MacBook Kernel Panic com.apple.driver.AirPort Atheros5424(120.31.1)

Question

Hi Everyone!
Over the last couple of days my MacBook performs a kernel panic and forces me to restart. I have to restart a couple of times before it works properly again, but sometimes the screen stays black when I turn it on, and it just sits there until I restart it again using the power button.
I've taken dump of the error message in panic.log and it appears that it is the AirPort card causing problems. Can someone confirm this, and suggest what I need to do to resolve this issue as it is becoming quite annoying now. I bought my MacBook back in October last year, so it should still be under warranty.
Heres the relevent content of the panic.log:
Fri Jun 15 17:40:34 2007
panic(cpu 0 caller 0x001A429B): Unresolved kernel trap (CPU 0, Type 14=page fault), registers:
CR0: 0x8001003b, CR2: 0xf9df3554, CR3: 0x00dd7000, CR4: 0x000006e0
EAX: 0xf9df3540, EBX: 0x03df3510, ECX: 0x35141911, EDX: 0x23714004
CR2: 0xf9df3554, EBP: 0x2534be18, ESI: 0x00000000, EDI: 0x00000000
EFL: 0x00010202, EIP: 0x0097cb7e, CS: 0x00000008, DS: 0x03de0010
Backtrace, Format - Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
0x2534bc48 : 0x128d08 (0x3cb134 0x2534bc6c 0x131de5 0x0)
0x2534bc88 : 0x1a429b (0x3d0e4c 0x0 0xe 0x3d0670)
0x2534bd98 : 0x19ada4 (0x2534bda8 0x4b1480 0xe 0x48)
0x2534be18 : 0x965405 (0x23714004 0x3df3510 0xa2e7510 0xf9df3540)
0x2534bf08 : 0x39a463 (0x3b062bc 0x3ca7b80 0x1 0x383a0f4)
0x2534bf58 : 0x399635 (0x3ca7b80 0x135eb4 0x0 0x383a0f4)
0x2534bf88 : 0x39936b (0x3cbb8c0 0x0 0x8000 0xf0b)
0x2534bfc8 : 0x19ac1c (0x3cbb8c0 0x0 0x19e0b5 0x4103238) Backtrace terminated-invalid frame pointer 0x0
Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.driver.AirPortAtheros5424(120.31.1)@0x941000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily(1.5.1)@0x6ba000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.2)@0x59d000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IO80211Family(154.1)@0x924000
Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.9.1: Thu Feb 22 20:55:00 PST 2007; root:xnu-792.18.15~1/RELEASE_I386

Answer 1

Hey boys and girls...
Well, after reading a few of the posts, I can say this:
1. I have the N activated from the factory- This is a week old macbook. (Utilities/Network Utility, choose en1 from the dropdown - if you see (802.11 a/b/g/n), you have n installed)
2. The ONLY airport driver loaded into the kernel is atheros, meaning it MUST be the active driver. See kextstat -l | grep -i airport
3. I have been monkeying with replacing extensions from previous versions. So far, I have not had a wifi dropout or kernel panic... BUT IT'S EARLY IN MY TESTING.
Here's how I replaced the extension. This is taken directly from a macfixit tutorial. NOTE: 10.4.9 still produced a wifi lockup. I have now used the airport kext (I chose all I found) in 10.4.8 and SO FAR (only tonight) I have not had a dropout. IT COULD STILL HAPPEN THOUGH, SO YMMV:
Reverting to older AirPort kernel extensions [Useful for: slow wireless throughput, router not recognized]
f you are experiencing dire AirPort connectivity issues after a major system update (incremental Mac OS X update or Security Update), and have exhausted all other workarounds, you can try reverting to older version of the AirPort kernel extension via the following steps: [WARNING: This workaround is risky because you should not generally mix and match kernel extensions after updates. You will also lose any AirPort-related refinements brought about by the most recent update and new conflicts can ensue. Still, in a bind, it can restore wireless connectivity where other workarounds fail.]
1. Download the Mac OS X combo updater directly precedent to your current system version if you applied an incremental Mac OS X update (e.g. Mac OS X 10.4.9), or your current system version if you applied a security update from Apple's download page.
2. Download and install the shareware application Pacifist
3. Drag the Mac OS X combo installer package (e.g. MacOSXUpd10.4.9Intel.pkg) onto the Pacifist application icon.
4. Click the triangle next to System to expand it
5. Click the triangle next to Library to expand it
6. Click the triangle next to Extensions to expand it
7. Scroll down and find the file AppleAirPort.kext. Drag it to your Desktop or another location (you will have to enter your administrator password)
8. On your Mac OS X startup drive, navigate to /System/Library/Extensions and locate a similarly named file (AppleAirPort.kext). Move it to another location for safe keeping.
9. Now drag the file from step 7 (the one that you retrieved from the Mac OS X combo install package) into the /System/Library/Extensions directory on your startup, in effect replacing the newer file (installed by the AirPort updater) with and older copy -- you will have to enter an administrator password.
10. Restart your Mac
Macbook Z0ES Mac OS X (10.4.10)