The 4K Dell OptiMac - 9020 MT - Core i7-4790 - Radeon RX 570 - LG 4K IPS Monitor

[FranzWerfel]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I want to try to add WiFi and BT to the 9020 USFF. Since sleep seems to work well enough for Mrs. Werfel, I have moved on to testing out this wifi card, REKONG macOS Continuity WiFi Upgrade 1.3Gbps AC BCM94360HMB from Amazon. Since it requires three smaller M.2 antenna cables, I haven't tested out its range, but the WiFi shows up in system hardware OOB.

Fit. The REKONG unit does come with an half-mini card adapter that allows it to snap into place. So, the only thing one needs is an antenna solution.

Bluetooth. The BT 4, however, doesn't show up in the hardware and that has me concerned since I assumed that it might be OOB too. But it isn't and like a few others who have used this card over the years, BT is hit or miss. But since this is a very new card and advertised to work for HandOff and Continuity, I'd like to push the envelope.

The guide, https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/broadcom-wifi-bluetooth-guide.242423/#post-1664577, hasn't been updated for Catalina. I have tried to follow RehabMan's BrcmPatchRam instructions at https://github.com/RehabMan/OS-X-BrcmPatchRAM, but still no BT in the hardware report. The daunting "Correctly configured USB" task is probably in my future.

But, again, that BrcmPatchRam method only goes as far as Mojave. So, I have pushed the envelope too far. But thus far the 9020 USFF is a good investment and only has a longer learning curve when adding the missing bits, like WiFi and BT.

P.S. I have tried the attached BrcmPatchRam3 but no BT as of yet.

A reply to myself and others interested. This card works well. I was going to get the official Dell wireless kit, but since the card uses the MHF4 cables, I rigged up two 12 in. MHF4 cables to 1) a rounded out vent hole between the CPU and the power supply. Then I drilled out the plastic plug where the Dell wifi kit's antenna plug normally goes. I attached a second antenna there. Cosmetically, it is acceptable.

Bluetooth. I will see if it shows up on the Windows 10 Pro drive that I removed for an SSD. If anyone has some ideas, I will give them a try. What I have read seems dated and only applicable to older versions of OSX.

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

A reply to myself and others interested. This card works well. I was going to get the official Dell wireless kit, but since the card uses the MHF4 cables, I rigged up two 12 in. MHF4 cables to 1) a rounded out vent hole between the CPU and the power supply. Then I drilled out the plastic plug where the Dell wifi kit's antenna plug normally goes. I attached a second antenna there. Cosmetically, it is acceptable.

Bluetooth. I will see if it shows up on the Windows 10 Pro drive that I removed for an SSD. If anyone has some ideas, I will give them a try. What I have read seems dated and only applicable to older versions of OSX.

Yep, did something very similar for my 9010 USFF, which I think is nearly identical.
Here's a link to my > post and images...

 

[bjay77]

Hi, I'm looking at putting a Sapphire Pulse RX 580 and a Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB M.2 drive in my 9020 MT using a Silverstone ECM24 PCIe adapter (it has a heatsink). Windows will run on a 1TB 2.5in SSD, and I'll use a smaller SSD for initial boot. With all that in there, do you think I will have heat issues in the MT case? Should I think about re-caseing the lot? Was looking at a cheap Fractal Design Focus G Mini...want to keep footprint smallish.

 

[trs96]

Do you think I will have heat issues in the MT case?

Try it first and find out. If you aren't doing a lot of AAA gaming at high framerates all day long heat shouldn't be a problem. You can always mod the case a little and put a fan in the front to pull air in and cool the GPU better.

 

[nicksoph]

Hi, I'm looking at putting a Sapphire Pulse RX 580 and a Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB M.2 drive in my 9020 MT using a Silverstone ECM24 PCIe adapter (it has a heatsink). Windows will run on a 1TB 2.5in SSD, and I'll use a smaller SSD for initial boot. With all that in there, do you think I will have heat issues in the MT case? Should I think about re-caseing the lot? Was looking at a cheap Fractal Design Focus G Mini...want to keep footprint smallish.

For small you could try a dual MSATA/M2 adaptor which does away wth an SSD box - this is an example - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PCI-E-4X...405978?hash=item2d090d781a:g:Q5wAAOSw4i5el964
The NVMe drive works as the card you mentioned but the MSATA part gets its power from the PCI bus but the data connects to the motherboards primary sata which it can boot from

 

[nicksoph]

Does the white LED in the power button ever go off?

No - Dont think so

 

[FranzWerfel]

Yep, did something very similar for my 9010 USFF, which I think is nearly identical.
Here's a link to my > post and images...
View attachment 471040

I would oblige with a photo as well, but Mrs. Werfel is getting tired of my messing around with her new desktop. I have one aerial mounted in the plastic insert. The other aerial cable is routed around the CPU and fan so that it exits through one of the square holes just above the display port.

 

[FranzWerfel]

For small you could try a dual MSATA/M2 adaptor which does away wth an SSD box - this is an example - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PCI-E-4X...405978?hash=item2d090d781a:g:Q5wAAOSw4i5el964
The NVMe drive works as the card you mentioned but the MSATA part gets its power from the PCI bus but the data connects to the motherboards primary sata which it can boot from

I have a feeling that the 9020 (just like my Optiplex 780 USFF) doesn't support WiFi+BT cards. The BT isn't recognized in the older 780. I thought that Dell might have upgraded the motherboard and mechanicals for the BT to work off the card, but that's not the case. Is that the consensus? Right now, I don't see any discussion of this limitation.

 

[nicksoph]

@FranzWerfel

check the mounting end of your cable - see if the mounting once unscrewed will come even further unscrewed to reveal a smaller part that can be fed thru the grill at the back. Most cables dont have this but if it does, that might help with the mounting.

BT can be difficult but you have a card that should work -
Important : make sure you have all 3 antennae connected and then
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/broadcom-wifi-bluetooth-guide.242423/

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

I have a feeling that the 9020 (just like my Optiplex 780 USFF) doesn't support WiFi+BT cards. The BT isn't recognized in the older 780. I thought that Dell might have upgraded the motherboard and mechanicals for the BT to work off the card, but that's not the case. Is that the consensus? Right now, I don't see any discussion of this limitation.

I may have missed it, but have you tried Windows with the half mini .pcie ? That would determine if the mb supports it. I did run into this situation on an HP 8300 USDT. HP didn't implement the full spec of PCIE on the mini connector... they left off the data lines of USB, which is obviously needed for BT to work. Honestly I would be surprised if Dell took a step back and removed BT from the 9020 USFF.