Howdy!

Its come to my attention that some of us with Acer and Compaq laptops, among others, have an issue with our WiFi cards. Many of us (including myself) have changed out our PCI-E wireless cards out to OS X compatible ones, edited our .kexts and done our little dances only to find WiFi still doesn't work.

The one thing our laptops have in common is the WiFi radio killswitch LED on the front of the laptop that enables the user to physically disable the radio at a moment's notice. Its somewhat useful in Windows and can be controlled both with software and, of course, hardware (the switch itself).

We've narrowed it down to the PCI-E port - that's what the switch cuts power to; OS X System Profiler sees absolutely nothing installed on the PCI-E.

The good news is that Linux users have had the same issue and have written drivers and software fixes so the PCI-E slot gets power on boot up.

The bad news is that someone will have to port the drivers from Linux to OS X.

What I'm attempting to do here is compile resources and information to make that lucky programmer's job in building the killswitch driver easier. Testers can gather here and help solve this problem.

For many of us, WiFi is the only thing standing between us and never running Winblows again.

So far, we've:

• Flipped the switch itself (duh!)
• Tried BIOS options (there are none for wifi)
• Flipped the switch in Windows and booted to OS X.

Nothing works. So, here's what I've been able to gather:

http://www.cakey.de/acerhk/ - Acer Hotkey Drivers for Linux
http://rfswitch.sourceforge.net/?page=laptop_matrix - RF Switch Table
http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-184033.html -ACPI Switch Configuration
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/h...etup/+bug/57849 - More Keycodes
http://www.fedoraforum.org/forum/showthrea...=2&t=145267 - More ACPI Config.
http://code.google.com/p/aceracpi/ - Actual Acer ACPI Driver for Linux
http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...0&start=80# - Others who've had the same problem

(Will find the original Windows .exe ASAP)

Remember, this hack is a work in progress. I'm sure we'll figure it out.

Mods, feel free to let me know if this post isn't appropriate. I'll post it elsewhere if need be.

Thanks!

Just to add some fuel to the fire, as Putzinger knows many people with Compaq laptops are also having the exact same problem. Just a thought though, has anyone tried the tape method? If you have an actual Broadcom 4311 mini-PCI express card, taping over pin 20 ONLY should leave the card in a constant powered on state.

I have tried doing this myself, but unfortunately bad eye sight and tremors in my hands make it VERY difficult for me to place tape over suck a small area. Am curious if others have tried this method? If you did, does it work?

Errandwolfe,

Where'd you see information on the pin 20 fix? I'd like to see it so I can give it a try. Also, is it pin 20 from the left or the right?

Thanks!

The following is from two e-mails from gwh9132:




This came from asstastic:

ok this is good that others have made progress with linux etc, however, i'm not sure if this is going to help me. no airport entry shows up in networkinterfaces.plist and it's not being detected in System Profiler, or the network preferences pane in Preferences. the only way i can see it is with an ioreg or DPCIManager. it shows a broadcom 4311. is this issue with the power switch the same issue i'm having??

Nope. Nothing is supposed to show up because OS X doesn't power the PCI-E slot.

I tried the pin 20 method. And it works.

In Windows.

It completely disables the switch control. I flip the switch and the LED stays on. The software sees that I've flipped the switch and a message comes up, but the card doesn't turn off and continues as if nothing happened. It's nifty, but like I said, only in Windows.

OS X still doesn't power up the slot. I tried changing the integers in the .plist file again, but no dice. I tried rebooting it from windows; again, no dice.

I'll continue to look, but until something's written to make OS X power up that slot on boot, there's little we can do. The problem is slot-side, not card-side.

I'll keep researching it.

OK, what that probably means is that power is not our issue. It is most likely something to do with the mini pci-express bus. I was weary of the switch idea. I had an earlier Compaq V5101 that I had OS X running on and it had the same switch, and it was never an issue in OS X, I simply could not turn the card off. It was always on by default. For those with the Compaq C552 if you check your BIOS you will see you even have an option to power the card on at boot. I think someone with a bit more technical expertise then I should possibly take a look at this as a mini pci express issue NOT a wifi issue.

there's got to be someone out there who can get this thing working!

In a related note, when I installed the card, OS X started and worked, but when I told it to shut down, I got some sort of blue screen of death where I was told to manually shut down the machine. I think this is related to the card somehow. I looked around and found a fix for this. I'll fix the shutdown issue and see what happens...

