Lenovo ThinkPad T420 with UEFI Only

[trifero]

We should erect an statue to tluck….     

[tluck]

T420 Fans...

 

I updated the zip in the guide with latest kexts and Clover. 

 

18-Mar-2016 Update

• Support for El Capitan (10.11.4)
• Updated to Clover r3364
• Updated ACPIBatteryManager kext to latest rev
• Updated FakeSMC kexts (and included installer for HWMonitor.app)
• Updated IntelBacklight kext to latest rev
• Updated IntelMausiEthernet kext to latest rev
• Put explicit Model MBP8,1 definition in config.plist

Been running the 10.11.4 beta... the apps are nice but I have been getting a lot of glitches, artifacts and even had some buffer hangs. I rolled a most of the Graphics kexts back to Yosemite and have been getting better results. I have another HD3000 box and see glitches there too. so it seems to be something in El Capitan. Never had any glitches in Yosemite. any way just a note here in case you are seeing the same thing. after some more testing will post this set of rollback kexts - which I changed the versions so updates won't clobber them. 

[Somez]

T420 Fans...

 

I updated the zip in the guide with latest kexts and Clover. 

 

18-Mar-2016 Update

• Support for El Capitan (10.11.4)
• Updated to Clover r3364
• Updated ACPIBatteryManager kext to latest rev
• Updated FakeSMC kexts (and included installer for HWMonitor.app)
• Updated IntelBacklight kext to latest rev
• Updated IntelMausiEthernet kext to latest rev
• Put explicit Model MBP8,1 definition in config.plist

Been running the 10.11.4 beta... the apps are nice but I have been getting a lot of glitches, artifacts and even had some buffer hangs. I rolled a most of the Graphics kexts back to Yosemite and have been getting better results. I have another HD3000 box and see glitches there too. so it seems to be something in El Capitan. Never had any glitches in Yosemite. any way just a note here in case you are seeing the same thing. after some more testing will post this set of rollback kexts - which I changed the versions so updates won't clobber them. 

 

Thanks a lot tluck. I'm just wondering if these updates about the latest kext versions are worth installing. Do they contain anything that would bring us changes that we can benefit of?

Thanks.

[davidian]

just a quick update in case anyone was following along at home:

 

while the GFX0 card (NVIDIA GT 740) worked OTB for running normal apps, it didn't support CUDA and wasn't being detected correctly by Adobe (which were largely my reasons for wanting this originally), Cinebench, etc.

 

after installing the latest NVIDIA webdriver (currently 346.03.04b02 at http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/306535-nvidia-web-driver-updates-for-el-capitan-update-12022015/)& CUDA driver, those issues were fixed, and I felt I was seeing performance improvements also

 

(to enable the GPU in After Effects & Premiere CS6 required a quick edit to a text file in each to add to the supported GPU list. google for the details.)

 

Hey, I was really happy to read that someone did this with a Hackintosh. I have a similar setup on Windows, and I'd like to get it to work under my hackintosh also.. the only difference is that I have a 970 gtx.

Would you care to enlighten a bit on what to do, or what to read first before doing sthing stupid (I'm not familiar with editing DSDT, altough I did it once under windows due to egpu, but I was only following instructions).

I just managed to install El Capitan yesterday following tluck's step by step guide, and I wouldn't want to mess it up so soon

This might be off topic, in that case please advise.

[tluck]

well me, I like to keep current. but in reality I don't think there is much in the way of new features ... mostly bug fixes and perhaps support for other platforms. but

 

1) in the Ethernet - Mieze implemented the latest linux driver should be a faster (if you need more speed) 

2) and in 10.11.4 something changed in the HDA audio kext so I had to fix that up ... but and i did change the mic input level so its not as over-amped. 

3) Clover - added graphics glitch fix for boot logo!

 

... so it's up to y'all to update them. certainly doesn't seem to hurt anything to update. the install script makes it easy to replace all the custom kexts and then you just reboot. 

[Somez]

well me, I like to keep current. but in reality I don't think there is much in the way of new features ... mostly bug fixes and perhaps support for other platforms. but

 

1) in the Ethernet - Mieze implemented the latest linux driver should be a faster (if you need more speed) 

2) and in 10.11.4 something changed in the HDA audio kext so I had to fix that up ... but and i did change the mic input level so its not as over-amped. 

3) Clover - added graphics glitch fix for boot logo!

 

... so it's up to y'all to update them. certainly doesn't seem to hurt anything to update. the install script makes it easy to replace all the custom kexts and then you just reboot. 

 

Thanks tluck.

 

Don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm demanding a detailed changelog here or something since you do this in your freetime

I tried to look for the clover change log but did not succeed, hence I asked you about this topic. I agree with you that it's good to keep everything updated, but I'll probably skip a few versions and update from time to time if there's no big improvement.

