Gigabyte B550 Vision D (Thunderbolt 3) + AMD Ryzen 7 3700X + AMD RX 5600 XT

[CaseySJ]

Hi dear @CaseySJ . Can I ask you info about this boot arg? vsmcgen=1

Hello @Vorshim92,

My understanding of this is limited, but I'll explain anyway:

• vsmc refers to VirtualSMC, which is an SMC emulator (System Management Controller) that macOS kernel can communicate with. Real Macs have SMC controllers, but our Intel and AMD motherboards do not!
  
• vsmcgen is an optional parameter for VirtualSMC.
• On our Intel and AMD motherboards, however, we have something called Embedded Controller or EC. This is a chip that handles the same functions as SMC on a real Mac.
• The most common EC chips are made by ITE Tech. For example, the IT8987.
• Nuvoton also makes EC chips. For example, the NCT6683D.
• VirtualSMC has to make these EC chips look like SMC chips.
• For each type of EC chip, VirtualSMC needs to have internal code to recognize that chip and make it look like an SMC chip.
• But if we have a motherboard with an unsupported EC chip, what should VirtualSMC do?
  • We can wait until next version of VirtualSMC is released and hope that support has been added.
  • Or we can use vsmcgen=1 or vsmcgen=2 to simulate a Gen-1 or Gen-2 SMC model.
• So we use vsmcgen temporarily for an unsupported EC chip. But once that chip is supported by VirtualSMC, we can and should delete this parameter.

Some of the functions controlled by SMC on a Mac:

• Responding to presses of the power button
• Responding to the display lid opening and closing on Mac notebooks
• Battery management
• Thermal management
• SMS (Sudden Motion Sensor)
• Ambient light sensing
• Keyboard backlighting
• Status indicator light (SIL) management
• Battery status indicator lights
• Selecting an external (instead of internal) video source for some iMac displays

 

[Vorshim92]

Hello @Vorshim92,

My understanding of this is limited, but I'll explain anyway:

• vsmc refers to VirtualSMC, which is an SMC emulator (System Management Controller) that macOS kernel can communicate with. Real Macs have SMC controllers, but our Intel and AMD motherboards do not!View attachment 552487
• vsmcgen is an optional parameter for VirtualSMC.
• On our Intel and AMD motherboards, however, we have something called Embedded Controller or EC. This is a chip that handles the same functions as SMC on a real Mac.
• The most common EC chips are made by ITE Tech. For example, the IT8987.
• Nuvoton also makes EC chips. For example, the NCT6683D.
• VirtualSMC has to make these EC chips look like SMC chips.
• For each type of EC chip, VirtualSMC needs to have internal code to recognize that chip and make it look like an SMC chip.
• But if we have a motherboard with an unsupported EC chip, what should VirtualSMC do?
  • We can wait until next version of VirtualSMC is released and hope that support has been added.
  • Or we can use vsmcgen=1 or vsmcgen=2 to simulate a Gen-1 or Gen-2 SMC model.
• So we use vsmcgen temporarily for an unsupported EC chip. But once that chip is supported by VirtualSMC, we can and should delete this parameter.

Some of the functions controlled by SMC on a Mac:

• Responding to presses of the power button
• Responding to the display lid opening and closing on Mac notebooks
• Battery management
• Thermal management
• SMS (Sudden Motion Sensor)
• Ambient light sensing
• Keyboard backlighting
• Status indicator light (SIL) management
• Battery status indicator lights
• Selecting an external (instead of internal) video source for some iMac displays

thanks for your comprehensive answer as always!

 

[CaseySJ]

** OpenCore Configurator 2.62.0.0 has been released **
Open the "Preferences" dialog and set it to 0.8.3 Release Configuration as shown​

If you're using OpenCore 0.8.3 and seeing OCS Schema: LegacyEnable warnings during boot, simply open your config.plist in OpenCore Configurator 2.62.0.0, ensure that the application is set to "0.8.3 Release Configuration", then click through each of the main headings on the left side without making any changes :

• ACPI
• Booter
• DeviceProperties
• Kernel
• ...

Then save the file (CMD-S). On reboot, the LegacyEnable warning will disappear.

 

[CaseySJ]

** Ventura Public Beta #3 Sleep Problem **​

Is you're running Ventura Public Beta #3, please see this post regarding sleep/wake:

Gigabyte Z490 Vision D (Thunderbolt 3) + i5-10400 + AMD RX 580

I found a bug that the CPU load of power process is 100% and can not go to sleep in macOS 13 public beta 3. After research I found the solution: 1. Get into Terminal 2. Execute the command: sudo pmset schedule cancelall 3. Reboot system. (This step must be done, otherwise when you wake up ,the...

www.tonymacx86.com

 

[BillyBoy7]

Hi @CaseySJ

Not sure if you or anyone else for that matter has experienced the following issue and knows how to fix it. Its the last remaining 'bug' in my Hackintosh build.

