Setup which has been working seamlessly for many years
I have 2 identical Mac Mini 2018, one runs Catalina, the other runs Monterey, both have always worked perfectly, never repaired. No crashes
File Vault off
Magic Keyboard, Trackpad
lots of space : more than 1TB on primary drive, same with iCloud
high speed Internet works perfectly with other computers (Mac and PC belonging to my family)
Problem
Just bought new Orbi Network (1 router and 3 satellites). With WiFi, everything works fine. As soon as I turn off wireless, and connect either the router or a satellite to any one of the Mac Minis via ethernet, everything seems to run normally for a few minutes, then
• when I click on app store icon, usually blank, sometimes (rarely) usual app store GUI. * can’t update apps: “cannot connect to app store” * either can’t sign out of iCloud and App Store, and if sign out works can’t sign back in “There was an error connecting to appleID server”
• after that, Internet becomes slower and slower, apps crash (spinning wheel) in rapid succession, mac freezes and spontaneously, repeatedly, frequently reboots and becomes unusable.
• as soon as I disconnect the cable and put the mac back on wifi, everything reverts to normal. I have confirmed this 20 + times (ie it is reproducible)
• I bought a thunderbolt 3 dock with an Ethernet port: if I connect the cable into that port and turn the wifi off, everything runs fine and the internet runs at cable (not wifi) speed, which means that the problem is specific to the mac port.
What I tried
• I bought a thunderbolt 3 dock with an Ethernet port: if I connect the cable into that port and turn the wifi off, everything runs fine and the internet runs at cable (not wifi) speed, which means that the problem is specific to the mac port.
• multiple reindex and repair of primary drive
• anti virus (Bitdefender OFF permanently ie not relaunched at startup)
• don’t have a VPN
• before the many attempts at OS reinstallation, I deleted apps most likely to cause startup problems, like Karabiner Elements, Stream Deck, Hook and Yoink and repeated the whole install process.
• apple music and TV : not signed in
• I checked the status of local apple servers (Apple Server Status Report) : OK
• Aside from the Mini. both my apple ID s work perfectly in other devices if I access them via the web, my iPhone, my old iPad or the family macbook pro.
• I tried the following many many times (20+ times !) and it does not help
⁃ login Safe mode
⁃ login via another admin account (I always have an extra admin account)
⁃ boot from a Monterey Installer and reinstall the OS. I must have done this 20 times.
⁃ boot from internal recovery and reinstall OS
⁃ boot from Internet ie Internet recovery and reinstall OS
⁃ I tried multiple times a clean install of Monterey ( Monterey installer → disk utility → erase primary HD → install OS → migrate data) and of Catalina
⁃ I wanted to try installing a Monterey Combo update but could not find none. Combo updates seem to stop after Catalina
• regenerate keychain (moved keychain files to another folder → restarted)
• changed cables multiple times
• reset system preferences (procedure: ~LibraryPreferences / and delete 2 files below → shut down → turn ON
⁃ com.apple.systempreferences.plist
⁃ com.apple.desktop.plist
• cable modem works perfectly when accessed via cable or WiFi
• ISP sites and apple servers in working order
• kernel version 19.6.0
• tried to renew DHCP lease on Mac
• I disconnected every other device connected to the router. In other words, the sole connection was my Mac to the router
I have been working on this for a week, and I’m going bananas
thanks very much for your time and help