Thank you so much! It really helps as an OS X adapter board is way too expensive.
mhafeez, if I am wrong and have misunderstood, please let me know.
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iM 4,1-14,4 iMac (late 2007 to mid 2011) 802.11ac + BT 4.0 internal upgrade
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Thank you so much! It really helps as an OS X adapter board is way too expensive.
mhafeez, if I am wrong and have misunderstood, please let me know.
Thank you very much! I really appreciate it. One last question, did you had to cut a trace for power. Because we are bringing power from the original bluetooth cable to the card. Without that power, BT gets it from WiFi.
Yes. I soldered the 3.3v and D+/- from the original bluetooth cable to the adapter.
I just follow Czo's original bluetooth card photo (the thread starter) from the 1st page.
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All, I posted some sketches that landed at the bottom of page 3. I invite anyone to review and comment. Thanks!
It looks like there is a newer version of the adapter card that has been released with a usb connector added. Still looks like a mod will be required for the power issue on 2011 iMac's.
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Set-...M94360CD-BCM94331CD-with-tool/2055422914.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Set-...M94360CD-BCM94331CD-with-tool/2055422914.html
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Finally did it!
So yesterday I received my osxwifi.com Adapter. It was really straightforward to install, thanks to all of you, who did it bevor.
I think the only question that was left open, was the location of the 3.3V cable. ->
![pERl08m.jpg]()
Thank you again for this great thread
So yesterday I received my osxwifi.com Adapter. It was really straightforward to install, thanks to all of you, who did it bevor.
I think the only question that was left open, was the location of the 3.3V cable. ->
Thank you again for this great thread
new adapter
hey guys
this new adapter http://www.ebay.de/itm/121438950706?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 . it comes with usb power cable. how can one test which wires are D- and D+, and which is 3.3v power wire.
hey guys
this new adapter http://www.ebay.de/itm/121438950706?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 . it comes with usb power cable. how can one test which wires are D- and D+, and which is 3.3v power wire.
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Success for Late 2009 iMac!
To update from this post. The antenna extension arrived, and it connected to the stock antenna and the wifi card (top far left connection) perfectly.
With that antenna extension being the missing part, my bluetooth 4.0 works perfectly. Also all the Yosemite features work, but only after I ran the Dokterdok Continuity Tool. I have 10.10.2 beta and it still worked perfectly.
I just need to find a easy and reversible way to get the D+/- connected to the adapter. I really don't want to solder anything. The Late 2009 iMac does not need the 3.3v power connected to the adapter card. Just the D+/-. That little fact may have been mentioned earlier in the thread.
To update from this post. The antenna extension arrived, and it connected to the stock antenna and the wifi card (top far left connection) perfectly.
With that antenna extension being the missing part, my bluetooth 4.0 works perfectly. Also all the Yosemite features work, but only after I ran the Dokterdok Continuity Tool. I have 10.10.2 beta and it still worked perfectly.
I just need to find a easy and reversible way to get the D+/- connected to the adapter. I really don't want to solder anything. The Late 2009 iMac does not need the 3.3v power connected to the adapter card. Just the D+/-. That little fact may have been mentioned earlier in the thread.
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The bluetooth still works with the wifi off. I have the wifi off on the iMac since I have it connected via ethernet. With the wifi off, I still have no problem using my bluetooth connected keyboard and trackpad.
I was expecting it to shut off when I turned the wifi off, but that didn't happen.
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Upgrade card
Hi mhafeez.
I did like you. South it and connect it to the cable bluetooth. And everything seemed fine when everything was working. But as soon as I restart imac. Things are really weird. I hear the boot. and the screen does not show anything. I waited a while just heard a huge fan cry. I tried resetting PRAM and all my attempts and still hear very loud fan. And do not see anything on the screen. I'm do not know why the error? Similar anyone can help me.
Hi mhafeez.
I did like you. South it and connect it to the cable bluetooth. And everything seemed fine when everything was working. But as soon as I restart imac. Things are really weird. I hear the boot. and the screen does not show anything. I waited a while just heard a huge fan cry. I tried resetting PRAM and all my attempts and still hear very loud fan. And do not see anything on the screen. I'm do not know why the error? Similar anyone can help me.
