Beginners Guide to using OC Auxiliary Tools App (Also known as OCAT)

[dasboot5]

You also seem to confuse the terms dGPu and iGPU…

Btw, Thanks for the information regarding my questions.
Does not 03001259 relate to a Discrete GPU and using the IGPU for compute tasks, only, from the Dortania Guide??
AAPL,ig-platform-id is what macOS uses to determine how the iGPU drivers interact with our system, and the two values choose between are as follows:

• Note: Headless framebuffers(where the dGPU is the display out) do not need framebuffer-patch-enable and framebmuffer-stolenmem.

AAPL,ig-platform-id	Comment
00001259	Used when the Desktop iGPU is used to drive a display
03001259	Used when the Desktop iGPU is only used for computing tasks and doesn't drive a display

 

[5T33Z0]

The main question is:

1. Do you have a compatible discrete GPU you can use with Ventura?:

• If so, you could just disable the iGPU in BIOS and let the dGPU handle everything. Because I don't know if the iGPU spoof also works with empty framebuffers. But you can try if it does and report back. It would be good if it worked.
• if you need the iGPU for graphics then you definitely need the KBL framebuffer spoof.

Also: I don't know if framebuffer patches work on their own or if they are SMBIOS dependent. In the latter case, the board-id skip and VMM spoof might hinder the KBL framebuffer spoof to work. This is something you would have to figure out on your own, since I can't test that unless someone sends me a board. I live in Berlin, btw

 

[tastic]

@tastic Thanks for the info. This and a handful of other templates had the wrong SMBIOS pre-selected. I fixed them now. You can download them from my repo. https://github.com/5T33Z0/OC-Little...p_EFIs#updating-the-config-templates-manually

I will push them to the app developer too, so he can integrate them in the next update.

@5T33Z0, thank YOU and everyone who has created and maintained OCAT. I've been stuck on Catalina and Clover for years because despite repeated efforts, I've been unable to follow Dortina's Guide successfully but using OCAT has taught me quite a bit and I feel like Ventura is within reach as soon as I find the time for it.

 

[tastic]

I see what you mean, in the Data Base 19.1 is catered around the Z390 and since your platform is that with an i7 CPU, 19.1 is more suited to your machine.

Why it was changed from your choice I don't know whether it is by design or a glitch, the person that can answer your query is @5T33Z0 as he had extensive input in the Data Base entries.

Out of curiorisity, why is 19,1 more appropriate? I am running Catalina using 19,2 so I was just carrying that over to Ventura since it seems to work now.

 

[esafeddie]

Out of curiorisity, why is 19,1 more appropriate? I am running Catalina using 19,2 so I was just carrying that over to Ventura since it seems to work now.

The recommended Mac Models are based on the specs of real Macs and recommends to match as closely as possible to your machine's specs accordingly. Of course there are no hard and fast rules that you must/have to follow this guide line but bear in mind choosing an unsuited Mac Model will possibly have uncharacteristic behaviour in operation of the machine.

 

[5T33Z0]

Out of curiorisity, why is 19,1 more appropriate? I am running Catalina using 19,2 so I was just carrying that over to Ventura since it seems to work now.

SMBIOSes contain info about the used CPU, its frequency vectors and other settings as well as details about the hardware configuration. Some SMBIOS also differentiate between if a dGPU is present or if only the iGPU is used.

The iMac19,2 models use 8th Gen Intel Core CPUs, whereas iMac19,1 uses 9th Gen - just like your system.

So picking the SMBIOS closest to your hardware is always a good idea. If you change the SystemProductName you should also regenerate serial, mlb, etc, since they belong together.

 

[c-o-pr]

The iMac19,2 models use 8th Gen Intel Core CPUs, whereas iMac19,1 uses 9th Gen - just like your system.

Pls double-check that claim...

EDIT

I AM WRONG, OP IS RIGHT

I missed a BTO 19,1 "Core i9" with 9900K...

iMac "Core i9" 3.6 27" (5K, 2019) Specs (Retina 5K, 27-Inch, 2019, BTO/CTO, iMac19,1, A2115, 3194): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the iMac "Core i9" 3.6 27" (5K, 2019). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

* * *

My orig points can somewhat still hobble along, barely standing...

The following previous comment is true, except for the BTO mentioned above—

Based on Everymac the 19,1 and 19,2 are both 8th gen, Radeon Pro 500 series, 4K and 5K respectively.

I don't think Apple ever mixed generations within a system ID (eg, 19,1) but even if they did it would odd for a later generation to appear in earlier ID.

Clearly they did — per above link, so I was just wrong.

However, what does this mean for SMBIOS when 19,1 vs 19,2?

Take OP's point at face value that an 19,1 SMBIOS accounts for 9th gen 8-cores in a way that 19,2 doesn't.

Note on power:

By virtue of 9900K being unlocked, but thermal limitations of iMac case given a Radeon Pro 580X which can hit 180W, Apple's vectors may allow turbo SCore but cap MC freq below thermal max of 9900K? I can only guess, but case sensors may inform power provide a stepwise reduction in MC freq under full load? So it benchmarks well and degrades gracefully. Pure handwaving but this could be a build where you want to create your own power vectors for max perf, assuming you've thought through cooling.

Carry on...

* * *

iMac "Core i5" 3.0 27" (5K, 2019) Specs (Retina 5K, 27-Inch, 2019, MRQY2LL/A, iMac19,1, A2115, 3194): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the iMac "Core i5" 3.0 27" (5K, 2019). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

iMac "Core i7" 3.2 21.5" (4K, 2019) Specs (Retina 4K, 21.5-Inch, 2019, BTO/CTO, iMac19,2, A2116, 3195): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the iMac "Core i7" 3.2 21.5" (4K, 2019). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

(It's not perfectly clear from the specs but I think both include Intel UHD graphics, IOW they are not F chips, so these are suitable for a mixed GPU build if that matters to you, meaning you can run your display without a dGPU or connect display to a dGPU and have iGPU also up available to VideoToolBox as co-processor).

I am far from an expert, but here are my rules of thumb...

Choosing SMBIOS I think about harmonizing the choice in following priority:

- macOS version,
- Desktop / laptop,
- Intel Generation,
- dGPU only, iGPU only, or both.

Overall, hitting SMBIOS on the nose makes a build easier, but it's not a showstopper. You can fake CPUID to account for generations and cores, write your own power vectors, tailor display connectors for iGPU-only unusual ports, tailor ACPI for sleep, networking/TB etc. But whatever you choose it needs to fit within overall era of macOS where you want to avoid older macOS on newer HW.

 

[5T33Z0]

AMD configs and Quirks presets has been removed from the latest version of OCAT.

 

[Edhawk]

Can you tell us why the AMD configs and Quirks have been removed.

 

[trs96]

NVRAM Reset is a Bootloader Feature – it has nothing to do with OCAT!

This is the reason why I said in post #2

Does this app spare me from having to read and understand the Dortania OpenCore guide ?

Not really. You should still refer to that as needed to fully understand OpenCore settings and configuration.

Some people put the cart before the horse and try to use OCAT without really understanding OpenCore basics first.