Skip to content

d3myz/XPS9570-macOS

BranchesTags
 
 

Folders and files

NameName
Last commit message
Last commit date

Latest commit

 

History

64 Commits
EFI
EFI
 
 
images
images
 
 
tools
tools
 
 
.gitignore
.gitignore
 
 
readme.org
readme.org
 
 

Repository files navigation

Overview

Run macOS Mojave (10.14) on a Dell XPS 9570.

Most pieces are fully supported, and this setup can be used as your main machine. A few pieces are missing (and some will probably never be supported); see Known Problems/Caveats in the Hardware section.

The EFI folder can be used to boot into a USB installer, or for regular booting.

Tested hardware configuration

  • Dell XPS 9570
    • Intel i9-8950HK
    • 32GB RAM
    • 4K display
    • Toshiba SSD
    • Realtek ALC298 (ALC3266 according to Dell)
    • Goodix fingerprint reader
    • Touchpad/Touchscreen
  • Software environment
    • BIOS: 1.10.1
    • Dual-booting Windows 10

Tested software configurations

  • macOS: 10.14.0 - 10.14.5 build 18F203 (current)
  • BIOS: 1.5.0, 1.7.0, 1.8.1, 1.9.1, 1.10.1

Hardware

Graphics

Integrated Intel UHD Graphics 630 support is handled by WhateverGreen, and configured in the PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x2,0x0) section of config.plist. The Nvidia GPU is not supported due to hardware differences and lack of driver support in macOS. It is disabled to save power.

Choose a DPCD maximum link rate for your display, where 4K=0x14 (default) or 1080p=0x0a.

To determine if Intel GPU (IGPU) acceleration is working, check: About This Mac -> Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB. A value less than 1536MB indicates a problem (e.g. 7MB or 31MB are common).

The default BIOS DVMT pre-alloc value of 64MB is sufficient and does not need to be changed.

The IGPU supports up to 3 displays simultaneously, including the internal LCD. The type C port supports up to two DisplayPort connections with an adapter. Even though you could connect three external displays (HDMI + 2 DisplayPort via type C), one of these displays would remain powered off. This is a limitation of IGPU, which has 3 pipelines for driving displays, one per display.

Enabling acceleration

  • config.plist
    • Graphics/Inject/Intel=no
    • Devices/Properties/PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x2,0x0)
      • AAPL,ig-platform-id = <00009b3e>
      • device-id =<9b3e0000>
      • dpcd-max-link-rate =<14000000> (or <0a000000> for 1080p)
      • enable-dpcd-max-link-rate-fix =<01000000>
      • framebuffer-patch-enable =<01000000>
  • Install Lilu kext
  • Install WhateverGreen kext

Enabling backlight control via slider in Sys. Prefs. -> Displays

Enabling external display support

Without any options passed to WhateverGreen, a KP will occur whenever an HDMI device is attached. @0xFireWolf provided initial required flags in a thread to support HDMI 1.4 connections, with some quirks for HDMI 2.0 connections. Testing is still in progress.

Up to two 4k@60Hz DisplayPort connections are supported via type C with adapter, and HDMI can also be connected. However, the internal display will turn off if three external displays are connected (see Intel GPU limitation above).

Connector 0 is the internal LCD, connectors 1 and 2 are DisplayPort via type C, and connector 3 is HDMI. The boot argument agdpmod=vit9696 is required to disable board checks, since the MacBookPro15,1 doesn’t have an HDMI output, and would be ignored by the OS by default.

Enabling HDMI and DisplayPort via type C connector

  • config.plist
    • Boot/Arguments
      • agdpmod=vit9696
    • Devices/Properties/PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x2,0x0)
      • framebuffer-portcount = <04000000>
      • framebuffer-con1-enable = <01000000>
      • framebuffer-con1-alldata = <01050900 00040000 87010000>
      • framebuffer-con2-enable = <01000000>
      • framebuffer-con2-alldata = <02060900 00040000 87010000>
      • framebuffer-con3-enable = <01000000>
      • framebuffer-con3-alldata = <03040a00 00080000 87010000>
      • enable-hdmi20 = <01000000>

Known problems/caveats

  • HDMI 2.0 connections may require cold booting with a monitor attached, or have sleep/resume issues. See thread linked above.

