<< Solved >> Bluetooth stopped working after updating to 10.15.1 (BCM943602CS)

[Kittciokas]

Ever since i bought BCM943602CS with adapter a year ago, i was enjoying my build like a real mac - Handoff, Continuity, AirDrop, iMessages, Apple Watch unlock - all worked out of the box, but that changed when i updated to 10.15.1 a few days ago. While WiFi still works, Bluetooth stopped working. I read tons of forum posts but i still haven't fixed it. Been trying to fix it for a three straight days, almost fully dedicated to fix this problem. I restored to 10.15.0 with Time Machine, but even then Bluetooth was not working, but it worked on 10.15.0 before the update. After updating and restoring, Bluetooth icon on the top of the screen showed "Bluetooth: Not Available". Bluetooth icon from the Preferences panel was gone. When i did a clean install of 10.15.1, even Bluetooth icon with "Bluetooth: Not Available" was gone.

As i mentioned, i read a lot of topics regarding BCM943602CS bluetooth issues, but all of them were about users who tried to make bluetooth work when they just got the BCM943602CS with adapter. Some of them even found out that vendorID or productID didn't match a fully supported model and they bought another bluetooth cards. Very little of them managed to fix it and even then, they had to modify or load some kexts. As i mentioned before, bluetooth worked out of the box when i got the BCM943602CS. I checked my productID and vendorID, and while Vendor ID showed 0x05ac (supported vendor), Product ID showed 0xf007 - the one, i found on the forum, as being not supported one. Then why did it work out of the box before (for a year)? I checked my SSDT for USB, tried to connect to different USB headers and even outside ports - didn't make any difference. Tried different drivers to make it work at least on Windows, none of them where working. Windows detected it, said "getting ready", then that it was successfully added (i don't remember exact text), but under Device Manager it still showed under unidentified devices (don't remember how exactly was it written).

I have two guesses, one may be connected to this article of bluetooth issues since 10.15.1 even on real Macs:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250801271

Another guess is that 10.15.1 update somehow messed up BCM943602CS bluetooth firmware, thus i now get unsupported Product ID of 0xf007 (which was mentioned as unsupported on another topic).

Both of the guesses might be connected.

Broadcom Bluetooth Download Device:
Product ID: 0xf007
Vendor ID: 0x05ac (Apple Inc.)
Version: 0.41
Manufacturer: Broadcom Corp
Location ID: 0x1d180000

I bought this card with adapter here in late October, 2018: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00MBP25UK/?tag=tonymacx8603-21 (photos of it now are different, mine has 3 antennas, this one has 2).

Thank you for you help!

EDIT! PROBLEM SOLVED
Thanks to @headkaze.
Cause: Bluetooth adapter firmware got corrupted during update from 10.15.0 to 10.15.1.
Solution is here.

 

[Deleted member 188658]

Same here. Bluetooth was working on 10.15.0. And now it exists, i.e. is present, but does NOT connect to any device on 10.15.1.

Bluetooth seems to be present, but I can't connect or turn it on or off. This is on my ASRock Hack.

I have :
BrcmFirmwareRepo.kext,
BrcmPatchRAM2.kext,
BrcmPatchRAM3.kext,
BrcmBluetoothInjector.kext installed in /Library/Extensions.

I have USInjectAll.kext also in /L/E and I believe I have the Catalina 15-port USB port limit working, as it worked on 10.15.0. Is the problem that that there is a conflict in BrcmPatchRAM2 and BrcmPatchRAM3 exiting at the same time?

 

[Kittciokas]

For me Bluetooth card is not even detected. Only under USB i see some info about Bluetooth (Broadcom Bluetooth Download Device). I read on some forum, that when device is listed with "Download Device", that it's in flashing mode, waiting to be flashed with firmware. Too bad i don't have screenshot of how was it identified when it worked.

 

[UtterDisbelief]

Hi both.

My take on this is that it sounds like a USB issue.

Unlike other Broadcom chipsets, the one in your card - BCM943602CS - does not need the firmware/patch kext mods. Nor flashing in any way.

