Handoff Breakdown With Activation Tool

[JTToft]

First of all, thanks so much for the fix. Incredible work!

As I've read the forum posts, I believe this is all I need and not an adapter. Am I right?

I see the BCM94331PCIEBT4CAX for my early 2011 17" MacBook pros on eBay. I don't see "CAX" on the photos of the cards. Should I be concerned with that? With these coming from China or Hong Kong, to return these is pricy.
Is there a known good place to buy BCM94331PCIEBT4CAX?

- You need the BCM94331PCIEBT4CAX card but no adapter. The card will fit your machine directly. If I were you, then yes, I would be concerned about the pictures not depicting the correct card. The full model number should appear on the opposite side of the card to the one that holds the antenna connectors.

For your reference, I've purchased this one for my Early 2011 15" MBP. Notice the model number on picture number two towards the top of the card.

 

[schrecky]

Yours is tricky, while technically you can put the card and adapter that are used in a MacPro/iMac I don't know if there is enough room to put the casing back together after because the adapted does add thickness. Also we are not certain if usb is run to the card slot, if it is then bluetooth 4.0 will work, if not it won't.

Until someone tries it we can't know for certain so I haven't put that on the list. If you feel like shelling out ~$85 to try it out it would be appreciated. I would try with my card and adapter but I don't have access to that machine.

I am willing to try This macbook pro 4,1 has been serving me well for over 6 years now and I dont see a reason to buy a new one bc of this. I have taken it apart many times before, so I know "how to use a screwdriver" ,-).

Can you help me on this one?

1. Will I be trying to exchange my existing airport card (http goog.gl / Q82rw7 ) or the bluetooth card ( http goog.gl / ToXHyk )?

2. If its the airport card, it does not seem to be in the screen hinge. What adapter would I need to buy in addition to the MacPro Card BCM94360CD?

I would greatly appreciate if you could take the time, to help me out here. I would order the parts then, try it out and if it works, write a little tutorial on how to do it, so you could update the list.

I just need to know, what parts I have to order, and what I need to change and look for?

Thanks!

 

[UncleSchnitty]

I am willing to try This macbook pro 4,1 has been serving me well for over 6 years now and I dont see a reason to buy a new one bc of this. I have taken it apart many times before, so I know "how to use a screwdriver" ,-).

Can you help me on this one?

1. Will I be trying to exchange my existing airport card (http goog.gl / Q82rw7 ) or the bluetooth card ( http goog.gl / ToXHyk )?

2. If its the airport card, it does not seem to be in the screen hinge. What adapter would I need to buy in addition to the MacPro Card BCM94360CD?

I would greatly appreciate if you could take the time, to help me out here. I would order the parts then, try it out and if it works, write a little tutorial on how to do it, so you could update the list.

I just need to know, what parts I have to order, and what I need to change and look for?

Thanks!

You're just going to replace the airport card. in your particular model it used the mpcie card (seems they did in every 08 model) so just put this where your old airport card was.

Personally I could take my old bluetooth card out but you to "have to" if it all works ok it will bypass it with 4.0.le.

You'll have plugs for 4 antennas but only have wires for 2. You can stick with the two (just make sure you plug in the middle two sockets) or you can order antenna wires and route 2 more, thats up to you.

I ordered mine from here. they also have antennas if you wanted to use them.

Its a pretty strait forward swap out but if you need any help just let me know. Hopefully it has the usb and it will just work right away. Let me know how it goes.

 

[rafaelo]

Amazing peace of work congrats to all of the people with success stories. Unfortunately i received an error while running the tool. Does this mean that my wifi card is not supported? My mac is a Late 2011 Macbook Pro. I do manage to use some continuity features such as iMessage and Facetime but AirDrop and Handsoff are disabled.

