Plug the USB-C end of the adapter into a USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) port on your Mac, and then connect your flash drive, camera, or other standard USB device.To force your system to use an external Bluetooth controller instead of the internal one, open Terminal and type: sudo nvram bluetoothHostControllerSwitchBehavioralways. To revert to the default OS X behavior, type: sudo nvram -d bluetoothHostControllerSwitchBehavior.You can add a USB-A to USB-C adapter on the end of the cable that comes with your accessory, but dongles and adapters add complexity that can be avoided in this case.As I mentioned on this week’s 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcast, my Rode Podcaster mic uses this boxy USB port so I’ll need an adapter or something to make the included cable work with the new MacBook Pro when it arrives. I’d rather just replace the cable with one that works rather than permanently attach an adapter that could disconnect.The boxy port I referenced is called USB-B (and what we think of as standard USB is called USB-A) so the cable solution we’re looking for here is USB-B to USB-C rather than USB-A to USB-C.The good news is these are already shipping and should work fine with the 12-inch MacBook or any new MacBook Pro.Cable Matters ships a USB-B to USB-C cable from Amazon from just $6.99 (reg.One for my printer (an HP Envy 5530 with AirPrint for wireless printing but wired just in case), another for my MIDI keyboard (an AKAI MKP mini), one for my guitar effects pedal (a DigiTech RP 155), and one for my Rode Podcaster mic.I won’t connect all of these accessories to my MacBook Pro all the time, but when I do I’ll just use the cable attached and not fiddle with an adapter thanks to USB-B to USB-C. Avantree DG80 Bluetooth 5.0 USB Audio ONLY Adapter for PS4 PS5 Windows Mac Linux PC Computer, No. StarTech.com Mini USB Bluetooth 4.0 Adapter - 10m (33ft) Class 2 EDR Wireless Dongle - USB Bluetooth. Avantree DG80 (PC Version) Bluetooth 5.0 USB Adapter for Windows PC Laptop Mac, Plug & Play, aptX.USB C to HDMI Hub, UPGROW Type C Adapter 5 in 1 with 2 USB 3.0 Ports, 4K30Hz HDMI, SD/TF Card Reader, USB Splitter for Laptop Like MacBook Pro/Air, ChromeBook.Apple’s new MacBook Pro is totally ready for a USB-C future, but some of your current accessories like printers and mics might not be so prepared. Printers, mics, audio equipment, and a lot of other common accessories use a boxy connector and standard USB to interface with your Mac.Overview.
Dongle Pro Usb Bluetooth Controller InsteadHowever, since my MacBook’s internal Bluetooth device is actually already dead, I cannot verify this at this point of writing. I’ve added some further tips at the bottom on how you can manually select which adapter to use. UPDATE: Looks like with OS X Mountain Lion, you don’t have to do the following hack anymore! The Broadcom dongle I describe in this article is supported on OS X Mountain Lion by default! In fact, the new kext includes support specifically for the IOGEAR GBU521 Bluetooth 4.0 Micro Adapter ! Also, you might want to consider getting the IOGEAR one since the eBay one I got has a bright blue LED that’s always lit and can be pretty annoying at night.MORE UPDATE: There’s been reports that while this guide worked in getting the drivers loaded for the external Bluetooth adapter, some was still stuck with the Apple’s built-in adapter. Belkin also offers a USB-IF certified version that goes for $19.99 regular. So I searched for a Bluetooth dongle that has Mac support. It just went dead without any warning after about 1.5 years of me using my MBP. From what I’ve read and seen, all you need is to get a compatible Bluetooth 4.0 module like the IOGEAR GBU521 Bluetooth 4.0 Micro Adapter and then enable it using the Continuity Activation Tool available here.If you find yourself wanting upgrade your Mac’s Bluetooth 2.1 support with a USB dongle that supports Bluetooth 4.0, here’s a tip for you to get it on the cheap with those Bluetooth 4.0 USB dongles you find posted on eBay.IOGEAR GBU521 Bluetooth 4.0 Micro AdapterWhy I even explored getting a Bluetooth 4.0 USB dongle was due to the untimely