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Where to install kexts?

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I've seen it posted there and several other places, it is tenuous at best in my opinion.
Consider this:
  1. OSX gets to live in a clean partition of it's own, allowing you to enable SIP mode and run as securely as an OEM Mac
  2. Lilu developers designed it and it's components to be installed in Others (as per their GitHub)
  3. Kexts such as FakeSMC and others are critical to booting, so why install them in /Library/Extensions?
  4. OSX cannot manage kexts critical to booting
  5. Lilu and WhatEverGreen have just about eliminated the need for every patch and most kexts so there are very few kexts to install anyway
  6. Simplifies installation by putting everything in one easy to share EFI folder
  7. Kext updating is a snap with Clover Configurator's built in tool
  8. Eliminates the need for kext installation and permission repair tools
  9. Pastrychef, who has helped hundreds of people, stated that moving kexts to /library/extensions has never helped solve one single issue he has come across
  10. I don't know how or why, my system just feels snappier

1. No obvious/proven benefit to this. Has anyone had problems running a Hack with SIP disabled ?
2. I cannot find that information on the GitHub.
3. Not a reason for not doing it.
4. The guide recommends installing critical kexts to /EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other and /Library/Extensions.
5. Irrelevant to the argument.
6. True but it doesn't mean that it's correct.
7. Also true but again it doesn't mean that it's correct.
8. Also true but again it doesn't mean that it's correct.
9. One person's experience does not necessarily hold true for the rest of the world.
10. Subjective. Maybe the perceived snappiness is imaginary or caused by something else.

Inform yourself and make your own choice.
There is no hard evidence to prove that one method is any better or worse than the other.
 
I would prefer keep all the kexts in the EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other folder

1. easy to update/maintain the kexts
2. the hdd/ssd can be move around to different hardware setup, just replace the EFI folder, I don't need to take care what kexts are in the /L/E folder.
 
As children, we were always taught to always cross the street at the corner and wait for the light to turn green. As we got older, we began to realize, sometimes, jay walking works and our lives will not come to a sudden, tragic end when doing so. Does that make jay walking right? No, of course not, but everyone does it.

I started a poll about a year ago regarding this topic and, as of today, over 50% more people use /EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other/ than /Library/Extensions/ "with no problems".
 
It's been about 1.25 years since I put together my Z370 build. Since day 1, I have placed all my hackintosh kexts in /EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other/. I've updated to every macOS revision within hours of release and have never had any issues. I've recorded over 6 weeks of continuous uptime.

On my Z370 build thread (link is below in my signature), through over 550 pages, I've managed to help a fair number others users with all manner of issues/problems. Not once has the solution to any issue/problem been to move kexts to /Library/Extensions/.

Updating kexts has been a breeze. Download new versions and replace old ones. Done. I've never had to update any kext cache. I've never had to use any kext installers. "kextstat" in Terminal has never shown any kext fail to load. (I've also used Clover Configurator to update kexts which makes things even easier.)

View attachment 387317

Again, I'm not debating on where's the correct location for hackintosh kexts, just sharing my experiences with using /EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other/.
 
I've seen it posted there and several other places, it is tenuous at best in my opinion.


1. No obvious/proven benefit to this. Has anyone had problems running a Hack with SIP disabled ?
2. I cannot find that information on the GitHub.
3. Not a reason for not doing it.
4. The guide recommends installing critical kexts to /EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other and /Library/Extensions.
5. Irrelevant to the argument.
6. True but it doesn't mean that it's correct.
7. Also true but again it doesn't mean that it's correct.
8. Also true but again it doesn't mean that it's correct.
9. One person's experience does not necessarily hold true for the rest of the world.
10. Subjective. Maybe the perceived snappiness is imaginary or caused by something else.

Inform yourself and make your own choice.
There is no hard evidence to prove that one method is any better or worse than the other.

Deprecated, for the final nail in the coffin, please read post #12 and last 2 pages in this thread.

