PCIe Half Mini questions

[audioborg]

I've put together five stable systems using Chameleon, but I feel like a complete noob compared to most of you, especially when dealing with Clover.

One of the main issues I'm having is getting the half-mini Airport + BT card working from OSXWifi. From what I understand, it should work natively, but since it's using USB under the hood, I think I have a USB issue. More specifically, I think the Intel chip powered USB ports on the Gigabyte z77x-up5th mobo, don't "jive" with the Mac 13,2 SMBIOS I'm using. The problem is, I have no clue how to change the USB names listed in the link that OSXWifi sent me.

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/306777-guide-usb-fix-el-capitan-1011/

What are they using to view this info, something like IOJones? TextWrangler?

Should I open (with IOJones?) the two Apple kext files responsible for USB functionality, and what, try to get them to match a 13,2 iMac??

Lastly, I've seen discussions about modifying these kext files, but the other option is 'injection.' Is the injection method better because it's persistent through OS upgrades? If so, does that mean I need a DSDT file? I've never used one because I thought I had a DSDT free motherboard, so should I start using one?

If RehabMan, or anyone else could chime in and answer a few of these basic questions, it might be enough to get me going, and I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks everyone!

 

[RehabMan]

I've put together five stable systems using Chameleon, but I feel like a complete noob compared to most of you, especially when dealing with Clover.

One of the main issues I'm having is getting the half-mini Airport + BT card working from OSXWifi. From what I understand, it should work natively, but since it's using USB under the hood, I think I have a USB issue. More specifically, I think the Intel chip powered USB ports on the Gigabyte z77x-up5th mobo, don't "jive" with the Mac 13,2 SMBIOS I'm using. The problem is, I have no clue how to change the USB names listed in the link that OSXWifi sent me.

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/306777-guide-usb-fix-el-capitan-1011/

What are they using to view this info, something like IOJones? TextWrangler?

Should I open (with IOJones?) the two Apple kext files responsible for USB functionality, and what, try to get them to match a 13,2 iMac??

Lastly, I've seen discussions about modifying these kext files, but the other option is 'injection.' Is the injection method better because it's persistent through OS upgrades? If so, does that mean I need a DSDT file? I've never used one because I thought I had a DSDT free motherboard, so should I start using one?

If RehabMan, or anyone else could chime in and answer a few of these basic questions, it might be enough to get me going, and I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks everyone!

http://www.tonymacx86.com/el-capitan-laptop-support/173616-guide-10-11-usb-changes-solutions.html

If the WiFi device is USB, why is the title of this thread 'PCIe Half Mini questions'?

You should clarify the exact hardware you're dealing with and what the issue is.

 

[audioborg]

Thanks, RehabMan. I thought everyone was familiar with this particular card, my apologies. Seems it's a great solution since it's supported natively. It's a small, PCIe (half mini?) card, but it uses USB under the hood, so to speak.

http://www.osxwifi.com/apple-broadc...-bluetooth-4-0-with-adapter-for-pc-hackintosh

I'm getting intermittent connectivity with it. It'll sometimes appear after reboot, great signal strength, then within 60 seconds or less, it starts searching for WIFI, then turns itself off. My limited understanding of how it works is, the card gets power and is recognized on the mobo, but uses the USB connection for the data stream. Hence, I was thinking it might have something to do with USB, maybe not. All the external USB ports seem to work, although with a USB 3.0 drive connected (and the blue 3.0 light lit up), I'm getting horrible transfer rates with BlackMagic Speed Text. More like 2.0 speed, but the light is usually white when connected to 2.0.

I've read the info from the link you provided, I just can't figure out how to resolve it.

 

[RehabMan]

Thanks, RehabMan. I thought everyone was familiar with this particular card, my apologies. Seems it's a great solution since it's supported natively. It's a small, PCIe (half mini?) card, but it uses USB under the hood, so to speak.

http://www.osxwifi.com/apple-broadc...-bluetooth-4-0-with-adapter-for-pc-hackintosh

I'm getting intermittent connectivity with it. It'll sometimes appear after reboot, great signal strength, then within 60 seconds or less, it starts searching for WIFI, then turns itself off.

I've read the info from the link you provided, I just can't figure out how to resolve it.

WiFi on a PCIe WiFi device has nothing to do with USB... not sure why you mention USB in your OP and here.

Some PCIe WiFi have combo WiFi + bluetooth. The bluetooth component is on USB.

 

[audioborg]

Thanks for the clarification. Then I'll forget about BT for the time being. Would like to get WiFI working.

 

[RehabMan]

Thanks for the clarification. Then I'll forget about BT for the time being. Would like to get WiFI working.

Pretty sure BCM94360CD is native, but might require FakePCIID+FakePCIID_Broadcom_WiFi to handle Airport Extreme branding.

See here: http://www.tonymacx86.com/network/104850-guide-airport-pcie-half-mini-v2.html

 

[audioborg]

Are those kext files? I feel really dumb, I mean, I see all this information and it's organized so well, but for whatever reason I just can't seem to parse out what I need. That particular outline format looks greek to me.

I see FakePCIID for BCM94352 in the list, but not for 94360CD. Is that the one your referring to?

Will I also need to be checking/editing Device ID's?

 

[RehabMan]

Are those kext files? I feel really dumb, I mean, I see all this information and it's organized so well, but for whatever reason I just can't seem to parse out what I need. That particular outline format looks greek to me.

I see FakePCIID for BCM94352 in the list, but not for 94360CD. Is that the one your referring to?

FakePCIID can be used to fake subvendors so the device appears to be from Apple... There are other ways (patches to the native kexts). Both are covered in the guide I linked.

FakePCIID info here: https://github.com/RehabMan/OS-X-Fake-PCI-ID

 

[audioborg]

I appreciate the info, just don't know where to get those kext files you mentioned. If I had them I could install with Kext Wizard and see if it works?

 

[RehabMan]

I appreciate the info, just don't know where to get those kext files you mentioned. If I had them I could install with Kext Wizard and see if it works?

Link provided in post #8. Make sure you read the README.