[Guide] Sony Vaio E Series (2012) - e.g. SVE1711X1EB

[PokeHerOne]

I have a near fully functional HackBook Pro. The only thing that isn't working in Graphics Acceleration, everything else works! (Well everything that I care about)

Current 'To Do' List:
+ Enable Graphics Acceleration for QE/CI
+ Fix Bluetooth
+ Come up with a better trackpad solution

Whilst this works on a SVE1711X1EB, it should also work on other Sony Vaio E Series (2012) laptops, providing you have the same hardware.

Here is my hardware:
CPU: Intel Core i7 3612QM Ivy Bridge
RAM: 8GB 1600Mhz DDR3
Graphics: HD4000 Integrated (No video output) / AMD Radeon HD 7650M 2GB
SSD: 90GB Corsair Force GT SSD
HDD: 750GB Western Digital HDD 5400RPM
Display: 1920 x 1080

I have set up a dual boot with Windows 8, I am not going to explain how to do that, there are plenty of guides online

You will notice that I have 2 hard drives in my Laptop. I replaced the pre-installed WD 750GB with the SSD. Then I bought a Hard Drive caddy that fits into the optical bay, you obviously lose the optical drive but that's no issue for me. If you want it, here is what I bought: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0074AWDI6/?tag=tonymacx86-21 it fits nice and you get to keep your existing bezel.

I have included a modded bios, this mod unlocks hidden options if you want to configure anything. I asked for the mod because I needed to set my hard drive to AHCI mode but it's already set by default (I thought that was the answer to an early 'Still waiting for root device' error but it was a red-herring). I also wanted to set the VRAM for the HD4000 graphics to work, but I then discovered that there is no video output So whilst you can get as far as me without an unlocked bios, I have included it anyway. Please ensure that you have the same bios version as me (R0230E6), don't flash it if you are unsure, I won't be held responsible for what happens if you flash this mod so please do so at your own risk. Flashing your BIOS could brick your laptop

GUIDE
Note: If you have the very same hardware as me, you can use my DSDT (attached)

1. Go to eBay and purchase a 'Half Size Atheros AR9287 Mini PCI-E' WiFi card. Mine cost me just under £10 (~$15). This only applies if you have the Atheros AR9485 Card and you want to use WiFi. That card wasn't supported with OSX and will probably never work.

2. Create UniBeast USB http://tonymacx86.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/unibeast-install-mac-os-x-lion-using.html

3. Download the attached pack and drop the 'Install' folder to the root of the USB.

4. Boot from UniBeast with boot flags:

GraphicsEnabler=No -f UseKernelCache=No

to get to the setup screen. Setup your new HackBook Pro.

5. When at the Desktop, drop the 'Install' folder that you put on your USB to the desktop

6. Run Multi-Beast select these options (You need to do the Lnx2Mac Realtek one separately and on it's own otherwise the installer doesn't load, not sure why):

If you dont have a 1920x1080 screen res, use 'Chameleon Wizard' to set your screen res, or edit the chameloen.plist directly

7. Install 'Lacie-USB-3.0-Driver.1.0.10.dmg' as the one from MB doesn't appear to install correctly for me.

8. Put the kexts included in the Install folder on the desktop and run KextBeast. (For some reason, you must install the IOUSBFamily.kext again and last otherwise USBs don't work), so delete all other kexts from the desktop and run KB again. Drop VoodooPS2.PrefPane into /Library/PreferancePanes/ (Not System/Library/PreferencePanes)

9. Remove USB and reboot and cross your fingers.

10. If successful, you should boot ok and you should be in 1920x1080 screen res (or whatever you set)

11. You should have the WiFi icon in your menu bar, simply connect to your network, it should just work.

12. Now due to having no Graphics Acceleration, I would recommend installing a different Internet Browser. I think Safari uses your Graphics Card a lot and you will get a lot of flickering and long delays. I recommend Chrome, that runs nice, I haven't tested any others.


