EDITED: I tried this card on another install (Asus P5L-VM1394), and didn't need to do the first step (en1). On this MoBo all I had to do was add the the new line containing 4320 and voila! The steps below was what I had to do on an ASrock 945G-DVI. I wound up going to the store to buy 3 more today, to have around just in case

Thought I'd give everyone a heads up. This card uses the broadcom chipset (id 4320) is widely available, and even down at BestBuy, it sells for $34.99 and works as Ariport with only 3 small modifications -- although it took me all night last night to figure out what they are

The 2 changes that need to be made (and in this order, as I had found out through the school of hard knocks):

Your Buffalo card needs to be viewed by the PC as en1. So, first, plug the card into you Hackintosh, then:

- In /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/NetworkInterfaces.plist, you'll find this card. You need to change whatever enX interface it's on to en1. You'll see it in the list because it is the only one associated with IO80211Family.kext, which will be part of its description. Change your other cards enX so there is no conflict (so change them to en0, en2, etc.)

- Then, further down the list, change <key>IOInterfaceUnit</key><integer>?(there will be a number here like 0, 2, etc.)</integer>, change the number in the integer string to 1. Again, be sure to change your other settings so the enX interface you changed doesn't contain 1 in the integer string.

Meaning, for the above 2 steps, you need to swap whatever card you currently have as en1 and integer 1, with the Buffalo card. So if the other card is en1 integer 1, and Buffalo is en2 integer 2, you need to make the Buffalo card en1 integer 1, and the other card en2 integer 2, for example. I hope this is not confusing...sorry if it is.

NOTE: Only do the above if you don't already have the Buffalo card as en1 and integer 1. Depending on your motherboard and other PCI card configuration, when you plug in the Buffalo card your computer may very well assign it en1 and integer 1.

Next,

- go into /System/Library/Extensions/Contents/PlugIns/AppleAirPortBrcm4311/Contents/info.plist -- You will find a list that has something like:

<key>IONameMatch</key>
<array>
<string>pci14e4,4328</string>
<string>pci14e4,4329</string>
<string>pci14e4,432a</string>
<string>pci14e4,4311</string>
<string>pci14e4,4312</string>
<string>pci14e4,4313</string>
<string>pci14e4,4319</string>
<string>pci14e4,431a</string>
</array>

Insert this after the <string>pci14e4,4328</string>, but before <string>pci14e4,4329</string>, so the entry below will be the second one down: insert this ---> <string>pci14e4,4320</string>

The above changes will recongize this Buffalo card as Airport...total time for the changes (about 5 minutes)

WHAT I HAVE NOT OUTLINED, AND MAKING AN ASSUMPTION YOU KNOW (otherwise search here for how-to's)

--> you will need to know how to edit these files, and then change permissions.

Files can be edited with sudo nano, or plist edit pro.

Permissions can be reset either using disk utility or:

- chmod -R 755 /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/NetworkInterfaces.plist
- chown -R root:wheel /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/NetworkInterfaces.plist

- chmod -R 755 /System/Library/Extensions
- chown -R root:wheel /System/Library/Extensions

Then, in /System/Library you will find Extensions.kextcache and Extensions.mkext

Drag both files into the trash can and when it asks you for your password just provide the password.

Reboot.

After your reboot, go in to System Preference, and Network. When you do this, it will tell you that it found a new Airport card. Select it from the scroll list, hit Apply, it will acquire an IP adress from your Wireless Router, and you're online

This post is no BS! This card really works, and because it is their newest version, you don't have to worry about buying one that doesn't have the Broadcom chipset. All of their newest versions (the one in the post title) have the Broadcom chipset.

Hope this is helpful to all who are trying to get a Wireless card to work. I now own 4 different Wireless cards following some recommendations, which I never go to work because the versions recommended were old cards that are no longer available. This card is new, so anyone buying it will have the chipset that works.

I'm just happy to share with you all -- my small contribution to all the help I've gotten from countless here

/mdg

Oddly enough I can only see the card but not use it (it's active, just can't see/connect to networks). The question I have now is what kernel version did you do this on? If it's pre-kernel 8.8.1 (i.e. 8.4.1) then this guide is outdated. I'm curious

8.8.1 of course. I actually have 3 of these running fine now.

