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rzandel1980

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 5, 2020
1
1
California, USA
Hello,

This is my first post here and I am hoping someone can answer this for me.

I recently bought a Broadcom BCM94360CD w/ Bluetooth 4.0 upgrade kit similar to the OSXWifi kit and the BT 4.2 kit sold on eBay that is from China. The kit I bought includes a Mini PCIe adapter that has the Broadcom card sit "upside down" when installed. (see BT 4.2 kit from ebay for reference). Upon my attempt to install the card in my Mac Pro I found that I couldn't reconnect the antenna cables (either they wouldn't stay attached or they would "pop" off when trying to connect another cable etc.). To make a long story short, I damaged one of the connectors on the WiFi card (and damaged the Mini PCie adapter as well) and now neither the card or adapter are good. Clearly a costly mistake on my part!

In an effort to not have to deal with the headache of trying to install (and potentially damage) another card I went looking and came across a PCIe based WiFi/Bluetooth card that uses the Broadcom BCM94360CD. It's actually made for Hackintosh builds but I've read reviews and Q&A's from people who claim that it will work in a Mac Pro 5,1. I have an available PCIe slot so that isn't an issue. Bluetooth however needs to be plugged into a USB header (for power?), and the card come with a micro 4-Pin to 9-pin USB cable. My solution for that is to get a USB 3.0 PCIe card w/ a SATA connector (for power) and 20-Pin connector so that I can plug the Bluetooth cable into it using a 9-pin to 20-pin adapter cable.

What I am trying to understand and figure out is if my plan will actually work? If I understand correctly Bluetooth needs the USB for power more so that data. Also I am wondering if I will have any connection interference from the USB 3 card? Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated as I am on a tight budget and cannot afford another costly mistake!

Mac Pro 5,1 (2010)
OS version High Sierra 10.13.6 (for now)
 
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I know this is an old post but hopefully this will help. I just did this on my Mac Pro3,1

 
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