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UncleSchnitty

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 26, 2007
851
14
So everything worked... and it shows it's supported under system info.. however it's not working at all between mac and iOS device...?

any ideas?

Same problem. I guess it just not meant for me to pass things to my macbook, which is more important to me than passing from my macbook to iOS. Is there a way for me to identify what permissions I have running so I can identify a potential conflict??

Both of these are pointing at an issue on the iDevice side. I would log out of iCloud on them, restart log back in and do a couple reboots on the devices. On the computerized you both seem to have everything in order
 

BIGBUCZ

macrumors newbie
Jan 2, 2013
20
0
amazing thread guys and gals...i've been trying to find a place to order my card can any lend a hand ?
 

Fatso547

macrumors newbie
Oct 22, 2014
2
0
In order to open kext files you need to Right click- show package contents.
So the break down is:
Right click IO80211Family.kext and "show package contents" /Contents/Plugins/ Right click AirPortBrcm4360.kext and "show package contents" /Contents/MacOS Right Click on AirPortBrcm4360, and choose OPEN WITH: OTHER: 0XED

Ok thank you
 

UncleSchnitty

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 26, 2007
851
14
amazing thread guys and gals...i've been trying to find a place to order my card can any lend a hand ?

eBay seems to have the best prices, just make sure you send them a message and make sure the one you order is the one you are being sent. I've seen many people order a card and receive an older one.
 

BIGBUCZ

macrumors newbie
Jan 2, 2013
20
0
eBay seems to have the best prices, just make sure you send them a message and make sure the one you order is the one you are being sent. I've seen many people order a card and receive an older one.


is the updated card BCM94331PCIEBT4CAX
 

UncleSchnitty

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 26, 2007
851
14
Ok. Thanks!

Then I just need to find a card, a way to fasten it, as the screw holes don't match, and probably a third Wi-Fi antenna too.

From what I've heard the screws on the other side are enough and you don't need the third antenna. I haven't done the macbook pros myself so this is just what I hear.
 

Petsnspace

macrumors newbie
Oct 22, 2014
1
0
Question before starting

Hello,

This is my first post and I have a late 2011 13" MPB. I just received my new BT card (BCM94331PCIEBT4CAX). I am planning on working on this project this weekend. I have opened my case before and installed RAM and SDD and am comfortable doing this type of work. Has anyone followed the iFixit tutorial and had any luck? Any tips for the hardware install before I begin? Here is a link to the iFixit tutorial:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Early+2011+AirPort-Bluetooth+Board+Replacement/5131

I am not worried as much about the kext modification because the instructions are very well written and the responsiveness of the forum member is impressive. Also the original files can be reinstalled if necessary.

Finally, Since I am working on a MBP, do I need to modify both kext files, or only the bluetooth file?

Thanks for the help and clarifications!

For any that are interested, I purchased my card from newegg.com and received the right card in the first shipment.
 

JTravers

macrumors 6502a
Jun 28, 2010
733
228
Has anyone tried replacing the MacID number with spaces, instead of their specific ID number, to see if that works? That's the way TrimEnabler works to enable trim for all SSDs, instead of making a custom edit for each manufacturer.

I wonder if a tool similar to TrimEnabler could be made to automate these steps.

Just curious if anyone had tried to do it.

Thanks!
 

MacVidCards

Suspended
Nov 17, 2008
6,096
1,056
Hollywood, CA
Anyone have any luck with this? I see OP lists the 2011 iMac as supported with bluetooth/wifi card and kext edit - but the mid-2011 uses two cards for these things - different than the rest of you folks with the one card. Thoughts?

iMacs with Mini-PCIE cards are in a unique spot.

I don't believe that they have been throughly tested with the upgrade cards.

The plot is even thicker than it at first looks. The 2006-8 Mac Pros had a separate BT card but still wired the USB for BT connection to the Mini-PCIE slot. So for them, just using the iMac to MiniPCIE adapter combo works perfectly.

From 2009-2012 the MP used the same Mini-PCIE slot but stopped running the USB wires into the slot. AT the same time the moved the BT card from nearby to 10" away.

So for 2009-2012 MPs we built a special kit with an extended BT plug and an extended antennae wire.

So, for any iMac that has a Mini-PCIE slot, there is a chance that just using the adapter combo is all you need, or a chance that the USB lines for BT aren't present and you will need a kit similar to what we do for Mac Pro 2009-12.

