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

[bozma88]

Yes, codecCommander + SSDT-ALC256 is needed if you want proper operation after sleep. I don't remember the exact symptom without it, but it was related to the amps not restarting after sleep, or jack sense not working after a resume from sleep.
Place them in SLE and run kext utility to fix file ownership, otherwise they won't be loaded at boot.

 

[RaymondXie]

Yes, codecCommander + SSDT-ALC256 is needed if you want proper operation after sleep. I don't remember the exact symptom without it, but it was related to the amps not restarting after sleep, or jack sense not working after a resume from sleep.
Place them in SLE and run kext utility to fix file ownership, otherwise they won't be loaded at boot.

Yeah! I managed installing them and now audio is working! Excellent~
Now I'm waiting for my BCMcard. Tomorrow I'll try to swap 1535 and turn this laptop into a wonderful Hachintosh~
Thanks again, Bozma88. Hope your later delivery~

 

[seijinshu]

Well, this made the determining factor for my next laptop. Glad to know that this is almost a golden build. My school is demanding Macbooks for BYOD as 2 years from now they are getting us Macbook Airs, and want us all in the caged ecosystem. I can't justify the price of a Mac, therefore getting a Dell XPS 13 9360 now that I know that it is almost a golden build.

 

[RaymondXie]

Yes, codecCommander + SSDT-ALC256 is needed if you want proper operation after sleep. I don't remember the exact symptom without it, but it was related to the amps not restarting after sleep, or jack sense not working after a resume from sleep.
Place them in SLE and run kext utility to fix file ownership, otherwise they won't be loaded at boot.

I also wonder if your F4&F6 secondary function(prev&next) could be useful when you listen some music through a music app

 

[bozma88]

I also wonder if your F4&F6 secondary function(prev&next) could be useful when you listen some music through a music app

Yes, they are universal, they work as prev/next in iTunes, Spotify and any other app that hooks to them.

 

[bozma88]

Good news everyone: I managed to make native HWP work.
I am seeing 20% more battery life with this new configuration.
A normal usage pattern will now go beyond 13 hours of use.
With a more Efficiency-inclined EEP (~200) the savings are even more interesting.
I am still perfecting the power management .plist, will explain everything once I update the guide.
I'll release updated files in a few days.
Meanwhile I want to share my AppleIntelInfo log with you:

AppleIntelInfo.kext v2.2 Copyright © 2012-2017 Pike R. Alpha. All rights reserved
enableHWP................................: 0

Settings:
------------------------------------------
logMSRs..................................: 1
logIGPU..................................: 1
logCStates...............................: 1
logIPGStyle..............................: 1

Warning: Clover hw.busfrequency error detected : 17d78400
InitialTSC...............................: 0xb978531fe7b (439 MHz)
MWAIT C-States...........................: 286531872

Processor Brandstring....................: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7500U CPU @ 2.70GHz

Processor Signature..................... : 0x806E9
------------------------------------------
- Family............................... : 6
- Stepping............................. : 9
- Model................................ : 0x8E (142)

Model Specific Registers (MSRs)
------------------------------------------

MSR_CORE_THREAD_COUNT............(0x35)  : 0xFFFFFF8031BA4D00
------------------------------------------
- Core Count........................... : 2
- Thread Count......................... : 4

MSR_PLATFORM_INFO................(0xCE)  : 0x4043DF1011D00
------------------------------------------
- Maximum Non-Turbo Ratio.............. : 0x1D (2900 MHz)
- Ratio Limit for Turbo Mode........... : 1 (programmable)
- TDP Limit for Turbo Mode............. : 1 (programmable)
- Low Power Mode Support............... : 1 (LPM supported)
- Number of ConfigTDP Levels........... : 2 (additional TDP level(s) available)
- Maximum Efficiency Ratio............. : 4
- Minimum Operating Ratio.............. : 4

