MacBook Pro Directions To Use Dell 5700 ExpressCard |
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Monday, 24 July 2006 |
 Starting with Mac OS X 10.4.7, Apple provided support for many EVDO cards natively. Everyone is waiting on the Verizon ExpressCard V640 (see our ExpressCard Notification), but nobody is sure when Verizon will release it. Dell started shipping their version of the Dell ExpressCard on July 5th, however, the firmware is different and it is NOT compatible with MacBook Pro (the Verizon V640 card is).
This article will descibe how to get the Dell ExpressCard 5700 to work with your MacBook Pro.
NOTE: These are instructions are for advanced users who know what they are doing only! These directions work under Mac OS 10.4.7 (or greater).
- Remove the Dell ExpressCard if it is already inserted.
- Log in as an Administration user.
- Open the Terminal application.
- Go to the IOSerialFamily kernel extension PlugIns folder by executing the following command: cd /System/Library/Extensions/IOSerialFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/
- Execute the ls command to view the directory, and you should see amongst the other plug-ins one called AppleVerizonSupport.kext and the other called AppleVerizonSupportKicker.kext. If you do not see these directories, then you are probably not running Mac OS X 10.4.7 or later.
- To enable support for the Dell Wireless card, we need to change the Vendor ID number in the two Info.plist files contained within the two kext's above. You can use pico, but any text editor will do.
- Type: sudo pico /System/Library/Extensions/IOSerialFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleWWANVerizon.kext/Contents/Info.plist
- Scroll down to the line containing
Under AppleVerizonInterface0NovatelX34
- Now, Scroll down until you see a line that says idProduct
- In the line underneath, you should see 4352
- Replace the number with 33047 (which is the vendor ID of the Novatel Wireless card)
- Scroll down until you see a line that says idVendor
- In the line underneath, you should see 5136
- Replace the number with 16700 (which is the product ID of the Dell Wireless card)
- Scroll down to the line containing
Under AppleVerizonInterface1NovatelX34
- Now, Scroll down until you see a line that says idProduct
- In the line underneath, you should see 4352
- Replace the number with 33047 (which is the vendor ID of the Novatel Wireless card)
- Scroll down until you see a line that says idVendor
- In the line underneath, you should see 5136
- Replace the number with 16700 (which is the product ID of the Dell Wireless card)
- Save and exit the editor
- Rebuild the kernel extension cache by executing:
- sudo kextcache -t /System/Library/Extensions/IOSerialFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleWWANVerizon.kext
- Restart your Mac (you can do this from the command line with a
- sudo shutdown -r now command)
- Insert the Dell ExpressCard 5700
- When the dialog box pops up asking you if you want to configure it, click OK, you will need to enter your admin password for your Mac to complete the activation process
When you are done, and you insert your card, and after typing in your admin password, you should see the dialog below. Click on it and select Connect, and you then will connect.
Congratulations, your Dell Wireless ExpressCard is now working in your PowerBook! If you need activation (1 or 2 year service plan), and activate your card through us, we will email you are Using 10.4.7 PDF that will help you get the most of using your card.
There may be a downside to hacking your MacBook Pro to use a Dell ExpressCard, as Apple releases new System Software updates, you may have to re-apply these changes after doing a Software Update. If you use the Novatel V640 card in the future, you will need to revert the file (or just re-run the 10.4.7 Mac OS X Update to overwrite your changes).
We do not provide support for this hack. However, if you purchase your activation through us, we will send you our PDF to get the most out of using your EVDO Card with 10.4.7. Also, we are working on a modification to the Mac OS X that allows both the Verizon V640 and Dell ExpressCard 5500 to work on the same MacBook Pro. For anyone that gets their Dell ExpressCard activated through us, we will provide that installer free of charge.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 19 September 2006 )
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Mac EVDO