Thank you very much for the very cordial and considered response. It is so easy for these discussions to turn into flame wars. I redid my list to bolster some of the points:

  1. OSX gets to live in a clean partition of its own, allowing you to enable SIP mode and run as securely as an OEM Mac
  2. Lilu developers designed it and it's components to be installed in Others (as per their GitHub)
    393560
  3. Kexts such as FakeSMC need to load before OSX to enable booting so why install them in /Library/Extensions if they are loaded before OSX?
  4. OSX cannot manage kexts critical to booting
  5. Lilu and WhatEverGreen have just about eliminated the need for every patch and most kexts so there are very few kexts to install anyway
  6. Simplifies installation by putting everything in one easy to share EFI folder
  7. Kext updating is a snap with Clover Configurator's built-in tool
  8. Clover Configurator's updating tool installs kexts in others by default, implying that's where it should be
  9. Eliminates the need for kext installation and permission repair tools
  10. If installing them in others works perfectly, why put them anywhere else?
  11. I don't know how or why, my system just feels snappier
  12. Pastrychef, who has helped hundreds of people, stated that moving kexts to /library/extensions has never helped solve one single issue he has come across
I appreciate this cordial debate but would also like everyone to understand that my position refers strictly for my build configuration. I use no patches and very few kexts outside of the Lilu, WhatEverGreeen, FakeSMC, which are all designed to run in Others.

I appreciate this cordial debate, which I am not trying to win. My only goal is to explain the logic that brought me to this position for MY build.
 
Last edited:
Thank you very much for the very cordial and considered response. It is so easy for these discussions to turn into flame wars. I redid my list to bolster some of the points:

  1. OSX gets to live in a clean partition of its own, allowing you to enable SIP mode and run as securely as an OEM Mac
  2. Lilu developers designed it and it's components to be installed in Others (as per their GitHub)View attachment 393560
  3. Kexts such as FakeSMC need to load before OSX to enable booting so why install them in /Library/Extensions if they are loaded before OSX?
  4. OSX cannot manage kexts critical to booting
  5. Lilu and WhatEverGreen have just about eliminated the need for every patch and most kexts so there are very few kexts to install anyway
  6. Simplifies installation by putting everything in one easy to share EFI folder
  7. Kext updating is a snap with Clover Configurator's built-in tool
  8. Clover Configurator's updating tool installs kexts in others by default, implying that's where it should be
  9. Eliminates the need for kext installation and permission repair tools
  10. If installing them in others works perfectly, why put them anywhere else?
  11. I don't know how or why, my system just feels snappier
  12. Pastrychef, who has helped hundreds of people, stated that moving kexts to /library/extensions has never helped solve one single issue he has come across
I appreciate this cordial debate but would also like everyone to understand that my position refers strictly for my build configuration. I use no patches and very few kexts outside of the Lilu, WhatEverGreeen, FakeSMC, which are all designed to run in Others.

I appreciate this cordial debate, which I am not trying to win. My only goal is to explain the logic that brought me to this position for MY build.
At the end of the day, anyone can install kexts where they like depending on their system.

There are some kexts that will only run in /Library/Extensions in this case then all kexts should be installed there.

My laptop requires kexts that can only be installed to /L/E for them to work properly.

In this case, best to have them all installed to /L/E

Desktops vary and are more robust so to speak and probably don't need as many kexts which may seem to work fine in clover

Best then for each user to test their kext location to see what works for them
 
At the end of the day, anyone can install kexts where they like depending on their system.

There are some kexts that will only run in /Library/Extensions in this case then all kexts should be installed there.

My laptop requires kexts that can only be installed to /L/E for them to work properly.

In this case, best to have them all installed to /L/E

Desktops vary and are more robust so to speak and probably don't need as many kexts which may seem to work fine in clover

Best then for each user to test their kext location to see what works for them

I 100% agree.

I stated the reasons why I recommended what I did for my particular build. It is a fact that some kexts cannot be injected. If you plan to go with the all kext in others approach, make sure you validate that all your kexts can be injected.

For newer systems, this is not an issue but may very well break older systems relying on non-injectable kexts. That being said, Lilu and its cohorts seem to be doing a good job of replacing everything so you should be ok.
 
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