Mountain Lion/Mavericks 'breaks' wifi base station - Snow Leopard works fine

Greetings all,
(Tried this in the OSx forum with no answers, so I figured I'd try the MacMini community and this one.)
I've been reading my way toward blindness through countless threads, here and elsewhere, from countless people, having problem with Mountain Lion and Wi-Fi these last few days, but some are using Airport, some are using third-party Wi-Fi routers, some aren't really specifying what they're using, so I thought I'd be as specific as possible about my situation - and add the fact that everything is still working fine if I boot into a cloned backup using Snow Leopard.
===
So here's the situation. I have a Intel Mac Mini which I use as a Wi-Fi base station for a Intel PowerBook Pro and an iPod 5. The Mini has been running Snow Leopard, and the PowerBook had been upgraded to Mountain Lion a few months ago. Things were still working fine at that point - the PowerBook's shift from SL to ML didn't affect its connectivity as a 'receiver' at all. About a week ago however, I finally upgraded the Mini to Mountain Lion as well (so that I could install the current version of Adobe Lightroom) and lost my Wi-Fi Internet access.
When I turn Wi-Fi on at the PowerBook, the Mini's network is visible, and I get the solid Wi-Fi fan showing a full connection, but I cannot access the Internet (indicated by the exclaimation point inside the fan for the first few seconds). The same is true on the iPod - I get the checkmark showing that I'm connected, but when I try to access any Internet services will get a pop-up box telling me that the Internet is not connected.
After going through pages and pages and pages of people struggling with similar issues on sites like this, and following suggestions like deleting my preference files, repairing permissions, zapping PRAM, creating new locations, changing IP addresses etc. I got no further. But since I had cloned my hard drive just before the upgrade from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion (thank you SuperDuper), I can reboot into Snow Leopard, and everything still works fine. With that advantage, I copied and re-created EVERY SINGLE preference in the system preferences for Network and Internet sharing* from the Snow Leopard into the Mountain Lion system. (I even went so far as to create a network in Mountain Lion's prefs. with WEP encryption instead of the newer WPA just in case that would make any difference at all.) But even with identical settings on the Mini regardless of booting into Snow Leopard or Mountain Lion, Mountain Lion remains the same - no problem connecting with the network, but complete inability to access the Internet. A few days ago, hoping against hope that an upgrade to Mavericks might reset things into some sort of working mode, I tried that - but no better result.
(*) I note that the wifi heading in the preference panes has changed from "AirPort" in Snow Leopard to "WiFI" in Mountain Lion and Mavericks, but I'm assuming that's just a change Apple made in its terminology to avoid confusion with the external AirPort options.
I would appreciate any suggestions any of you could give. And I would ask that you specify whether any suggested changes are to be made on the originating Wi-Fi station (in this case the Mini), or the receiver (in this case the MacBook). Many of the threads I've read to date can be confusing simply because they're not specifying on which machine any suggested changes need to be made, and while I'm sure there's nothing that needs to be changed at the MacBook, please specify if I'm wrong.
Thanks again,

