Lion Recovery partition on 2011 MacBook Airs

I did a post for my blog yesterday concerning the use of the Lion recovery partition in solving the problem of turning on Find My Mac. I've had a very positive response from readers, most reporting success. But one has raised a question I cannot answer.
Here is the original article
http://www.macfilos.com/home/2011/10/16/icloud-cannot-turn-on-find-my-mac-recove ry-system-update-req.html
My reader maintains that the Lion recovery partition is not active on her 2011 MacBook Air. She has the latest OS X build and has also installed the Lion Recovery update. I can't really believe this, but I only have a 2010 Air to play with. Can someone confirm or deny?
The problem I (and many others) had was that the recovery update was not being recognised, the reason being a corrupt volume. After repairing the volume using the recovery partition it was then possible to reinstall the recovery update and subsequently turn on Find My Mac. It could be that my reader has a more intransigent version with the same cause that needs additional work.
Michael

If she enters in Terminal
diskutil list
if there is a Recovery Partition, she'll see:
Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3
as the last partition.
See also: https://discussions.apple.com/message/16417843#16417843
Tony

Similar Messages

How do I return my mid 2011 MacBook Air to Factory Specifications? Can I use the built in Lion recovery and wipe my data from the hard disk by reformatting it?

I want to trade in my old mid 2011 MacBook Air for a new MacBook Pro. After I have transferred my data to the new MacBook Pro, how do I reformat the hard disk to wipe all my data and return it to Factory specifications? Will the built in Lion recovery allow me to do this? I am currently running OS X Yosemite. Has the upgrade to Yosemite damaged or removed the original Lion recovery partition?

Click here and follow the instructions.
(124038)

Can I partition a new macbook air hd to run lion and snow leopard?

I have a new 2011 Macbook Air and it came with Lion. I still have some mission critical programs that are not yet compatable with Lion. Can I partition the HD (I have 256GB) and dual boot with Snow Leopard? I have the Snow Leopard upgrade disk from another Mac. Will Snow Leopard work on this machine?

No. The new MBAs require Lion and will not run Snow Leopard.

HT3255 i have macbook air 13,3" but when i go to:From the Apple () menu, choose About This Mac. Click More Info. For OS X Mountain Lion, click System Report. MacBook Air 11 inch mi 2011, why why please

i have macbook air 13,3" but when i go to:From the Apple () menu, choose About This Mac. Click More Info. For OS X Mountain Lion, click System Report. MacBook Air 11 inch mi 2011, why why please

Informations matériel :
Nom du modèle:          MacBook Air
Identifiant du modèle:          MacBookAir4,2
Nom du processeur:          Intel Core i7
Vitesse du processeur:          1,8 GHz
Nombre de processeurs:          1
Nombre total de cœurs:          2
Cache de niveau 2 (par cœur):          256 Ko
Cache de niveau 3:          4 Mo
Mémoire:          4 Go
Version de la ROM de démarrage:          MBA41.0077.B0F
Version SMC (système):          1.73f66
Numéro de série (système):          C0*******JYC
UUID du matériel:          ****
<Edited By Host>

My mid-2011 MacBook Air bricks itself after 10.7.2 update

I have a new MacBook Air (11") that was working just great, until today. Today, I used Software Update to install the updates, which included 10.7.2 as well as the recue partition update.
I did everything you're supposed to do, and when it rebooted, the gray screen comes up, and it shows the spinny doohickey on the bottom showing that it's working. Then, suddenly, up pops a big "no" icon (the circle with the slash through it) after about 60 seconds.
It simply doesn't do anything after that.
Hard-power-off, wait, power-on, repeat, same thing.
So I reboot with cmd-R to get the rescue partition. It works fine; I ask it to re-install Mac OS X, which then takes about 45 minutes (argh). Finally, Mac OS X is back, the machine is nicely booted up, all my files are there, everything is good.. But of course, the reinstall took me back to 10.7.1.
All I want to do is upgrade my fricking iPhone to IOS 5.0, but I can't do that without knowing I can sync which requires iCloud which of course requires 10.7.2. So I *have* to re-do the upgrade.
Back to Software Update, back to installing 10.7.2. And .. 20 minutes later .. back to bricked MacBook Air.
What a waste of my time. What a failure, Apple. I'm very very very very very unhappy that I've wasted so much time just to update my damned iPhone to IOS 5. I'm still without an update. Now I'm trying to figure out how to move my iTunes to another machine -- not nearly as obvious as it should be. ARGH. I'm going to throw this MacBook Air off the balcony in about 10 minutes. :-(
Thanks for listening.
Steve

