Wifi network option is not showing up

airportNetworkwifi

I have a problem with my Wifi driver. I get the message Wi-Fi: No Hardware Installed, which is like the one described here: Wi-Fi: No Hardware Installed

I followed all the instructions given on that page, and from other sites including Apple support. Finally, I tried to remove Wifi from the system preferences and add it back. Unfortunately, adding back a network has no option for Wifi.

I tried networksetup -setairportpower airport on as well. This gives me an error of: You cannot set Wi-Fi power because all AirPort network services are disabled. Any help will be deeply appreciated.

EDIT:

Wifi option not displaying in the Network options.

I updated an screenshot with Wifi not displayed in the wifi setup in system utility.

I tried these approaches:

  • Apple hardware test (Short term): No issues found.

  • Login in safe mode and then reboot, check system preferences same issue.

  • Downgraded to OSX El Capitan (I thought there might be some issue with the upgrade), but the same issue still existed.
  • Again upgraded to OSX Sierra but the issue persisted.

One thing I noticed, when booting from USB, There were no errors like Wi-Fi: No Hardware Installed but the spinner was continuously moving and searching for the networks and it had blank dropdown (without any results). My router was on and WiFi for other devices on the network.

Thanks in advance!

Best Answer

Troubleshooting is a process of elimination and often requires quite a bit of patience. Let's proceed as follows.

Have you followed Allan's advice?

I'm assuming you've already booted into Safe Mode and used Apple Hardware Test (as suggested by Allan in his comment on May 11)?

  • If you haven't, then please follow the steps below for booting into Safe Mode and Running Apple Hardware Test.
  • If you have, can you please edit your question to provide the results of performing both actions. Then skip the steps below for performing these actions and try the Terminal commands I suggest.

Run Apple Hardware Test

  1. Shut down your Mac
  2. Restart your Mac
  3. Press and hold the D key before the gray startup screen appears.
  4. After a while, Apple Hardware Test (AHT) will start.
  5. When prompted, select your language and click the right arrow.
  6. When the AHT console appears, you can choose to run Basic tests by clicking the Test button. However, I suggest you select the "Perform extended testing" checkbox before you click the Test button.
  7. Your test results will appear in the window in the bottom-right of the console.

Take a note of the result and report back.

Note 1: The extended test will take some time. Take a note of the results and report back.

Note 2: If pressing and holding the D key at Step 3 doesn't work, start again at Step 1 and, at Step 3 press and hold both the OptionD keys instead. This will try and run diagnostics from the internet instead, so you will need to allow more time for it to complete.

Boot into Safe Mode

Follow these steps to boot your Mac into Safe Mode:

  1. Fully shut down your Mac
  2. Restart your Mac
  3. Immediately press the Shift key and keep it down
  4. Let go of the Shift key when you see the login window (NOTE: If you have FileVault enabled you may need to log in twice).
  5. Take a note of what happens (i.e. do you see the Wi-Fi option in System Preferences > Network?)
  6. Exit Safe Mode by restarting your Mac as normal
  7. Check System Preferences > Network again

Once you've booted into Safe Mode, let us know how you went.

Now, assuming you still have the problem after already booting into Safe Mode and running Apple Hardware Test, let's proceed with the following course of action.

Run these Terminal commands

Let's confirm what macOS believes the status of your Wi-Fi service is. To do this:

  1. Launch Terminal

  2. Enter the following command:

    sudo networksetup -listallnetworkservices

  3. Press Enter

  4. Enter your password (note you will not see the cursor move, nor the characters appear on the screen)

Now, in the list that appears I assume you will see an asterisk (*) next to the Wi-Fi service. This denotes that it is currently disabled. Assuming this is what happens, let's try enabling it as follows:

  1. Make sure you're still in Terminal

  2. Enter the following command:

    networksetup -setnetworkserviceenabled Wi-Fi on

  3. A popup will prompt you for your password - enter it and click on the Modify Configuration button

  4. Now enter this command:

    networksetup -setairportpower en0 on

  5. Restart your Mac

  6. Now check System Preferences > Network again

Let me know how you go.

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