New DRM enabling method for systems with AMD GPU

[jaymonkey]

When saying No DRM issues, do you mean NO DRM ISSUES at all ? AppleTV - Netflix / Prime Video on Safari - BitMovin tests run great?

@WizMeister,

It has been know for a long time that if you have a supported AMD GPU, using the iMacPro1,1 SMBIOS with the IGPU disabled will result in ALL DRM features working. There is no need for any Shikigva boot arguments or any additional patches.

For more information please see the iMacPro DRM workaround section of this guide :-

An iDiot's Guide To Lilu and its Plug-ins

An iDiot's Guide To Lilu and its Plug-in's Last Update: 22nd Jan 2021 (Add note about OpenCore config.plist modifications) About this Guide Note: This guide was written when Clover was the boot loader of choice as such the config.plist examples in this guide are mostley Clover specific ... if...

www.tonymacx86.com

Cheers
Jay

 

[WizMeister]

@WizMeister,

It has been know for a long time that if you have a supported AMD GPU, using the iMacPro1,1 SMBIOS with the IGPU disabled will result in ALL DRM features working. There is no need for any Shikigva boot arguments or any additional patches.

For more information please see the iMacPro DRM workaround section of this guide :-

An iDiot's Guide To Lilu and its Plug-ins

An iDiot's Guide To Lilu and its Plug-in's Last Update: 22nd Jan 2021 (Add note about OpenCore config.plist modifications) About this Guide Note: This guide was written when Clover was the boot loader of choice as such the config.plist examples in this guide are mostley Clover specific ... if...

www.tonymacx86.com

Cheers
Jay

I 've read the guide you're posting and done many many exercises iMacPro1,1 with iGPU disabled did not give me Netflix or Prime Video on Safari with Polaris (RX 580) but with Vega 56. Also, on Vega 56 there ARE DRM issues as BitMovin DRM stream test or EzDRM stream test DO NOT work even on iMacPro1,1

 

[jaymonkey]

I 've read the guide you're posting and done many many exercises iMacPro1,1 with iGPU disabled did not give me Netflix or Prime Video on Safari with Polaris (RX 580) but with Vega 56. Also, on Vega 56 there ARE DRM issues as BitMovin DRM stream test or EzDRM stream test DO NOT work even on iMacPro1,1

@WizMeister,

Thats very strange, I think you are the first user (that I know of) to report that the iMacPro1,1 SMBIOS DRM solution does not work for them which would suggest a possible configuration issue.

Does iMessage work ?, if not then DRM will also not work as the system will have invalid security tokens ..

Possible solutions :

Make sure that S/N is valid ant unregistered with Apple.
Try injecting custom SmUUID & ROM

There really should be no reason at all why using the iMacPro1,1 SMBIOS with your hardware would not result in full DRM working especially with a Vega 56.

Cheers
Jay

 

[WizMeister]

@WizMeister,

Thats very strange, I think you are the first user (that I know of) to report that the iMacPro1,1 SMBIOS DRM solution does not work for them which would suggest a possible configuration issue.

Does iMessage work ?, if not then DRM will also not work as the system will have invalid security tokens ..

Possible solutions :

Make sure that S/N is valid ant unregistered with Apple.
Try injecting custom SmUUID & ROM

There really should be no reason at all why using the iMacPro1,1 SMBIOS with your hardware would not result in full DRM working especially with a Vega 56.

Cheers
Jay

Thank you very much for your support. As I stated on my earlier post DRM "kind-of" works with iMacPro1,1 SMBIOS with Vega 56 (not with Polaris RX580). I get AppleTV(+), NetFlix and Amazon Prime Video on Safari BUT if I visit the BitMovin DRM Stream test or EzDRM stream test with Safari it won't play. I do not know whether this is a normal behaviour as with my MBP Late 2013 the BitMovin and EzDRM stream tests do work. I have not logged in iCloud (to get iMessage working) because I was just testing the iMacPro1,1 SMBIOS and didn't want to mess around with iCloud. Do you think that might be the reason?

Also something I'm a little worried about is Power Management on the iMacPro1,1 SMBIOS as it is normally packed with a XEON Processor and I have a Coffee Lake i9-9900K.

 

[jaymonkey]

I get AppleTV(+), NetFlix and Amazon Prime Video on Safari BUT if I visit the BitMovin DRM Stream test or EzDRM stream test with Safari it won't play. I do not know whether this is a normal behaviour as with my MBP Late 2013 the BitMovin and EzDRM stream tests do work.

@WizMeister,

If AppleTV(+), NetFlix and Amazon Prime Video on Safari and Apple Music are all working then you should be ok, I can't comment on the issue with BitMovin DRM Stream test or EzDRM stream test with Safari as i have not tried that myself, but that does seem odd if everything else is working ok.

