MP 1,1-5,1 Handoff&Continuity on cMP 5,1- Mojave 10.14.6 - not working with BCM43xx

[Pale77]

Hi everyone,
I'm knew here, but found many solutions to my issues in the past.
Now I can't find exactly what I need, so I decided to subscribe and post this issue.

Try to explain my strange situation.

Last year I bought a 5,1 2010 MacPro equipped with a metal capable GPU, Nvidia Quadro k600. The seller had installed Catalina with OpenCore, but I wanted to work with officially supported OS so I tried to install Mojave but, for some reason (which I read was a known unresolved issue), Mojave did not recognize the metal GPU and did not start installation. So I decided to install it on my MacBookPro 9,1 and then move the SSD#1 on MacPro, and it worked perfectly, I am still using it.

Now I have changed my GPU to a flashed Radeon RX 480 that works good with Mojave.

Then I bought a 4.2 BCM43xx Bluetooth+Wifi module to use AirDrop and Handoff. The first one works, the latter not. I don’t want to use Continuity Activation Tool because I already tried it with a bluetooth 4.0 Asus Dongle and it freezed my MacPro.

So I decided to have a clean install of Mojave on a different SSD#2 to see if it depends on the fact that OS was not directly installed on MacPro.

I followed the usual procedure from usb boot drive but when I launched install it told me firmware must be upgraded. So I verified the firmware version and I realized that it is MP51.0089.B00 and not 144.0.0.0.0, and this makes sense because I did not install Mojave directly on MacPro, and maybe previous owner/s never upgraded it to OS 10.14.

And I even supposed that the first time I tried to install it (last year) this message did not come out because maybe installer first checks for GPU compatibility and then for firmware version.

I have been assured by many people (on Apple Discussions forum and by the WiFi card seller himself) that upgrading firmware would not affect SSD#1 and that it would keep on working properly.

As I am cautious when I have to deal with boot and similar, I thought that I could try with a 10.13.6 clean install (no need for firmware upgrade for now) on SSD#2, since Handoff was already supported at the time of its release, to see if installing OS directly on MacPro would solve the problem: but nope, Airdrop works but Handoff does not.

Tried log out/in from iCloud, tried some terminal commands I have found in some threads on this forum, but nothing has worked.

And I don't want to risk freezing SSD#1 since it has taken a long time to install all software on it. Of course I have Time Machine backups, but in my experience sometimes they failed.

Maybe some of you can help me.

Thanks in advance

Pale77

 

[tsialex]

Remove your main disk, install a spare, do a clean install of High Sierra via a createinstallmedia USB installer and then upgrade it to Mojave. You have to do the upgrade, since you can't clean install Mojave with a Kepler GPU.

MP5,1: What you have to do to upgrade to Mojave (BootROM upgrade instructions thread)

Please fully read this first post, you will probably find that you have one or more problems described into the various notes below. Mojave will only install if you have upgraded your BootROM to the current release and your Mac Pro have a Metal capable GPU*. If you are trying to install Mojave...

forums.macrumors.com

If you can't do that, a payed BootROM reconstruction service can solve the upgrade issues.

For the hand-off issues, it was never not supported natively/officially with a MacPro5,1. There is a thread that cover all the issues, but you need to do the basic first, like fully upgrade the Mac Pro firmware.

Also, BCM943602CDP is not the best model for a Mac Pro, there are issues with the VSS store stored BT related entries. The correct model for a MacPro5,1 is the BCM94360CD.

 

[Pale77]

Remove your main disk, install a spare, do a clean install of High Sierra via a createinstallmedia USB installer and then upgrade it to Mojave. You have to do the upgrade, since you can't clean install Mojave with a Kepler GPU.

MP5,1: What you have to do to upgrade to Mojave (BootROM upgrade instructions thread)

Please fully read this first post, you will probably find that you have one or more problems described into the various notes below. Mojave will only install if you have upgraded your BootROM to the current release and your Mac Pro have a Metal capable GPU*. If you are trying to install Mojave...

forums.macrumors.com

If you can't do that, a payed BootROM reconstruction service can solve the upgrade issues.

For the hand-off issues, it was never not supported natively/officially with a MacPro5,1. There is a thread that cover all the issues, but you need to do the basic first, like fully upgrade the Mac Pro firmware.

Also, BCM943602CDP is not the best model for a Mac Pro, there are issues with the VSS store stored BT related entries. The correct model for a MacPro5,1 is the BCM94360CD.

Ok, I already have a spare SSD with a 10.13.6 clean install. I will upgrade it to Mojave and upgrade firmware too (hope it works without affecting other SSD).

What do you mean for “payed BootROM reconstruction”?

How can I know exactly which model of bluetooth module I have? System report only say BCM43xx, but both of the number you wrote have a 9 between M and 4.

Thanks for your reply

Pale77

 

[Pale77]

As far as I was able to find online my bluetooth module is BCM943602CDP and
- BCM943602CDP should be 4.2
- BCM943602CD should be 4.0
Furthermore I have found that with Monterey installed via Open Core, some guys had Handoff&Continuity working with BCM943602CDP.
It is strange that a most powerful module is not working on natively supported OS but it is working on non-natively supported one.