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100% Success with the Acer Aspire E5-575G-53VG and Sierra 10.12.5

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Jun 9, 2013
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Motherboard
MSI B450I GAMING PLUS AC
CPU
Ryzen 3900X
Graphics
RX 5700XT
Mac
  1. Mac mini
Mobile Phone
  1. Android
  2. iOS
Acer Aspire E5-575G-53VG What is Working?
Acer-Aspire-E5-575G-53VG-specifications.jpg
  • Intel Core i5-6200U... obviously working!
  • 8GB DDR4 Memory... obviously working!
  • 1536MB of Intel HD 520 Graphics... working!
  • Ethernet Realtek 10EC 8168... working!
  • Touchpad... working!
  • Keyboard... working!
  • VGA Output... works!
  • 2ND Drive Recognized and... works! (I have Windows 10 over on that 2.5" Sata, for utilizing the GTX 940mx).
  • Backlit Keyboard (seems like this is hardware driven, so works great!)
  • Most FN keys (Disable Touchpad is working, kill all lights button, heck even the play pause forward back stop buttons work).
  • Audio...works! [Updated 5.26.17, VoodooHDA2.8.8]
  • Sleep... works! [Updated 5.26.17, Follow Laptop Guide correctly, and this works naturally]
  • Battery Indication... works! [Updated 5.26.17, Install ACPIBatteryManager.kext from here, per Rehabman]
  • Bluetooth... works! [Updated 5.26.17], Natively Functioning - just neglected to test until almost last step.
  • Brightness Control... works! [Updated 5.27.17] - (Thanks Rehabman for pointing out my drunken idiocy on page 2)
  • Webcam... works! [Updated 5.27.17] Tested in Facetime
  • DVD Drive... works! [Updated 5.27.17]
  • Complete Disabling of Nvidia GTX 940MX... working! [Updated 5.29.17] Thanks Rehabman for putting up with my stupid questions. This increased battery life from <2 hours to ~8.5 hours. Unreal!
  • BCM94352Z is now installed (having replaced the Stock Wifi card; Qualcomm Atheros QCNFA435 with 168C,0042 Vendor and Device IDs), and info.plists modified to enable it... working! [Updated 6.3.17] - Thanks for the micro-guidance in golden build guide by krandv for wireless and bluetooth!
In Progress:
  • USB 3.1 C hubs (I've only tested a display adapter (which didn'tn work) -- besides that, I don't have anything C... anyone want to gift me something? lol).
  • Webcam Mic (I get video, but that webcam Mic may never see the light of day)
Not Working and Never Will:
  • Nvidia GeForce 940mx 2GB (No surprise here).
  • SD Card Reader, Realtek 10EC,5287 -- RTL8411B - However... glimmer of hope.
  • HDMI Output (utilizes the disabled GeForce 940mx exclusively, so, you can either have HDMI + terrible battery life, or ditch HDMI + quadruple your battery life. I've chosen to disable the GeFroce 940mx myself).
  • USB 3.1 Type C to DVI adapter by Plugable, no output.


This laptop is actually decently friendly for beginners so far (I'm fairly familiar with desktop hackintoshing, but this is my first laptop that actually "made it" to the finish line).

So, let's talk about some specs this laptop has for Google Fu purposes:
- Acer Aspire E5-575G-53VG
- Intel Core i5-6200U 2.3Ghz~2.8Ghz
- Nvidia GeForce 940mx 2GB (not used, but hey, dual booting is VERY easy on this laptop too!)
- 8GB DDR4 Memory
- 256GB M.2 Sata LiteOn Drive (came with the machine).
- Ethernet Realtek 10EC 8168
- M.2 Wireless Atheros QCNFA435
- Touchpad, Keyboard
- LCD (non-touch), 1080p, Intel HD 520
- USB 3.1 C
- VGA, HDMI Outputs (USB 3.1 C as well!)
- 2nd Drive, 2.5 Sata
- Backlit Keyboard
- Fn Functions

DPCI Manager Image (prior to replacing WiFi card):

Screen Shot 2017-05-29 at 2.54.55 PM.png


All in all... holy crap! This has been smoother than some desktop builds I've done in the past. Very pleased!

