HP ZBOOK G5 17

[theroadw]

Sorry for the late reply: turns out it was mojave, booting Catalina worked fine.

Now into finetuning, the first issue is that i cannot unlock the TDP of the CPU, i am limited to 28w short 15w long as by HP defaults. In windows, i have XTU set up at boot with a script to increase it to 45 long - 55 short and it wokrs perfectly, sadly voltageshift cannot do the same on macOs . Stock cinebench R15 on macOs is 445, with a -170 undervolt i get 750, on windows with undervolt i get 800 at stock and 1100 when i unlock the TDP

Regarding the trackpad, i'm using 3 fingers drag

Hi, yeah I reinstalled my Mojave system, and I had to use my clover boot to run the installer, once installed and updated, Opencore works as long as secure boot is disabled, and I remember copying the secure boot files to the EFI worked before to be able to enable secure boot, so I guess it's a Mojave quirk.

YES!! the undervolting/MSR unlock thing!!! I spent some time trying but then I read on a HP forum that they disabled MSR unlock on the last couple of BIOS updates, so if you want to undervolt, you have to roll back to some previous BIOS version that can be unlocked. but... that makes it vulnerable to something something attack... So trade speed for security?

The problem with these laptops is they can handle and they are great at dissipating heat, but the fan profile for MAC is too slow and they go into thermal throttling in some cases.
It's very obvious with cinebench because the same process goes into TT and then once the CPU is cool enough, it doesn't speed back up.
In the case of other software, I find that it is not as much of a problem, as the process that went into TT finishes, and then a new one starts, and by then it's cool again, etc... so the slowdown is not as dramatic.
But I agree, we should be able to undervolt!

On other news, I had to put the WX-4170 back and I ran some other tests.

I managed to fix the GOP ROM and tweaked it a bit, so it is running very smooth, but Catalina AMD drivers just refuse to load. High Sierra and Mojave run smooth, and everything is working.
My Headless HDMI Plug hack didn't work as good as I expected, If I cloned displays but made the AMD primary, Cinebench worked, but Unigine still used IGPU, and If I switched to dual displays then both worked, but I had to VNC in, grab the window from the ghost monitor and drag it to the internal display, and then it worked... So much for an easy solution.

Last, I tested with 2x 4k monitor, and it had no problem running 2x 4k screens and the internal at 1080. So the Hybrid combo works nicely, not 100% perfect, but very usable.
Turns out my USBC to HDMI converter was the problem, I guess it's passive and it's hit or miss if it'll work. but Thunderbolt to thunderbolt display perfect!
Also I believe the Discrete Bios option glitches on the internal screen because of HDCP handshake. When the computer starts or the driver first talks to the screen, it works, but if the screen goes to sleep or switches inputs for a second, the handshake is lost and that's why I get digital snow, and why brightness works and I can VNC in and everything appears to be working underneath. and why when the laptop wakes from sleep, it re loads the handshake and it works again. So again it's a driver issue, since the Windows/Linux drivers have no problem, so I doubt it's my ROM or the AMD card or the internal screen.

 

[WhenMusicAttacks]

Hi, yeah I reinstalled my Mojave system, and I had to use my clover boot to run the installer, once installed and updated, Opencore works as long as secure boot is disabled, and I remember copying the secure boot files to the EFI worked before to be able to enable secure boot, so I guess it's a Mojave quirk.

YES!! the undervolting/MSR unlock thing!!! I spent some time trying but then I read on a HP forum that they disabled MSR unlock on the last couple of BIOS updates, so if you want to undervolt, you have to roll back to some previous BIOS version that can be unlocked. but... that makes it vulnerable to something something attack... So trade speed for security?

The problem with these laptops is they can handle and they are great at dissipating heat, but the fan profile for MAC is too slow and they go into thermal throttling in some cases.
It's very obvious with cinebench because the same process goes into TT and then once the CPU is cool enough, it doesn't speed back up.
In the case of other software, I find that it is not as much of a problem, as the process that went into TT finishes, and then a new one starts, and by then it's cool again, etc... so the slowdown is not as dramatic.
But I agree, we should be able to undervolt!

