Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

BCM94360CD in 2006/2007 Mac Pro (1,1/2,1)

Mr. Zarniwoop

Mr. Zarniwoop

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 9, 2005
753
140
I retrofitted my original 2006 Mac Pro with a new BCM94360CD 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 LE mPCIe card and adapter, and played around until I got an antenna configuration that worked well for me.

Many instructions around the Internet note that the Bluetooth antenna port is the antenna plug that is second from the bottom (when installed in a Mac Pro). However, as many folks figured out back in 2006, some original Mac Pros seem to have mislabeled antenna wires, so when I had my BT antenna wire hooked up to this port, I had poor performance. Specifically, my Bluetooth trackpad and keyboard would sometimes get sluggish, and I'd have to move them close to the Mac Pro where they almost touching the case to make them work right.

So, I played around with all my antennas and seem to get best WiFi and Bluetooth performance with my BCM94360CD with the following antenna connections (from the top to bottom plugs when inside the Mac Pro):
  • 3 (top)
  • BT (yes, this is not in the Bluetooth port on the card, I suspect my Mac Pro is one of the mislabeled ones)
  • 1 (this is the Bluetooth port on the card)
  • 2 (bottom)
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: VaZ and ActionableMango
Mr. Zarniwoop said:
I retrofitted my original 2006 Mac Pro with a new BCM94360CD 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 LE mPCIe card and adapter, and played around until I got an antenna configuration that worked well for me.

Many instructions around the Internet note that the Bluetooth antenna port is the antenna plug that is second from the bottom (when installed in a Mac Pro). However, as many folks figured out back in 2006, some original Mac Pros seem to have mislabeled antenna wires, so when I had my BT antenna wire hooked up to this port, I had poor performance. Specifically, my Bluetooth trackpad and keyboard would sometimes get sluggish, and I'd have to move them close to the Mac Pro where they almost touching the case to make them work right.

So, I played around with all my antennas and seem to get best WiFi and Bluetooth performance with my BCM94360CD with the following antenna connections (from the top to bottom plugs when inside the Mac Pro):
  • 3 (top)
  • BT (yes, this is not in the Bluetooth port on the card, I suspect my Mac Pro is one of the mislabeled ones)
  • 1 (this is the Bluetooth port on the card)
  • 2 (bottom)
Click to expand...

Mine is (card facing me, connectors from right to left)

J0 - 1
J1 - 2
J3 - BT
J2 - 3 (extra cable that was not connected to my original airport card)

BTW: Everything looks good in the Profile as as far as Handoff support is concerned. Preferences look good also. But I still could not get it to work on my 1,1->2,1. I used the Continuity Activation Tool also. Luck.
 
wwanthony said:
But I still could not get it to work on my 1,1->2,1. I used the Continuity Activation Tool also.
Click to expand...

I didn't use any tool on my 2006 Mac Pro. Handoff/Continuity with iOS (at least with Safari), Airdrop, and Instant Hotspot all work automagically without me configuring anything.
 
Well I thought so. The Profile stated everything was supported without the tool. When I ran the tool the only thing it reported was the whitelisting. It made no other changes to the system.
 
Have bluetooth and wireless but seems there are no antenna cables for me to plug into the mini-pci card. Guess there just using power till I can find some antenna's
 
Mr. Zarniwoop said:
I retrofitted my original 2006 Mac Pro with a new BCM94360CD 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 LE mPCIe card and adapter, and played around until I got an antenna configuration that worked well for me.

Many instructions around the Internet note that the Bluetooth antenna port is the antenna plug that is second from the bottom (when installed in a Mac Pro). However, as many folks figured out back in 2006, some original Mac Pros seem to have mislabeled antenna wires, so when I had my BT antenna wire hooked up to this port, I had poor performance. Specifically, my Bluetooth trackpad and keyboard would sometimes get sluggish, and I'd have to move them close to the Mac Pro where they almost touching the case to make them work right.

So, I played around with all my antennas and seem to get best WiFi and Bluetooth performance with my BCM94360CD with the following antenna connections (from the top to bottom plugs when inside the Mac Pro):
  • 3 (top)
  • BT (yes, this is not in the Bluetooth port on the card, I suspect my Mac Pro is one of the mislabeled ones)
  • 1 (this is the Bluetooth port on the card)
  • 2 (bottom)
Click to expand...
what adaptor did you buy? I found this card on amazon and this adaptor.

Card
http://www.amazon.com/Broadcom-BCM94360CD-BCM4360CD-802-11ac-Bluetooth/dp/B00L35XSMS

Adaptor
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0T2KSKQN61ZZSB8E8VNE
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Alright, so I apologize about bumping an older thread. I just got the BCMXXX360 card today. I installed it per the others' posts about what orientation each wire gets attached to. No detection. I am under OSX Lion if that makes a difference.

As I was rearranging the antennaes, one of the antennae pads broke off, go figure. Anyone have an EXACT diagram of what order 1, 2, 3, and BT antennaes connect to this card?

