Broadcom WiFi/Bluetooth [Guide]

[Edhawk]

What happens when you disable the Intel WiFi/BT card in the bios. Or use an SSDT to disable the CNVW connector, through which the Intel card is connected.

Also if you are not using the Intel card in macOS, you should remove the AirportItlwm.kext and the Intel Bluetooth kexts from your /OC/Kexts folder and config.plist. As currently you are injecting AirportItlwm.kext to activate the WiFi side of your Intel card.

The Intel card being connected to the CNVW connector will have a USB port associated with the BT module. Usually port HS14, which should be set as Internal (255) in the USBPorts.kext.

When you change to using the Broadcom card, the bluetooth module will be connected via one of the motherboard USB2 header ports. Which port will depend on which header you have used. Whichever port ends up being used by the Broadcom BT module, it will need to be set with the connector type 'Internal' (255). otherwise you will end up with Sleep/wake issues due to XHCI power calls to the misconfigured USB port.

If possible I would recommend you physically remove the Intel card from the motherboard.

 

[Bergier3K]

Hi @Edhawk, lots of possibilities to explorer here, that feels good!

What happens when you disable the Intel WiFi/BT card in the bios. Or use an SSDT to disable the CNVW connector, through which the Intel card is connected.

I have never tapered with such a new motherboard, so i didn't know there was an option in the bios to turn that off, i shall look asap. A SSDT to disable CNVM, yes but how ? Is there a guide somewhere I could follow?

Also if you are not using the Intel card in macOS, you should remove the AirportItlwm.kext and the Intel Bluetooth kexts from your /OC/Kexts folder and config.plist. As currently you are injecting AirportItlwm.kext to activate the WiFi side of your Intel card.

That is a tricky one, I use it to have wifi, but only because the pcie one doesn't work. I would definitely remove all the wireless kexts if the pcie one was working. I try to boot up with a config.plist that had only the bare essential kexts and SSDTs enabled without success. But maybe just disabling them without deleting them from the EFI is not enough ?

The Intel card being connected to the CNVW connector will have a USB port associated with the BT module. Usually port HS14, which should be set as Internal (255) in the USBPorts.kext.

When you change to using the Broadcom card, the bluetooth module will be connected via one of the motherboard USB2 header ports. Which port will depend on which header you have used. Whichever port ends up being used by the Broadcom BT module, it will need to be set with the connector type 'Internal' (255). otherwise you will end up with Sleep/wake issues due to XHCI power calls to the misconfigured USB port.

I will triple check that, but I am 90% sure that USB mapping is correct. I don't remember if I mentioned it but Bluetooth works with the PCIe card, pretty good actually. Only the wi-fi part (so the PCIe part) is not recognized.

If possible I would recommend you physically remove the Intel card from the motherboard.

That was the very first thing I did when I opened the box, knowing I had a OOB working PCIe card. No wi-fi available.

I also tried to plug the Apple card to the m.2 wi-fi slot instead of the intel one, by mean of an adapter that I know works, and it didn't work. Besides that could only have been temporary, because the Apple card is taller than the shroud "protecting" the io setup.

If you, and other people still have the time to look into it, I will try a few things tonight and report.

If I understand your idea, the fact that the onboard slot is active might be a problem to recognize the PCIe card ?

Last, I had the idea of creating a ubuntu live USB and checking how the PCI ports are recognized, to rule out a hidden hardware problem. I also wanted to swap the GPU and the Apple card, just to check the integrity of these ports. The cards are working, I am 200% sure of that, but as it is a brand new motherboard, I can't vouch for the slots.

Another last, do you think I should try with an older Bios? This motherboard has 2 Bios. The one currently used is the latest one, F21.

Thanx again to take the time to look into it!

Cheers

 

[Edhawk]

When you disable the Intel card or use the SSDT-NO-CNVI.aml table you basically remove the device from macOS. If you look in Hackintool, navigate to the PCIe tab and find the CNVW connector, you can set up an SSDT to disable the device and connector, as long as it is using the correct ACPI path for the CNVI connector.