PS/2 Keyboard

The internal keyboard is a PS/2 device, but macOS does not support PS/2. This can be implemented with VoodooPS2Controller.

Installation

Debugging key codes

  • Install debug version of VoodooPS2Controller
  • Log key codes captured 
    log stream | sed -n 's/.*\(ApplePS2Keyboard: sending key\)/\1/p'

Known problems/caveats

  • Can cause reboot on startup (intermittent)
  • Keyboard options like modifier key settings cause an erratic/disabled keyboard For key remapping, see SSDT-PS2-Keymap.dsl above. Key repeat speed and delay are ok to change.
  • Can’t wake up from sleep with internal keyboard
  • Enables poor quality touchpad by default

Wi-Fi/Bluetooth

Based on Broadcom Wi-Fi Bluetooth Guide, and see threads one and two.

One possible replacement card is the Dell DW1830, based on the Broadcom BCM943602BAED. I’ve used this card here (purchased on EBay), although it’s currently a bit expensive at around $50. Dell no longer offers this card directly.

This card has three antennas, while the XPS 9570 has only two antennas in the display. To get full Wi-Fi speed, a third antenna with a U.FL connector must be added. This antenna can be placed in a small gap next to the battery. It’s OK to leave J2 unconnected, however - modern network cards should recognize this and disable the 3rd port. Without the 3rd antenna, I’m able to get speeds up to about 800Mbps.

Connectors J0, J1, J2 should be connected as follows (see installation example):

  • J0: white antenna cable to display (primary)
  • J1: black antenna cable to display (Bluetooth/secondary)
  • J2: extra retrofitted antenna next to battery

The DW1830 Wi-Fi card is based on the Broadcom BCM943602BAED, using BCM43602 for Wi-Fi and BCM20703 for Bluetooth. While Wi-Fi works by default, it shows up as a “Third-Party Wireless Card” in System Information unless AirportBrcmFixup is installed, and Bluetooth requires kexts from OS-X-BrcmPatchRAM.

Installation

  • Include AirportBrcmFixup AirportBrcmFixup.kext for Wi-Fi
  • Include OS-X-BrcmPatchRAM BrcmPatchRAM2.kext and BrcmFirmwareRepo.kext for Bluetooth (for installation to /Library/Extensions)
  • After swapping out Wi-Fi card, reset Bluetooth info (e.g. to fix AirDrop)
    • Turn off Bluetooth
    • sudo rm -f /Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist*
    • Reboot and turn on Bluetooth
  • Ensure that Wi-Fi adapter’s BSD name is en0
    • SysPrefs -> Click on Network dropdown -> BSD Device Name for Wi-Fi not en0? Continue below, otherwise skip.
    • sudo rm -f /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/NetworkInterfaces.plist
    • sudo rm -f /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plist
    • Reboot

Testing Wi-Fi speed

By default, AirportBrcmFixup seems to limit Wi-Fi channel width for 802.11ac to 40MHz instead of 80MHz, even though the country code defaults to US. The workaround is to disable the country code setting with the boot flag brcmfx-country=#a (config.plist).

If you have an 802.11ac capable access point, place the XPS 9570 next to it and option-click on the Wi-Fi icon. After a few minutes, you should see a line like Channel: 165 (5 GHz, 80 MHz) with Tx Rate below it of 800 Mbps or higher. A congested Wi-Fi environment in an apartment building could reduce this rate.

Messages and FaceTime setup

The above installation steps prepare the way for Messages and FaceTime to work as well, but there are more in-depth guides to Messages here and here if needed.

If there are issues with continuity (switching calls between macOS and iPhone for example), BT4LEContiunityFixup.kext may help fix those, but seems to not be needed for the DW1830.

