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When and what kexts to use

Broadcom

AirportBrcmFixup

This is needed to fix wifi on many Broadcom cards, while not all of them need them it's generally required when using non-apple manufactured wireless cards. This also has the added functionality of injecting old Broadcom kexts into newer versions of macOS.

  • Note: Apple AirPort and Fenvi cards do not need this kext

BrcmPatchRAM

Required for all non-Apple manufactured wireless cards due to how firmware is handled. This is actually a bundle of multiple kexts:

  • BrcmBluetoothInjector
    • Do not use with macOS 12, use BlueToolFixup instead
    • If you dual boot both macOS 11 or under and macOS 12, MinKernel and MaxKernel under Kernel -> Add in your config can be used to load one kext or the other in a specific OS
  • BrcmFirmwareData
  • BrcmPatchRAM fix:
    • BrcmPatchRAM3 for macOS 10.14+ (must be paired with BrcmBluetoothInjector unless on macOS 12)
    • BrcmPatchRAM2 for macOS 10.11-10.14
    • BrcmPatchRAM for macOS 10.10 and older
  • BlueToolFixup:
    • Used in place of BrcmBluetoothInjector on macOS 12
    • See above dual booting note

Note:

  • Apple AirPort and Fenvi cards do not need these kexts
  • OpenCore order: BrcmBluetoothInjector or BlueToolFixup -> BrcmFirmwareData -> BrcmPatchRAM

Intel

itlwm

  • itlwm
    • itlwm.kext uses Apple's IOEthernet, is more stable than AirportItlwm.kext, and is completely based on open-source resources
    • AirportItlwm.kext uses Apple's IO80211, which is less stable than itlwm.kext, but supports certain Continuity features
    • Unfortunately, neither kext supports AirDrop; see here for features and limitations: OpenIntelWireless

IntelBluetoothFirmware

Adds Bluetooth support to macOS when paired with an Intel wireless card

Atheros

High Sierra's IO80211Family

This kext is required for all Atheros chipsets that had support dropped in Mojave, these include:

  • AR242x
  • AR542x
  • AR5416
  • AR5418
  • AR9280 - AR5BHB92
  • AR9285 - AR5B95
  • AR9287 - AR5B97
  • AR9380 - AR5BXB112

ATH9KFixup

To be paired with AirPortAtheros40 to fix support for many unsupported Atheros cards, similar idea to AirportBrcmFixup:

  • AR946X (AR9462 & AR9463)
  • AR9485
  • AR9565

AthBluetoothFirmware

Required to ensure Bluetooth firmware is loaded correctly in macOS