[Guide] Thinkpad X1 Yoga (3rd Gen) 20LD with Mojave

[shockingpants]

FWIW, I don’t have the Bluetooth missing after sleep problem but I’m also using a dw1830 instead of the dw1560 card so that could be the cause.

In order to get BT to run trouble free I had to change the port to internal using @headkaze hackintool and remove the unused ports (HS05/HS06/USR1/USR2) and create the usbports Kext.

Don’t know if this is helpful, but I do lose Bluetooth when I boot into OSX after I’ve been on windows. The issue seems to be a SMC Key (bluetoothactivecontrollerinfo if I recall correctly). If I delete it with nvram -d and reboot it comes back.

@Cabriolet I can confirm thunderbolt is working. It only shows up when you have a thunderbolt device plugged in at boot and there’s obviously no hot plug. But had no problem with the Lenovo TB3 docks at work.

@shockingpants can you watch iTunes drm content? I get full hw encoding (confirmed with videoproc) but no shikiflags or combination of settings I can find can fix the issue.

@bigredarthur

Interesting, so usbports.kext is an alternate codeless version of SSDT-UIAC.aml. I have never used it before but definitely worth a try for a 'cleaner' DDST.aml. For those interested, here is a link to the tool.

I never watched iTunes drm content before, so that wasn't on my radar when troubleshooting. I just tried watching something on iTunes and all I saw was black, so I guess I have the same problem and no solution for now.

 

[shockingpants]

Thanks for the update shockingpants. I've been following the Lenovo forums as well and am dismayed by their lack of acknowledgment of the power issues.

1) I would perhaps try to find the most recent Dell drivers for your wi-fi card. I swapped in a DW1830 instead of the DW1560 (added an antenna) and with the latest bios update and wifi drivers, I'm getting better battery life on Windows (~6-7 hours at 40% screen brightness.) Still testing, but will update as I learn more. I can't recall exactly how I found the most recent 1830 drivers, but it took some digging through the dell support page (i.e. not just a google search).

I'm curious about the DW1830. How/where did you add the third antenna? Did you have to disconnect the LCD and route the antenna around the display like the other 2?

 

[bigredarthur]

I'm curious about the DW1830. How/where did you add the third antenna? Did you have to disconnect the LCD and route the antenna around the display like the other 2?

I added it behind the lcd where the wwan antenna would go according to the hardware maintenance manual. You can actually take the screen out without having to disassemble the entire top panel. Just pop off the bottom bezel, unscrew the tiny pcb, disconnect the two cables, and then slide the lcd down. Be very careful with the lcd - it should slide down without much force.

Once the lcd is out, it’s easy to route the antenna down the side and through the hinge. You don’t need to remove the hinge — there’s a small piece that holds the wires in place you can pop out. Once you do that you can route the new antenna lead with the existing ones. After that you just need to take off the bottom cover and connect the antenna. Voila!

Definitely not the easiest mod I’ve done but also not that difficult. You just need to be diligent and move very slowly

 

[janeru]

Hello! I'm wondering if the things that were not working in the original post have been resolved to any extent? Overall, do you think that the X1 Yoga with macOS is stable and usable enough for daily usage? Appreciate your help.

 

[shockingpants]

I don't see why not. The in-built microsd card reader works if you configure USB correctly, battery no longer drains significantly on sleep with the right ACPI changes. I have not been able to program multi gesture on the touchpad successfully, so if you need it, it'll be a bit of an inconvenience. The sensitivity of the touchpad is also a little different from mac's touchpads. Connecting external displays isn't always the smoothest experience either, though there are fixes.

So, in terms of functionality, the X1Y has pretty much everything a Mac has. In terms of the user experience and troubleshooting, it does take some getting used to. Nevertheless, it is definitely a capable daily driver.

 

[janeru]

Thanks for your reply! Have you found that OS updates tend to go smoothly or sometimes break your configuration?

 

[shockingpants]

I only did it once and it has worked so far. I generally don't update for fear of breaking the comp >< I also keep a full backup of the hard disk using CCC before updating, and a copy of the EFI files on a separate bootable USB in case of kernel panic.

 

[janeru]

Hmm, I'm almost ready to buy this computer and hackintosh it, but the updates are the only thing scaring me. I see online that macOS updates tend to come out once every month or two. Do all your apps and such keep working if you don't update as frequently?

 

[shockingpants]

Of course! I have Hackintoshes on high sierra and apps + software works just fine.

Not updating doesn't really do anything bad to your comp except for the occasional security updates which you may want to keep up to date. Apps will continue to work, software will continue to work.

You can check out the Mojave changes here https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209149 , and decide if the changes are worth the upgrade. In most cases, upgrading is as simple as clicking the upgrade pop up.

You should definitely try it out within the return period before deciding if you want to keep it.

 

[JomanJi]

Hello, have you updated to 10.14.4? If so do you still have 4K output support? I'm having issues getting it to work on my 1st gen yoga...