Deleting kext file

[greyeyezz]

I uninstalled some audio boosting software that was becoming problematic. An extension remains in library/stagedextensions/library/extensions. Would like to get rid of it so it doesn't cause conflicts with my audio stack. Easy process or forget it?

 

[bogdanw]

From Terminal
sudo kextcache --clear-staging
or
sudo kmutil clear-staging

 

[greyeyezz]

I'll try it thanks, is this safe?

 

[bogdanw]

It should be safe, reboot after.

Apple:
"In macOS 11 and later, kmutil replaces kextload, kextunload, and other earlier tools for loading and managing kexts. The older tools still work, but their implementations now call kmutil."
"Unloading a kext on macOS 11 and later requires a call to kmutil or kextunload, followed by a system reboot. The kmutil tool builds a new kext collection without the specified kext, but it doesn’t install that collection immediately. The system installs the new kext collection only after the computer reboots. As a result, the unloaded kext actually remains active and running until the user reboots the system.
For more details, see the kmutil(8) man page."
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/apple-silicon/installing-a-custom-kernel-extension

Open kmutil manual from Terminal:

man -t kmutil | open -fa "Preview"

"clear-staging: Clear the staging directory managed by kernelmanagerd(8) and kmutil(8)."

web version (might not be updated or for your macOS version)
https://keith.github.io/xcode-man-pages/kmutil.8.html

 

[greyeyezz]

This is 10.15.7

 

[bogdanw]

This is 10.15.7

Use

sudo kextcache --clear-staging

Manual for kextcache

man -t kextcache | open -fa "Preview"

"−clear-staging Clears the kernel extension staging area by removing all staged content."