OS 9 Bluetooth: keyboards and mice on Mac OS 9 (driver 17.6, panel 19.2, strip 2.5)

Ready-to-install build of a native Bluetooth HID host stack for Mac OS 9.2.2. It pairs and drives Bluetooth keyboards and mice from OS 9 itself, over the Mac's own internal Bluetooth module, with no Mac OS X involved.

Tested on a Power Mac G4 MDD FireWire 800 with the internal Apple A1044 module, an Apple Wireless Keyboard A1016 and an Apple Wireless Mouse A1015. Other Macs with the same A1044 module are expected to work but need community testing.

What you get

• USB-Bluetooth-Support.hqx decodes to USB Bluetooth Support (Extensions)
• USBBluetoothSwitch.hqx decodes to USBBluetoothSwitch (Extensions)
• Bluetooth.hqx decodes to Bluetooth (Control Panels)
• Bluetooth-Strip.hqx decodes to Bluetooth Strip (Control Strip Modules)
• BTCheck_v99.105.hqx decodes to BTCheck, a diagnostic that writes a log rather than making you read a window

BTCheck is strictly optional. The Bluetooth stack does not need it and never calls it. Install it only if something is wrong and you want to see why, or if you are reporting a problem and want a log to attach. The other four are the stack.

Decode each one with StuffIt Expander on the Mac. The files are BinHex, which is plain 7-bit text and survives any transfer. Install the four stack pieces, then restart.

⚠ The extension must keep the name USB Bluetooth Support. The Mac OS USB Expert scans only Extensions files whose name begins "USB", so renaming it stops it loading, silently.

What works

• Keyboard and mouse at the same time: typing, modifiers, media keys, eject, cursor and button
• Battery level for both devices, in the control panel and the Control Strip
• Pairing, deleting, disconnecting and renaming devices from a native control panel
• The paired keyboard still reaches the Open Firmware boot picker
• Runs alongside the USB 2.0 (EHCI) extension

Scope, stated plainly

This has been measured against the A1044 module, the A1016 keyboard and the A1015 mouse. Other Bluetooth keyboards and mice may well work, because the HID paths are generic, but they are untested. USB Bluetooth dongles are not supported: the transport comes up and pairing reaches the PIN exchange, but the USB Expert removes the device mid-pairing. That work is paused.

Known issues

• While a paired Bluetooth keyboard is switched on, a wired USB keyboard is ignored at the Open Firmware boot picker. Your Bluetooth keyboard works there, which is the point, but the wired one beside it will not respond. Switch the Bluetooth keyboard off and the wired one works again immediately.
• After a failed pairing, the first boot afterwards still needs a manual pairing click in the control panel.

Licensing

This project's own source is MIT. It links BTstack (Copyright (C) 2009 BlueKitchen GmbH), whose licence permits redistribution, use and modification solely for personal benefit and not for any commercial purpose or monetary gain. That restriction carries over to any binary built from this repository, including the ones attached here. Commercial licensing is BlueKitchen's to grant, not ours.

A hobby project, offered as-is.