2009 Mac Pro bluetooth replaceable?

I have been experiencing problems with Bluetooth on my Mac Pro. I'm able to pair and connect devices, but the connection gets dropped. After resetting PRAM and SMC, deleting all devices from settings and turning Bluetooth off I thought the problem was cured but it manifested again. Someone recommended a reinstall over my existing OS 10.7.5 to overwrite possible corrupt files. I'm wondering how likely this will be to help and what the likely culprit files would be. My gut feel at this point is that it's a hardware problem and replacing a component might be the fix. Is Bluetooth on the 2009 Mac Pro a module which is replaceable, and if so what's the smallest replacement that will fix. Hoping the answer is not the system board.

ActionableMango said:

There is a separate bluetooth module that can be replaced, but most people seem to prefer adding a USB bluetooth dongle as it is easier, less expensive, results in superior range/reception, and you can get a much newer bluetooth version such as 4.0.

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Thanks for reply. Looks like that's the way to go. Is newer bluetooth fully backwards compatible? Could I simply leave the old module in the machine and just turn it off, or would an appendectomy be advised?

flowrider said:

I was experience spotty erratic mouse movements with my Microsoft Laser Mouse 8000 using internal Bluetooth on my 5,1 Mac Pro. And the Bluetooth reception with USB 3.0 was non existent (the cursor dies). The mouse ships with it's own dongle. I am now using the dongle in tandem with the internal antenna. The mouse now seems to be working fine, and I can use USB 3.0 devices with my USB 3.0 Inatek card, if I also use a powered hub. I can not insert a USB 3.0 stick directly into the card and still keep Bluetooth.

Lou

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Thanks for reply. You have the dongle connected to a USB 2 port on the computer? Does it have any software? When you say you are using it in tandem with the internal bluetooth antenna what do you mean? Did you leave the internal bluetooth turned on?

flowrider said:

Yes, I have an old USB 2.0 PCIe Card mounted in slot 3, The USB Dingle is plugged into that card.



No, no software is associated with the Dongle.



Yes, I am using the Dongle and the Internal Bluetooth Antenna together.

Lou

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Interesting. Do you pair your mouse with both bluetooth modules? I don't know anything about the architecture of bluetooth but I'm guessing the system sees this as one connection?

flowrider said:

^^^^When I plugged the Dongle in, I changed nothing in the OS Bluetooth software or the Microsoft Mouse software. And with the mouse still connected via software, performance, as I indicated, improved greatly.

Lou

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Thanks. I'll try that. Although my internal module doesn't give a stable connection maybe the dongle will if I just add it as you did.

DPUser said:

Just posted this in another thread:

http://oliverwolfson.com/apple-mac-pro-bluetooth-issue-solved

It's what I did, but I used a different dongle; there are many available.

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Thanks for the link to the helpful write up. I see you are using the Iogear GBU421 dongle. Did you have to install software with it or was it plug and play? (The Iogear GBU321 does come with a Mac install disk but I was deterred by the lack of a firm recommendation by a Mac-centric vendor who usually gives sound advice.) I tried a generic (seller said Mac compatible) driverless dongle which seemed to work except it lost connection with sleep and after user switch. Since my machine is virtually the same as yours except for CPU ('09 4,1>5,1) there is good reason to be confident that the GBU421 dongle will work for me.

Angelus said:

I was fed up of the crappy internal bluetooth reception so I disconnected the internal aerial and bought a 4.0 dongle. That plugs into the side of my apple pro keyboard and gives perfect reception with my magic mouse

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Thanks. What dongle did you use? I've been looking and it seems they are not all necessarily compatible.