Lenovo ThinkPad T420 with UEFI Only

roki303 · April 15, 2020

On 4/11/2020 at 1:48 PM, freddie said:

I'm having some issues with Catalina. If I leave the system idle, for example, just downloading some torrents, it freezes and I have to force shutdown.

I have the screen-saver disabled, never put the hard disk to sleep, never put the display to sleep and unchecked the put hard disk to sleep when possible.

Does anyone has been through this, and is there a fix?

Thanks!

I'm having exact same issues. Very annoying. It might be placebo but I found out if I have a DVD and a player open it doesn't do it.

tluck · April 16, 2020

On 4/14/2020 at 5:08 PM, roki303 said:

I'm having exact same issues. Very annoying. It might be placebo but I found out if I have a DVD and a player open it doesn't do it.

hmm. i just realized/remembered i am running caffiene to prevent my system from ever sleeping. i do this becuase i am running it more as a server than laptop. ie i keep the lid closed and it is connected to my TV via HDMI - which sometimes is not on. so without the TV on it would normall just go to sleep. i will try to test as a laptop soon.

freddie · April 16, 2020

6 hours ago, tluck said:

hmm. i just realized/remembered i am running caffiene to prevent my system from ever sleeping. i do this becuase i am running it more as a server than laptop. ie i keep the lid closed and it is connected to my TV via HDMI - which sometimes is not on. so without the TV on it would normall just go to sleep. i will try to test as a laptop soon.

Nice, I'll give it a try!

heavyhdx · April 17, 2020

On 4/14/2020 at 5:49 PM, tluck said:

There are 2 parts to dosdude1 method.

1) build a custom USB installer with his tool. and the just add the Clover EFI to the USB.

2) make sure you either build the installer to automatically install the patches (Default now) or use the USB installer a second time to do the post install patching - which add gfx for HD3000

I've created a Catalina USB with dosdude1's tool and copied over your EFI folder to the USB EFI partition. I installed Catalina and then booted the second part of the installation off the HDD. Then I applied the post-install patches from the USB again. However I always get stuck on the Apple logo with the bar sitting at around 95%. HDD isn't doing anything at this point. The log looks like this:

Any ideas? Seems to be at the point where the GUI should pop up. I've verified that the AppleIntelHD3000 kexts are in /S/L/E on the HDD and they are indeed there.

freddie · April 17, 2020

1 hour ago, heavyhdx said:

I've created a Catalina USB with dosdude1's tool and copied over your EFI folder to the USB EFI partition. I installed Catalina and then booted the second part of the installation off the HDD. Then I applied the post-install patches from the USB again. However I always get stuck on the Apple logo with the bar sitting at around 95%. HDD isn't doing anything at this point. The log looks like this:

Any ideas? Seems to be at the point where the GUI should pop up. I've verified that the AppleIntelHD3000 kexts are in /S/L/E on the HDD and they are indeed there.

I had this issue too after installing macOS, it was stuck in the apple logo.

In the Clover boot menu, go to "Options", then under "System Parameters"-> "System Integrity Protection" check "Allow Task for PID".

This allowed me to overcome this issue, and then it just worked normally.

Edited April 17, 2020 by freddie

heavyhdx · April 17, 2020

Thank you that worked!

tluck · April 17, 2020

sorry - yeah i updated that item in github - the SIP value. but i didnt make a new release. but will make a new release today.

heavyhdx · April 17, 2020

You could update the FingerZ value in the voodoo kext while you're at it. Lower it from 47 to 30 and it's perfect. Thanks for the work btw! You're one of the reasons these xy20 ThinkPads are so great.

Has anyone been able to get FileVault working on Catalina? I just get an Apple logo and not much more. Even when booting with -v it stops at the logo.

roki303 · April 17, 2020

On 4/16/2020 at 1:09 AM, tluck said:

hmm. i just realized/remembered i am running caffiene to prevent my system from ever sleeping. i do this becuase i am running it more as a server than laptop. ie i keep the lid closed and it is connected to my TV via HDMI - which sometimes is not on. so without the TV on it would normall just go to sleep. i will try to test as a laptop soon.