...It may not do anything, but the not shutting down is annoying.

Hi there!

I've got a genuine Apple Airport Extreme -n- mini pci-e running flawlessly in my Toshiba Satellite A110-180!

I had problems with the "tape pin #20" trick at the beginning, but finally I got it.

Have a look at this post (it's in Spanish, but it may be of help):

http://forum.insanelymac.com/lofiversion/i...php/t55122.html

I installed the Airport Base Station software which came with the card in order to enable the -n- mode.

If someone needs help, just let me know.

Peace'n'love

PS Since I have wifi in my OSX86 system, I erased Windows. Now I only use OSX86 and Ubuntu in my laptop. Bye-bye uncle Bill...

Let me save everyone a bit a translating here...

Basically what the post Pako refers to is simply the method we have already discussed here, covering pin 20. Unfortunately while this will work to overcome the switch issue on my laptops, our issue seems to be unique. We have already the pin 20 method and verified it worked by booting it into Windows and verified that is disable the control of the switch and provided permanent power. Credit goes to Putzinger for testing that for us. Thanks Putzinger.

As I discussed above, our problem is most likely not one of power, but one of proper recognition of the mini PCI express bus itself. I can verify from experience on an earlier Compaq V5101 laptup that is nearly identical as far as the case design (including the switch) that the switch had absolutely no effect on osx86. On boot my wifi was just always enabled, and I could not turn the radio off. Indeed some of us have a BIOS where we can even specify that we want the card powered on at boot.

I thank you for your input, but that unfortunately does not solve our problem. I am curious though. If I read your post correctly you were able to install an actual Airport Express card in your laptop. I unfortunately have not seen the card up close, but all the pics I look at online look like it requires a custom slot, not a standard mini pci-e bus.

would the pin 20 trick theoretically work on any other broadcom card? i've got a 4328 that i'm wondering whether or not to give it a go on.

EDIT: it works just fine.

OK, I have opened up a new thread and am currently seeking help from other guru's out there on how we might test to see if our mini PCI Express slots are working properly, and if not how we might be able to get them working.

Questions for a Guru, Adding support for mini PCI-E Bus

Please, I am almost certain now that this is a mini PCI Express related issue. If you just search bcm4311 and page fault, every OS (linux, solaris, etc..) all points back to this being a problem with the mini-PCI Express slot. We need to beg and plead with the guru's to see if they could possibly spare some time to help us. If Linux and Solaris guys can get this working we should be able to also!

Here is an example of one discussion thread regarding thies:
http://mail.opensolaris.org/pipermail/lapt...uly/008404.html

hey errandwolfe,

try pin 11 and 13 (next to each other). this did it for me. now the card is always on, and I can turn it off from software but not the button. who cares about the button, wireless works..

cheers

Yarrix,
You don't even mention what hardware you are running on. I recommend before ANYONE try Yarrixs' method, that he verifies he has the same hardware as what we are all having problems with. Taping over pins can have a very nasty effect if you tape over the wrong ones.

Yarrix...
1.) What is your brand/model laptop do you have?
2.) What wireless card (brand and model also)?
3.) What type of interface is your card on? Mini-PCI or Mini-PCI Express?

errandwolf,

sorry about that, should've provided more info. nevertheless, i suggested taping, not shorting, so not much to worry about there.

1. laptop: acer aspire 5020, 5024NLWMI, amd turion 1.8, atix700 128mb (mobility)
2. wireless: broadcom mini-pci (not pci-e), take note, don't try those pins on express.

good luck.

Yarix,
Thank you for clearing that up. This problem many of us have seems to be specific to using the mini pci express bus, not the mini pci.

No matter what I cannot get the hardward to show up in :ifconfig.

Just is not seeing it good think I have a DWL-810+ to turn my ethernet into wifi for the time being.

