29 thoughts on “fixed : 10.7.4 refusing to see the Atheros AR9280 (same error as in 10.7.3)”

1. I just found another option that I haven’t tested myself, but might be worth trying :

   [ originally posted by Alex Bartl on the Apple Discussion Forums ] https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3210949?start=75&tstart=0

   “However I could fix the problem by removing the sleepimage (sudo rm -f /var/vm/sleepimage), shutting off the machine (hold power button for a couple seconds) and rebooting the MBP. Wifi was back installed and working!

   The error messages about the not found wifi card in system.log disappeared as well.”

   For now, I leave everything as is, but next time I run into the “WiFi: no hardware installed” error, I will give Alex Bartl’s suggestion a try (also/first)…
   …and I am very interested to hear from any of you who try…

   Reply ↓

   • sudo rm -f /var/vm/sleepimage

     This worked for me as well! — I had upgraded from Leopard (10.6.x) to Lion (10.7.x) and got that nasty message “WiFi: no hardware installed”. Found a couple of recommendations on the web, some more involved than others. Tried this one (removing the /var/vm/sleepimage file) first, and bang! It worked instantly and WiFi hardware was recognized on restart.

     Reply ↓

     • @Brian Hagerty :

       Thanks for the feedback !
       That’s a very interesting suggestion – I haven’t tried it myself yet,
       so I can’t tell if it works for me as well…

       Note to others :
       The “sleep image” is a file that is created on (portable) Macs from Mid 2005 onwards to enable your Mac to recover from hibernation…
       it is actually the contents of your RAM being backed up to your hard drive to be able to recover at any later time (previously the RAM-content was preserved in the RAM itself using an extra micro-battery) – the size of the sleep image will therefore be the same size as the amount of RAM you have…

       For anyone that wants to know more on this subject :
       http://www.macworld.com/article/1053471/sleepmode.html
       http://www.jinx.de/SmartSleep.html

     • Thank you, tried every other recommendation, this one did it!

     • @Vlad :

       Good to hear it works for you !
       Thanks for the feedback 😉
       Enjoy !

     • Error

       Wifi: Ningun Hardware instalado

       Terminal:
       sudo rm -f /var/vm/sleepimage

       Luego apagar y al encender mantener el botón de encendido presionado

       Me funciono excelente.

       Muchas gracias.

     • @Johnny Marcos :

       Thanks for your feedback !
       Great to hear it works for you 😉

       to help others that don’t speak Spanish (like me), I’ll translate your feedback below :

       —–

       Error

       Wifi: No Hardware installed

       Terminal:
       sudo rm -f /var/vm/sleepimage

       Now switch off your Mac. Then switch your Mac back on, while keeping the ON/OFF-button pressed.

       This worked excellent for me.

       Thank you very much.

       ———-

       Thank you.
       enjoy 😉

2. THANK YOU!!!

   This worked with my Acer Aspire 4736Z runnig iATKOS L2, which had 10.7.2, after updating for 10.7.4, Wifi stopped working, and I spedn quite a few hours trying to solve that problem, including a couple clean installs…

   After I did that, it worked again.

   btw, my wifi card is an Atheros Acer InviLink™ 802.11b/g Wi-Fi

   Reply ↓

   • Thank you for the complement. Enjoy !
     …as I remarked before : I do not endorse or support Hackintosh, but if it works for you…

     Reply ↓

     • HI, MACMANUS you should made a video, it’ll helped

     • @HAMLTON :

       thanks for your feedback – I’ll give it a thought 😉

       for now I’ll stick with text only

3. tried all of the above and still no joy!
   I’m running 10.7.5 on MBA, mid 2011, 1.8 Core i7.
   Any other suggestions greatly appreciated.

   Reply ↓

4. typo – I meant 10.7.4

   Reply ↓

   • @Andrew :

     with 10.7.4 your Mac will still be able to recognize the Atheros AR9280 when in Rescue Mode :
     https://macmanusnl.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/surfing-the-internet-while-in-rescue-mode/

     is your AR9280 visible in Rescue Mode ?
     if not, you are having a hardware problem, which might be a loose connector or even a broken AR9280…

     else… check out all of the comments and suggestions here also :
     https://macmanusnl.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/10-7-3-refuses-to-see-the-atheros-ar9280/

     Good Luck !

     Reply ↓

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6. Thanks very much! the solution work for me (after I’ve tried pretty much everything else but reinstalling the OS)…

   Reply ↓

   • @mikele :

     Yep, I know that feeling…
     I had the exact same problem originally… I couldn’t find any other solution that worked, for such a seemingly small problem (since in Rescue Mode the problem wasn’t even there…)
     This is the most elegant solution available so far.

