BT 4.0 on mid-2011 iMac

[beavis64]

I want to enable Continuity on a 21.5" mid-2011 iMac. I have the BCM94360CD + adapter and swap out instructions from iFixit. How do I hook up the small black wires to the new card? The adapter makes them backwards and the numbers on the connectors are different.

Also, I was able to upgrade my early-2011 MacBook Pro using your Continuity Activation Tool and it works great! Thanks for all your help!

-Mike

[beavis64]

Here is a picture from iFixit:

Here is what I have:

[beavis64]

See how the CH0, CH1 and CH2 are easily accessible? Now look at the photos of my hardware: connectors face backwards (do I need a different adapter?) and they are labeled J0, J1, J2 (hidden with adapter) and J3. Which three do I use with the connectors? I'm assuming that J0 and J1 are CH0 and CH1 respectively. What about the third connector?

[dokterdok]

Have you looked at this thread? (MacRumors forum : iMac Mid 2011 Bluetooth 4.0 internal upgrade)

[beavis64]

Unfortunately it didn't help much. It referred to the 27" model and I have the 21.5". It seems different. Should I wait for the Continuity Activation Tool update? It might work with a USB dongle... sounds waaay easier.

[dokterdok]

If you want to try out the USB dongle compatibility early - You might want to sign up for the CAT v.2.0 beta here. I'm looking for testers and your configuration would be a great fit. Let me know.

[beavis64]

I will do that this week, thanks! Any suggestions on which make and model of USB dongle to purchase? If not, any I need to avoid?

[beavis64]

I can't fill out the beta sign-up page without a USB dongle, so I need help with my previous question above please and thank you.

[dokterdok]

Hi, I can't guarantee yet that any dongles will work (it's experimental currently) but I'd recommend getting a Bluetooth 4.0 dongle based on a Broadcom BCM20702 chip, as it is the chip used in Continuity compatible Apple AirPort cards.

A few examples: Asus BT400 GMYLE IOGEAR GBU521

On 11 Nov 2014, at 20:25, beavis64 notifications@github.com wrote:

I can't fill out the beta sign-up page without a USB dongle, so I need help with my previous question above please and thank you.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

[beavis64]

Thanks! I'll shop for one this week!

[beavis64]

I have an ASUS BT-400 dongle coming soon. When I ran the system check, it said my Airport Driver is not Broadcom(?) I'm not sure what I can do, but I slogged through the link you sent me above to see if anyone had posted steps on how to put in the hardware I bought (pictures above) into a mid-2011 21.5" iMac, including wiring the 4th terminal on the new card. Can you see anything that helps? At this point I'll either go the internal route or the external one... I just need clearer instructions.

[dokterdok]

I'm currently trying to figure out which Macs will or won't support Continuity just by adding a BT4 dongle, and so far it seems that a number of iMacs will be left out, as they use a Wi-Fi card driver (Atheros based) that doesn't support Continuity. In your scenario, I'm afraid you'll need to go the internal route.

[neno1978]

Hi! I have a iMac mid 2011 too. One question; must i change the AirPort Extreme card??

[neno1978]

wait a moment, dokterdok, yes i have a airport extreme atheros based wifi card, but, i don´t use wifi for nothing, i use ethernet , and in this case, the card is broadcom...i believe ... Nombre: ethernet Tipo: Controlador Ethernet Bus: PCI ID del fabricante: 0x14e4 ID del dispositivo: 0x16b4 ID del fabricante del subsistema: 0x14e4 ID del subsistema: 0x16b4 ID de la revisión: 0x0010 Anchura del enlace: x1 Nombre BSD: en0 Nombre de kext: AppleBCM5701Ethernet.kext Versión del firmware: 57765-v1.37, 0x7cfcc847 Ubicación: /System/Library/Extensions/IONetworkingFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleBCM5701Ethernet.kext Admite descarga mDNS: 3c:07:54:47:79:13 Versión: 10.1.2b3

and airdrop working by ethernet with defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser BrowseAllInterfaces -bool true in terminal. in this the relevant is the ethernet card? the problem in this case only be BT 4.0? Could be that BT 4.0 dongle working by this way??