I will also try installing Caffiene and see what happens.

heavyhdx · April 18, 2020

16 hours ago, heavyhdx said:

You could update the FingerZ value in the voodoo kext while you're at it. Lower it from 47 to 30 and it's perfect. Thanks for the work btw! You're one of the reasons these xy20 ThinkPads are so great.

Has anyone been able to get FileVault working on Catalina? I just get an Apple logo and not much more. Even when booting with -v it stops at the logo.

Interesting, if I just wait for a couple minutes the password prompt shows up and I'm able to boot into the encrypted OS.

Tetonne · April 20, 2020

apfs question.

I'd like to merge partitions of that SSD :

can someone help?

diskutil list

/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *480.1 GB disk0

1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1

2: Apple_APFS Container disk2 100.1 GB disk0s2

3: Apple_APFS Container disk1 269.3 GB disk0s3

4: Apple_HFS Untitled 110.3 GB disk0s4 important data on it

/dev/disk1 (synthesized):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: APFS Container Scheme - +269.3 GB disk1

Physical Store disk0s3

1: APFS Volume old - Données 85.4 GB disk1s1 important data on it

2: APFS Volume Preboot 17.6 MB disk1s2

3: APFS Volume Recovery 28.7 KB disk1s3

4: APFS Volume VM 4.3 GB disk1s4

/dev/disk2 (synthesized):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: APFS Container Scheme - +100.1 GB disk2

Physical Store disk0s2

1: APFS Volume Power - Données 72.7 GB disk2s1 important data on it

2: APFS Volume Preboot 86.3 MB disk2s2

3: APFS Volume Recovery 731.2 MB disk2s3

4: APFS Volume VM 4.3 GB disk2s4

5: APFS Volume Power 11.3 GB disk2s5 important data on it

goodguess · April 20, 2020

I would tend to backup all files to an external USB drive, either HFS+ or ExFAT formatted and re-initialise the whole 480 GB.

But you already considered that, methinks.

BTW: I was wrong that updating 10.15.4 would "just work" via combo update, Tetonne.

Made a 10.15.4 boot stick finally and upgraded with that one.

tluck · April 20, 2020

12 hours ago, Tetonne said:

apfs question.

I'd like to merge partitions of that SSD :

can someone help?

diskutil list

/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):

   #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

   0: GUID_partition_scheme *480.1 GB disk0

   1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1

   2: Apple_APFS Container disk2 100.1 GB disk0s2

   3: Apple_APFS Container disk1 269.3 GB disk0s3

   4: Apple_HFS Untitled 110.3 GB disk0s4 important data on it

/dev/disk1 (synthesized):

   #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

   0: APFS Container Scheme - +269.3 GB disk1

   Physical Store disk0s3

   1: APFS Volume old - Données 85.4 GB disk1s1 important data on it

   2: APFS Volume Preboot 17.6 MB disk1s2

   3: APFS Volume Recovery 28.7 KB disk1s3

   4: APFS Volume VM 4.3 GB disk1s4

/dev/disk2 (synthesized):

   #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

   0: APFS Container Scheme - +100.1 GB disk2

   Physical Store disk0s2

   1: APFS Volume Power - Données 72.7 GB disk2s1 important data on it

   2: APFS Volume Preboot 86.3 MB disk2s2

   3: APFS Volume Recovery 731.2 MB disk2s3

   4: APFS Volume VM 4.3 GB disk2s4

   5: APFS Volume Power 11.3 GB disk2s5 important data on it

i would do something like this:

1) clone/copy APFS Volume old - Données 85.4 GB disk1s1 to a 2nd disk.

2) remove the 3rd partition APFS 269GB disk0s3

3) expand the 2nd partition 100GB APFS partion disk0s2 to fill unused space - 100+269

4) create a new volume (not partition) to hold the 2nd disk back this new volume

at the end, your disk will have 3 partitions instead of 4

EFI

APFS 369GB

HFS 110GB

Tetonne · April 22, 2020

On 4/21/2020 at 12:42 AM, tluck said:

i would do something like this:

1) clone/copy APFS Volume old - Données 85.4 GB disk1s1 to a 2nd disk.