Summarized Instructions:
  1. Follow Rehabman's Laptop Guide First. This gets you 88% of the way to the finish line. Near the end of that guide, Rehabman states the following checklist to start hammering out:
    After installing the bootloader, you should take an inventory of things working and not working. Typically, at this point you will have:

    - working bootloader via Clover (system should boot relatively quickly from the HDD)
    - graphics QE/CI working via Clover's config.plist settings
    - PS2 keyboard/trackpad (although perhaps not optimal if you don't have a Synaptics trackpad)
    - audio not working
    - ethernet not working
    - WiFi not working
    - brightness controls not working
    - certain function keys may not work
    - battery status not working
    - etc
  2. Install VooDooHDA2.8.8 for audio to work. FN keys naturally work after this is installed as well.
  3. Install the Realtek 8111 kext for Ethernet to function. I used version 2.2.1
  4. Battery Indicator: Install the ACPIBatteryManager.kext from here, per Rehabmans recommendation
  5. Brightness Controls: Follow Rehabman's Laptop Backlight Injection Guide Here
  6. Completely disable discrete graphics card for 4x+ battery life and almost no heat output: [Disabling discrete graphics guide]
  7. Wifi: Replace with BCM94352Z, and follow Krandy's wifi-instructions found on Krandy's guide here: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/guide-acer-travelmate-x349-m-535l.214810/

Thanks for reading! After I have WiFi working, I'll create a longer tutorial that follows guide standards. :) Now that Wifi is fully functional, I am building this into a formal guide. For now, use the "summarized instructions" to follow the gems of information I did to create the hackintosh.
 
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Worthy of note, NV_DISABLE=1 flag simply isn't enough to try and "stop" the nvidia drivers from being invoked, and freezing due to switchable graphics.

NV_DISABLE=1 is the wrong spelling.
Flag is actually nv_disable=1

Thanks for reading! After I have WiFi working, i'll create a longer tutorial that follows guide standards. :)

For a better setup, you should really start with the laptop guide...
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/guide-booting-the-os-x-installer-on-laptops-with-clover.148093/
 
NV_DISABLE=1 is the wrong spelling.
Flag is actually nv_disable=1

Corrected my guide to definitely follow your laptop guide instead for almost all instructions. That sucker is quite comprehensive, holy moly.

I've also mentioned and pointed out what I am working on getting implemented. I'm a complete idiot with DSDT's and SSDT's, so I'm working on battery indication before backlight on LCD (Edit: Done). That Qualcomm Atheros with 168C,0042 Vendor/Device is proving to be difficult to find support for online. I'll dig that one out last.

[I've F4 dumped, and created .dsl files for all the SSDT's, as well as the DSDT file. That's as far as I got with that before my brain started melting]
 
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Corrected my guide to definitely follow your laptop guide instead for almost all instructions. That sucker is quite comprehensive, holy moly.

I've also mentioned and pointed out what I am working on getting implemented. I'm a complete idiot with DSDT's and SSDT's, so I'm working on battery indication before backlight on LCD. That Qualcomm Atheros with 168C,0042 Vendor/Device is proving to be difficult to find support for online. I'll dig that one out last.

[I've F4 dumped, and created .dsl files for all the SSDT's, as well as the DSDT file. That's as far as I got with that before my brain started melting]

Your profile indicates you have an EliteBook 8470p.
It has a guide already...
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...book-using-clover-uefi-hotpatch-10-11.189416/
 
Your profile indicates you have an EliteBook 8470p.
It has a guide already...
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...book-using-clover-uefi-hotpatch-10-11.189416/

I don't know what you're talking about. ;D. (That was a previous build, which still is working great! But this one offers much better performance and is much lighter - thanks for the point-out, I've updated the profile).

Battery indicator is up and running! That just leaves Brightness and Wifi! (Although... I have a sneaky suspicion that I'm going to need to follow your guide to disable the Nvidia GeForce 940mx; Battery is falling at a faster pace than I expected, especially where the laptop advertises "12 hours", and tests show 9.5 hours of real-world usage).

Thanks for checking this build out! As I stated before, this has been my most successful laptop build so far - a magical .kext for nearly all circumstances. Just brightness and WiFi (see vendor id's above)...
 
I don't know what you're talking about. ;D. (That was a previous build, which still is working great! But this one offers much better performance and is much lighter - thanks for the point-out, I've updated the profile).

Thanks for updating your profile (always super important!).

Battery indicator is up and running!

Existing patch? Which one? I'll add a comment to the file....

Just brightness and WiFi (see vendor id's above)...

Your Atheros WiFi not supported. Replace with supported hardware as per FAQ.
 
So... no ACPI patch for battery required. Correct?
It is rare, but it happens.

That is correct. I like to be on this side of chance finally. *happily prances away to go find an impossible to find m.2 pcie half wifi card*. This is getting very close to a perfect laptop build!
 
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