So I have this MacBook Air that I haven't used in a year and I forgot the password. Problem is, the display has been broken for a long time, so I have been using an external monitor with it, but I couldn't find a way to get Recovery Mode to display to the external monitor.
I managed to use the VoiceOver function to erase the hard drive, but because I didn't remember the shortcut to close the window, so I could immediately reinstall OS X, I restarted the computer.
Now it won't output to the external monitor, and VoiceOver doesn't do anything, so all I have is a blank screen.
Does anyone know what this screen looks like and can give some simple guidance so I can reinstall OS X using the keyboard?
Update: I remember it saying that it ran Mac OS X Lion while I was going through the options, and while I'm not sure exactly which type of MacBook Air it is, it is small and its model number is A1370.
Update 2: After leaving it alone for a while, we restarted it holding command+R again, and it worked. Not sure what changed, but it worked.
Best Answer
Shut down the computer, plug in the external monitor and keyboard and turn on the computer holding down command+R for a while. Then, close the lid of the laptop and it should display on the external monitor.