to connect to my wireless router and access the Internet. I noticed that sometimes the PowerBook would give itself a "self-assigned" IP address and could not access the Internet, but it was an intermittent problem that would correct itself after a reset of the computer, the router, or the cable modem, but now for the last two days, I have not been able to get my PowerBook connected.
It is a pure speculation, but it may be that MAC addresses of network interfaces are stored in small battery backed up NVRAM. If the battery is dead, MAC may be randomly random ;-) and the problem will increase gradually as the battery becomes dead. I remember that Efika may have similar problems, after its CR 2032 gets exhausted.