[trifero]

T420 Fans...

 

I updated the zip in the guide with latest kexts and Clover. 

 

18-Mar-2016 Update

• Support for El Capitan (10.11.4)
• Updated to Clover r3364
• Updated ACPIBatteryManager kext to latest rev
• Updated FakeSMC kexts (and included installer for HWMonitor.app)
• Updated IntelBacklight kext to latest rev
• Updated IntelMausiEthernet kext to latest rev
• Put explicit Model MBP8,1 definition in config.plist

Been running the 10.11.4 beta... the apps are nice but I have been getting a lot of glitches, artifacts and even had some buffer hangs. I rolled a most of the Graphics kexts back to Yosemite and have been getting better results. I have another HD3000 box and see glitches there too. so it seems to be something in El Capitan. Never had any glitches in Yosemite. any way just a note here in case you are seeing the same thing. after some more testing will post this set of rollback kexts - which I changed the versions so updates won't clobber them. 

Really, tluck, there´s zero benefits moving from Yosemite to El Capitan.  

[Ezhik]

Really, tluck, there´s zero benefits moving from Yosemite to El Capitan.  

 

What a silly thing to say. 

[trifero]

I´ve been a mac user from Mac Os 7. And I worked with El Capitan some months before I downgraded. For what it matters, I noticed zero enhancement , and the new rootless characteristic was only a problem for me, as I like to tune the Os in a deep level, so I had to turn it off. 

 

Also had some problems with some software.

 

It was just my opinion and experience with the upgrade.

[Boctor]

This issue is only present in Mavericks (10.9.5), so I don't know if it matters anymore: When trying to run the kext install shell script, the part that rebuilds the kext caches (specifically the -i flag) does not run properly under 10.9.x, possibly due to version differences.

Under El Capitan, the script still executes and rebuilds the caches just fine.

[avdo]

tluck, installation completed. Thank you so much for everything. In fact, i Cloned de Hard Drive, replaced, and only changed two or three files.

 

It works like a charm

 

Of course, not even by far can compare to the esata, bay for another drive, etc….

 

The display is not as good as that in the T420

 

 

But its so so much portable.

 

 

Really is what need now, fits in my bag as the MBA i had.

 

One curious thing….. it´s the first IBM/Lenovo that i see that close without hinches. Just the magneto.

 

So i have a T420, HD display, 8GB ram.Wifi and bluetooth just in case anyone is interested...

 

No hard drive, just DVD. And a 9cell original battery i have just bought

I was not so enthusiastic …till arrived yasterday...

 

Same keyboard, display is perfect in size, nice piece of hardware.

 

 

An just 125 euros

Hi Trifero,

 

I have the X220 and have a Crucial MX200 mSata for Win7 and Crucial BX200 for OS X Yosemite and it works perfectly.

 

I also use the Ultrabase Series 3 ( highly recommended ) and have 2 HDD caddy's fitted with WD Black HDD's which I hot swap in as clone backup drives using CCC for OSX and an Optical DVD Ram RW drive as well.

 

The only issue I initially had was with the system time on Win7 being incorrect when dual booting between Win7 & OS X but i'm sure Tluck has included the necessary patch to address that.

 

The X220 is a great little laptop, only let down by a poor screen. My next job will be to fit an IPS panel to it.

 

For info I have also had success with a 3 port USB3 Expresscard54 card with the X220 in Yosemite 10.10.5. If anyone is interested i'll put some photo's / info up to share.

 

Avdo

[trifero]

Hi Trifero,

 

I have the X220 and have a Crucial MX200 mSata for Win7 and Crucial BX200 for OS X Yosemite and it works perfectly.

 

I also use the Ultrabase Series 3 ( highly recommended ) and have 2 HDD caddy's fitted with WD Black HDD's which I hot swap in as clone backup drives using CCC for OSX and an Optical DVD Ram RW drive as well.

 

The only issue I initially had was with the system time on Win7 being incorrect when dual booting between Win7 & OS X but i'm sure Tluck has included the necessary patch to address that.

 

The X220 is a great little laptop, only let down by a poor screen. My next job will be to fit an IPS panel to it.

 

For info I have also had success with a 3 port USB3 Expresscard54 card with the X220 in Yosemite 10.10.5. If anyone is interested i'll put some photo's / info up to share.

 

Avdo

G

 

Hi Trifero,

 

I have the X220 and have a Crucial MX200 mSata for Win7 and Crucial BX200 for OS X Yosemite and it works perfectly.

