Update from Edimax: now the EW-7811Un also has a driver for 10.11 El Capitan. Ethernet and some sort of wifi to ethernet client mode. Update Oct 2015: Updated for 10.11 El Capitan! If you bought a cheap aftermarket USB-Ethernet adapter like me and found that it doesn't work on El Capitan or Yosemite, here's what you need to get it going. You can stop tearing you hair out now. It'll all be ok. Dec 20, 2015 Update from Edimax: now the EW-7811Un also has a driver for 10.11 El Capitan. Ethernet and some sort of wifi to ethernet client mode. Steps to get your adapter working if you've never used the adapter before in Mac OS 10.11 El Capitan. Uninstall the dozens of other drivers you may have installed in the process of trying to get this working.
Many Mac users were baffled over the weekend when their Mac‘s Ethernet ports stopped working. Thankfully, Apple swiftly published a support article about how to fix the problem. The culprit appears to be an update to OS X 10.11 El Capitan’s System Integrity Protection security feature, which accidentally disabled the kernel extension that manages the Ethernet port.
Apple pushed out a second update to the Incompatible Kernel Extension Configuration Data that should automatically fix the problem. But if the first update disabled your Ethernet port and prevented the second update from installing, follow these steps to determine your situation and fix it:
- Hold down the Option key and choose System Information from the Apple menu.
- In System Information’s sidebar, under Software, select Installations.
If the listings aren’t arranged in alphabetical order, click Software Name to sort them.
Look for Incompatible Kernel Extension Configuration Data. If the most recent version installed is 3.28.1, you have the troublesome version, and will need to force an update to 3.28.2. If you already have 3.28.2, as in the screenshot below, the kernel extension isn’t the culprit and you’ll have to try another troubleshooting method.
If you need to force an update to 3.28.2 and have a Wi-Fi connection, the fix is easy: Open Terminal in /Applications/Utilities, type the following command, and press Return:
Ethernet Driver El Capitan Free
sudo softwareupdate --background
Ethernet Driver El Capitan 10
You may be prompted to enter your administrator password. After that, quit Terminal and restart your Mac to finish applying the fix.
El Capitan Os X
If you can’t connect to Wi-Fi or don’t have a Wi-Fi network, then you unfortunately have a more involved process ahead of you, detailed in the aforementioned Apple support article.
We’re happy that Apple addressed this issue quickly, but we can’t say that the broken 3.28.1 update gives us warm and fuzzy feelings for the state of Apple’s software quality assurance.