Contribute
Register

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

tonymacx86

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Nov 17, 2009
Messages
7,365
Motherboard
Z370N WIFI
CPU
i7 8700K
Graphics
HD 630
Mac
  1. MacBook Air
Classic Mac
  1. Apple
  2. PowerBook
Mobile Phone
  1. iOS
imgres.jpg
Yosemite's new Handoff and Continuity features are pretty amazing. This includes making phone calls, picking up where you left off in apps on other Apple devices seamlessly. Unfortunately even the latest USB Bluetooth 4.0 dongles aren't working at all with this feature. Fortunately there are solutions available that make these features work 100%.

IMG_1099.jpg

The best way to get Handoff and Continuity features activated is using a native Apple mini networking card from a real 2013/2014 Mac with a specially modified PCIe or mini-PCIe Adapter. I've put a few of these together, and confirm that they work really well. Check out my album below:

http://www.tonymacx86.com/members/tonymacx86/albums/handoff-phone-call-yosemite/

bcm2.pngbcm1.png

The first one I made was using an older MacBook Air card with the PCIe adapter. It connects both to PCIe slot and to USB hub on the motherboard. The MacBook card only had 2 antenna pins which were too small and too few for the 4 antenna PCIe adapter. I ended up ordering a iMac card which fit perfectly with PCIe adapter's 4 antenna pins. Both cards work fine with the mini-PCIe adapter as well- however you need to make sure your motherboard (I used an ITX with built in mini-PCIe slot) is fully bluetooth powered. If I were to do it again, I'd get the iMac card first, but both cards are identical Broadcom chipsets.


The following screenshots show how the card shows up on a CustoMac. It's a fully native Broadcom BCM43xx wifi with BRCM20702 Bluetooth USB hub.

Screen Shot 2014-10-18 at 7.54.00 PM.png

Screen Shot 2014-10-18 at 7.36.06 PM.png
Screen Shot 2014-10-18 at 7.34.29 PM.png
Screen Shot 2014-10-18 at 7.36.42 PM.pngYou can find the adapters and cards readily available on Amazon or eBay, usually shipping from China. This method provides the best cost savings- I was able to make a full unit for under $50. In addition the website osxwifi.com sells the full package- no assembly required. This method costs extra because of the convenience and assurance that the right parts are ordered.

Continuity Activation Tool is an open source script to get Continuity working with some older Macs built in Bluetooth module- this could also work with some Bluetooth 3.0 cards. Check out Github for the latest download of Continuity Activation Tool. Unfortunately this doesn't enable 3rd party USB Bluetooth devices though such as the IOGear Bluetooth dongle. EDIT: Continuity Activation Tool 2.0 works with some Bluetooth 4.0 USB dongles.

If you've ordered or enabled a specific card or adapter, this thread is to list all working and functional WIFI/BT adapters which work with Handoff and Continuity features in OS X Yosemite.

Please provide as much detail as possible including model numbers, photos, and screenshots when listing your card and adapter. Thanks!

:mrgreen:
 
Awesome work as always. Looking forward to seeing if there are any m.2 cards supporting BT/WiFi Combo AND Continuity and Handoff. My board has an onboard slot, and I know there is an existing Broadcom model with OS X support... Maybe I'll just take the plunge for the benefit of us all.

EDIT:

Primarily interested in this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Broadcom-BC...US_Internal_Network_Cards&hash=item2ecd915c2b

Seems to be the only M.2 Wireless card confirmed working in OS X at the moment. I've gotta make sure it fits my board and I may take the plunge.
 
Just got this combo myself. Can't wait to try it. Rather than using the ugly plastic antennas I want to use the built in ones in my Mac Pro case. Will it still work?
 
Last edited:
I also purchased this combo separately to save a few dollars, and it works natively. However you must make sure when plugging it into your motherboard, that you insert the pie adapter into one of the PCIe-x1, and not a PCIe-x8, or PCIe-x16, as it will not enable full bluetooth and wifi.
 
Most 3rd party bluetooth sticks will support Bluetooth 4.0 / LE (visible through LMP version 0x06 or higher)

Bluetooth functionality itself can be enabled using Bluetooth Firmware Uploader (Search on Google).

However through system profiler bluetooth they do not show support for Instant Hotspot / Hand-off.

If thats the case, try the following patch to modify the feature flags on the bluetooth module and enable Instant Hotspot and Hand-off.

Bluetooth.png

For Clover:
Code:
<dict>
    <key>Comment</key>
    <string>IOBluetoothFamily - Continuity &amp; Hand-off</string>
    <key>Find</key>
    <data>
    i4eMAQAA
    </data>
    <key>Name</key>
    <string>IOBluetoothFamily</string>
    <key>Replace</key>
    <data>
    uA8AAACQ
    </data>
</dict>

Direct binary patch (Non-Clover users):
Code:
# Patch IOBluetoothFamily for Instant Hotspot / Hand-off
sudo perl -i.bak -pe 's|\x8B\x87\x8C\x01\x00\x00|\xB8\x0F\x00\x00\x00\x90​|sg' /System/Library/Extensions/IOBluetoothFamily.kext/Contents/MacOS/IOBluetoothFamily

Credits for this patch go to Doktordok, however due to forum rules I cannot directly link to the source.

Note do not forget to enable kernel flag kext-dev-mode=1 to allow loading unsigned kexts if not enabled already.
 
How can I apply this patch? (i'm using clover)
 
I also purchased this combo separately to save a few dollars, and it works natively. However you must make sure when plugging it into your motherboard, that you insert the pie adapter into one of the PCIe-x1, and not a PCIe-x8, or PCIe-x16, as it will not enable full bluetooth and wifi.

I found this out as well, bluetooth works when connecting it to a PCIe x8 but wifi does not...
 
For Clover:
Code:
<dict>
    <key>Comment</key>
    <string>IOBluetoothFamily - Continuity &amp; Hand-off</string>
    <key>Find</key>
    <data>
    i4eMAQAA
    </data>
    <key>Name</key>
    <string>IOBluetoothFamily</string>
    <key>Replace</key>
    <data>
    uA8AAACQ
    </data>
</dict>

I've gotten pretty good at editing config.plist since Yosemite came out. However, not exactly sure where to stick this code. Could you be more specific? Thanks.
 
did you use the terminal to edit the kext. I tried it but nothing changed.
 
Back
Top