After tapping pin 20 my bcm94311 mini-pci express always on on windows
and check there are en0 show up at this plist after swap number 0 to 1, and en1 now assigned for my Realtek8139 lan
but ifconfig still showing no en0 or detected new airport after reboot
so far still no solutions for this headache


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>Interfaces</key>
<array>
<dict>
<key>BSD Name</key>
<string>en0</string>
<key>IOBuiltin</key>
<false/>
<key>IOInterfaceType</key>
<integer>6</integer>
<key>IOInterfaceUnit</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>IOLocation</key>
<string></string>
<key>IOMACAddress</key>
<data>
ABbPoF5V
</data>
<key>IOPathMatch</key>
<string>IOService:/AppleACPIPlatformExpert/PCI0@0/AppleACPIPCI/P0P3@1C,2/IOPCI2PCIBridge/pci14e4,4311@0/AirPort_Brcm43xx/IO80211Interface</string>
</dict>

Maybe this could be the problem from this string "IOService:/AppleACPIPlatformExpert/PCI0@0/AppleACPIPCI/P0P3@1C,2/IOPCI2PCIBridge"
kext for ACPI platform, ACPIPCI, PCI to PCI bridge on detecting Mini-PCIe and most important using it.

from ioreg -l i got this

| | | "name" = "pci14e4,4311"
| | | "IOName" = "pci14e4,4311"
| | | "compatible" = <"pci103c,1363","pci14e4,4311","pciclass,028000">

but on other run smoothly, acer with regular mini-pci slot running well

could be there are ACPI, PCI ACPI, PCI to PCI Bridge kexts could handle this thing

Hey Guys Heres the FIX I got my AG5006 working perfectly.


1) download airport extreme update 04-2007 from apples website.
2) installer will say no supported hardware, cant install.
3) manually extract io80211.kext and new included frameworks from airport update.
4) replace io80211.kext in /system/library/extensions
5) insert provided framworks (directory name is - headers)into /system/library/frameworks/kernel.framework/versions/A/
6) run terminal, type sudo -s
chown -R root:wheel /S*/L*/E*/
chmod -R 755 /S*/L*/E*/
7) open disk utility and repair disk permissions
8) restart and enjoy working WIFI!!!


Direct Download link for Kext and Kext Helper and The header files
http://fileho.com/download/480aa3583022/50...nstall.zip.html

I warn anyone who clicks on that link it seems a bit phishy...claims to only work with Internet Explorer, certainly did not work with Firefox.

Why in the world someone on this site would post to something that says it requires Internet Explorer is something beyond me.

This came from another forum post.

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=59115

I will try and upload the file to this post.

File does no good, only applicable the the Atheros card. The frameworks have zero impact on our issue.

i've got an atheros card with the same led issue but when i install your kext the system tells me the file is wrong (if i go back to the old one my airport comes back)

Please keep focusing on Broadcom 4311. Thanks

i've an acer tm290 with intel 2200bg, my wireless works very fine with driver on google code, but in osx i haven't a software wich that turn on the card. can you help me.


sorry for my easy english, but i'm italian

I think we should focus on miniPCI-express. I have tried airport extreme update, upgrade to 10.4.9, upgrade to 10.4.10, but still no success with wireless or ethernet. Both hardware are PCI-express card.

I don't know about tapping or anything, but my kext file is loaded with "loaded unsuccessfully". I think OSX detect my card, but unable to communicate with it. System said "Wakeup!" but no response from wireless card. Its like my wireless card doesn't understand it or talk in different language.

I've had that happen to me before, it's a problem with the actual kext file and not the wireless. Somewhere along the lines I'm guessing you edited the kext and for whatever reason the operating system can't read it(maybe because a syntax error?). When editing it using the copy/paste to desktop and using textedit, I get that problem every time. If I use terminal to edit it, I never get that error. But then again, that's just my limited experience speaking lo xD

Confirmed!!
The "tape technic" on 20 pin works 100%.
I have just lost my switch kill hardware button...but i don't care at all.

That's been confirmed for a long time, but it doesn't make the damn thing work

Can you post the picture of your card here? Thanks. I want to compare it to my card.

EDIT: From your post, I assume your card is working after you do the tape part.

So taping pin 20 will make the internal wifi work? Like some pictures too!

FavleX and errandwolfe - Mind opening up PAINT and point at where PIN 20 is?

@teamster// you can find an illustrated pic at post#4 on previous page. i am not sure if it works or not, though.
would you post your result after giving it a try?

It's the one on the opposite side of the one in red (if you flip the card over. there's a pin labeled 18, it's right beside it). sorry don't have a cam on hand to take a picture of the back side.

By the way, tried the fix. Works in Windows, i.e. the switch on my laptop doesn't do anything + LED stays on. In Mac OS, no light, still nothing detected in network prefs or system profiler.

..sorry friends , I have been away for a while..

The Picture about my WiFi card is the one Teamster posted.