On other news, I had to put the WX-4170 back and I ran some other tests.

I managed to fix the GOP ROM and tweaked it a bit, so it is running very smooth, but Catalina AMD drivers just refuse to load. High Sierra and Mojave run smooth, and everything is working.
My Headless HDMI Plug hack didn't work as good as I expected, If I cloned displays but made the AMD primary, Cinebench worked, but Unigine still used IGPU, and If I switched to dual displays then both worked, but I had to VNC in, grab the window from the ghost monitor and drag it to the internal display, and then it worked... So much for an easy solution.

Last, I tested with 2x 4k monitor, and it had no problem running 2x 4k screens and the internal at 1080. So the Hybrid combo works nicely, not 100% perfect, but very usable.
Turns out my USBC to HDMI converter was the problem, I guess it's passive and it's hit or miss if it'll work. but Thunderbolt to thunderbolt display perfect!
Also I believe the Discrete Bios option glitches on the internal screen because of HDCP handshake. When the computer starts or the driver first talks to the screen, it works, but if the screen goes to sleep or switches inputs for a second, the handshake is lost and that's why I get digital snow, and why brightness works and I can VNC in and everything appears to be working underneath. and why when the laptop wakes from sleep, it re loads the handshake and it works again. So again it's a driver issue, since the Windows/Linux drivers have no problem, so I doubt it's my ROM or the AMD card or the internal screen.

Rollback to BIOS before nov 2019 to get undervolt back - it's a HUGE difference even for web browsing, my cpu is stable at -140 when TDP unlocked and -150 with the lock in place, the gains are massive

 

[theroadw]

Rollback to BIOS before nov 2019 to get undervolt back - it's a HUGE difference even for web browsing, my cpu is stable at -140 when TDP unlocked and -150 with the lock in place, the gains are massive

Did you manage to get the MSR unlocked? how did you do it?
I believe once you do that, then you remove the Opencore AppleCpuPmCfgLock and AppleXcpmCfgLock flags and then voltageshift should work.

 

[WhenMusicAttacks]

Did you manage to get the MSR unlocked? how did you do it?
I believe once you do that, then you remove the Opencore AppleCpuPmCfgLock and AppleXcpmCfgLock flags and then voltageshift should work.

These are 2 different things in fact - the voltage unlock is another register, wich is unlocked in bios up to 1.08.01 , and is not to be confused with CFG unlock that is fixed by these patches

CFG unlock need surely efi shell commands wich i still do not look into

Since my TDP is limited to 15w i really benefit massively from undervolting. Maybe the 17 inch version has higher allowance.

BTW, i did update all the kexts to latest version (december releases of all acidanthera packages) including today's voodooi2c update; i did not update Opencore though.

Booting stalls for a couple of seconds at " ApplePS2Controller: Notification consumer published: VoodooI2CPrecisionTouchpadHIDEventDriver "

Tried to disable VoodooPS2Mouse and VoodooPS2Trackpad in opencore config, no changes.

I lost function keys, wich were incorrectly mapped anyway on my 15 , how did you implement those?

I also have the common color banding issues - looks like 16 bit, very noticeable in the launchpad and windows shades. Looking into that ATM

 

[theroadw]

These are 2 different things in fact - the voltage unlock is another register, wich is unlocked in bios up to 1.08.01 , and is not to be confused with CFG unlock that is fixed by these patches

CFG unlock need surely efi shell commands wich i still do not look into

Without CFG unlock voltage shift will never work

Since my TDP is limited to 15w i really benefit massively from undervolting. Maybe the 17 inch version has higher allowance.

I believe there is a bigger margin, also the massive dual pipe heatsink that is shared between GPU and CPU helps a lot, but still could be better

BTW, i did update all the kexts to latest version (december releases of all acidanthera packages) including today's voodooi2c update; i did not update Opencore though.

Booting stalls for a couple of seconds at " ApplePS2Controller: Notification consumer published: VoodooI2CPrecisionTouchpadHIDEventDriver "

I believe the Bluetooth firmware is the one that stalls for a second, If you disable both Bluetooth kexts the OS loads much faster

Tried to disable VoodooPS2Mouse and VoodooPS2Trackpad in opencore config, no changes.