Also, is it possible to solder the pad back on or should I request a refund?
 
Thanks for the link. Aside from one of the pads breaking off, the card isn't detected under System Profiler (OSX Lion). I am using this as a conversion to the format that the Broadcom uses since it's a smaller connector:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P0QYA1Y/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

No matter what wire arrangement I had, there was no detection. You would think with one of the Wifi port pads broken off, that Wifi would still technically work as far as being detected and perhaps show available hotspots and/or BT working, but it says unavailable. I dunno if it's because I was using a BT 4.0 USB Dongle prior and the installation overridden the settings (same with using a Wifi USB Adapter prior).
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Looks the same as the one I have. Could it possibly be that OS Lion doesn't provide driver support for the card? Have you tried a later version of OS X?
 
Last edited:
Just got a replacement today from the seller. Before I install this, does anyone have this exact card and can tell me which wires go to which? I suspect it may be a driver issue that is causing it not to be natively detected on 10.7 Lion.
 
I'm not sure what is going on, but it's not being detected. I do have a mini-PCIe adapter that doesn't have the external power for BT. Not sure if that makes a difference. Otherwise, to be sure it isn't anything hardware related, I would have to upgrade to El Capitan or one of the newer versions (after 10.7) to be sure it's just the dated OS that is not detecting the hardware.

It is my understanding, that as long as you have the Wifi wires connected to the right plugs (any order will do), that you would get some type of wifi signal. If they are in the wrong order, you get diminished speeds, but should still get something!
 
Johnny365 said:
I'm not sure what is going on, but it's not being detected. I do have a mini-PCIe adapter that doesn't have the external power for BT. Not sure if that makes a difference. Otherwise, to be sure it isn't anything hardware related, I would have to upgrade to El Capitan or one of the newer versions (after 10.7) to be sure it's just the dated OS that is not detecting the hardware.

It is my understanding, that as long as you have the Wifi wires connected to the right plugs (any order will do), that you would get some type of wifi signal. If they are in the wrong order, you get diminished speeds, but should still get something!
Click to expand...

This card came with the late 2013 iMac, which shipped with 10.8.4. So my understanding is that you would need 10.8.5+ to have the necessary drivers for it to be recognised. Lion is too old for this tech.
 
Okay, that may be possible. On the lookout for a relatively cheap El Capitan compaible video card for Mac Pro 1,1 now! :D
 
I have installed a broadcom wifi/BT card (BCM94360CD with the adapter) on my El Capitan 2,1 Pro but it seems i do not have BT functionality even though wifi works great. Connections were as follows:

J0 - 1
J1 - 2
J3 - BT
J2 - 3

What connections should I try to get Bluetooth to work?
 
Last edited:
Troubleshooting:
• Confirm that your cMP recognises BT in System Information > Bluetooth?
• If BT is recognised, is it switched on? (BT icon in Menu Bar > Turn Bluetooth On)
• Does Bluetooth show up in System Preferences?
• What type of device (mouse, keyboard etc) are you using to test whether BT is working?

Further troubleshooting:
If BT is recognised, consider resetting the BT device - Option+Shift click on the BT menu icon > Debug > Reset the Bluetooth module. You could also consider:
• Reset PRAM: Restart holding down Cmd+Opt+P+R - keep holding these down until you've heard your Mac restart 3 times (chime sound).
• Reset PMU: shutdown your Mac - unplug the power. Plug power back in after 20 seconds, and power up after a further 10 seconds.

Possible solution:
If your system confirms BT is working, then consider swapping the BT aerial from J3 to J2. I had issues with BT showing a very weak signal, so swapped J3 to J2 in my cMP 1,1>2,1 and that made quite a difference.
 
JedNZ said:
Troubleshooting:
• Confirm that your cMP recognises BT in System Information > Bluetooth?
• If BT is recognised, is it switched on? (BT icon in Menu Bar > Turn Bluetooth On)
• Does Bluetooth show up in System Preferences?
• What type of device (mouse, keyboard etc) are you using to test whether BT is working?

Further troubleshooting:
If BT is recognised, consider resetting the BT device - Option+Shift click on the BT menu icon > Debug > Reset the Bluetooth module. You could also consider:
• Reset PRAM: Restart holding down Cmd+Opt+P+R - keep holding these down until you've heard your Mac restart 3 times (chime sound).
• Reset PMU: shutdown your Mac - unplug the power. Plug power back in after 20 seconds, and power up after a further 10 seconds.

Possible solution:
If your system confirms BT is working, then consider swapping the BT aerial from J3 to J2. I had issues with BT showing a very weak signal, so swapped J3 to J2 in my cMP 1,1>2,1 and that made quite a difference.
Click to expand...

Ah BT is not even showing up in system report or preferences or menu bar. the antenna clicked properly. i guess i need to recheck. thanks for the pointers. maybe it simply never connected.
 
Hmm I swapped the antenna labeled bt from j3 to j2 but there is still no Bluetooth signal or anything in the menu bar. Any thoughts on what could be the issue?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back