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Later than usual for the holidays but version 0.7.7 of OpenCore is here. It comes plenty of changes, mostly in 3 sections: Intel Alder Lake, UEFI audio (AudioDxe driver) and fixes for problems published in the bug tracker, related to some specific configurations. OpenCore continues with its adaptation to the Alder Lake family of processors, there is still work ahead but at the present time it can be said that these new systems are usable with macOS with many of the problems already solved. The changes in UEFI audio are a lot and are accompanied by new features in config.plist. There are some other changes in this file so this time you have to pay attention to added or removed keys.
Main changes
- Improvements for Alder Lake
- Builtin firmwares updated
- AudioDXE:
- audio settings update for virtualization platforms
- switched UEFI audio levels to decibel gain to allow accurate matching of saved macOS volume levels
- separated settings for minimum audio assist volume and minimum audible volume
- fixes.
config.plist
Kernel >> Quirks >>
ProvideCurrentCpuInfo (boolean, failsafe value is false) now works differently depending on the CPU.
- For Microsoft Hyper-V it provides correct TSC and FSB values to the kernel
- For Intel CPUs it adds support for asymmetrical SMP systems (e.g. Alder Lake).
NVRAM >> Add >> 7C436110-AB2A-4BBB-A880-FE41995C9F82 >> added
SystemAudioVolumeDB (Data): current system audio volume level in decibels (dB). The value is a signed byte representing the audio offset (gain if positive, attenuation if negative) in dB relative to the amplifier reference value of 0 dB that depends on the codec but it's usually near the maximum available amplifier volume. Typical values go from -60 to 0. Failsafe: E2 hexadecimal (this represents -30 in a signed byte).
UEFI >> AppleInput >> added 3 new properties:
- PointerPollMin (number): minimal pointer polling period in ms. Failsafe: 0. Current OC implementation defaults to 10 ms. Setting 0 leaves this default unchanged. OEM Apple implementation uses a polling rate of 2 ms. Failsafe: 0.
- PointerPollMax (number): maximum pointer polling period in ms. The period is increased up to this value as long as the devices do not respond in time. The current implementation defaults to 80 ms. Setting 0 leaves this default unchanged. OEM Apple implementation uses a polling rate of 2 ms. Failsafe: 0.
- PointerPollMask (number): configure indices of polled pointers, selects pointer devices to poll for AppleEvent motion events. -1 implies all devices. Failsafe: -1.
UEFI >> Audio:
Unless documented otherwise (e.g. ResetTrafficClass) settings in this section are for UEFI audio support only (e.g. OpenCore generated boot chime and audio assist) and are unrelated to any configuration needed for OS audio support (e.g. AppleALC).
- AudioOut replaced by AudioOutMask (number): to play sound in UEFI to more than one channel (e.g. main speaker plus bass speaker). Failsafe value is -1 (output to all). Output channels are internally numbered as bit 0 (value 1), bit 1 (value 2) and so on. A value of 1 refers to the first audio output (not necessarily main speaker). A value of -1 is used to play to all channels simultaneously. When AudioSupport is enabled, AudioDevice must be either empty or a valid path and AudioOutMask must be non-zero.
- added DisconnectHda (boolean): Disconnect HDA controller before loading drivers to allow UEFI sound on Apple hardware. Failsafe: false.
- added MaximumGain (number): maximum gain to use for UEFI audio, specified in decibels (dB) with respect to amplifier reference level of 0 dB. Failsafe: -15.
- added MinimumAssistGain (number): minimum gain in decibels (dB) to use for picker audio assist. The screen reader will use this amplifier gain if the system amplifier gain read from the SystemAudioVolumeDB NVRAM variable is lower than this. Failsafe: -30.
- added MinimumAudibleGain (number): minimum gain in decibels (dB) at which to attempt to play any sound. Failsafe: -128. Sample.plist file has -55
- removed
MinimumVolume (number) and VolumeAmplifier (number).
Kexts
- AppleALC 1.6.8 (fixes)
- FeatureUnlock 1.0.5 (AirPlay improvements)
- Lilu 1.5.9 (updates)
- RestrictEvents 1.0.6 (memory view on some models, add unreadable disk disabler)
- WhateverGreen 1.5.6 (FAQs updated).
Others
- gfxutil 1.82b (fixes and improvements).
Thanks for your work, OpenCore team!!!
