[Guide] Dell XPS 13 9360 on MacOS Sierra 10.12.x - LTS (Long-Term Support) Guide

[rootnik]

I was finally able to get audio to work by using an older patched AppleHDA.kext for the xps 9350. I spent all day trying to get cloverhda to work... and I am sure I failed through fault of my own.

 

[RehabMan]

I get his error when trying to load cloverHDA

Coreys-MacBook:Extensions corey$ sudo kextutil cloverHDA.kext
Password:
/System/Library/Extensions/cloverHDA.kext - dependency 'com.apple.driver.AppleHDAController' not found.
/System/Library/Extensions/cloverHDA.kext - dependency 'com.apple.iokit.IOHDAFamily' not found.
/System/Library/Extensions/cloverHDA.kext - dependency 'com.apple.driver.DspFuncLib' not found.
/System/Library/Extensions/cloverHDA.kext - dependency 'com.apple.driver.AppleHDAController' not found.
/System/Library/Extensions/cloverHDA.kext - dependency 'com.apple.iokit.IOHDAFamily' not found.
/System/Library/Extensions/cloverHDA.kext - dependency 'com.apple.driver.DspFuncLib' not found.
/System/Library/Extensions/cloverHDA.kext - dependency 'com.apple.driver.AppleHDAController' not found.
/System/Library/Extensions/cloverHDA.kext - dependency 'com.apple.iokit.IOHDAFamily' not found.
/System/Library/Extensions/cloverHDA.kext - dependency 'com.apple.driver.DspFuncLib' not found.
Diagnostics for /System/Library/Extensions/cloverHDA.kext:
Validation Failures:
    Executable file doesn't contain kernel extension code (no kmod_info symbol or bad Mach-O layout).

Warnings:
    Personality CFBundleIdentifier differs from containing kext's (not necessarily a mistake, but rarely done):
        HDA Hardware Config Resource
    Personality CFBundleIdentifier names a kext that can't be found:
        'HDA Hardware Config Resource' -> 'com.apple.driver.AppleHDAHardwareConfigDriver'

Dependency Resolution Failures:
    No kexts found for these libraries:
        com.apple.driver.AppleHDAController
        com.apple.iokit.IOHDAFamily
        com.apple.driver.DspFuncLib

Code Signing Failure: not code signed

That kext is not designed to be loaded. It is only designed to be installed.

Thanks for the reply, unfortunately it still did not load. Here is the output from kextcache:

Coreys-MacBook:Extensions corey$ sudo kextcache -i /
kext-dev-mode allowing invalid signature -67062 0xFFFFFFFFFFFEFA0A for kext CodecCommander.kext
KernelCache ID: A9769D4B4C0FA64D3345FA8F794B233D
symlink("/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel", "/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/kernelcache") failed 17 (File exists) <createPrelinkedKernel 2795>

kextutil is not a kext installer.
You need to install the kexts (all kexts you need should be installed to the system volume).

 

[yurchik92]

You'll get a (very) fast and reliable machine able to pull 12+ hours of real office workload on full battery.

how you get 12 hours?
i get just 6 hours on browsing only on lowest brightness

 

[bozma88]

Check with intel power gadget that your CPU is correctly stepping power and frequency. At idle you should hover at 0.5W of package power.
Start with a clean system, there are a lot of 3rd party inefficient applications/background services/daemons out there.
Also, be sure to have disabled the SD card reader in BIOS.

I get 8h of Chrome browsing and office use at 100% brightness.
10h at 60% brightness.

If you have the UHD screen, it may be way less than that.

On Windows you get more efficiency, and I think it's mainly because graphic drivers are optimised for our IGZO display which does not need framebuffer - in plane transistors refresh if the image displayed is static. Basically, all the graphics stack can almost freeze up when the image does not move. I don't think this is enabled on MacOS.

 

[yurchik92]

idle you should hover at 0.5W

i have 0.76w 1.3Ghz in idle, SD off and fhd screen
and energy tab on system monitor isnt working

how many tabs on chrome you average use?

 

[bozma88]

i have 0.76w 1.3Ghz in idle, SD off and fhd screen
and energy tab on system monitor isnt working

how many tabs on chrome you average use?

Did you follow my guide in post #1?
Close all apps. Let the system idle.
Is this what you see?

 

[bozma88]

Oh, I just noticed something peculiar. Look at the image.
I'm unable to track down what's causing these perfectly regular spikes.
Any idea on how to find out the responsible process?

 

[afg32]

Thank you very much Bozma88.
When i saw this guide posted not so long ago i could not believe it, it is so well made, very detailed.

Thanks to Rehabman too for his various contributions to this guide and to all matters related to Mac OS.

For now, i have only one question:

Introduction:
I live in a place where there are too many cases of violence, is common to hear about armed robbery, so when i heard my XPS 13 had a BIOS persistent module (called Computrace, by Absolute Software) to aid in recovery in case of theft, and that the service subscription was not so expensive, i planned to buy it without thinking twice, but there are Pro's and Con's.

Pro's: 1 - Inexpensive (compared to Insurance)
2 - Persistent (Can survive HD replacement)

Con's: 1 - I don't know if it can be used (activated) with Mac OS. (that's the main reason for my question here.)
2 - There are security specialist articles from Kaspersky and a live demonstration (i don't know if i can post the youtube link here, will edit later) that can prove that the module can be exploited by Malware to make it like a super trojan horse, undetectable and persistent.
3 - Some people say that this safety mechanism can be easily bypassed by ill intentioned people, making this solution, expensive, inefective and prone to malware infection.

Sorry, i don't want to hijack this thread, if necessary i can relocate (or ask moderator to relocate) this post to another forum, but i found it relevant it can be pertinent to various XPS 13 9360 Owners that want to install Mac OS.

Note: I know that Computrace cannot be used if Mac OS is the Only OS installed, but i plan to use Dual boot, and even if not, there is high chance that the thief would try to install Windows anyway. making the BIOS module usable again.

 

[fv316]

Any idea on how to find out the responsible process?

Tried this yet? (edited)

$ top -stats pid,command,cpu,idlew,power -o power -d

 

[rama1981]

Just for Information. My 9360 is dead. Did the latest BIOS update and had trouble with the usb-c Power Unit @ Win10 USB-Stick. Every 2 seconds load and no power unit. So I try to start the book again and there is just the LED, no fan, no screen. Tried all ideas from google. Send my book to Dell for fixing.