Success at last! I completed my upgrade using the basic adapter from China and soldering D+, D-, and +3.3v as mhafeez illustrated. In my testing, trying without the +3.3v, the bluetooth shut off with the wifi as expected. Like mhafeez, I did not cut a power trace, but by adding the bluetooth power as he showed, I now have bluetooth when wifi is shut off. And incidentally, the wifi functionality and control does not seem to be affected by having the wifi power bridged (trace not cut) with bluetooth power.
I reused the bluetooth antenna by purchasing the 24" extension as noted by scroberts72 in a previous post. My mouse works fine with this setup with no jitter that rcf362b noted.
I found that this inexpensive adapter seemed to fit better, engage better, in the slot than the osxwifi adapter did (which I destroyed trying to solder onto.) And I was able to reuse the original wifi mounting screw with this adapter.
Upon startup, my iMac recognized the correct bluetooth hardware, as others have stated, but I could not get continuity to function. I tried restarting both the iMac and iPhone 6 and I tried turning the settings off and on. I tried using the Dokterdok Continuity Tool with no success. It finally started working after I logged out of iCloud on both devices, logged back in, and then restarted the iMac again. That seemed to do the trick.
Thanks to all who have contributed to this forum.
I reused the bluetooth antenna by purchasing the 24" extension as noted by scroberts72 in a previous post. My mouse works fine with this setup with no jitter that rcf362b noted.
I found that this inexpensive adapter seemed to fit better, engage better, in the slot than the osxwifi adapter did (which I destroyed trying to solder onto.) And I was able to reuse the original wifi mounting screw with this adapter.
Upon startup, my iMac recognized the correct bluetooth hardware, as others have stated, but I could not get continuity to function. I tried restarting both the iMac and iPhone 6 and I tried turning the settings off and on. I tried using the Dokterdok Continuity Tool with no success. It finally started working after I logged out of iCloud on both devices, logged back in, and then restarted the iMac again. That seemed to do the trick.
Thanks to all who have contributed to this forum.
Working..
Following the above steps I have it working on a 2011 iMac.
I used the adaptor from OS X - I had emailed them giving specs and they sent me the kit with the usb wires too and said I would have everything I need..
The bluetooth antenna didn't reach! So initially I swapped the cards and kept the old bluetooth unit in. Wifi was working with the three existing antennas connected so I took the old bluetooth back out, tried to use the antenna by unsoldering the unit to give it more length but part broke off when I was trying to attach it. Despite this I still have good reception with the existing antenna just taped up to the top.
I then had to use a wired keyboard to re-pair all my keyboard and trackpad.
Once I had done this and logged in the handoff option became available and it showed as low power bluetooth enabled in the system report.
For some reason though handoff wouldn't work - I rescanned the forum and used the continuity tool. That still didn't work.
So I spent the next 15 mins or so deleting bluetooth p.lists and signing in and out of iCloud on my mac, phone and iPad (what felt like) 6 million times.
Initially it would only work from mac to iPhone and sluggish at a best - i'd start a draft email and it would show in my phone but fail to load.
Then I tried safari and it worked seamlessly. Since then its been working fine.
I now just have to put my iMac back together again and hope I can find all the screws. Thanks for all the help boys and girls.
Following the above steps I have it working on a 2011 iMac.
I used the adaptor from OS X - I had emailed them giving specs and they sent me the kit with the usb wires too and said I would have everything I need..
The bluetooth antenna didn't reach! So initially I swapped the cards and kept the old bluetooth unit in. Wifi was working with the three existing antennas connected so I took the old bluetooth back out, tried to use the antenna by unsoldering the unit to give it more length but part broke off when I was trying to attach it. Despite this I still have good reception with the existing antenna just taped up to the top.
I then had to use a wired keyboard to re-pair all my keyboard and trackpad.
Once I had done this and logged in the handoff option became available and it showed as low power bluetooth enabled in the system report.
For some reason though handoff wouldn't work - I rescanned the forum and used the continuity tool. That still didn't work.
So I spent the next 15 mins or so deleting bluetooth p.lists and signing in and out of iCloud on my mac, phone and iPad (what felt like) 6 million times.
Initially it would only work from mac to iPhone and sluggish at a best - i'd start a draft email and it would show in my phone but fail to load.
Then I tried safari and it worked seamlessly. Since then its been working fine.
I now just have to put my iMac back together again and hope I can find all the screws. Thanks for all the help boys and girls.
So the kit you ordered from OSX still require soldering? Why it it so hard for a supplier to made a board that connect pin 18 to original BT power?