Wow, you're right -- I can't believe it. I just really can't believe they would screw up so badly, yet when I search for "10.7.2 filevault" I don't find more than a couple of articles about it on the web (including this thread). Why on earth wouldn't Apple have put up some kind of warning about this? I can't believe it, really. It's insane.
On my newly-functional 10.7.2 MBA, I wanted to test your theory and so I turned on filevault 2 and encrypted the main disk again. It of course wanted me to reboot. So I rebooted. And *blammy* -- same error / boot failure. Wow. Also, interestingly, even on a working 10.7.2 system, you can't mount a USB drive that was encrypted using Filevault 2 encryption (in Disk Utility, e.g., as a "Mac OS X, journalled, encrypted" volume that was encrypted with DiskUtility on Lion 10.7.1). I still have a 10.7.1 machine that I will not upgrade until I can at least decrypt the disk -- but right now, Disk Utility tells me it fails decrypting the external USB disk so I'm hosed!!! ARGH.
Now, going back to the booting problem after upgrade -- for anyone's reference who's still keeping score -- you can easily recover from the booting problem with upgrading a Filevault 2 root drive: Power-cycle the machine and then hold down cmd-r to bring up the Lion Recovery application. Within Lion Recovery, choose "Disk Utility", and then click on the (as yet unmounted, still encrypted) root hard drive to select it. Then go to the File menu, and choose "Turn off encryption" for this disk. It then prompts you for the password, and if you enter it, *blammy* you're back up and running again.
In my case, the disk had only just begun encrypting so the action was instant, and then once it confirmed the disk was now decrypted, I simply chose "Restart" from the Apple menu, and I was back in business (no hairy re-installs to deal with). If this is an already-encrypted volume, presumably it'll take you a bit longer (the normal 45-minutes to 2 hours) to decrypt it. But at least no more installing software -- it'll "just work".
Maybe I'll go post a simpler version of these instructinos on the other threads, but this is the simplest fix -- just turn off filevault 2 from within Lion Recovery, basically, and that fixes the boot problems.
Apple, if you're listening, you really really really need to say something to your users so they know. Many many many MBA users are likely to have still not upgraded. You can prevent them from hating you and your products by making sure they don't screw the pooch here. Short version: Mid-2011 MacBook Airs running Filevault 2 WILL NOT BOOT after 10.7.2 update; so users should turn off Filevault2 before upgrading.
Steve

