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

[torvaldz]

Ok, so I've got this far:

-Found the original kext in the in the install image, deleted the one from /S/L/E and installed (via terminal) the original install image one.
-Ran the script to generate the AppleHDA_ALC256.kext
-Copied AppleHDA_ALC256.kext to the desktop and edited the .plist with xcode.

I'm assuming that I'm editing the LayoutID for the newly created entry in the patched kext info.plist , as there are three LayoutID entries now, the original has two??

Then where do I go with the Info.plist edited kext? Do I rename it to AppleHDA.kext and replace the vanilla in /S/L/E or do I replace the AppleHDA_ALC256.kext in /L/E?

It seems that @the-darkvoid has added the new layout id in the patch, try moving the patched AppleHDA_ALC256.kext in L/E without editing the .plist. Update kext cache and reboot twice.

 

[markmark2]

AppleHDA_ALC256.kext is likely an AppleHDA injector, therefore should be installed to /L/E.
AppleHDA.kext should remain untouched (original as installed by the macOS installer).

Thanks, restored my backup of the originally installed kext.

 

[markmark2]

It seems that @the-darkvoid has added the new layout id in the patch, try moving the patched AppleHDA_ALC256.kext in L/E without editing the .plist. Update kext cache and reboot twice.

I guess you mean leave it where the script puts it (/L/E)? Just ran the script again with the original installed AppleHDA.kext reinstalled in /S/L/E. I'll update the kext cache and reboot twice and see how it goes.....

Ok, rebooted twice and no audio. Then removed codeccommander and then rebooted twice. Still not audio.

Attached is the patched injector kext.

 

[hpbrown]

Hi
I've spent quite a bit of time trying to get my 9360 High Sierra config running. I have video, audio working but without USB-C and Power Management, I can't really work with this laptop and forced to stick to Windows . Fore sure it's related to SSDT patching. I've read tons of guides & forums, changed DVMT, but I've reached the point that I'm about to give up.
I'm attaching my DSDT folder generated via Clover F4. Could one of the experts in the forum help me to generate the necessary SSDT patches? many thanks in advance
Hope someone will be able to help

 

[jafd]

Just chiming in for a quick heads up: there is new firmware, 0.2.7.1 (previous: 0.2.6.2). The list of updates is:

1. Improve startup stability when the RTC battery voltage is low
2. Support eGFX devices

I don't know if updating will mess with UEFI variables for DVMT and similar. Bugfixes, of course, are most welcome.

I was running HS on my system #3 (from an external SSD), and overall it's good, but... the CPU was running rather hot. I've used darkvoid's pack, checked that there was nothing CPU-specific in SSDTs supplied, but somehow vanilla speedstepping was not on par with Linux's. Maybe changing the internal SSD to SATA would improve things.

On a side note, is replacing PCIe M.2 SSD with a SATA one improve power consumption characteristics on other OSes, too? I'm replacing the stock Toshiba one with a WD Blue, four times the capacity. My goal is to have as travel-friendly and mobile system as it gets.

 

[Thantor]

1.3 GHz minimum frequency is per Apple's design. That is the same on Skylake/Kaby Lake MacBook Pros, might be like that on older/other platforms too.
You may have a look at X86PlatformPluginInjector.kext, which is a safer alternative to freqVectorsEdit.sh (No need to patch X86PlatformPlugin.kext)
You can go 0.8 GHz, even lower I guess. LFM here is set on 0.4 GHz. From a short test I get to ~0.45 GHz. May go to solid 0.4 if I give it some more time to idle...

Tried that, and worked great. Idle power consumption of the cpu is now around 0.7 Watt, the Intel Power Gadget still shows 1.3 GHz, but I have now the same power consumption that was measured under Windows. Idle power consumption of the whole system (Still has the NVME SSD) is now around 5-6 Watt. For simple tasks (Safari, Matlab-Coding, Microsoft Office) the power consumption is between 6-9 Watt, far better then before, now I have better battery times then under windows 10 It would be interesting to change the SSD, does somebody know, if the High Sierra native NVME SSD support also comes with acceptable power management or is this still a problem ?

 

[jkbuha]

Just chiming in for a quick heads up: there is new firmware, 0.2.7.1 (previous: 0.2.6.2). The list of updates is:

1. Improve startup stability when the RTC battery voltage is low
2. Support eGFX devices

I don't know if updating will mess with UEFI variables for DVMT and similar. Bugfixes, of course, are most welcome.

Yeah I picked this up too. Changes look minimal tbh, apart from a version bump to the embedded controller. The support for eGPUs looks interesting - wonder what's actually happened on the PCIe front. Interesting to see if there will be any changes on macOS, nothing obvious so far.

Anyone that's on 2.6.2 already might want to consider this upgrade. Will report back when I've run some tests.

 

[globalby]

I've successfully installed macOS High Sierra on XPS 13 9360 (but that model has i7-8550U instead of i7-7500U)
Everything fine (except Dell TB15 dock, two screens is detected as one, USB ports do not work, however thunderbolt hot-plug works after updating BIOS)
Now I've got BCM94352z wifi/bt card and tried to install it
It's E-keyed and fits, but I'm struggling with attaching black wire to it, while white wire connected just fine
Does I accidentally broke black wire or I need to try harder?)

 

[Thantor]

I've successfully installed macOS High Sierra on XPS 13 9360 (but that model has i7-8550U instead of i7-7500U)
Everything fine (except Dell TB15 dock, two screens is detected as one, USB ports do not work, however thunderbolt hot-plug works after updating BIOS)
Now I've got BCM94352z wifi/bt card and tried to install it
It's E-keyed and fits, but I'm struggling with attaching black wire to it, while white wire connected just fine
Does I accidentally broke black wire or I need to try harder?)

Had nearly the same problem, in my case the BCM94352z wifi/bt card that I have ordered from eBay had a slightly bent connector "circle" on the black connector, so the female connector was more an elipse then a perfect circle, you could take a sharp look on the connector or easily check that by connecting the black wire to the white connector on your card. You could also try to connect your black wire to your old card, as I have seen the connectors on the cable are far more stable then the connectors on the wifi card, so it is unlikely that you have destroyed them... If this works fine, the connector on the card is the problem. I easily fixed this problem by carefully bending the connector on the card to a better circle with a plastic tool...

 

[globalby]

Had nearly the same problem, in my case the BCM94352z wifi/bt card that I have ordered from eBay had a slightly bent connector "circle" on the black connector, so the female connector was more an elipse then a perfect circle, you could take a sharp look on the connector or easily check that by connecting the black wire to the white connector on your card. You could also try to connect your black wire to your old card, as I have seen the connectors on the cable are far more stable then the connectors on the wifi card, so it is unlikely that you have destroyed them... If this works fine, the connector on the card is the problem. I easily fixed this problem by carefully bending the connector on the card to a better circle with a plastic tool...

Thank you for fast reply! I will try it later and will update this post

UPD: the real answer - try harder! And problem wasn't in cables
Before placing new module in slot - disable WIFI and Bluetooth in BIOS
I'm not sure, what cause of the issue, but maybe that's because Power Share was enabled
But now I have new problem: bluetooth just doesn't works