 

I also use the Ultrabase Series 3 ( highly recommended ) and have 2 HDD caddy's fitted with WD Black HDD's which I hot swap in as clone backup drives using CCC for OSX and an Optical DVD Ram RW drive as well.

 

The only issue I initially had was with the system time on Win7 being incorrect when dual booting between Win7 & OS X but i'm sure Tluck has included the necessary patch to address that.

 

The X220 is a great little laptop, only let down by a poor screen. My next job will be to fit an IPS panel to it.

 

For info I have also had success with a 3 port USB3 Expresscard54 card with the X220 in Yosemite 10.10.5. If anyone is interested i'll put some photo's / info up to share.

 

Avdo

 

 

Hello, Avdo. Thank you so much for sharing. I have a Samsung 850 EVO for Yosemite and and a Sandisk mSata for Windows. No issues with time synchro so far. Maybe because  both system are invisible each order, booting from mac using fstab to not mount the NTFS partition, and booting from Windows can't´s see the HTFS partition. 

 

i also was looking for a better screen. Goods feedbacks about the IPS display. Nice price on Ebay. But i couldn´t find one with a better resolution, that I think it would be better.

 

As for the USB, i can use the same 34 Expresscard  I used in the T420. As you know, the portion of the card that is connected is identical on both 34mm and 54mm.

 

Please, keep us updated with the IPS issue.

 

Regards.

[tluck]

Yes i did include a windows registry setting script so that the bios time is set and interpreted the same way in windows and osx

 

I have used 3 different ssd brands without issues. An Intel 160 that 4 yrs old just died on me. So I took a 512GB liteonit from a dell. And recently i purchased a pny cs 2211 240GB since it has a 4 yr warranty for my daughter's slow lenovo g780. For me once you use ssd there is no going back using a spinning disk for the system drive. ?

[set12]

Hello everybody. I have T420 with low res display, and HD 3000, and also port replicator.

Have I chance to install OS X without real mac? I mean, maybe exist some ready disk images that I can download?

[davidian]

 

Hello everybody. I have T420 with low res display, and HD 3000, and also port replicator.

Have I chance to install OS X without real mac? I mean, maybe exist some ready disk images that I can download?

 

 

Yes. What I did, is install Yosemite Zone, or Maverics Zone distros from Niresh on my machine, then download the El Capitan and build the Clover install usb following tluck-s step by step advice here. The only thing i was a bit confused about was that after the first reboot after first install you need to let it go on again with the install. Everything else was very easy, thanks again to tluck (and the community/everyone else involved).

[set12]

As I see, anyway I must run some osx on virtual machine for create bootable flash disk? So, maybe somebody can give me own assembled image?

[davidian]

As I see, anyway I must run some osx on virtual machine for create bootable flash disk? So, maybe somebody can give me own assembled image?

 

If it wasn't clear, I did this on my actual t420, not in a VM.

I don't think you can do this in a virtual machine, I read it will corrupt the USB, or it won't produce a good working USB. But you can try for yourself. Mavericks worked ok for me in VM, but Yosemite was buggy, freezing when connecting anything to the USB. The offered alternative on that thread was to buy Mountain Lion distro (if I remember correctly), install it with some booter, and than do the same as described above.

Anyway, for me it was worth the effort of installing that distro just to get to this point. Ofc you will need to create an apple-id also.

Another way to do it is to get a friend with a Mac.

[Ezhik]

Hi all.. First post... :-)

 

I got a bit annoyed about the bios fan controller..

It seemed to stay at 3500 rpm even if temperature was low and it seemed to run the cpu a little hot when under load load for a long time.

 

Found this post on the thinkpad forum.: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=91141#p607951

 

After adding the patch to the dsl and compiling, the fan control is perfect.(Just make sure hwmonitor is running and started at login as it poll the TCPU)

Low load is 55C and fan at 1950 rpm and almost silent.

High load is 80-85C and fan about 4500 rpm (was 90-92C before)

 

My install is just a default install following the guide(Thanks!! tluck)

Used a decompile of the existing aml because I had problems compiling the dsl included in the guide.

And in the dsl I just merged the thinkpad forum change.

 

WARNING!! It is important to run hwmonitor with 'continue to monitor sensors in background' or similar that query TCPU in intervals otherwise the fan will not be controlled.

 

The best solution would be to find a method that is called in intervals by the OS. (Could be battery status?) 

 

Does this solution make sense to you good people here and do you have a suggestion to a method polled by the OS we could use to 'ping' TCPU in intervals to ensure the controller code is keeping the temperature correct? 

 

...

I'd like to do this patch, but I have no idea how to work with the whole dsl thing. Could you maybe share the compiled file, if that's even something that people can do with SSDT?

[Ezhik]

10.11.4 final is out. 

