2011 MacBook Pros can support Handoff/Continuity

[LeonLQ]

Good news for 2011 MacBook Air and 2011 Mac mini owners, here's a refreshed tutorial that enables Continuity on those machines as well. No hardware upgrade is required on these Macs. Handoff, Instant Hotspot, and iOS↔OSX Airdrop now fully work. I've tested it with Yosemite GM (14A379a).

The tutorial is built on top of previous great tutorials made by forum members mikecwest and Lem3ssie (thanks guys!).
The new steps basically disable a blacklist in the Bluetooth drivers.

TUTORIAL

1. Download and install 0xED in your Applications folder, you can get it from here:
http://www.suavetech.com/0xed/

2. Download and install KextDrop in your Applications folder, you can get it from here:
http://www.cindori.org/software/kextdrop/

3. Open Terminal and type :

sudo nvram boot-args="kext-dev-mode=1"

4. Restart your machine.

5. Open Finder, type CMD+Shift+G and go to /System/Library/Extensions/

6. Copy the files below to your desktop and then delete the originals. Make an extra backup copy of the 2 files in a separate folder just in case.

IO80211Family.kext
IOBluetoothFamily.kext

7. Go to Terminal, and type: (exactly as below)

ioreg -l | grep "board-id" | awk -F\" '{print $4}'

8. Your result should look like : Mac-742912EFDBEE19B3, (yours might be different.). Copy it to your clipboard (Select and CMD+C). Don't close terminal yet.

9. Open Finder and hit CMD+Shift+G, go to ~/Desktop/IO80211Family.kext/Contents/Plugins/AirPortBrcm4360.kext/Contents/MacOS
Note: if you have a different OS language, you might need to replace "Desktop" in the path with your local translation.

10. Right Click on AirPortBrcm4360, and choose OPEN WITH: OTHER: 0XED

11. Press CMD+F, search for "Mac-" (without the quotes). Make sure the search type is Text and not HEX.

12. Look at the first result, for example, it might be Mac-C3EC7CD22292981F

13. Go back to the FIND box, in the FIND field enter that first "Mac-" number that you found.

14. In the REPLACE field, enter the number you got in Terminal, (remember you left it open.)

15. Click REPLACE

16. Repeat steps 11 to 15, but this time for the last "Mac-" result that you can find in the file.

17. Click SAVE (the red circle button)

18. Open Finder and hit CMD+Shift+G to open the "Go to" popup, and go to ~/Desktop/IOBluetoothFamily.kext/Contents/MacOS

19. Right Click on IOBluetoothFamily, and choose OPEN WITH: OTHER: 0XED.

20. Press CMD+F.
In the SEARCH field type:

MacBookAir

Click FIND NEXT.

21. You will find a block of text containing

'MacBookAir4,1''MacBookAir4,2''Macmini5,1''Macmini5,2''Macmini5,3'

Manually replace the numbers with ones only so they all look like:

'MacBookAir1,1''MacBookAir1,1''Macmini1,1''Macmini1,1''Macmini1,1'

Important: Be careful not to add any character while doing the replacement.

22. Click SAVE (the red circle button) and quit 0xED.

23. Open KextDrop, and Drag and drop the IO80211Family.kext that you modified into the window.

24. Click INSTALL.

25. Repeat steps 23 and 24 but for your modified IOBluetoothFamily.kext

26. Go Back to Terminal, and type the following commands. Wait for each one to finish.

sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel

sudo kextcache -system-caches

27. Reboot. Make sure you have an Internet connection for the next steps.

28. Go to > SYSTEM PREFERENCES> GENERAL, at the bottom click ENABLE HANDOFF.

29. Go to > SYSTEM PREFERENCES> ICLOUD, click on SIGN OUT.

30. On your iOS Device, go to SETTINGS> ICLOUD and SIGN OUT.

31. Restart your Mac and iOS device.

32. Go to > SYSTEM PREFERENCES> ICLOUD, and enter your credentials to sign in.

33. On your iOS Device, go to SETTINGS> ICLOUD and SIGN IN.
[url=http://i.imgur.com/zNF1hbr.png]Image[/URL]

Edit: added more manual steps (steps 20 & 21)
Edit 2: clarified step 6 and intro, corrected typos

It works!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU!

