airport card installed. It is having the issue discribed in the link above and I tried the other things.

BTW, one way to get an AppleTalk printer to work wirelessly under a later system is the set-up in my signature below:

OK, I see where you were going, asking about AppleTalk, but as I posted above, it doesn't exist in OS X 10.6, so there doesn't seem to be any way that it can be at the root of your issue.

Looks like you'll have to start looking in a new direction, very possibly hardware.

Much as it pains me to agree with Artie505 (I'm kidding, of course) I think he is on the right track. I don't know if the laptop you are working with has the Airport card soldered on the logic board or if it is a separate component, but in either case if it is a hardware failure it would probably be cheaper to buy a newer computer than an airport card or new logic board for the existing machine.

...or just plug along with a USB connection...may require a range extender depending on where the kid's room is, but still probably the least expensive alternative.

It's a separate part, but it seems to be a hardware/software problem from what the link above from the Apple board implies. It worked hooked up to Ethernet from my router, so, a USB connector is a good suggestion. The guy says his kid is tech savvy, just didn't want him to get the wrong power adapter for the potential heat issue we've been discussing in another thread. I'll pass along the idea.

i agree with Artie

There's nobody more likely to solve a problem that us old fogies can't solve than a tech-savvy kid.

Edit: Have you tried running Apple Hardware Test on this Mac?

No, but i checked the serial number on EveryMac and it is spec'd for AirPort Extreme 802.11a/b/g/n (nice) however, I can't remember if the profiler said it's there. And yes, the tech savvy kid will solve the problem just before he creates worse ones. I give the thing a week and I gave his dad a long Ethernet cable.

i was thinking about the USB adapter for this computer, and I'm thinking he is probably going to need something like an Airport Express to give this thing any real signal. I've been happy with Ira's Netgear, maybe I should suggest he find one on eBay or maybe the cable company can rent him something because I'm not sure a tech savvy kid is going to be a wireless network savvy kid and his dad could end up throwing away a lot of money. I guess I can look for an Airport Express on eBay and test it here. Maybe I can find a cheap one and that would be very easy to set up.

I've got no idea how easy or difficult it is to check on this particular Mac, but AirPort cards have at least some history of "failing" when their real problem has been that their cable has come either all or partly unplugged.

(I still think it's in your best interest to run AHT.)

If you decide to go the AirPort Express route you need to know this:

In OS X 10.7/Lion, Apple, with absolutely no heads-up...only a "SURPRISE!", discontinued support for "b/g" units and apparently, although they're still listed as supported, 1st generation "n" units such that they continue to function as expected but cannot be accessed by AirPort Utility to have their settings changed or for troubleshooting.

There's a patch out there that others claim works but that I could not get to work in Yosemite despite the fact that its dev says that it does.

Accordingly, and since

• the kid is tech savvy and may decide to upgrade from Snowy to the Lion (it looks like) his Mac supports, and
• it's probably likely that there'll be a newer Mac in his life someday,

I suggest that rather than buying an older unit on eBay you buy a Refurbished AirPort Express (2nd generation) (which comes with an original Apple warranty) directly from Apple. (The refurbished 1st generation "n" I bought 5 years ago has run flawlessly.)

Edit: Why would you need an AE without knowing the true state of the AP card and in view of the USB cable?

Edit 2: Hmmm... I just noticedon the page to which I linked.

I'd take it seriously and ask.

His Dad picked it up. Thanks for the info tho, I will pass it along. It's possible that their cable vendor will have some type of hotspot to attach. For all we know, his tech-savvy kid could be "The eku.edu spammer!"