Tricky thing is I don't have any iMacs and last time I started working on them I suddenly realized that you needed lots of real estate to have 4 or 5 of them in pieces at a time. Living in cramped LA, I don't have the space to work on iMacs anymore.

That being said, my guess is we could do a bang-up perfect kit for iMacs that have Mini-PCIE slots. It is likely that there would need to be different ones for the different years and different screen sizes. I may not be able to get to this for some time (maybe EVER)

Ideally someone in LA would already have a 2011 iMac that they have in pieces but still running. I could come by with some parts and figure out what needs to be fabricated and if it will work. The cards themselves are both taller and longer than original, so possible that they won't fit. This may also be possible to happen via good photos and measurements via email but not as good a solution.

PS< I'm also pretty sure I could create some nifty GPU upgrades for iMacs that have MXM cards, but again I lack the space and torn apart iMacs to finish the work. If there is a iMac place in LA that is interested, PM me.

So, to answer you, I believe that a nearly perfect solution could be made for iMacs like yours. I will post in the iMac section as well in hopes that I can help out.
 

thewalkman

macrumors member
Jun 12, 2011
47
2
I was surprised to see that the 2011 Air doesn't support Handoff and Instant Hotspot. Do we know why that is? According to iFixit the 2011 and 2012 Airs actually use the same WiFi and BT chips so what could be the reason?
 

UncleSchnitty

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 26, 2007
851
14
iMacs with Mini-PCIE cards are in a unique spot.

I don't believe that they have been throughly tested with the upgrade cards.

The plot is even thicker than it at first looks. The 2006-8 Mac Pros had a separate BT card but still wired the USB for BT connection to the Mini-PCIE slot. So for them, just using the iMac to MiniPCIE adapter combo works perfectly.

From 2009-2012 the MP used the same Mini-PCIE slot but stopped running the USB wires into the slot. AT the same time the moved the BT card from nearby to 10" away.

So for 2009-2012 MPs we built a special kit with an extended BT plug and an extended antennae wire.

So, for any iMac that has a Mini-PCIE slot, there is a chance that just using the adapter combo is all you need, or a chance that the USB lines for BT aren't present and you will need a kit similar to what we do for Mac Pro 2009-12.

Tricky thing is I don't have any iMacs and last time I started working on them I suddenly realized that you needed lots of real estate to have 4 or 5 of them in pieces at a time. Living in cramped LA, I don't have the space to work on iMacs anymore.

That being said, my guess is we could do a bang-up perfect kit for iMacs that have Mini-PCIE slots. It is likely that there would need to be different ones for the different years and different screen sizes. I may not be able to get to this for some time (maybe EVER)

Ideally someone in LA would already have a 2011 iMac that they have in pieces but still running. I could come by with some parts and figure out what needs to be fabricated and if it will work. The cards themselves are both taller and longer than original, so possible that they won't fit. This may also be possible to happen via good photos and measurements via email but not as good a solution.

PS< I'm also pretty sure I could create some nifty GPU upgrades for iMacs that have MXM cards, but again I lack the space and torn apart iMacs to finish the work. If there is a iMac place in LA that is interested, PM me.

So, to answer you, I believe that a nearly perfect solution could be made for iMacs like yours. I will post in the iMac section as well in hopes that I can help out.
I have a 08 iMac that I could pull apart and try the adapter/bluetooth card on when I have time (tonight maybe tomorrow). Honestly I haven't tried it because there has been very little demand for iMacs. This will at least get one model out of the way but like you said other models could be different and with the thickness being in question we don't know year to year if it will actually fit. If it does need the usb wire connected then I could always give running it out the RAM door a shot.
The iMacs have definitely been the "unknown" since the beginning. Ill definitely give the 08 a shot but that will only really give us an answer for 1 model.

----------

I was surprised to see that the 2011 Air doesn't support Handoff and Instant Hotspot. Do we know why that is? According to iFixit the 2011 and 2012 Airs actually use the same WiFi and BT chips so what could be the reason?

Ill quote myself from the first page:
It was very much on purpose(hence the blacklisting). Basically in 2011 they were using updated cards in the mini and air, these cards had bt4.0le. However the MacPro and MacbookPro at that point did not. So that people who spent $3,000 on a computer wouldn't have less features than a person who spent $400 they blacklisted the Minis and Airs.

It may not sound fair but at the same time I see why they did it.
 

