Why does Mac Studio have Ethernet connection problems?

I have tried two refurbished mac studios, and both suffered from Ethernet "exhaustion" syndrome, where the Ethernet connection works fine for hours or days, but then freezes. Since apple support had no clue (despite numerous complaints from others), I researched the issue and applied all suggestions (set for 1gb, disabled tracking protection AND updating to latest OS version), but it still occurred (all my other pc's maintained connection). I used ping software diagnostics, and it does not appear to be a hardware issue (I reached the router with no issue), so this should be solvable. In the end, I had to return the machines as a top end computer should not require hard rebooting to establish network connections .... which can then fail at any time, as with downloading.

Posted on Aug 4, 2022 10:59 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 4, 2022 11:40 AM

I am glad for you, and that is what I wanted, but I suspect the refurbished models were returned originally for this issue. I am asking for Apple to figure this issue out, otherwise the same models will be returned again and again. Fingers crossed; I have placed a made to order, and I hope that the new machine will not have this issue ... maybe Lucy will hold the ball this time :)

Similar questions

8 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 4, 2022 11:40 AM in response to tbirdvet

I am glad for you, and that is what I wanted, but I suspect the refurbished models were returned originally for this issue. I am asking for Apple to figure this issue out, otherwise the same models will be returned again and again. Fingers crossed; I have placed a made to order, and I hope that the new machine will not have this issue ... maybe Lucy will hold the ball this time :)

Aug 4, 2022 01:39 PM in response to Facilibot

10GB Ethernet:

The Mac Studio has a 10GB Ethernet port. If you have some fancy equipment at the other end of the cable, it is possible it is trying to make a 10GB connection.


A 10GB (or 5GB or 2.5GB) connection is only stable when cables are excellent and fairly short (like Category-6 rated cables under 100 feet). If either of those are not true, or you have you added patch cables that are not Category-6 rated, you could be seeing it connect at a faster-than-Gigabit speed, then error out and disconnect.


Actual Speed:

The good way to check the actual connection speed USED to be Network Utility, But in Big Sur and later, Apple has deprecated network Utility and now you have to use a Terminal command to see your actual connection speed. First, you need to know what en number the link is. then you use a command like this one, substituting the actual en number.


my main Ethernet connection uses BSD name en5 (as shown in) :

 menu > about this Mac > (system report) > network:


 ifconfig en5 | grep media


with this as my output:


media: autoselect (10Gbase-T <full-duplex,flow-control>)

For Gigabit Ethernet, you should get this instead:


media: 1000baseT <full-duplex,flow-control>


Errors detected:

To see if an Ethernet link is throwing more than a handful of initial errors, you can use Terminal command:


netstat -I en5


This is the resulting output. Counters are In-packets, In-errors, Out-packets, Out-Errors, Collisions. There should never be more than handful of errors from starting up, and in most cases, NONE.


Name       Mtu   Network       Address            Ipkts Ierrs    Opkts Oerrs  Coll

en5   8163  <Link#4>    00:01:d2:1a:00:dd   696697     0   484301     0     0

en5   8163  grantsmacpr fe80:4::461:ea0d:   696697     -   484301     -     -

en5   8163  192.168.0/23  192.168.0.204     696697     -   484301     -     -


If the link were running beyond its ability to run and be stable, for example it auto-speeded to 10GB but the cabling could only reliably support 2.5GB, we would see non-zero errors counts, and errors increasing over time. (and possibly, disconnecting)


Because it has 10GB Ethernet chips inside, it also features power reduction. If NOT running at top speed, be sure that option is OFF.

Aug 4, 2022 01:58 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thanks, I will try the suggestions if I see the same problem with a new machine. I have a 1gb router, and I made sure the 1000baseT was selected. The suggestion to verify power reduction disablement may be something, but I didn't see that option when reviewing the connection setup. This issue can occur within hours or after several days of use. What would trigger the power reduction? (I would expect a thermal management approach)


I used PingDoctor to inspect the router path thru the machine both before and during the connection loss, and there didn't seem to be an issue. The cable is a short (6') brand new 6e (the Verizon router is 1gb).


BTW, a minor issue, but does anyone have an answer to machine failure to send video output to second monitor upon machine wake-up? My work around was machine shut down.

Aug 4, 2022 02:50 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

<< failure to send video output to second monitor upon machine wake-up? >>


to get a Mac display to become active, you need the Mac to query the display, and the display to answer with its name and capabilities. Otherwise, the display will not be shown as present, and no data will be sent to the display. "No signal detected" is generated by the DISPLAY, not by the Mac.

 

This query is only sent at certain times:

• at startup

• at wake from sleep — so momentarily sleeping and waking your Mac may work

• at insertion of the Mac-end of the display-cable, provided everything on that cable is ready-to-go

• on invoking Option-(Detect Display) button in Displays preferences (from another display)

 

so try doing some of those things and see if the display comes alive.


Modern Displays with multiple ports are sometimes busy scanning the other ports, looking for an input, and miss the query from the Mac. They need to pay attention to the port you are actually using, or they will miss the query.


Some displays have On-Screen Display settings that can be used to tell the display a computer is attached on a certain port, or a certain port should be highest priority. Changing those may make your display more responsive.


Some displays include their own private "sleep" settings for the display alone. This can allow the display to enter its own sleep mode, on top of the Mac's not sending it data. A display that is sleeping on its own cannot respond to the Mac's query, and will stay dark.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Why does Mac Studio have Ethernet connection problems?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.