[HOW TO] OpenCore 0.7.4 > 0.7.5 differences

[miliuco]

Monthly message by @vit9696 , please read it carefully, there is no better place to see what's new in OpenCore.
https://dortania.github.io/hackintosh/updates/2021/11/01/acidanthera-november.html

Main changes applied in 0.7.5 version:

• Improved Linux boot and revised OpenLinuxBoot documentation
• Fixed external drive icons
• Updated builtin firmware versions for SMBIOS
• Updated recovery downloading commands to include Big Sur and Monterey
• Added support for GPU Resize BAR (RBAR).

config.plist

• Booter >> Quirks >> ResizeAppleGpuBars (integer) whose default value is -1 (disables this quirk); reduces GPU PCI BAR size to be compatible with macOS.
• UEFI >> Quirks >> ResizeGpuBars (integer) whose default value is -1 (disables this quirk); configure the GPU PCI BAR size for systems other than macOS; leaving it at -1 prevents this value from being applied by OpenCore to Windows or Linux.

Kexts

• AppleALC 1.6.6 (new layouts added)
• BrcmPatchRAM 2.6.1 (Improved BlueToolFixup compatibility with macOS 12) *
• HibernationFixup 1.4.5 (improved behaviour when battery level is critical)
• Lilu 1.5.7 (improved support for all 64-bit macOS versions)
• VoodooPS2 2.2.7 (fixes)
• VoodooRMI 1.3.5 (fixes, added new devices)
• WhateverGreen 1.5.5 (improved backlight control in AMD RX 5000 series, fixed black screen in Skylake and newer).

* Monterey has brought major problems for third-party (non-native Apple) wifi and bluetooth devices. Developers are working hard to fix these problems. Little by little improvements are being made but we are still not 100%.

 

Notes about Resizable BAR (base address register)

 

Resizable BAR (RBAR) is a technology included in the PCI Express 3.0 specification since 2008 but until now it has been very little used. In AMD it is called Smart Access Memory (SAM). Its purpose is to increase the amount of VRAM (graphics card memory) that is accessible by the CPU. The limit has been kept at 256MB of VRAM memory for backward compatibility.

What RBAR does is allow the CPU to access all of the VRAM memory. The only restriction is imposed by the GPU itself. In theory the CPU can access all the VRAM but in practice the GPU always has the priority of use.
Its main advantage is in graphically demanding games. In this type of game, the CPU collaborates with the GPU performing the necessary calculation tasks for the execution of the game. Without RBAR, the CPU can only load 256MB into VRAM and the rest has to be loaded into RAM, which slows down the GPU from reading the data. With RBAR, all or most of the computational tasks performed by the CPU are stored in the VRAM, making them available to the GPU with less wait times.

 

In order to use RBAR, certain requirements must be met:

• compatible graphics card (currently in Hackintosh only AMD 6000 series)
• motherboard with this option in BIOS
• compatible CPU (Intel 9-10-11 generations and AMD Zen 3 series).

Note: really almost any GPU supports resize bar but most likely they do not benefit from the performance improvement.

 

OpenCore 0.7.4 has added support for RBAR by adding 2 quirks:

• Booter >> Quirks >> ResizeAppleGpuBars: reduces GPU PCI BAR size to be compatible with macOS.
• UEFI >> Quirks >> ResizeGpuBars: configure the GPU PCI BAR size for systems other than macOS.

ResizeAppleGpuBars affects only to macOS and ResizeGpuBars affects all other operating systems.

 

Note from @vit9696: ResizeAppleGpuBars should be 0 for boards supporting resize bar and -1 for boards that do not. 9 and 10 will cause sleep wake crashes on macOS with most GPUs and 8 will cause excessive memory usage on some GPUs without any useful benefit.

 

Edited November 2, 2021 by miliuco

[vit9696]

Do not set ResizeAppleGpuBars to anything but 0 if you have resize bar enabled BIOS. 9 and 10 will cause sleep wake crashes, and 8 will cause excessive memory usage on some GPUs without any useful benefit. It shall always be 0. It does not matter which GPU you have, they all support this feature since early 2010s, just give no performance gain.

[etorix]

My favourite part of this month's message actually deals with what not to do:

• upgrade to Monterey on work machines (applies also to real Macs!);
• jump into Alder Lake.

Quote

This is all for the highlights, we hope you enjoy macOS 12 on your non-production systems. Besides that, while we are moderately excited about the imminent release of Intel Alder Lake, we use this message as a reminder that this platform is not supported and may actually have architectural incompatibilities with macOS.

Thanks @vit9696!

[miliuco]

3 hours ago, vit9696 said:

Do not set ResizeAppleGpuBars to anything but 0 if you have resize bar enabled BIOS. 9 and 10 will cause sleep wake crashes, and 8 will cause excessive memory usage on some GPUs without any useful benefit. It shall always be 0. It does not matter which GPU you have, they all support this feature since early 2010s, just give no performance gain.

Thanks for the info! I see I was wrong about this. Corrected in the first post.

[miliuco]

I have tested the Unigine Valley benchmark in the 2 modes on my system (Coffee Lake R CPU and RX580 GPU):

• Above 4G Decoding and Resize BAR disabled + ResizeAppleGpuBars = -1
• Above 4G Decoding and Resize BAR enabled + ResizeAppleGpuBars = 0.

There is a slight increase in the number of frames per second, the minimum value increases approximately 20% and the maximum value 10%, without changes in the GPU temperature.

 

Edited November 2, 2021 by miliuco

[MacNB]

On 11/2/2021 at 5:06 AM, vit9696 said:

Do not set ResizeAppleGpuBars to anything but 0 if you have resize bar enabled BIOS. 9 and 10 will cause sleep wake crashes, and 8 will cause excessive memory usage on some GPUs without any useful benefit. It shall always be 0. It does not matter which GPU you have, they all support this feature since early 2010s, just give no performance gain.

 

Thanks for the clarification.

On a real MacPro5,1 I assume their BootROM & BIOS do not support RBAR as they are PCI 2.0 spec.

So with OC on those MacPro's, ResizeAppleGpuBars & ResizeGpuBars both should be set to -1 when booting macOS ?

[miliuco]

I think you are right.

[oswaldini]

I don't see revovery hd in boot menu OC 0.7.5, it's ok in OC 0.7.4.

Edited November 5, 2021 by oswaldini

[miliuco]

@oswaldini

There's no change in this part, it's the same as in 0.7.4. Look for any difference in config.plist, perhaps HideAuxiliary.

[oswaldini]

Oh... my bad, you are right, thanks!