MSR_PMG_CST_CONFIG_CONTROL.......(0xE2)  : 0x7E008008
------------------------------------------
- I/O MWAIT Redirection Enable......... : 0 (not enabled)
- CFG Lock............................. : 1 (MSR locked until next reset)
- C3 State Auto Demotion............... : 1 (enabled)
- C1 State Auto Demotion............... : 1 (enabled)
- C3 State Undemotion.................. : 1 (enabled)
- C1 State Undemotion.................. : 1 (enabled)
- Package C-State Auto Demotion........ : 1 (enabled)
- Package C-State Undemotion........... : 1 (enabled)

MSR_PMG_IO_CAPTURE_BASE..........(0xE4)  : 0x51814
------------------------------------------
- LVL_2 Base Address................... : 0x1814
- C-state Range........................ : 5 (C-States not included, I/O MWAIT redirection not enabled)

IA32_MPERF.......................(0xE7)  : 0x4124FDF09E0
IA32_APERF.......................(0xE8)  : 0x2AC7DF40C6B

MSR_FLEX_RATIO...................(0x194) : 0x10000
------------------------------------------

MSR_IA32_PERF_STATUS.............(0x198) : 0x251F00002300
------------------------------------------
- Current Performance State Value...... : 0x2300 (3500 MHz)

MSR_IA32_PERF_CONTROL............(0x199) : 0xA00
------------------------------------------
- Target performance State Value....... : 0xA00 (1000 MHz)
- Intel Dynamic Acceleration........... : 0 (IDA engaged)

IA32_CLOCK_MODULATION............(0x19A) : 0xE

IA32_THERM_INTERRUPT.............(0x19B) : 0x10
------------------------------------------
- High-Temperature Interrupt Enable.... : 0 (disabled)
- Low-Temperature Interrupt Enable..... : 0 (disabled)
- PROCHOT# Interrupt Enable............ : 0 (disabled)
- FORCEPR# Interrupt Enable............ : 0 (disabled)
- Critical Temperature Interrupt Enable : 1 (enabled)
- Threshold #1 Value................... : 0
- Threshold #1 Interrupt Enable........ : 0 (disabled)
- Threshold #2 Value................... : 0
- Threshold #2 Interrupt Enable........ : 0 (disabled)
- Power Limit Notification Enable...... : 0 (disabled)

IA32_THERM_STATUS................(0x19C) : 0x882F2808
------------------------------------------
- Thermal Status....................... : 0
- Thermal Log.......................... : 0
- PROCHOT # or FORCEPR# event.......... : 0
- PROCHOT # or FORCEPR# log............ : 1
- Critical Temperature Status.......... : 0
- Critical Temperature log............. : 0
- Thermal Threshold #1 Status.......... : 0
- Thermal Threshold #1 log............. : 0
- Thermal Threshold #2 Status.......... : 0
- Thermal Threshold #2 log............. : 0
- Power Limitation Status.............. : 0
- Power Limitation log................. : 1
- Current Limit Status................. : 0
- Current Limit log.................... : 1
- Cross Domain Limit Status............ : 0
- Cross Domain Limit log............... : 0
- Digital Readout...................... : 47
- Resolution in Degrees Celsius........ : 1
- Reading Valid........................ : 1 (valid)

MSR_THERM2_CTL...................(0x19D) : 0x0

IA32_MISC_ENABLES................(0x1A0) : 0x850089
------------------------------------------
- Fast-Strings......................... : 1 (enabled)
- FOPCODE compatibility mode Enable.... : 0
- Automatic Thermal Control Circuit.... : 1 (enabled)
- Split-lock Disable................... : 0
- Performance Monitoring............... : 1 (available)
- Bus Lock On Cache Line Splits Disable : 0
- Hardware prefetch Disable............ : 0
- Processor Event Based Sampling....... : 0 (PEBS supported)
- GV1/2 legacy Enable.................. : 0
- Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology.. : 1 (enabled)
- MONITOR FSM.......................... : 1 (MONITOR/MWAIT supported)
- Adjacent sector prefetch Disable..... : 0
- CFG Lock............................. : 0 (MSR not locked)
- xTPR Message Disable................. : 1 (disabled)

