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Designare Z390 + Intel CNVi 9560 BLUETOOTH partial success

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Joined
Aug 22, 2017
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389
Motherboard
Z390 Designare
CPU
i9-9900k
Graphics
RX 580
Mac
  1. iMac
Mobile Phone
  1. iOS
After several hours of trial and error, I have successfully implemented Bluetooth ONLY using the included Intel CNVi 9560 card that comes with the Gigabyte Designare Z390 board. Credit: @asleb and @CaseySJ for assistance.

I personally don't care about WiFI (because I'm on Gigabit LAN) or Handoff or any of the other bells and whistles but did want to get my Apple Magic Mouse working with my Audio production software and didn't want to buy any other WiFi/BT card or waste an x1 slot.

Here are the steps I took (a few screenshots included):

Downloaded the latest zip from RehabMan's repository and followed his directions (copied those relevant to this board and my set up from his Readme).

Installation

1.Copy BrcmFirmwareRepo.kext to your desktop (make sure it's the only kext on your desktop)
(per RehabMan: This kext is much more memory efficient than BrcmFirmwareData.kext and is the preferred configuration.)
2. Run KextBeast and install to /Library/Extensions/
3. Run KextUtility to repair permissions.
4. Mount your EFI folder and place the following two:

BrcmPatchRAM2.kext
BrcmNonPatchRAM2.kext


into EFI/CLOVER/kexts/other/

SSDT Changes


If your current config.plist is running smooth, don't mess with it. Instead, make a copy and name it something else like "config_CNVI_BT.plist" or whatever you prefer. Now you need to enable HS14 which is disabled by your custom USB map (I think every single one shared in the OP disables HS14 which is associated with the Intel CNVi Bluetooth functionality).
Edit your newly created config file by removing from Acpi/SSDT/Sorted order from the entry which pertains to your custom USB map. Also remove the corresponding ".aml" from EFI/CLOVER/ACPI/patched (place it on your desktop for now).*

IMPORTANT! Make sure that you have your USB port limit removal patch applied under Kernel and Kext Patches otherwise your USB functionality will be in jeopardy. I'm attaching a screenshot of my system which is running 10.4.5. If you're running 10.4.4 your entries will be different.

This is where I had originally hit a roadblock as my BT seemed to be active and yet I was unable to connect or discover any devices with it. I solved this problem by booting into Win10, going into device properties and simply updating the driver. Driver update also updated the firmware to the latest version available. I double checked Intel support site for latest version. At this point, reboot the machine and boot normally into macOS.

* Alternatively, rather than removing the USB SSDT from your E/C/A/p you can simply "drop" it during Clover boot. You're going to have to select your alternative config (which has your USB Port Limit patch) as the one you'll boot with.
 

Attachments

  • Intel CNVi 9560 Bluetooth ONLY.png
    Intel CNVi 9560 Bluetooth ONLY.png
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  • Custom USB SSDT Removal.png
    Custom USB SSDT Removal.png
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  • Usb Port limit removal.png
    Usb Port limit removal.png
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Most ppl want BT? This should be integrated in the main set up
 
@luckyal -- Thanks for putting together this guide -- I'm super new to Hackintosh (I just got it working 5 days ago!) but since I had the designare motherboard (using the excellent golden build guide by @CaseySJ and since the wifi/bt adapter I got from Amazon worked fine for wifi but the BT was horrible (sitting next to computer most devices measures -80dBm to -90dBm) I decided to try to get the built in adapter to work (I briefly considered returning the card for another one and hoping to get lucky -- the reviews on Amazon are super hit or miss)

Anyway with your guide and a little googling (I didn't know you could specify an alternate config.plist!) I got it to work -- it was kind of spooky because there were a few steps that I wasn't sure about (mostly the USB patches and dropping aml file) but with a small amount of trying it worked! (almost....)