Remove stale Messages and FaceTime data:

rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Messages
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.imfoundation.IMRemoteURLConnectionAgent
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.iCloudHelper
rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iChat*
rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.icloud*
rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.ids.service*
rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.imagent.plist
rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.imessage*
rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.imservice*

Known problems/caveats

  • Unlock with Apple Watch only works once after actviation, or only sporadically

Battery status

Install SMCBatteryManager.kext that comes with VirtualSMC to get battery status. Ensure that you have removed ACPIBatteryManager if you’ve installed it previously.

Audio

Audio on the XPS 9570 is based on the Realtek ALC298 audio codec, referred to by Dell as “ALC3266-CG with Waves MaxxAudio Pro”. The ALC298 is not supported on macOS by default, so we use AppleALC to enable it. Audio pipelines on laptops appear to have unique amplifier and gain setups, so we need to pass a layout-id to AppleALC compatible with the XPS 9570. The only ID that works well is layout-id=30.

HDMI audio output probably requires SSDT-HDEF and FakePCIID_Intel_HDMI_Audio.kext, but is not implemented yet since it depends on a graphics fix.

Installation

  • config.plist
    • ACPI/DSDT/Patches/Item n
      • Comment: Change HDAS to HDEF for audio device
      • Key=Find, Type=Data, Value=<48444153>
      • Key=Replace, Type=Data, Value=<48444546>
    • Devices/Properties/PciRoot(0)/Pci(0x1f,3)
      • Comment: AppleALC layout-id for ALC298 on XPS 9570
      • layout=id=30
  • Install AppleALC kext

Known problems/caveats

  • A bad layout-id causes constant CPU activity in a kernel_task process (30 should be ok)
  • Lack of an audio output device causes video playback problems, i.e. stalling when seeking
  • HDMI audio out not implemented since HDMI out causes kernel panic (dependent on graphics fix)

USB

The XPS 9570 DSDT table has a few incorrect USB properties, for example the right side type A port is marked as being internal, so an attached disk can’t be easily ejected. The correct properties are injected via USBInjectAll and in SSDT-UIAC.dsl.

Based on USB guide and companion guide.

Hardware config of the XPS 9570:

PortTypeUser Visible*Description
HS01/SS01Type AYesRight side
HS02/SS02Type AYesLeft side
HS04ProprietaryNoBluetooth
HS05Type CYesLeft side
HS07ProprietaryNoGoodix fingerprint reader
HS09ProprietaryNoNo longer used; touchscreen on prior model
HS12ProprietaryNoWebcam

(*) “Set if the device connection point can be seen by the user without disassembly” according to ACPI 6.2 A, 6.1.8, _PLD (Physical Location of Device)

Implementing USB port fixes and removing unused ports

Known issue: left side type C port only works in HS mode, not SS

Will likely work when USB type C and/or Thunderbolt fixes are added.

To-Do: Add USB power property injection

Thunderbolt 3

Thunderbolt 3 can be made to work if “BIOS assist enumeration” is enabled for Thunderbolt in the BIOS. Install the latest Thunderbolt firmware update from Dell, then boot into Windows with TB peripheral attached. Set device to “always allow”. TB device will work in macOS when attached prior to boot, but will lose functionality when hotplugged.

Touch ID / Goodix fingerprint sensor

It’s not possible to use fingerprint sensor for Touch ID according to RehabMan. Perhaps the integrated Goodix fingerprint sensor can be used, and enabled with PAM (TBD).

Since we’re using the MacBookPro15,1 SMBIOS, macOS is expecting Touch ID to be available, causing lag on password prompts. This can be disabled for now with the NoTouchID kext.

Touchpad

The touchpad is supported via VoodooPS2Controller. Although touchpad functionality is a bit lacking with this driver, it is reliable.

An alternative would be VoodooI2C, but this driver is currently not stable and appears to cause memory access violations. I do not recommend it for now (May 2019). If you notice KPs or disk write errors after running VoodooI2C, revert to VoodooPS2Controller.

