If it is the NIC card, Apple Care has this to id the problem cards....
Tim
Apple Care Update:
After sending the fifth Capture Data file to the escalation engineer handling my incorrect Ethernet ID case, he called me.
He reported that several people are reporting this issue (Ethernet ID = 00:10:18:00:00:00), and that the MAC OS X software group is working on a solution, and he asked me to quit sending Capture Data files, as they had enough information to start pinning down the cause.
Apparently, this issue is happening across several Apple platforms (iMac, Mac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Pro, etc.), and that we are all experiencing the same incorrect Ethernet ID, and we all have similar problems when this happens (accessing the Web, repeated login requests, credit card information declined).
The current belief is that there is an issue between the Network Interface Card's (NIC's) firmware and the MAC OS X software. For those who've listed their specs on this thread, the NIC is the Ethernet Card listed under "Hardware" in System Profiler.
So far, I've seen the same setup for all of us: Broadcom 5764 (the NIC) using the same Firmware version (3.38). If anyone has a different NIC/firmware version, please post it on this thread.
While researching how MAC addresses (Ethernet ID) are determined b/w computers and cable/dsl modems, I came across the following explanation:
"MAC addresses are most often assigned by the manufacturer of a network interface card (NIC) and are stored in its hardware, the card's read-only memory, or some other firmware mechanism. If assigned by the manufacturer, a MAC address usually encodes the manufacturer's registered identification number and may be referred to as the burned-in address. It may also be known as an Ethernet hardware address (EHA), hardware address or physical address."
(
http://pinoytech.org/su/questio...s-modem-mac-address-mean)
This explanation lends credence to what I was told by my escalation engineer:
1st: The "manufacturer" of the NIC card listed by everyone is Broadcom Corp.
2nd: The incorrect Ethernet ID address we randomly see (00:10:18:...) is assigned to Broadcom Corp.
3rd: This same issue occurred in 2009 with HP laptop computers using Broadcom Corp. NICs.
With last year's issue, the problems mirror ours in many ways. See the following link:
http://forums11.itrc.hp.com/ser...8353475&threadId=1317110One post in the above thread states that "Broadcom is currently working on a firmware update." Eventually, HP put out a BIOS update, so I don't know if Broadcom's firmware was the problem, or if the computer's BIOS was at fault.
Regardless, I believe there is an intermittent problem causing the NIC to report the Broadcom address. The engineer did tell me that all I could do until a fix is created is to continue using the workaround that "always" works for my computer: Shutdown computer/reboot cable modem/Restart computer.
Unfortunately, if I leave the computer running while rebooting the cable modem, I will get Internet connectivity, but the Ethernet ID does not reset. I can surf, but I experience issues with constant login requests, and I am unable to verify my credit card information in iTunes. Actually, iTunes gives me a message that my credit card was "declined". Once I shutdown/reboot/etc., my billing info is never a problem.
If anyone has additional information please continue to post. I hope this issue is solved soon, but any workarounds that work for you will be appreciated by those who discover this thread for the first time.
