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MP 1,1-5,1 802.11ac, BT 4.0, Continuity, and Handoff Working on Mac Pro 2010
- Thread starter MacProSector
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Me too, very confused. According to this chart about Airport Extreme card upgrades, it should work. I just installed this upgrade from OSXWIFI in my Mac Pro 5,1 and Handoff is not working for me at all. I've tried everything, including a clean install of Sierra on a new hard drive. Airdrop is working, but Handoff is not. Looking for help... or at least confirmation from somebody with a similar hardware/software setup.
EDIT: Looking back over the last few pages, I see a couple users confirming that Handoff in Sierra should be working on a 5,1. Why not mine? Would appreciate some solid suggestions. Thanks!
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I tried CAT before I installed the new Wifi card. I was using a BT dongle and CAT's modifications (under Sierra) caused a perpetual hang on boot. I had to boot into another drive and manually restore the two kext files to get out of this trouble.
According to this chart on the CAT wiki page, CAT should not be required when upgrading the Wifi card as specified... so I'm not sure.
Nonetheless, I tried CAT again as per your suggestion. I appears that even though my system reports Continuity as active, CAT appears to do something. I was not prompted to backup any kext files, but the file modification dates on the two kext files were changed, so these files were modified in some fashion.
--- OS X Continuity Activation Tool 2.4b5 ---
by sysfloat
original by dokterdok
OS X reports Continuity as active.
Patching ContinuitySupport... OK.
Press any key to reboot or CTRL-C to cancel...
by sysfloat
original by dokterdok
OS X reports Continuity as active.
Patching ContinuitySupport... OK.
Press any key to reboot or CTRL-C to cancel...
Here is BEFORE:
--- Hardware/OS checks ---
Verifying Continuity status... OK. OS X reports Continuity as active
Verifying Mac model reference... OK. Known compatible Mac Model detected: MacPro5,1
Verifying Mac board-id... OK. Short board id detected: Mac-F221BEC8
Verifying OS X version... Warning: This tool wasn't tested with OS X versions higher than 10.10. Detected OS version: 10.12.3
Verifying Wi-Fi hardware... OK. A Broadcom AirPort card is active, and is using the Continuity compatible Brcm4360 kext
Verifying AWDL status... OK. An AWDL interface is up, Wi-Fi is ready for Continuity
Verifying Bluetooth hardware... OK. The internal Bluetooth card is active
Verifying Bluetooth version... OK. Bluetooth 4.0 detected
Verifying Bluetooth features... OK. Bluetooth features are Continuity compliant
Verifying Bluetooth firmware... OK. Bluetooth firmware version: v131 c9230
Verifying Login Item... OK. Login item for Auto Continuity Check is not set.
--- Modifications check ---
Verifying OS kext protection... OK. Kext developer mode is not active. This tool can fix this.
Verifying SIP... Ok. System Integrity Protection is already disabled
Verifying ContinuitySupport... OK. This tool can fix this.
Verifying kexts readability... OK. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth kexts were found and could be read
Verifying Wi-Fi whitelist status... OK. Your board-id is not yet whitelisted. This tool can fix this.
Verifying BT4 dongles compatibility... OK. Compatibility with BT4 USB dongles is not enabled, this tool can fix this if a dongle is plugged in
Verifying old Wi-Fi kext presence... OK. Legacy Brcm4331 Wi-Fi driver is present. This tool can fix this.
Verifying legacy Wi-Fi card patch... OK. The legacy Wi-Fi patch is not present. This tool can fix this.