[dokterdok]

Well @neno1978 , that would be an interesting twist. Could you please type this in Terminal:

ifconfig -u | grep awdl

and provide the output? If something comes out, then there's a little hope.

[neno1978]

nop, nothing comes out :( ... but, i am using calls, sms, etc with ethernet and airdrop too(mac to mac) ... some little hope?? ;)

[neno1978]

i don´t now if it help but with ifconfig en1 | grep ether

ether 04:54:53:09:48:53 ...

[dokterdok]

You will need an AWDL interface to enjoy handoff, and as far as I know it's been only implemented in the Broadcom 4360 Wireless drivers. There's no hack around this I'm afraid.

[neno1978]

no luck them ... :(

[beavis64]

Are there any new possibilities for an internal or external solution for the mid-2011 21.5 inch iMac with your new updates this week?

[dokterdok]

@beavis64 What does the System Diagnostic say about your active AirPort drivers? could you please verify. If it's Broadcom there's a chance it'll work with a dongle with CAT 2.0. If it's an Atheros, then your AirPort card will need to be replaced with a compatible Broadcom one to have Continuity.

[beavis64]

No, it's Atheros. I have the internal hardware and basic instructions from iFixit, but I don't know how (or where) exactly to connect the black antenna wires. Please see the pictures at the beginning of this post; I'll paste my earlier question again:

"See how the CH0, CH1 and CH2 are easily accessible? Now look at the photos of my hardware: connectors face backwards (do I need a different adapter?) and they are labeled J0, J1, J2 (hidden with adapter) and J3. Which three do I use with the connectors? I'm assuming that J0 and J1 are CH0 and CH1 respectively. What about the third connector?"

Do I need to swap out the bluetooth module and reroute the black wire from that to the new card in the adapter? Too many questions...

[neno1978]

The problem, I think, that in iMac mid 2011 the Bluetooth is separate wifif-card and then need energy to work. They solved it with a trick making by a usb. But my question is; can this card work with a Bluetooth dongle and not with the Bluetooth of the card? If the answers is yes; can we used a wifif-card without Bluetooth ?? Which??

[michaeltilst]

I have installed a bcm94360cd card in my iMac 2011 mid. I've also moved the 3 cables to the new card and also got a 4th unused connecter on the new card. Wifi and Bluetooth works but for some reason Yosemite uses the original Bluetooth card instead of the new one!? And if i remove the original Bluetooth card yosemite cant find any Bluetooth hardware at all. What am I supposed to do with the unused 4th connection on the new card? Hope you can guide me :-) thanks :-)

[beavis64]

michaeltilst, did you ever get a response? I still have the same questions.

[michaeltilst]

Beavis64 - I apparently bought the wrong adapter. Have just received a new one with USB D+/D- connector, which I will connect directly to the motherboard. I'm going to install the new adapter on thursday - and I will let you know if everything works :-) Crossing my fingers...

[beavis64]

michaeltilst, could you please post a photo and a part number for the new adapter on this thread? If it works, I'd like to get one as well!

[michaeltilst]

@beavis64 I orderede this one: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Mini-PCI-E-Adapter-for-BCM94360CD-BCM94331CD/2033123652.html It's very important that the adapter is "version 3" - otherwise it may not have the USB +/- connector.

However, I got some problems. At first everything seemed fine. My bluetooth connection was now managed by the BCM94360CD card after I connected the adapter to the motherboard. And everything seemed fine in system settings: Continuity etc. was enabled. BUT my wifi was gone :( I didn't find out what the problem was - so I switched back to the old adapter again.