Thanks

 

[UncleSchnitty]

Amazing peace of work congrats to all of the people with success stories. Unfortunately i received an error while running the tool. Does this mean that my wifi card is not supported? My mac is a Late 2011 Macbook Pro. I do manage to use some continuity features such as iMessage and Facetime but AirDrop and Handsoff are disabled.

Image

Thanks

cMacbookPros: Early or Late 2011(all models) - Requires new blutooth/wifi card and Modified Kext

You need to replace your wifi/bluetooth card for this to work

 

[dokterdok]

Amazing peace of work congrats to all of the people with success stories. Unfortunately i received an error while running the tool. Does this mean that my wifi card is not supported? My mac is a Late 2011 Macbook Pro. I do manage to use some continuity features such as iMessage and Facetime but AirDrop and Handsoff are disabled.

Image

Thanks

It's the first time I see this, thanks for the report. Your system appears to be missing a key utility, called ioreg.
The immediate workaround is to find an up-to-date copy of it (I'm not at my comp) and place it in /Continuity Activation Tool.app/Contents/MacOS/

other workaround that should work: download and install Xcode from the Mac App Store, reboot, re-run the app.

 

[schrecky]

You're just going to replace the airport card. in your particular model it used the mpcie card (seems they did in every 08 model) so just put this where your old airport card was.

Personally I could take my old bluetooth card out but you to "have to" if it all works ok it will bypass it with 4.0.le.

You'll have plugs for 4 antennas but only have wires for 2. You can stick with the two (just make sure you plug in the middle two sockets) or you can order antenna wires and route 2 more, thats up to you.

I ordered mine from here. they also have antennas if you wanted to use them.

Its a pretty strait forward swap out but if you need any help just let me know. Hopefully it has the usb and it will just work right away. Let me know how it goes.

I got it! I will "just exchange the airport express card", connect my two antennas to the middle sockets and then it might work.

Last questions before I order now:
1. The "usb feature" is a usb lane in the connector, which delivers a power source to the card, right? (and we dont know yet, if its there or not)

2. Will the card use the two antennas for wifi and bluetooth then or should I try to use the old bluetooth antennas (mounted under top case at the moment) and connect them too?

3. I will order exactly this here: link?

Thanks again!! Cant wait to try it out

 

[UncleSchnitty]

I got it! I will "just exchange the airport express card", connect my two antennas to the middle sockets and then it might work.

Last questions before I order now:
1. The "usb feature" is a usb lane in the connector, which delivers a power source to the card, right? (and we dont know yet, if its there or not)

2. Will the card use the two antennas for wifi and bluetooth then or should I try to use the old bluetooth antennas (mounted under top case at the moment) and connect them too?

3. I will order exactly this here: link?

Thanks again!! Cant wait to try it out

1.The usb isn't for powering the card its actually information lanes. But yes we are looking to see under system report if the card is picking up the usb side.

2. The card will use the 2 antennas just fine but you may get more range if you mount 1 or 2 more under the top case.

3. yup thats it!

 

[schrecky]

1.The usb isn't for powering the card its actually information lanes. But yes we are looking to see under system report if the card is picking up the usb side.

2. The card will use the 2 antennas just fine but you may get more range if you mount 1 or 2 more under the top case.

3. yup thats it!

its ordered! I'll write again, once ive tried it. Thanks

 

[tRuSTnO0NE]

Mac mini (Mid 2011) was using com.apple.driver.AirPort.Brcm4331 instead of Brcm4360

For some reason my Mac mini (Mid 2011) was loading probably older com.apple.driver.AirPort.Brcm4331 AirPortBrcm4331.kext as an AirPort driver.

Whitelisting my Mac board-id in the AirPortBrcm4360.kext have no effect on Handoff because it was basically not used.

You can check this with:

$ kextstat | grep AirPort

When you see that AirPort driver is com.apple.driver.AirPort.Brcm4331 instead of com.apple.driver.AirPort.Brcm4360 you might have similar issue...

