Editing System/Library Directories in Monterey

[mystik.ishuge]

Long story short, I was able to run a csrutil and sudo mount command in Big Sur to change/add/delete files in the System Library folder directories. It appears Apple has locked the root down tighter in Monterey. Can anyone give me directions on how to edit this folder?

I know it's locked for a reason. Please don't reply with that. I know what I'm doing once I'm inside, but I can't find the proper commands to unlock the #$%@#$@#$ folder.

 

[joevt]

I don't know how it's done but you can have a look at how OCLP does it.
https://github.com/dortania/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher

Specifically, you'll want to look at the Post Install Volume Patches code.
https://github.com/dortania/OpenCor...84cd7130363d9d59165568/resources/sys_patch.py

If you do unlock it, then maybe you don't get automatic updates from Apple anymore?

 

[joevt]

There's also this:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...unsupported-macs-thread.2299557/post-30654977

 

[joevt]

Here's another:
https://github.com/fxgst/writeable_root/blob/main/writeable_root.c

There's a mount command.
Then you make changes.
Then there's a bless command to recreate the snapshot.
Then reboot.

 

[mystik.ishuge]

That's very close, but it doesn't quite give the freedom I need. It does give access to core services, but I'm actually after the display profiles for this project. I don't think anyone has really cracked it open yet. I was pretty unrestricted in Catalina, but Apple bolted things down even more from Big Sur to Monterey. It's quite disappointing and unnecessarily laborious that I may need to roll that far back. Thank you for the suggestions.

 

[joevt]

That's very close, but it doesn't quite give the freedom I need. It does give access to core services, but I'm actually after the display profiles for this project. I don't think anyone has really cracked it open yet. I was pretty unrestricted in Catalina, but Apple bolted things down even more from Big Sur to Monterey. It's quite disappointing and unnecessarily laborious that I may need to roll that far back. Thank you for the suggestions.

What's the path of the display profiles?

 

[mystik.ishuge]

System/Library/Displays/Contents/Resources/Overrides is the target folder. I have a custom monitor profile (folder) created to "fix" blurry detail/text resolution for external monitors on a 2018 intel mac mini. I just have to drop the profile folder into the Overides directory and voila. I've successfully done this in older MacOS versions on older Minis and MBPs and have a ton of experience building Hackintoshes in the 10.6-ish days. Much has changed in Monterey.

The whole System is so locked down now, it's really quite a crime for Mini users that must use an external monitor. I could buy a couple old Thunderbolt monitors at $300-$400 each, but no.

 

[joevt]

Overrides is supposed to also work for the /Library/Displays/Contents/Resources/Overrides folder. Did you try that?
It's the same folder that SwitchResX now uses to save its changes.

 

[mystik.ishuge]

I'd gladly shell out the $16 for SwitchResX... never heard of it until now. Looks like it would have saved me a few hours. However, there's nothing on the site that says it works with 12.0.1 which I believe to be sole issue. If he can write to the System Library, he should be charging more. However, I installed the trial version and there's nothing that makes me believe he's actually writing to the Overrides folder.

It looks like it grabs the native profiles and resolutions then applies them to various applications. Cool feature, but doesn't change anti-aliasing or smoothing.

 

[joevt]

I'd gladly shell out the $16 for SwitchResX... never heard of it until now. Looks like it would have saved me a few hours. However, there's nothing on the site that says it works with 12.0.1 which I believe to be sole issue. If he can write to the System Library, he should be charging more. However, I installed the trial version and there's nothing that makes me believe he's actually writing to the Overrides folder.

It looks like it grabs the native profiles and resolutions then applies them to various applications. Cool feature, but doesn't change anti-aliasing or smoothing.

SwitchResX writes to /Library, not /SystemLibrary

There are a few settings that get saved to Overrides that SwitchResX will set.
You can change the display name - click on "Use custom display name system-wide"
You can add custom scaled timings.
Probably the other settings also get saved (frequency ranges, scaled resolutions base, etc.) but macOS on M1 Macs might not use all the saved settings. The display name is one setting that's known to get used.

I don't use the other options in SwitchResX (Display Sets, Applications, Desktop). It's the per display options (Display Information and Custom Resolutions) that get saved to Overrides.

 

[mystik.ishuge]

I don't use the other options in SwitchResX (Display Sets, Applications, Desktop). It's the per display options (Display Information and Custom Resolutions) that get saved to Overrides.

That's precisely what I'm trying to do. I've written new override custom resolutions, but can't apply them because the System Library is 100% locked.

I can clean up fuzzy text/detail very nicely by tricking the OS into thinking it's outputting to a 5k display.

 

[joevt]

That's precisely what I'm trying to do. I've written new override custom resolutions, but can't apply them because the System Library is 100% locked.

I can clean up fuzzy text/detail very nicely by tricking the OS into thinking it's outputting to a 5k display.

But the overrides can be saved to /Library instead of /System/Library. /Library is where SwitchResX saves overrides. /Library is the first path macOS checks. Then /System/Library. You can see the override gets loaded if macOS shows the overridden display name in the Display's preferences panel.