Enable AirDrop Over Ethernet & AirDrop On Unsupported Macs Running OS X 10.7
AirDrop is the extremely easy local peer-to-peer file transfer tool that is built into Mac OS X 10.7, it allows you to easily send and receive files wirelessly over a network just by dragging and dropping. It’s a great addition to Lion, but it’s not supported on all Macs (some 2008 model MacBook, MacBook Pros, some Mac Pro’s and Mini’s, etc), and most Hackintosh setups also can’t access it… and you can’t use it over Ethernet… until now.
You can enable AirDrop with Ethernet and enable AirDrop support on unsupported Macs running OS X 10.7+ by using the following defaults write command in the Terminal:
defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser BrowseAllInterfaces 1
Paste that in and hit enter. You’ll need to then kill the Finder with ‘killall Finder’ or reboot the Mac for changes to take effect.
What’s really interesting is that this enables AirDrop over both Wi-Fi and wired Ethernet connections, which basically means any machine running Lion can use it whether or not it has a wireless card. As long as it’s connected to the same network you will be able to see the Mac in the AirDrop list of another Mac running 10.7.
If you ever want to disable this for some reason, you can just use:
defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser BrowseAllInterfaces 0
This tip comes from a user submission to MacWorld, and attached is a note that you may need to use this command on all Macs that intend to interact with the unsupported Mac, although that doesn’t seem to be the case on all machines.
Don’t forget that you can also change the AirDrop sound effect too.
how about mac and a PC, any airdrop-like service? (dropbox is slow for larger docs.)
I installed Lion on a 07 MacBook Pro and have followed the tip but it’s a no go. AirDrop does not show up on the MacBook Pro 07 as it does with Lion installed on a 2010 MacBook Pro
Whats the problem?
Did you restart the Finder and/or reboot the unsupported MacBook Pro? Put the defaults write command on both Macs? It should work.
Works on the tonyMacX Hackintosh build, excellent tip!
I can verify that. Works fine on my Core i7 Hackintosh.
I have a MBA 2011 and iMac 2007. I use TimeCapsule 2011 as router.
Issued the command in terminal on both machines.
Also did killall Finder and also did reboot
But still doesnt work.
Help!
I copy pasted the command line into terminal and rebooted but no go for me on my 2006 intel iMac.
Shame but it’s not worth the $2000+ hardware upgrade while the old girl still runs…
Any other advice by someone knowledgeable will be happily tried.
Cheers
no go for me either. I have a 2008 macbook pro (pre unibody) and it doesn’t work for me.
once you enter the command, you have to go to the apple logo on top, go to force quit, and then relaunch finder, then restart. Also tested this out with quite a few older macs, works great! However on new macs, you have to run the same command line in order for them all to work in harmony.
I have a mid 2007 iMac and a 2010 MacbookPro. Strangely, when I do the procedure on both Macs, Airdrop works on the old iMac but not on the new MacBookPro…
What could be the problem?
[...] De ahí que con una simple linea en nuestro amigo terminal quedara habilitado en los equipos que no lo soporten, como indican en Osxdaily. [...]
Excellent tip, works with 2006(I think) white Core2duo iMac and 2009 aluminium Macbook.
Airdrop just appeared on the iMac’s finder, where none existed before. Remember to select Airdrop on both machines ….
The tip is “for user”. As I taught it is “system wide”, I typed the cmd lines prefixed by a “sudo”… But it wasn’t ok.
I retried to type the cmd like said (copy/paste)… and it work like a charm (no need to reboot with the killall).
Airdrop is know available on my wireless-less mac…. but I still don’t see my macbookair (finder opened on airdrop section on both) -> on the same network.
allows you to easily send and receive files wirelessly over a network<—-no
What about the nic firmware???
Contact me because this article is wrong
Worked for me on my 08? iMac Core 2 Duo 10.7.1. Haven’t checked if I also need to do it on my 2011 Macbook Pro for it to interact with the iMac.
Worked for me on my late 2006 iMac (connected via ethernet) and early 2008 MacBook (connected via AirPort). Brilliant tip!
it’s work for me!! thanks
Macbook 4.1
This works on a Macbook and a iMac that was Unsupported.
Instantly.
what do you have to down load to get airdrop for my imac
[...] | OS X Daily En Applesfera | DropCopy, el AirDrop universal para cualquier Mac, sea Intel o [...]
I put this on my 2007 MacBook Pro (2.16GHz Core 2 Duo) and it worked fine in the Admin account, but I had to do this separately for a user account. Fine there too once done. Like others, I also used Force Quit via the Apple menu. Excellent tip: thanks for passing it on.
[...] X: and there are still more to come. OS X Daily has a good record on hints and at the weekend they put out an interesting point about Lion’s AirDrop, which I was not happy about when it did not appear with my older Macs. [...]
[...] MacMini, the card is not easily changed as it integrates Bluetooth with broadband. However, this tip from MacOSXDaily works fine and has been successfully implemented on Thomas’s MacMini. It should work on any [...]
i can’t believe it worked for me too on my old MacBook and iMac (both intel Core 2 Duo, though)! since it’s my first time using Airdrop, is there anyway to change the default drop location to the Desktop rather than the Downloads folder where it’s currently going?
I am an Über novice on Mac. I have a 2 1/2 year old iMac used for photos, bought a new MacBook Pro. iDrop available on MacBook but not on iMac. I followed instructions, force quit finder and had to do it on both machines but it worked. First time I ever used terminal, had to search of it. Very Cool>>
great tips. works like a charm..thank you.
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I have two early 2009 Mac minis and a mid 2009 15″ Mac Book Pro. I did exactly as it said in the tip on all the Macs – first the default network change, then the Finder restart (I used Force quit on one and killall on the other two, just for the hell of it).
Worked flawlessly. Brilliant tip!
Thanks for the code! I was looking everywhere for a solution.
Thank you so much! Yes, it works flawlessly. I have an early 2008 white MacBook I recently upgraded to Lion, and I almost didn’t update because the lack of features for older computers, but I’m closing as many gaps as I can!
This Perfectly Works on my Macbook Late 2006 with core 2 duo
Thanx budy. it works great on 2008 mac 2.4 , core 2 duo
[...] Macs must running Mac OS X 10.7+ and have AirDrop support (here is how to enable AirDrop on older unsupported Macs or over ethernet [...]
Works a treat for me, from my wired-in iMac to my wireless Macbook. Just what I needed.
What’s the catch? Why isn’t this an option from the System Preferences, for example?
thank you! this worked with my 2007 MacBook Pro! Now all i need to do is find someone else with Lion and test it out!
It worked the very first time from my wired 2007 iMac (unsupported) to my white macbook (supported), but only from the iMac to the macbook, the iMac never showed up in airdrop on the macbook. Now, the macbook doesn’t even show up at all. I did the command on both computers. AAAHHHHHH.
Great tip! Worked on my early 2008 MacBook. Have tried to both send and receive files, and it’s all systems go. Thank you!
Worked with a 2008 PowerMac and 2010 MBP.
Had to run the command and force quit Finder on both machines.
[...] precis som funktionens namn antyder kan du endast använda AirDrop över Wifi (det finns dock ett hack som aktiverar även trådbunden [...]