Kext Installation

[scorpioserve]

OK, so here is the situation, there are so many different people that have so many different ways to install new .kext files, so I would like to get some clarification.

 

Lets just say that I have my system all up and running, it makes no difference how I did it for this particular question, but lets just say that after the first successful boot into Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, I can see that there is a folder called /Extra in the root directory of my hard drive.

 

Now lets say that I have an extension that I need to place into my

/Extra/Extensions/

folder and I have another extension that has to be stored in

/System/Library/Extensions/

 

So I have the two .kext files sitting on my desktop, for the purpose of this example I will call the extensions ForExtra.kext and ForSystem.kext

 

This is what I would now do to get these extensions installed

Open terminal application from /Applications/Utilities folder and at the prompt type

 

sudo -s

Enter My Password

cp -R ~/Desktop/ForExtra.kext /Extra/Extensions/ForExtra.kext

chown -R root:wheel /Extra/Extensions/ForExtra.kext

chmod -R 777 /Extra/Extensions/ForExtra.kext

cp -R ~/Desktop/ForSystem.kext /System/Library/Extensions/ForSystem.kext

chown -R root:wheel /System/Library/Extensions/ForSystem.kext

chmod -R 777 /System/Library/Extensions/ForSystem.kext

 

OK, so far so good I think, I have now copied the extensions from my desktop to the correct folders and corrected their permissions, now this is where I begin to get very confused.

 

I have 2 Extensions.mkext files, must I just delete them, will they auto regenerate, are these called kextcache files.

I have found one in

/Extra/Extensions.mkext and the other in

/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/Extensions.mkext

 

I have seen people referring to using commands like

sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions

sudo kextcache -k /System/Library/Extensions

 

What must I use and what does what, and can I use the same commands on /Extra/Extensions as I do on /System/Library/Extensions, and lastly why do neither of these commands have a trailing / to get into the folder to the contents of the folder, is that how it should be.

 

Next question is maybe a stupid one, but I have to ask, with regard to lets say this situation where I would like to install a .kext file for AppleIntel8255x.kext which is my ethernet card, now I would like to install it into /Extra/Extensions/AppleIntel8255x.kext but I notice that there is already a kext file that was installed with the retail Snow Leopard with NOT exactly the same name, but that I think might cause a conflict with the new extension that resides in /System/Library/Extensions/IONetworkingFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleIntel8254XEthernet.kext, if I had to remove this kext with a terminal command like this

sudo -s

Enter My Password

rm -R /System/Library/Extensions/IONetworkingFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleIntel8254XEthernet.kext

would I need to also do anything with my kextcaches / .mkext files

Now if this does NOT work and I would like to try the new kext in /System/Library/Extensions/ then can I just dump the new .kext there, or would it be preferable to put the new extension inside the /System/Library/Extensions/IONetworkingFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/ directory.

 

 

If any one could please help with some decisive answers to these questions that have been bothering me from the time I started Snow Leopard hacks, so far I have 4 of them up and running at home, but as you can see from my questions it has been lots of hit and miss playing, this is why I am trying to get some definitive info in this regard.

 

Thanks in advance

[domdomt]

have you tried using kext utility? might make everything just a tad easeir for you

[scorpioserve]

have you tried using kext utility? might make everything just a tad easeir for you

I have tried using kext helper, however it seems to only be able to use the /System/Library/Extensions/ folder and I think that the command sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions is not really a current command anymore, I could be wrong though.

 

I have not however tried the latest versions of kext utility, the last version I tried just made no sense to me, however after I noted your suggestion I downloaded the latest version and I have to admit it still was not exactly self explanatory, but what I did was delete whatever kexts out of /System/Library/Extensions/ I no longer wanted in there, only one anyway, added the new kext that I did want in there, then add and delete whatever was required in my /Extra/Extensions folder.

All this was done directly through the gui, without using any terminal, I did not fix any of the permissions or anything like that, then I just double clicked on kext utility, and let it run, quit the application after it had completed, then I went and double checked what it had done, and wow, it did it all for me, everything that I was questioning, and it did it for /System/Library/Extensions/ and /Extra/Extensions/

I rebooted and all is working as it should, so wonderful, thank you.

 

One last thing though is that although it did it all for me, I would still like, for interest sake to know the answers to many of my proposed questions, just incase, and for my own *nix knowledge database expansion.