So basically whenever I play back either HEVC recorded files from my iPhone or another persons iPhone on my Mac, the video frames are garbled and glitchy. The same occurs when I stream AppleTV+ content on the Hackintosh through the official preinstalled app. Other DRM content such as Netflix and Amazon Prime streaming works fine through Safari. No issues there. Its just with HEVC video files and Apple TV+ streaming where the glitchy video occurs.

I'm currently on OpenCore 0.7.5 running Monterey 12.5 with MacPro7,1 SMBIOS and my setup is an Gigabyte X570S Aero G with an AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, 32GB RAM and a AMD Vega 56 GPU in Slot 1. I also have a Nvidia RTX 3070Ti in Slot 2 for Windows with an SSDT disabling it for MacOS kindly built by yourself Casey.

Any advice on what to do? I have tried the following so far:

• Replacing unfairgva=1 bootarg with unfairgva=3 or unfairgva=7 bootarg
• Removing both WhateverGreen kext and any associated bootargs such as unfairgva or shikigva (which is now deprecated)
• Changing SMBIOS from MacPro7,1 to iMacPro1,1
• Tried disabling SSDT for the 3070Ti to see if that was causing the issue
• Disabling Resizeable BAR in both BIOS and OpenCore.

None of these have really worked. Removing WhateverGreen did still allow my system to boot but I got a weird pink artifact screen when booting up and DRM streaming services didn't work. When I re-enabled WhateverGreen and one of the unfairgva bootargs it fixed the boot screen and the DRM issue but not the main issue in question.
Changing SMBIOS done nothing as well.

I checked all the possible combinations and according to VDAdecoder and also the VideoProc app I have full hardware acceleration enabled for H264 and HEVC apparently.

I don't mind the AppleTV+ app not fully working because in my opinion there isn't really much worth watching on there at the moment but the fact that my recorded iPhone videos aren't playing back correctly is very frustrating. If anyone has any ideas or has had a similar problem in the past, please give me a shout.

Thanks

 

[CaseySJ]

@BillyBoy7,

I wonder if the issue is due to the Vega GPU. I just tried the following successfully:

• Gigabyte B550 Vision D
• AMD RX 5600 XT GPU
• System Name iMacPro 1,1
• Monterey 12.5
• Transferred a 135MB HEVC video from my iPhone 13 Pro Max to the B550 Vision D via AirDrop
• Confirmed that the video file is H.265
• Pressed <space> in Finder to play the video using Quick Look -- no problem
• Opened the file in QuickTime Player -- no problem playing it back

 

[BillyBoy7]

@BillyBoy7,

I wonder if the issue is due to the Vega GPU. I just tried the following successfully:

• Gigabyte B550 Vision D
• AMD RX 5600 XT GPU
• System Name iMacPro 1,1
• Monterey 12.5
• Transferred a 135MB HEVC video from my iPhone 13 Pro Max to the B550 Vision D via AirDrop
• Confirmed that the video file is H.265
• Pressed <space> in Finder to play the video using Quick Look -- no problem
• Opened the file in QuickTime Player -- no problem playing it back

Maybe you are right but I had previously used this GPU in an older build with an Intel i9 9900K when I was on Big Sur and didn't encounter this particular issue before.

 

[CaseySJ]

Maybe you are right but I had previously used this GPU in an older build with an Intel i9 9900K when I was on Big Sur and didn't encounter this particular issue before.

I should mention that my sample video was shot on iPhone and has no DRM.

In your case, is garbled HEVC playback limited to DRM-protected files or it happens on unprotected ones as well?

But H.264 is okay?

 

[BillyBoy7]

I should mention that my sample video was shot on iPhone and has no DRM.

In your case, is garbled HEVC playback limited to DRM-protected files or it happens on unprotected ones as well?

But H.264 is okay?

Yep just tested it.

• HEVC video recorded on an iPhone 13 with no DRM - Garbled video playback in both finder and QuickTime player.
• H.264 video recorded on an iPhone 13 with no DRM - Perfect playback in both finder and Quicktime Player.
• Apple TV+ - Garbled video playback.
• Netflix via Safari - Perfect playback.
• Amazon Prime via Safari - Perfect playback.

Very strange. I'm gonna try your old X570S Aero G EFI directly and see if that does anything. Maybe I have done something wrong when previously building the OpenCore EFI.

 

[BillyBoy7]

Sadly your EFI didn't work either. Gonna try some terminal commands from the WhateverGreen readme next.