--- Modifications check ---
Verifying Continuity status... OK. OS X reports Continuity as active
Verifying Mac model reference... OK. Known compatible Mac Model detected: MacPro5,1
Verifying Mac board-id... OK. Short board id detected: Mac-F221BEC8
Verifying OS X version... Warning: This tool wasn't tested with OS X versions higher than 10.10. Detected OS version: 10.12.3
Verifying Wi-Fi hardware... OK. A Broadcom AirPort card is active, and is using the Continuity compatible Brcm4360 kext
Verifying AWDL status... OK. An AWDL interface is up, Wi-Fi is ready for Continuity
Verifying Bluetooth hardware... OK. The internal Bluetooth card is active
Verifying Bluetooth version... OK. Bluetooth 4.0 detected
Verifying Bluetooth features... OK. Bluetooth features are Continuity compliant
Verifying Bluetooth firmware... OK. Bluetooth firmware version: v131 c9230
Verifying Login Item... OK. Login item for Auto Continuity Check is not set.
--- Modifications check ---
Verifying OS kext protection... OK. Kext developer mode is not active. This tool can fix this.
Verifying SIP... Ok. System Integrity Protection is already disabled
Verifying ContinuitySupport... OK. This tool can fix this.
Verifying kexts readability... OK. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth kexts were found and could be read
Verifying Wi-Fi whitelist status... OK. Your board-id is not yet whitelisted. This tool can fix this.
Verifying BT4 dongles compatibility... OK. Compatibility with BT4 USB dongles is not enabled, this tool can fix this if a dongle is plugged in
Verifying old Wi-Fi kext presence... OK. Legacy Brcm4331 Wi-Fi driver is present. This tool can fix this.
Verifying legacy Wi-Fi card patch... OK. The legacy Wi-Fi patch is not present. This tool can fix this.
--- Modifications check ---
Here is AFTER:
--- Hardware/OS checks ---
Verifying Continuity status... OK. OS X reports Continuity as active
Verifying Mac model reference... OK. Known compatible Mac Model detected: MacPro5,1
Verifying Mac board-id... OK. Short board id detected: Mac-F221BEC8
Verifying OS X version... Warning: This tool wasn't tested with OS X versions higher than 10.10. Detected OS version: 10.12.3
Verifying Wi-Fi hardware... OK. A Broadcom AirPort card is active, and is using the Continuity compatible Brcm4360 kext
Verifying AWDL status... OK. An AWDL interface is up, Wi-Fi is ready for Continuity
Verifying Bluetooth hardware... OK. The internal Bluetooth card is active
Verifying Bluetooth version... OK. Bluetooth 4.0 detected
Verifying Bluetooth features... OK. Bluetooth features are Continuity compliant
Verifying Bluetooth firmware... OK. Bluetooth firmware version: v131 c9230
Verifying Login Item... OK. Login item for Auto Continuity Check is not set.
--- Modifications check ---
Verifying OS kext protection... OK. Kext developer mode is not active. This tool can fix this.
Verifying SIP... Ok. System Integrity Protection is already disabled
Verifying ContinuitySupport... OK. Already patched.
Verifying kexts readability... OK. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth kexts were found and could be read
Verifying Wi-Fi whitelist status... OK. Your board-id is not yet whitelisted. This tool can fix this.
Verifying BT4 dongles compatibility... OK. Compatibility with BT4 USB dongles is not enabled, this tool can fix this if a dongle is plugged in
Verifying old Wi-Fi kext presence... OK. Legacy Brcm4331 Wi-Fi driver is present. This tool can fix this.
Verifying legacy Wi-Fi card patch... OK. The legacy Wi-Fi patch is not present. This tool can fix this.
--- Modifications check ---
Thank you for your suggestion.
If not the computer, may be the iDevice. Occasionally, reboot the iPhone / re-login iCloud can suddenly make Handoff working again.
Yep, been rebooting, logging in/out of iCloud, etc... on both devices for three days now. None of these tricks are working.
Also see this blog, which clearly states that CAT is not needed in this case:
I'm not making this claim myself, however, this information is consistent with the CAT wiki page. I'm just not sure.
I also cannot believe there isn't some solid proven procedure to test and conclusively troubleshoot this. All this rebooting, toggling options, toggling Bluetooth, logging in/out iCloud, etc... is nothing but pure luck and guessing.
