Improving Sonoma support for the Lenovo T530

[5T33Z0]

What works

• Installing and booting works with latest EFI release.
• Setup-Assistant works a lot snappier without iGPU acceleration than in Monterey and Ventura.
• Broadcom Bluetooth still works since BrcmPatchRAM is still compatible
• Intel WiFI and BT should still work if you have a card supported by itlwm.kext.
• Ethernet works fine.
• Firefox works fine
• Graphics Accelleration (since OCLP 068)
• Broadcom WiFI (requires additional post-install root pacthes as described here

Supported macOS

• macOS 14.2 RC. ⚠️ Requires nightly build of OCLP 1.3.0 or newer for root patching. Otherwise you "brick" macOS and have to revert patches.

What else

• This upgrade was definitely much, much, much easier than switching from Monterey to Ventura.
• More Info: https://github.com/dortania/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/issues/1076
• ⚠️ Any Off-Topic posts which are not about the Lenovo T530 will be DELETED IMMEDIATELY!!!

[Jan-E]

Graphics Accelleration. I haven't applied root patches because I think it will most likely brick the installation. Maybe someone wants to test it in a VM instead.

I tested this in a Sonoma VM under Virtualbox 7.0.8. It did not brick the VM, but did not work either. The VM even felt a little bit snappier without the root patches.

[5T33Z0]

Thanks for testing.

[Jan-E]

I tested a little more. When I first ran OCLP 0.6.7 it told me that the VM was already patched. I assumed this was a leftover after the upgrade from Ventura. I reverted the root patches and it felt snappier. Looking now it still tells me it is patched. I can revert the root patches time and time again, but never install them.

[jozews321]

I patched my T430 running Sonoma with OCLP and it does brick the installation, but its recoverable using safe mode or the boot-arg -igfxvesa

[5T33Z0]

Yeah, I though that it would semi-brick the system when installed natively. Learned that from Ventura beta updates. But I didn't think about -igvesa as another workaround.

[jozews321]

The WindowServer crashes when trying to run accelerated with the current patches. Btw I found that when using VESA you can boot to unpatch because I haven't been able to fix recovery mode for my T430 I just get a prohibited sign. Does recovery mode work for you? Do you have any advice to try and fix that Thanks lmo

[5T33Z0]

Have you tried to re-enable the booter and kernel vmm patches? Because using RestrictEvents and -sbvmm does not do the trick when running installers outside of macOS. I guess it affects Recovery as welll, since it expects a compatible board-id/SMBIOS.

[cactusfuzz]

Any chance we can expect an OCLP release for Sonoma in the near future?

[5T33Z0]

@cactusfuzz Don't ask me, I am just a user like you are. According to Dortania, the estimated timeframe for an OCLP update is 6 months.

[cactusfuzz]

OK, thank you.

[Jan-E]

https://github.com/chris1111/Wireless-USB-OC-Big-Sur-Adapter Drivers for Realtek 802.11n and 802.11ac USB Wi-Fi adapters Support macOS Sonoma 14 - macOS Ventura 13 - macOS Monterey 12 - macOS Big Sur 11 - macOS Catalina 10.15

[Jan-E]

The dongle I used when taking the screenshot was a little big bigger, but this one also recognized the same networks: https://www.edimax.com/edimax/merchandise/merchandise_detail/data/edimax/global/wireless_adapters_n150/ew-7811un_v2/ It is a cheap way to get Wifi access, without opening the laptop and fuzzing around with the screws and the connectors.

[Jan-E]

The X230T requires a Mini PCI-E form factor for the Wlan card. And in the same tiny space I have also got a 500GB mSATA SSD. I try to avoid switching the internal Wlan card as much as possible.

Edit: half size mini PCI-E. Something like this one https://de.aliexpress.com/item/32483159126.html

[Jan-E]

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/59474/intel-centrino-ultimaten-6300-dual-band/specifications.html No bluetooth, but looks OK otherwise. Lots to investigate: https://openintelwireless.github.io/itlwm/Compat.html#dvm-iwn

[Jan-E]

I know you do not like aliexpress, but this Fenvi card has the right size and a Intel AX210 chipset: https://de.aliexpress.com/item/32926172242.html Worth a try, for that money.

[5T33Z0]

Not in the list:

And if it's not in the list, I think you have to dump the firmware so it can be integrated in the kext. And I don't know to do this. I guess with Linux and terminal wizardry. Or maye ypu have to use a programmer to dump the ROM.

[Jan-E]

Wifi 6 might be too modern. Is there any other at https://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/Für-Intel-Wi-Fi-Karte/106046_40000001358687.html that might be supported?

[Jan-E]

https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005004974948251.html claims to be AX200.

[5T33Z0]

All great findings. BUT: the real problem is figuring out BT compatibility beforehand. Because the list for that is pretty limited: https://openintelwireless.github.io/IntelBluetoothFirmware/Compat.html

What they call "USB id" is actually something else. I was jus lucky the AC 9560 is compatibly. But it wasn't working in Ventura 13.5b first. So I wanted to check if it has a compatible "USB id". I had to go through all the categories of th device manager until I finally found something that resembles the this "USB-id". It's actually the Configuration ID made up of the VID (Vendor ID) and PID (product ID): https://github.com/5T33Z0/Thinkpad-T490-Hackintosh-OpenCore/blob/main/Additional_Files/Pics/Device_Manager/BT_Config-ID.PNG

In the end it was that the BluetoolKext had to be updated by the dev for 13.5. But checking fore the correct PID feforehand – I don't know where to look for that.

[Jan-E]

The list may seem pretty limited, but maybe it is complete as well. It is exactly the same list that Chromium lists for Intel Bluetooth devices: https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/third_party/kernel/+blame/HEAD/drivers/bluetooth/btusb.c#337

Looking at half size mini PCI-E cards the Fenvi Mini PCI-E MPE-9260AC might be your best chance: https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005004231470846.html Intel AC 9260 is mentioned several times under compatible devices. The standard link on aliexpress points to the ‘Antenna only’ option. Some Brazilians bought that one and were complaining about it. Be sure to click on the left button under ‘Farbe’ (huh Color !?) and buy it for €19,17 (free shipping).

[Jan-E]

Not in the list:

And if it's not in the list, I think you have to dump the firmware so it can be integrated in the kext. And I don't know to do this. I guess with Linux and terminal wizardry. Or maye ypu have to use a programmer to dump the ROM.

Actually AX210 is in the list, together with AC 9560. See https://openintelwireless.github.io/itlwm/Compat.html#mvm-gen-3-iwx

https://de.aliexpress.com/item/32926172242.html might be the best choice after all. Select the ‘Farbe: WIFI 6E MPE-AXE3000H’.

Edit. Too curious. I bought one myself and only had to pay €22,34. If it is not for a Hackintosh, it might be a good one for my other Lenovo (X220, with currently a Broadcom card). Look at the reviews: there are repeat buyers. Allways a good sign.

[5T33Z0]

Wifi charts :D https://imperialpdx.com/half-mini-pcie-wifi-card/

[Jan-E]

With a high score for the Rekong MPE-AXE3000H. Which seems identical to the Fenvi MPE-AXE3000H. Not sure who the real manufacturer is. Or maybe both. Fenvi has a driver download guide. https://fenvi.com

https://www.google.com/search?q=rekong+site%3Afenvi.com shows a link to the driver guide, although 'rekong' is never found on that page. It probably means that there are links to that page when looking for rekong drivers.

https://www.google.com/search?q=link%3Afenvi.com%2Fdrive.html is interesting as well.

Try searching for MPE-AXE3000H on amazon.de. You will find 2 other brands for the same card.

[Jan-E]

The list may seem pretty limited, but maybe it is complete as well.

Intel has a download for IT administrators, which states: amongst more (above the screenshot). https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/16807/intel-wireless-bluetooth-for-it-administrators.html

[karim2009]

hello and congratulations for your work! if you want I am willing to participate by testing your patch on a machine at home, I would like to test the graphics acceleration!

[5T33Z0]

Graphics Acceleration does not work in Sonoma with this machine yet since OpenCore Legacy Patcher must be updated first.

[Jan-E]

macOS 14 beta 2 is available. And Ventura has a minor update as well: 13.4.1. IOS and iPadOS join the club. Installer for Sonoma beta 2 can be downloaded from https://mrmacintosh.com/macos-sonoma-full-installer-database-download-directly-from-apple/ And after the update to Sonoma beta 2 Xcode 15 beta 2 will follow. Will take a lot of time.

[Jan-E]

Too curious. I bought one myself and only had to pay €22,34. If it is not for a Hackintosh, it might be a good one for my other Lenovo (X220, with currently a Broadcom card). Look at the reviews: there are repeat buyers. Allways a good sign.

That Wifi card arrived yesterday evening in Amsterdam. Will be at my home soon.

[Jan-E]

This was after downloading the installer from mrmacintosh.com, while updating my installer vmdk: It did not find the macOS update. The only update there is the Command line tools beta 2 for Xcode 15. Not even Xcode beta 2 itself. Now it is doing the install: Notable change: this time the installer has the name Sonoma in it in stead of 'macOS 14' in the previous one.

[Jan-E]

Two hours later. Still waiting for the first reboot of my VirtualboxSonoma.

[Jan-E]

19:49. 6 or 7 reboots later. One more thing, nine more minutes.

[Jan-E]

The screen with 'Less than a minute remaining ...' was present for about 15 minutes until I remembered that this was the time when in a previous upgrade the credentials were asked. So I started typing.

[5T33Z0]

Interesting that it can run with 4 GB of RAM.

I had to delete the Sonoma Volume because it didn't had enough space to perform an update with the installer. After that I could run the installer app and install Sonoma on an empty volume. But deleting volumes before installing will crash on 1st boot after the installation is complete because some cryptex stuff are missing from the preboot volume.

And then you have to create a USB installer with OpenCore patcher and then it works. I've noticed this with Ventura beta before. I think the OCLP is doing something with the installer so it works on machines without AVX2.0. After installing from USB everything went as expected.

[Jan-E]

Interesting that it can run with 4 GB of RAM.

My X230T has only 8GB. Virtualbox says it is still safe to assign 5GB, but I went for 4GB.

I am trying to find the proper way to install Xcode 15 beta (2), but that is not easy with a crippled Safari and a slow OS. There is no normal direct download of Xcode anymore. Apple has changed that and then you run into problems like described here: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/731477

Could you try if it works on your side?

[5T33Z0]

• Use Firefox
• Visit https://developer.apple.com/download/all/?q=Xcode
• Log in
• Click on "View details" for Xcode 15b
• Deselct iOS
• Click on download
• This will download 2 files, a downloadmanifest and the app as .xip

[Jan-E]

Yes, that is what I did eventually (using Chrome). With the previous beta I did the same and was surprised that Sonoma beta 2 found an update for the Command line tools for Xcode 15, but not for Xcode it self. We wiil have to wait for Xcode 15 beta 3 to see what happens then.

[Jan-E]

And then you have to create a USB installer with OpenCore patcher and then it works. I've noticed this with Ventura beta before. I think the OCLP is doing something with the installer so it works on machines without AVX2.0. After installing from USB everything went as expected.

If you create an installer drive with sudo (like I did) there will be an EFI partition on it, but an empty one. Maybe OCLP puts a minimal EFI on the installer drive to prevent crashes. Just guessing.

[Jan-E]

What is your CPU usage? Mine seems to stay really high in the VirtualboxSonoma, even when I turn as many things of as I can. Normal Wifi did not work anyway, bluetooth worked but I changed it to off, airdrop is off as well. Yet, the airportd service takes a lot of CPU:

[5T33Z0]

My Guess: AirportBrcmFixup is trying to attach the legacy wifi kext (which no longer exiists) to the Airportd service.

So disabling AirportBrcm might help.

[Jan-E]

I disabled AirportBrcmFixup.kext, but that does not seem to make any difference: The X230T is behind a smart plug which reports the Watt being used. 14 Watt without a running Virtualbox and 35 Watt with a running VirtualboxSonoma. While testing I happened to discover something odd. I had a setting that turned the screen off after 3 minutes. Even without a virtualbox the Wattage then went immediately up to 36W and stayed that high. So I do not turn the screen off anymore, but display a blank screensaver.

[5T33Z0]

I guess you have to deactivate the Card in BIOS then or take it out. But before it was at 84 %, now it's at 65%…

As far as power consumption is concerned:

• The T530 has an issue with entering idle sleep since Big Sur+. In other words, if you let it try to enter sleep on it's own, it fails. The screen turns off but CPU clocks up and then the fans ram up to cool it
• This doesn't happen when sending it to sleep via Fn+F4 or using the Apple Menu.

[Jan-E]

I wonder if Virtualbox even knows that the card is there. Especially after I have set the hardware switch to off. But taking it out temporarily is also an option.

[Jan-E]

I had to collect the card at a post-office (5 minutes by bike). When I came back I checked the activity monitor: Looking a lot better. But still taking a total of 32 Watt = 18 Watt for the VirtualboxSonoma. The fan is quieter and less hot.

[5T33Z0]

Real behavior:

[Jan-E]

I had to swap the Wifi cards and remove the Bluetooth 'daughterboard' (the tiny one above the battery) and run the Intel Driver assistent to get bluetooth working in Windows 10. Wifi ran out of the box (at 866 Mbps) after it had updated the driver while connected with a cable to internet. The bluetooth id of the Fenvi MPE-AXE3000H is 0x8087 / 0x0032 which is a supported device according to https://openintelwireless.github.io/IntelBluetoothFirmware/Compat.html

So https://de.aliexpress.com/item/32926172242.html is recommended. Be sure to click on the ‘Farbe: WIFI 6E MPE-AXE3000H’ to order the card for €25,51 and not the antenna. Shipped from China to Amsterdam in 6 days.

Edit: nasty detail. If I turn off Wimax port access in my BIOS settings bluetooth will disappear.

[5T33Z0]

Got an Intel AC-7260 for 2,16 € on ebay :D

EDIT: The Deutsche Post didn't drop the mail, they just said it couldn't be delivered and send it straight back to the ebay seller… Bananenpublik…

[5T33Z0]

What's wrong with these people asking for help for completely different systems?

[Jan-E]

Got an Intel AC-7260 for 2,16 € on ebay :D

EDIT: The Deutsche Post didn't drop the mail, they just said it couldn't be delivered and send it straight back to the ebay seller… Bananenpublik…

Just saw your edit. Bummer. Are you chasing for another AC-7260?

[5T33Z0]

@Jan-E No, I was contacted by the seller and we made a deal. He sends it to me again via post PRIO and I wil cover the shipping somehow.

[5T33Z0]

@Jan-E: The Intel AC-7260 arrived today. Wifi works in Sonoma, Bluetooth doesn't – neither in Sonoma nor Big Sur. I guess the BT module is incompatible. I thinks the BT modulke is actually by Broadcom. I know because Device Manager listed a missing device driver for a BCM device. After installing BT 4.0 for Lenovo driver, the error was gone and BT workes in Windows, so I know the card is working.