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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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wingyiulam

macrumors newbie
Mar 17, 2018
27
1
I see, for sure, I did connect the bluetooth cable to the right port, whenever i remove the external antenna my device lost signal. I do have a USB 3.0 adapter in my machine. I will get rid of the adapter and give it a try.


bookemdano said:
I've only used the first Magic Mouse, but I found it to be incredibly picky about the surface I had it on (wouldn't track on glass or light colored surfaces), which I remember being an unpleasant surprise since I most associate that phenomenon with first generation optical mice from the late 90s. I would hope Apple has corrected that for the MM2 but just in case you may want to try it on a dark, matte surface.

Barring that, here are a couple of ideas:

1. The antenna connection(s) inside are infinitesimally tiny and fragile. Maybe you can test your antenna with a multimeter for continuity to make sure it's actually physically connected to your card.

2. I know you followed the tutorial, but might be worth double-checking that you actually have the external antenna connected to the BT antenna connection on the card (instead of one of the WiFi connectors).

3. USB 3.0 is an extremely common cause of BT interference. Do you have a USB 3.0/3.1 card in your cMP? Try removing it as a test (and/or disconnect anything you have hooked up to it) to see if that makes a difference.
Click to expand...
 
Squuiid

Squuiid

macrumors 68000
Oct 31, 2006
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wingyiulam said:
I see, for sure, I did connect the bluetooth cable to the right port, whenever i remove the external antenna my device lost signal. I do have a USB 3.0 adapter in my machine. I will get rid of the adapter and give it a try.
Click to expand...
Also, if you have a wireless access point transmitting on the 2.4GHz band then that too can cause severe interference with Bluetooth. Try also turning your 2.4GHz Wi-Fi band off temporarily and see how it goes.
 
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bookemdano

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Jul 29, 2011
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I know others must have seen this 2.4Ghz WiFi interference issue before, but I just want to add a datapoint that I have never had that be a source of interference for me. I have dual band access points and there are a lot of other 2.4GHz signals in the vicinity but have never seen it affect my BT connection.

USB 3.0 though? definitely, even on my 2014 Mac mini which has USB 3.0 built-in. I had connected a USB 3.0 hard drive dock to it with just a normal unshielded USB 3.0 cable. Not only did my Magic KB and Trackpad frequently lose connection, but Apple Watch unlock would almost never work unless I held my hand right up near the mini. I need to look into buying a shielded cable for it, but for now I just unhooked it and BT works perfectly again.

OP, is the reason you're using an external antenna for BT because you don't have the extension cable to reconnect the built-in BT antenna? Or had you already tried the internal antenna and had signal problems there also?

One tip I read on this forum (probably even in this thread) is to use one of the built-in Wifi antennas for BT and use the BT antenna for WiFi. Since WiFi has three antennas at its disposal it's not that big of a deal if one of them is poor, whereas BT only has one antenna to use. So maybe as part of your troubleshooting, try swapping the antenna connections on your Airport card.
 
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wingyiulam

macrumors newbie
Mar 17, 2018
27
1
I tried turning off the wifi 2.4GHz band entirely, but it didn't help improving the bluetooth signal. I use an external antenna because the CMP build-in bluetooth antenna is too weak, it only works properly within 2ft. Some cmp users mentioned that installing an external antenna will solve the issue; however, it doesn't work in my case. the magic mouse still only work within 2ft. its driving me nut...I will do some testing and keep you all posted

bookemdano said:
I know others must have seen this 2.4Ghz WiFi interference issue before, but I just want to add a datapoint that I have never had that be a source of interference for me. I have dual band access points and there are a lot of other 2.4GHz signals in the vicinity but have never seen it affect my BT connection.

USB 3.0 though? definitely, even on my 2014 Mac mini which has USB 3.0 built-in. I had connected a USB 3.0 hard drive dock to it with just a normal unshielded USB 3.0 cable. Not only did my Magic KB and Trackpad frequently lose connection, but Apple Watch unlock would almost never work unless I held my hand right up near the mini. I need to look into buying a shielded cable for it, but for now I just unhooked it and BT works perfectly again.

OP, is the reason you're using an external antenna for BT because you don't have the extension cable to reconnect the built-in BT antenna? Or had you already tried the internal antenna and had signal problems there also?