Power management

Note: There is some information in power management guides that only applies pre-Coffee Lake. See section below to avoid unnecessary changes.

Based on the laptop power management guide by RehabMan, as well as macOS native power management by toleda.

Set up power managemnt

  • Disable hibernation (suspend to disk or S4 sleep) macOS combines sleep and hibernation into one feature, where closing the lid initially sleeps the laptop, and eventually hibernates it. In any event, hibernation is not supported on hackintosh, and should be disabled/checked after updates. 
    sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0
sudo rm -f /var/vm/sleepimage
sudo mkdir /var/vm/sleepimage # try to prevent update from re-enabling
sudo pmset -a standby 0
sudo pmset -a autopoweroff 0
  • config.plist/ACPI/SSDT/Generate/PluginType=YES
  • Verify that X86PlatformPlugin is loaded (see testing section)
  • config.plist/KernelAndKextPatches/KernelPm=YES
  • Enable xcpm_idle patch to prevent reboot with HWP (hardare P-state coordination)
    • config.plist/KernelAndKextPatches/KernelToPatch/Item n
      • Key=Find, Type=Data, Value=<20b9e200 00000f30>
      • Key=Replace, Type=Data, Value=<20b9e200 00009090>

Items that are no longer relevant to Coffee Lake (DO NOT USE)

  • config.plist/KernelAndKextPatches/AppleIntelCPUPM=YES
  • ssdtPRgen.sh
  • HWPEnabler

Testing power management (WIP)

  • Use Intel Power Gadget to graph CPU power/frequency/temp over time
  • Verify X86PlatformPlugin is loading under PR00 in IORegistryExplorer
    • Root -> MacBookPro15,1 -> AppleACPIPlatformExpert -> PR00@0 -> AppleACPICPU -> X86PlatformPlugin
  • Testing Power Management Load AppleIntelInfo.kext (but don’t install it): 
    sudo chown -R root:wheel AppleIntelInfo.kext
sudo kextload AppleIntelInfo.kext

    Then use the system for a few minutes, perform some work, let it idle, etc. Finally, copy results file to where you want to save it:

    sudo kextunload AppleIntelInfo.kext
sudo cp /tmp/AppleIntelInfo.dat ~/AppleIntelInfo.txt
sudo chmod g+rw ~/AppleIntelInfo.txt

VirtualSMC/FakeSMC

Either VirtualSMC or FakeSMC is required to boot macOS, since PCs don’t have Apple SMC hardware. VirtualSMC is newer and actively maintained.

Installation

Windows compatibility

Real-time clock

macOS sets BIOS clock to UTC, but Windows sets clock to local time. The solution is to set Windows to use UTC as well, with regedit:

  • regedit -> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation
  • create new DWORD (32-bit) RealTimeIsUniversal with value ‘1’

Sharing Bluetooth devices

You may have noticed you need to re-pair a Bluetooth devices when booting between macOS <-> Windows, because the 128 bit device link key changes. This can be fixed by exporting macOS’s BT keys, and importing them in Windows. See BT-LinkkeySync for instructions, and BT-LinkkeySync.py in this repo (updated for Mojave).

Known problems/caveats

  • Drive encryption is disabled (haven’t tried)
  • Thunderbolt 3 requires Windows configuration (one time), no hotplug support
  • USB3 on type-C port not working? Maybe requires cold booting?
  • Suspend and resume not implemented properly - power button should wake however
  • Internal keyboard behaves strangely when Keyboard SysPrefs are changed - must use SSDT to configure VoodooPS2Controller
  • VoodooPS2Controller provides poor touchpad support (should be implemented with VoodooI2C probably, TODO)
  • Wi-Fi and Bluetooth require card swap, since there are no macOS drivers for OEM Killer Qualcomm card
  • Fingerprint reader does not work (see Touch ID / fingerprint reader section)
  • SD card reader not present
  • HDMI 2.0 output has some quirks (see section), but HDMI 1.4 seems to work

ACPI DSDT/SSDT patching

Most of the ACPI patching info is based on the laptop DSDT/SSDT guide and hotpatching guide.