 

[wizmaster]

The instructions above work! Continuity works between the apps, however The only issue i have is that my phone calls are not coming through to my mac. Any idea what i need to do to enable this?

 

[xakerbox]

Dear friends, could you help me. Now I Have working HandOff, but I can't turn on the Discoverability go bluetooth (MB Air mid 2011). So, in few minutes of working with HandOff (in both directions: OS X - iOS) it suddenly stops. To turn it again I have to enter to bluetooth settings on my Mac. And it's proceeds working again...

The other question: when I try to make a call via iPhone from Mac, the mac says «iPhone has to use the aim account of iCloud»... But they are same? How can I solve it?

Thank you UncleSchnitty!!! You're great man!

 

[j7451339]

I got the handoff option after following the #1's step.
But it doesn't work to my macbook but iPhone .
what's going on?
Anyone can help me?

mbp late 2011 13' and iPhone 5s

 

[tuhouc]

Does not work on Mac mini 2011

Already a few people wrote that this tutorial does not work on mini 2011. I myself have done everything according to the instructions, reinstall the system, but stopped at the point 28 - words Handoff just not in the settings.

Here is what is written in IO80211Family and IOBluetoothFamily, as well as a log terminal.

 

[cliophate]

Hi there,

I've been trying this tutorial twice on my MBA 2011 with the final Yosemite release but I didn't get it to work. If someone wants to step in.
Mac-742912EFDBEE19B3

I don't know what I'm doing wrong but it doesn't seem to work.

 

[w8ing4]

trying to follow this procedure for my MBA late 2010. My ID: Mac-942C5DF58193131B
Thanks!

 

[hounslowfish]

Already a few people wrote that this tutorial does not work on mini 2011. I myself have done everything according to the instructions, reinstall the system, but stopped at the point 28 - words Handoff just not in the settings.

Here is what is written in IO80211Family and IOBluetoothFamily, as well as a log terminal.

Image

Try an extra step of deleting both of those files and rebooting - so your computer no longer has working bluetooth and wifi. Then install the new files. This extra step was necessary for me.

 

[Stella]

Is it easily to swap the BT4 card in the Macbook Pro 2011?

Also, I've seen some references to a cable to buy as well as the BT4 card - is a new cable necessary? Can the existing cable not be reused?

 

[Jacooch]

Ive put all my finding and modified instructions in one thread Handoff Breakdown

I wanted a place where all the facts could be put together. Im deleting all my other thread subscriptions except for that (hah too many email alerts) If anyone needs my help Ill be helping people there.

And we have success, yes!!! Thank you sir. Ran thru your tutorial and I am now up and running with Handoff enabled on a Early 2011 MBP 15". I believe where I went wrong was not entering in the MAC-ID as Uncle suggested, I was using a find/replace. Again, thanks to all for their help and especially for all that took the time to put this mod together. Glad to know my 2011 is not legacy!!

Thanks again,

John

----------

Is it easily to swap the BT4 card in the Macbook Pro 2011?

Also, I've seen some references to a cable to buy as well as the BT4 card - is a new cable necessary? Can the existing cable not be reused?

Extremely easy, here is the guide I used:


https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBoo...2011+AirPort-Bluetooth+Board+Replacement/5886

Good luck!!

 

[jtishler]

Hello. I've followed Dok tutorial several times and the button still does not show up in Prefs > Gen.

I'm on a mid-2011 MBA.