I know CAT should not be required. However, it sometimes magically make Apple watch unlock or Handoff work for an unknown reason.
TBH, in your case, if iCloud logout / login, re-install OS, CAT... doesn't work. I really don't know what to try next. In fact, all I can think of is PRAM reset, or disable SIP (if you didn't do that before run CAT).
I was hoping.
I reset the PRAM several times as well... and SIP was disabled so I could run CAT.
I don't know what else to do either. IMO, this is all guess-work and trial & error. I cannot believe nobody has a proven procedure to troubleshoot and fix.
EDIT:
It's finally working.
Here are the exact steps, but I honestly cannot say if something else I had done just prior to this helped it along.
- Trashed Bluetooth preferences file. I did this previously, but did it again since so many other things had been done. Since I was logged into another boot drive when I trashed this file, I did not have to turn off Bluetooth first.
- Zapped the PRAM.
- Logged out of iCloud.
- Reboot.
- Logged into iCloud.
- Received a phone call on the Mac (this was working all along, but maybe this call unclogged the pipes )
I had done all these steps dozens of times over the last few days... not sure what really got this working.
EDIT 2:
I uninstalled CAT just to be sure. Handoff and all Continuity features are still working, proving conclusively that CAT is not required when adding a Wifi Extreme card to a Mac Pro 5,1
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[doublepost=1487633065][/doublepost]
I had same experience, air drop works, but handoff, continuity never worked. Reinstalled Sierra, played with CAT and somehow it started working! Then I had issue with some software so I had restore again from backup and lost it again. Ever since then, I can't get it to work, so I opened it up and took 94360CD card out, unplug, replug cable, checked BT antenna and it was somehow showed it was working, then lost it again.
This got me thinking this could be hardware issue so I decided to order another replacement card 943602CDP with 4.2 LE so I will update to see if that would do anything.
It's finally working.
Here are the exact steps, but I honestly cannot say if something else I had done just prior to this helped it along.
Everything suddenly started working... Handoff, Universal Clipboard, and Instant Hotspot. (Airdrop, SMS, and phone calls were working all along) I did not have to do anything on the iPhone.
- Trashed Bluetooth preferences file. I did this previously, but did it again since so many other things had been done. Since I was logged into another boot drive when I trashed this file, I did not have to turn off Bluetooth first.
- Zapped the PRAM.
- Logged out of iCloud.
- Reboot.
- Logged into iCloud.
- Received a phone call on the Mac (this was working all along, but maybe this call unclogged the pipes
I had done all these steps dozens of times over the last few days... not sure what really got this working.
I had same experience, air drop works, but handoff, continuity never worked. Reinstalled Sierra, played with CAT and somehow it started working! Then I had issue with some software so I had restore again from backup and lost it again. Ever since then, I can't get it to work, so I opened it up and took 94360CD card out, unplug, replug cable, checked BT antenna and it was somehow showed it was working, then lost it again.
This got me thinking this could be hardware issue so I decided to order another replacement card 943602CDP with 4.2 LE so I will update to see if that would do anything.
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I removed CAT and everything continued to work. For me, the missing trick was making sure to reboot between signing out and back into iCloud. This process is repeatable and I've tested it on my original Sierra disk as well as my clean Sierra disk. I continue to be amazed that Apple, after several major OS updates, still has not figured out how to reliably startup Continuity without all this ridiculous rain-dancing.
Well.....943602CDP card came and guess what. It's defect. shows bluetooth not available....wifi works fine. Replaced my 94360CD back and bluetooth working. So not much there. But I AM SURE I was able to get handoff, continuity, etc working with card. (Currently phone call and air drop working) It's so frustrating.
I did try log out, reboot, log back in but nothing.
Maybe I need to reinstall bluetooth kext. Can anyone upload fresh bluetooth kext for 10.12.3?