2) remove the 3rd partition APFS 269GB disk0s3

3) expand the 2nd partition 100GB APFS partion disk0s2 to fill unused space - 100+269

4) create a new volume (not partition) to hold the 2nd disk back this new volume

at the end, your disk will have 3 partitions instead of 4

EFI

APFS 369GB

HFS 110GB

finally i format the entire disk thanks tluck for this tip :-) have a nice evening and thanks again

heavyhdx · April 23, 2020

Has there been a definitive fix for the horizontal lines and glitches? I've tried all the config files as well as different RAM speeds (I have 2x4 GB) but nothing seemed to get rid of them completely. What causes them?

goodguess · April 23, 2020

7 minutes ago, heavyhdx said:

Has there been a definitive fix for the horizontal lines and glitches? I've tried all the config files as well as different RAM speeds (I have 2x4 GB) but nothing seemed to get rid of them completely. What causes them?

I don´t think so.

HD3000 is officially unsupported and the gfx issues will be one reason. I have 16GB 1600MHz RAM here with one T420 and do not see any black lines at usual usage. At heavy load with several VMs running, I have rare glitches once in a while.

LG made 1600x900 displays are supposed to perform best, but you can´t choose the display manufacturer, even less when buying second hand.

tluck · April 24, 2020

21 hours ago, goodguess said:

I don´t think so.

HD3000 is officially unsupported and the gfx issues will be one reason. I have 16GB 1600MHz RAM here with one T420 and do not see any black lines at usual usage. At heavy load with several VMs running, I have rare glitches once in a while.

LG made 1600x900 displays are supposed to perform best, but you can´t choose the display manufacturer, even less when buying second hand.

Yeah it has been a mystery but i dont we are alone with this issue. For many years using a fake EDID allowed glitch free usage. no issues on 10.8, 10.9, 10.10, 10.11, and 10.12 (Sierra). But starting with 10.13 (High Sierra) glitches came back. I have 2 T420 systems and only one had glitches. my 16GB box was ok and son's 8GB box had problems. the 16GB box has a very nice LG glossy 1600x900 replacement display that only cost like $40 US because my kid slammed the lid on my earbuds and cracked it! Since then I have shelved the box with 8GB with AUO (orig LCD) because the gfx hangs/freezes every few days. but my 16GB with LG works still works perfectly no glitches and no hangs. i have not tried using LG with 8GB. which might be interesing.

heavyhdx · April 24, 2020

Yeah that would definitely be interesting. If it's really as simple as upgrading RAM to 16 GB that might be worth it just to have a perfectly glitch-free system.

freddie · April 24, 2020

1 hour ago, heavyhdx said:

Yeah that would definitely be interesting. If it's really as simple as upgrading RAM to 16 GB that might be worth it just to have a perfectly glitch-free system.

I upgraded from 8GB to 16GB of RAM and indeed this helped to decrease the glitches, but the glitches still come up when you stretch the system too much. On my T420s I've using some kexts to have 1024MB of VRAM, which I think it also helped (they're attached here).

My recommendation for a glitch free system is to use it with moderation, e.g., not too many tabs open in the browser, do not open a lot of apps at the same time... I've been using my system like this since 3 weeks and I had no glitches up to now. Always remember that this is a frankensteined Mac.

HD3000_1GB.zip

Edited April 24, 2020 by freddie

tluck · April 24, 2020

2 hours ago, freddie said:

I upgraded from 8GB to 16GB of RAM and indeed this helped to decrease the glitches, but the glitches still come up when you stretch the system too much. On my T420s I've using some kexts to have 1024MB of VRAM, which I think it also helped (they're attached here).

My recommendation for a glitch free system is to use it with moderation, e.g., not too many tabs open in the browser, do not open a lot of apps at the same time... I've been using my system like this since 3 weeks and I had no glitches up to now. Always remember that this is a frankensteined Mac.

HD3000_1GB.zip

yeah. it seems like the memory is the most important factor. i may still test out my LG with 8GB.

FYI... you can get 1GB vram by using these Clover Kext patches and not having to replace the kexts - but whatever works best!