The VERY good news: I read on a website that Continuity Activation Tool 2.0 now supports some Bluetooth 4.0 dongles. So I bought a Iogear GBU521 dongle (was very cheap) and now EVERYTHING runs perfect: Continuity, Handoff, Airdrop, Wifi etc. I strongly recommend you to buy the same dongle. Way easier than replacing Airport card. So I lost some money, but everything works now :-)

Merry christmas...

[pispo]

@michaeltilst Which is the chipset of your Wifi card? Is it a Atheros or a Broadcom? Have you disconnected the old BT module inside the iMac?

I want to perform the same update but I saw that "Atheros Wi-Fi AirPort cards will prevent Continuity from working even when adding a Bluetooth 4.0 dongle. The System Diagnostic feature of CAT tells which Wi-Fi brand is active. There are no workarounds and no patch is expected to change this, an AirPort card upgrade is required."

I love your dongle solution by my AirPort card is Atheros and I am afraid it will not work:( I saw that the airport replacement works but requires doing some wiring between the airport adapter and the bluetooth connector. However, I want to make the tweak reversible and this is quite difficult.

[michaeltilst]

It's a broadcom

[beavis64]

michaeltilst, can you use the built-in Atheros wifi card AND an Iogear GBU521 dongle to get all the Continuity, Handoff, Airdrop, Wifi etc. to work? Or do I still need to open up my iMac and put in the Broadcom card with the new adapter?

[dokterdok]

@beavis64 No you can't. From the homepage :

Atheros Wi-Fi AirPort cards will prevent Continuity from working even when adding a Bluetooth 4.0 dongle. The System Diagnostic feature of CAT tells which Wi-Fi brand is active. There are no workarounds and no patch is expected to change this, an AirPort card upgrade is required.

[beavis64]

OK, here are pictures of the hardware I have for the Continuity upgrade. Will it work, or do I need to get a different wifi adapter card? Also, which black wires attach to which ports on the card? Do I need to do anything to the internal bluetooth card, or will plugging in the USB micro adapter be sufficient? So many questions...

[pispo]

Hi beavis!

First of all, I suppose that you have a iMac 27" (mid - 2011) with Atheros wifi module. You can see this info clicking on the Apple logo, then "About this Mac" (here the iMac mid - 2011) and in "System Information" - "Wi-Fi" -> "Atheros 9380". If this is not your case, tell me.

With such WIFI adapter, it will work ;) The BCM94360CD that you are showing in the picture is a WIFI + BLUETOOTH module. The problem is that if you want to use the BLUETOOTH part, it is needed to make some soldering (don't worry about it because you are going to provide such functionality with the USB bluetooth dongle).

The wires that you mentioned are antennas and are connected to J0, J1 and J2 (you don't need to connect J3 because it is related with bluetooth connectivity). In J0 you have to put the wire that does not have any mark, in J1 you have to put the wire with one grey line and in J2 the wire with tow grey lines.

I think that you don't need to disconnect the internal bluetooth module but I am not sure. First try without unplugging anything and if it does not work, I can tell you how to disconnect the internal bluetooth. I want to make the same upgrade but I have not tried yet (missing some pieces).

Do not hesitate and contact with me if you have any other doubt. And please report your results :)

Cheers!

El 29/12/14 a las 19:04, beavis64 escribió:

OK, here are pictures of the hardware I have for the Continuity upgrade. Will it work, or do I need to get a different wifi adapter card? Also, which black wires attach to which ports on the card? Do I need to do anything to the internal bluetooth card, or will plugging in the USB micro adapter be sufficient? So many questions...

3ff838d8-65d9-11e4-9e0f-ae294e182665 https://cloud.githubusercontent.com/assets/9593665/5571162/d1f5bcb0-8f41-11e4-8082-7bfd8be2c0d5.jpg img_7234 https://cloud.githubusercontent.com/assets/9593665/5571165/d216bd8e-8f41-11e4-85ef-74d88daf328e.jpg 3c2cdcfe-65d9-11e4-96ef-1a8c440cb81a https://cloud.githubusercontent.com/assets/9593665/5571164/d20fcc86-8f41-11e4-8674-fc5309aea799.jpg 42cb32e0-65d9-11e4-9c23-c39e8c6b13dc https://cloud.githubusercontent.com/assets/9593665/5571163/d20f9dec-8f41-11e4-9f10-1bcde3b32a62.jpg

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/dokterdok/Continuity-Activation-Tool/issues/46#issuecomment-68281109.