About finding the right pin u are looking for ,when u count them u have to remember to start from the first pin on the left, located on the surface displayed in the Teamster's Photo itself..ok?!
Then first on A side , second on B side ...and so on , just starting from the left.

Hope this helps.

errendwolfe i remember u mentioning that u managed to get past the kp's associated with iopcifamily.kext and ionetworkfamily.kext. if u could say how it would be great. i have a efi working 10.4.11 with vanilla kernel, and i maybe it works better with this set up? but i get the dependency kp's for iopcifamily.kext and ionetworkfamily.kext so i cant get into mac. right now im on the mac with a usb card, dispicable. lol

Hey guys, just received my Broadcom 4311 card today and installed osx- i came across a strange problem:

On my first boot I was able to get wireless. (but the airport icon shows no connection..) But after the first reboot the connection disappears and it says 'Airport Not Configured'. How strange!

System Info shows OS X recognizes my card- the display shows the card type, locale, firmware version but last and not least the last line says Airport is currently turned off...



I tried changing the networkpinfo by replacing en0 with en1 in text editor. But the system changes back to en0 after reboot. I am pretty new to this, what should I do to make this work? Do I need to repair permission after editng the netowrkpinfo file?

Hopefully I can hear from you guys soon! btw I have a Toshiba Satellite laptop.

we seriously need a dev on this. anyone with acer 5570 5570z 3680 5580 that has mini pci-e working please post!!!!

CONFIRMED !!!!
Worked well in BenQ S61 with the 20th pin taping...

Before, it couldn't work at all, windows and mac recognized it, windows asked for a driver and then that's all, no network, no wireless list, nothing at all... in mac it was recognized as Airport Extreme, but I couldn't turn it on at all...

Once the 20th pin has been taped, it's fully working in windows and Mac... but instead of an always-on LED, i've got an always-off LED... but it's okay...

THANKS FOR THIS THREAD!!!

at last, my spending on ebay is not useless....

ups i think i misunderstood the method here...

what i did was i covered both side of the 20th pin... so it's like pin 20 n pin 19, or pin 20 n pin 21...

hmmm i wonder if it has any side effect, i'm still using it and downloaded almost a gigs with this method...

later, i'll get off the tape on the odd pin (whether it's 21st or 19th)...

would you mind showing an image of where exactly the tape SHOULD be on the card once you fix your issue wito aja? I have an HP dv5220us with a 1390 mini pci-e card I would like to try the trick with.

Thanks

guys i installed iatkos and bcrm4311 extension and ionetworking and io80211 all load yet i still cannot see my wireless card. does everyone have bcrm4311 loading?


and olinboy look at previous page, there is already a pic.

Thanks funnypanks, I have seen that photo before. I'm just wondering if I am supposed to tape that pin on both sides of the card (front and back) or just on the side that is shown in the photo, or maybe just the opposite side?

Just looking for some final clarification really. I tried taping mine the other day and I don't think I did it correctly. Nothing gained in OSX, and spotty performance in windows with both front and back pin 20 taped. Unless my tape job was bad

I have the same problem but its with Bluetooth on Aspire 3620. the bluetooth led and bluetooth works in windows running "Acer Launch manager", but its not 'powered' while in OSX ...

Any more development on this guys? Acer 5570Z user and just want my wireless and ethernet to work.

5570Z
iATKOS (10.5.1)
EFI_PC

Thanks
Chris

Well I have the same isue.
The very first time I installed the MAcosx 10.4.8 I had wireless disabled in the bios, so during installation process there were no networks detected.
Next time I reinstalled MacOSX, I enabled wireless in the bios and during the installation process (with the registratiion, locales etc.) wireless detects the wireless network and displays ESSID. But right after loading a desktop of Mac OS X, wireless icon in the tray states: "Airport is not configured".
It seems to me that macosx assumes that the wifi is not turned on phisicaly the computer itself. I have not seen any real macbook in my life, so I do not no if it has a phisical wireles on/off button/switch.

So I hope somebody can handle this issue and we will be able to get rid of WinBill's.
Cheers

BTW, I have
HP DV8100CTO
Radeon express m200
SATA 100GB
AMD Turion 64 Ml-34
Broadcom 4311

ur problem has nothing to do with the issue discussed in this thread. and it has been answered many times. read around.

this has recently been solved thanks to chun nan using the kext found in this thread
http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=87592

should work with mini pci-e versions acer 3680/5570/5570z/5580