MacVidCards

Suspended
Nov 17, 2008
6,096
1,056
Hollywood, CA
I have a 08 iMac that I could pull apart and try the adapter/bluetooth card on when I have time (tonight maybe tomorrow). Honestly I haven't tried it because there has been very little demand for iMacs. This will at least get one model out of the way but like you said other models could be different and with the thickness being in question we don't know year to year if it will actually fit. If it does need the usb wire connected then I could always give running it out the RAM door a shot.
The iMacs have definitely been the "unknown" since the beginning. Ill definitely give the 08 a shot but that will only really give us an answer for 1 model.



Do you have an adapter board from the OS X WiFi guys? You'll need that for testing. You can leave your BT card in, just look under "USB" section of system profiler, if the Mini PCIE slot has the USB wires you will see it there as "BRCM20702".

If it doesn't show up there then it will need a wire run. Ultimately I will need to get a hold of the wire that goes from BT card to logic board, the end that meets logic board and the plug on the logic board are crucial. I can fashion the plug and the wire if I know how long it needs to be. And really, we need to figure out pin-outs of the plug on iMac as there is no reason to believe that they kept same pins as Mac Pro 2009-12.

The other question as far as iMacs is how are back Yosemite goes with those. I realize that the Tiamo hack has been extended to early machines, but iMacs are very dependent on 64 bit drivers for GPUs. So figuring out how to put these cards in an iMac that can only run Yosemite with un-accelerated graphics isn't going to be a good thing.

It's a bunch of work but could lead to perfect Yosemite support for older iMacs.
 

thewalkman

macrumors member
Jun 12, 2011
47
2
Ill quote myself from the first page:
It was very much on purpose(hence the blacklisting). Basically in 2011 they were using updated cards in the mini and air, these cards had bt4.0le. However the MacPro and MacbookPro at that point did not. So that people who spent $3,000 on a computer wouldn't have less features than a person who spent $400 they blacklisted the Minis and Airs.

It may not sound fair but at the same time I see why they did it.

I read what you wrote but I'm not sure I believe it. Surely there must a technical reason why it wouldn't work?
 

UncleSchnitty

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 26, 2007
851
14
Do you have an adapter board from the OS X WiFi guys? You'll need that for testing. You can leave your BT card in, just look under "USB" section of system profiler, if the Mini PCIE slot has the USB wires you will see it there as "BRCM20702".

If it doesn't show up there then it will need a wire run. Ultimately I will need to get a hold of the wire that goes from BT card to logic board, the end that meets logic board and the plug on the logic board are crucial. I can fashion the plug and the wire if I know how long it needs to be. And really, we need to figure out pin-outs of the plug on iMac as there is no reason to believe that they kept same pins as Mac Pro 2009-12.

The other question as far as iMacs is how are back Yosemite goes with those. I realize that the Tiamo hack has been extended to early machines, but iMacs are very dependent on 64 bit drivers for GPUs. So figuring out how to put these cards in an iMac that can only run Yosemite with un-accelerated graphics isn't going to be a good thing.

It's a bunch of work but could lead to perfect Yosemite support for older iMacs.
Yes, I have OSXWifi's kit. Ill give it a shot. It came with the Usb wire (obviously I didn't need it for my 08 MacPro) so I can run it out to the usb if need be.

If you want some info on the logicboard/Bluetooth cable just let me know what you need before I pull it apart. I can take pictures and measurements if you need.

I may do it tonight although I had a long day so I may put it off till tomorrow afternoon but let me know what you need.
 

UncleSchnitty

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 26, 2007
851
14
I read what you wrote but I'm not sure I believe it. Surely there must a technical reason why it wouldn't work?

Believe me or not thats your choice but in the months that I have been researching all this there is absolutely no other reasoning. Originally it was thought that maybe it needed wifi ac along with bt4.0le but that was debunked (I had even updated my 2011 MBA with the 4.0le and ac card to test it out) It really all came down to when they started using the BT4.0le card and the fact was that the high end products didn't have it while the lower end did. Thats why apple went thru the trouble of "blacklisting" Minis and Airs.

The thing that apple didn't expect is the 3rd party card adapters used for MacPros, since they didn't think there was a 4.0le card that fit (and really there wasn't, until osxwifi, macvidcards and some Chinese manufacturers) they didn't bother blacklisting so those Pros are plug and play no kext edit needed.

The macbook pros did have a card that could be put in so thats why it needs a kext edit.

So like I said take my word or don't but this is months of research here not just a hunch.
 

ftgibson

macrumors newbie
Oct 21, 2014
4
0
iMacs with Mini-PCIE cards are in a unique spot.

I don't believe that they have been throughly tested with the upgrade cards.