What Works:
+ Audio
+ USB 2.0
+ USB 3.0
+ WiFi
+ Ethernet
+ Battery Sensor
+ Sleep / Wake
+ Trackpad
+ Power Management (Sleep, Restart, Shutdown)
+ Bootloader with Dual Boot for Win8
+ Mobo Sensors (HWApp)
+ App Store / iCloud
+ Web Cam (Although Slow due no no gfx acceleration?)

What doesn't work:
+ Graphics Acceleration (No QE/CI)
+ Bluetooth

Untested
+ HDMI Audio (Cannot Test due to no HDMI visual)
+ Optical Drive

Current 'To Do' List:
+ Enable Graphics Acceleration for QE/CI
+ Fix Bluetooth
+ Come up with a better trackpad solution

Enable Graphics Acceleration for QE/CI
First off, the 7650M card is not supported. So I went out to try to enable the HD4000 integrated card. I used the latest Chimera, Set all HD4000PlatformIds, Injected every EFI string, generated my own EFI strings using the device Id and gfxutil. Then I discovered that there is no video output for this laptop I discovered this by setting the default card to IGPU in the BIOS (DO NOT DO THIS!) I ended up with no screen and had to put it back to AUTO from memory! Took me a while and was a little scary.
So then I heard rumours of there being an ATI7000Controller kext in 10.8.3 beta! I'm a member of the Mac Developer Program so I updated, this gave me lots of problems so I am not in too much of a hurry to update again (broke my WiFi, audio, USB). I followed guides to change the info.plist of the ATI7000Controller.kext to include the 7650 device id which is 0x6841. I added this in the AGPM kext too, no luck. Then I set out to inject via DSDT, again no luck. So if someone wants to pick this up, feel free and please update here of your progress.

Fix Bluetooth
Not something I am interested in, so I won't be spending time on it but if someone else wants to have a go, I'll update this post with your progress

Come up with a better trackpad solution
Currently, I am using the VoodooPS2Controller to manage my trackpad, it has some basic gestures and is generally good. It will work as a mouse without this kext. Using the kext, you lose the 'click-through' functionality which I like. I want a kind of 'bit of both'. I haven't spent any time looking into this but if someone else has, please let me know

Please post here if you run into issues, I may be able to help!
Good Luck

 

[passmaster16]

Poke, were you ever able to get QE/CI working on your hackbook? I just picked up a Vaio SVE1712BCXB which has the 7550m http://www.docs.sony.com/release/specs/SVE1712BCXB_mksp.pdf and trying to decide if I should keep it or not. If you were unable to get your 7650m working under 10.8.3 with the new kexts, that doesn't give me much confidence. I can't imagine using a system with 7mb of vram can be much fun

 

[PokeHerOne]

Hi mate, I'm afraid not. I haven't spent any time on this in a while, I am waiting for the public release of 10.8.3 but it seems to be taking forever
7mb vram is pretty awful but it's usable if you just want to browse the web and general use etc.

 

[canleon]

What about the Graphics Acceleration now?
I need it urgently for FCPX.
10.8.3 is out and there are new Kexts.
So, what about it?

 

[PokeHerOne]

Nope. I'm afraid not. The 7650m is not in the supported card list, but the device id is in the ATI7000Controller kext, so I am assuming that it should work. Will be spending some more time on it over the next few days. Will update here if I get anywhere.

 

[canleon]

What is this: Sony_Vaio_SVE1711z1eb_unlocked.zip

 

[PokeHerOne]

It's an bios mod to unlock extra advanced config. You won't need it to hackintosh with (at least yet). Only use it if you know what it is and what to do with it as you could brick your laptop if you're not careful!

 

[canleon]

My Laptop don't get to setup screen. Please help me!!
I did everything right!
Should I install the mod bios?

 

[PokeHerOne]

Add -v to your boot flags. So boot with :

UseKernelCache=No GraphicsEnabler=No -f -v

Take a picture of where it gets stuck and upload it here. You could also try adding -x to boot in safe mode.

 

[canleon]

Thank You! It don´t works.
This screen with: UseKernelCache=No GraphicsEnabler=No -f -v

And this with: GraphicsEnabler=No -f UseKernelCache=No

I ask you again: should I install the mod bios, if so how?