Macdctr, thanks for the link! Can you confirm that this doesn't need a USB cable. I've seen some that have to have a cable routed outside the case. How exactly does the BT part connect to USB on the mainboard in this specific adapter you've linked?
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MP 1,1-5,1 802.11ac, BT 4.0, Continuity, and Handoff Working on Mac Pro 2010
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This kit is plug and play in every sense of the word
I can confirm there is absolutely no need for any USB cable with this kit. You connect an iMac WiFi/BT4.0 card (pictured below and from the link I posted) then route the BT power cable (black cable tapped on the top middle part of the card) from the iMac card pictured below to the logic board BT power connection in the second picture below:
Logic board side where the original BT card used to be
Then connect the grey BT extension wire to the BT antenna wire like how I have it below...
I used liquid electrical tape to seal the connection and to prevent any future accidental shorts.
Then made the rest of the connections on the iMac card and installed it. Everything is internal to the tower
Here is the diagram I used to attach the 4 wires to the iMac card
This was very easy to do. Just take your time when doing this.
Last thing to add is that this is the second time I have done this. I did this back in December when I got my 4,1 tower and haven't had any issues whatsoever so I got the same kit from the same eBay vendor (link provided in previous post), and did this with my 5,1 the other day. No issues with the performance of this kit. Very pleased with the whole process.
Hope this explains things and helps those who are interested.
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Not a problem! Glad to help
I forgot to mention, this kit comes with an "extra" BT extender cable in case you mess up the first one. In both cases, I never had to use my extra cable because I took my time and laid everything out where the wires had to be routed first. I can't emphasize this enough... when doing any mods, just take your time (it's not a race) and you will get thru this perfectly every time
Hi. I can get the card but I am not sure it comes with a BT extender cable. If it hasn't got one will the old antenna still plug on?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/151947437778
https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/151947437778
I done my upgrade last night and everything is working as it should. The only thing I would say about the kit I bought of eBay is there is a removable little lug that covers the connector for cable 2 and at the time I thought how do I get that connected. I then noticed there were small perforations on it obviously so that it can be broken off to gain access but it was not in the instructions I received.
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No because it is too far away from the BT antenna.
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No because it is too far away from the BT antenna.
I got the card with cables from eBay it was more expensive than the cards in the pictures but I bought it because it came with everything needed and it was in the UK. The eBay seller is called Mac_Apple.
I bought the same eBay listing and it worked for my 2009 upgraded MP as well. Just arrived today and put it in. It did include an extra extender cable and the instructions with pics on a mini-CD.
Took me about half hour. I am using 10.11 and had to delete my Bluetooth devices and re-add. Otherwise the biggest issue is getting the connectors pressed/snapped onto the card. My fingers aren't that big but I always have difficulties with these thin coax wifi/bt cables. I used regular electrical tape to wrap the BT cable junction.
Instructions say that screws are not needed to secure BT card to adapter card. It worked without screws but the card did not sit flush. A few tiny screws were included so I think I will take it back apart and see if those screws will attach the boards together.
Took me about half hour. I am using 10.11 and had to delete my Bluetooth devices and re-add. Otherwise the biggest issue is getting the connectors pressed/snapped onto the card. My fingers aren't that big but I always have difficulties with these thin coax wifi/bt cables. I used regular electrical tape to wrap the BT cable junction.
Instructions say that screws are not needed to secure BT card to adapter card. It worked without screws but the card did not sit flush. A few tiny screws were included so I think I will take it back apart and see if those screws will attach the boards together.
I am having a nightmare with a flaky trackpad one minute it works perfectly the next it is jumping all over the place or disconnecting. I am going to recheck my connections tomorrow evening then I need to try and work out if all the continuity stuff is actually working.
i get that - i wonder if the Low energy part of BT4LE means the built in aerial isn't quite up to the task, given how thick the metal of the case is. I've seen a mod where you affix a wifi router aerial connected to your BT lead to a backplane piece on an empty pci slot as a solution.
Yes I have seen that but I don't know what the pieces needed are called or where to get them. Have you got the continuity stuff working because my cMP says that it is working but how do you test it to see if it is working.