I've reviewed my modded kexts and they seem to be correct. Although I do notices that there are "." between the Mac model numbers in the IOBluetoothFamily.kext that aren't in the tutorial text. They are there in the original unmodded kext so I assumed they are correct. Am I wrong?

I also notice that when I type sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel I get a whole mess of messages back. Here's what I get, if it means something to anyone:

Mac-742912EFDBEE19B3
Jordans-MacBook-Air-2:~ Jordan$ sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel
Password:
kext file:///System/Library/Extensions/Tether64.kext/ is in hash exception list, allowing to load
kext file:///System/Library/Extensions/PACESupportFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/PACESupportSnowLeopard.kext/ is in hash exception list, allowing to load
kext file:///System/Library/Extensions/JMicronATA.kext/ is in hash exception list, allowing to load
kext-dev-mode allowing invalid signature -67061 0xFFFFFFFFFFFEFA0B for kext IOBluetoothFamily.kext
kext file:///System/Library/Extensions/DigiIO.kext/ is in hash exception list, allowing to load
kext file:///System/Library/Extensions/DigiDal.kext/ is in hash exception list, allowing to load
Jordans-MacBook-Air-2:~ Jordan$ sudo kextcache -system-caches
Jordans-MacBook-Air-2:~ Jordan$


I wonder if any of those other kext are messing with the two we're dealing with, or if the invalid signature means I did something wrong.

Thanks for helping. I really want to get handoff working.

 

[Archaeoman]

Verify

I cannot get this to work on my Mid2011. Do we need to replace ALL of the Mac-XXXXXXXX numbers or just the first and last in step 14,15,16??

 

[matteo89]

Guys HELP please:
I have a early-2011 MBP 15"
I tried to follow the tutorial but now after the reboot the wireless and bluetooth are off and not working!
I tried replacing the two .kext files and rebooting again but nothing! (
What have I done??

 

[hyperskier96]

Guys HELP please:
I have a early-2011 MBP 15"
I tried to follow the tutorial but now after the reboot the wireless and bluetooth are off and not working!
I tried replacing the two .kext files and rebooting again but nothing! (
What have I done??

you need to tell us more than that

 

[matteo89]

you need to tell us more than that

I tried modifying the kext files but, as I had a hunch I had not understood the procedure, after I rebooted and the wifi wasn't working, I put back the two original kext files IO802011Family and IOBluetoothFamily, and rebooted.
Now it's still like that, bluetooth and wifi are not responding, it says no hardware installed, and even if I reset the cache from terminal it doesn't work..

 

[hyperskier96]

I tried modifying the kext files but, as I had a hunch I had not understood the procedure, after I rebooted and the wifi wasn't working, I put back the two original kext files IO802011Family and IOBluetoothFamily, and rebooted.
Now it's still like that, bluetooth and wifi are not responding, it says no hardware installed, and even if I reset the cache from terminal it doesn't work..

I have a mbp 13' early 2011. the only things i had to edit were in IO80211Family.kext
maybe for 15' you need to do it in the IOBluetoothFamily.kext as well, but for me i didn't have to.
For a while i couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting handoff to work. eventually i realized that i was misreading a part of the directions. I tried it again, following it word for word, and it worked perfectly.

 

[tuhouc]

Try an extra step of deleting both of those files and rebooting - so your computer no longer has working bluetooth and wifi. Then install the new files. This extra step was necessary for me.

Thank you!
Managed to reach the last paragraph. But after logging in iCloud all devices handoff is not working. That is the function is enabled in the settings, but between the two devices pair no. I don't see the iPad as in the Finder tab AirDrop, and no programs running near the Dock.
I'm trying to connect iPad 4th iOS 8.0.2 for Mac mini 2011.