Getting Windows 7 on the Mid 2011 MacBook Air EASILY *TESTED*

Greetings!
As this is my first post, I wanted to make it count. Thus I have decided to compile a simple guide on EASILY getting Windows 7 installed on to your mid-2011 MacBook Air.
I have been following the many threads around here regarding the trouble people are having getting Windows 7 installed on to their Mid-2011 MacBook Air's. I have read complaints of Windows Support Software (drivers) downloads taking too long, of not being able to save the Windows Support Software correctly to a USB key, etc, etc.
The following process is relatively simple, but not as simple as it should be. I'm quite certain as Lion matures, some of the Bootcamp issues we have been having will be remediated.
This procedure has been tested on the following platform:
Mid-2011 11" MacBook Air ~ 1.6GHz i5, 4GB RAM, 128GB Flash (SSD) HDD
What's Wrong?:
1. On the MacBook Air platform specifically, users are expected to have a Windows 7 ISO before beginning. Some users have stated that this can be accomplished easily using the DISK UTILITY ISO CREATION FEATURE. THIS WILL NOT WORK. THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF PUTTING THE WINDOWS 7 ISO ONTO A USB KEY IS MAKING IT BOOTABLE! You need to make the USB key you're installing to bootable, plain and simple.
2. I tested the Windows Support Software drivers after downloading them and the Intel HD3000 GPU and Sound Drivers do not install properly.
3. Creating a Windows 7 Startup Disk through Bootcamp hangs.
What You'll Need:
1. A Windozzze box
2. A DVD-ROM Drive
3. Internet Access (for downloading a Win7 ISO in case you don't have a Win7 install DVD and other necessary utilities)
4. ISODisk - http://www.isodisk.com/ - 100% FREE
5. Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool - http://download.cnet.com/Windows-7-USB-DVD-Download-Tool/3000-18513_4-10972600.h tml- 100% FREE (you may also acquire this tool from Microshaft)
6. A little patience
7. A LEGAL Windows 7 license to activate Windows 7 after 30 days.
8. 2 FORMATTED USB DRIVES.
NOTE: Technically you only need 1 USB drive, however, you will need to get the Bootcamp drivers from OS X onto a USB key. To make this easy, the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool will format one drive as an NTFS partition and the other drive should be formatted as a simple MS-FAT partition (can do this through DISK UTILITY, if you don't know how, Google it, very simple).
Let's Get'r Done:
1. Boot up your Windoze box.
2. Insert your Windows 7 Install DVD into your DVD-ROM.
3. (OPTIONAL) This step may be performed in lieu of step #2 if you don't have a Windows 7 Install DVD, download a Windows 7 ISO (don't download illegaly) from Microsoft. You may skip to step #6 if this is how you're to proceed.
4. Download and install ISODisk.
5. Create an ISO of your Windows 7 Install DVD - Select the DVD within the ISODisk app, choose a name and save location, create your ISO. *This takes a bit to complete*.
6. Download and install the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool.
7. Open the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool, ensure you have inserted the USB key you intend to use for Windoze 7, once the ISO has been created from step #5 or you already have one from step #2, select the USB button and create your USB/Windows 7 ISO Disk (all this does is place the necessary Windows 7 boot files on the USB key so that the Windows 7 ISO may be booted from the USB key).
8. Once complete, safely eject your Windows 7 USB key and move on over to your beautiful Mac. Place the Windows 7 USB Key aside for the time being.
9. Once booted, place the second USB key (the USB key you intend to use for your Bootcamp drivers) into your beautiful Mac. Ensure that it's formatted as MS-FAT, you can do this via DISK UTILITY, Google it if you don't know how.
10. Navigate to Mac HD --> Library --> Application Support --> Bootcamp --> Here you will find a BootCamp DMG file, this is a large file that contains the necessary Windoze 7 Drivers for the MacBook Air, DOUBLE-CLICK IT TO MOUNT IT, a FINDER window will appear revealing its contents. Perform a Shift-A to select all files, RIGHT-CLICK and select COPY.
11. DOUBLE-CLICK your MS-FAT USB key, PASTE the files from step #10 onto the drive. You now have your Windows 7 Driver disk. Place the Bootcamp Drivers USB Key aside for the time being.
12. Open the BOOTCAMP ASSISTANT, this is located in your Mac HD --> Applications --> Utilties Folder.
13. IMPORTANT!!!
Uncheck "CREATE A WINDOWS 7 INSTALL DISK"
Uncheck "DOWNLOAD THE LATEST WINDOWS SUPPORT SOFTWARE FROM APPLE" - At least for now to get you up and running.
14. Ensure that "INSTALL WINDOWS 7" is SELECTED and click continue.
15. Insert your Windows 7 ISO USB Key into your beautiful Mac.
16. Partition your drive accordingly, create the Windows 7 partition (the Windows 7 USB Key needs to be in the Air for this).
17. As soon as the partition is created, your air WILL REBOOT, the Windows 7 install will begin.
18. You will be prompted that the BOOTCAMP parition is not NTFS and needs to be in order to install Windows 7, THIS IS FINE.
19. Click FORMAT, the BOOTCAMP partition will be formatted as NTFS. Select the same partition number and continue. NOTE: The Windows install IS VERY fast on your beautiful SSD equipped Mac.
20. Once the installation completes, insert your USB Bootcamp key.
21. Navigate to the Setup.exe file on the key and double-click.
22. Sitback and let the Bootcamp drivers load. Windows 7 will reboot.
23. Install your Windows updates and reboot.
24. Reboot again and HOLD THE OPTION KEY, this will allow you to get back into your Mac.
25. Once in OS X, click settings and STARTUP DISK, select OS X (unless you want to mainly run Windoze).
26. Finished.
Please let me know if you should have any questions.
You should now have a fully functioning Windows 7 Bootcamp install with all drivers properly installed. You can check this by navigating to Device Manager within Windows and ensuring that you have no yellow exclamation marks.

