macOS Catalina (10.15.2) Razer Blade 2018 (Advanced) Success!

[Armastus]

WOOT! Hey everyone, I've been building Hackintosh machines for awhile now but new to this community. Anyways, I'm Armastus and just wanted to let you all know that I have successfully got a Razer Blade (2018) Advanced (laptop) working fully with Catalina 10.15.2!!!!!!!!!

I spent days over this, so, I want to give back to the community for all their help.

So, I've seen a few folks struggling to get the same model of Razer that I have on Catalina or even Mojave and if anyone here would like me to Post a more up to date tutorial, I'd be more than happy too! I want to thank everyone for all their help!

Just reply to me here if interested and I'll start asap on it!

A few things though that I can't get working and want to clarify (if any have suggestions on these, please let me know) some are not possible and others are minor really but would be nice to haves. Again any suggestions would be nice.

Issues:

AUDIO:

1. Sometimes when going from Windows 10 to Catalina, sound does not come out of speakers. All other audio devices work just fine. Not sure why or how to fix, any help would be greatly appreciated.

KEYBOARD:

1. Razer Blade keyboard effects aren't really adjustable. There is this project that's ongoing osx-razer-blade but effect don't stick, and I think it's because the effect get reset when you boot into windows and then back to macOS. Any suggestions would be great.
   
   You could just also turn off lights altogether though on the keyboard itself (fn+f10) but need to do it each reboot.
2. CAPS button does not light up to signify that CAPS has been activated. Not a deal breaker though.
3. Keyboard lights on default and full brightness on each reboot, but again can just be turned down or off with (fn+f10).

DISPLAY:

1. Screen brightness on full blast after each reboot (macOS only, windows 10 is fine). But not a big deal, just turn down display brightness via keyboard or System Preferences -> Displays manually each time.

Thunderbolt:

1. USB-C to USB2.0 via adapter works (adapter: Amazon)
2. USB-C to USB3.0/3.1 work only when plugged in while device is off and then booted. Not hot swappable when logged into macOS Catalina/Mojave. A bit annoying but not deal breaker.
3. Thunderbolt display - won't work. Hardware tied to NVIDIA driver so it just will not work.
4. Thunderbolt to external GPU - Not tested yet, but intend to borrow friends Razer Core to test maybe next week. If you all want me to test this as well, I'll be more on it.

HDMI:

1. HDMI - Won't work! Again it's tied to the NVIDIA driver and just will not work with macOS Catalina/Mojave.

HIBERNATE:

1. Won't work. So disabled it. To be fair, hibernation just really won't work on many Hackintosh machines (especially laptop) but meh, not a deal breaker.

Okay! That's it! Everything else work flawlessly!!!!!!
The above issues are really small to me. Nice to haves, if any have fixes or suggestions, but not a big deal if they don't work.

Lastly, Windows 10 dual boots just fine and works as fully intended!

Again, reply please if interested in a "newer" install guide for Razer Blade 2018 Advanced macOS Catalina/Mojave

 

[Scopia]

Thunderbolt to external GPU have you tested it yet? Does thunderbolt port works on Catalina?
Thanks

 

[Armastus]

Thunderbolt to external GPU have you tested it yet? Does thunderbolt port works on Catalina?
Thanks

I have not yet had the chance to test Thunderbolt to GPU. Thunderbolt "does" work on Catalina. So, as with some laptop hackintosh, you can't hot swap thunderbolt to drives. But if machine is powered off, then thunderbolt usb device plugged in, boot machine and it works.

 

[tony.sugent]

How did you get your trackpad to work? I did my install with Mojave using a guide on here and when I updated Clover to 5111 for the Catalina upgrade my trackpad stopped working.

I had it working in Mojave with a DSDT patch previously. I think I have to be missing a driver or Kext somewhere...

 

[Armastus]

Ah! So when you updated Clover you’ll notice that it probably moved your DSDT file. If I recall correctly, you may need to either create a new DSDT and go through process again or just move back the DSDT file. I’d just create a new one with your guide of choice. Hope this helps

 

[tony.sugent]

Did you do the GPIO pinning or just the regular DSDT edit????

 

[Armastus]

GPIO Pinning along with DSDT edits for sure

 

[tony.sugent]

Is you have a link to the guide you used for the pinning?

 

[silicongraphics]

Any chance I could have a copy of your EFI folder? I have the same machine and I've had some issues getting up and working, and so far the other pre-made folders don't seem to work at all, I just want something I can use to base my own config off of. Thanks!