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If you look at the User Tips tab, you will find a write up on just this subject:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4053
The subject of buying/selling a Mac is quite complicated. Here is a guide to the steps involved. It is from the Seller's point of view, but easily read the other way too:
SELLING A MAC A
Internet Recovery, and Transferability of OS & iLife Apps
Selling an Old Mac:
• When selling an old Mac, the only OS that is legally transferable is the one that came preinstalled when the Mac was new. Selling a Mac with an upgraded OS isn't doing the new owner any favors. Attempting to do so will only result in headaches since the upgraded OS can't be registered by the new owner. If a clean install becomes necessary, they won't be able to do so and will be forced to install the original OS via Internet Recovery. Best to simply erase the drive and revert back to the original OS prior to selling any Mac.
• Additionally, upgrading the OS on a Mac you intend to sell means that you are leaving personally identifiable information on the Mac since the only way to upgrade the OS involves using your own AppleID to download the upgrade from the App Store. So there will be traces of your info and user account left behind. Again, best to erase the drive and revert to the original OS via Internet Recovery.
Internet Recovery:
• In the event that the OS has been upgraded to a newer version (i.e. Lion to Mountain Lion), Internet Recovery will offer the version of the OS that originally came with the Mac. So while booting to the Recovery Disk will show Mountain Lion as available for reinstall since that is the current version running, Internet Recovery, on the other hand, will only show Lion available since that was the OS shipped with that particular Mac.
• Though the Mac came with a particular version of Mac OS X, it appears that, when Internet Recovery is invoked, the most recent update of that version may be applied. (i.e. if the Mac originally came with 10.7.3, Internet Recovery may install a more recent update like 10.7.5)
iLife Apps:
• When the App Store is launched for the first time it will report that the iLife apps are available for the user to Accept under the Purchases section. The user will be required to enter their AppleID during the Acceptance process. From that point on the iLife apps will be tied to the AppleID used to Accept them. The user will be allowed to download the apps to other Macs they own if they wish using the same AppleID used to Accept them.
• Once Accepted on the new Mac, the iLife apps can not be transferred to any future owner when the Mac is sold. Attempting to use an AppleID after the apps have already been accepted using a different AppleID will result in the App Store reporting "These apps were already assigned to another Apple ID".
• It appears, however, that the iLife Apps do not automatically go to the first owner of the Mac. It's quite possible that the original owner, either by choice or neglect, never Accepted the iLife apps in the App Store. As a result, a future owner of the Mac may be able to successfully Accept the apps and retain them for themselves using their own AppleID. Bottom Line: Whoever Accepts the iLife apps first gets to keep them.
SELLING A MAC B
Follow these instructions step by step to prepare a Mac for sale:
Step One - Back up your data:
A. If you have any Virtual PCs shut them down. They cannot be in their "fast saved" state. They must be shut down from inside Windows.
B. Clone to an external drive using using Carbon Copy Cloner.
1. Open Carbon Copy Cloner.
2. Select the Source volume from the Select a source drop down menu on the left side.
3. Select the Destination volume from the Select a destination drop down menu on the right
side.
4. Click on the Clone button. If you are prompted about creating a clone of the Recovery HD be
sure to opt for that.
Destination means a freshly erased external backup drive. Source means the internal
startup drive.
Step Two - Prepare the machine for the new buyer:
1. De-authorize the computer in iTunes! De-authorize both iTunes and Audible accounts.
2, Remove any Open Firmware passwords or Firmware passwords.
3. Turn the brightness full up and volume nearly so.
4. Turn off File Vault, if enabled.
5. Disable iCloud, if enabled: See.What to do with iCloud before selling your computer
Step Three - Install a fresh OS:
A. Snow Leopard and earlier versions of OS X
1. Insert the original OS X install CD/DVD that came with your computer.
2. Restart the computer while holding down the C key to boot from the CD/DVD.
3. Select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu; repartition and reformat the internal hard drive.
Optionally, click on the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass.
4. Install OS X.
5. Upon completion DO NOT restart the computer.
6. Shutdown the computer.
B. Lion and Mountain Lion (if pre-installed on the computer at purchase*)
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because
it is three times faster than wireless.
1. Restart the computer while holding down the COMMAND and R keys until the Mac OS X
Utilities window appears.
2. Select Disk Utility from the Mac OS X Utilities window and click on the Continue button.
3. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the left side list. Click
on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
4. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on the Security button
and set the Zero Data option to one-pass.
5. Click on the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
6. Quit DU and return to the Mac OS X Utilities window.
7. Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Install button.
8. Upon completion shutdown the computer.
*If your computer came with Lion or Mountain Lion pre-installed then you are entitled to transfer your license once. If you purchased Lion or Mountain Lion from the App Store then you cannot transfer your license to another party. In the case of the latter you should install the original version of OS X that came with your computer. You need to repartition the hard drive as well as reformat it; this will assure that the Recovery HD partition is removed. See Step Three above. You may verify these requirements by reviewing your OS X Software License.