The ACPIBatteryManager (no longer used) guide includes good step-by-step tutorial on how to make DSDT edits with MaciASL.

Many ACPI patches depend on starting out with a working set of ACPI tables (accomplished via patching if needed), so it’s useful to test if this is the case and fix any errors before attempting further changes.

To do this, we can look through the macOS boot logs for ACPI errors, dump the unmodified ACPI tables, and dump the ACPI tables as modified by Clover. Making changes as needed, rebooting, and re-inspecting system logs, we can iterate until there are no more ACPI problems as seen by macOS.

Note: this process wasn’t clear to me from reading the patching guides initially, but it may not be the best way to do it - caveat emptor.

  1. Inspect system logs for errors Immediately after bootup, dump system log for the last 10 minutes (adjust as needed): 
    log show --predicate 'process == "kernel"' --style syslog --source --debug --last 10m > sys_log.txt

    Then search sys_log.txt for “ACPI Error” or “ACPI Exception”.

  2. Dump unmodified ACPI tables Press F4 on Clover boot screen (no output will show), then mount EFI partition and look for ACPI tables in CLOVER/ACPI/origin.
  3. Check unmodified tables for errors with iasl Disassembling all tables from a single namespace with the -da option should yield no errors: iasl -da -dl DSDT.aml SSDT-*.aml Although, some duplicate definitions with the error AE_ALREADY_EXISTS may not be a problem (TBD). If an error occurs, check the file DSDT.dsl for possible error output.
  4. Check modified tables as injected by Clover with patchmatic and iasl 
    patchmatic -extract
iasl -da -dl DSDT.aml SSDT-*.aml

    Again, this should yield no errors. If a duplicate definition is found with AE_ALREADY_EXISTS, try disassembling the tables without the -da option: iasl -dl DSDT.aml SSDT-*.aml If this still fails, there is likely a problem that needs to be fixed via Clover patching first.

Installation and system updates

Installation from scratch

Preparing the XPS 9570

This setup dual-boots Windows 10, which is nice to have for games, since we can actually use the NVIDIA GTX 1050, unlike in macOS.

Begin with the default Windows 10 installation (or install Windows 10 if using a new drive).

  • Update BIOS and other firmware using Dell SupportAssist in Windows
  • Toshiba SSD only
    • Update Toshiba SSD firmware (search for “toshiba”) Needed to fix 4k sector bug. Dell SupportAssist does not do this automatically!
    • Set SSD to use 4k sectors - this will WIPE the drive!
  • Enable Intel SpeedShift in BIOS
  • TODO: add more steps from original notes.org

Creating USB installation media (see guide for more details)

  • Download macOS install from App Store
  • Format USB drive and write installer to drive (assuming drive is /dev/disk100) 
    diskutil partitionDisk /dev/disk100 1 GPT HFS+J "install_osx" R
sudo "/Applications/Install macOS Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia" --volume  /Volumes/install_osx --nointeraction
diskutil rename "Install macOS Mojave" install_osx
  • Install Clover on USB drive
    • Using Dids clover build: binaries
    • Run installer
      • ‘Change Install Location’ -> Select install_osx volume
      • ‘Customize’, then ensure the following are checked:
        • [X] Clover for UEFI booting only
        • [X] FSInject-64
        • [X] SMCHelper-64 (do not install - replaced by VirtualSmc.efi)
        • [X] ApfsDriverLoader-64
        • [X] DataHubDxe-64
        • [X] HFSPlus
    • Mount USB drive’s EFI partition
      • sudo diskutil unmount /Volumes/ESP
      • sudo diskutil mount /dev/disk100s1 -> should be mounted to /Volumes/EFI
    • Add config.plist for XPS 9570
    • Add kexts to EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other
    • Add DSDT patches to EFI/CLOVER/ACPI/patched

System updates

Several changes or fixes can stop working after an update, but often only a few steps are required to fix or re-enable them. Try these steps before debugging issues after updates:

  • Update the kext cache (boot with minimal config if necessary)
  • Check/re-run power management hibernation changes

Miscellaneous Notes

Installing kexts

Kexts should be installed in /Library/Extensions.