MSR_TEMPERATURE_TARGET...........(0x1A2) : 0x2640000
------------------------------------------
- Turbo Attenuation Units.............. : 0
- Temperature Target................... : 100
- TCC Activation Offset................ : 2

MSR_MISC_PWR_MGMT................(0x1AA) : 0x401CC1
------------------------------------------
- EIST Hardware Coordination........... : 1 (hardware coordination disabled)
- Energy/Performance Bias support...... : 1
- Energy/Performance Bias.............. : 0 (disabled/MSR not visible to software)
- Thermal Interrupt Coordination Enable : 1 (thermal interrupt routed to all cores)

MSR_TURBO_RATIO_LIMIT............(0x1AD) : 0x23232323
------------------------------------------
- Maximum Ratio Limit for C01.......... : 23 (3500 MHz)
- Maximum Ratio Limit for C02.......... : 23 (3500 MHz)

IA32_ENERGY_PERF_BIAS............(0x1B0) : 0x1
------------------------------------------
- Power Policy Preference...............: 1 (highest performance)

MSR_POWER_CTL....................(0x1FC) : 0x24005F
------------------------------------------
- Bi-Directional Processor Hot..........: 1 (enabled)
- C1E Enable............................: 1 (enabled)

MSR_RAPL_POWER_UNIT..............(0x606) : 0xA0E03
------------------------------------------
- Power Units.......................... : 3 (1/8 Watt)
- Energy Status Units.................. : 14 (61 micro-Joules)
- Time Units .......................... : 10 (976.6 micro-Seconds)

MSR_PKG_POWER_LIMIT..............(0x610) : 0x4280C800DD8078
------------------------------------------
- Package Power Limit #1............... : 15 Watt
- Enable Power Limit #1................ : 1 (enabled)
- Package Clamping Limitation #1....... : 1 (allow going below OS-requested P/T state during Time Window for Power Limit #1)
- Time Window for Power Limit #1....... : 110 (163840 milli-Seconds)
- Package Power Limit #2............... : 25 Watt
- Enable Power Limit #2................ : 1 (enabled)
- Package Clamping Limitation #2....... : 0 (disabled)
- Time Window for Power Limit #2....... : 33 (10 milli-Seconds)
- Lock................................. : 0 (MSR not locked)

MSR_PKG_ENERGY_STATUS............(0x611) : 0x104D9A31
------------------------------------------
- Total Energy Consumed................ : 16694 Joules (Watt = Joules / seconds)

MSR_PKG_POWER_INFO...............(0x614) : 0x78
------------------------------------------
- Thermal Spec Power................... : 15 Watt
- Minimum Power........................ : 0
- Maximum Power........................ : 0
- Maximum Time Window.................. : 0

MSR_PP0_POWER_LIMIT..............(0x638) : 0x0

MSR_PP0_ENERGY_STATUS............(0x639) : 0xBC5FCC4
------------------------------------------
- Total Energy Consumed................ : 12055 Joules (Watt = Joules / seconds)

MSR_TURBO_ACTIVATION_RATIO.......(0x64C) : 0x0

MSR_PKGC6_IRTL...................(0x60b) : 0x8876
MSR_PKG_C2_RESIDENCY.............(0x60d) : 0x1078A91A38C
MSR_PKG_C3_RESIDENCY.............(0x3f8) : 0x4CAAA4F23F
MSR_PKG_C6_RESIDENCY.............(0x3f9) : 0x48E4413C0DA

IA32_TSC_DEADLINE................(0x6E0) : 0xB9787BE9429

IA32_PM_ENABLE...................(0x770) : 0x1 (HWP Supported and Enabled)

IA32_HWP_CAPABILITIES............(0x771) : 0x1091B23
-----------------------------------------
- Highest Performance.................. : 35
- Guaranteed Performance............... : 27
- Most Efficient Performance........... : 9
- Lowest Performance................... : 1