 

[robotphood]

Yep that was the key for me as well. Followed the steps 3 different times last night to no avail. Today I didn't even mod them again, just used your additional instructions to delete the original kexts, clear cache, reboot (lost wifi and bluetooth), kext dropped the ones I modified last night, cleared cache again and rebooted. After it rebooted I finally saw:

Bluetooth Low Energy Supported: Yes
Handoff Supported: Yes
Instant Hotspot Supported: Yes

Hallelujah! So my kext edits were in fact done properly--the system just wouldn't take one or both when using the steps in dokterdok's tutorial (not sure why it did work for others).

Anyway, might be worth updating the tutorial to incorporate these additional steps as that was definitely the key for several of us with the 2011 MBA.

Finally! This worked for me . This has been driving me nuts after 6+ tries. I was going to let a friend do it to see if I was just repeating the same mistakes.

Mid 2011 MBA

 

[tuhouc]

Repeated the steps 28 - 33 and have removed all other accounts iCloud, turned on and turned off the Handoff/Bluetooth on the Mac and on the iPad, has included Bluetooth Sharing in the settings but nothing helped. Handoff on Mac mini 2011 to have failed.

I could only run AirDrop OS X -> iOS

 

[groovyf]

Instructions have worked a treat for me and my MBA mid-2011, so many thanks for that!

My only "gotcha" was not being able to save the edited files, I got an Input/Output error.
So, made a copy of the two files to be edited by 0eXD (saving them to a Temp folder), made my edits and copied them back to where they needed to be (which resulted in me getting prompted to enter my credentials - I presume this is why I couldn't save them when attempting the first time) and then continued with the instructions for Kext Drop.

 

[kormo]

Can Anyone modify my KEXTs for me?

I followed tutorial few times, but is not working for me. I have also taken additional steps with an extra cache cleaning, still no handoff.

Probably I am doing something wrong.
I have Mid 2011 Mac Mini, the higher version with 6630M GPU

My original Kexts files are here
http://cl.ly/3X0I2M1N1j1G

And here is the string I got from the Terminal
Mac-4BC72D62AD45599E

If anybody with better experience would modify those KEXTs I would be happy.
My mini with 16 gigs of RAM and an extra SSD is really good machine and having Handoff would be nice.

Thanks
kormo

 

[mrbyu]

Good news for 2011 MacBook Air and 2011 Mac mini owners, here's a refreshed tutorial that enables Continuity on those machines as well. No hardware upgrade is required on these Macs. Handoff, Instant Hotspot, and iOS↔OSX Airdrop now fully work. I've tested it with Yosemite GM (14A379a).

I can hereby confirm that it WORKS! (MBA 13" mid-2011) Thank you very much good sir, it took quite a bit of time but eventually everything went fine. I really hope that if Apple refuses to enable Handoff for the 2011 MBA's in one of the future updates then this workaround will always remain functional.

I cannot believe that it's really just a plain deliberate software limitation... I'm mad and happy at the same time.

One more question: do I need to redo all these steps if I ever decide to reinstall Yosemite or can I just install the modified kexts with Kext Drop (for the same machine of course)?

 

[r.f.glsp13]

So my iPhone 6 Plus work to my late 2011 MBP. Anyone having problems with their iPad 3 not working? It says BT 4.0 on the specs... That's the first iPad retina but has the old dock connector for. I think they changed that one mid year to have a lightning connector it maybe that's ipad 4. Thoughts anyone? iPad 3 not working with continuity.

 

[simonsi]

MBP early-2011, iPhone 4S, call make n take worked out of the box.

System Info lists Low Energy, Handoff and Instant Hotspot as all "No"....and Phone Handoff works with BT turned off on the MBP....

In Yosemite FaceTime settings the Cellular checkbox text refers to the iPhone needing to be "close by and on WiFi"....so is BT needed at all???

Has anybody worked out how it works yet? Obviously FaceTime is involved, WiFi too but is the "close by" reference for proximity/security and supposed to be enforced by BT? Is the audio to the phone over BT?

Posted in the Handoff thread, would be better there...

 

[Fearz]

Does this tutorial works on the a MBP Late 2011 without a modified card?

?