MP 1,1-5,1 OpenCore Big Sur: Random loss of Bluetooth functionality

[TECK]

This behaviour is experienced also by @startergo. Basically, I lose Bluetooth on random reboots while on OC Big Sur only. Everything works as expected on Mojave and OC Catalina.

Update: This issue occurs only when I boot from Mojave to Big Sur. If I reboot again from Big Sur, Bluetooth is restored. As @tsialex mentioned, Wi-Fi is connected via PCIe, while Bluetooth is connected via USB. While initially thinking this issue could be related to a corrupted BootROM, it is not. It is purely an USB bug in Big Sur.

Details from Mojave:

Details from Big Sur:

This is the card I use:

 

[TECK]

@h9826790 you said:

OpenCore on the Mac Pro

You may try BrcmPatchRAM3.kext + BrcmFirmwareData.kext + BrcmBluetoothInjector.kext

forums.macrumors.com

Can you please share how I can implement this with OC?

 

[h9826790]

@h9826790 you said:

OpenCore on the Mac Pro

You may try BrcmPatchRAM3.kext + BrcmFirmwareData.kext + BrcmBluetoothInjector.kext

forums.macrumors.com

Can you please share how I can implement this with OC?

            <dict>
                <key>BundlePath</key>
                <string>BrcmBluetoothInjector.kext</string>
                <key>Comment</key>
                <string></string>
                <key>Enabled</key>
                <true/>
                <key>ExecutablePath</key>
                <string></string>
                <key>MaxKernel</key>
                <string></string>
                <key>MinKernel</key>
                <string></string>
                <key>PlistPath</key>
                <string>Contents/Info.plist</string>
            </dict>
            <dict>
                <key>BundlePath</key>
                <string>BrcmFirmwareData.kext</string>
                <key>Comment</key>
                <string></string>
                <key>Enabled</key>
                <true/>
                <key>ExecutablePath</key>
                <string>Contents/MacOS/BrcmFirmwareData</string>
                <key>MaxKernel</key>
                <string></string>
                <key>MinKernel</key>
                <string></string>
                <key>PlistPath</key>
                <string>Contents/Info.plist</string>
            </dict>
            <dict>
                <key>BundlePath</key>
                <string>BrcmPatchRAM3.kext</string>
                <key>Comment</key>
                <string></string>
                <key>Enabled</key>
                <true/>
                <key>ExecutablePath</key>
                <string>Contents/MacOS/BrcmPatchRAM3</string>
                <key>MaxKernel</key>
                <string></string>
                <key>MinKernel</key>
                <string></string>
                <key>PlistPath</key>
                <string>Contents/Info.plist</string>
            </dict>

 

[TECK]

I just noticed that package is for Broadcom USB devices, so I don't need to apply it

@Perana, do you have @h9826790 package or you use the default @cdf package?

 

[TECK]

I did NVRAM reset (3 chimes) and after 2 reboots the Bluetooth came back.

 

[TECK]

I started losing Bluetooth again. My BootROM is corrupted, I hired @tsialex to reconstruct a clean one for me. Will report back with the results.

 

[TECK]

I wrote back the reconstructed ROM, I had to reboot Big Sur twice and Bluetooth was visible. I will wait few days and report back to see if the issue makes surface again. Thank you @tsialex for your help!

@cdf @h9826790 I think we should keep a close eye on this. I will report back if I lose again Bluetooth, if this happens, this is clearly an issue with OC and/or Big Sur, we cannot blame it on ROM fragmentation.

 

[Flacko]

I did NVRAM reset (3 chimes) and after 2 reboots the Bluetooth came back.

I think this issue goes back before OC for cMP users. On dosdude1's patcher site many had problems since Mojave - some like myself had no issues - just worked OOB. Others with a similar Wifi/BT upgrade could not get it to work properly. I think your work with @tsialex has identified the issue. Just checked Mojave and my card is using the BrcmNIC here. I think if members check what their card is using in Mojave/Catalina then they will know if moving to BigSur is going to work. If they are still using the 4360.kext then they will have issues. The ROM issue is certainly worrying.

 

[TECK]

Just checked Mojave and my card is using the BrcmNIC here.

