How to get Atheros AR9462 Bluetooth working?

[Balut]

I have an Atheros AR9462 wifi/bluetooth card installed in my Acer S3-391 laptop. I know this card is not supported, but I cannot replace it as it is soldered to the motherboard. However, I have read that some users with the same wifi card have gotten the bluetooth to function. On my laptop, the Bluetooth device shows up in the System Report, but I cannot connect any devices. I have attached a screenshot and my IOReg output. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[RehabMan]

I have an Atheros AR9462 wifi/bluetooth card installed in my Acer S3-391 laptop. I know this card is not supported, but I cannot replace it as it is soldered to the motherboard. However, I have read that some users with the same wifi card have gotten the bluetooth to function. On my laptop, the Bluetooth device shows up in the System Report, but I cannot connect any devices. I have attached a screenshot and my IOReg output. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Try booting into Windows first (to see if it loads firmware), then restart into OS X.

 

[Balut]

Try booting into Windows first (to see if it loads firmware), then restart into OS X.

I replaced the drive with an SSD and did not install windows. I have a windows install USB, but do not want to install windows. I don't think it will work, but will booting to the windows installer; quitting, then reboot to OS X work to check firmware?

 

[RehabMan]

I replaced the drive with an SSD and did not install windows. I have a windows install USB, but do not want to install windows. I don't think it will work, but will booting to the windows installer; quitting, then reboot to OS X work to check firmware?

Install Windows for testing. You must have working bluetooth drivers in Windows for the test to be valid.

 

[Balut]

Install Windows for testing. You must have working bluetooth drivers in Windows for the test to be valid.

Bummer. Not sure if I will get to that, but thanks for the quick response RehabMan.

 

[RehabMan]

Bummer. Not sure if I will get to that, but thanks for the quick response RehabMan.

Depends on how motivated you are to determine the problem, I guess.

 

[Balut]

Depends on how motivated you are to determine the problem, I guess.

Ok, so I forgot I had a 20GB mSATA drive on this laptop that was not being used. So I installed Windows 8.1 to that drive and now have dual boot. I have verified that after booting into Windows, then restarting and booting Yosemite, my bluetooth works fully and I was able to pair a bluetooth mouse. Now that I have verified it works after loading in Windows, is there a method to enable the bluetooth without having to boot into Windows first? Thanks.

 

[RehabMan]

Ok, so I forgot I had a 20GB mSATA drive on this laptop that was not being used. So I installed Windows 8.1 to that drive and now have dual boot. I have verified that after booting into Windows, then restarting and booting Yosemite, my bluetooth works fully and I was able to pair a bluetooth mouse. Now that I have verified it works after loading in Windows, is there a method to enable the bluetooth without having to boot into Windows first? Thanks.

You would need to find a bluetooth firmware uploader for your hardware.

Unfortunately, I don't think there is a good one. BTFirmwareUploader.kext is known to be buggy and cause problem on wake from sleep (and it is closed-source, so not much chance of it getting fixed).

There is my IOath3kfrmwr.kext, which probably doesn't support your device. Your device could probably be added if you have some C++/kext development skills.

Given that the WiFi part on that card isn't supported, most would simply replace the card to have WiFi and better bluetooth support.