Installation:

sudo cp -r <mydriver.kext> /Library/Extensions
sudo chown -R root:wheel /Library/Extensions/<mydriver.kext>
sudo kextcache -i / # update kext cache

Be sure to check output for errors!

Every custom kext should be listed with the line Kext with invalid signatured (-67062) allowed

Kext patching

Kexts can be patched on boot by Clover (see KernelAndKextPatches/KextsToPatch section in config.plist), but Clover has some limitations, e.g. it can only patch kexts that are in the kext cache. More complex cases can be handled by Lilu, used for “arbitrary kext and process patching”, which is itself installed as a kext. Excellent guide to using Lilu and commonly used plugins.

See also guide to installing 3rd party kexts.

Hackintool

https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/release-hackintool-v2-3-8.254559/ A full-featured utility to fix various issues, including graphics, USB, audio, etc. Requires a fair bit of reading, but is useful to verify an installed config or hardware.

ACPI debugging

The OS-X-ACPI-Debug repo allows for “debug tracing from ACPI code (DSDT) to system.log”. Not currently installed and not tested, but should be useful if ACPI problems come up.

Links to tonymacx86.com guides, etc

Laptop Frequent Questions

Long, thorough guide. Good to refer back to for specific issues.

https://github.com/darkhandz/XPS15-9550-High-Sierra

KNNSpeed’s Dell XPS 15 9560 guide is a useful reference for a similar system

bozma88’s Dell XPS 15 9360 guide

https://github.com/the-darkvoid/XPS9360-macOS

https://github.com/darkhandz/XPS15-9550-Sierra

https://github.com/syscl/XPS9350-macOS

Change history

2019-05-23: Clean up ACPI renaming/patches with WhateverGreen

WhateverGreen now handles ACPI renames and backlight fixes, so unecessary ACPI patches and AppleBacklightFixup are removed.

2019-05-21: Use VirtualSMC instead of FakeSMC

Currently provides no new features, but VirtualSMC is more actively maintained than FakeSMC. Do open an issue if you run into problems with VirtualSMC however.

2019-05-19: Update clover and use single EFI folder

2019-05-17: Upgrade to 10.14.5

Noticed a few kextd stalls with the message:

busy timeout[0], (240s) kextd wait(0): 'AppleACPICPU'

Update completes after waiting a while.

2019-05-13: Add support for dual DisplayPort via type C

The type C connector supports up to two 4k@60Hz DisplayPort outputs with an adapter. The HDMI output can be used simultaneously, for up to three displays (including the LCD). A Thunderbolt 3 adapter is recommended to get 60Hz and other benefits.

2019-04-29: Add initial HDMI support

@0xFireWolf created patches to enable Type C and HDMI connected output. This will likely require more changes to support HDMI 2.0 fully.

2019-04-01: Use WhateverGreen for DPCD link rate patching

@0xFireWolf has added DPCD link rate patching to WhateverGreen, which is available with commit ab43814f45, or with the next release (1.2.8 probably). A WhateverGreen kext with these changes is also included with this repo.

2019-03-26: Upgrade to 10.14.4

This update takes quite some time on initial install, so it may be necessary to wait more than 20 minutes before seeing a progress bar.

AppleIntelCFLGraphicsFramebuffer changed again, and this time the DPCD link rate patch needs to be updated. See changes in the Intel UHD 630 “enabling acceleration section”.

About

macOS Mojave on Dell XPS 9570.

Resources

Readme
Activity

Stars

1 star

Watchers

0 watching

Forks

0 forks
Report repository

Releases

No releases published

Packages

 
 
 

Languages

  • Rich Text Format 73.7%
  • Python 22.8%
  • Shell 3.5%