Dear all,
After reading many threads for more than a week and reading countless posts while trying to install Mac OS X Sierra 10.12.2 on my Lenovo Flex 2-14, I would like to share my progress, perhaps to be able to assist others while trying to accomplish the same.
I'd appreciate feedback on my build (what would I be able to improve for example) and I'll try to provide input to anyone who's asking. Bear in mind I have limited experience in coding, building custom kexts and such, so I might struck out in my attempts.
For info, this is my 2nd attempt at trying to get a laptop running on Mac OS X. My first attempt was many years ago before a lot of members joined, and back then it wasn't as "easy" as it is today, thanks to the hard work of many.
Also, back then my patience level was a lot different. I just wanted a quick working solution to try out Mac OS X, without having to pay top dollar on the hardware. Telling you this on forehand, as patience is a virtue on attempts like these.
Credits:
Thanks to RehabMan (it's unreal how often your name has popped up, providing the solution to my problem), Tonymacx86, the Clover team and countless others. Without you paving the way, there's no way I could have accomplished what I've accomplished so far.
Pre-installation:
There's a couple of elements I'd like to point out before you attempt an install like this:
1. Read the guides, re-read the guides and then re-re-read the guides to make sure you're not missing a step.
2. Ensure you backup your initial install. It took me 8 or 9 fresh installs before I figured it out.
3. Take your time. If you are in a hurry, don't attempt to make any progress. Some of these steps can take a while, mostly depending on the fact if you've taken the time to read, re-read and re-re-read the guides before applying a fix.
Hardware:
My configuration is
i3-4030U
6GB RAM
HD 4400 graphics
Not sure about MB, when trying to retrieve info from W10, it shows up as a Lenovo mainboard.
Samsung EVO 850 250GB SSD
Installation:
I've used the guide on this site, no changes made to be honest. The initial installation was a breeze compared to my previous experience (I believe it was iBoot with a SL DVD or something).
Post Installation:
Clover/Multibeast:
I have selected the following options in Multit beast:
- UEFI boot mode
- Drivers:
* RealtekRTL8111 v2.2.1
* 7/8/9/ series USB support
System definition: I've set my installation to MacBook Air 6.2, as from reading some conversations apparently it offers a more favorable power/battery management.
Keyboard:
I've used RehabMan's VoodooPs2Controller.kext from his repo. Seems to be working well, besides some annoyances (see Fix).
Graphics:
- Follow the instructions on:
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...ll-support-for-alternate-cpus-in-os-x.155051/
- Remove the ATI and Nvidia strings in config.plist (NOTE: Use Xcode for editing your config.plist!!)
- Restart your device. Note it may take a little while.
- HDMI output works, including audio. Still have to troubleshoot the fact I cannot use the displays separately, if I try the screens are garbled.
Update: I have also applied the framebuffer patch as described in this thread
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/fix-intel-hd4200-hd4400-hd4600-mobile-on-yosemite.145427/page-19. Appears to work without further glitches.
Wi-Fi:
Currently unsupported. I've opted to use a WLA-2100 and in order to get it going, search for the EW-7811n installer.
Will update this thread once I have received a supported card and post progress.
Update: The card I ordered is a NGFF E key card and this laptop only accepts NGFF A key cards. Tried to make it fit, which worked, but got the 104 unsupported network card message from BIOS. I also tried to put it in while the laptop was running, which did enable BT in Ubuntu, but no WiFi. Decided not to mess with it further (BIOS mods and such) and accept I will have to live with the USB WiFi instead.
Battery:
I have installed the ACPIBatteryManager.kext from RehabMan's repository. I get readings, the only thing that's off is the time remaining in Activity Monitor (it continues mentioning time remaining around 35-40 mins, although I can roughly go unplugged for 3-4 hours, after applying Power Management)
Power Management:
- I've built a custom SSDT (keep DropOEM=false in config.plist for Haswell) with ssdtPRGen.sh via instructions on
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/guide-native-power-management-for-laptops.175801/
- I did the check if the custom SSDT was properly booted using the AppleIntelInfo.kext (be sure to read the README and any other instructions you come across)
USB Ports:
- I've successfully separated my USB2.0 and USB3.0 ports (validated through IORegistryExplorer while plugging in and out USB2.0 and USB3.0 sticks). Followed these instructions:
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/guide-10-11-usb-changes-and-solutions.173616/
- I'm not happy yet with read/write throughput (~20MB/s write/~30MB/s read using Blackmagic) on USB3.0, so I'll have to troubleshoot this (any thoughts, comments, links are welcome!)
Audio:
My laptop is equiped with an ALC233, so my fix was to apply the
VoodooHDA-2.8.8.kext. Haven't really taken this for a spin yet, but seems to be working well. Only thing I noticed (haven't read up on this), is I seem to have feedback on my earplugs when plugging in my Apple earbuds and talking into the microphone. Will report back once I learn more.
Update: Turned out my external mic wasn't working. After much reading about changing PinConfig, I accidentally stumbled upon version 2.8.9 of the VoodooHDA kext. Thought I'd try this first, before trying to work out my issue. This solved the problem, now have full working analog input/output.
Backlight/Brightness fix:
- I followed the instructions (or at least I thought) at
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/guide-patching-dsdt-ssdt-for-laptop-backlight-control.152659/
- After much reading, re-reading, re-re-reading, I started dissecting my DSDT file and noticed I didn't have any reference to the PNFL device. After adding this statement, I now have a slider and a smooth transition when trying to increase or decrease brightness (only funky thing is that my keyboard uses the Fn+Home and Fn+ScrLk buttons to adjust brightness, so I will have to fix that. See Fix)
Fixes:
- I would very much like to learn how to further improve my current setup. I have attached my ioreg file and my custom DSDT/SSDT files. If anyone (RehabMan?) could let me know how to further improve, I would very much appreciate the efforts!
- Tuning my performance. I'd like to squeeze some more time out of my battery juice, so I will read up on some of the posts. Read something about de-activating 2 of the CPU cores, which may help. Suggestions more than welcome.
- Keyboard/touchpad. Annoyingly, my cursor seems to jump from time-to-time. Not sure if it's related to my keystrokes, brushing the touchpad or something else, but I need to improve this. Suggestions are more than welcome!!
- USB performance. I somehow think I should be able to provide better output. Will have to read up on some posts, suggestions of course are welcome.
Hope this helps others. Like I said, feedback is appreciated.
Regards, JP-B.
