Monday, August 8, 2011

OS X Lion "WiFi: No Hardware Installed" Problem

Every first release of an operating system comes with its own peculiar glitches -- Lion is no exception.

I turned on my computer today and the WiFi icon indicated it was turned off. I clicked it in order to open up the drop down menu from which I could turn on the WiFi. However, in place of all the typical options, there was a grayed out message, "WiFi: No Hardware Installed." This was hard to believe, since there was in fact a WiFi card installed only hours before.

I searched the internet and found two things: this problem was widespread (although more common on iMacs), and the solution is all about shut down options.

The Solution: when you open the shut down dialog, by pressing control + eject, there is a checkbox regarding whether the operating should return the computer to its state prior to shutdown. Unchecking that option and restarting solves the problem.

Steps:

  1. Open the shut down dialog
  2. Uncheck the option
  3. Restart the computer
  4. Voila! You're problem is solved. Reenabling that option after the problem is fixed will not necessarily bring back the problem, so feel free to re-enable it.

24 comments:

  1. It sounded so good and easy.... unfortunately. It is not working for me. (The option does not remain unchecked after restart. Do not know if that makes a different)

    Thanks,

    Terry

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  2. Thanks a lot! That worked for me! cheers bro

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  3. THANK YOU!! It worked! I was freaking out that someone at school had broken it!

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  4. Wowwwww, it worked! Magic, so simple. I was scared out when the wifi out of work. Thanks!

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  5. First time it worked for several days, then "hardware not installed again" and this not worked anymore...

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  6. Didn't work for me on my MacBook Air

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  7. Has anyone figured out what app causes it?

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  8. Tried it and it didn't work for me as well :(
    This keeps happing every so often :(

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  10. It worked!!! Thanks!!! In 2016 still!!!

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  11. It worked!!! Thanks!!! In 2016 still!!!

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  12. mmm soo useful like i'm soo telling the truth

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  13. mmm soo useful like i'm soo telling the truth

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  14. I want to add my kudos to you! This worked like a charm. I looked like a freaking HERO!! Thanks $1B - yeah that's with a B...

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  15. So desperate and finally tried this but but it never bring back THAT wifi.
    2009 macbook pro on capitan.

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  16. So desperate and finally tried this but but it never bring back THAT wifi.
    2009 macbook pro on capitan.

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  17. Hi. I have mac air 2008. I downgraded it to windows 7. It was working fine but after fee days my wifi isn't working. How can i fix this?

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  18. Hi. I have mac air 2008. I downgraded it to windows 7. It was working fine but after fee days my wifi isn't working. How can i fix this?

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  19. I deleted my wifi accidentally and I can't replace it how can I fix this issue?

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