demise of the onboard Bluetooth 2.1 chip on my 2010 MacBook Pro. Addictive keys mac torrentAlso, you can sometimes get pretty good deal on Amazon and get this dongle for as low as US$13.50.But of course any Bluetooth 4.0 USB dongle would do as long as it is using the exact same chip as the IOGEAR’s dongle, which is Broadcom’s BCM20702A0 chip. So unless being a little ‘bling-bling’ is your thing, get the IOGEAR GBU521 Bluetooth 4.0 Micro Adapter which looks a little more discreet. Why? The eBay one has a bright blue LED that’s always lit and can be pretty annoying at night. Unfortunately, it’s no longer listed as of my last check.Update: In retrospect now that I’ve been using the cheaper eBay dongle, you might want to consider getting the IOGEAR one. And jumping ahead, it works, so you could go ahead and get the same too, especially if you decide to use the same kext file that I’ll post up in this article as a sample. So in the end, I decided to pick one that apparently used a photo of the dongle (see below) plugged into a MacBook Pro and hoped that it would work.If you’re wondering which Bluetooth 4.0 dongle I bought, this link will bring you to the item page on eBay and it cost me US$12.98 for the dongle. However, the USB dongle did register up in the USB Device Tree when I checked with the System Information.What that means is that OS X does see the hardware. When I plugged in the dongle, Bluetooth support was nonexistent. Now, you’d probably guessed that the dongle didn’t work right out of the box, hence this article. Seek out the IOBluetoothFamily.kext and open up the package contents. Basically the one that you need to hack is /System/Library/Extensions/IOBluetoothFamily.kext.Within that kext, BroadcomUSBBluetoothHCIController.kext, is another next that is basically the Broadcom driverIn order to get to them, just head over the /System/Library/Extensions/ location in finder. And in my case, support for the Broadcom BCM20702A0 chip.A quick search around the Internet reveals the exact kext to edit. Now you have the copy of the kext file, open up the IOBluetoothFamily.kext package, continue to navigate to /System/Library/Extensions/IOBluetoothFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/ and you’ll find another kext named BroadcomUSBBluetoothHCIController.kext.Do the same again for the BroadcomUSBBluetoothHCIController.kext and open up the Contents folder. I’ll come to the installation steps soon, but go ahead and make a copy of the kext file now.Ok. The desktop or anywhere you like, edit it there and use the Kext Utility to ‘install’ the kext. Converting 21e8 to integer gives me the value of 8680. As for the Vendor ID, 0x0a5c is 2652 in integer. So you’ll need to convert it from hex to integer.In my case with the BCM20702A0 chip, the Product ID value is 0x21e8. And if you’ve gone ahead to open up the Info.plist file, you’ll then notice that the idProduct and idVendor values are in integer. I can see if detected as a USB device but that’s it. However, I’d advice you to try editing it yourself to be familiar with the process since every OS X update is likely to ‘wipe’ off your hacked ‘kext’ and you’d need to re-do the steps again, and it’s always best to edit it from the latest kext file.The thing with my problem is that the dongle does not work at all by default. You could use my kext file right off the download. If you aren’t sure about this, you can use the sample edited kext file here – IOBluetoothFamily.kext. Microsoft Bluetooth 2.0 USB Dongle CFBundleIdentifier com.apple.driver.BroadcomUSBBluetoothHCIController IOClass BroadcomUSBBluetoothHCIController IOProviderClass IOUSBDevice idProduct 156 idVendor 1118 Bluetooth 4.0 USB Dongle CFBundleIdentifier com.apple.driver.BroadcomUSBBluetoothHCIController IOClass BroadcomUSBBluetoothHCIController IOProviderClass IOUSBDevice idProduct 8680 idVendor 2652. Once the hack is done, the Bluetooth info in the System Information shows the Bluetooth device information and obviously it’s working now.Here’s the extract from my System Information on the Bluetooth device:-Apple Bluetooth Software Version: 4.0.
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