Can you please let me know how do you determine what kext your card uses? What is your current plugins content in Mojave? This is mines:

$ ls -lh /System/Library/Extensions/IO80211Family.kext/Contents/PlugIns/
total 0
drwxr-xr-x  3 root  wheel    96B 12 Mar  2019 AirPortBrcm4331.kext
drwxr-xr-x  3 root  wheel    96B 12 Mar  2019 AirPortBrcm4360.kext
drwxr-xr-x  3 root  wheel    96B 12 Mar  2019 AirPortBrcmNIC.kext
drwxr-xr-x  3 root  wheel    96B 12 Mar  2019 IO80211NetBooter.kext

The Mac suddenly rebooted while in Big Sur and brought me back to Mojave. I did not wanted to take any chance and I did a NVRAM reset, then the usual double reboot to gain back Bluetooth. Here it is my Bluetooth info in Big Sur:

Can you please let me know what card brand and model do you use? With all this headache, might as well buy a new card that fits into current adaptor.

 

[Flacko]

System Info - look under network-wifi:

Interfaces:
en2:
Card Type: AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0x111)
Firmware Version: Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (7.77.111.1 AirPortDriverBrcmNIC-1669)

Just using a 94360CD from eBay. However, I remember other users having problems with some cards causing reboots. Not all these cards seem to be created equally! Best bet is one from an Apple computer but mine seems to work so I was lucky. I also have one in my cMP3.1 which has worked perfectly. It is also using the BrcmNIC in Catalina. Not updating this machine to BigSur.

 

[TECK]

I just noticed Handoff features that used to work in Catalina are now gone, I cannot paste anymore from my iPhone to my Mac. Unlocking with Apple Watch still works though.

 

[TECK]

Firmware Version: Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (7.77.111.1 AirPortDriverBrcmNIC-1669)

Mines was pulled from an iMac at least this is what the vendor said. From my perspective, if people had issues with the actual hardware, the issue would be present everywhere, not just Big Sur. I never experienced any issues with the card, until I started using Big Sur. It is showing the same firmware in Big Sur:

In Mojave, still showing AirPortDriverBrcmNIC:

 

[Flacko]

There certainly is a history of people having problems with upgraded BT/Wifi cards going back to at least Mojave. Here is a link to one of many: #6,227
No real pattern seems to have been identified so it does seem difficult to fix.

 

[tsialex]

There certainly is a history of people having problems with upgraded BT/Wifi cards going back to at least Mojave. Here is a link to one of many: #6,227
No real pattern seems to have been identified so it does seem difficult to fix.

While I suspect that Big Sur Bluetooth problems have more than just one cause, the NVRAM fragmentation/variables multiplication and later corruption for sure has a big if not the most blame here.

People are having multiplication of bluetoothActiveControllerInfo, while I've just started tracking this issue I've found it up to six times already, like on @Enricote and @DanSilov dumps (I posted a redacted binwalk report of the later dump against my diagnostic signatures here).

I was previously tracking just MemoryConfigs as a way to easily identify NVRAM variable multiplication, from now on I'm scanning for bluetoothActiveControllerInfo too.

20210303 Edit:

Please read post #25

 

[TECK]

here certainly is a history of people having problems with upgraded BT/Wifi cards

In my case, I believe my card functions properly. I identified the cause of Bluetooth failures in this post:

@cdf @h9826790 @startergo I found a pattern to the Bluetooth issue I'm experiencing since Big Sur upgrade: If I boot through OpenCanopy into Mojave disk, when I boot back into Big Sur, I will lose Bluetooth. To fix it, I have to reboot again into Big Sur. I can reboot 100 times in Big Sur, no issues. As soon as I'm switching to Mojave and then back to Big Sur, Bluetooth is gone on initial boot.

I'm using the Apple Magic keyboard and mouse 2 set. I tried to have a lighting cable attached to keyboard and plugged into USB port, it would not detect the keyboard. The only way I was able to gain control is to plug a wired Apple keyboard, so I can restart the Mac.

 

[DanSilov]

A couple of days after reflashing with rebuilt BootROM — no BT issues so far. Fingers crossed.

 

[TECK]

@DanSilov do you have OpenCanopy installed? If you do, try this: Make sure your default startup disk is Big Sur, by default they are all greyed on a new Big Sur installation:

Next, restart your Mac and select in OpenCanopy the Mojave disk. Then, enter your password to unlock Mojave, restart and select in OpenCanopy the Big Sur disk. You should experience a Bluetooth failure. If you reboot again, Bluetooth will be functional again.

I'm going to connect the lightning cable to my Apple Bluetooth keyboard and redo the procedure, to make sure there is no difference. @h9826790 I noticed a different behaviour with my keyboard: Say I plug the lightning cable into keyboard and disable the Bluetooth option from panel:

With keyboard disabled, I would not be able to type and one second later, the keyboard will connect, showing the Connected image at the bottom of screen. Since this is behaving differently than yours, I thought maybe the cable is defective so I tried a brand new lightning cable, same result. Same thing for mouse, it does not shows the charging symbol nor deactivates it, it stays like into above screenshot and the percentage increases.

In Mojave, I can type without issues with the lightning cable attached and I don't see the Connected image at the bottom:

Edit: @h9826790 with the lightning cable connected to keyboard, I can type with it in Big Sur when Bluetooth is not functional. In other words, mouse does not work but keyboard does, only if connected to lightning cable.

 

[haralds]

I am running into issues adding devices. Otherwise it is ok apart from occasional HID confusion.
Not using openCore yet.

 

[Flacko]

Well my cMP can go between Mojave and BigSur without this issue using OC!

 

[TECK]

@Flacko are you using OpenCanopy (not the text bootpicker) and an Apple Bluetooth keyboard? If yes, can you share your config.plist, I want to see what are the differences. Are you using the @cdf or @h9826790 OC package? Another question, what happens when you plug your lightning cable into keyboard, does it shows the charging symbol into panel?

 

[DanSilov]

@DanSilov do you have OpenCanopy installed? If you do, try this: Make sure your default startup disk is Big Sur, by default they are all greyed on a new Big Sur installation...

I rolled back my Big Sur, as it was a little buggy and too ugly for my taste at the moment. Currently on Catalina.

 

[TECK]

I'm going to re-install Big Sur, now that I have the ROM cleaned by @tsialex.

 

[Flacko]

@Flacko are you using OpenCanopy (not the text bootpicker) and an Apple Bluetooth keyboard? If yes, can you share your config.plist, I want to see what are the differences. Are you using the @cdf or @h9826790 OC package? Another question, what happens when you plug your lightning cable into keyboard, does it shows the charging symbol into panel?

I am using OC6.3 and at the moment using the config.list provided by @h9826790 with no changes. I use a wired keyboard ( I prefer this) and BT mouse and trackpad. I will go and pick the wireless keyboard off my partners iMac and let you know.
Apologies, cannot replicate your setup as wireless keyboard is the old one that Just uses batteries.

 

[TECK]

@Flacko thanks for the feedback! I know @h9826790 has a newer version of OC which fixes several Big Sur issues, he is basically using the master repo which is the future OC 0.6.4. BTW I have no issues with the Apple Bluetooth keyboard, when is connected through lightning cable. I'm in the process of re-installing Big Sur from scratch with the new ROM @tsialex made for me.

 

[tsialex]

20210315 Edit:

There are two distinct causes for BT loss with Big Sur:

1. Multiple bluetoothActiveControllerInfo inside the NVRAM main VSS store that cause conflict and the real BT controller to be ignored at POST.
2. Poor legacy USB support with Big Sur, MP5,1 bluetooth controller is a USB2.0 device. It's better with 11.2.2 and OC 0.6.7, but it's still far from perfect.

Some people noticed that using a powered USB hub between your Mac Pro and your legacy devices minimise a lot the issue with USB devices disappearing, but this don't help with the multiple bluetoothActiveControllerInfo inside the NVRAM. One example of legacy device is the Apple wired keyboard and people that use Apple wired keyboards with an USB BT dongle connected to it are plagued by both causes I've written above.

Btw, people with 802.11ac with BT4.0 upgraded cards that NEVER had Big Sur installed still have the same random loss of bluetooth and the multiple bluetoothActiveControllerInfo - so it's not just Big Sur poor legacy USB support - this issue has being reported since at least Mojave.

Anyone having Bluetooth problems, ping me on the BootROM thread - please NOT HERE - and I’ll send you a PM with instructions on how to to get everything needed to validate and diagnose your BootROM to see if you have the multiple bluetoothActiveControllerInfo inside your Mac Pro NVRAM main VSS store.

Let’s see if more people have the same variable multiplication problems that I found on @TECK @DanSilov @Enricote @marioliv66@ and others dumps that after a BootROM clean-up BT function was promptly restored.