To do the external antenna mod, you'll find information about specific parts and how to do it here. Be sure to read through the comments for helpful details. It's neither difficult nor expensive and very worthwhile if you are experiencing erratic BT performance.
It works to an extent - stuff from my mac will show the continuity icons on the lockscreen of my ipad, but they don't seem to go the other way back. I've never seen the continuity dock icon on my mac. Airdrop woks fine, however.
I have had a look tonight and I found the problem. The wire from the 802.11 Airport and Bluetooth card that connects to the Bluetooth connector at the other side of the board had a kink in it very close to the connector. I just touched it and it broke off. Now I need a new cable. Can you just buy the cable on its own and what are they called? Thanks.
New BT cable fitted and BT is now performing very well.
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they re-stock the kit again, and they use the New WiFi AC & BT Combo card this time , with Bluetooth 4.1, sounds great
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Genuine...Pro-4-1-5-1-/252317542350?hash=item3abf4c27ce
The whole bluetooth version thing is so needlessly confusing. From everything I've read, BT 4.1 is supposed to just be a "software" update over 4.0, meaning that any existing 4.0 hardware can use 4.1 once Apple adopts it at the OS level. I've found no evidence that OS X supports anything other than 4.0.
Meanwhile, on the mobile side, Apple is now including BT 4.2 in the 6S/6+S/Air2 and also somehow enabled it in the 6 and 6+ . 4.2 supposedly requires a new chipset for full functionality but some of the improvements can be had with a firmware update.
So if 4.1 is just a software upgrade and Apple is already moving on to 4.2, which requires 4.2 hardware to get the full benefit, what's the benefit in buying 4.1 hardware over 4.0 hardware? Shouldn't they be the same thing hardware-wise?
I guess I just struggle to see what the value is in paying $110 for a newer (and also less-real-world-tested) card that has to be shipped from China versus just paying that same $110 to OSXWifi for the "tried and true" BCM94360CD that could be shipped and arrive in a few days. I guess it would be a different story for people outside the US.
Does anyone know anything definitive about the BCM943602CDP that would yield any kind of real-world improvement over the BCM94360CD? There is precious little info on the net about it.
Thanks.
Meanwhile, on the mobile side, Apple is now including BT 4.2 in the 6S/6+S/Air2 and also somehow enabled it in the 6 and 6+ . 4.2 supposedly requires a new chipset for full functionality but some of the improvements can be had with a firmware update.
So if 4.1 is just a software upgrade and Apple is already moving on to 4.2, which requires 4.2 hardware to get the full benefit, what's the benefit in buying 4.1 hardware over 4.0 hardware? Shouldn't they be the same thing hardware-wise?
I guess I just struggle to see what the value is in paying $110 for a newer (and also less-real-world-tested) card that has to be shipped from China versus just paying that same $110 to OSXWifi for the "tried and true" BCM94360CD that could be shipped and arrive in a few days. I guess it would be a different story for people outside the US.
Does anyone know anything definitive about the BCM943602CDP that would yield any kind of real-world improvement over the BCM94360CD? There is precious little info on the net about it.
Thanks.
BCM943602 used at some retina MacBook Pro already , so its more than definitive and work like the same as the BCM94360 chipset, likely an improvement model over the BCM94360 too.
and the Bluetooth 4.0, 4.1 or coming 4.2 thing , may like you said, just a software upgraded, and same backward compatible with 4.0 or early version of BT devices.
and this BCM943602CDP card are same Apple Genuine product, then will not have compatible issue with newer OSX , right?
and the Bluetooth 4.0, 4.1 or coming 4.2 thing , may like you said, just a software upgraded, and same backward compatible with 4.0 or early version of BT devices.
and this BCM943602CDP card are same Apple Genuine product, then will not have compatible issue with newer OSX , right?
I bought one, thanks.they re-stock the kit again, and they use the New WiFi AC & BT Combo card this time , with Bluetooth 4.1, sounds great
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Genuine...Pro-4-1-5-1-/252317542350?hash=item3abf4c27ce
Will let folks know how it goes once it arrives in a couple of weeks.
