Razer Blade Advanced 2019 RZ09-03017E02 Hackintosh Running macOS 12.2 (Yes, Monterey. It works beautifully) Insert the thing that says I don't claim responsibility if I brick your computer as this is for educational purposes only, and not made for every model of every laptop. I personally bricked my BIOS attempting this project, luckily a CMOS reset fixed it. Using OpenCore v0.7.7...
Computer specs, click on component to skip to component implementation.
| Component | Description | Functionality |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 15.6" Built-in 1080p 240Hz Display | Functional (Unsure if running in 144Hz or 240Hz, but appears to be high refresh rate). Lid-sleep functionality is a little intermittent. |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-9750H 6-Core Hyperthreaded | Functional |
| Graphics 1 | Intel UHD 630 iGPU (no BIOS Mods) | Functional with heavy WhateverGreen modifications |
| Graphics 2 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q | Non-functional (No applicable drivers) |
| Memory | 16GB DDR4 2667MHz | Functional |
| Storage | 512GB NVMe SSD CA5-8D512 | Functional |
| Comm | Intel Wireless AX200 WiFi 6 / BT 5.0 | Functional |
| Webcam | Windows Hello IR Camera | Webcam functional, not Windows Hello (FaceID Hackintosh soon?) |
| Keyboard | Built-in Keyboard | Functional |
| Trackpad | Built-in Trackpad | Functional with helpful ACPI's |
| Display Out | 1xHDMI, 1xMiniDP | Non-Functional (Tied to 2070) |
| I/O | 3xUSB3, 1xUSBC | USB-3 Functional, USB-C Functional (unknown if TB-3 functional) |
| Audio | Built-in Speakers and Audio Out | Functional |
| Battery | Built-in 80Wh Rechargable | Functional (Battery life yet to be tested) |
| Power Adapter | 230W Included Power Adaper | If this didn't work, we'd be screwed |
| Size/Weight | 0.78 in / 19.75 mm x 9.25 in / 235 mm x 13.98 in / 355 mm 5.07 lbs / 2.30 kg | Could be patched with a heavy enough brick? |
Airportitlwm.kext - When WiFi is in use (actively transmitting up/down) gives massive screen flickering relative to download or upload speed.Issue was actually related to WhateverGreen.kext, and has been patched with extra DeviceProperty settings in config.plist.Sleep - Probably just because I'm stupid and need to patch my DSDT better - Laptop will go to sleep and come back to a backlight with no image. Requires a reboot to get back.Working when using Apple -> Sleep. Not working on clamshell open/close. Fixed by disabling dGPU.Brightness settings - Cannot change brightness at all, no option, even with the BrightnessKeys.kextRequired to add DeviceProperty settings to enable backlight settings.- Waking from sleep with lid-open results in a sleepwake error.
Remarkably, I managed to get this working with no BIOS flashing. In fact, I would kernel panic when I turned up my DMVT settings. So changes were only required for the few recommended BIOS settings:
CPU Configuration
| Description | Setting |
|---|---|
| Software Guard Extensions (SGX) | Disabled |
| Intel (VMX) Virtualization Technology | Enabled |
| Hyper-Threading | Enabled |
Power & Performance -> CPU - Power Management Control
| Description | Setting |
|---|---|
| Intel SpeedStep | Enabled |
| Turbo Mode | Enabled |
| Hyper-Threading | Enabled |
Power & Performance -> CPU - Power Management Control -> CPU Lock Configuration
| Description | Setting |
|---|---|
| CFG Lock | Disabled |
| Overclocking Lock | Disabled |
Advanced -> Thunderbolt Configuration
| Description | Setting |
|---|---|
| Discrete Thunderbolt Support | Disabled |
Probably can get away with it being turned on with No Security, but this is what worked for me. |
Trusted Computing
| Description | Setting |
|---|---|
| Security Device Support | Disabled |
| Cannot have Windows 11 with TPM on same machine as Hackintosh. |
USB Configuration
| Description | Setting |
|---|---|
| Legacy USB Support | Enabled |
| Description | Setting |
|---|---|
| Above 4G MMIO BIOS assignment | Enabled |
| Enable USB Charge Function | Disabled |
System Agent (SA) Configuration
| Description | Setting |
|---|---|
| VT-d | Disabled |
SATA and RST Configuration
| Description | Setting |
|---|---|
| SATA Controllers | Enabled |
| SATA Mode Selection | ACHI |
Secure Boot
| Description | Setting |
|---|---|
| Secure Boot | Disabled |
| Description | Setting |
|---|---|
| Fast Boot | Disabled |
CSM Configuration
| Description | Setting |
|---|---|
| CSM Support | Disabled |
Most of these settings can be optional or left unchanged, do what's best for your specific model of laptop. If you're curious what options are best for your processor/model. See Dortania's Setup Guide for your specific processor.