IA32_HWP_INTERRUPT...............(0x773) : 0x1
------------------------------------------
- Guaranteed Performance Change........ : 1 (Interrupt generated on change of)
- Excursion Minimum.................... : 0 (Interrupt generation disabled)

IA32_HWP_REQUEST................(0x774) : 0x80182304
-----------------------------------------
- Minimum Performance................. : 4
- Maximum Performance................. : 35
- Desired Performance................. : 24
- Energy Efficient Performance........ : 128
- Activity Window..................... : 0, 0
- Package Control..................... : 0

IA32_HWP_STATUS..................(0x777) : 0x0
-----------------------------------------
- Guaranteed Performance Change....... : 0 (has not occured)
- Excursion To Minimum................ : 0 (has not occured)

CPU Ratio Info:
------------------------------------------
Base Clock Frequency (BLCK)............. : 100 MHz
Maximum Efficiency Ratio/Frequency.......:  4 ( 400 MHz)
Maximum non-Turbo Ratio/Frequency........: 29 (2900 MHz)
Maximum Turbo Ratio/Frequency............: 35 (3500 MHz)

IGPU Info:
------------------------------------------
IGPU Current Frequency...................:    0 MHz
IGPU Minimum Frequency...................:  300 MHz
IGPU Maximum Non-Turbo Frequency.........:  300 MHz
IGPU Maximum Turbo Frequency.............: 1050 MHz
IGPU Maximum limit.......................: No Limit

P-State ratio * 100 = Frequency in MHz
------------------------------------------
CPU C3-Cores [ 0 1 2 3 ]
CPU C6-Cores [ 0 1 2 3 ]
CPU P-States [ 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 ] iGPU P-States [ 18 21 24 27 30 ]

Oh, there's still room for improvement: I have to enable SSD power management and to test this thermal management hack: http://www.ultrabookreview.com/10395-dell-xps-13-9550-iris-540

 

[RaymondXie]

Today I tried to swap my 1535. Unfortunately, I incautiously broke the AUX port of my 1535 and my black antenna.
Is it OK that I only connected the white antenna and the Main port of BCMcard. My 9360 is totally the same with yours, so I used your EFI folder but didn't find where to open WiFi and AirDrop.
Could you please help me? Thanks a lot!
Edit：After rebooting, WiFi is working! Bluetooth seems unable to connect my Android but AirDrop is working! But I don't know why my camera light couldn't close after using camera, and when I want to use camera it can not be connected(by FaceTime etc.).

 

[R.MnTnA]

Just want to inform you all that today I received my usb-c to HDMI adapter, usb-c to usb-a adapter, usb-c power delivery charger and microsd card reader flush adapter, so expect a new wave of R&D.

@bozma88 were you able to try the HDMI adapter to a TV to test if you get audio and video output?

 

[CosminCucu]

Today I tried to swap my 1535. Unfortunately, I incautiously broke the AUX port of my 1535 and my black antenna.
Is it OK that I only connected the white antenna and the Main port of BCMcard. My 9360 is totally the same with yours, so I used your EFI folder but didn't find where to open WiFi and AirDrop.
Could you please help me? Thanks a lot!
Edit：After rebooting, WiFi is working! Bluetooth seems unable to connect my Android but AirDrop is working! But I don't know why my camera light couldn't close after using camera, and when I want to use camera it can not be connected(by FaceTime etc.).

How did you manage to install WiFi ? i copied all the files in the efi folder, and restarted multiple times, but still no wi-fi (Yes, i have a new BCM94352z card).

 

[landmarker]

How did you manage to install WiFi ? i copied all the files in the efi folder, and restarted multiple times, but still no wi-fi (Yes, i have a new BCM94352z card).

After install, copy the two Brcm... .kext packages into /System/Library/Extensions

For each package, run:
sudo chown -R root:wheel [filename]
sudo chmod -R 755 [filename]

Reboot.