Sorry, must have been the crackpipe I smoked last night! LOL
You won't see anything in the Application Support --> Bootcamp folder unless you have previously downloaded the Windows Support Software. Good find.
ADDENDUM STEP:
This step should be placed between 9-10.
Open Bootcamp Assistant. Uncheck everything BUT, "DOWNLOAD THE LATEST WINDOWS SUPPORT SOFTWARE FROM APPLE". You will be prompted to burn the image to a CD/DVD or save to a USB Key. Save the image to a USB key. This will format your USB key properly in preparation for the files. The download commences and if you're lucky, the files will simply be saved to your USB key without having to manually copy them over to the key using the steps above.
IMPORTANT - Even if the support software hangs when its being saved to the USB key, you should now be able to navigate to the directory and see the image. Follow the steps above.
Apologies for missing this.
Best,
WBN

How do I install just the Lion installer via the lion recovery partition.

I am trying to bootcamp windows 7 on my new macbook pro (early 2011), the installation was successfull but i am missing drivers on the windows side and cannot access the internet until i install them. I installed all the bootcamp updates and put them on a usb to transfer to windows partition but windows kept telling me i need an earlier version of bootcamp which is not available from the update support downloads section of the apple website.
After some research i realized i needed the mac boot disc for lion, which doesnt exist so i need to create my own. I was told i could install lion from the lion recovery partition.
here is my question....If i install lion onto my mac partition that currently has lion, can i stop the download after the initial 4 gb installer and not go through with the full re-installation of lion? so that i can then take the installesd.dmg (i think thats right) file and put it on a dvd to install from the windows partition and finally get the drivers i need to get it running.
Comment: based on what i have read on how you used to bootcamp a mac, apple has made it very difficult, unneccesarily difficult it seems.

Before you do anything else, I suggest a thorough read of this:
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/boot_camp_install-setup_10.7.pdf

My 2011 Macbook Air is telling me it does not support the 10.8.2 software update

My 2011 Macbook Air is telling me it does not support the 10.8.2 software update

Hmm, there are some machines to which the presently available 10.8.2 updates don't apply, but since it's typically the newest ones (from 2012) and the update shows up in your Software Update, it should work on yours.
You may try taking it step by step:
Go to http://support.apple.com/downloads/#osxmountainlion and start at the bottom of the list with the 10.8.1 update. If that works, keep working up the list as far as relevant.
If you want to save time and hassle, or you get stuck with 10.8.1 already, follow this routine to re-install the system from the Recovery Partition. You should then get the latest and greatest. Don't forget to first make sure your backup is up-to-date!

Is a 2011 MacBook Air/Pro still fast?

I've been thinking about getting a 2011 MacBook Air or Pro since they're in my price range. Are they still pretty fast? There's not much that I really do on the computer except for some web browsing really. Will these hold up well?

stevemawyer wrote:
What version of OS X do you use? I've heard that Yosemite can be slower.
I run Lion (10.7.5) on my 2011 MBP. The 2010 is partitioned with Snow leopard, Lion and Mt. Lion installed. That is used as a test platform most of the time.
Ciao.

HT201343 Mid 2011 Macbook air will not mirror

I have a mid 2011 macbook air and a 2nd generation apple tv. All software is up to date. I can use air play in i-tunes on the macbook air, but there is no screen mirroring option in the main menu bar. Apple documentation says this model supports mirroring,(Intel Core i5) but the best I can get is "detect displays" on the top menu bar. Am I missing something?
(i-pad mirrors to ATV just fine)

Ted,
It is as Mirror is a function of Mountain Lion.
A third party app called airparrot will also work if it is only mirror you want.
Jules

My Mid-2011 Macbook Air becomes extremely hot when installing apps from the Mac App Store and when deleting apps

My Mid-2011 Macbook Air 13-inch (OSX 10.8.1 Mountain Lion) becomes hot to the touch when trying to delete large documents, watching videos after waking it from sleep-mode and when installing applications from the Mac App Store. This has also been happening with OSX Lion before I upgraded it to Mountain Lion.

The Apple Support Communities are an international user to user technical support forum. As a man from Mexico my first language is Spanish. I do not speak English, however I do write in English with the aid of the Mac OS X spelling and grammar checks. I also live in a culture perhaps very very different from your own. When offering advice in the ASC, my comments are not meant to be anything more than helpful and certainly not to be taken as insults.
What needed to be done the day that you set up the new Mac was go into the Mac App Store (MAS), sign into your iTunes/MAS Apple ID, go to the Purchases pane and Accept the iLife apps that would have been there in a special section. That would have sent you Mac's unique identifier code to Apple's servers and verified that this Mac was eligible for the bundled iLife suite and then registered these apps into your MAS account.
You might try going to ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.appstore/adoption.plist, delete the adption plist, restart the Mac and then go to the Purchaes pane and see if you can Accept the apps into your account.

