- Joined
- Aug 23, 2012
- Messages
- 34
- Motherboard
- Xiaomi Pro
- CPU
- i7
- Graphics
- UHD 620
- Mac
- Mobile Phone
Hey guys, I just want to share my own approach of getting Bluetooth and WiFi in this laptop. Thanks to everyone, who contributed to this too.
Let's summarize what we need (assuming you, as a reader, as I am, have no access to TaoBao online store, so we'll use what's available from ebay).
!!!BEWARE, HIGH RISK OF DESTROYING THE LAPTOP! IF YOU ARE NOT SURE, DON'T PROCEED!!!.
1) This M.2 converter from shentek.
Ask seller to relist, if it's sold out. If they actually out of it, you are out of luck getting this one, sorry. Search for alternatives. As of today, I haven't fount any.
2) Any card based on BCM94352ZAE (BEWARE OF MISSING "AE" at the end, should have TWO holes, some sellers don't name it as AE, in this case look the pics. Also NOT 356Z MODEL!)
3) Antennas for M.2 modules (beware of mPCIE ones).
I bought this one, made in Japan, 5 dbi, monster. Perfectly fits under the battery.
4) Any nano-USB BT dongle with supported chip. Literally any will work, as long as it's low powered.
5) Decent soldering station (minimum 360 F), tin and flux. Or you'll screw up. Thick iron will lead in messed up board, and low temp will cause you to push the iron harder and eventually scratch and break some neighbor components.
Let's get started.
DISCONNECT THE BATTERY FIRST!
1. Cut the adaptor right as shown on the pic below and screw it in by the edge with stock screw in the second M.2 socket. No need to use any nasty tape, just a screw and that's it. Don't expect it to go right in the hole, just aside of it.
get the WiFi card in and run antennas under the battery, you'll see there is two compartments.
WiFi is done, now Bluetooth.
2. Bluetooth CANNOT BE ENABLED OVER THIS ADAPTER, no matter what you say, I tried to solder USB pins and stuff all day long, it's not working.
As a workaround, I used a nano-USB chip and soldered it to that unprovisioned, causing a madness, LTE pinout.
Disassemble the dongle (it's super easy with flat screwdriver).
Find those LTE pins and solder the wires as shown
I didn't tape the chip, but soldered it to a screw hole. But I assume it causes a major signal loss (instead of expected amplification), however, I'm still testing if this is true. You can attach the chip using some glue or tape (since ship doesn't produce any heat, it will be fine using tape).
I recommend to test it in Windows first. You should get a blue LED on it. If you don't see it, you did something wrong, try to swap data lines (D-/+) or power lines. you won't burn anything, it's just 3.3 volts.
Result:
You will need to map this USB port in SSDT! Mine is HS02. Set type to 255 (internal), it will enable all that handoff stuff, airdrop etc, tested, works.
Discovered disadvantages:
- short range, as we able to supply 3.3 volts only, also design of such dongle doesn't let us use it far away, not even saying that we'll cover it with a lid. I'd call it a near field BT =). High quality music streaming (bluetooth A2DP) is going to struggle a bit.
- higher than usually interference with wifi 2.4 Ghz, probably because of lack of proper shielding or my wifi antennas are too strong. You may try to solder an antenna for BT separately.
Feel free to suggest any improvements of this solution.
Have fun!
Let's summarize what we need (assuming you, as a reader, as I am, have no access to TaoBao online store, so we'll use what's available from ebay).
!!!BEWARE, HIGH RISK OF DESTROYING THE LAPTOP! IF YOU ARE NOT SURE, DON'T PROCEED!!!.
1) This M.2 converter from shentek.
Ask seller to relist, if it's sold out. If they actually out of it, you are out of luck getting this one, sorry. Search for alternatives. As of today, I haven't fount any.
2) Any card based on BCM94352ZAE (BEWARE OF MISSING "AE" at the end, should have TWO holes, some sellers don't name it as AE, in this case look the pics. Also NOT 356Z MODEL!)
3) Antennas for M.2 modules (beware of mPCIE ones).
I bought this one, made in Japan, 5 dbi, monster. Perfectly fits under the battery.
4) Any nano-USB BT dongle with supported chip. Literally any will work, as long as it's low powered.
5) Decent soldering station (minimum 360 F), tin and flux. Or you'll screw up. Thick iron will lead in messed up board, and low temp will cause you to push the iron harder and eventually scratch and break some neighbor components.
Let's get started.
DISCONNECT THE BATTERY FIRST!
1. Cut the adaptor right as shown on the pic below and screw it in by the edge with stock screw in the second M.2 socket. No need to use any nasty tape, just a screw and that's it. Don't expect it to go right in the hole, just aside of it.
get the WiFi card in and run antennas under the battery, you'll see there is two compartments.
WiFi is done, now Bluetooth.
2. Bluetooth CANNOT BE ENABLED OVER THIS ADAPTER, no matter what you say, I tried to solder USB pins and stuff all day long, it's not working.
As a workaround, I used a nano-USB chip and soldered it to that unprovisioned, causing a madness, LTE pinout.
Disassemble the dongle (it's super easy with flat screwdriver).
Find those LTE pins and solder the wires as shown
I didn't tape the chip, but soldered it to a screw hole. But I assume it causes a major signal loss (instead of expected amplification), however, I'm still testing if this is true. You can attach the chip using some glue or tape (since ship doesn't produce any heat, it will be fine using tape).
I recommend to test it in Windows first. You should get a blue LED on it. If you don't see it, you did something wrong, try to swap data lines (D-/+) or power lines. you won't burn anything, it's just 3.3 volts.
Result:
You will need to map this USB port in SSDT! Mine is HS02. Set type to 255 (internal), it will enable all that handoff stuff, airdrop etc, tested, works.
Discovered disadvantages:
- short range, as we able to supply 3.3 volts only, also design of such dongle doesn't let us use it far away, not even saying that we'll cover it with a lid. I'd call it a near field BT =). High quality music streaming (bluetooth A2DP) is going to struggle a bit.
- higher than usually interference with wifi 2.4 Ghz, probably because of lack of proper shielding or my wifi antennas are too strong. You may try to solder an antenna for BT separately.
Feel free to suggest any improvements of this solution.
Have fun!
Last edited:
