[GUIDE] Dell XPS 15 (9550) Mojave 10.14 / 10.15 Quick Installation

[Krim404]

The only tutorial I found online is at github by Gymnae and he mentions that tb3 is solved in 10.1 2, is there a link to his guide. I am willing to try. 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/319766-dell-xps-9550-detailled-1011-guide/

[syscl]

Hi @All,

 

About data corruption on XPS Skylake series, I want to clarify something we(@darkhandz, @gujiangjiang @shixuev5 @lzt7star ...) discussed here in GitHub[in Chinese].

 

4 brief conclusions:

• data corruption has nothing to do with HWP(syscl and @darkhandz have experienced data corruption even with GenerateC/PState)
• data corruption has nothing to do with specific hard disks, because Toshiba XG3, Hynix PC300 have same issue 
• data corruption seems to be triggered when we put macOS into sleep, but data corruption will not always happen when we put computer to sleep
• data corruption has nothing to do with system version, both El Captain and Sierra have the data corruption issue

@darkhandz has captured some important screenshots after data corruption indicating AppleFSCompression error. But Pike didn't think this log is sufficient to pinpoint the issue. Some suggestion from Pike can be referred here[see posts part]

 

We need more information, so guys don't hesitate to upload or share your experiences once the data corrupt. Thank you!

 

syscl

[tns1111]

Hi everybody,

 

sorry if this question is too obvious or alarmist, but i the case of a sudden data corruption 

 

- are you able to recover from the recovery partition via time machine or do you have to make a reinstall and then use time machine

- or do you have to have some kind of cloned image ready 

 

My XPS is running very well thanks to you guys and i really like to keep using it. But the threat of a sudden data corruption makes me a little nervous, because i wanted to use the XPS as my main frontend development machine to do client work.

 

thank you for any tip.

[syscl]

Hi everybody,

 

sorry if this question is too obvious or alarmist, but i the case of a sudden data corruption 

 

- are you able to recover from the recovery partition via time machine or do you have to make a reinstall and then use time machine

- or do you have to have some kind of cloned image ready 

 

My XPS is running very well thanks to you guys and i really like to keep using it. But the threat of a sudden data corruption makes me a little nervous, because i wanted to use the XPS as my main frontend development machine to do client work.

 

thank you for any tip.

If you shutdown XPS(Skylake) instead of putting it into sleep, I think your data will be safe. I want sleep to be fully functional, thus I want to figure out the issue.

 

Anyway, booting from solid state disk is pretty fast.

 

syscl

[Krim404]

Hi everybody,

 

sorry if this question is too obvious or alarmist, but i the case of a sudden data corruption 

 

- are you able to recover from the recovery partition via time machine or do you have to make a reinstall and then use time machine

- or do you have to have some kind of cloned image ready 

 

My XPS is running very well thanks to you guys and i really like to keep using it. But the threat of a sudden data corruption makes me a little nervous, because i wanted to use the XPS as my main frontend development machine to do client work.

 

thank you for any tip.

most of the time you can recover it from within the recovery system. Only if this fails you have to reinstall directly from a time machine backup. But dont forget: not all XPS15 suffer from this issue. I only read about it here, never seen it in real life and i've multiple machines.

[Deniryer]

Hi @all,

Today I have notice strange battery issue. I don't know if it is caused by the BIOS update, but it appears under Windows 10 & 10.12.3. My battery is only charging to 88% and battery indicator shows that battery is fully charged, I have downloaded app called battery monitor an its shows that the full capacity of my battery is 6,519 mAH and designed capacity is 7,368 mAH. As far as I know my XPS comes with 84whr battery (84whr * 11.1 = 7.567), does anybody have the same issue with battery?

[JLee7695]

Interesting note: when changing SMBIOS (both in Clover and kext) to MBP13,3, onboard HDMI and HDMI via the USB-C adapter stop working entirely.

 

I can leave the kext alone (still MBP13,3) but change the Clover config back to MB9,1 and both ports start working again.

 

What changes other than obvious SMBIOS settings like serial and board ID did you make to get the MBPro 13,3 definition to work? I couldn't get it to run more than two minutes without a KP just testing out the default definition. I really need to get a working laptop system definition because the iMac definition won't let me control the screen auto-dimming or give me access to advanced battery settings.

Thanks

[Krim404]

Hi @all,

Today I have notice strange battery issue. I don't know if it is caused by the BIOS update, but it appears under Windows 10 & 10.12.3. My battery is only charging to 88% and battery indicator shows that battery is fully charged, I have downloaded app called battery monitor an its shows that the full capacity of my battery is 6,519 mAH and designed capacity is 7,368 mAH. As far as I know my XPS comes with 84whr battery (84whr * 11.1 = 7.567), does anybody have the same issue with battery?

same here. The battery just wears off very fast, so i would say it's "normal" after a decent amount of time in usage. Mine is at 6218mAh after 192 load cycles. i suggest changing the charge behaviour in the EFI to "always on AC" to reduce stress on the battery.

[ed_co]

same here. The battery just wears off very fast, so i would say it's "normal" after a decent amount of time in usage. Mine is at 6218mAh after 192 load cycles. i suggest changing the charge behaviour in the EFI to "always on AC" to reduce stress on the battery.

 

Could you please put it into the guide? Cheers

The Dell XPS 9550 is ALMOST PERFECT, right? Just few things to make it the PERFECT hackintosh:

- Audio!! Without the known glitches.

- Thunderbolt (just to make sure it works).

- Hibernation (and maybe sleep).

- SD reader (who cares).

- Every patch in SSDT instead DSDT. Would make it more robust for bios changes. And easier to make it work for everyone (and maybe something automated).

 

This is almost perfect!! Good Job

[Zeafer]

Upon booting into the OS X Installer, I am not given a choice of global display language.  The language defaults to Chinese, which is difficult for me as I really only speak English.  I'm able to use DiskUtil and start the installation from memory, because I've done it before - but I'd love to know what caused this and whether I'll end up with a Chinese version of OS X installed somehow.  Any clues?

[tns1111]

Upon booting into the OS X Installer, I am not given a choice of global display language.  The language defaults to Chinese, which is difficult for me as I really only speak English.  I'm able to use DiskUtil and start the installation from memory, because I've done it before - but I'd love to know what caused this and whether I'll end up with a Chinese version of OS X installed somehow.  Any clues?

You can easily switch the system language after finishing the setup. I also had a Chinese setup somehow.

[mikolatero]

Upon booting into the OS X Installer, I am not given a choice of global display language.  The language defaults to Chinese, which is difficult for me as I really only speak English.  I'm able to use DiskUtil and start the installation from memory, because I've done it before - but I'd love to know what caused this and whether I'll end up with a Chinese version of OS X installed somehow.  Any clues?

 

You can change the language into clover configuration file (config.plist): https://clover-wiki.zetam.org/configuration/gui#gui_language

[TOEmmerson]

Could you please put it into the guide? Cheers

The Dell XPS 9550 is ALMOST PERFECT, right? Just few things to make it the PERFECT hackintosh:

- Audio!! Without the known glitches.

- Thunderbolt (just to make sure it works).

- Hibernation (and maybe sleep).

- SD reader (who cares).

- Every patch in SSDT instead DSDT. Would make it more robust for bios changes. And easier to make it work for everyone (and maybe something automated).

 

This is almost perfect!! Good Job

- I'm curious to know what audio glitches you have. Can you go into detail a bit more? The only problem thus far is that when you wake from sleep, sometimes the audio doesn't work and you have to plug in a headphone and remove it to get the speakers working again. 

 

- SD Reader: Not likely that there's going to be a driver, however I'm really considering hiring a developer through freelancer who can create us a working driver.

[Krim404]

You can easily switch the system language after finishing the setup. I also had a Chinese setup somehow.

accidentally it was on chinese in the installation config.plist. i changed it to en_US in the git.

[Gymnae]

Thanks wmchris,

 

I upgraded from El Capitan via your repo files to Sierra 10.2.3

Steps I took:

1. Downloaded Sierra installer running my old el cap install
2. Ran the installer in el cap to prepare the install partition
3. totally failed using my config.plist and kext set for 10.2
4. switched to your install set and created a usb-stick with the sierra installer
5. followed your guide to get your CLOVER files on it
6. rebooted
7. fixed the language
8. rebooted and installed sierra
9. followed your steps to get the fresh install to boot
10. created a new hacknvme kext
11. rebooted with your post-install config.plist with my smbios edited in
12. works!

 

Then I noticed:

1. Touchpad is not properly recognized
2. I don't like your HWP setting, the CPU is scaling to much upwards
3. the GPU does not appear to be a great accelerated as it was under el cap
4. Sound is not working. Not with the proper SSDT, AppleALC.kext and CodecCommander - still investigating

 

I adjusted your config.plist to not use your SSDT hotpatching at all, but my trusted set of pre-patched SSDTs. It works! But still the same thing, I don't like HWP and GPU speed. The CPU package draws more power than with el cap.

 

Maybe it's a fix in the config.plist, a patch or whatnot. But sierra is a go

[mdub]

think i said before i'm using the toshiba and never had one corruption so far. So i doubt it has something to do with the SSD itself.

 

 

i used the HWP kext for months in the past with ElCap and had no corruption at all. Additionally i dont think that this simple command in the kext is able to make the SSD corrupt. If you want to use the kext see gymnaes 10.11 tutorial for the 9550. He has published a script for reloading HWP after sleep. I personally suggest using the clover flag -> much easier and from the same developer.

 

they're are two different KP. 1. if you use a different SMBIOS you should always be sure to set it correctly and 2. if you use a skylake smbios (which provides cpu informations) you should not provide additional CPU informations as ssdt

 

so to be clear setting HWPEnable=true in clover automatically reloads HWP after sleep with no additional configuration?

And what do you mean by 'set SMBIOS correctly'? I used clover configurator wizard to generate a new SMBIOS for MacBookPro13,3. Boots fine and runs with HWP. When I try generate an SSDT with SSDTprgren (with HWP disabled in clover and no kext) then I get KP. I set proper frequency vectors with Piker's frequenyvector edit script- same issue.

Can anyone really confirm that GPU power management fully works with HWP? Rehabman said X86platformplugin doesn't load with HWP enabled which means GPU power management isn't fully implemented. 

[Gymnae]

so to be clear setting HWPEnable=true in clover automatically reloads HWP after sleep with no additional configuration?

And what do you mean by 'set SMBIOS correctly'? I used clover configurator wizard to generate a new SMBIOS for MacBookPro13,3. Boots fine and runs with HWP. When I try generate an SSDT with SSDTprgren (with HWP disabled in clover and no kext) then I get KP. I set proper frequency vectors with Piker's frequenyvector edit script- same issue.

Can anyone really confirm that GPU power management fully works with HWP? Rehabman said X86platformplugin doesn't load with HWP enabled which means GPU power management isn't fully implemented. 

 

Nope, for met with el cap at least the cover flag did not automatically reload HWP after sleep, hence the script. The kext, clover flag and script are not mutually exclusive and it doesn't hurt to have them all.

[mikolatero]

Hello! 

 

One week and no data corruption! But now, i'm using time machine xDD

 

Well, now i have another problem, hdmi video output not work and, when i plug my Dell DA200 into usb-c port nothing happend. I try hdmi, vga, usb and ethernet and nothing recogniced D:

 

I have the same SMBIOS like config at first post (iMac 5K 27") maybe i need to change to macbook pro?

 

Thanks for all.

 

 

 

EDIT:

 

 

 

Fixed, i change my smbios to macbook13,3, added my board-id to kext and now HDMI / VGA works hot-plug. But usb in da200 not work D:

[Gymnae]

After some fiddling now I got all working, Audio via AppleALC and normal boot.

 

But overall the system is not as snappy as it was with El Capitan, the fan spins up more, more heat is generated. Something is not right yet. Maybe "too" many fixes?

I'm using the same HWP settings as with el Capitan, so unless whmchris's plist introduces fixes which slower the system, it's Sierra itself. Did not expect that

 

But Sierra works.

[joginek]

After some fiddling now I got all working, Audio via AppleALC and normal boot.

 

But overall the system is not as snappy as it was with El Capitan, the fan spins up more, more heat is generated. Something is not right yet. Maybe "too" many fixes?

I'm using the same HWP settings as with el Capitan, so unless whmchris's plist introduces fixes which slower the system, it's Sierra itself. Did not expect that

 

But Sierra works.

 

There are plenty real MacBook users on internet forums who report more fan noise and heat after installing Sierra in comparison to El Capitan. It's either macOS is more demanding on CPU or it is a bug that needs to be fixed in future updates. Who knows.

[Gymnae]

There are plenty real MacBook users on internet forums who report more fan noise and heat after installing Sierra in comparison to El Capitan. It's either macOS is more demanding on CPU or it is a bug that needs to be fixed in future updates. Who knows.

 

That wouldn't be too surprising given Apple's track record. In the past waiting for the first point release was enough Could also be all the background services, which are just getting more and more

[Gymnae]

There is this weird hiccup now, which could pertain the touted data corruption.

 

My EFI partition contains files with 0 byte size, illegal characters and which are undeletable. I had to rename the "10.12" kext folder, create a new version and copy the needed kexts from my USB bootstick into it. This setup lasts for 1-2 boots or so - then the EFI files become corrupted again. I cannot tell which files do become corrupted, but so far replacing the kexts did it. I consider the EFI parition to be at fault, hence I rance fsck_msdos via single user mode and it yielded an endless stream of errors, which all were fixed. The files, though, are still there.

 

Tonight I'll use SystemRescueCD to re-check the EFI parition with its tools, try to delete these files and if nothing helps, salvage what is good and reformat the EFI parition and reimage it. This problem only occured while upgrading to 10.12 - or maybe it only became visible. 

 

The HFS+ parition of OS X also shows errors which the normaly fsck did not fix, but which were fixed with

/sbin/fsck_hfs -drfy /dev/disk0s2

I do hope this does not indicate a corrupted drive.

[hackedWifi]

I have been on Sierra for the last two months. I have not had any data corruption.

 

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[Nomad347]

There is this weird hiccup now, which could pertain the touted data corruption.

 

My EFI partition contains files with 0 byte size, illegal characters and which are undeletable. I had to rename the "10.12" kext folder, create a new version and copy the needed kexts from my USB bootstick into it. This setup lasts for 1-2 boots or so - then the EFI files become corrupted again. I cannot tell which files do become corrupted, but so far replacing the kexts did it. I consider the EFI parition to be at fault, hence I rance fsck_msdos via single user mode and it yielded an endless stream of errors, which all were fixed. The files, though, are still there.

 

Tonight I'll use SystemRescueCD to re-check the EFI parition with its tools, try to delete these files and if nothing helps, salvage what is good and reformat the EFI parition and reimage it. This problem only occured while upgrading to 10.12 - or maybe it only became visible.

 

The HFS+ parition of OS X also shows errors which the normaly fsck did not fix, but which were fixed with

/sbin/fsck_hfs -drfy /dev/disk0s2

I do hope this does not indicate a corrupted drive.

Similar thing happened to me couple of days ago. Had hwp enabled. Xps went to sleep/hibernation? Then efi corrupted. Tried to rescue it but no luck. Had to format the efi from windows. Then booted the macos partition from usb and reinstalled Clover and efi files

[mdub]

does HWP handle GPU power management too?