			<dict>
				<key>Comment</key>
				<string>1024MB memory</string>
				<key>Disabled</key>
				<false/>
				<key>Find</key>
				<data>
				x0XQAAAAIA==
				</data>
				<key>MatchOS</key>
				<string>10.13.x,10.14.x,10.15.x</string>
				<key>Name</key>
				<string>com.apple.driver.AppleIntelSNBGraphicsFB</string>
				<key>Replace</key>
				<data>
				x0XQAAAAQA==
				</data>
			</dict>
			<dict>
				<key>Comment</key>
				<string>Sierra 1024MB memory</string>
				<key>Disabled</key>
				<false/>
				<key>Find</key>
				<data>
				x0XEAAAAIA==
				</data>
				<key>MatchOS</key>
				<string>10.12.x</string>
				<key>Name</key>
				<string>com.apple.driver.AppleIntelSNBGraphicsFB</string>
				<key>Replace</key>
				<data>
				x0XEAAAAQA==
				</data>
			</dict>

_Cute_Kitty_ · April 25, 2020

Is anyone else dealing with random screen freezes? I'm using the t420 1366x768 display with Clover on High Sierra. I'm getting random screen freezes where the UI will still show, but I can't move my mouse or use the keyboard. If I'm playing Spotify or Youtube the audio will keep playing as normal, without the video. Is there anything I can do for this? The only solution currently is to hold the power button down and force reboot, which isn't ideal.

freddie · April 26, 2020

On 4/25/2020 at 10:21 PM, _Cute_Kitty_ said:

Is anyone else dealing with random screen freezes? I'm using the t420 1366x768 display with Clover on High Sierra. I'm getting random screen freezes where the UI will still show, but I can't move my mouse or use the keyboard. If I'm playing Spotify or Youtube the audio will keep playing as normal, without the video. Is there anything I can do for this? The only solution currently is to hold the power button down and force reboot, which isn't ideal.

Did you follow tluck's guide and used his custom.plist? My screen is a 1600x900, but I also had some freezes, then, as I mentioned before, I upgraded to 16GB RAM and these freezes almost disappeared. It would only happen when I left my system idle or just downloading... I'm using config.EDID-2e3.plist and it has been fine; I'm using it as my daily driver.

_Cute_Kitty_ · April 30, 2020

On 4/26/2020 at 7:03 PM, freddie said:

Did you follow tluck's guide and used his custom.plist? My screen is a 1600x900, but I also had some freezes, then, as I mentioned before, I upgraded to 16GB RAM and these freezes almost disappeared. It would only happen when I left my system idle or just downloading... I'm using config.EDID-2e3.plist and it has been fine; I'm using it as my daily driver.

Yeah I'm using Tlucks' 1366x768 config plist. I only have 8 gigs of RAM though, but I heard that High Sierra runs fine on HD 3000 unless there is less than 8 gigs, so I should be good (I thought)

freddie · May 2, 2020

On 4/30/2020 at 4:22 PM, _Cute_Kitty_ said:

Yeah I'm using Tlucks' 1366x768 config plist. I only have 8 gigs of RAM though, but I heard that High Sierra runs fine on HD 3000 unless there is less than 8 gigs, so I should be good (I thought)

As I have mentioned before, do not stretch too much the OS... if you do it, probably you'll get graphical glitches and/or freezes.

Normally I have Chrome with several tabs open (~10), Mail, WhatsApp, Music (using Music with AirPlay streaming) and Excel opened at the same time and I have no freezes or glitches. But if I load, e.g., Mathematica, DataGraph and Spyder, sometimes I get some glitches and sometimes, but not so often, it freezes... BTW I'm using Catalina.

_Cute_Kitty_ · May 7, 2020

On 5/2/2020 at 7:16 PM, freddie said:

As I have mentioned before, do not stretch too much the OS... if you do it, probably you'll get graphical glitches and/or freezes.

Normally I have Chrome with several tabs open (~10), Mail, WhatsApp, Music (using Music with AirPlay streaming) and Excel opened at the same time and I have no freezes or glitches. But if I load, e.g., Mathematica, DataGraph and Spyder, sometimes I get some glitches and sometimes, but not so often, it freezes... BTW I'm using Catalina.

So you think it might be related to overloading the system? I'll do some testing and see if I can replicate the issue on lower system usage.

Lenovo ThinkPad T420 with UEFI Only

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