Below is a screenshot showing a section of the SSDT-NO-CNVW.dsl attached, with the ACPI path highlighted in a red rectangle. This would be the part of the table that needs to match your setup for the table to work. I provided a .dsl table so you can edit it to match your setup. If it is already correct then just save it as an assembled Machine Language Binary (.aml) table and add it to your OC setup to see if it helps.



Just to confirm CNVW and CNVI are used to mean the same connector/port.

So your Broadcom WiFi/BT card didn't work in the adapter for the CNVW connector, and it doesn't work in the PCIe adapter card, yes? That being the case you may need to look in to whether the Broadcom WiFi card is defective.

 

[Bergier3K]

Thanx again, i will try that ASAP. However I can confirm that the broadcom card is 100% working because I used it on my regular setup (which I intend to replace by this new build). That's why I am so puzzled, I execpted a plug & play experience One could say it is not 1 big issue, but the fact of not knowing makes my a** itch...

I will report soon, thanx a lot for your time !

 

[Bergier3K]

Hey there, i report a weird success! The ssdt did what it was made for, disabling the intel wifi. But still no broadcom wifi.

I had the idea of putting the GPU on the middle slot and the PCIe adapter on the top slot (see pics), and everything worked perfectly. I had tried the PCIe card on the middle slot without success though...

Anyways, that solution works for me, and the GPU benchmarks are even a little bit better !

Thanx everyone, @Edhawk & @Feartech, for your help !

 

[zipb]

I have a PCIe card with a Broadcom chip, according to Hackintool a BCM43602. Have had that card for ages, WIFI is fine, BT was working OK with previous Hacks and MacOS's.

Now that I have upgraded to Monterey 12.5, after sleep the bluetoothd will use 200% CPU and stop working. Off/on switching will bring it back to normal. Not good.

I investigated further, BT is not 100% working even before sleep. My iPhone and iPad will connect with some effort, but drop off after a second or so. A BT speaker works OK, airdrop from iPhone to Hack works.

What is the recipe for a 100% working BT under Monterey using a Broadcom chip?

 

[Edhawk]

Use no patches, use no additional kexts, just use the native kexts from macOS.

I have Big Sur, Monterey and Ventura running on a number of hacks, all with BCM4360CD, BCM43602CS or BCM4260CS2 cards mounted on PCIe cards, with the bluetooth module connected to a motherboard header.

I don't need anything extra for the Bluetooth to work. It works with the native kexts.

The main thing that messes with Bluetooth is not having your USB ports configured correctly.

 

[zipb]

Use no patches, use no additional kexts, just use the native kexts from macOS.

I have Big Sur, Monterey and Ventura running on a number of hacks, all with BCM4360CD, BCM43602CS or BCM4260CS2 cards mounted on PCIe cards, with the bluetooth module connected to a motherboard header.

I don't need anything extra for the Bluetooth to work. It works with the native kexts.

The main thing that messes with Bluetooth is not having your USB ports configured correctly.

OK. And stuff like Airdrop from Hack to iPhone works for you? Continuity? You can connect from iPhone to Hack without the connection dropping after 1-2 seconds?

No BT weirdness and huge CPU loads after sleep?

 

[garzov]

I have a PCIe card with a Broadcom chip, according to Hackintool a BCM43602. Have had that card for ages, WIFI is fine, BT was working OK with previous Hacks and MacOS's.

Now that I have upgraded to Monterey 12.5, after sleep the bluetoothd will use 200% CPU and stop working. Off/on switching will bring it back to normal. Not good.

I investigated further, BT is not 100% working even before sleep. My iPhone and iPad will connect with some effort, but drop off after a second or so. A BT speaker works OK, airdrop from iPhone to Hack works.

What is the recipe for a 100% working BT under Monterey using a Broadcom chip?

sleepwatcher, https://www.bernhard-baehr.de/ , for wake problem concerning bluetooth

I also had the same problem

 

[zipb]

sleepwatcher, https://www.bernhard-baehr.de/ , for wake problem concerning bluetooth

I also had the same problem

I have seen this solution. I may implement it at some point, but as the OC developers are still working on BT improvements for Monterey and later, I will wait for what they will come up with for now.

I have BT switched off most of the time, turns out I only need it sporadically.