I immediately moved /System/Library/Extensions/IO80211Family.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AirPortBrcm4331.kext/Contents/MacOS/AirPortBrcm4331 to the same directory but different file name AirPortBrcm4331.orig, updated kextcache

$ sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel
$ sudo kextcache -system-caches

and rebooted my Mac.

After that previously modified AirPortBrcm4360 was loaded and Handoff started to work as documented in original tutorial and kextstat returned modified kext:

$ kextstat | grep AirPort
   48    0 0xffffff7f8173b000 0x5d7000   0x5d7000   com.apple.driver.AirPort.Brcm4360 (900.19.8) <47 44 43 12 7 6 5 4 3 1>

Let me know if it helped.

 

[Lem3ssie]

For some reason my Mac mini (Mid 2011) was loading probably older com.apple.driver.AirPort.Brcm4331 AirPortBrcm4331.kext as an AirPort driver.

Whitelisting my Mac board-id in the AirPortBrcm4360.kext have no effect on Handoff because it was basically not used.

You can check this with:

$ kextstat | grep AirPort

When you see that AirPort driver is com.apple.driver.AirPort.Brcm4331 instead of com.apple.driver.AirPort.Brcm4360 you might have similar issue...

I immediately moved /System/Library/Extensions/IO80211Family.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AirPortBrcm4331.kext/Contents/MacOS/AirPortBrcm4331 to the same directory but different file name AirPortBrcm4331.orig, updated kextcache

$ sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel
$ sudo kextcache -system-caches

and rebooted my Mac.

After that previously modified AirPortBrcm4360 was loaded and Handoff started to work as documented in original tutorial and kextstat returned modified kext:

$ kextstat | grep AirPort
   48    0 0xffffff7f8173b000 0x5d7000   0x5d7000   com.apple.driver.AirPort.Brcm4360 (900.19.8) <47 44 43 12 7 6 5 4 3 1>

Let me know if it helped.

I guess you've been mistaken, until your modified IOBluetoothFamily, cleared cache, and reboot, your Mac was blacklisted, so it had no need to load 4361, cause 4361 handles Continuity, and as I said Yosemite was told not to let your Mac benefit Continuity.

 

[electronique]

Anybody help me with a link to a store with stock of a Bluetooth 4.0 card my for Early 2011 MBP, that ship to Australia?

My Googling skills have failed me, googling the part number given in this thread numerous times.

 

[HamCannon]

HamCannon, a couple of users have reported this issue. I've produced a tentative fix in the Continuity Activation Tool 1.0.2 beta and I'd be interested to know if this solves it.

Could you please restore the original Wi-Fi kext and try the latest beta?
To do that, first download Kext Drop. Then:

1. delete IO80211Family.kext from /System/Library/Extensions/
2. open Terminal
3. type sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel
4. type sudo kextcache -system-caches
5. go to /Users/(your user name)/KextsBackup . That's where the tool initially did the backup.
6. open Kext Drop
7. drag and drop the original IO80211Family.kext into the window, click install
8. go back to terminal and type sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel
9. type sudo kextcache -system-caches
10. repair permissions with the disk utility
11. reboot
12. try out the latest beta

I did all this to the letter, now my MacBook air has no wifi! When I click the wifi icon on the menu bar, it just says "WiFi: No Hardware Installed". Ack! Help!

Edit: Looked back in the thread, restored the backup kexts with kextdrop, now wifi is back. But still no handoff. Thanks for your efforts on this regardless.

 

[UncleSchnitty]

Anybody help me with a link to a store with stock of a Bluetooth 4.0 card my for Early 2011 MBP, that ship to Australia?

My Googling skills have failed me, googling the part number given in this thread numerous times.

Amazon

 

[JTToft]

Anybody help me with a link to a store with stock of a Bluetooth 4.0 card my for Early 2011 MBP, that ship to Australia?

My Googling skills have failed me, googling the part number given in this thread numerous times.

- I bought this one.

 

[UncleSchnitty]

- I bought this one.

Just double check when it arrives that it has the CAX on the back, I've seen a lot of people get sold the CAX but then received the CA model and thats bt2.1.

 

[JTToft]

Just double check when it arrives that it has the CAX on the back, I've seen a lot of people get sold the CAX but then received the CA model and thats bt2.1.

- I definitely will. This seller has very positive feedback, though, and there are a lot of positive reviews from satisfied buyers of other wireless cards, so I feel fairly confident everything will be in order.

 

[logname]

BCM94331PCIEBT4CAX under $30 from AliExpress

I just bought this card from AliExpress for my wife's Late 2011 13" MBP. Will post back in about 30 days if...

a. Made it in one piece
b. It's the same as pictured
c. Works
or
d. I blew $30

 

[Yakobsen]

You mention that an adapter is needed in order for the Apple Broadcom BCM94360CD card to fit in a late 2009 27" iMac. I'm not having much luck searching for an adapter, mainly because I'm not sure what I'm looking for. I was hoping you could steer me in the right direction.

Thanks for the post. This is really fantastic work!

 

[UncleSchnitty]

You mention that an adapter is needed in order for the Apple Broadcom BCM94360CD card to fit in a late 2009 27" iMac. I'm not having much luck searching for an adapter, mainly because I'm not sure what I'm looking for. I was hoping you could steer me in the right direction.

Thanks for the post. This is really fantastic work!

I tested the iMac 08 and it works with This but like I've gone over before the issue is if the mpcie card runs usb data or not. In the 08 it did but there is a chance it may not in the 09. If it doesn't then you have to either fabricate the cable it comes with to plug into the computers board or you have to run it down and out the ram slot and plug it in a usb port.

I know some users are testing it so you can either wait or give it a shot.

 

[callzhang]

Install the hardware

Can anyone tell me how to install the new Wifi+Bluetooth board into my iMac 27" (2011) model? I googled and the picture looks different for old and new boards.

 

[rafaelo]

It's the first time I see this, thanks for the report. Your system appears to be missing a key utility, called ioreg.
The immediate workaround is to find an up-to-date copy of it (I'm not at my comp) and place it in /Continuity Activation Tool.app/Contents/MacOS/

other workaround that should work: download and install Xcode from the Mac App Store, reboot, re-run the app.

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately installing xCode and restarting did not help and i continue getting the same error. The diagnostics also give some additional information, but in general i guess i need to exchange the wifi card.

Good luck with the project. It's a noble thing what you're doing. Thank you!

 

[Lem3ssie]

Anyone having problem can contact me, i'll do it for you with Messages share screen fonction, i've done it many times, until now it's 100% success.
The only thing i ask is Terminal

sudo nvram boot-args="kext-dev-mode=1"

and reboot before contacting me, and downloading the free Path Finder trial, cause i like its hexa editor better than 0xde.

My twitter is Lemessie.

 

[Confused-User]

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately installing xCode and restarting did not help and i continue getting the same error. The diagnostics also give some additional information, but in general i guess i need to exchange the wifi card.

Your wifi card has nothing to do with this. You have a software problem, maybe small, maybe large. Either your PATH is set wrong, and dokterdok's script isn't smart enough to set it properly, or something else is seriously wrong with your shell's environment, or your OS is totally messed up.

In the first two cases, you can work around this by creating a new administrative user and running the script from that login. But if that doesn't work, chances are that you'll have to reinstall the OS to solve the problem. As long as you're getting messages like "ioreg: command not found" you know it's your software and not your hardware that's messed up.

 

[Lem3ssie]

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately installing xCode and restarting did not help and i continue getting the same error. The diagnostics also give some additional information, but in general i guess i need to exchange the wifi card.

Image

Good luck with the project. It's a noble thing what you're doing. Thank you!

I can try if you want. I know well what needs to be done, maybe i can see something messed up in your system.