One tip I read on this forum (probably even in this thread) is to use one of the built-in Wifi antennas for BT and use the BT antenna for WiFi. Since WiFi has three antennas at its disposal it's not that big of a deal if one of them is poor, whereas BT only has one antenna to use. So maybe as part of your troubleshooting, try swapping the antenna connections on your Airport card.
Click to expand...
 
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bookemdano

macrumors 68000
Jul 29, 2011
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FWIW, I use one of the cMP's WiFi antennas as my BT antenna and my BT performance is good. But I also keep my cMP chassis within a few feet of my kb/trackpad.

Edit: Did you already remove the USB 3.0 card? No change?
 
h9826790

h9826790

macrumors P6
Apr 3, 2014
16,656
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Hong Kong
wingyiulam said:
I tried turning off the wifi 2.4GHz band entirely, but it didn't help improving the bluetooth signal. I use an external antenna because the CMP build-in bluetooth antenna is too weak, it only works properly within 2ft. Some cmp users mentioned that installing an external antenna will solve the issue; however, it doesn't work in my case. the magic mouse still only work within 2ft. its driving me nut...I will do some testing and keep you all posted
Click to expand...

Are you sure your external antenna is connected to the BT port, but not the Wifi port?
 
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wingyiulam

macrumors newbie
Mar 17, 2018
27
1
h9826790 said:
Are you sure your external antenna is connected to the BT port, but not the Wifi port?
Click to expand...

Yes, I lost the connection of bluetooth device whenever I unscrew the external antenna.
[doublepost=1535132758][/doublepost]
bookemdano said:
FWIW, I use one of the cMP's WiFi antennas as my BT antenna and my BT performance is good. But I also keep my cMP chassis within a few feet of my kb/trackpad.

Edit: Did you already remove the USB 3.0 card? No change?
Click to expand...

I haven't checked it yet; I will test it this weekend. will keep you all posted. :)
 
h9826790

h9826790

macrumors P6
Apr 3, 2014
16,656
8,587
Hong Kong
wingyiulam said:
Yes, I lost the connection of bluetooth device whenever I unscrew the external antenna.
[doublepost=1535132758][/doublepost]

I haven't checked it yet; I will test it this weekend. will keep you all posted. :)
Click to expand...

You still haven't tell us your antenna direction yet. Did you point the antenna into a correct direction to let the mouse stay in the most effective area?
9-dbi-7dbi-6dbi-2-dbi-range.jpg


For 9dB gain Antenna, the effective signal cone is just 25 degree wide, and the signal is really very directional. If you point the antenna into the wrong directly, the reception can be even worst then before.

Remember, the antenna cannot enhance the output in all direction, but just make it more focus on a specific direction. You can only get better connection at the right position with high dB gain antenna.
 
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Pandanl

Pandanl

macrumors member
Jul 28, 2010
70
24
The Netherlands
Today I received the Broadcom module, this adapter however has the connector in the way as you can see on the photo, however is still works.

Followed this post https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...0-keep-updating.1748061/page-30#post-24173394 however I made a mistake in connecting red to red and black to black instead of red to black and black to red. So Bluetooth was not working at first, had to completely take the cpu cage out again to re solder the wiring, and this time everything worked like it should.

After running the command and login out of iCloud I was able to enable the Apple Watch unlock option and handoff and airdrop works like it should.

The card floats in the adapter, I'm not going to throw my Mac Pro around so it should stay in I think.

74JyKl9.jpg


8mX2yjc.jpg
 
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polanskiman

polanskiman

macrumors regular
Feb 12, 2010
176
45
Pandanl said:
Today I received the Broadcom module, this adapter however has the connector in the way as you can see on the photo, however is still works.

Followed this post https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...0-keep-updating.1748061/page-30#post-24173394 however I made a mistake in connecting red to red and black to black instead of red to black and black to red. So Bluetooth was not working at first, had to completely take the cpu cage out again to re solder the wiring, and this time everything worked like it should.

After running the command and login out of iCloud I was able to enable the Apple Watch unlock option and handoff and airdrop works like it should.

The card floats in the adapter, I'm not going to throw my Mac Pro around so it should stay in I think.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up. Strange thing is that on that original post the connector seems to be on the bottom of the adapter while on yours it is on the top. I order the same adapter so I will have the same issue. I will probably simply desolder the connector and solder the cable straight to the board. Will add some heat shrink tubbing to prevent potential shorting.

I am still waiting for the BT extension and adapter myself. I already received the airpot card. Will report once I receive everything.
 
