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wifi - No hardware installed

I have started my computer today and found out that I have no wifi. the only thing I can see is Wi-Fi - No hardware installed. Don't know what to do

Macbook Air - El Capitan Version: 10.11.6

Wi-Fi details: Software Versions:

CoreWLAN: 11.0 (1101.20)

CoreWLANKit: 11.0 (1101.20)

Menu Extra: 11.0 (1121.34.2)

System Information: 12.0 (1100.2)

IO80211 Family: 11.1 (1110.26)

Diagnostics: 5.1 (510.88)

AirPort Utility: 6.3.6 (636.5)

MacBook Air, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Sep 19, 2016 3:51 AM

Reply
18 replies

Mar 3, 2017 4:50 PM in response to Luis Sequeira1

I had the same problem, no hardware present on my macbook air 2013. Took it to Apple store and they found nothing wrong but I brought it home and had the same problem.

I bought the screwdriver to open the case, watched a utube video on opening it and then I opened my macbook. I found two connectors that snapped on the wifi board. One was tighter than the other. I inspected the loose one and found that the edge of it was slightly out of shape. I bend it back carefully and snapped it back to the board. It snapped on tighter. I put the case back together . I haven't had a problem since.

Buy the right screwdriver on ebay or amazon, get a magnifier and keep track of the screws when you open the case. Do a careful inspection of the connections to the board. I bought a new wifi board for $15 on ebay before I began but I didn't need it.

May 10, 2017 5:58 AM in response to IanaMS

I had the same problem and if you are a frequent user of multiple wifi spots then this is your solution: Since you have logged in many spots the list of them is reaching its capacity. So every time your wifi tries to scan all the spots you have registered it ends up failing and crashes. So the solution is to go to system preferences>network>wifi>Advanced and delete all (or most) networks found in the preferred Networks list.

Then you will immediately witness the fast recovery and response from the wifi of you mac.

Hope that this helps.

Jan 5, 2018 7:22 PM in response to IanaMS

Hey so I’ve been having the same problem. My MacBook Air just misteriously crashed one day and ever since the WiFi says no hardware installed. I tried all the resets and at first it worked, but then it seems like sometime during the night the laptop would crash again and no WiFi hardware installed message once again. Then zapping the pram wouldn’t do the job anymore so I took it in to a certified Mac shop and they opened it up and saw that it was really dirty inside and cleaned it all up for $25 and it started working again!! So I would like add that I’d been backpacking through South America for 6 months and bought the computer used on eBay so I guess could have been dirty before I got it but certainly backpacking didn’t help, but sooo glad the cleaning worked!!

Jan 13, 2018 10:15 AM in response to dialabrain

I have a 2011 MacBook lemon .. this started happening to me when the mac store replaced my logic board do to over heating causing video crashing.


Apple sold me a lemon and they did nothing to fix my lemon , it still over heats the same it did and doesn't run up to spec. it test fine in the Apple store though.


I took a picture of the screen to show them and they couldnt mimic it with tests ..


Apple didn't you lose a lawsuit on the model I own 2011 quad core machine. I paid like 3k for a terrible machine.

When your video card glitches your computer out and your not even using a video heavy program ..

Jan 20, 2018 3:24 AM in response to IanaMS

Hi lanaMS,


I had the same problem and my solution on this website.

What you need to do is:


1. Plug your laptop into a charger.

2. Press and hold the Control, Shift, Option, and Power buttons down at the same time.

3. Release the keys.

4. Press the Power button to turn your computer on.


This worked for my Macbook Pro, so hopefully it'll work for your Macbook Air. Good luck!

Nov 3, 2016 3:38 AM in response to IanaMS

I have the same problem, started beginning October 2016. Macbook pro retina 15" mid 2012.

Side effects: Sign in in App Store end with "Unable to verify your device" but the worst is that all the apps purchased on AppStore (the last in March 2016) fail to run because they launch verify process and end with the same error!

No one seems to be able to solve my issue. The apple service tryed something confirming validity of my Apple ID credentials (I am still able to connect to iCloud successfully from the same laptop but no way to get App Store Signed In. To go further they asked for a pre-payment of modest single-ticket (around 30$) : not a problem of money for me but the question is that I am not sure what they will do with that ticket! They appear simply uncapable to solve the issue!

At the official Apple Store where the laptop was bought "Friulcomputer Udine Italy" they told me yesterday that they had another one similar case and no way to use App Store APPS without Airport WIFI (YES! confirmed twice by the guy at the desk!) and it would be then necessary to "CHANGE THE MOTHERBOARD" due to the fact the airport chip is mounted onboard in the mid 2012 model, for the very modest price of around 600 € ! My laptop is running very well and I could simply run without airport (I solved connectivity issue with a USB-wiif stick! But of course App Store and technicians should tell us how to allow the validation of the APPS skipping AIRPORT reference!

Nov 3, 2016 5:06 AM in response to LibAdri

Your problem is completely different from the OP. You not only have Wifi, but can connect to the internet.


If you can connect successfully to the internet via Wifi, why oh why would anyone suggest a motherboard replacement?! Surreal... Your problem is definitely a software one, not hardware.


Anyway, you should start a new thread and give specific details of your problem, mac model, etc.

Nov 3, 2016 6:43 AM in response to LibAdri

LibAdri wrote:


Yep Luis, change of motherboard looks inappropriate, I think it too but you know.

Anyway, I got here because I face the identical main issue "Wi-Fi: No hardware installed" which I guess as a consequence causes the rest as a side-effect. OS X El Capitan 10.11.6.


NB: to connect anyway in wifi, I got to use a 3rd party USB-WiFi.


The last bit is important information, as it confirms that you do not have a functional built-in Wifi (something I had not understood from your previous post).


I am surprised by the info about Apple applications not working.


If you can log in to iCloud then there is no logic reason you can't log in to the App Store.

It is certainly not a requirement to use built-in wifi. One can connect to the App Store using any internet connection.


Really strange.

I suggest you try a clean install of Sierra on a separate drive and try that out. Don't install any other software, and see if you can connect.

wifi - No hardware installed

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