AirDrop

Seed notice

I installed Lion last night and overall, it feels pretty nice. Fairly quick, no crashes, etc. I do have one really weird issue though. I've searched multiple websites and i can't seem to find anyone with this same issue.

AirDrop is missing. That's it, just not there. Not in the Finder sidebar, nothing. Did a Spotlight search, nothing. Does anyone else have this at all? I might try to reinstall Lion. It's the weirdest thing. :confused:


You're running an iMac right? What year specifically? As noted in the seed notice of Lion, "iMac (Late 2006) is not supported for this Lion seed". No airdrop could mean that it may not be compatible yet for the 2006 iMac. But if yours is newer than 2006, then it could be something apple hasn't caught yet. File a bug report. Should get it fixed for the next release hopefully.

Same with anyone else. If there are issues with no airdop (or other feature) file a bug report.
 
AirDrop works for me... but for those who can't see AirDrop... download PlistEditPro from http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/plisteditpro/

Go to /Users/[your account]/Library/Preferences

Open com.apple.sidebarlists.plist

Under CustomListProperties make sure you have the boolean value displayed, and check all items under VolumesList and see if you have the key/value pair Dictionary corresponding to AirDrop
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2011-02-27 at 16.13.22.png
    Screen Shot 2011-02-27 at 16.13.22.png
    121.7 KB · Views: 897
AirDrop works for me... but for those who can't see AirDrop... download PlistEditPro from http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/plisteditpro/

Go to /Users/[your account]/Library/Preferences

Open com.apple.sidebarlists.plist

Under CustomListProperties make sure you have the boolean value displayed, and check all items under VolumesList and see if you have the key/value pair Dictionary corresponding to AirDrop

Mine looks exactly like yours. :\
 
I am using an iMac 7,1 (late 2007) and have no airdrop support. I read many people state that it won't be supported on certain hardware. Seems like it requires the airport to support simultaneously infrastructure and ad-hoc mode. So it won't be implemented in the future, either.
 
AirDrop works for me... but for those who can't see AirDrop... download PlistEditPro from http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/plisteditpro/

Go to /Users/[your account]/Library/Preferences

Open com.apple.sidebarlists.plist

Under CustomListProperties make sure you have the boolean value displayed, and check all items under VolumesList and see if you have the key/value pair Dictionary corresponding to AirDrop

on "Name" and "URL" were it says "AirDrop" it previously said "Nearby". I edited and saved… still no AirDrop.
 
You guys do realize that you need to have 2 Macs running Lion on the same network, right? The Finder probably won't even display the AirDrop icon unless it detects another Mac running Lion.

I thought that too, but i don't see why the icon wouldn't be there just because there's no other computer within range. I'm going to install on another iMac tonight and test it. Hopefully that makes it show up. Otherwise, something else is wrong.

I don't know why that should be surprising. You won't see a shared Mac come up in Finder unless it's running.
 
You guys do realize that you need to have 2 Macs running Lion on the same network, right? The Finder probably won't even display the AirDrop icon unless it detects another Mac running Lion.



I don't know why that should be surprising. You won't see a shared Mac come up in Finder unless it's running.

I wish that's all that was wrong. I have Lion running on another Mac. AirDrop is there anyway. I know this because at the time i installed Lion on the other Mac, this Mac was logged back in on Snow Leopard, and that Mac instantly showed AirDrop without another Mac with Lion being booted nearby. So that doesn't matter.
 
I have Lion on a 27" 2010 iMac and a 2010 6-Core Mac Pro. AirDrop is listed on the iMac but NOT on the Mac Pro, Sharing configured and running on the same WiFi network. Very odd.
 
Airdrop only shows up on support Wifi Networking chipsets.


As it stands I've had it run on 2009 MBP 13, 2010 MBP 13 + 15, Mac Pro 2009 an Mac Pro 2010.


It did not function on a 2008 MBP 15 (pre unibody), Mac Pro (2006)

When it works it's pretty neat, Sends a request that shows up on the mac to receive the file.. Select yes and it transfers. On the originating mac it shows a ring around the mac's icon for transfer status.. on the recipient it shows a file in downloads with a status bar (similar to safari downloads but with a grey icon and progress bar.)
 
Airdrop only shows up on support Wifi Networking chipsets.


As it stands I've had it run on 2009 MBP 13, 2010 MBP 13 + 15, Mac Pro 2009 an Mac Pro 2010.


