Continuity and Handoff Capable Apple Mini Cards + PCIe and mini-PCIe Adapters

[Gigamaxx]

Hi all, I’m fairly new to all this so apologies if I have any misinformation. I’m also looking to start my first build and am considering the Gigabyte Z390 I Aorus Pro Wifi. I noticed someone has enquired about this board already but were told to go for a PCIe x1 adapter, but to my knowledge there is only one PCIE x16 slot on the board? Someone also said that only Intel CNVi can be used in the WiFi port, so does that then mean the only option to get an Apple WiFi card working on this board is through an m.2 adapter? Is it possible to power it through a SATA port adapter by any chance?

It looks like 3 pci 1 and 3 pci 16 type slots.

 

[zwndxreconz]

Ahh okay, thank you for clarifying. So m.2 is really the only option for this board?

Follow up - both my m.2 slots are M rather than A/E. Will this matter?

 

[pastrychef]

Follow up - both my m.2 slots are M rather than A/E. Will this matter?

M.2 slots meant for SSDs are M keyed. Just get the correct adaptor.

 

[zwndxreconz]

It looks like 3 pci 1 and 3 pci 16 type slots.

View attachment 453355

This is the ATX version of the board - I am referring to the Z390 I, the mini-itx version.

 

[zwndxreconz]

M.2 slots meant for SSDs are M keyed. Just get the correct adaptor.

Great, thank you for your help!

 

[pastrychef]

Great, thank you for your help!

This will convert the M key to A/E key.



Then, if you want to use an Apple made Wi-Fi/Bluetooth card, you will need another adaptor...

 

[blomdala]

Great, thank you for your help!

Check this thread out, better than stacking adapters...

[100% Working] 12+6 Pin Apple WiFI/BT Card to M.2 NGFF Adapter! Handoff! Unlock with Watch! UEFI!

So I just had to do a quick write-up on this because I've hardly seen it mentioned in the networking/WiFi threads... On all newer boards, WiFi and Bluetooth is based off an NGFF M.2 module. We have all been struggling trying to buy used Dell/Lenovo cards off eBay from Chinese distros and it's...

www.tonymacx86.com

 

[Gigamaxx]

Check this thread out, better than stacking adapters...

[100% Working] 12+6 Pin Apple WiFI/BT Card to M.2 NGFF Adapter! Handoff! Unlock with Watch! UEFI!

So I just had to do a quick write-up on this because I've hardly seen it mentioned in the networking/WiFi threads... On all newer boards, WiFi and Bluetooth is based off an NGFF M.2 module. We have all been struggling trying to buy used Dell/Lenovo cards off eBay from Chinese distros and it's...

www.tonymacx86.com

If you look at ti the card and adapter look way to tall to allow the Mobo shroud to be reinstalled. The shroud helps to direct heat out of the case through the IO ports.

Here's another option with the same basic card but it will fit I the stock socket without an adapter. I have one coming this week and will confirm its compatibility.


Update; it works without any Kexts both WiFi and Bluetooth. Lists in windows as Apple WiFi device. Only issue is the antenna connectors don’t seem to be the right size and the cables fall off easily. I taped mine down and then screwed down the plastic cover and it’s holding up so far. I’m searching for cables that may be for this particular model but haven’t had any luck so far. The connectors don’t snap in like the 4352 cards. Maybe these are factory defects due to the faulty hub size? Aside from that they work great!

 

[dr.mono]

Hi guys,
This is my first post so first of all thank you for creating this awesome community.

I'm having trouble with Airdrop/Continuity on my BCM94331CD card. Wi-Fi/BT works fine. My spec is:
CPU: i9-9900K 3.6 GHz, MB: Asus Rog Strix Z390-E Gaming, GPU: Sapphire Radeon RX 580 Nitro+ 8GB, NETWORK: BCM94331CD STORAGE: Samsung Evo 840 250GB, Samsung Evo 860 1TB RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT DDR4 2x 16GB, PSU: TX650M 650W

I'm on Mojave 10.14.6, OC 0.5.7.

It seems I might have troube installing needed kexts. Not sure why, but I'm pretty new to Hackintosh. I've installed via Hackintool:
AirportBrcmFixup.kext
BrcmPatchRAM2.kext
and then
BT4LEContinuityFixup.kext

But Hackintool only shows me the attached kexts. I'm attaching also terminal and some other system info. Any help will be much appreciated. Thank you.

 

[DAJYYC]

I've got a strange situation that I haven't found on this thread yet and I'm wondering if anyone else has seen this behavior.

I've tinkered around with Hackintosh for a long time. But am far from being an expert.

MB: GA-Z97N-WIFI Mini ITX
Intel: 4790K
Memory: 32GB
Video: Asus Radeon 580
SSD: Sandisk 480 (Win10) , Kingston 480 (Catalina)
Wifi Mini-PCI: Removed Intel 7260HMW Replaced Azurewave: BCM94352HMB
OS: Win 10 pro, Catalina 10.15.4 (Mojave on a 3rd HDD For stability testing)

I have the Wireless working without any issues using the KEXT files recommended in this thread but Bluetooth seems to be initially working and then becomes unavailable.

I've been messing around with this for over a month now trying to understand why the wireless and Bluetooth would work fine for days and then suddenly I get Bluetooth not available. I don't believe that this is a OSX problem because when I boot back into Windows 10. I also can't get the Bluetooth driver to load properly. (Even after a shutdown.) I've tried to uninstall and re-install the drivers. Tried every combination of USB Legacy, Auto, Off. EHCI XHCI. But the same problem eventually occurs where I turn on the system from shutdown and Bluetooth is unavailable and the only consistent trend that I found was to disconnect the AC power cable from the Mini ITX case. And typically Bluetooth comes back working under Windows 10 or OSX.

I'm out of ideas and am ready to give up and buy an Apple card to overcome this but I'm concerned that it is a motherboard problem and not a MiniPCI card problem. I've been incredibly happy with everything else and was willing to sell my Mac Mini since this machine was so much more capable.

I'd sure like some direction if anyone can help me understand if they have seen this and how they corrected the problem. I just don't want to go off any buy another card if the problem will just come back again. Because the adapters aren't readily available here and it takes over a month to get them. I'm worried that its a bios compatibility problem and that the cards USB configuration gets scrambled and requires a re-boot to straighten out.

Thanks for any direction you can provide.