Lion - WiFi no hardware installed

Before finding this discussion thread last Sunday, I had purchased a 27" iMac, took it home, did the intial setup, shutdown and cold-booted the unit and experienced the exact issues (and more) as described in this thread. On re-boots, the problem do not arise, but being new to Apple computers I followed both the manual, and the in-store instruction, which tells users to power-on the KBM before the iMac.

Well, after the first unit experienced this problem, I took it back and swapped out for a second unit. I setup the second unit in the store with two employees watching me and got the same results. The store employees were stunned, and no solutions, and I did a return for full refund.

Then last Sunday I found this thread and today went back and purchased a third unit, but it turned out it was on Snow Leopard and the issues did not exist. Unforutnately, while trying to do a setup in the store SL refused to update. Enter the store manager, swap unit for iMac #4 which wa on Lion, explained the past issues I've experienced AND this thread, and demonstrated.

Even though I disabled the Bluetooth Discoverable option, if I powered the KBM before the iMac I would have the problem in its full glory. On the other hand, if I did noting and waited until the login screen appeared, the KBM and Magic Mouse were already working and all was good in the forest. I took iMac #4 home.

I think I found the solution to the problem

Those upgraded memory to 16c

replace original memories and do a clean install.

Once you notice that your computer is working properly to load, turn off thecomputer and reload the memory upgrades startingfrom top right to left, then what is the same or less.

Also I would suggest after clean install that I outlined above do not installany cleaning program

I got the same issue on a iMac mid2010, i5 4Gb RAM, only when i turn on the bluetooth keyboard before the Mac's grey start screen.
I just tried to reboot and everything went fine.
As far as l learned from my experience, Lion got several and sometimes serious issues. More than SnowLeopard, for sure.

Wish that would happen to me!

My MBP (8,2) started showing the "Wi-Fi No Hardware Installed" issue earlier yesterday while I was rebooting from Windows 7 Bootcamp back to Lion 10.7.3. Things that haven't worked for me: Unchecking the box while restarting, going back to Snow Leopard drivers, resetting SMC, resetting PRAM.

Wierdly enough, my Wi-Fi works in: Ubuntu live disk, Windows 7 on Bootcamp, the "Boot via network" option if you hold down alt (before you select the HD it shows a list of nearby Wi-Fi locations).

It's just that it doesn't work when actually in Lion, I'm using Windows on my Bootcamp until I can find another solution but this is quite troublesome for such an expensive computer.

Well I'm not sure if this is where it belongs, but I've encountered this issue as of of today April 16th 2012. I tried PRAM and SCM reset, deleting com.apple.network* and com.apple.airport*. deleting all of my saved wifi connections, turning off bluetooth and countless restarts.

I'm running a late 2011 15" MBP with Lion 10.7.3 (11D50b)can't turn on wifi

This is horrible and my second MBP that seems to have catastrophic issues. I have owned a G3 Pismo laptop, Dual 1GHz G4 Desktop, a early 2008 quad core Mac Pro, a 2010 MBP, and now this 2011. I've never had issues until the 2010 (my G3 Pismo will still jump on wifi for crying out loud from 2000).

I love OSX, but this is ridiculous, this is not a cutting edge tech, Apple fix this or you will be losing a long term loyal customer, becuase this is essential to my work.

If anyone else has any additional insight please share. I suppose it's to the genius bar, but for this it's really unacceptable. I know my way around the software, but if you are building subpar hardware now it is a sad day for Apple.

Sadly, from my last note I took the following steps:

Booted in to Bootcamp Window and the NIC was also not recognized there, which leads me to believe it's a hardware issue.

I read some more posts and decied to give the box a good shake (yes physically shake the laptop) and reboot. This actually fixed the issue with also leads me to believe it's a hardware issue. As with my MBP 2010 I will likely take this machine to the genius bar to be looked and and she will be on her best behaviour in the store and then act up again when I leave. I wish I didn't have to shake my hardware to get it to work. 😟

*sigh*...is Apple really worth it?

I've been so frustrated with this. I've tried every fix. The Kext fix worked for awhile - then - boom. Nothing. I finally purchased a usb wireless, which works great. Funny thing, though, when I plugged in my usb wireless, the Airport one started to work again. Maybe it's jealous. 😁

I have a 2010 Macbook Pro and have tried everything (resetting PRAM, SMC, etc.) on suggested on this thread and online to fix this wifi problem. Nothing worked. Finally, I went to the Genius Bar where I was told that my wifi card needed to be replaced ($70). The repair took three days (very stressful for a college student) and I was relieved to find the wifi working when I got it back. But four days later, THE PROBLEM WAS BACK. Furious, I called Apple Support where I was guided through the reinstallation process for OSX. Still not working. Going back to the Genius Bar later this week...