MacBook problems with Snow base station - other laptops work fine

Hi,
I just purchased a new MacBook to replace an iBook G4 800.
My snow base station works fine with the old iBook G4 (which has an extreme card) and with a borrowed PowerBook G4 Aluminum 1.5 GHz (also extreme card) but will not work with my new Mac Book. Every time I try to connect - I receive an error "There has been an error accessing "my name" 's network. Sometimes it will connect, other times (most of the time), it will not.
My MacBook connects fine to my neighbors Linksys access points and our work Lucent access points (which are b also - snow is b).
I did a search and am reading other people having similiar problems. I was wondering if anyone has resolved their problems. I spent 2 plus hours on the phone with Apple yesterday. They are placing the blame on the older base station (snow) but it is obvious that snow is working fine for other computers.
Theresa

I am still a little confused. I can be 2 feet from my base station and will keep hitting "try again" when trying to access my network and will get "an error has occurred" many times and eventually it will connect and I will have an incredibly strong signal. My MacBook will continue to have a great strong signal until it goes to sleep and then I will have a difficult time connecting again. My neighbors base station is a weak signal and I can easily join their network. Every time I connect, I have problems but once connected, it is great.
I guess it can be interference but I am now wondering if it is related to the snow/graphite base station only. This laptop has no problems joining other b base stations.
I spent hours on the phone with an Apple wireless support specialist the other night. He wants me to try an Extreme base station. He didn't indicate that he was aware of any MacBook problems (and he mentioned interference and we setup my laptop to only join my network and it didn't make a difference).
More to come.... IF anyone switched to a Extreme Base Station and that worked fine - please let me know. Though I sort of resent having a functional b base station that works with every other laptop and have to spend $200 towards another base station because of a new laptop.

Is the Mountain Lion so much better than the Snow Leopard that make it worth buying?

Is the Mountain Lion so much better than the Snow Leopard that I'm currently using and worth the money to buy it? Is it more or less confusing to operate?

OS X 10.7-18.0+ will NOT run any current PPC based programs your running.
http://roaringapps.com/apps:table
If you have a MacPro like your signature says (the tower, not the laptop) then it's not going to have much of a performance loss as say the MacBook Pro's will.
Older, less powerful Mac's have performance losses with the newer OS X Lions, it might be best to stick with 10.6.8 on a older machine until it drops, then spend the money on all new software on a newer machine instead.
One guy was here today and had a 2007 Intel Core 2 Duo and it was struggling to run OS X Mountain Lion, Chrome and Photoshop.
It just didn't have the hardware horsepower for all that bloatware.
My advice if it's not a top end iMac or MacPro, then 2010 is the cut-off point, those 2010 machines and earlier are likely better off on 10.6.8 max.
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What if i loaded osx mountain lion without having upgraded to osx snow leopard

what if i loaded osx mountain lion without having upgraded to osx snow leopard

I don't believe ML will upgrade on top of anything earlier then SL. You might have to do a clean install.

I know if I want to update my 0S x.5 to Mountain Lion, I have to update to Snow Leopard and Lion first. Where do I find the Snow Leopard download?

I'm trying to upgrade my daughter's computer for college. She currently has OS 10.5.8. She needs to upgrade to Mountain Lion. I know I have to upgrade to Snow Leopard and Lion first. I can't find the download for either. Please help! I was in the site the other day and thought I saw a link, but now I can't find it.
Thanks.

There is no download for Snow Leopard and never was for the general public. Phone the Apple Store and buy it.
Purchasing Lion isn't necessary to get Mountain Lion, but you will need to run the Mac OS X 10.6.8 combo updater.
(68687)

Is Lion (not Mountain Lion) still available for upgrading from snow leopard

Is Lion (not mountain lion) still available for download and upgrading from snow leopard?

Lion is no longer available from the Mac App Store. Even the thumb drive version has been withdrawn. It should be possible to get it by calling Apple Phone Sales.

HT1338 How do i get mountain lion when my system is pre snow leopard? Maybe 4 years old??