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I also zapped the PRAM and maybe trashed the bluetooth prefs file once or twice before doing the log out. It's so difficult to know for sure which action was responsible for actually fixing it. All I can confirm is that Continuity fully works in a Mac Pro model 5,1 running Sierra 10.12.3 with the upgraded Wifi Extreme card; without the need for any software patches or hacks.
Here's a download link: http://www.filedropper.com/sierra10123kext
You shouldn't need to do that. You can use option 3 (uninstall) in CAT and it should copy the originals back for you. Otherwise, don't forget that you'll need to flush the Kext caches if you manually replace these files.
Here's a download link: http://www.filedropper.com/sierra10123kext
You shouldn't need to do that. You can use option 3 (uninstall) in CAT and it should copy the originals back for you. Otherwise, don't forget that you'll need to flush the Kext caches if you manually replace these files.
@sparky: So to confirm, you did NOT use CAT at all during subsequent testing and that by some combination of trashing Bluetooth prefs, signing out of iCloud, rebooting, then signing back into iCloud got Continuity working?
I've done a clean install of Sierra .4 beta (with no migration of any apps settings, or files) due to what I thought was some corruption of my OS that caused it to suddenly shutdown when it went into deep sleep but when I checked for Continuity functionality it still didn't work. I just didn't try the iClooud logging out/in steps...
I've done a clean install of Sierra .4 beta (with no migration of any apps settings, or files) due to what I thought was some corruption of my OS that caused it to suddenly shutdown when it went into deep sleep but when I checked for Continuity functionality it still didn't work. I just didn't try the iClooud logging out/in steps...
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Not quite. During all my testing over a period of several days, I DID in fact try CAT without success. However, I since got Continuity working, so I uninstalled CAT, reverted all Kexts back to original, and Continuity continues to function perfectly without it, proving it wasn't needed in the first place. To add some credibility to my most recent testing, I did the same on two system with similar results. One is my old hard drive upgraded to Sierra, and the other is my new hard drive with a clean install of Sierra. On the old upgraded system, Continuity only started working one-way (iPhone to Mac); On my new hard drive with a clean Sierra, full Continuity started working both ways.
Here is a more complete list leading up to my success including some superfluous steps...
1. Installed and ran CAT on both systems (no effect whatsoever)
... several hours pass and Handoff still broken ...
2. Trashed Bluetooth prefs
3. Zapped PRAM
4. Logged out of iCloud
5. Rebooted (or shut down and restarted)
6. Logged into iCloud (Handoff started working)
... Repeat steps 2. through 6. on the other system ...
7. Uninstalled CAT on both systems (no effect whatsoever)
Personally, I think some people see a positive effect from installing CAT, when it's not really needed, because it automatically trashes some Kext caches. Anyway, I really have no idea, nor does anyone else, because it always seems to come down to some weird combination of things that sometimes work and sometimes don't. In this case, I performed those steps above on two different installations of Sierra with similar success.
You'd think Apple could provide a troubleshooting/repair tool so people can get this working in minutes instead of maybe never. Better yet, build more robustness into the system so it can reset itself when it detects a problem. Right now, way too much
voodoo.
[doublepost=1487769632][/doublepost]I'm assuming after you trashed the Bluetooth prefs, you restarted then zapped PRAM, logged into computer, logged out of iCloud, then restarted a second time... yes?Not quite. During all my testing over a period of several days, I DID in fact try CAT without success. However, I since got Continuity working, so I uninstalled CAT, reverted all Kexts back to original, and Continuity continues to function perfectly without it, proving it wasn't needed in the first place. To add some credibility to my most recent testing, I did the same on two system with similar results. One is my old hard drive upgraded to Sierra, and the other is my new hard drive with a clean install of Sierra. On the old upgraded system, Continuity only started working one-way (iPhone to Mac); On my new hard drive with a clean Sierra, full Continuity started working both ways.
Here is a more complete list leading up to my success including some superfluous steps...