Brmusic1 wrote:

So. Turned off the computer. Closed the laptop and Turned it over on its screen and pressed down on the back panel on all for corners. Fixed the problem. It is a hardware flex cable issue.

Tried everything and still same wifi: no hardware installed error, so thought why not. switched off, closed lid, pressed all four corners, open lid, powered on. WIFI is back. Must be hardware issue

As far as I'm concerned, the faulty flex cable mentioned by absv is the correct diagnosis of the problem. Once you start taking note of when the problem occurs, it becomes clear that it's related to physical adjustment of the machine, & most often to closing/opening the laptop. All the software-related fixes are a red herring, though they sometimes appear to work temporarily by coincidence.

absv, there's one point I'm not clear on though regarding your fix. You say first that you resoldered the cable & that this is difficult:

I came to this conclusion after carefully resoldering the tiny connection points of the flex cable (logic board side). (which is extremely hard, you need an smd soldering device plus a good magnifying glass and steady hands)

But later you mention the ease of replacing the cable:

My suggestion to anyone who has these kind of issues is to order a new cable (not a used one!) and see if that works. It can be very easily replaced.

Are these in fact the same cable, or are there two components involved? Is soldering required?

Thanks!

I'll weigh in here on an issue thats been plaguing me for the last few months.

I randomly got the wifi no hardware installed and went about trying to find a fix. I've literally read all the posts and all the fixes on various forums, some have been temporarily successful, while others did nothing. My machine is massively important for work and especially client meetings where i'm required to demonstarte websites i've built. To say this problem is a major issue is an understatement. I've got a usb dongle, but to be completely honest after shelling out almost £1800 for a machine this is not an acceptable long term option.

Biting the bullet, shelled out almost £200 and instructed a 3rd party apple certified repair centre to replace the wifi card in my machine. I got it back it was working. for a week. same problem. I took it back to them again, and they took another look the card was faulty. They replaced it again. 2 days later it's gone again. Ridiculous. I can only assume there is a problem with the logic board thats causing it to blow the wifi card. This is a know problem that apple is choosing to ignore. I phoned apple support and spoke to a representative who told me my only option was to take it back to where i bought it and try and claim "consumer law" under the machine not being fit for purpose. I'd say my chances of success are pretty slim to be honest.

This is a massively known problem that apple is choosing to ignore despite hundreds of comments from people getting the same issue. The least they can do is offer to replace the machine or provide a permananet fix regardless of warranty or apple care status. I'm left with either using a solution i shouldn't have to or returning my machine to where i bought it hoping to claim the machine is not fit for purpose. it's not their problem, it's apple's and they are doing nothing!

So. Turned off the computer. Closed the laptop and Turned it over on its screen and pressed down on the back panel on all for corners. Fixed the problem. It is a hardware flex cable issue.

Mid-2010 iMac (3 GHz Intel Core 2, 4GB RAM, Lion 10.7.1). WiFi status says no hardware installed; network preferences panel shows WiFi, but won't allow me to turn it on.

Multiple re-boots (which are very fast and otherwise completely normal), including auto-log in with Bluetooth devices off didn't work.

Unfortunately, that didn't work for me. In addition to turning both the keyboard and mouse off, I took the batteries out of them. (Yes, I know that is a belt and suspenders approach, but it isn't dead certain the keyboard is off any other way.)

After powering back up, it still showed the WiFi hardware as not installed.

I have found out in the last week, it is mainly a problem negotiating the mouse. I started to leave my keyboards on 24/7 on my 3 iMacs and I can boot normally each time. While booting, after I see the Apple logo and the spinning wheel, then it is safe to turn on the mouse and boot into a normal state.

I just mentioned on another thread there is a more simple way this could all be avoided. Apple should just make a wired magic mouse and keyboard solution. They hate to show wires on the desk, but with a wired solution you are keeping excess RF pollution down, you don't have to change batteries in the mouse all the time, you don't have to worry about BT connection drops and the iMac saying your mouse is disconnected then connected again randomly, and this safe boot issue would not exsist for many people.

Do we really need everything to be wireless? Back in the days when all the Apple products were white, wireless would have been better... but now since the machines are aluminum and black, just make keyboards and mouses that have black wires. This is a pain for me because I use my iMacs in an English training school and I constantly have to make sure the magic mouse batteries are fresh and help the students when the mouse disconnects randomly (you have to click it a few times for it to reconnect).

So I ask, does everyone with a Mac require wireless keyboards and mice? If you use your machines constantly, then it seems more of a pain than a help. 😢