It did not function on a 2008 MBP 15 (pre unibody), Mac Pro (2006)

When it works it's pretty neat, Sends a request that shows up on the mac to receive the file.. Select yes and it transfers. On the originating mac it shows a ring around the mac's icon for transfer status.. on the recipient it shows a file in downloads with a status bar (similar to safari downloads but with a grey icon and progress bar.)

Then why would it not show up on one of his 2010 machines?
 
Airdrop only shows up on support Wifi Networking chipsets.


As it stands I've had it run on 2009 MBP 13, 2010 MBP 13 + 15, Mac Pro 2009 an Mac Pro 2010.


It did not function on a 2008 MBP 15 (pre unibody), Mac Pro (2006)

When it works it's pretty neat, Sends a request that shows up on the mac to receive the file.. Select yes and it transfers. On the originating mac it shows a ring around the mac's icon for transfer status.. on the recipient it shows a file in downloads with a status bar (similar to safari downloads but with a grey icon and progress bar.)

Not the case for many. I have 2010 iMac, 6-Core Mac Pro, 2010 Time Capsule, all sharing/ports/etc configured and yet on my 27" iMac "AirDrop" is listed but on the same network my newer 2010 Westmere 6-Core Mac Pro doesn't list "AirDrop". Any where.

This is a bug, not a matter of what systems it supports. There has been no mention of Apple stating "AirDrop" will only be supported on certain systems and anything stated until that time is conjecture. It is most likely due to differing hardware/WiFi chipsets and the kext's needed to utilize them properly. It'll get worked out. Apple will certainly flesh out what kext's, etc are necessary for certain systems' hardware (airport chipsets) and work from there.
 
This is a bug, not a matter of what systems it supports. There has been no mention of Apple stating "AirDrop" will only be supported on certain systems and anything stated until that time is conjecture. It is most likely due to differing hardware/WiFi chipsets and the kext's needed to utilize them properly. It'll get worked out. Apple will certainly flesh out what kext's, etc are necessary for certain systems' hardware (airport chipsets) and work from there.

I agree. I have an early 2008 MBP with no AirDrop (currently). I know the chipset supports infrastructure and ad hoc mode. Apple just needs to do a bit more work on this I think. And lets be honest, with a summer launch we have another 5 to 6 months to go before we it hit gold master. Plenty. of. time.
 
I agree. I have an early 2008 MBP with no AirDrop (currently). I know the chipset supports infrastructure and ad hoc mode. Apple just needs to do a bit more work on this I think. And lets be honest, with a summer launch we have another 5 to 6 months to go before we it hit gold master. Plenty. of. time.

I see it on my 2008 mbp. has anyone put lion on more than Mac and played with it? im assuming it will only work if you are on the same network?
 
I see it on my 2008 mbp. has anyone put lion on more than Mac and played with it? im assuming it will only work if you are on the same network?

I have Lion on two iMacs.

2008 24" iMac = no AirDrop
2010 21.5" iMac = has AirDrop

Supposedly it's not only same network. I've not been able to test yet, unfortunately. :(
 
com.apple.sidebarlists.plist

Can't find Library on the path Go to /Users/[your account]/Library/Preferences
Can not find com.apple.sidebarlists.plist on MackintoshHD>Library>Preferences

What am I doing wrong?
 
Can't find Library on the path Go to /Users/[your account]/Library/Preferences
Can not find com.apple.sidebarlists.plist on MackintoshHD>Library>Preferences

What am I doing wrong?

The users library is now hidden in Lion. In the finder choose Go, the Go To Folder.. and type ~/Library
 
The users library is now hidden in Lion. In the finder choose Go, the Go To Folder.. and type ~/Library

Thanks for the tip. AirDrop was not in the list. I did add it, but still no AirDrop. Must be something else related to Apple's implementation of the feature. A Spotlight search will yield zero results, so apparently some code was not installed.
 
Has absolutely nothing to do with your router.

Shoot. It's the oddest thing. My 2009 27" iMac is set with AirDrop but not my 2010 Mac Pro 6-Core. I even copied over any/all airport related files as well as the sidebar.plist to my Mac Pro and mirrored them while following the post on this thread about checking the sidebar.plist as well. Rebooted, reset PRAM, etc, and nada. It has to be an issue with certain kext's not implemented yet for certain hardware.
 
Well, Developer Preview 2 fixed it for me. AirDrop is now available. What about everyone else that had it missing before?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Back
Top