Cant get my mac to update, or it cant find any OS X updates. The system is old, pre snow leopard i think

Upgrade Paths to Snow Leopard, Lion, and/or Mountain Lion
You can upgrade to Mountain Lion from Lion or directly from Snow Leopard. Mountain Lion can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $19.99. To access the App Store you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.6 or later installed.
Upgrading to Snow Leopard
You can purchase Snow Leopard through the Apple Store: Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard — Apple Store (U.S.). The price is $19.99 plus tax. You will be sent physical media by mail after placing your order.
After you install Snow Leopard you will have to download and install the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1 to update Snow Leopard to 10.6.8 and give you access to the App Store. Access to the App Store enables you to download Mountain Lion if your computer meets the requirements.
     Snow Leopard General Requirements
       1. Mac computer with an Intel processor
       2. 1GB of memory
       3. 5GB of available disk space
       4. DVD drive for installation
       5. Some features require a compatible Internet service provider;
           fees may apply.
       6. Some features require Apple’s iCloud services; fees and
           terms apply.
Upgrading to Lion
If your computer does not meet the requirements to install Mountain Lion, it may still meet the requirements to install Lion.
You can purchase Lion by contacting Customer Service: Contacting Apple for support and service — this includes international calling numbers. The cost is $19.99 (as it was before) plus tax. It's a download. You will get an email containing a redemption code that you then use at the Mac App Store to download Lion. Save a copy of that installer to your Downloads folder because the installer deletes itself at the end of the installation.
     Lion System Requirements
       1. Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7,
           or Xeon processor
       2. 2GB of memory
       3. OS X v10.6.6 or later (v10.6.8 recommended)
       4. 7GB of available space
       5. Some features require an Apple ID; terms apply.
Upgrading to Mountain Lion
To upgrade to Mountain Lion you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or Lion installed. Purchase and download Mountain Lion from the App Store. Sign in using your Apple ID. Mountain Lion is $19.99 plus tax. The file is quite large, over 4 GBs, so allow some time to download. It would be preferable to use Ethernet because it is nearly four times faster than wireless.
     OS X Mountain Lion — System Requirements
       Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Mountain Lion
         1. iMac (Mid 2007 or newer) — Model Identifier 7,1 or later
         2. MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer) —
             Model Identifier 5,1 or later
         3. MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer) — Model Identifier 3,1 or later
         4. MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer) — Model Identifier 2,1 or later
         5. Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer) — Model Identifier 3,1 or later
         6. Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer) — Model Identifier 3,1 or later
         7. Xserve (Early 2009) — Model Identifier 3,1 or later
To find the model identifier open System Profiler in the Utilities folder. It's displayed in the panel on the right.
Are my applications compatible?
         See App Compatibility Table — RoaringApps.
     For a complete How-To introduction from Apple see Upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion.

I have an old iMac Desktop iMac 4,1 will I be able to upgrade to Lion or Mountain lion? I am currently running Snow Leopard

I am looking to upgrade to Lion or Mountain Lion . I currently use Snow Leopard and have an old iMac desktop the Apple ID in the computer says it's iMac 4,1. I am pretty sure this will not meet the system requirements for Mountain Lion but I want to make sure. If it doesn't meet the system requirements what are my options? Hopefully it's not buy a new desktop.

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
You have an Early 2006 iMac, and this Mac isn't compatible with Lion or Mountain Lion. That's because your computer has got a Intel Core Duo processor, and Lion and Mountain Lion requires a Intel Core 2 Duo processor or later because they are 64-bit operating systems.
Your options are to keep it with Snow Leopard (Snow Leopard is still supported by Apple and it receives some security OS X updates) or to buy a new computer with Mountain Lion

Can I continue to use Fusion to run my PC version of Quicken 2006 after I upgrade to Mountain Lion? I'm currently on Snow Leopard.

I am considering upgrading my OS on my 2008 iMac from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion. However, I use Fusion to run my PC version of Quicken 2006 and have heard that I will no longer be able to do that. Any suggestions?

