Resolved 2012 Mac Pro Apple Broadcom Bcm94360cd - Wifi appears dead - Bluetooth working

[SystemHasFailed]

Hello! I'm hoping someone can help me figure out if my Bcm94360cd card is defective or not.

about a year ago I bought the card mentioned in the subject from OSXWIFI.com - it's been working fine.. until yesterday. I had to power off my computer to move it. When I restarted I found that WiFi appears to not be working any more, but Bluetooth appears to work fine. For WiFi all I see is in the attached screenshot.

I've tried PRAM reset. I'm not sure if the SMC reset worked or not (I've seen conflicting information on how to reset it). Regardless I still have the above problem. AHT didn't show any hardware errors but it also cannot see the WiFi Adapter either.

Any suggestions? Did the card keel over? Do I need to order another one?

 

[h9826790]

Did you try re-seat the card?

 

[SystemHasFailed]

Did you try re-seat the card?

Yes I did. Same issue.. Bluetooth works.. but WiFi does not. I've heard there are SMC reset pins or a switch on the motherboard.. any ideas where? Perhaps SMC isn't resetting...

 

[JedNZ]

In System Preferences > Network, have you tried deleting the Wi-Fi interface, and then adding it back in? I've had similar issues with my network connections in the past - both Wi-Fi (I've got BCM94360CD's installed in 3 of my cMP) and Ethernet - and the last thing I ever thought about was to remove the related interface and then add it back in again, but it was the step that finally got it to work.

As for resetting the SMC - I do it the old and easy way - Shutdown - remove the power cord - wait 20 seconds, plug the power cord back in - wait 10 seconds, then power up. I've never tried playing around with the on-board MOBO reset button thingy - maybe others with experience and knowledge can explain more about that, as well as any consequences.

 

[SystemHasFailed]

In System Preferences > Network, have you tried deleting the Wi-Fi interface, and then adding it back in?

Well I just removed it.. and now there's no option in the list to add it back in. It's not available as an interface any more..

 

[SystemHasFailed]

Just to give a further update.. I pulled out the OSXWifi Card.. completely re-seated it back into its adapter.. and did SMC and PRAM resets. End result is the same.. the WiFi Adapter isn't recognized (Bluetooth works fine) and I cannot re-add it as a adapter on Network Preferences.. I emailed @osxwifi about it, but have heard nothing back. I don't want to order another one only to find out that doesn't fix the problem.. :-/

 

[JedNZ]

What about if you boot into RecoveryHD. Does it show WiFi in the menu bar? Or how about another boot drive you might have (an earlier version maybe)?

Also, if you power down and remove the power and network cables - wait one minute then boot back up (without the network/ethernet cable connected): do you need to reset the time/date? If so then you'll need to replace the PRAM battery.

Also consider creating a new Admin User account and see if WiFi shows up there. If it does then maybe settings/files (Extensions etc) may be missing/broken on your User account.

 

[SystemHasFailed]

What about if you boot into RecoveryHD. Does it show WiFi in the menu bar?

Nope. And AHT doesn't see the card their either.

Also, if you power down and remove the power and network cables - wait one minute then boot back up (without the network/ethernet cable connected): do you need to reset the time/date?

I'll triple-check but I don't think that was a problem. I seem to recall that AHT was still showing the correct time and date information.

Also consider creating a new Admin User account and see if WiFi shows up there.

I keep an admin account on the computer for just such an emergency.. That was fine, also.

 

[h9826790]

Nope. And AHT doesn't see the card their either.

AHT is very type / model specific. Since our cMP never shipped with that card. I will consider AHT can't see that card is normal.

Anyway, even recovery partition can't see the card. Most likely it's a hardware issue.

 

[SystemHasFailed]

AHT is very type / model specific. Since our cMP never shipped with that card. I will consider AHT can't see that card is normal.

Hmm.. I see your point. I'll play around a bit more. I have ordered another card in the event it is a hardware issue. OSXWifi has been unresponsive to my emails.. the new card should be here tomorrow and I'll go from there.

 

[Mr. Zarniwoop]

This is running Sierra, not some old OS X? Not sure when the ac drivers were introduced.

 

[SystemHasFailed]

This is running Sierra, not some old OS X? Not sure when the ac drivers were introduced.

This is not an OSX issue.. this card has worked fine with both 10.11 and 10.12. This literally started after I shut down.. moved the computer.. and started up again.. more and more I'm thinking it's a hardware issue as @h9826790 said. I'll also play around again in Recovery mode *and* make sure that the clock isn't being set back to beginning of epoch when I unplug power to make sure there isn't a PRAM backup battery problem (I honestly cannot remember if that was an issue or not).

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Is the WIFI card and the BT card separate? I noticed yesterday in my MP 4,1 that there is a WIFI card in the slot behind the CPU tray, and also what people say is the BT board screwed to the mainboard and connected with a cable.

So, is BT part of the WIFI card or separate?

 

[SystemHasFailed]

Is the WIFI card and the BT card separate?

Not when you install the Bcm94360cd from OSXWifi. Then they're combined into the same piece of hardware.

 

[SystemHasFailed]

Also, if you power down and remove the power and network cables - wait one minute then boot back up (without the network/ethernet cable connected): do you need to reset the time/date? If so then you'll need to replace the PRAM battery.

Turns out you are right.. PRAM battery appears to be dead.. and the wifi card works if I'm in recovery mode AFTER a PRAM reset. I'll see about replacing the PRAM battery. But what I don't get is why recovery mode can see the wireless card but my main OS boot does not - not even the admin account can see it..

EDIT: I guess it doesn't matter why the main boot couldn't see the Wifi card and Recovery could.. because after a re-install of the OS I can now use the WiFi card again.. I feel like such a dunce for not having tried that to begin with..

Thank you everyone for your time.

 

[JedNZ]

Don't be hard on yourself - I had no idea what the problem was, you just have to work through a few troubleshooting steps in order to weed out the possibles in order to get to the probables until you get it sorted. Well done.