I have not logged in iCloud (to get iMessage working) because I was just testing the iMacPro1,1 SMBIOS and didn't want to mess around with iCloud. Do you think that might be the reason?

It's possible but if AppleTV(+), NetFlix and Amazon Prime Video on Safari and Apple Music are all working then I would say that it is unlikely.

Also something I'm a little worried about is Power Management on the iMacPro1,1 SMBIOS as it is normally packed with a XEON Processor and I have a Coffee Lake i9-9900K.

Generally as long as you have the X86PlatformPlugin showing up in your ioreg and your cpu is using HWP for power management (check using AppleIntelInfo) then you should be ok.

You can use the Lilu Plugin CPUFriend to ensure that the correct Frequency Vectors are used for your i9 9900K CPU :-

GitHub - acidanthera/CPUFriend: Dynamic macOS CPU power management data injection

Dynamic macOS CPU power management data injection. Contribute to acidanthera/CPUFriend development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Cheers
Jay

 

[tecnicasopr]

When saying No DRM issues, do you mean NO DRM ISSUES at all ?
AppleTV - Netflix / Prime Video on Safari - BitMovin tests run great?

AppleTV - Netflix/Prime Video on Safari works but BitMovin test is not working.

 

[LisaAlterEgo]

AppleTV - Netflix/Prime Video on Safari works but BitMovin test is not working.

Jay,

For my HP8300 with an RX 560 and SMIOS set to iMacPro1,1 and IGPU disabled, I still have to set
shikigva=144 for full DRM functionality on AppleTV.

For my HP8300 with a Kepler GT730 and SMIOS set to iMac13,2 and IGPU disabled, I have to set
shikigva=256 for full DRM functionality on AppleTV.

Is there a clear explanation for how to set up CPUfriend? I've tried to set up up with CPUFriend +
CpuFriendDataProvider, or as a modiified ssdtPRGen ssdt with frequency vectors inserted, but I'm not
sure what my XCPM setting(s) should be, and I don't see HWP on an Ivy i5-3470. I wish there
was a better explanation available for setting this up.

Thanks,
Lisa

 

[tasc]

For my HP8300 with an RX 560 and SMIOS set to iMacPro1,1 and IGPU disabled, I still have to set
shikigva=144 for full DRM functionality on AppleTV.

Curious what functionality you are missing on AppleTV when running iMacPro1,1 without the shikigva value? I run iMacPro1,1 without any shikigva value and AppleTV app seems to work fine, using RX560 as well.

 

[jaymonkey]

For my HP8300 with an RX 560 and SMIOS set to iMacPro1,1 and IGPU disabled, I still have to set shikigva=144 for full DRM functionality on AppleTV.

@LisaAlterEgo,

shikigva=144 does not make much sense, as it's mixing the new iMac/Mac-Mini AMD DRM fixes (shikigva=16) with the old iMacPro/MacPro board spoofing DRM fixes (shikigva=128) both of which should not be needed if your using the iMacPro1,1 SMBIOS with a AMD GPU.

This table gives a good outline of what each values does and which SMBIOS type it effects :-

WhateverGreen/Manual/FAQ.Chart.md at master · acidanthera/WhateverGreen

Various patches necessary for certain ATI/AMD/Intel/Nvidia GPUs - acidanthera/WhateverGreen

github.com

Is there a clear explanation for how to set up CPUfriend? I've tried to set up up with CPUFriend + CpuFriendDataProvider, or as a modiified ssdtPRGen ssdt with frequency vectors inserted, but I'm not sure what my XCPM setting(s) should be, and I don't see HWP on an Ivy i5-3470. I wish there was a better explanation available for setting this up.

I agree with you that the documentation for CPUfriend is not very clear or plentiful, i haven't had to use it myself so can't really help you. Maybe try posting your questions on it here :-

CPUFriend

Anyone use CPUFriend Lilu plugin with to without Piker Alpha's ssdtgen script? What exactly does it do?

www.insanelymac.com

I've been meaning to have a good look at it though at some point in the future and add it to the Lilu + Plug-in's guide.

Cheers
Jay

 

[McShmoopy]

Hey guys, I've been investigating this thread also and was wondering if you can provide support. Im running a Z370 HD3P 8700k with a Gigabyte Gaming 8G RX580, I'm using SMBIOS iMac Pro 1,1 with the RX580 as the primary display and the iGPU off. Apple TV works as does DRM'd iTunes videos however Safari crashes when using Netflix or Amazon Prime. I've been told that this should work natively however with and without shiki / WEG it still seems to crash.

The only current solution I have on Catalina is to have DRM content already running in the background (Such as an old iTunes movies I play on the Apple TV app) and this allows Netflix to work as normal. As soon as Apple TV content is shut netflix and safari will freeze forcing a reboot.

I think from investigating the WEG documentation that Polaris cards are broken in Catalina for DRM. If someone can advise accordingly it'd be greatly appreciated.