Does Internet Recovery Ask For WiFi Password?

[jlin615]

I've just recently tried internet recovery for the first time on a empty hard drive. Is it normal that command+R just boots up the spinning globe screen with a loading bar and then 15 minutes later goes into the menu, without ever asking for my WiFi information? If so, how does it connect to the Apple server then?

 

[kodeman53]

Internet Recovery doesn't know anything about your WiFi. It looks for an Internet connection. If it finds an open one, it continues. If it doesn't, it tells you.

 

[jlin615]

Internet Recovery doesn't know anything about your WiFi. It looks for an Internet connection. If it finds an open one, it continues. If it doesn't, it tells you.

But I've checked the status of my airport extreme, internet recovery did manage to connect to the secured network without my password.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

But I've checked the status of my airport extreme, internet recovery did manage to connect to the secured network without my password.

Your Wifi password is stored in PRAM. If you reset your PRAM before you run internet recovery you'll be prompted for it.

 

[jlin615]

Your Wifi password is stored in PRAM. If you reset your PRAM before you run internet recovery you'll be prompted for it.

Thank you! That makes sense now!

 

[kodeman53]

Thank you! That makes sense now!

Ditto. All my experiences were with new Macs, no password stored in PRAM.