HDAUniversal - AppleHDA-like Audio Kext for macOS Tahoe and Hackintosh Systems

[Mirone]

@deeveedee 

Of course, I got your joke. OCLP was designed to let macOS run on older Macs, not Hackintoshes.

That said, I've actually been wanting to add support for HeliPort and itlwm.kext to Wi-Fi Patcher Pro for quite a while.

As for eliminating the need for OCLP... isn't that exactly what @Mald0n and I are doing? 😄

[deeveedee]

@Mirone Yes - my joke was specifically about adding UniversalHDA to OCLP. Sorry I guided us OT. 

[Slice]

10 hours ago, Stefanalmare said:

Yes, for those who want fully enabled SIP.

SIP is system protection against hackintosh.

[LockDown]

On 6/29/2026 at 4:22 AM, MaLd0n said:

You can use my clover version and press F8 key on boot screen for dump audio codec like linux

 

@Slice  would be nice to have that feature

 

[Slice]

4 hours ago, LockDown said:

 

@Slice  would be nice to have that feature

 

AFAIK it presents, may be at F7 key.

[deeveedee]

5 hours ago, Slice said:

SIP is system protection against hackintosh.

... many of us are still running macOS Sequoia on our hacks with SIP fully enabled.

 

Thanks to projects like VoodooHDA.kext and UniversalHDA.kext, we can still run macOS Tahoe on our hacks with SIP still essentially enabled (only setting csr-active-config = <01000000> to allow untrusted kexts in /Library/Extensions).

Edited 8 hours ago by deeveedee

[deeveedee]

My HP EliteBook 850 G7 with CODEC ALC 285 is currently using VoodooHDA.kext 4.0 for perfectly working Intel HD audio in macOS Tahoe.

 

Spoiler

 

When I run @MaLd0n's CodecInfo in Tahoe, it doesn't find audio:

Spoiler

 

I suspect this means that UniversalHDA won't find my audio either.  The corresponding Codec-Info-Report is attached.  

 

What am I missing?  Is it possible to diagnose this before I attempt to install UniversalHDA.kext (since VoodooHDA.kext is working well for me)?

 

EDIT: When I run Codec-Info in macOS Sonoma, it does detect my audio:

Spoiler

 

The Codec-Info-Report when running Sonoma is also attached.

 

EDIT: Here's my HDAS IOReg screenshot for macOS Tahoe
 

Spoiler

 

Codec-Info-Report.txt Sonoma-Codec-Info-Report.txt

Edited 7 hours ago by deeveedee

[MaLd0n]

There were no issues with the import or anything else. So, the problem must be on your end. Use the `alcid=xx` parameter for AppleALC, and HDAUniversal will work. You can also attach a log; read the first post.

[deeveedee]

I'm sure the problem is on my end.  I've tried with boot-arg alcid=11, DeviceProperty layout-id=11, but neither allows Codec-Info to detect my audio in Tahoe.  I was hoping that your audio detection mechanism for Codec-Info was the same as UniversalHDA, so that I didn't have to uninstall VoodooHDA to test UniversalHDA.  I will definitely test UniversalHDA. For now, VoodooHDA 4.0 works perfectly.

[miliuco]

@deeveedee

But to test HDAUniversal, you have to disable or remove any other audio kexts like VoodooHDA or AppleALC. Both kexts (HDAUniversal and VoodooHDA) don't work well together. No way to maintain VoodooHDA while testing HDAUniversal.

[MaLd0n]

HdaUniversal is an IOAudioFamily-based kext in the sense that it is a real audio driver. It creates and publishes audio devices, engines, streams, volume controls, inputs/outputs, mixer controls, mute, jack sense, and so on. In other words, it directly participates in the `IOAudioFamily` / `IOAudioEngine` stack.

HdaUniversal can use AppleALC layouts as a codec configuration source. These layouts provide codec-specific data such as layout IDs, pin configurations, path maps, node routing, input/output associations, speaker and headphone paths, microphone paths, combo-jack behavior, and other topology information.

Instead of using those layouts to patch AppleHDA like AppleALC does, HdaUniversal can read and apply the same layout information inside its own driver logic. This allows HdaUniversal to configure the HDA codec, build the correct audio paths, create the proper IOAudio ports and controls, and publish the expected input/output devices directly through its own IOAudioFamily implementation. That is why, if your codec works with AppleALC, it will also work with HdaUniversal.

[deeveedee]

@MaLd0n Without making any other changes, I ACPI-patched my hack's HDAS._DSM and now have working Codec-Info in macOS Tahoe.  I'm sure that UniversalHDA will work now.  Thank you for providing this great solution!