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W

wingyiulam

macrumors newbie
Mar 17, 2018
27
1
I just did a test by removing usb 3.0 adapter, it increases the bluetooth by 1-2 ft. it definity helps increasing the signal.
this is the current card I am using BCM94360CD 4.0 BT.

how much better of putting a 4.2 BT BCM943602CDP in CMP. Someone mentioned this is a BT 4.2 card, but When I do a reach on eBay, seller said this is a 4.0 or 4.1 BT card. its a little confused, everyone, different seller have different spec for this card.
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...0-keep-updating.1748061/page-30#post-24173394

Is there any workable BT 5 card for cmp?

both my Magic keyboard and mm2 mouse work flawlessly; however, my Wacom tablet is having a hard time connecting the blue device, the cursor is a bit laggy...
[doublepost=1535847423][/doublepost]Does BCM943602CDP a BT 4.2 card, none of the seller states it a BT 4.2 card. some said its a 4.0, and some said 4.1...its so confusing...


jonashoechst said:
Hello everybody.
In the last weeks I read a lot about Wifi / Bluetooth in the MacPro 4,1/5,1. I'm aware there are guides on installing Wifi Cards in the MacPro nevertheless I wanted to share my experiences here.

My primary goals were:
  • 802.11ac / Bluetooth 4.2 (or at least 4.0)
  • no kext patching
  • only use internal antennas
  • use the internal Mini PCI Express (mPCIe) connector
  • use parts that are commonly available / not overpriced
  • no kit, since availability is limited / kits are overpriced in my opinion
  • don't destroy stuff, aka. don't cut any cables
Basic information about the MacPro Wireless internals:
  • the MacPro's internal mPCIe connector misses the USB data lanes (contrary to the standard)
  • the three internal antennas are fine for 802.11ac, but a 4th antenna is needed for Bluetooth
  • the stock bluetooth chip is connected via USB and uses another internal antenna
  • there are about 20cm / 8 inch distance from the Bluetooth connector to the mPCIe socket
General plan (similarly used by the kits out there):
  • install a Apple Wifi/Bluetooth Card using an mPCIe -> Apple proprietary adapter
  • inject USB D+/D- lanes from the old Bluetooth connector to mPCIe adapter
  • extend the Bluetooth antenna to reach the mPCIe socket
As the general plan seems to be pretty easy, the details are a little bit more complicated. To get the right parts, all the connectors need to be known in detail:
  • the stock Bluetooth card uses a proprietary cable, which is not widely available. However the connector on the Logic board is 1.25mm hole-to-hole distance, and uses a Micro JST 1.25 4-Pin connector
  • all antennas use U.FL (aka. IPEX, IPAX, IPX, AMC, MHF, UMCC) connectors
  • macOS supports these broadcom chips:
    • BCM4360
      • BCM94360CD: iMac (Late 2012), MIMO 3x3, BT4.0
      • BCM94360CS: MacPro Retina 15'' (Late 2015), MIMO 3x3, BT4.0 (shared antenna), MHF4 connectors
      • BCM94360CS2: MacBook Air (Mid 2013), MIMO 2x2, BT4.0, MHF4 connectors
    • BCM43602
Buying stuff... I prefer websites using english websites, so my main sources are AliExpress and eBay.
View attachment 682746

Final Assembly:

View attachment 682745
View attachment 682747
View attachment 682748
View attachment 682749
View attachment 682750
View attachment 682751
View attachment 682752


So in total I spent 49.34$ for full 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.2 in my cMP 4,1.

I'd like to encourage you you do this upgrade in the same manner. The only thing that didn't go well in the first place was the wrong DF13 connector, the rest is pretty straight forward.

I hope this summary helps some of you.

Best regards,
- jonashoechst
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
B

bookemdano

macrumors 68000
Jul 29, 2011
1,514
846
wingyiulam said:
I just did a test by removing usb 3.0 adapter, it increases the bluetooth by 1-2 ft. it definity helps increasing the signal.
this is the current card I am using BCM94360CD 4.0 BT.

how much better of putting a 4.2 BT BCM943602CDP in CMP. Someone mentioned this is a BT 4.2 card, but When I do a reach on eBay, seller said this is a 4.0 or 4.1 BT card. its a little confused, everyone, different seller have different spec for this card.
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...0-keep-updating.1748061/page-30#post-24173394

Is there any workable BT 5 card for cmp?

both my Magic keyboard and mm2 mouse work flawlessly; however, my Wacom tablet is having a hard time connecting the blue device, the cursor is a bit laggy...
[doublepost=1535847423][/doublepost]Does BCM943602CDP a BT 4.2 card, none of the seller states it a BT 4.2 card. some said its a 4.0, and some said 4.1...its so confusing...
Click to expand...

