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

[the-darkvoid]

For those wanting to test, the latest commit 53f2aa8 now has an SSDT implementing the required EC queries for displaying temperatures in HWMonitor through FakeSMC.

 

[the-darkvoid]

@jkbuha,

While looking into ACPI WMI queries for system information functions (fan speeds), I came across this tidbit in the Dell Command Powershell module:

BiosIntegrityCheck: Enables or disables the BIOS integrity check during the booting process

Maybe this helps you flash (or maintain) your modified BIOS?

Reference:
https://www.dell.com/support/manual...122a7f-48a9-4f38-ab12-71748d7fdcdd&lang=en-us

 

[jkbuha]

Thanks - tried that a few months ago & soft-bricked laptop. Only way to recover from that was to use the RCV flash drive method, courtesy of @hackintose et al.

The actual bypass (which Powershell doesn't seem to have) is to disable Verified Boot, but I suspect that's hard-wired into Dell's POST algo, which is proprietary. Can't seem to find a way around this, not even enabling the "Reserved for Dell Personal (sic)" option in bios. The other method is to hard-SPI flash everything back onto the Winbond, but again, Dell have thought of this by implementing a WSON-8 package which makes pin reading on the board all but impossible.

I'm sure there is a software work-around, it just hasn't been (publicly) found yet.

 

[jkbuha]

For those wanting to test, the latest commit 53f2aa8 now has an SSDT implementing the required EC queries for displaying temperatures in HWMonitor through FakeSMC.

Nice one. Quick question - are you using the standard HWMonitor app or did you have to add in a specific set of fields to monitor?

 

[cerberettin]

Is it possible to make the Thunderbolt 3 port hot pluggable?

 

[the-darkvoid]

Nice one. Quick question - are you using the standard HWMonitor app or did you have to add in a specific set of fields to monitor?

Standard app, the sensors should show automatically after adding the SSDT.
If you used HWMonitor before, you might have to wipe the preferences. I've noticed its a bit clingy on keeping old sensors around even though they are not defined anymore in the SSDT.

 

[the-darkvoid]

Is it possible to make the Thunderbolt 3 port hot pluggable?

Thunderbolt (and its firmware) is still ever evolving. I believe Thunderbolt hotplug can be done, though it requires either a custom driver on macOS side or placing the Thunderbolt controller (through ACPI maybe?) in a mode where Apple drivers can use it.

 

[the-darkvoid]

@jkbuha,

As mentioned in another thread I just posted, I have now developed FakeSMC_SMMSensors.kext.
This allows reading (and if we extend it, also controlling) fans in the system as well as temperature sensors.

Its in the latest macOS-XPS9360 commit on my github repo.

 

[vinodv]

Hi,

I am on 10.13.4 at the moment and can't seem to update to 10.13.6. The update downloads successfully (I've tried both AppStore and explicitly running the combo updater). It shows "Installing system update" for about 10seconds with the progress bar barely started and then says "Restarting" and restarts. It boots in 10.13.4 without issue. I have darkvoid's latest CLOVER folder and Clover r4617.

Any ideas? Is there an installer log or some such saved somewhere I can look at?

Thanks,
Vin

 

[the-darkvoid]

Hi,
It boots in 10.13.4 without issue. I have darkvoid's latest CLOVER folder and Clover r4617.

Any ideas? Is there an installer log or some such saved somewhere I can look at?

When it reboots, it shows more than one boot option for macOS, pick the "Install macOS" one which just appeared.
After the update is done, it disappears again.