Latitude E5550: no graphics acceleration for HD5500 in Mojave

[bgrau2000]

I must thank Unicorn for settings from here (link given by Jake Lo, also thanks);

https://osxlatitude.com/forums/topic/16263-latitude-e5550-clover-opencore-efi-for-catalinabig-sur/

 

I used the Properties section settings for config.plist in my clover boot efi which worked for everything else but no QE/CI graphics.

 

I copied over the cloverx64.file only from Unicorn clover, but left the bootx64.efi bootloader which works for me v5102.

 

Finally there is a Quirks section which I don't understand at all, initially I didn't paste it over to my config.plist.

 

Then I was curious & tried it, it does not damage anything but I wonder what it does or improves, the quirks settings comes from opencore

but was incorporated later into clover.

 

These are notes for myself about what I did to have a fully functional hackintosh on Dell Latitude E5550 with OS X High Sierra & Mojave

(that is except for trackpad scrolling & gestures).

 

config.plist.solved+quirks.zip

[bgrau2000]

Some extra notes:

I wanted to see what happens if I remove the kernel flag nv_disable=1

& remove from the ACPI the disable Nvidia GPU patch graciously provided by Jake Lo:

 

The result is not destructive & just gets the NVidia GPU detected & listed in the system profiler:

 

Spoiler

GFX0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
GPU Name                       GM108M [GeForce 830M]
GPU Device ID                  0x134010DE

 

Display

Type:    GPU
Bus:    PCIe
Slot:    Slot-1
PCIe Lane Width:    x4
Vendor:    NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID:    0x1340
Revision ID:    0x00a2
Kernel Extension Info:    No Kext Loaded

 

This is why an extra entry for it was needed in config Properties section:

 

    

        <key>PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x3,0x0)</key>
            <dict>
                <key>hda-gfx</key>
                <string>onboard-1</string>
            </dict>

 

It's sad we cannot make use of NVidia CUDAS even in High Sierra as the NVidia GPU does not get activated even there.

[Jake Lo]

Enabling it does no benefits but drains the battery faster.

Might even prevent sleep and wake

[bgrau2000]

Thanks Mr Jake Lo, I will disable it back.

 

PS. I do not think it is wise to remove this extra entry that identifies the NVidia's chip in config.plist (even if we disable it):

 

<key>PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x3,0x0)</key>

<dict>

<key>hda-gfx</key>

<string>onboard-1</string>

</dict>

[bgrau2000]

Works also for Sierra somewhat, will go into kernel panic though, but can get in using -x safe mode.

 

Reports full QE/CI for graphics Intel HD5500 in safe mode.

 

I found a way to solve this by using some kexts in the 10.12 Clover kexts folder, this from another user who solved for Sierra:

links;

https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/322034-guide-dell-latitude-e5440-macos-sierra/

 

his Clover EFI here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/174mrMtUcb1eqTG1Ag4Lr9yqmdHlsLz_o/view?usp=sharing

by doing so I get everything working bar Airport (kext AirportItlwm_v2.2.0_stable_Mojave.kext.zip simulating Airport doesn't work for Sierra, but worls for Mojave & High Sierra)

 

there is another project to get WiFi with a similar kext Itlwm, it goes as far as recognizing the integrated network card but does not activate the hardware) maybe it needs some extra input.

 

Might attach the corresponding Clover EFI folder for Sierra later for those interested who have an OSX Latitude E5550 they want to run Sierra on, though High Sierra or Mojave are better, I did this only because I had a USB 3.0 stick with Sierra installed, it's just a hobby for me.

 

[Hervé]

Today (end 2023), there probably is very limited interest in running such old and unsupported versions of macOS...

• Sierra -> 2016-2019
• High Sierra -> 2017-2020
• Mojave -> 2018-2021

[bgrau2000]

Maybe, I'm on Sierra for my MacBook Air mid 2011 6,2

Mojave, High Sierra, Yosem, ElCapitan... I use SSD's.

High Sierra & Catalina on macmini7,1 but I use thunderbolt 2.0 running Windows 11.

 

Fooling around with OSes is a hobby to me, I enjoyed using Chrome OS on different laptops, PCs, etc...

I rarely use anything but Windows 10 & 11 nowadays as I got all my software on Windows & have an Office 365 subscription.

 

PS: I also have an old macmini3,1 which is supposed to only run ElCapitan tops, & with the hack I use High Sierra on it, it's also my favorite box to run Tails on.

At one stage I managed to install Windows 10 on it, it ran decently, but then I broke it with Paragon software & couldn't be bothered to reinstall it as too much work for bootcamp which is limited to Windows 7 officially on that Mac.

[bgrau2000]

On WiFi, for those who like little (or big) challenges & whose hobby like this one of mine is to get OSes work...

 

In previous posts I noted that Airport could be successfully simulated in High Sierra & above using this project:

AirportItlwm
https://github.com/OpenIntelWireless/itlwm/releases

 

However this didn't work for Sierra though, but it is claimed that Itlwm.kext would enable WiFI, but for that one needs a helper application called Heliport:

Download Heliport
https://github.com/OpenIntelWireless/HeliPort/releases/tag/v1.4.1
https://openintelwireless.github.io/HeliPort/Installation.html

 

Well I couldn't make it work as for some reason the Itlwm.kext would not load.

 

Of course one could use an external WiFi dongle just for Sierra, but then what's the use if one gets a perfect Airport using High Sierra.

 

As I said just a challenge or if one insists on using Sierra on Dell Latitude E5550.

[bgrau2000]

Well solved sort of for Sierra.

 

Get heliport to load at boot time by pressing the alt key when clicking on it from the top right menu bar.

 

Now the weird bit:

 

no sign of the itlwm.kext having loaded because doing:

sudo kextstat | grep -i itlwm.kext

leads to a blank line.

 

However inputting the ssid details in the Info.plist of the kext works like magic

& after rebooting you get the Airport icon filled on the menu bar (it's a fake not really airport)

& you really get connected to the Internet & LAN home network of your router.

 

just fill this & reboot (exact name of your ssid & associated password):

 

<key>WiFiConfig</key>
            <dict>
                <key>WiFi_1</key>
                <dict>
                    <key>password</key>
                    <string>zxyssdt112233</string>
                    <key>ssid</key>
                    <string>ssdt</string>

 

It's kind of dirty manual cooking, but it works.

For those like in my case where heliport & the kext do not behave.

[Hervé]

This getting totally off topic (topic being about HD5500 graphics acceleration under Mojave). Please open up a dedicated thread regarding your Intel wireless issues.