The adapter shows up and I can connect devices (and it works much, much, better than the Chinese Broadcom adapter that had no signal strength on BT) but there are two problems (one big, one small)

The small problem is some (albeit minor) things don't work -- for instance, when pairing my magic mouse it wasn't as smooth (the aforementioned Broadcom adapter just worked -- the Intel required I type in the code which is 0000)

Also if you hold down alt when looking at Bluetooth properties it doesn't report signal power... all small stuff but just enough to remind you it doesn't have 'first party' support.

The final small problem was it required you enable the USB port workaround thing -- I followed the golden build guide exactly so I'm hoping to keep that working for a long time.... Deviating from it scares me :)

the big problem (and this was the deal killer) is that sleep no longer worked -- the computer went to sleep and then woke up in a few seconds... I confirmed that disabling the card fixed the problem -- I need the computer to sleep so that was the final straw that caused me to drop it.

Anyway, my solution is to order the Fenvi FV-T919 from Newegg which seems like it (perhaps?) has better quality control and is reported to 'just work'.
 
the big problem (and this was the deal killer) is that sleep no longer worked -- the computer went to sleep and then woke up in a few seconds... I confirmed that disabling the card fixed the problem -- I need the computer to sleep so that was the final straw that caused me to drop it.
Yes, sleep gets broken if using CNVi. I use this machine mainly for Pro Audio so it's usually on all day or for several days and then I turn it off. I don't care about any energy efficiencies or anything like that. The only thing that was import for me was to get my Apple Magic mouse to work. I didn't even bother testing any other devices with it, such as headphones or anything like that. So if any of those is a big deal to you, you might be better off going a different route.

Anyway, my solution is to order the Fenvi FV-T919 from Newegg which seems like it (perhaps?) has better quality control and is reported to 'just work'.
Great choice! I've installed several of these in different hacks. It's just plug'n play. Just make sure you buy one of these so you don't lose your front panel ports.

I personally didn't want any extras antennas sticking out from the back of the computer when I already have 2 connections on the back I/O panel.
 
Hello @luckyal i just realized that you sent me a message i cant read it apparently i need to make more posts :( im having issues with the VRS8, doenst get any signal on the inputs, normally this is solved with the restart, but now it does not work, have you had this problem before?
 
Hello @luckyal i just realized that you sent me a message i cant read it apparently i need to make more posts :( im having issues with the VRS8, doenst get any signal on the inputs, normally this is solved with the restart, but now it does not work, have you had this problem before?
I've had this issue once. I can't recall why though or what did to solve it.
 
Thanks for for the instructions, helped me a lot. I was sceptical about the step with Windows driver update, but that does the trick. After the update my BT interface had a MAC address (before that it was just 00-00-00-00-00-00). Unfortunately today (one day after), after a fresh boot, the address is set to 00-00-00-00-00-00 again and I am not able to connect to my magic mouse. Yesterday I did several reboots and sleep-wakeups and all was fine.
I will do a reboot in a moment and maybe start Windows 10 again to see if I get the BT run again.
Now I am not realy sure if Windows driver updates realy does the trick.
Btw, compared to Intel homepage, my BT driver is up to date (in Windows).
 
After short Windows boot, BT worked again. Make absolutely no sence to me.
 
After short Windows boot, BT worked again. Make absolutely no sence to me.
Actually it does. Click on this link and read the portion titled "Integrated Connectivity" https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...less-products/dual-band-wireless-ac-9560.html

Think of it as an onboard GPU. The actual workload for managing BT and Wifi gets pushed to the CPU directly rather than relying on the chipset of the motherboard mfg. By doing so, the transfer speed increased dramatically. The problem is that Apple hasn't caught up and as such we have to use a dummy kext to make macOS think it's a legit BT card. It breaks sleep because it's an "always on" connection, so if you have one of those older Apple Magic Mice that have the AA batteries, you'll notice that you have to replace them about once a week or so, whereas, with other BT cards, they are considered LE (Low Energy) and can be put to sleep. If you turn off the computer and unplug the power cable and then turn it back on, you'll have to boot into Windows first before to give the CNVi a jolt and then restart into macOS. For me personally it doesn't matter as I rarely put my computer to sleep at all or turn it off.
 
Many thx for the explanation, sounds legit now.
That's a pity.
 
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