Hi Johann1945,
If you are having trouble recovering your OS X via Wi-Fi, plug an ethernet cable into your Mac to create a wired connection to your network. Then follow the instructions below.
Newer Macs include the ability to start up directly from an Internet-based version OS X Recovery. Your Mac automatically uses this feature when the Recovery System on the startup drive isn't available. For example, if your startup drive encounters an issue, or if your startup drive has been replaced or erased. Internet Recovery lets you start your Mac directly from Apple's servers. Starting up from this system performs a quick test of your memory and hard drive to check for hardware issues.
Internet Recovery initially asks you to select a Wi-Fi network and enter a network password when needed. Next, Internet Recovery downloads and starts from a Recovery System image. From there, you are offered the same utilities and options as the Recovery System on a startup drive.
Some Macs that came with OS X Snow Leopard can use Internet Recovery after installing OS X Lion or later and a software update.
Reinstalling OS X using Recovery requires broadband access to the Internet using a Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection. OS X is downloaded over the Internet from Apple when OS X Recovery is used for reinstallation. You must use DHCP on your Wi-Fi or Ethernet network to reinstall OS X using OS X Recovery.
If you bought OS X from the Mac App Store, you may be prompted to enter the Apple ID and password you used to purchase OS X.
The time required to download OS X varies, depending on the speed of your Internet connection and the version of OS X you are installing. If your Internet connection has requirements or settings that are not supported by OS X Recovery, change the settings to a supported configuration for the duration of your OS X reinstall, or look for another place where you're permitted to access the Internet (like the home of a friend or family member, or possibly your place of employment with appropriate permission).
Supported network configurations and protocols
|
local Recovery System |
Internet Recovery |
| WEP |
Yes |
No |
| WPA/WPA2 |
Yes |
Yes |
| WPA-Enterprise |
Yes |
No |
| PPPoE (where there is no router handling the PPPoE connection) |
No |
No |
| Captive-Networks (where you click an "Agree" button to access the Internet) |
Yes |
No |
| Proxies (where specific proxy servers must be configured in network preferences) |
No |
No |
| Certificate-based authentication / 802.1x |
No |
No |
- If you use the Recovery System stored on your startup drive to reinstall OS X, it installs the most recent version of OS X previously installed on this computer.
- If you use Internet Recovery to reinstall OS X, it installs the version of OS X that originally came with your computer. After installation is finished, use the Mac App Store to install related updates or later versions of OS X that you have previously purchased.
Some drive partition configurations can result in the OS X Installer reporting that it cannot create a Recovery System. If this happens, you might want to quit the installation and create an external OS X hard drive with a Recovery System first. You can continue installing OS X on your computer's startup drive after creating an external Recovery System.
OS X Recovery must be present on the computer's startup drive in order to use FileVault full disk encryption. Using RAID partitions or non-standard Boot Camp partitions on the startup drive might prevent OS X from installing a local Recovery system. See "OS X: Some features of Mac OS X are not supported for the disk (volume name)" for more information.
OS X Recovery includes a version of Safari with links to resources at Apple's support website that you can use to get additional help. The network requirements listed above also apply to the version of Safari included with OS X Recovery. Plugins and Safari Extensions cannot be added to the version of Safari included with OS X Recovery.
Last Modified: Feb 20, 2015
Johann, if you still can't recover your system, contact Apple Support and give them the case number from your initial conversation, and they will delve into this further for you.
Take care,