It didn't need it - I have run the cables out the bottom and used a usb port. I meant I unsoldered the original bluetooth antenna from the existing unit but that still wasn't long enough to reach so if you order an additional one and are happy for external usb to be used you won't need it.
The kit is not designed for the 2011 iMac, so we choose to modify it to make it work.
Thanks. I understood that as I have been following the progress of this thread. It is a pity that the wire need to hang outside the case and take one usb port. It just seem it would not be that difficult for some mac shop to make a ready made kit for a 2011 iMac that would not need soldering and unsoldering. Good job though, you are all very brave and determined men.
I got a reply from a company from Shenzhen, China in my search for easier upgrade option. Here is the photo of he sent me for the adaptor for Mini PCI-E Adapter. He said it come with two wires, one for soldering and one for usb 2*5 connection. Will this work better or easier to do? I am a bit scared to solder some wire on a tiny metal lines so closed to each other especially saw Cordes busted one on the first try.
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This looks like essentially the same adapter that I used, only with this new version, the D+ and D- have been brought out to a connector, which makes it easier to use for a 2011 iMac. If you use this, you won't have to solder those connections. You could cut off your old bluetooth connector (scary, I know) to get access to D+ and D-. You could cut off the connector that comes with this new adapter and splice it to the D+ and D- wires that went to your old bluetooth connector. If you did nothing else, I think the only shortcoming would be that if you turned off wifi, you'd lose power to this card and also be turning off your bluetooth (and thus disabling your wireless keyboard and mouse). You may want to go this route and plan on never turning off your wifi, and be prepared with a standard usb mouse and keyboard if needed, so you can turn wifi back on and therefore bluetooth.
Or, you could also splice a wire to the +3.3v of the original bluetooth feed and solder it onto this adapter at the "R1". You can see pics posted by Vic Otting in this thread that illustrate where to solder to. The good thing about this connection is that it's a little bigger of a soldering target as it's a square. It was much easier for me to solder here than it was the D+ and D-.
For me, with soldering the D+ and D- on the adapter (when I was successful), I had to use finer gauge wire, a fine tip soldering iron, and a magnifying glass to work under. I also taped the wires in place so they didn't move much while working on them. You probably don't want too high of wattage with your soldering iron so you don't melt/damage things unintended!
Good luck!
Antenna Location
Just a heads up - I read on one of the instructions to route the antenna down behind the apple logo for the best reception. I tried this and got laggy connection with the mouse skipping all over the place.
Instead I ran my directly up to where the original one would have been, although due to length (not just a bedroom problem) I couldn't reach the spot. So instead it sits just off centre of the mac, taped to the grill part. Since this adjustment everything works perfectly.
Just a heads up - I read on one of the instructions to route the antenna down behind the apple logo for the best reception. I tried this and got laggy connection with the mouse skipping all over the place.
Instead I ran my directly up to where the original one would have been, although due to length (not just a bedroom problem) I couldn't reach the spot. So instead it sits just off centre of the mac, taped to the grill part. Since this adjustment everything works perfectly.
Everyone,
I still have a couple of quick questions that I don't have answers to. Now that more of you have done this mod, I am hoping that some can verify a problem that I am still having.
1. Can you successfully maintain a WiFi 802.11 AC connection with an Apple Airport?
2. Can you successfully maintain an AC connection with any other non Apple AC router?
BTW, I can connect to N (and slower) routers fine. I can connect with both the iPhone 5 and 6 just fine. I cannot connect to my Apple Airport (a, b, g, n, ac) at any speed. There is nothing wrong with the Airport router. 2013 iMac and iPhone 6 connect via AC just fine.
Thanks for any info you can provide! I'm glad that there seem to be a lot of people having success with the mod.
I still have a couple of quick questions that I don't have answers to. Now that more of you have done this mod, I am hoping that some can verify a problem that I am still having.
1. Can you successfully maintain a WiFi 802.11 AC connection with an Apple Airport?
2. Can you successfully maintain an AC connection with any other non Apple AC router?
BTW, I can connect to N (and slower) routers fine. I can connect with both the iPhone 5 and 6 just fine. I cannot connect to my Apple Airport (a, b, g, n, ac) at any speed. There is nothing wrong with the Airport router. 2013 iMac and iPhone 6 connect via AC just fine.
Thanks for any info you can provide! I'm glad that there seem to be a lot of people having success with the mod.