Which Microphone for New Mid 2011 Macbook Air 13"

Please recommend a few USB condensor microphones for voice/vocal recordings that is sure to work with the New Mid 2011 Macbook Air.
My 3.5mm to USB adapters that work on my 2009 Macbook Pro with Leopard OS, no longer works with Lion OS
Ill be using this with GarageBand, iMovie & Audacity. Previously I'd use my Azden SMX-10 with the adapter. (the Azden is also used with my Canon DSLR).
Thanks in advance.

It is entirely possible, as many have known from day one (as ifixit's first teardown revealed). Unlike the unupgradeable memory, the SSD is a discrete expansion card that is removeable with just one screw, after removing the case cover. It is however debateable as to whether such an expansion is worth the possible risk of making demonstrable changes to the MBA whilst still under warranty. So you may want to stave off consideration for a while.
I made the upgrade recently on my older 2010 MBA, and it was easier than upgrading the HDD on my old MacBook Pro.
Here OWC/Mac Sales has kits and instruction videos.

No AirPlay icon on mid 2011 macbook air with a new Apple TV

Hi. I just bought a brand new Apple TV. I own a mid 2011 macbook air on which I've installed mountain lion OS X. both the apple TV and my macbook air are connected to the same wireless network, yet i dont have the AirPlay icon on my macbook. I'm able to play music from my mac's iTunes library, and even tough the homesharing on iTunes is on, I dont have the airplay icon so I can't stream movies\videos\pictures which are not in my iTunes library.

About AirPlay and Airplay Mirroring
AirPlay Mirroring requires a second-generation Apple TV or later, and is supported on the following Mac models: iMac (Mid 2011 or newer), Mac mini (Mid 2011 or newer), MacBook Air (Mid 2011 or newer), and MacBook Pro (Early 2011 or newer). For non-qualifying Macs you can try using Air Parrot.
Several Apple Articles Regarding AirPlay
Apple TV (2nd and 3rd gen)- How to use AirPlay Mirroring
How to set up and configure AirPort Express for AirPlay and iTunes
iTunes- Troubleshooting AirPlay and AirPlay Mirroring
iTunes- Using AirPlay
Apple TV (2nd and 3rd gen)- Understanding AirPlay settings
About AirPlay Mirroring in OS X Mountain Lion
iTunes 10- About playing music with AirPlay
Troubleshooting AirPlay and AirPlay Mirroring
Using AirPlay
Thanks to the $15 Beamer, AirPlay streaming is still possible on Macs that do not support Airplay and mirroring.
Other solutions are the Air Parrot, StreamToMe, and AirServer.

How do I restore my 2011 MacBook Air to its original settings?

How do I restore my 2011 MacBook Air to its original settings for resale? When I do the cmd R and go through the process, it begins the restore process for Mountain Lion because I upgraded to Mountain Liion on this machine a few months ago. And it's asking for my Apple ID. If I do that upgrade, the buyer will have a version of Mountain Lion that is associated with my Apple ID and that won't work. Also, isn't there licensing issues in such a case? I want to restore the MacBook Air to its original factory settings when I purchased it in April of 2011. At that time it was Lion and not Mountian Lion. And I don't want any software on this computer to be associated with my Apple ID.
Thanks for all your help.
Ron

Press Command, Option and R keys on boot, open Disk Utility, erase your disk and reinstall Lion

Installed Windows 8 on a late 2011 MacBook Air and was working fine now keyboard not working so cannot enter password? Caplocks key works but I am locked out on my own PC and cannot seem to get it to recognize built in keyboard,bluetooth,generic USB one.

Installed Windows 8 on a late 2011 MacBook Air and was working fine now keyboard not working so cannot enter password? Caplocks key works but I am locked out on my own PC and cannot seem to get it to recognize built in keyboard,bluetooth,generic USB one.

Use the trackpad to scroll, thats what it was designed for. The scroll bars automatically disappear when not being used and will appear if you scroll up or down using the trackpad.
This is a user-to-user forum and most people will post on here if they have problems. You very rarely get people posting to say there update went smooth. The fact is the vast majority of Mountain Lion users will not be experiencing any major problems with the OS, or maybe with apps which are not compatible, but thats hardly Apple's fault if developers don't update their apps.

Lion Recovery partition on 2011 MacBook Airs

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for