 

Thanks

[domdomt]

BTW to install a kext using kext utility- simply drag the kext onto the icon

[scorpioserve]

BTW to install a kext using kext utility- simply drag the kext onto the icon

 

Thanks for the info, do you know if that would auto install to /System/Library/Extensions/ or /Extra/Extensions/ or will it give me the option to choose my destination.

 

Just wondering

 

[Gringo Vermelho]

You don't need to worry about permissions and ownership on anything in /Extra, Chameleon doesn't care about permissions.

 

Kext Utility is no good for installing to /System/Library/Extensions, it sets the wrong permissions.

 

Try fixing permissions with Disk Utility after installing something with Kext Utility and you'll see what I mean.

[coelomate1]

Very Easy

 

Step 1: install with kext helper b7, then run kext utility afterwards to fix permissions.

 

Done!

 

OK, so here is the situation, there are so many different people that have so many different ways to install new .kext files, so I would like to get some clarification.

 

Lets just say that I have my system all up and running, it makes no difference how I did it for this particular question, but lets just say that after the first successful boot into Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, I can see that there is a folder called /Extra in the root directory of my hard drive.

 

Now lets say that I have an extension that I need to place into my

/Extra/Extensions/

folder and I have another extension that has to be stored in

/System/Library/Extensions/

 

So I have the two .kext files sitting on my desktop, for the purpose of this example I will call the extensions ForExtra.kext and ForSystem.kext

 

This is what I would now do to get these extensions installed

Open terminal application from /Applications/Utilities folder and at the prompt type

 

sudo -s

Enter My Password

cp -R ~/Desktop/ForExtra.kext /Extra/Extensions/ForExtra.kext

chown -R root:wheel /Extra/Extensions/ForExtra.kext

chmod -R 777 /Extra/Extensions/ForExtra.kext

cp -R ~/Desktop/ForSystem.kext /System/Library/Extensions/ForSystem.kext

chown -R root:wheel /System/Library/Extensions/ForSystem.kext

chmod -R 777 /System/Library/Extensions/ForSystem.kext

 

OK, so far so good I think, I have now copied the extensions from my desktop to the correct folders and corrected their permissions, now this is where I begin to get very confused.

 

I have 2 Extensions.mkext files, must I just delete them, will they auto regenerate, are these called kextcache files.

I have found one in

/Extra/Extensions.mkext and the other in

/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/Extensions.mkext

 

I have seen people referring to using commands like

sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions

sudo kextcache -k /System/Library/Extensions

 

What must I use and what does what, and can I use the same commands on /Extra/Extensions as I do on /System/Library/Extensions, and lastly why do neither of these commands have a trailing / to get into the folder to the contents of the folder, is that how it should be.

 

Next question is maybe a stupid one, but I have to ask, with regard to lets say this situation where I would like to install a .kext file for AppleIntel8255x.kext which is my ethernet card, now I would like to install it into /Extra/Extensions/AppleIntel8255x.kext but I notice that there is already a kext file that was installed with the retail Snow Leopard with NOT exactly the same name, but that I think might cause a conflict with the new extension that resides in /System/Library/Extensions/IONetworkingFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleIntel8254XEthernet.kext, if I had to remove this kext with a terminal command like this

sudo -s

Enter My Password

rm -R /System/Library/Extensions/IONetworkingFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleIntel8254XEthernet.kext

would I need to also do anything with my kextcaches / .mkext files

Now if this does NOT work and I would like to try the new kext in /System/Library/Extensions/ then can I just dump the new .kext there, or would it be preferable to put the new extension inside the /System/Library/Extensions/IONetworkingFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/ directory.

 

 

If any one could please help with some decisive answers to these questions that have been bothering me from the time I started Snow Leopard hacks, so far I have 4 of them up and running at home, but as you can see from my questions it has been lots of hit and miss playing, this is why I am trying to get some definitive info in this regard.

 

Thanks in advance

[scorpioserve]

hmm, would there be anything wrong with just manually, through the OS gui coping the extensions I want to /S/L/E/ and the others that I would like into /E/E/ and then just running kext utility, it seems to do the trick just fine, although I see what "Gringo Vermelho" means about using Disk Utility afterwards to repair the permissions, it does still seem to fix an awefull lot, considering that kext utility says they are already fixed, thanks everybody for all the information.

 

Now, what I am looking for is a dsdt guide, cause that is still confusing to me too. Maybe someone could write it like one of those "for Dummies" books "DSDT editing for Dummies" that would be great.