Try using one of your WiFI antennas for BT. And use your BT antenna as one of the WiFi antennas. Worked for me.
 
C

Cecco

macrumors regular
Jun 11, 2008
110
9
How long does it take until Handoff starts working?

Entered the terminal command given here and checked SystemParameters.plist after reboot and there is an entry:

<key>Mac-F221BEC8</key>
<dict>
<key>ContinuitySupport</key>
<true/>
<key>DID ProductCode</key>
<integer>18954</integer>
</dict>
<key>Mac

So the terminal command worked but still no continuity working after an hour !?!

BTW. Airdrop works, so Bluetooth/WIFI signal should be ok.
 
C

Cecco

macrumors regular
Jun 11, 2008
110
9
Ok, seems it needed a logout/login to iCloud - which by the way is a pain in the ass with all the syncing happening after the re-login. Probably should have chosen to keep all data locally on logout but I feared I might get duplicates that way.
 
polanskiman

polanskiman

macrumors regular
Feb 12, 2010
176
45
Pandanl said:
Today I received the Broadcom module, this adapter however has the connector in the way as you can see on the photo, however is still works.

Followed this post https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...0-keep-updating.1748061/page-30#post-24173394 however I made a mistake in connecting red to red and black to black instead of red to black and black to red. So Bluetooth was not working at first, had to completely take the cpu cage out again to re solder the wiring, and this time everything worked like it should.

After running the command and login out of iCloud I was able to enable the Apple Watch unlock option and handoff and airdrop works like it should.

The card floats in the adapter, I'm not going to throw my Mac Pro around so it should stay in I think.
Click to expand...

I installed everything yesterday. Wifi works fine but BT doesn't. First I thought I might have inverted the polarities (D- and D+) but even after inverting the cables it didn't work. So either the airport card or the adapter has a problem.
 
Pandanl

Pandanl

macrumors member
Jul 28, 2010
70
24
The Netherlands
polanskiman said:
I installed everything yesterday. Wifi works fine but BT doesn't. First I thought I might have inverted the polarities (D- and D+) but even after inverting the cables it didn't work. So either the airport card or the adapter has a problem.
Click to expand...

Did you remove the connector on the adapter card? If so maybe check with a multimeter in continuity mode to check if the connection is good.
 
polanskiman

polanskiman

macrumors regular
Feb 12, 2010
176
45
Pandanl said:
Did you remove the connector on the adapter card? If so maybe check with a multimeter in continuity mode to check if the connection is good.
Click to expand...
No I did not remove the connector. I left it like you. I did check with a multimeter for continuity in the cable and no problem there.
 
polanskiman

polanskiman

macrumors regular
Feb 12, 2010
176
45
After properly opening my eyes I see the BT is in fact detected but is not listed in the hardware as bluetooth but rather as USB

9FIW5Oe.png

s2VHpvX.png

N4x5g39.png


This said BT is not usable. MAC OS complains the hardware is not found.
 
B

bookemdano

macrumors 68000
Jul 29, 2011
1,514
846
polanskiman said:
After properly opening my eyes I see the BT is in fact detected but is not listed in the hardware as bluetooth but rather as USB

9FIW5Oe.png

s2VHpvX.png

N4x5g39.png


This said BT is not usable. MAC OS complains the hardware is not found.
Click to expand...

Yep, definitely something wrong. It should show up in both places (Hardware>Bluetooth and Hardware>USB). It looks like the USB bus is able to get the hardware ID of the card (0x8296) which it then identifies as a bluetooth card, but the actual hardware is not working.

I would double or triple check that all connections are made (and firmly) and that there are no kinks or breaks in the BT USB cable. Barring that, you might need to replace the card.
 
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polanskiman

polanskiman

macrumors regular
Feb 12, 2010
176
45
h9826790 said:
Which OS you are running now? SIP disabled?
Click to expand...

Running El Capitan. I have a spare partition where I test major MAS OS upgrades prior applying them on my production environment. I will update to Sierra and higher up see if that helps but doubt it.

SIP is not disabled but to my understanding there is no need for CAT for that card so not sure why disable SIP. I might be wrong.
 
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