Open source cross-platform OpenCore Auxiliary Tools（OCAT)

[Anto65]

Great job,  I'm enjoying using it 🙂  question the tool is constantly updated, by updating to version 0.7.6 if I wanted to validate a plist 0.7.5 I have no choice, I have to reinstall the version of the tool for 0.7.5, or there is a way to select the choice of the version by OC? Thanks

 

[ic005k]

15 minutes ago, antuneddu said:

I have to reinstall the version of the tool for 0.7.5

Yes, this is the case for now. You can then choose to turn off "Automatic update checking" under the "Help" menu. If you have any good ideas, feel free to let me know, thanks.

[Anto65]

8 minutes ago, ic005k said:

Yes, this is the case for now. You can then choose to turn off "Automatic update checking" under the "Help" menu. If you have any good ideas, feel free to let me know, thanks.

Yes, thank you, that's what I did in fact 👍

[Guest 5T33Z0]

@ic005k Feature Suggestion: copying/pasting entries from one config/window to another:

 

 

[Anto65]

Work on vers. 20211127

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2021 by antuneddu

[ic005k]

1 hour ago, 5T33Z0 said:

Feature Suggestion: copying/pasting entries from one config/window to another

This feature is available. But you pasted it in the wrong place, it should be in the same place. Source "Add" to target "Add".

[Guest 5T33Z0]

@ic005k omg, Yes. sorry.

 

I have a question about Kext updates.

• If I click on "Check updates online" it downloads AND installs new kexts. But there is still the "Update" Button, but it is greyed out.
• Example: Sync Windows says: SMCPRocessor.kext  is 1.2.7 in EFI, new is 1.2.8:
• I can't press on Update.
• If "Check Kexts updates online" only downloads the file, the Version in EFI folder should be 1.2.7. But the file is 1.2.8 after checking:
• 
• Suggestion: remove extra "Update" button. It is confusing.

 

[ic005k]

26 minutes ago, 5T33Z0 said:

If I click on "Check updates online" it downloads AND installs new kexts.

No, it just checks and does not install new kexts. the "Update" button is used to install new kexts.
In other words, the previous "One Click Update" is broken down into two steps.
1. Check for updates
2. Install the update ("Update" button).
The advantage of this is that there are many users who just want to check for updates and then decide whether to install them.
Also, if you check for updates, but you don't want to install the new kexts right now, you can wait until you want to install them and click the "Start Sync" button, which will install the previously downloaded kexts into your EFI.

[ic005k]

38 minutes ago, 5T33Z0 said:

SMCPRocessor.kext  is 1.2.7 in EFI, new is 1.2.8

This is actually quite understandable.
Current: is the kext you are currently using
Available: is the kext that can be used to update
The version numbers listed in the table are the version numbers of the kext currently in use.
If there is an update, the entry will be marked red and then two version numbers will be displayed, one current and one available (updatable).

[Guest 5T33Z0]

@eSaF Quite the opposite. It wll ALWAY update config to the latest available build in the ACTION section. Same goes for syncing OpenCore files. That's why I have been asking for an option to switch between the Release and Nightly tree for quite a while now.

[ic005k]

@eSaF This is easy, see below, so that it doesn't overwrite the OC you downloaded on your own.

 

[ic005k]

@5T33Z0 I guess eSaF probably updates OC every day, while OCAT only updates OC periodically, not daily. Because when I update the OC, I always test it myself to see if it works properly before putting it in OCAT afterwards.

[ic005k]

15 minutes ago, 5T33Z0 said:

That's why I have been asking for an option to switch between the Release and Nightly tree for quite a while now.

This switch does not make any sense, for us users, you can hardly see the actual effect brought by the daily update of OC, because OC is already stable enough.

[ic005k]

In short, don't use OCAT to synchronize OC, then it won't change the files inside your existing EFI folder.

[Guest 5T33Z0]

@ic005k I oppose: for troubleshooting and reporting issues to the devs, you need to know which build you are using.  If you are using the release build, you know which commit it is. If you use the latest nightly release, you know which commit it is. But the way OCAT handles it now, you never know which it is: "while OCAT only updates OC periodically". THIS makes no sense. I am currently having issues with opencore I need to fix. Make it either use the "Release" builds or the "llatest" commit but not just something in between which I cannot identify.

[ic005k]

@5T33Z0 I'm very sorry, in that case, OCAT can't do it. I can't go and keep updating OC every day and do nothing else, it's not realistic for me.
If you need to update the OC every day, please do it manually yourself instead of relying on OCAT, it can't do it.

[ic005k]

@5T33Z0 Having OCAT continuously follow up on the development version of OC has wasted a lot of my time, so please understand that for the development version of OC, I have to choose to update it regularly.

[ic005k]

@eSaF Thank you very much for your understanding. Development is a time consuming process, it takes up about 1/3 of my spare time, but again, it is really rewarding.
The later versions of OCAT will probably just stay on the stable version of OC and won't keep up with the development version of OC anymore, or keep up with the development version of OC on a regular basis to save time.

Edited November 12, 2021 by ic005k

[ic005k]

9 minutes ago, eSaF said:

Another stupid query - exactly where does OCAT pull the files from to update, is it online or what is embedded in the OCAT version Data Base. What if I remove those embedded files and replace them with Nightly OC version is that feasable?

In OCAT's database, of course, night version of OC can be used instead of OC in the database, but it is not as direct and simple as copying directly to your EFI folder.

@eSaFIf you use the night version of OC, the easiest way is to directly copy the night version to your EFI folder. If you copy the night version of OC to OCAT database first, and then open OCAT for synchronization, then this operation is extremely redundant and unnecessary.

[ic005k]

Another reason about OCAT not consistently following up on OC nightly releases, if OCAT and OC nightly releases were consistent, it would mean that OCAT would need to release a new version every day, which is very unrealistic and extremely unscientific.

[Guest 5T33Z0]

I don't need to update OpenCore every day –  but I need to know which commit it is using!

 

So on one hand you now have an online updater for Kexts integrated in the sync window, but on the other hand you have OpenCore updates based on the database which is updated when? The plausible and reasonable  thing would be to connect OCAT with the OcenCore github to get the latest files online as well.

 

And as of now, me and everybody I know believes that OCAT gets OpenCore updates live from github as well – and there's no indication that it doesn't! That's a problem.

[ic005k]

54 minutes ago, 5T33Z0 said:

That's a problem.

This is indeed a problem and one that I have been wanting to try to solve. But it's not very good at solving it.
The reasons why OC does not currently use online updates are as follows.
1. If you download the latest development version from here: https://github.com/acidanthera/OpenCorePkg/actions   it doesn't support anonymous downloads, you have to log in to get it.
So to update OC online, you can only update the stable version, so there is not much practical significance.
2. The stable version of OC is only released once a month, OCAT can integrate it in the database completely, there is no need to use the online update method.
Note: I will not get the development version of OC from any other way.
So if you want to use the development version of OC, please don't get it through OCAT's way, it is lagging.

Edited November 12, 2021 by ic005k

[ic005k]

43 minutes ago, 5T33Z0 said:

but I need to know which commit it is using

This is easy to solve, when I release OCAT based on the OC development version in the future, it will be very simple to indicate which development version the OC comes from.

 

In fact, in the OC development version, my view is this, since you are able to follow up the OC development version and submit the problems in the OC development version, it means that you are a skilled OC user, you can get the OC development version by yourself through many ways, including compiling it yourself, etc.. So these are not problems, please do not dwell, thank you.

[ic005k]

@5T33Z0 I'm very sorry, please don't ask any more questions about the development version of OC, I'm really not interested and don't want to answer more. If you have time, please consider what features of OCAT need to be enhanced or what bugs have been found, thanks.

[Guest 5T33Z0]

I asked because your App provides files which influence the way my system operates!

 

Therefore I should be able to find out which OpenCore files are installed.

 

I can tell which versions of kexts are installed but I can't find out which OpenCore commit is installed!

 

Therefore it is your responsibility to provide users with the commit info. 

 

Don't worry, you won't hear from me. 

 

PS: Please write your own documentation for the app!