[Guide] Native Power Management for Laptops

[RehabMan]

When was it ever getting truncated? What do you mean by truncated?

It is pretty common when trying to use a Broadwell SMBIOS (eg. MacBookAir7,1), where you see the model identifier truncated in ioreg 'MacBookAir7'.

I'll try the Ivy Bridge workarounds sometime today.
I can get the SSDT's from a real MacbookAir7,2 too then. What might you recommend for extraction?

I usually extract with Clover F4, or Linux.

 

[thePSguy]

It is pretty common when trying to use a Broadwell SMBIOS (eg. MacBookAir7,1), where you see the model identifier truncated in ioreg 'MacBookAir7'.

Nopes never had that. Shows correctly with MacbookAir7,2 SMBIOS even now.
My ioreg after the smbios details of a real macbook air: View attachment Ps.ioreg

ps: My power management seems to work better with non broadwell SMBIOS. I have tried Air6,2 and Pro 11,1.

I usually extract with Clover F4, or Linux.

Well, this friend of mine, I assume, would not want clover or linux in his macbook air just for this.

 

[RehabMan]

Nopes never had that. Shows correctly with MacbookAir7,2 SMBIOS even now.
My ioreg after the smbios details of a real macbook air: View attachment 162252

ps: My power management seems to work better with non broadwell SMBIOS. I have tried Air6,2 and Pro 11,1.

Are you keeping all CPU OEM SSDTs?

FYI: I can't figure out why you'd be using the FnKeys kext...

I wonder if the behavior of idle states differs depending on whether on battery or AC power?

Well, this friend of mine, I assume, would not want clover or linux in his macbook air just for this.

No need to install. You can boot either via USB.

You can get a partial extract (no dynamic tables) with 'patchmatic -extract'.

 

[thePSguy]

Are you keeping all CPU OEM SSDTs?

FYI: I can't figure out why you'd be using the FnKeys kext...

I keep only my DSDT and this Power Management SSDT in the ACPI/patched. No other SSDT was required for any patch, so I didn't place them there. I am not dropping anything either.

The Fn Keys kext enables the fn keys and also some other bios feature toggles like a conservation mode while charging, toggling cleaning mode on fan, and switching between fn keys and F1-F12 keys.

No need to install. You can boot either via USB.

You can get a partial extract (no dynamic tables) with 'patchmatic -extract'.

I'll look into it.

 

[RehabMan]

I keep only my DSDT and this Power Management SSDT in the ACPI/patched. No other SSDT was required for any patch, so I didn't place them there. I am not dropping anything either.

Are you using DropOem=true?

Keep in mind renames need to be applied equally across DSDT and SSDTs.

The Fn Keys kext enables the fn keys and also some other bios feature toggles like a conservation mode while charging, toggling cleaning mode on fan, and switching between fn keys and F1-F12 keys.

That kext tends to be slow for the brightness keys is all...

 

[thePSguy]

Are you using DropOem=true?

No, I'm not.

Keep in mind renames need to be applied equally across DSDT and SSDTs.

Been some time now, since my DSDT state of mind. I did not patch any SSDT's I'm sure. Ill have to look into that then, I don't even remember what all patches my DSDT has.

That kext tends to be slow for the brightness keys is all...

Yes I noticed that, but it has its perks!

 

[RehabMan]

No, I'm not.
...
Been some time now, since my DSDT state of mind. I did not patch any SSDT's I'm sure. Ill have to look into that then, I don't even remember what all patches my DSDT has.

Well, somehow GFX0 is being renamed to IGPU. In general, there will be more GFX0 references throughout the SSDTs. If you're using OEM SSDTs, those references will not line up with the DSDT you're using.

 

[thePSguy]

Well, somehow GFX0 is being renamed to IGPU. In general, there will be more GFX0 references throughout the SSDTs. If you're using OEM SSDTs, those references will not line up with the DSDT you're using.

Oh okay. Thank You! I'll look into it soon. Exams and all.. (._.)