1. Installed and ran CAT on both systems (no effect whatsoever)
... several hours pass and Handoff still broken ...
2. Trashed Bluetooth prefs
3. Zapped PRAM
4. Logged out of iCloud
5. Rebooted (or shut down and restarted)
6. Logged into iCloud (Handoff started working)
... Repeat steps 2. through 6. on the other system ...
7. Uninstalled CAT on both systems (no effect whatsoever)
Personally, I think some people see a positive effect from installing CAT, when it's not really needed, because it automatically trashes some Kext caches. Anyway, I really have no idea, nor does anyone else, because it always seems to come down to some weird combination of things that sometimes work and sometimes don't. In this case, I performed those steps above on two different installations of Sierra with similar success.
You'd think Apple could provide a troubleshooting/repair tool so people can get this working in minutes instead of maybe never. Better yet, build more robustness into the system so it can reset itself when it detects a problem. Right now, way too much
Also, where did you delete the Bluetooth prefs from? Searched Google and a site indicated to delete it out of the System/Library/Preferences but with my recent clean install, that folder only has one file in it (a folder titled "Logging"). I checked my user Preferences and there's a com.apple.Bluetooth.DA89C9EC-15AD-5AB1-9D4B-ACC4CB75C923 (in addition to one for Apple Bluetooth trackpad and one for an Apple Bluetooth mouse, neither of which I have).
I'm trying to avoid CAT, and like you, reading the initial OP thread it sounded like the first attempts of using an Apple-branded card indicated there were no software mods to get it working.
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OS can make the difference. OP was on Yosemite. There are few guys have Handoff work properly on Yosemite and El Capitan, but not in Sierra.
Been trying for two days.....still not working. Airdrop works. MacID sees the phone and connects fine. I wish we could find a way to flush something to open up this function....
Last time I remember was it just starts to work all of sudden, so I am hoping that will happen again....
****UPDATE****
after trying zapping PRAM, sign out/in on icloud still not working. didn't want to use CAT but I decided to try and guess what, after running CAT, personal hotspot showed up on my wifi list on the mac but could NOT connect as it failed. So there was something happening.
Handoff not fully functional but shows sign of activity so here is what I did at this situation.
(after running CAT, handoff icon shows up on the iphone but won't work)
so I believe CAT is necessity for MacPro to have handoff function. once you got handoff function, you can remove CAT, enable csrutil and it will work once you got it, it seems.
Last time I remember was it just starts to work all of sudden, so I am hoping that will happen again....
****UPDATE****
after trying zapping PRAM, sign out/in on icloud still not working. didn't want to use CAT but I decided to try and guess what, after running CAT, personal hotspot showed up on my wifi list on the mac but could NOT connect as it failed. So there was something happening.
Handoff not fully functional but shows sign of activity so here is what I did at this situation.
(after running CAT, handoff icon shows up on the iphone but won't work)
- delete bluetooth.plist from \Library\Preferences
- Reboot and LOST handoff. GONE!
- revert back CAT, reboot
- reinstall CAT
- sign out icloud from mac
- uncheck allow handoff in system preference
- shutdown, ZAP PRAM
- reboot, sign in icloud
- check allow handoff in system preference
so I believe CAT is necessity for MacPro to have handoff function. once you got handoff function, you can remove CAT, enable csrutil and it will work once you got it, it seems.
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I just wanted to confirm on what I did. So I uninstall CAT, re enable csrutil, boot, it's still working.
So CAT is needed crank start handoff and you can remove back to vanilla state after.
So CAT is needed crank start handoff and you can remove back to vanilla state after.
Well, I tried sparky's technique outlined:
1) Installed CAT, which did a restart
2) Deleted Bluetooth prefs in System/Library/Preferences.
3) Shut down.
4) Startup, zapped PRAM during boot.
5) Signed out of my iCloud account in System Preferences
6) Shut down.