[beavis64]

Hi pispo (and all)!

My iMac is actually a 21" (mid-2011), but the wifi card has an Atheros 9380 firmware version. Just curious, what are the steps for the soldering adjustment on the BCM94360CD? I'm pretty good at that stuff, but I don't have the information to do it. Also, I assume I would need to disconnect the existing black wire to the original bluetooth module and route it to the J3 port on the new card. It looks like I need a longer black wire or an extender of some kind. Do you know what I would need to accomplish this?

Thanks!

[pispo]

If you want to rewire the existing internal bluetooth module to the BCM94360CD card, you will not need the USB bluetooth dongle.

In this url, you can have more information about the rewiring: forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1780242 Basically, you need to buy:

• A pigtail to connect the existing bluetooth antena to J3. Some users reported that is needed a pigtail of 60 cm like this one: http://www.ebay.es/itm/191422150400?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
• In iMac 27" you need 3 wires to connect D+, D- and Vcc from old external bluetooth conector to BCM94360CD adapter. The schemas are in the link of macrumors I posted before. I am not sure if this step is needed in iMac 21".

Good luck!

El 30/12/14 a las 19:13, beavis64 escribió:

Hi pispo (and all)!

My iMac is actually a 21" (mid-2011), but the wifi card has an Atheros 9380 firmware version. Just curious, what are the steps for the soldering adjustment on the BCM94360CD? I'm pretty good at that stuff, but I don't have the information to do it. Also, I assume I would need to disconnect the existing black wire to the original bluetooth module and route it to the J3 port on the new card. It looks like I need a longer black wire or an extender of some kind. Do you know what I would need to accomplish this?

Thanks!

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/dokterdok/Continuity-Activation-Tool/issues/46#issuecomment-68380914.

[michaeltilst]

@beavis64 The BCM94360CD card and adapter has been installed in my iMac. However I haven't connected the adapter to the logic board (that resulted in working bluetooth but my Wifi disappeared). So I reconnected the original broadcom Bluetooth card and plugged in the iOgear USB adapter. Everything works perfectly now - but everytime Mac OS is updated I have to run CAT again to reactivate it. But that can be done in less than 10 minutes👍

[michaeltilst]

@beavis64 Let me know if you get WIFI and BLUETOOTH working by only using the BCM94360CD card and adapter only. I'm very curious😊

[beavis64]

I'm hoping to get to it today. Should I disconnect the internal Bluetooth wire while I'm in there or leave it intact and use the USB Bluetooth module? It's also a good opportunity to replace the PRAM battery!

[beavis64]

OK, here's what I got: When I installed the adapter card I had to use the screw to hold it in place, otherwise it just springs up.

Next, I attached the wires to the Broadcom card and seated it in the adapter. See the problem? One of the wires on the card is located EXACTLY where the screw is causing it to make contact.

That's when I decided to put the old card back in place. I didn't want to take the chance of the thing shorting out or worse. Is there a better adapter where the wifi card faces "up"? Oh well, at least I swapped out the PRAM battery ;-)

[pispo]

I think that this kind of shortcut does not matter too much because this wire is an antenna. If it matters, you can put some wiretape on top of the screw :) I think that all of the adapters leave the Broadcom card facing "down".