 

For some reason I no longer get a logo on boot (black screen instead of Apple logo + loading bar), and I'm getting graphics glitches, mostly in Chrome, with tluck's latest pack.

 

-

Hm, I put my old config.plist back (not sure what it's dated - I used my config for a while even with newer packs, since I have all that iCloud stuff in it), and I got the boot logo back, and glitches disappeared.

 

-

Ah, nevermind, still some graphical glitches, but less than with the pack plist. At least I have the boot logo back ;_;

 

-

The glitches actually show up on screenshots, isn't that interesting.

 

 

Just random grey lines sometimes. 

 

-

Oh, and I also get flat black lines somehow, welp :V

 

-

 

Should've stayed on 10.11.3 :u

[tluck]

@ezhic - i wrote about this a short time ago - that 10.11.4 has been a problematic for me on 2 different system. I get glitches on my LCD and external display. I cannot figure out how to revert the all the graphics kexts. I can revert to Yosemite kexts, but without the 10.11.4 AppleIntelGraphicsGLDriver.bundle - some apps won't run. but this may be the culprit. i have another HD 3000 box and i am getting glitches on it as well. so it doesn't seem to be just a T420 problem? i don't know what is going on. as I had not seen such glitches for 2+ years.

 

As far as boot logo, recently I added some patches that are supposed to fix the apple logo in the 2nd boot phase. but you can easily disable these or use the old config.plist.  what is your LCD resolution? maybe they don't work for some resolutions?

[Ezhik]

My res is 1600x900, and the bootloader was 960x600. 

 

To be honest, I now have a good reason to downgrade to Yosemite. I actually didn't have many Hackintosh-specific issues (until now), but some annoyances with the OS itself were quite irritating. Also, I miss Helvetica :v

 

Do you by any chance have any tips on downgrading, or should I just follow the new installation process? 

[tluck]

@ezhik

 

odd you didn't see the logo on boot. i added the patches to fix the logo on boot! i am on SSD so i just see a flash on stage 2. 

 

anyway more importantly - glitches - 

 

for 1600x900... 

i am trying some new things that may help with glitches. 

removing the EDID from the clover config.plist and injecting EDID from the DSDT as well as using the display overrides with EDID added. 

i also am testing some config changes changing ( VRAMMethod to  2)  in the HD3000Graphics kext.  will keep everyone posted. sucks for sure. 

 

as far as downgrade. yeah. just install on top and reinstall the OS specific BT kext.

[mikaelr]

I'd like to do this patch, but I have no idea how to work with the whole dsl thing. Could you maybe share the compiled file, if that's even something that people can do with SSDT?

 

Hi. Packed the stuff up in T420_fancontrol.zip.

 

It has a txt file with the steps and locations.. here's a recap.

 

* Mount the ESP volume. (Replace disk0s1 with your ESP volume.)

mkdir /Volumes/ESP && sudo mount -t msdos /dev/disk0s1 /Volumes/ESP

 

* Backup old aml.

cp /Volumes/ESP/EFI/CLOVER/ACPI/patched/dsdt.aml /Volumes/ESP/EFI/CLOVER/ACPI/patched/dsdt.aml.orig

 

* Copy the asl from the zip.

cp ~/Downloads/T420_fancontrol/dsdt.aml /Volumes/ESP/EFI/CLOVER/ACPI/patched/dsdt.aml 

 

* Copy the kext that poll the new fan control logic in ‘TCPU’ by requesting the CPY temp at intervals.

cp -r ~/Downloads/T420_fancontrol/ACPIPoller.kext /Library/Extensions/ACPIPoller.kext 

kextutil /Library/Extensions/ACPIPoller.kext

 

It's still a bit of a hack but works for me. If something big changes in the dsdt.aml to support new functionality you would have to patch manually..

If you have HWMonitor running you do not need the kext but I like to have it loaded as a backup if HWMonitor stops for some reason.

If nothing is calling TCPU the fan just stays at current level and would cause overheating if that is on a low setting.

T420_fancontrol.zip

[verleihnix]

Hey tluck,

I updated bios with

Lenovo_ThinkPad_T420_83ET76WW-83uj28us_NWL_LEN21_ADV_RAM_Speedo_AES_vBios-2119

It has an updated vbios.

After that I did the update to 10.11.4.

No glitches so far - is there a way to force them?

I had some after wake from sleep before update - they are gone

[jus12]

Hey Verleihnix,

 

can you share your bios? I had really bad glitches even system frozen two times already within a day. After updated EFI with the latest one, looks stable.

However I would like to be sure it wont return. I tried to find 83uj28us_NWL_LEN21_ADV_RAM_Speedo_AES_vBios-2119 but the only I could find was 2170.

Can you share the files?