 

[passmaster16]

I've been struggling with some instabilities with my SONY VAIO E Series SVE1712BCXB in both 10.9 and now 10.11 which I'm wondering if they are power management related. The instabilities present themselves in one of two ways: 1.) Sometimes I'll get a kernel panic immediately after Clover attempts to boot the OS (see attached capture of kp) or 2.) The OS will fully boot to a desktop and when I start working as normal (launch browser, apps, etc), the machine will suddenly it will power cycle itself -- usually within a minute or two of the bootup. Typically when either scenario happens, a restart of the system will clear it up and the system will be rock solid from that point forward for extended periods of usage even under more stressful activity.

This machine has an Intel Core i5 3210M 2.5 GHz CPU which uses the Ivy Bridge architecture. As such, I'm using the MacBook Pro 9,2 SMBios which I believe is the closest match for this processor.

In my first attempt to get power management working, I tried to use Pike's ssdtPRgen.sh to generate the SSDT.aml but have not had any luck using the output with Clover. I get a total of 4 .aml files from the script: SSDT.aml, SSDT-1.aml, SSDT-2.aml, SSDT-3.aml. When I put the SSDT.aml or any combination of these files in Clover's ACPI directory, I get a black screen at boot. I had similar issues using this method with 10.9.

Then I found about the -xcpm argument and gave it a try since it's supposed to be compatible with Ivy Bridge CPUs. When xcpm is enabled, the machine definitely manages the CPU better than without it. Speedstep and turbo boost work well according to Intel Power Gadget app. However I'm wondering if xcpm is causing these occasional instabilities. In particular I was curious if this could be related to the locked MSR 0xE2 register that is known to cause issues with xcpm. Is there any way that I can isolate if this is the cause or am I possibly going down the wrong path thinking this is power management related at all? I had these same instabilities with 10.9 and was using xcpm on there as well as it was the only way I could get any power management functional.

Thx in advance

 

[RehabMan]

I've been struggling with some instabilities with my SONY VAIO E Series SVE1712BCXB in both 10.9 and now 10.11 which I'm wondering if they are power management related. The instabilities present themselves in one of two ways: 1.) Sometimes I'll get a kernel panic immediately after Clover attempts to boot the OS (see attached capture of kp) or 2.) The OS will fully boot to a desktop and when I start working as normal (launch browser, apps, etc), the machine will suddenly it will power cycle itself -- usually within a minute or two of the bootup. Typically when either scenario happens, a restart of the system will clear it up and the system will be rock solid from that point forward for extended periods of usage even under more stressful activity.

This machine has an Intel Core i5 3210M 2.5 GHz CPU which uses the Ivy Bridge architecture. As such, I'm using the MacBook Pro 9,2 SMBios which I believe is the closest match for this processor.

In my first attempt to get power management working, I tried to use Pike's ssdtPRgen.sh to generate the SSDT.aml but have not had any luck using the output with Clover. I get a total of 4 .aml files from the script: SSDT.aml, SSDT-1.aml, SSDT-2.aml, SSDT-3.aml. When I put the SSDT.aml or any combination of these files in Clover's ACPI directory, I get a black screen at boot. I had similar issues using this method with 10.9.

Then I found about the -xcpm argument and gave it a try since it's supposed to be compatible with Ivy Bridge CPUs. When xcpm is enabled, the machine definitely manages the CPU better than without it. Speedstep and turbo boost work well according to Intel Power Gadget app. However I'm wondering if xcpm is causing these occasional instabilities. In particular I was curious if this could be related to the locked MSR 0xE2 register that is known to cause issues with xcpm. Is there any way that I can isolate if this is the cause or am I possibly going down the wrong path thinking this is power management related at all? I had these same instabilities with 10.9 and was using xcpm on there as well as it was the only way I could get any power management functional.

Thx in advance

-xcpm should be avoided unless you absolutely need it (usually only need with 'U' CPU and MacBookAir SMBIOS). Apple Ivy Macs do not use it.

Make sure you read post #1 regarding ssdtPRgen.sh use.

Also refer to ACPI patching guide: http://www.tonymacx86.com/el-capitan-laptop-support/152573-guide-patching-laptop-dsdt-ssdts.html