[Guide] Airport - Half Mini PCIe

[savestheday]

What is the device_id of the 9280 (9380?)?

Well I was playing around with stuff before (remotely over VNC) and it didn't come back up so I'll have to see what's up when I get home. I can def get you this info. BTW, it's the card I bought earlier in the thread.

 

[GabeDamien]

Let me check my understanding here.

The AR5BHB92 (half-size mPCIe Atheros 9280) works OOB with zero kexts, edits, etc., and is recognized as an Apple Airport at 100% expected performance with no rebranding necessary – correct? Is this true in ML (10.8)?

I know the T-Link 450 MB/s PCIe card (Atheros 9380) is popular right now, and I may very well go with it instead for the increased bandwidth, but I kind of like the idea of preserving my PCIe slots since the Maximus V Gene already has a half-size mPCIe slot (in the form of its special combo card). Other than the spatial multiplexing (450 MB/s vs 300 MB/s), is there any reason to prefer the T-link?

Thanks for your work on this,
—Gabe

PS—reason I didn't mention the AR5BHB112 (half-size mPCIe 450 MB/s 9380 chipset) is because it has three antenna connectors, but the Maximus V Gene I/O panel only includes two external antenna mounting holes. Also it's harder to find the AR5BHB112, while the 92 is available for ~$15.

PPS—I know the Broadcom BCM94322HM8L (half-size mPCIe 300 MB/s) used to show up as "3rd party" and not perform as well, so my question is also "can you confirm the AR5BHB92 is better.

 

[toleda]

The AR5BHB92 (half-size mPCIe Atheros 9280) works OOB with zero kexts, edits, etc., and is recognized as an Apple Airport at 100% expected performance with no rebranding necessary – correct? Is this true in ML (10.8)?

Other than the spatial multiplexing (450 MB/s vs 300 MB/s), is there any reason to prefer the T-link?

PPS—I know the Broadcom BCM94322HM8L (half-size mPCIe 300 MB/s) used to show up as "3rd party" and not perform as well, so my question is also "can you confirm the AR5BHB92 is better.

Yes. Bandwidth is the only reason to prefer the T-Link. In OS X, Atheros (9280 and 9380) is recommended; Broadcom works as Apple Branded only and that is with older cards.

 

[GabeDamien]

Yes. Bandwidth is the only reason to prefer the T-Link. In OS X, Atheros (9280 and 9380) is recommended; Broadcom works as Apple Branded only and that is with older cards.

Much appreciated!

My current router doesn't even support 450 and I only use my home network for internet browsing anyway, so the bandwidth loses to my aesthetic sense. It's much more elegant and fun for me to take advantage of that weird little Asus Combo Card interface than to do something so mundane as to install a big old PCI card, LOL!

 

[thevoiceover]

"Hi Toleda,

Thank you. I managed to get the wifi card working with below edits. The driver now loads using DSDT with the original kext:

This is how the code looks after edits.

cheers."

So you added this code after _ADR, but between - OperationRegion (PXRC, PCI_Config, Zero, 0x0100) ??

Device (ARPT)
                {
                    Name (_ADR, Zero)
                    Name (_PRW, Package (0x02)
                    {
                        0x0B, 
                        0x05
                    })
                   Method (_DSM, 4, NotSerialized)
                    {
                        Store (Package ()
                            {
                                "AAPL,slot-name", Buffer () {"AirPort"}, 
                                "device-id", Buffer () {0x2A, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00}, 
                                "device_type", Buffer () {"AirPort"}, 
                                "model", Buffer () {"Atheros 9285 8802.11 b/g/n Wireless Network Adapter"}, 
                                "subsystem-id", Buffer () {0x8F, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00}, 
                                "subsystem-vendor-id", Buffer () {0x6B, 0x10, 0x00, 0x00}
                            }, Local0)
                        DTGP (Arg0, Arg1, Arg2, Arg3, RefOf (Local0))
                        Return (Local0)
                    }
                }

Ok, well i must have had a typo, need to check again this P.M

 

[thebenj]

I did get the 9280 working in another hack but now when I boot it in another hack, it comes up as a 9380 and I get this error:


kernel: start [/SourceCache/AirPortDriverAtheros9380/AirPortDriverAtheros9380-431.14.10/src/common/lmac/ath_dev/darwin/AtherosController.cpp:962] load failed

exact same problem here! i can take the card out, boot, reload original dsdt using multibeast. shutdown and re-installed card. boots up fine and working flawlessly until i reboot! kernal panic as above!

can anyone help please!

 

[toleda]

exact same problem here! i can take the card out, boot, reload original dsdt using multibeast. shutdown and re-installed card. boots up fine and working flawlessly until i reboot! kernal panic as above!

can anyone help please!

What Atheros device-id are you using in your dsdt(s)?

 

[thebenj]

What Atheros device-id are you using in your dsdt(s)?

i am not sure to be honest, i assume its the wrong one. can you point me where to find this? also in the system information it does not show up in the pci card but does in the wireless. is it worth uploading my dsdt? really appreciate any help!

 

[toleda]

i am not sure to be honest, i assume its the wrong one. can you point me where to find this? also in the system information it does not show up in the pci card but does in the wireless. is it worth uploading my dsdt? really appreciate any help!

IOReg, vendor_id is 168c, see [Guide] How to Make a Copy of IOReg. Look at the first post in this thread.

 

[Florin9doi]

Alternatives (require dsdt injection or kext editing)
1. AR9285 - 2.4 GHz, 802.11n, 1 stream, 150 Mbs
2. AR9287 - 2.4 GHz, 802.11n, 2 stream, 300 Mbs
3. Combo - AR928x + Bluetooth (no OS X support for Atheros bluetooth)

I have a DELL DW1702 (AR5B195 – AR9285 + AR3011) and bluetooth works with a kext. This is the only half-length combo card compatible with OSX