Jump to content

[Solved] Airport BCM943602CS: no Bluetooth when connected to PCIe USB controller card


Pierre C.

Recommended Posts

I'll try that and if everything else fails then what I will do is that I'll swap the front panel USB connector and the Airport USB connector: I'll plug the Airport USB directly to the motherboard (which I know works) and the case USB front panel to the pci-e NEC controller card. This will probably work... I guess. The only problem is that I'll have to buy a USB cable extension for the front panel since the integrated cable is too short. 

 

Nonetheless, it would be a very frustrating solution and will not explain the current behavior :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 24
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

OK @Hervé, I cached the generic USB3.0 kext and I get the following result in IOReg. The BT controller is shown under RP07 but at at different locationID. Bluetooth is still not recognized by MacOS, so I'd say it's the same result as with my other driver don't you think? Any ideas for what to try next ;) ?

 

Also, as opposed to my previous driver, this time no new distinct usb bus is shown in System Informations. I can only see my internal bus and its devices. What do you think about that?

 

Capture d’écran 2020-06-30 à 09.45.56.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is the two drivers compared side by side. GenericUSBXHCI.kext on the left, mXHCD.kext on the right.

I think mXHCD.kext is working best since:

- it has more metadata attached to the device: usbUserClientEntitlement = com.apple.bluetooth.control, for example,

- it reports correctly the new bus and its devices in System Information

 

... still no BT though 😕

 

1328473686_Capturedecran2020-06-30a09_59_56.thumb.png.52b28aa635d4c3f23d5b018c9931e94e.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good to know. In any case I'm at a loss now. Both drivers work but macOS is still unable to link to the BT controller. I need to find a way to pinpoint the origin of the problem, naming or otherwise, before implementing a solution 😕 I'm sure it's solvable.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you talking about the Airport card or the USB controller card? If it's the latter, I unfortunately didn't find an existing thread specifically about connecting an airport card via an external pci-e USB controller. That would be ideal 🤔

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

I was talking about your PCIe USB controller card of course. There isn't much about these here, except EC cards for which you now have a link. You'll have to make your own research on Google...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

i did not notice if you mentioned what the card actually is like make and model other then maybe a chipset maker. have you tried going to it's manufacturer webpage to see if they even mention OSX compatibility or drivers? if it is not compatible its not compatible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

It's one of those cheap unbranded cards you buy on-line. Bears a "PCIe-U314S+ PW4" label on it. Manufactured by... who knows?

U314S+.jpg

 

Based on NEC UPD720201 chipset that may just not be 100% supported, though it seems to be... More likely, the card may not draw enough power to the Apple Bluetooth module.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...