UK eBay stockist mac_apple is out of stock at the moment so I thought I'd give one of these a try...
Chipsets are clearly different:
So I just discovered something that may be self-evident but I don't think actually is.
I've previously used one AppleID for iTunes, and a different one for iCloud. In futzing around trying to un-bug Airdrop, I switched all of my Messages and Facetime accounts over from the iTunes AppleID to the iCloud one, and suddenly handoff is working on my mac, showing the icon on the dock for Messages and Facetime, something it's never done before.
My assumption therefore is that IF i used iCloud for my mail, rather than my own IMAP server, I'd also have handoff for that.
Perhaps it's something that people who use the one AppleID for everything never run into - but I've never encountered an explanation that contained the simple message "only services that are logged into your iCloud AppleID will trigger handoff".
I've previously used one AppleID for iTunes, and a different one for iCloud. In futzing around trying to un-bug Airdrop, I switched all of my Messages and Facetime accounts over from the iTunes AppleID to the iCloud one, and suddenly handoff is working on my mac, showing the icon on the dock for Messages and Facetime, something it's never done before.
My assumption therefore is that IF i used iCloud for my mail, rather than my own IMAP server, I'd also have handoff for that.
Perhaps it's something that people who use the one AppleID for everything never run into - but I've never encountered an explanation that contained the simple message "only services that are logged into your iCloud AppleID will trigger handoff".
Wish I knew what the issue is with El Capitan. If I boot into Yosemite handoff works. If I boot into El Capitan it doesn't. Is the Continuity Activation Tool required to get it working on El Cap? I did not need to run it for Yosemite.
Well, seems to be working fine in OS X 10.11.4.
Apple Bluetooth Software Version: 4.4.4f4 17685
Hardware, Features, and Settings:
Bluetooth Low Energy Supported: Yes
Handoff Supported: Yes
Instant Hot Spot Supported: Yes
Manufacturer: Broadcom
Transport: USB
Chipset: 20703A1
Firmware Version: v119 c4632
Bluetooth Power: On
Discoverable: Off
Connectable: No
Auto Seek Pointing: On
Remote wake: On
Vendor ID: 0x05AC
Product ID: 0x8294
HCI Version: 4.1 (0x7)
HCI Revision: 0x1218
LMP Version: 4.1 (0x7)
LMP Subversion: 0x2177
Device Type (Major): Computer
Device Type (Complete): Mac Desktop
Composite Class Of Device: 0x380104
Device Class (Major): 0x01
Device Class (Minor): 0x01
Service Class: 0x1C0
Auto Seek Keyboard: On
en2:
Card Type: AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0x14A)
Firmware Version: Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (7.21.95.175.1a6)
Locale: ETSI
Country Code: GB
Supported PHY Modes: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Supported Channels: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120, 124, 128, 132, 136, 140, 149, 153, 157, 161
Wake On Wireless: Supported
AirDrop: Supported, Channel 44
Status: Connected
I have read quite a few items regarding El Capitan and Handoff. As far as I am aware they know about it and are working on a fix.
Well what makes me question it is my 2013 rMBP has worked with handoff consistently no matter what OS I run (all releases of Yosemite and all releases of El Cap). "It just works." haha
And then we have people like Squuiid above who apparently has no problems with the card in El Capitan, presumably in the same Mac (not sure if it's truly a 5,1 or a 4,1->5,1 like mine).
Squuiid did you have to run the Continuity Activation Tool? Also, its interesting that your BT card says "Connectable: No" in System Profiler. Mine says yes and Continuity still doesn't work. WiFi and regular BT stuff work just fine, as does Airdrop. It's just Continuity that's MIA.
And then we have people like Squuiid above who apparently has no problems with the card in El Capitan, presumably in the same Mac (not sure if it's truly a 5,1 or a 4,1->5,1 like mine).
Squuiid did you have to run the Continuity Activation Tool? Also, its interesting that your BT card says "Connectable: No" in System Profiler. Mine says yes and Continuity still doesn't work. WiFi and regular BT stuff work just fine, as does Airdrop. It's just Continuity that's MIA.