Next step is to run IORegistryExplorer and scroll down to the XHC section to check your USB ports.

Report back.

 

[Kittciokas]

Hi both.

My take on this is that it sounds like a USB issue.

Unlike other Broadcom chipsets, the one in your card - BCM943602CS - does not need the firmware/patch kext mods. Nor flashing in any way.

Next step is to run IORegistryExplorer and scroll down to the XHC section to check your USB ports.

Report back.

I don't believe this has anything to do with USB - i tried multiple ports, even the ones, that my Mouse and Keyboard adaptors are inserted at this time - they are working. I tried USB headers on Motherboard, and as i written before, multiple ports both - on front of the case, and on the back of the case. Every USB device is working perfectly. I tried four or five different cables, both - miniUSB to USB, and miniUSB to USB header. Yesterday i even modified my SSDT and changed port type to "2", to indicate, that it's USB header inside, and not an outside port. Didn't help.

Broadcom device shows up not under XHC, but on EH01, as HP18.

 

[evlthoma]

I had the same issue when I upgrade from Mojave to Catalina. I finally got it working by cleaning up my kexts, now I'm down to only:

Kexts/other:

and L/E of:

 

[Kittciokas]

I had pretty clean kexts/other folder before updating from 10.15.0 to 10.15.1. Never needed any AirportBrclFixup or WhateverGreen. When i was on Mojave, i narrowed down to which kexts do i really need. Although before update, bluetooth worked great without any additional kexts, i tried Broadcom PatchRAM driver for OS X by @RehabMan with no success, so i deleted them.

I still think that 10.15.1 update somehow ruined firmware of BCM943602CS's Bluetooth card. It's version is shown as 0.41, which seems suspiciously old. Too bad i can't check which version was displayed when Bluetooth worked. This would explain why Bluetooth didn't work when i restored back to 10.15.0 with Time Machine. It worked on 10.15.0 before i updated to 10.15.1.

 

[Lapseart]

this guide can fix your problem;

BrcmPatchRAM2 for 10.15 Catalina (Broadcom bluetooth firmware upload)

I'm just going to run through some of the changes I made to RehabMan's BrcmPatchRAM project for it to function in macOS Catalina. I don't really have time to go any further with it but hopefully my research and testing can help get an official working version out. I'm using BrcmFirmwareData.kext,...

www.insanelymac.com

 

[UtterDisbelief]

I don't believe this has anything to do with USB - i tried multiple ports, even the ones, that my Mouse and Keyboard adaptors are inserted at this time - they are working. I tried USB headers on Motherboard, and as i written before, multiple ports both - on front of the case, and on the back of the case. Every USB device is working perfectly. I tried four or five different cables, both - miniUSB to USB, and miniUSB to USB header. Yesterday i even modified my SSDT and changed port type to "2", to indicate, that it's USB header inside, and not an outside port. Didn't help.

Broadcom device shows up not under XHC, but on EH01, as HP18.

View attachment 435222

I am sorry you do not believe my diagnosis.

Please note that 10.15.1 does not break this Broadcom chipset

if it is the genuine 05AC_8290. And if it was working with 10.15.0, then it seems unlikely you would need to flash the firmware.

I am unable to identify "f007".

I do not believe you should be seeing: "Broadcom Bluetooth Download Device". Instead you should see "Bluetooth USB Host Controller"

Using USB2 ports on the EHC controller, as you are doing, with the port and cable you previously used, should be fine. Your motherboard has four internal Intel USB2 ports to choose from.

So, what to do?

1) Because bluetooth is not working, check which kexts you have installed - screengrabs show differences between Hackintool and Finder L/E (in case of conflicts). Did you remove FakePCIID_XHCIMux.kext? If so, good

2) Try removing your SSDT and instead using a port-limit removal patch to test again.

3) Consider re-checking your choice of UsbConnector value for the header/port type you are using.

4) Check the Intel Vendor/Device IDs used in the SSDT.

And of course, it is always possible that your hardware has become faulty, but if not, then it should just be a USB configuration issue.

 

[evlthoma]

I booted from my Mojave drive and I have this: