macOS 10.14 Mojave on Unsupported Macs Thread

[0403979]

I've tried something going backward until Sierra 10.12.6, upon @Badruzeus suggestion, I've investigate a bit, and almost sure that the "light mode" transparency is rendered by the /S/L/PF/SkyLight.Framework

On Sierra the Skylight binary file is sized 7,4 MB , while on HS is 4,4 MB similar size as Mojave

Replacing with Sierra one you get a lot of WindowServer crashes, while a better behavior you get replacing with HS one BUT it stuck on black screen after the stage2 Apple logo, the keyboard is responsive, sometimes appears also the mouse cursor on black screen.

Anyway I guess this Mojave file is always mandatory, even if someone will succeed in patching:
/S/L/PF/SkyLight.Framework/Versions/A/Resources/WindowServer

So could we replace everything in the SkyLight framework with the equivalent files from Sierra but keep the window server file from Mojave?
[doublepost=1533373223][/doublepost]

I've tried something going backward until Sierra 10.12.6, upon @Badruzeus suggestion, I've investigate a bit, and almost sure that the "light mode" transparency is rendered by the /S/L/PF/SkyLight.Framework

On Sierra the Skylight binary file is sized 7,4 MB , while on HS is 4,4 MB similar size as Mojave

Replacing with Sierra one you get a lot of WindowServer crashes, while a better behavior you get replacing with HS one BUT it stuck on black screen after the stage2 Apple logo, the keyboard is responsive, sometimes appears also the mouse cursor on black screen.

Anyway I guess this Mojave file is always mandatory, even if someone will succeed in patching:
/S/L/PF/SkyLight.Framework/Versions/A/Resources/WindowServer

I found a couple pages on SkyLight and WindowServer.

https://github.com/avaidyam/Parrot/wiki/SkyLight.framework
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/coregraphics
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/coregraphics/quartz_window_services
https://developer.apple.com/library...pple_ref/doc/uid/DTS10003794-CH1-SUBSECTION14

And some stuff on Metal.

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/metalkit
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/metalperformanceshaders
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/metal

 

[cumpadi]

I was able to install High Sierra on an Eight Core Mac Pro 3,1 without installing any physical patches on the system. Using only Clover v2 boot loader on a separate partition to install High Sierra. The installer ran (used the installer from DosDude1's setup which is really an unmatched installer until you run some patches on it). Then I loaded its emergency drive, unmatched. worked. Next booted into the unpatched High Sierra 10.13.5 and no issues. Next will be trying out the High Sierra Beta 10.13.6 Beta 2 and also Mojave Beta 10.14 as well on this system. That's really some good progress. And hoping to get Mojave running soon on this same system. I think my video card might be causing the reboot on Mojave, so I can try some other cards that I have on hand to get it to boot from scratch.

Installing a from scratch High Sierra on another Mac and then on both Mac Pro 3,1 systems will move on to a Mojave install.

By switching Clover v2 to the Mac Mini Late 2014, I was able to get full video acceleration in High Sierra with NVIDIA's drivers. Still no patches. Mac Pro 6,1 and Mac Pro 5,1 configs would not output video or would reboot. Using a fresh EFI Boot loader.

Going to download Mojave and cross some fingers.

Do U can up clover EFI File?

 

[0403979]

Do U can up clover Eficiente File?

I'm not sure I can understand your message.

 

[jackluke]

So could we replace everything in the SkyLight framework with the equivalent files from Sierra but keep the window server file from Mojave?
[doublepost=1533373223][/doublepost]

I found a couple pages on SkyLight and WindowServer.

https://github.com/avaidyam/Parrot/wiki/SkyLight.framework
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/coregraphics
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/coregraphics/quartz_window_services
https://developer.apple.com/library...pple_ref/doc/uid/DTS10003794-CH1-SUBSECTION14

And some stuff on Metal.

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/metalkit
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/metalperformanceshaders
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/metal

Not exactly, my very very partially working test is this:

- Take a backup of the entire Mojave SkyLight.Framework
- Take a copy of the entire HighSierra SkyLight.Framework
- Replace on Mojave the entire /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SkyLight.Framework from HS
- Then exploring the Mojave SkyLight.Framework/Versions/A/Resources/
copy the Mojave "WindowServer" onto the (replaced HS) /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SkyLight.Framework/Versions/A/Resources

IT WILL give NO WindowServer crashes on verbose mode but stuck on black screen after the Apple-Logo.

Not yet tried replacing some from El Capitan or Yosemite, but I guess the best one is the SkyLight from HighSierra.

 

[0403979]

Not exactly, my very very partially working test is this:

- Take a backup of the entire Mojave SkyLight.Framework
- Take a copy of the entire HighSierra SkyLight.Framework
- Replace on Mojave the entire /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SkyLight.Framework from HS
- Then exploring the Mojave SkyLight.Framework/Versions/A/Resources/
copy the Mojave "WindowServer" onto the (replaced HS) /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SkyLight.Framework/Versions/A/Resources

IT WILL give NO WindowServer crashes on verbose mode but stuck on black screen after the Apple-Logo.

Not yet tried replacing some from El Capitan or Yosemite, but I guess the best one is the SkyLight from HighSierra.

I thought you tried (Low) Sierra and it booted fine?

 

[jackluke]

I thought you tried (Low) Sierra and it booted fine?

No, that's the point are needed some patching or on the HS SkyLight binary file or on the Mojave WindowServer binary file.

Instead to prove that my attempt is not so bad, if you replace the entire SkyLight.Framework from HS (or Sierra), then from the backed up Mojave one you copy ONLY these files again into the
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SkyLight.Framework/Versions/A/SkyLight
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SkyLight.Framework/Versions/A/Resources/WindowServer

It will boot correctly using the partially replaced old S/HS files, so only these two need a patch on my opinion to get the translucency/transparency of the Finder Menu bar in "light mode".

 

[0403979]

No, that's the point are needed some patching or on the HS SkyLight binary file or on the Mojave WindowServer binary file.

Instead to prove that my attempt is not so bad, if you replace the entire SkyLight.Framework from HS (or Sierra), then from the backed up Mojave one you copy ONLY these files again into the
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SkyLight.Framework/Versions/A/SkyLight
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SkyLight.Framework/Versions/A/Resources/WindowServer

It will boot correctly using the partially replaced old S/HS files, so only these two need a patch on my opinion to get the translucency/transparency of the Finder Menu bar in "light mode".

Ah gotcha. Does the SkyLight/CoreGraphicsServices framework also "draw" the graphical elements for dark mode or just light mode?

 

[jackluke]

Ah gotcha. Does the SkyLight/CoreGraphicsServices framework also "draw" the graphical elements for dark mode or just light mode?

Maybe, but SkyLight framework is totally missing on El Capitan 10.11.6, even the CoreGraphicsServices framework totally missing.

 

[0403979]

SkyLight framework is totally missing on El Capitan, even the CoreGraphicsServices framework totally missing.

Weird... Maybe @ASentientBot could do some of their code patching on SkyLight and WindowSever files from High Sierra in order to get them working on Mojave.
[doublepost=1533377530][/doublepost]The sizes for SkyLight and WindowServer on 10.3.6 High Sierra and 10.14 DP5 Mojave are:

Skylight HS: 4.4 MB
Skylight M: 4.6 MB
WindowServer HS: 27 KB
WindowServer M: 32 KB

This probably means that more code relating to Metal was added and the previous code is most likely preserved considering the size increase.

I've attached a zip with files in it.

 

[jackluke]

Ok, I think this could be very useful for new experiments, after deep inspecting I just found in El Capitan 10.11.6 the WindowServer binary unix file (also in OSX Yosemite and OSX Mavericks)

it is located exactly here:

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreGraphics.Framework/Versions/A/Resources/WindowServer


While starting from Sierra (HS/Mojave included) apple made some major modifications on CoreGraphics.Framework and introduced the NEW SkyLight.Framework moving the WindowServer here:

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SkyLight.Framework/Versions/A/Resources/WindowServer


edit:
@Badruzeus give a read here, it could be useful in the other forum for yours experiments to maybe finally fix the Finder Menu Bar and transparencies in Mojave "light mode".

 

[0403979]

Ok, I think this could useful for new experiments, just found in El Capitan 10.11.6 the WindowServer binary unix file

it is located here:
/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreGraphics.Framework/Versions/A/Resources/WindowServer


While starting from Sierra (Mojave included) they introduced the NEW SkyLight.Framework moving the WindowServer here:
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SkyLight.Framework/Versions/A/Resources/WindowServer

Alright good.

 

[0403979]

For anyone wanting to extract system files from a macOS Installer you can do so by downloading Pacifist from http://www.charlessoft.com/, open the app, select open package, chose the macOS Installer app, and extract the contents of Core.pkg.

 

[pkouame]

Weird... Maybe @ASentientBot could do some of their code patching on SkyLight and WindowSever files from High Sierra in order to get them working on Mojave.
[doublepost=1533377530][/doublepost]The sizes for SkyLight and WindowServer on 10.3.6 High Sierra and 10.14 DP5 Mojave are:

Skylight HS: 4.4 MB
Skylight M: 4.6 MB
WindowServer HS: 27 KB
WindowServer M: 32 KB

This probably means that more code relating to Metal was added and the previous code is most likely preserved considering the size increase.

I've attached a zip with files in it.

Yes, the Mojave Skylight framework is considerably different than HS in its use of metal shaders. It leverages two libraries the HS version does not:

• libcompression.dylib
• MetalPerformanceShaders.framework

Its shaders are compiled in SkylightShaders.air64.metallib which is smaller (236kb) than the HS version (352kb). I suspect they're calling baked in or alternate versions in the MetalPerformanceShaders.framework instead. All in all, a different implementation that is definitely more gpu card/acceleration dependent. That said, Skylight does a lot more than just paint the screen as it's actually a replacement for the old CoreGraphicsServices Framework (so Windows,Connection, Event, Packages, Cursors, and other Utilities)

 

[0403979]

Yes, the Mojave Skylight framework is considerably different than HS in its use of metal shaders. It leverages two libraries the HS version does not:

• libcompression.dylib
• MetalPerformanceShaders.framework

Its shaders are compiled in SkylightShaders.air64.metallib which is smaller (236kb) than the HS version (352kb). I suspect they're calling baked in or alternate versions in the MetalPerformanceShaders.framework instead. All in all, a different implementation that is definitely more gpu card/acceleration dependent. That said, Skylight does a lot more than just paint the screen as it's actually a replacement for the old CoreGraphicsServices Framework (so Windows,Connection, Event, Packages, Cursors, and other Utilities)

So can replacing SkylightShaders.air64.metallib do anything for us?

 

[pkouame]

A metallib consists of compiled .metal intermediate sources (.air files) and/or metal archives - all in a nice bundle. It would be nice to have access to the original shader code. But the new Skylight calls those shaders and (now) new code in the shader framework, so a drop-in replacement would probably hose things up. Especially without more detailed knowledge of the Mojave Skylight code itself.
Another point is that you and @jackluke are, I think, trying to target a fix just for light mode. This framework handles both modes (light and dark), so I don't know how you can guarantee not affecting both.
Still, if you like living on the edge and have some free resources to experiment with, why not as long as you are swapping items in and out.

Just my two cents, take it for what it's worth, but I believe this is complex (without source code) plus increases the potential of introducing a lot of side effects system wide. Are others in the hackintosh forums making progress along these lines?

 

[0403979]

A metallib consists of compiled .metal intermediate sources (.air files) and/or metal archives - all in a nice bundle. It would be nice to have access to the original shader code. But the new Skylight calls those shaders and (now) new code in the shader framework, so a drop-in replacement would probably hose things up. Especially without more detailed knowledge of the Mojave Skylight code itself.
Another point is that you and @jackluke are, I think, trying to target a fix just for light mode. This framework handles both modes (light and dark), so I don't know how you can guarantee not affecting both.
Still, if you like living on the edge and have some free resources to experiment with, why not as long as you are swapping items in and out.

Just my two cents, take it for what it's worth, but I believe this is complex (without source code) plus increases the potential of introducing a lot of side effects system wide. Are others in the hackintosh forums making progress along these lines?

I’m actually want to fix all transparency issues in both light and dark but I’m not sure exactly what this framework does sine @jackluke found it. Does this framework handle all transparency? I haven’t read any Hackintosh forums.

 

[pkouame]

I’m actually want to fix all transparency issues in both light and dark but I’m not sure exactly what this framework does sine @jackluke found it. Does this framework handle all transparency? I haven’t read any Hackintosh forums.

My dark mode is running pretty smoothly. A lot of dark mode glitches and dashboard transparency issues have been fixed in devBeta 5. I tested on both my macpro 3,1 + GTX680 and a stock mbp 5,3. I didn't test exhaustively though. But it seems like Apple is rolling out some better fixes and performance...

 

[0403979]

My dark mode is running pretty smoothly. A lot of dark mode glitches and dashboard transparency issues have been fixed in devBeta 5. I tested on both my macpro 3,1 + GTX680 and a stock mbp 5,3. I didn't test exhaustively though. But it seems like Apple is rolling out some better fixes and performance...

Some artifacts can be found on context menus or spotlight especially with a light wallpaper.
[doublepost=1533395967][/doublepost]

My dark mode is running pretty smoothly. A lot of dark mode glitches and dashboard transparency issues have been fixed in devBeta 5. I tested on both my macpro 3,1 + GTX680 and a stock mbp 5,3. I didn't test exhaustively though. But it seems like Apple is rolling out some better fixes and performance...

And there is also the issue that apps that only display in light mode have broken finder select windows. All in all it’s better to just use Reduce Transparency regards of you mode.

 

[pkouame]

Some artifacts can be found on context menus or spotlight especially with a light wallpaper.
[doublepost=1533395967][/doublepost]

And there is also the issue that apps that only display in light mode have broken finder select windows. All in all it’s better to just use Reduce Transparency regards of you mode.

Ok. I played around with reduced transparency on early betas, but haven't had to here. I'm also not heavy Light Mode user which explains why I don't have the same experience. But I'll check those out. Thanks. By the way, has anyone taken inventory of ui glitches per model + per gpu etc? Are the problems systemic or specific to certain models?

 

[0403979]

Ok. I played around with reduced transparency on early betas, but haven't had to here. I'm also not heavy Light Mode user which explains why I don't have the same experience. But I'll check those out. Thanks. By the way, has anyone taken inventory of ui glitches per model + per gpu etc? Are the problems systemic or specific to certain models?

Systemic I believe, transparency glitches are but App Store crashing seems to be on only certain devices.

 

[jackluke]

I am 90% sure that the transparencies issues in Mojave "light mode" depend from SkyLight.framework in particular the SkyLight unix exec and the WindowServer unix exec. On the other forum they can make deeper experiments like they did for the IntelHD3000 OpenGL. I've read quickly and I have done almost all attempts possible the best I obtained is:

replacing ONLY SkyLight unix exec from HS and all his Resources Folder EXCEPT the WindowServer unix exec (this must be from Mojave), it can boot until stage2 Apple Logo, but after stuck on black screen, even if keyboard seems responsive.

The same behavior happened to me when @ASentientBot discovered the correlation with the "UserEventsPlugins". Replacing all the FOLDER I stucked on a black screen after the stage2 Apple Logo, that's why I needed to discover the telemetry plugin.

I've thinked that my experiment could be linked in some way even to the "UserEventsPlugins", so I have noticed that you can REPLACE in Mojave all the UserEventPlugins from HighSierra, deleting the com.apple.telemetry.plugin and most important the com.apple.networkextension.plugin (don't ask me why), and Mojave will still boot without issues.

So I suspect that to make working the HS SkyLight maybe need to discover how many UserEventsPlugins I can delete.
I know it's a weird thing but to me there is a kind of correlation.

 

[OGNerd]

I had Mojave running on my MBP 5,5, but after booting off and back onto it it refused to boot. I had to rewrite Mojave to a flash drive, not realizing it was only 8 gb instead of my 16 gb drive. Anyways, the reinstallation failed and it corrupted the partition. I wiped the drive, rewrote Mojave to my 16 gb drive and did a clean install. After, I enrolled my mac into the beta program to update from the 4th build (18A336e) to the 5th build (18A347e). However, after enrolling, the software update still won't show in settings, saying my macOS is up to date. How can I get the update to show in settings?

The 18A347e build is a developer beta, and will not show up as an available update unless your machine is enrolled in the developer beta program. The 5th public beta has not been released yet.

 

[0403979]

I am 90% sure that the transparencies issues in Mojave "light mode" depend from SkyLight.framework in particular the SkyLight unix exec and the WindowServer unix exec. On the other forum they can make deeper experiments like they did for the IntelHD3000 OpenGL. I've read quickly and I have done almost all attempts possible the best I obtained is:

replacing ONLY SkyLight unix exec from HS and all his Resources Folder EXCEPT the WindowServer unix exec (this must be from Mojave), it can boot until stage2 Apple Logo, but after stuck on black screen, even if keyboard seems responsive.

The same behavior happened to me when @ASentientBot discovered the correlation with the "UserEventsPlugins". Replacing all the FOLDER I stucked on a black screen after the stage2 Apple Logo, that's why I needed to discover the telemetry plugin.

I've thinked that my experiment could be linked in some way even to the "UserEventsPlugins", so I have noticed that you can REPLACE in Mojave all the UserEventPlugins from HighSierra, deleting the com.apple.telemetry.plugin and most important the com.apple.networkextension.plugin (don't ask me why), and Mojave will still boot without issues.

So I suspect that to make working the HS SkyLight maybe need to discover how many UserEventsPlugins I can delete.
I know it's a weird thing but to me there is a kind of correlation.

If you can actually fix the transparency issues by deleting plugins in that folder than I will be very impressed and intrigued.

 

[pkouame]

If you can actually fix the transparency issues by deleting plugins in that folder than I will be very impressed and intrigued.

Ditto!
[doublepost=1533401999][/doublepost]

I am 90% sure that the transparencies issues in Mojave "light mode" depend from SkyLight.framework in particular the SkyLight unix exec and the WindowServer unix exec. On the other forum they can make deeper experiments like they did for the IntelHD3000 OpenGL. I've read quickly and I have done almost all attempts possible the best I obtained is:

replacing ONLY SkyLight unix exec from HS and all his Resources Folder EXCEPT the WindowServer unix exec (this must be from Mojave), it can boot until stage2 Apple Logo, but after stuck on black screen, even if keyboard seems responsive.

The same behavior happened to me when @ASentientBot discovered the correlation with the "UserEventsPlugins". Replacing all the FOLDER I stucked on a black screen after the stage2 Apple Logo, that's why I needed to discover the telemetry plugin.

I've thinked that my experiment could be linked in some way even to the "UserEventsPlugins", so I have noticed that you can REPLACE in Mojave all the UserEventPlugins from HighSierra, deleting the com.apple.telemetry.plugin and most important the com.apple.networkextension.plugin (don't ask me why), and Mojave will still boot without issues.

So I suspect that to make working the HS SkyLight maybe need to discover how many UserEventsPlugins I can delete.
I know it's a weird thing but to me there is a kind of correlation.

Yeah. Skylight is definitely part of the equation: agreed. How to patch this reliably, safely and fully tested is my question. I'll check the developer forums to see if they are experiencing the same on "supported" machines. Maybe some clues there...

 

[TimothyR734]

A metallib consists of compiled .metal intermediate sources (.air files) and/or metal archives - all in a nice bundle. It would be nice to have access to the original shader code. But the new Skylight calls those shaders and (now) new code in the shader framework, so a drop-in replacement would probably hose things up. Especially without more detailed knowledge of the Mojave Skylight code itself.
Another point is that you and @jackluke are, I think, trying to target a fix just for light mode. This framework handles both modes (light and dark), so I don't know how you can guarantee not affecting both.
Still, if you like living on the edge and have some free resources to experiment with, why not as long as you are swapping items in and out.

Just my two cents, take it for what it's worth, but I believe this is complex (without source code) plus increases the potential of introducing a lot of side effects system wide. Are others in the hackintosh forums making progress along these lines?

could those (.air files) be from adobe air