APGM Injector and the RX580

[EmileM]

Hi,
So I'm at the final stages in my build, and I'm reading that the APGMInjector.kext from Github might be able to help me avoid some DRM headaches, and also supposedly it will allow my RX580 to report as an RX580 in IOReg. Right now its reporting as GFX0@0 -> AMD9500Controller -> AMDRadeonX4000_...

citation: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...-for-systems-with-amd-gpu.288015/post-2256434

I had a look at the documentation I could find, and I'm not any more enlightened. Can someone tell me if this method works on Ventura? Supposedly it's supposed to do the following:

1. Make DRM function as native (I have tested after implementation, and still no netflix playback on Safari.
2. Make the RX580 look like an RX580 in IOReg. (not AMD 9500Controller)

Another thing I've noticed which is a bit funny, is I get a slightly worse Geekbench score on this card with the kext enabled.

- Should I keep the kext?
- Does anybody have an alternate solution I can try?
- Maybe, I need to do something I haven't to get it to work properly? I should mention that X86PlatformPlugin shows as enabled in IOReg; and that 'about this mac' has always shown the RX580. (see screenshot)

--

+ - I've heard that maybe I can run this system without whatevergreen because it's a 'native' card. I get a graphics crash on boot when i remove the kext. Do I need to make this the 'Pulse' Firmware variant to implement a 'no whatevergreen solution'?


--
System

i9 10850k (10th gen) Comet Lake
RX580 8gb
ROG Strix z490-H
Broadcom BCM943602CS (pci-e)
16gb Ram

Ventura 13.0.1

SMBios: iMac20,1
--

Please see attached for my config.plist. (without the PlatformInfo).

Cheers.

 

[Edhawk]

Personally I don't use any kexts, SSDT's or DeviceProperties for any of the 3 x RX580's or 2 x RX470's I own and they work perfectly fine in macOS.

My Sapphire Nitro+ RX580's Geekbench Metal score is 56K, on an old Haswell hack running Ventura 13.0.1.

Why would you want to change the IOReg - AMD9500Controller entry to RX580. It would be purely cosmetic.

My recommendation would be not to use the kext. Just stick with Lilu.kext and WhateverGreen.kext.

 

[EmileM]

Thanks for your reply. From reading your posts throughout the stages of my build, I feel like I can proceed with your recommendation in confidence.

I only ask because I’m trying to learn really. this will be my multipurpose daily driver, I want to do it right, and make it as close to a real Mac as possible.

While I’m not doing any video work right now, I’m sure to be doing some in the future. I read that you can get better performance with different codecs if you do… some things.

Also when I read about power management GFX power management kexts being a good thing, I want to try them out.

Having DRM sorted on a iMac dGPU without touching the iGPU sounded good too.

—

Edhawk, do you run any boot args? Maybe shikigva=40 or that Shiki arg that changes SMBios to 1,1? (I’m guessing this is a spoof that only effects drm?)

If anyone knows of a user manual for whatevergreen, please let me know. All I can seem to find on that is a faq section, but I can be a bit blind sometimes.

 

[EmileM]

Thanks for your reply. From reading your posts throughout the stages of my build, I feel like I can proceed with your recommendation in confidence.

I only ask because I’m trying to learn really. this will be my multipurpose daily driver, I want to do it right, and make it as close to a real Mac as possible.

While I’m not doing any video work right now, I’m sure to be doing some in the future. I read that you can get better performance with different codecs if you do… some things.

Also when I read about power management GFX power management kexts being a good thing, I want to try them out.

Having DRM sorted on a iMac dGPU without touching the iGPU sounded good too.

—

Edhawk, do you run any boot args? Maybe shikigva=40 or that Shiki arg that changes SMBios to 1,1? (I’m guessing this is a spoof that only effects drm?)

If anyone knows of a user manual for whatevergreen, please let me know. All I can seem to find on that is a faq section, but I can be a bit blind sometimes.

Oh and then there’s sleep/wake.. but I’ve pretty much given up on that.

 

[Edhawk]

No I don't use any dGPU boot arguments, patches, kexts or SSDT's and my 3 x RX 580 dGPUs work just fine.

2 x systems are Haswell i7 Hacks dual booting Windows 11 & Ventura using the iMacPro1,1 SMBIOS. IGPU disabled in bios.
1 x system is Coffee Lake running Ventura using the iMac19,1 SMBIOS.

I also have 2 x systems Haswell i5 Hacks running Big Sur, Monterey and Ventura using the iMacPro SMBIOS, with IGPU disabled in bios. These use 2 x RX470 8GB cards.

If I were to use a shikigva boot arg it would be shikigva=128, as that is the one that works best with iMacPro or Mac Pro SMBIOS and an AMD dGPU.

The FAQ Chart states that shikigva is not working/supported in macOS 11+, so there is no point as I see it using an obsolete boot arg.

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

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

github.com

Sleep/wake issues are usually USB related, i.e. incorrect port connector type settings in your UTBMap.kext.

There are a number of FAQ's for WhateverGreen, see the link below.

WhateverGreen/Manual at master · acidanthera/WhateverGreen

Various patches necessary for certain ATI/AMD/Intel/Nvidia GPUs - WhateverGreen/Manual at master · acidanthera/WhateverGreen

github.com

 

[EmileM]

Thanks for your build details. And for the tips. It seems that there’s no way of avoiding the black magic trail and error guess work for us non-computer-science-majors. And I’ve seen a lot of people reporting completion and drm/h.264/5 toolbox fixes in their builds by using non-sensical hacks. Or maybe that’s just a matter of perspective.

I’ve been loving the Opencore configuration.pdf manual. informative and reliable.

 

[macnb]

If I were to use a shikigva boot arg it would be shikigva=128, as that is the one that works best with iMacPro or Mac Pro SMBIOS and an AMD dGPU.

shikigva is now only used by whatevergreen for macOS 10.15 and below.
For macOS 11+, it uses unfairgva.

In my recent testing, using unfairgva=1 is the best choice for DRM & H/W encode/decode with SMBIOS ID's other than iMacPro1,1 with Polaris dGPU (and iGPU disabled).
For iMacPro1,1 unfairgva is not necessary as this model ID takes care of the DRM.