The plot is even thicker than it at first looks. The 2006-8 Mac Pros had a separate BT card but still wired the USB for BT connection to the Mini-PCIE slot. So for them, just using the iMac to MiniPCIE adapter combo works perfectly.

From 2009-2012 the MP used the same Mini-PCIE slot but stopped running the USB wires into the slot. AT the same time the moved the BT card from nearby to 10" away.

So for 2009-2012 MPs we built a special kit with an extended BT plug and an extended antennae wire.

So, for any iMac that has a Mini-PCIE slot, there is a chance that just using the adapter combo is all you need, or a chance that the USB lines for BT aren't present and you will need a kit similar to what we do for Mac Pro 2009-12.

Tricky thing is I don't have any iMacs and last time I started working on them I suddenly realized that you needed lots of real estate to have 4 or 5 of them in pieces at a time. Living in cramped LA, I don't have the space to work on iMacs anymore.

That being said, my guess is we could do a bang-up perfect kit for iMacs that have Mini-PCIE slots. It is likely that there would need to be different ones for the different years and different screen sizes. I may not be able to get to this for some time (maybe EVER)

Ideally someone in LA would already have a 2011 iMac that they have in pieces but still running. I could come by with some parts and figure out what needs to be fabricated and if it will work. The cards themselves are both taller and longer than original, so possible that they won't fit. This may also be possible to happen via good photos and measurements via email but not as good a solution.

PS< I'm also pretty sure I could create some nifty GPU upgrades for iMacs that have MXM cards, but again I lack the space and torn apart iMacs to finish the work. If there is a iMac place in LA that is interested, PM me.

So, to answer you, I believe that a nearly perfect solution could be made for iMacs like yours. I will post in the iMac section as well in hopes that I can help out.

Well, if you're ever in Seattle...
Sadly, I'm not as familiar with the innards of my iMac as you seem to be. I capable of following instructions and taking this thing apart (did it for a SSD install), and totally willing to pull things out again - however, I can't spare computer down-time of more than a day. Wish I could be more help. Surprised there is little demand for 2011 iMac. Ah well, I've lived without handoff for this long...

I'll keep an eye out for possible future solutions. Thanks all - it's an interesting thread to follow.
 

ftgibson

macrumors newbie
Oct 21, 2014
4
0
PS< I'm also pretty sure I could create some nifty GPU upgrades for iMacs that have MXM cards, but again I lack the space and torn apart iMacs to finish the work. If there is a iMac place in LA that is interested, PM me.

Missed that...
"Nifty GPU upgrades" you say. I know it's not the place for it, but I'm intrigued.

EDIT: I have 27". Doh...
 
Last edited:

MrCoBalt

macrumors newbie
Oct 22, 2014
12
3
Finally, Since I am working on a MBP, do I need to modify both kext files, or only the bluetooth file?

I've got an Early 2011 MacBook Pro and my card installation + kext mods went just fine (Handoff, etc all great, thanks for the awesome instructions!) but I had the same question about actually needing the IOBluetooth changes for these systems since it doesn't mention MacBookPro8,1 at all (or any non-Air MacBook model for that matter).

Semi-related but I don't suppose there's a way to just change the Board ID reported by the Early/Late 2011 systems so the system and kexts see it as a supported MacBookPro9,2 (Mid-2012) model? I'm guessing this would probably break a few number of things that would then expect the other capabilities of a 9,2 system though…
 

UncleSchnitty

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 26, 2007
851
14
I've got an Early 2011 MacBook Pro and my card installation + kext mods went just fine (Handoff, etc all great, thanks for the awesome instructions!) but I had the same question about actually needing the IOBluetooth changes for these systems since it doesn't mention MacBookPro8,1 at all (or any non-Air MacBook model for that matter).

Semi-related but I don't suppose there's a way to just change the Board ID reported by the Early/Late 2011 systems so the system and kexts see it as a supported MacBookPro9,2 (Mid-2012) model? I'm guessing this would probably break a few number of things that would then expect the other capabilities of a 9,2 system though…
A couple people have asked me that and the answer is, you probably don't have to. Since it makes no mention there probably is no need to. However I have not tested it (I don't have a MBP) Ive been on the safe side and suggested it. Besides from a tutorial standpoint it covers more options and doesn't hurt anything to do both.

For your second question, I don't know and I don't think so. I think there is enough differences where that will not work. May I ask why you would want to do that? Im interested because off the top of my head I don't know what you would gain by that even if you could. And yes it would probably cause a lot of headaches somewhere.

Hope that clears things up.
 
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