I lost function keys, wich were incorrectly mapped anyway on my 15 , how did you implement those?

For the function keys I edited the info.plist on the VoodooPS2Keyboard.kext in the VoodoPS2Controller.kext plugins folder.

In my zExtra DSDT I define my keyboard as ProBook-87

Scope (\_SB.PCI0.LPCB.PS2K)
    {
        Method (_DSM, 4, NotSerialized)  // _DSM: Device-Specific Method
        {
            If (LNot (Arg2))
            {
                Return (Buffer (One)
                {
                     0x03                                          
                })
            }

            Return (Package (0x04)
            {
                "RM,oem-id",
                "HPQOEM",
                "RM,oem-table-id",
                "ProBook-87"
            })
        }
    }

Then the keys are swapped in the plist.

Assign Brightness DWN e05f to 3b (F3) or something like that, the key map is on Rehabman's github page and to get your function keys, you can use his ioio to find out key presses.

(more info here https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/guide-patching-dsdt-ssdt-for-laptop-backlight-control.152659/ )

I also have the common color banding issues - looks like 16 bit, very noticeable in the launchpad and windows shades. Looking into that ATM

That sounds like the wrong framebuffer, I don't have that problem here. There's 3 or 4 framebuffers that work with UHD630, try swapping them.
If that fails, you may need to inject your monitor's EDID and make sure 32bit color RGB are in it.

-----


I rolled back my Bios and it is a big difference in Windows, I need to figure out the MSR thing now, I believe RU might help and there's also an msr unlock utility that's worth a shot.

Only thing I'm noticing that's different is that the main fan is running faster on this Bios version, so that could explain cooler CPU from the start and so better benchmarks.

 

[WhenMusicAttacks]

Without CFG unlock voltage shift will never work

I believe there is a bigger margin, also the massive dual pipe heatsink that is shared between GPU and CPU helps a lot, but still could be better

I believe the Bluetooth firmware is the one that stalls for a second, If you disable both Bluetooth kexts the OS loads much faster

For the function keys I edited the info.plist on the VoodooPS2Keyboard.kext in the VoodoPS2Controller.kext plugins folder.

In my zExtra DSDT I define my keyboard as ProBook-87

Scope (\_SB.PCI0.LPCB.PS2K)
    {
        Method (_DSM, 4, NotSerialized)  // _DSM: Device-Specific Method
        {
            If (LNot (Arg2))
            {
                Return (Buffer (One)
                {
                     0x03                                         
                })
            }

            Return (Package (0x04)
            {
                "RM,oem-id",
                "HPQOEM",
                "RM,oem-table-id",
                "ProBook-87"
            })
        }
    }

Then the keys are swapped in the plist.

View attachment 502147
Assign Brightness DWN e05f to 3b (F3) or something like that, the key map is on Rehabman's github page and to get your function keys, you can use his ioio to find out key presses.

(more info here https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/guide-patching-dsdt-ssdt-for-laptop-backlight-control.152659/ )



That sounds like the wrong framebuffer, I don't have that problem here. There's 3 or 4 framebuffers that work with UHD630, try swapping them.
If that fails, you may need to inject your monitor's EDID and make sure 32bit color RGB are in it.

-----


I rolled back my Bios and it is a big difference in Windows, I need to figure out the MSR thing now, I believe RU might help and there's also an msr unlock utility that's worth a shot.

Only thing I'm noticing that's different is that the main fan is running faster on this Bios version, so that could explain cooler CPU from the start and so better benchmarks.

Undervolt IS working in macos for sure. When i offset to -140, score goes from 550 to 780 cinebench.

Thanks for all the details - are you going to upgrade kexts to latest version too? Is there another way to implement keyboard mapping to avoid having to patch each different kext?

 

[theroadw]

Undervolt IS working in macos for sure. When i offset to -140, score goes from 550 to 780 cinebench.