Since this guide, I've learned something recently. Since playing around with OC on my hackintosh, I noticed that sometimes (at some FSB settings) the card is active/recognized as Airport but doesn't acquire IP address and doesn't connect to any AP. I found this @ FSB 400 doing OC, and without OC by selecting FSB 800 in Bad Axe 2 bios. On 945G chipsets, however, only by OC'ing close to FSB 400 it does the above. This is a fairly recent discovery, however.

I've mitigated this issue by playing around with PCI speed settings. So I suspect this is not a kext issue but rather a PCI bus speed and FSB combination issue.

Hope this helps.

/mdg

Intriguing... FSB and PCI settings... looks like I've got a bit of fun awaiting me tonight

Hi, I have a Blitz card running an Atheros chipset. Do you know if it's possible to do the same things you described above to get my powerbook to recognize the blitz card in the side PCI slot? Or do only Broadcom chipsets work because that's what the Airport uses?

cheers,
js

I got my friend's Atheros (IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad) wi-fi working using this same approach. I basically did the same thing to the Atheros kext...although as I recall there were two Atheros kexts and I modified the lower number one (older) not the higher number one (newer).

Give it a try.

I went to BestBuy and bought the same card. I put the card's definitions in Info.plist, repaired permissions, rebooted, and lo and behold: AirPort!

Everything works fine, with the exception that the signal drops out every now and again. I simply need to turn Airport off from the menu bar and turn it back on & it works.

Any idea if there is something I can do to remedy this situation? I have Interference Robustness turned on (doesn't seem to make any difference). I will say though, that it appears to be an issue with the card or the OS, as I can track a neighbor's wireless LAN with istumbler, however, when the card drops signal (and I need to turn it off and on again) it also looses track of the other WLAN.

I am experiencing the same issue. It is slightly annoying, well actually it is driving me crazy. I cannot continuously connect to a peer or an ftp server. The drop connection occurs at time when I am using a lot of bandwidth and it might have something to do with a throughput limitation. All of this disconnection business is reminding me of the horrible days of 56k, despite the fact that I can reconnect. Please post any advice as to fixing the kext or something to stop this annoyance. Alternatively I could buy a wireless AP, however I am sure that it is a quick fix and wireless AP's are expensive. By the way, Windows Vista does the same thing when you allow the card to be configured automatically using the OS integrated driver.

-Roger

This might sound bizzare, but I also experienced the same issue but ONLY when my RAM was set to 800 Mhz (I have a Bad Axe 2). In fact I had a hard time connecting to an access point (consistently) also. I then set my RAM to 667 and voila, no problems? I have not idea as to why? I wound up then setting my RAM to 533 and OC'ing my e6600 to 3.6 Ghz, having 1:1 RAM timings to get the RAM back to 800 Mhz (I have Super Talent DR2 800 RAM), and still no problems -- all works.

I also have a P5L-VM 1394 board and expereince the same issue when I have more than one persistent connection. Meaning, I could be downlowding a file from somewhere, but if I open up a web browser it disconnencts. If I browse the web it's no problem, but then I don't have multiple / persistent connections at the same time. On this board, it seems as though one persistent connection at a time? Could play around with settings to figure out.

And finally, I have a ASrock 945G-DVI and have/had no problems on this board at all...but this board only allows RAM settings of 667 Mhz, which is what I have it set at and have an FSB setting of 300 Mhz for slight OC.

My gut tells me that's one of two things, in this order of severity:

- PCI and/or Memory Bus timing issues. Try playing around with your memory settings or increase the PCI bus speed one tick?

- Frame size or buffers issues, or something, that is different between this card and Airport on certain configurations, which causes incompatability with memory and/or bus speed timings?

I could be a complete dunce, and it is probably something else, but I only now have this issue partially unresolved on the P5L-VM 1394, meaning I NEVER loose a connection when just browsing the web. I only get dropped when I have a persistent connection to something, and then try to establish another connection to something else. It still never disconnects me from AP, though (I don't recall but I don't think so), but does drop the IP connection.

/mdg