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I've formatted my Macbook, and attempting to reinstall Mavericks, but I have a problem.

I access my Internet via an access point that requires me to log in via the web interface. When the formatted finished, I opened Safari to log in, but it froze. I was forced to reboot.

Now when I reboot and hold 'CMD + R' it automatically ties to connect to Apple, but of course it won't until I log into the web interface. So it fails.

How can I get around this? I have no other computers, apart from my tablet, I have no access to the router to plug in the LAN (not that it would matter because the MBP has no ethernet port). I have no CD/DVD drive, and the Macbook doesn't have one either.

Any advice

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    If you have a tablet can you not connect to the internet with the tablet and then open up a hotspot on your tablet and connect your macbook to that? I did the same as you just a few weeks ago and that is exactly how I managed to get around the access point issue.
    – theoneinskane
    Commented Sep 27, 2014 at 15:49

2 Answers 2

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Did you format your whole drive, or just the Data Partition (usually called Macintosh HD)

If you formatted your whole drive, holding down Command+R will take you to Internet Recovery (if your Mac has either had the EFI Firmware Upgrade for Internet Recovery or it's pre-installed on a relatively new Mac), or else do nothing, and flash a ? mark, indicating that there is no bootable partition on any available drives.

Internet Recovery doesn't work on captive-networks, as you've discovered.

I suggest you take your Mac to an Apple Store, use the Free Wi-Fi to connect to Internet Recovery (if possible), and download your OS from there.

If Internet Recovery is not a possibility, then I suggest you make an appointment with an Apple Genius, and he/she should be able to guide you through the steps necessary to re-install OS X Mavericks.

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I have a sneaking suspicion that your installer is stuck in a bad boot cycle. You can try resetting your PRAM, which might shake it out of its fixation on connecting to Apple and enable you to boot to the recovery partition again.

To reset your, first completely power off the system. Turn the power back on and then immediately press all four of command+option+p+r and continue holding this key combination until you hear the startup tone a second time. After that you should be able to do your usual startup with command+r to get into a fresh recovery mode.

I've seen it written on various threads in the Apple discussion board that Internet Recovery doesn't jibe well with WPA connections, preferring to operate over WPA2. That seems odd to me, but I present it to you so you can try to use WPA2 to connect (if possible). If not, perhaps WEP is available.

When you're successful in getting Mavericks installed again and all is back to normal, I'd recommend purchasing an 8GB USB stick and using DiskMaker X to create a bootable installation image. Mavericks is a free download for you from your App Store purchases page. DiskMaker X can dig into the Mavericks installer that you download from Apple and create a bootable USB image that is far, far faster to install from than going over an internet connection.

DiskMaker X can be downloaded for free from:

http://liondiskmaker.com

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  • The PRAM reset worked, it no longer auto connects. But, it won't get passed the select a network page so I can't access disk utilities or anything like that. I select the wifi, but it's just stuck. I guess it's because I need to log into the web interface for my Internet.
    – Paully
    Commented Sep 27, 2014 at 12:12
  • Correct. You'll need an net connection that functions as soon as you connect to it. If you can find a network connection that does not require web authentication, you should be okay. It's probably time to call friends/relatives and buy pizza/beer in exchange for using their 'net connection for several hours. :)
    – Trane Francks
    Commented Sep 27, 2014 at 12:17

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