7) Startup.
8) Signed into my iCloud account.
Tried to get Handoff to invoke but no joy; neither on this Mac, my iPhone 6S, nor my iPad Pro.
AirDrop works, though. But it is a feature that I don't use or have a need for whatsoever from it's introduction.
When I feel the urge again, I'll try todesto's slightly different technique.
[doublepost=1487815297][/doublepost]UPDATE: Well, apparently I used an older version of CAT; not the beta version specific to Sierra.
So I'm going uninstall the old CAT, install the new CAT, then try out todesto's technique.
1) Installed CAT, which did a restart
2) Deleted Bluetooth prefs in System/Library/Preferences.
3) Shut down.
4) Startup, zapped PRAM during boot.
5) Signed out of my iCloud account in System Preferences
6) Shut down.
7) Startup.
8) Signed into my iCloud account.
Tried to get Handoff to invoke but no joy; neither on this Mac, my iPhone 6S, nor my iPad Pro.
AirDrop works, though. But it is a feature that I don't use or have a need for whatsoever from it's introduction.
When I feel the urge again, I'll try todesto's slightly different technique.
[doublepost=1487815297][/doublepost]UPDATE: Well, apparently I used an older version of CAT; not the beta version specific to Sierra.
So I'm going uninstall the old CAT, install the new CAT, then try out todesto's technique.
Geez, something happened with CAT when using it to uninstall the old version; now my Bluetooth doesn't work (not available), the prefs pane is missing from the System Preferences, and System Report shows no information found, but when I boot into a different volume (still Sierra), Bluetooth is very much available and functional and all works fine, so it's a driver issue as hardware-wise it's good-to-go.
Re-uninstalling CAT does not resolve issue, so now I'm forced to reinstall Sierra (this the MAIN reason why I don't like mucking with system kexts).
Re-uninstalling CAT does not resolve issue, so now I'm forced to reinstall Sierra (this the MAIN reason why I don't like mucking with system kexts).
Anther update: Even though it seems I got handoff, continuity working, not reliable. open safari from Mac to iphone doesn't work. iPhone to Mac works sometime. Personal Hotspot shows but that is it, can't connect. universal clipboard only worked one time when first tried.
For sure, it needs CAT to activate continuity (on Sierra at least). I was testing it again by installing vanilla kext, remove CAT, enable csrutil and lost handoff. Then I repeated the steps that I described in previous post and handoff is back again.
Not very stable though, universal clipboard only works when it wants to, handoff from iPhone safari to Mac is hit and miss. Mac safari to iPhone safari never works. composing mail will fail, but notes and contacts works.....
I am defintely going to change my BT module with 943602CDP and see what happens.
Not very stable though, universal clipboard only works when it wants to, handoff from iPhone safari to Mac is hit and miss. Mac safari to iPhone safari never works. composing mail will fail, but notes and contacts works.....
I am defintely going to change my BT module with 943602CDP and see what happens.
Well, I gave up. Just not worth the effort and problems (pain) I just went through. I had to reinstall Sierra to get Bluetooth working again and I'm sick of doing that because this is the second time in two weeks I've reinstalled.
Having Handoff is just a "neat" trick to have on my 2012 Mac Pro, but I only ever used it twice on my 2012 MacBook Pro.
I got the newer Apple OEM Broadcom BCM94360CD combo WiFi/Bluetooth 4.0 card from OSXWiFi.com only for the faster 802.11ac WiFi since I don't have wired Ethernet in my apartment from where the computer is to where the cable modem is located.
Having Handoff is just a "neat" trick to have on my 2012 Mac Pro, but I only ever used it twice on my 2012 MacBook Pro.
I got the newer Apple OEM Broadcom BCM94360CD combo WiFi/Bluetooth 4.0 card from OSXWiFi.com only for the faster 802.11ac WiFi since I don't have wired Ethernet in my apartment from where the computer is to where the cable modem is located.