Thanks for all the details - are you going to upgrade kexts to latest version too? Is there another way to implement keyboard mapping to avoid having to patch each different kext?

That's awesome, I'll try undervolting on OSX, as for Windows I managed to get a very stable -140 and the scores are 500 points better! WOW!

Edit - 908 on MACOS with undervolting up from ~600 so big difference!

I know you can do the keyboard mapping on SSDT but I didn't bother since I don't update the PS2 kext because it works and why change it?

 

[WhenMusicAttacks]

That's awesome, I'll try undervolting on OSX, as for Windows I managed to get a very stable -140 and the scores are 500 points better! WOW!

View attachment 502171

I know you can do the keyboard mapping on SSDT but I didn't bother since I don't update the PS2 kext because it works and why change it?

As i told you...

Voltageshift works on macOs just fine. It's an amazing tool to have on every computer that is capable. -140 is a very huge undervolt, on average cpus can do around -80, to test stability i have a full run of Sisoftware Sandra , better be safe than sorry if the system crashes when you are working on something. I usually take Sandra stable voltage and dial a little less, my cpu crash at -155 sandra so i keep 140

I like updating to get the best performance with undervolt and cpufriend your battery life will be very good assuming the devices that are not managed by macos are kept off in the bios

I also love tinkering to turn off services from macOs that are not needed like crash reporting stuff and the dreaded combo tailspind and spindump

On the kextd stall, searching online points to either AWAC issues or voodooi2c stuff, addong AWACS ssdt did not fix it, neither removing itlwm and intell bt stuff.

Sometimes it stalls here - https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/opencore-catalina-stuck-at-buildactdeviceentry-exit.300942/

It's just 5 seconds anyway, no big deal.

I'd love to have AppleALC working now

 

[theroadw]

As i told you...

Voltageshift works on macOs just fine. It's an amazing tool to have on every computer that is capable. -140 is a very huge undervolt, on average cpus can do around -80, to test stability i have a full run of Sisoftware Sandra , better be safe than sorry if the system crashes when you are working on something. I usually take Sandra stable voltage and dial a little less, my cpu crash at -155 sandra so i keep 140

140 seems to be working for now, I'll run longer tests, but seems stable enough, thanks for the Bios rollback tip!

I like updating to get the best performance with undervolt and cpufriend your battery life will be very good assuming the devices that are not managed by macos are kept off in the bios

Battery is ok, but the WX-4170 is a bit of a hog in terms of wasting power and if it is enabled in bios, it idles wasting 22W.
If disabled UMA mode, and with current CPU friend profile, I get maybe 4-5 hours. Big screen doesn't help.
With WX I get maybe 2 - 2.5hrs both doing light work.

I also love tinkering to turn off services from macOs that are not needed like crash reporting stuff and the dreaded combo tailspind and spindump

On the kextd stall, searching online points to either AWAC issues or voodooi2c stuff, addong AWACS ssdt did not fix it, neither removing itlwm and intell bt stuff.

Sometimes it stalls here - https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/opencore-catalina-stuck-at-buildactdeviceentry-exit.300942/

It's just 5 seconds anyway, no big deal.

Weird, neither my HS/Mojave/Catalina stall for more than a second and it's just as the bluetooth firmware is being uploaded.

I'd love to have AppleALC working now

What codec does your Zbook have?
Run a voodoohda dump, I did so many things to try to make mine work, that I'm sure that as long as it's not the conexant one, I can help.

is it the Studio G5 model?


----

One of the things I still want to do is try to make a SSDT to be able to use the Dell Sensors kext from VirtualSMC, but may need some help on that one.

 

[theroadw]

On the kextd stall, searching online points to either AWAC issues or voodooi2c stuff, addong AWACS ssdt did not fix it, neither removing itlwm and intell bt stuff.

Sometimes it stalls here - https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/opencore-catalina-stuck-at-buildactdeviceentry-exit.300942/

If you updated VoodooPS2.kext, did you remove the VoodooPS2Trackpad plugin first? it could be clashing with Voodooi2c.kext, as they both want to control the same trackpad device, and that could be causing the stall.