AirDrop is an easy way to transfer files between Macs on a network, but older hardware doesn't support the feature. Thankfully, all you need is a Terminal command to turn it on. OS X Lion's AirDrop can work on older Macs with just a few Terminal commands When Apple released OS X 10.7 Lion, they introduced a small but extremely useful feature for anyone with more than one Mac on the same network called AirDrop.
I accidentally stumbled upon this tip, the other day, while searching for something completely different. I upgraded to Mountain Lion directly from Snow Leopard, thus ignoring the AirDrop functionality introduced in Lion. However, I soon realized that on my old MacBook Pro 2007 model (MacBookPro3,1) this feature did not exist at all.
Apparently, for AirDrop to work natively (with Lion and Mountain Lion, only) Apple requires the existence of “hardware necessary to support a certain type of point-to-point Wi-Fi connection” that is probably not present on older models.
Thankfully, it appears that it is possible to allow “unsupported” Macs to enable this functionality, too, via a simple Terminal.app command, as with all good things on OS X:
defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser BrowseAllInterfaces 1
Whether it works well or not, that is another story!
After successfully entering the command above, it is advised to either relaunch Finder or simply reboot the computer. This system setting appears to be permanent, after each reboot.
Airdrop Hack For Older Macs Mac
People reported that even for newer models, I need to activate this feature on every Mac in my local network in order to use it properly, including ethernet-only connected Macs.
To disable this feature, I only need to set the last digit back to zero, of course:
defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser BrowseAllInterfaces 0
I am quite happy this “hack” still works under Mountain Lion 10.8.0 and 10.8.1, so if you have an older Mac computer that can still run Lion or Mountain Lion natively, no need to go jealous on the AirDrop functionality of newer computers!
My thanks to OSXDaily.com for posting the original tip of the anonymous user over MacOSXHints.com.
Update: Looks like it works fine with my MacBook Pro (2007) via Wi-Fi and my Hackintosh via Ethernet! (both running Mountain Lion 10.8.2)
OS X Lion's AirDrop can work on older Macs with just a few Terminal commands
Airdrop Hack For Older Macs Free
When Apple released OS X 10.7 Lion, they introduced a small but extremely useful feature for anyone with more than one Mac on the same network called AirDrop. While we’ve always had the ability to connect to other Macs with File Sharing turned on, it’s never been as easy as it is with AirDrop. The only problem: AirDrop only works with newer Macs. I have a 2006 MacPro, and was extremely disappointed when I found out AirDrop wouldn’t work. Thankfully, there is a simple work-around that got it working for me.
Airdrop Hack For Older Macs &
The first thing you need to know is that the unsupported Mac must be on the same WiFi or ethernet network, and also that you must run the commands below on ALL the Macs you wish to use AirDrop with, even if one or more of them already support AirDrop.
To get AirDrop running, type the following in the Terminal application:
defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser BrowseAllInterfaces 1- Hit the Enter key
killall Finder- Hit the Enter key
After you perform these commands on each Mac on your network, you should be able to see your Macs when you click on the AirDrop icon in the Finder window sidebar.
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