You can continue using it without any problem. However, check that you are running a VMware Fusion version that it's compatible with Mountain Lion (VMware Fusion 4 and 5 are compatible with Mountain Lion). If you upgrade and you want to use a non-compatible version, you will see kernel panics.
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How i can intall mountain lion on my 10.6.8 snow leopard on macbook pro

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Welcome to Apple Support Communities
That's not necessary, but you should use the external disk to make a backup of your data.
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While it's being downloaded, make a backup of your data onto an external disk with Time Machine, and check that your apps are supported > http://www.roaringapps.com
When the download finishes, the OS X Mountain Lion will appear, so follow the steps

I installed Mountain Lion on my Mac, I had Snow Leopard. Slow now

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First, back up all data immediately, as your boot drive might be failing.
Take these steps when you notice the problem.
Step 1
Launch the Activity Monitor application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Activity Monitor in the page that opens.
Select the CPU tab of the Activity Monitor window.
Select All Processes from the menu in the toolbar, if not already selected.
Click the heading of the % CPU column in the process table to sort the entries by CPU usage. You may have to click it twice to get the highest value at the top. What is it, and what is the process? Also post the values for % User, % System, and % Idle at the bottom of the window.
Select the System Memory tab. What values are shown in the bottom part of the window for Page outs and Swap used?
Next, select the Disk Activity tab. Post the approximate values shown for Reads in/sec and Writes out/sec (not Reads in and Writes out.)
Step 2
You must be logged in as an administrator to carry out this step.
Launch the Console application in the same way as above. Make sure the title of the Console window is All Messages. If it isn't, select All Messages from the SYSTEM LOG QUERIES menu on the left.
Post the 50 or so most recent messages in the log — the text, please, not a screenshot.
When posting a log extract, be selective. Don't post more than is requested.
PLEASE DO NOT INDISCRIMINATELY DUMP THOUSANDS OF LINES FROM THE LOG INTO A MESSAGE. If you do that, I will not respond.
Important: Some personal information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Edit it out before posting.

2002 Airport Base Station & Snow Leopard

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I recall that it was the 'Airport Admin Utility' but can't seem to find a version compatible with SL...

hi! Have you tried to unplug the power from your cable modem and plug it back in? Your cable modem has to see it's connect to a new device. If it was previous plugged into your G4 then even if you unplug the cable modem network cable from the G4 and plug it into the Airport it's not going to get a new address.
Unplug the power to both the Airport and the Cable Modem (Not Sleep mode, but physically pull out the Power Cord). Then plug in the Cable Modem first, then the Airport.
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AL

I have a Macbook pro 2009 with Snow Leopard. Which system can I install without running into complicated problems which I will not be able to solveby myself? (Mountain Lion, Mavericks, Yosemite?)

I have a Macbook pro 2009 with Snow Leopard. Which system can I install without running into complicated problems which I will not be able to solve by myself- a person with limited problem solving abilities. (Mountain Lion, Mavericks, Yosemite?)

It will make it easier to help you w/ your problem to know the size and RAM installed.
"Yesterday I couldn't update the maps on my Garmin because it said the OS I had wouldn't work"
What OS will your Garmin work with? Funny there was someone else that did that and upgraded to Yosemite and regretted it.
I'd say Lion if your Garmin is compatible.
Both Lion and Mountain Lion are downloadable from the Apple Store:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/D6106Z/A/os-x-lion
http://store.apple.com/us/product/D6377Z/A/os-x-mountain-lion
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Airport Utility 4.2.5 unable to find base station Snow m8440

Hello
I have Airport Base Station "Snow" M8440 - My Airport Utility on Tiger (10.4.11) se it but I decided to do reset to factory defaults like here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3728?viewlocale=en_US
And now Airport Base Station is not visible - My Powerbook G4 see WiFi but Airport Utility don't see Base Station :/ what can I do? (10.5.8) does not see to.
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Please help!

https://discussions.apple.com/message/11998955#11998955
Don't know if this will help. Good luck!

Mountain Lion/Mavericks 'breaks' wifi base station - Snow Leopard works fine

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