     I’m happy to have helped you out.
     Enjoy !

     Reply ↓

7. Hi,

   Tried following your advise. But i can still make my MBP wifi works. In system about, i can see the wifi driver etc, while I cannot see wifi option in network preferences.

   Kindly help me =(

   Reply ↓

   • @Hakiem :

     Thanks for the feedback !
     Sad to hear that it doesn’t work for you straight away.

     Is your AirPort/WiFi-connection stable when in Rescue Mode ?

     FYI : to get into Rescue Mode, restart your MacBook Pro while pressing the “CMD” (a.k.a. “Apple”) and “R” keys on your keyboard
     then to see if your AirPort/WiFi-connection is stable, unplug all cables from your MacBook, especially the Ethernet/UTP-cable
     to test, go to “Online Help” (= Safari internet browsing) while in Rescue Mode
     you should also see that the AirPort/WiFi-icon (a.k.a. ‘piece-of-pie’-icon) in the upper menu bar is black instead of greyed-out…

     Based on your answer to that question I can try to help you get your problem out of the way.
     😉

     Reply ↓

     • Hi, thanks for your reply =)

       I already try as per your suggestion, but wifi icon state “Wi-fi: No hardware installed”. If I go to Network Preferences, under ‘+’ sign, the list is showing Blueetooth PAN, FireWire, Ethernet, Bluetooth DUN, VPN, PPPoE, and 6 to 4.

       For your information, I am using Mountain Lion. Reinstalling the OS, SMC & PRAM reset also not works for me.

       Kindly advise if I can do something at command line level.

       Cheers 🙂

     • @Hakiem :

       Ah… that’s the problem : your having the “WiFi: no hardware installed” problem on OSX 10.8 “Mountain Lion”, not on MacOSX 10.7 “Lion”…

       oddly, the solution in “Mountain Lion” is completely different from the solution in “Lion”…

       directions on how to solve this in “Mountain Lion” can be found here :

       https://macmanusnl.wordpress.com/2012/07/27/fixed-10-8-refusing-to-see-the-atheros-ar9280/

       Enjoy !

     • Hi,

       I am currently conducting Hardware Test. I will let you know if I am making any progress.

       Thanks for your prompt reply =)

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10. great!!
    neither like restart/reset PRAM/CMD worked, but reinstalling the kernel modules works well and at the 1st time!

    tnx!!

    Reply ↓

    • @preinh :

      Good to hear it works for you !
      Enjoy 😉

      Reply ↓

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12. Hi, I tried this on my macbook 13″ 2008, and now my ethernet also is not working, any help is greatly appreciated

    Reply ↓

    • @Aakash :

      Sorry to hear your Ethernet isn’t working either…
      If that’s caused by a hardware failure, you will have to get your MacBook repaired.
      If the Ethernet-problem is caused by some software problem, chances are it will be fixed by one of these (actually the things that were worth trying for fixing the WiFi-problem, but won’t help for that, but they just might get you out of your Ethernet-problem) :
      1- normal restart with ‘reopen windows when logging back in’ unchecked ; still the same ‘no hardware installed’ error
      2- repair disk permissions, followed by a full shut down with ‘reopen windows when logging back in’ unchecked, followed by a normal startup ; still the same ‘no hardware installed’ error
      3- installing the OSX 10.7.4 Client Combo Update (from Apple.com) ; still the same ‘no hardware installed’ error

      An other option to make a network-connection from a Mac that isn’t able to connect through either WiFi/AirPort or Ethernet is to create a FireWire-network by connecting this one Mac to another Mac using a FireWire-cable (either FireWire800-to-FW800, FireWire400-to-FW400 or FireWire800-to-FW400, that doesn’t make a difference).
      And if you also need internet-access, you can then share (a.k.a. “pass-on”) the WiFi- or Ethernet-internet-connection from the other Mac over the FireWire-network.
      But obviously : you will at least need another Mac to be able to do so…

      Another thing you may not have tried if it’s not so much the network-connection but the internet-connection that is your primary concern :
      Try using Safari while in Rescue Mode, as outlined here :
      TIP : your Atheros AR9280 AirPort card and AirPort network are automatically detected when you restart in Rescue Mode… so restart with the ‘CMD’ + ‘R’ keys pressed (‘Rescue Mode’), then use Safari (listed as ‘online help’) to go online and download both files from the links above. If you get a warning that there’s no space in your download folder (because you’re in Rescue Mode), just go into Safari’s preferences and change the download folder to a USB-stick or external hard drive. Now do a normal restart and install the old .kext file and restart afterwards. Done.

      Good Luck !

      Reply ↓

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