El 4/1/15 a las 17:25, beavis64 escribió:

OK, here's what I got: When I installed the adapter card I had to use the screw to hold it in place, otherwise it just springs up. img_7282 https://cloud.githubusercontent.com/assets/9593665/5606593/c2c5d628-93ea-11e4-8bd6-883cd4794a66.jpg

Next, I attached the wires to the Broadcom card and seated it in the adapter. See the problem? One of the wires on the card is located EXACTLY where the screw is causing it to make contact. img_7284 https://cloud.githubusercontent.com/assets/9593665/5606601/1ad4ed68-93eb-11e4-8c15-47c09c07baf8.JPG

Is there a better adapter where the wifi card faces "up"? Oh well, at least I swapped out the PRAM battery ;-)

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/dokterdok/Continuity-Activation-Tool/issues/46#issuecomment-68638574.

[beavis64]

Also, do you see the angle of the card in the adapter? It has a noticeable lift. It also doesn't allow you to put the retaining screws in the back of the adapter to secure the wifi card. Weird design...

[blackluca90]

Hi. I have 27" imac late 2009 with atheros module. Is it possible to change to a broadcom? which model should i choose? where can i find the drivers? i already bought an asus bt 400 dongle but continuity does not recognize it, is it normal? thanks

[noisemake]

Hi all, and tnks dokterdok for your job!

I have a imac mid 2011 with:

Controller Ethernet: Broadcom 57765-B0 firmware: 57765-v1.37, 0x7cfcc847

Wifi : AirPort Extreme (0x168C, 0x9A) Firmware: Atheros 9380: 4.0.74.0-P2P

Bluetooth Broadcom BCM 2046

Using this command, i'm abled to use AirDrop on ethernet "defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser BrowseAllInterfaces 1" ; now my question is, adding a C.A.T. compatible BT dongle like Asus BT-400 it will works?

I don't use wifi network, because i have a gigalan cabled network, and reading here (http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/does-continuity-work-over-ethernet.1760944/#post-19434859) continuity will work with wired connection.

[pannous]

Update question: is it possible to get parts of continuity to work just with dongles? Broadcom BT 4.0 dongle works fine, would an extra Wifi dongle help?

[wsjohnston1]

I have just upgraded to wifi AC and Bluetooth 4 using the kit from osxwifi.com and the ifixit and osxwifi guides. Awkward but straightforward and everything is working perfectly, including continuity, etc. Also, mouse, keyboard etc are working significantly better. The osxwifi kit includes extension cables for bluetooth antenna and usb which means you only have to connect / disconnect.

I am retired with no special computer skills so anyone should be able to do this if they follow the instructions to the letter and are patient, especially with the screen data cable which was the only real problem for me - it is very delicate and you must be very careful disconnecting and reconnecting. It took me about an hour to complete the installation.

I have a mid-2011, 21.5" iMac with 500GB SSD (upgraded using fixit guide) 20GB RAM and macOS Sierra version 10.12.3 Beta.

Perhaps it's wishful thinking but my computer seems to be faster with these upgrades than the equivalent newer models. It's certainly a cheaper way of enhancing performance.

[wsjohnston1]

The bluetooth antenna cable appears the same as the one I got from osxwifi. I removed the old bluetooth card and connected the extension cable from the original bluetooth antenna to the BCM94360CD. As the kit included all the parts required, it was a relatively straightforward install for me so no worries about USB D+/D- etc. If I can find the OSX guide I will upload an image of the connected cables. When I read about the difficulties that some have had with wifi, bluetooth or both not working, I am happy I chose the more expensive ($120 - cheap by Apple prices) solution. It saved a lot of time and hassle and, time is money. Good luck.

[wsjohnston1]

I disconnected the original Bluetooth module.

Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad

On Monday, August 7, 2017, 1:59 AM, ethanstiles notifications@github.com wrote:

@wsjohnston1 Did you disconnect the internal bluetooth module or leave it in? Thanks

— You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or mute the thread.

[andreazangheri]

Also, do you see the angle of the card in the adapter? It has a noticeable lift. It also doesn't allow you to put the retaining screws in the back of the adapter to secure the wifi card. Weird design...

Hi everyone,

@beavis64 Have you found a working solution in relation to the iMac 2011 with Atheros Card? Can you briefly explain which pieces you used? Thank you a ton!