Controlled by iGPU settings, see Graphics 1 for steps.
Instructions from Dortania's setup for Laptop Coffee Lake Plus and Comet Lake followed. Settings applied in config.plist.
The graphics setup for this computer was remarkably tricky. Most things I tried didn't work, or would result in heavy screen flickering. Every attempt to reflash the BIOS to enable DVMT resulted in a panic log before the CPU could be properly initialized. So, I found a solution that would work without re-flashing the BIOS.
Using WhateverGreen.kext
Under PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x2,0x0), these settings were added to get steady display output:
| Key | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|
AAPL,ig-platform-id |
Data | 0900A53E |
device-id |
Data | 923E0000 |
framebuffer-patch-enable |
Data | 01000000 |
framebuffer-stolenmem |
Data | 00003001 |
framebuffer-fbmem |
Data | 00009000 |
igfxfw |
Data | 02000000 |
hda-gfx |
String | onboard-1 |
AAPL,GfxYTile |
Data | 01000000 |
And these settings were added to both fix and smooth out the brightness slider:
| Key | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|
@0,backlight-control |
Data | 01000000 |
applbkl |
Data | 01000000 |
AAPL,backlight-control |
Data | 01000000 |
AAPL00,backlight-control |
Data | 01000000 |
enable-backlight-smoother |
Data | 01000000 |
backlight-smoother-steps |
Data | 23000000 |
backlight-smoother-interval |
Data | 07000000 |
backlight-smoother-threshold |
Data | 2C010000 |
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 is not compatible with macOS because there are no drivers made for it for macOS. It's best off completely disabling this card using SSDT-NoHybGfx.aml.
Completely disabling this card may also fix some sleep issues you may experience.
No modifications required here. Somehow current macOS plays nice with most kinds of RAM.
I've heard there are some people that were having trouble with macOS and their included NVMe drive. I didn't have any of these issues... I was using NVMeFix from the beginning of the project, so that could have had a positive effect on my results. As far as this guide is concerned, no modifications are required.
This was a little messy. Using AirportItlwm.kext, there were occasions when I was running Big Sur when I would boot and the WiFi module wasn't detecting properly. I have since updated the computer to Monterey and swapped it out for the macOS Monterey version of the module, and haven't found any issues.
Friendly reminder if you're going to use this module you will need to have SecureBootModel set to String Default in your config.plist.
The only issues I had was when I upgraded from Big Sur to Monterey, I needed to swap out IntelBluetoothInjector.kext for BlueToolFixup, and then we were back in business. I recommend disabling all Bluetooth handlers before updating your OS to Monterey, as I didn't and it hung twice. Once installed you can re-enable the Bluetooth kexts and be on your way.
Worked right out of the box, even the webcam light turns on!
Obviously, this is a Razer laptop. The keyboard lights up and does all sorts of cool things. The keyboard's brightness settings will work without any modification, but it cannot be customized. The caps lock LED also doesn't work fresh out of install. Thus, the tools Karabiner-Elements and Razer.macOS exist, to help customize your keyboard.
This was also a mess to get working properly. I started out by using stonevil's Razer Blade 2019 Guide. But that only worked temporarily. GPIO pinning also did not work at all. After a while I would get a _log_serialize cannot be resolved with error 2 message in verbose boot. It seemed to be linked to SSCN and FMCN not listed in ACPI tables. But that would be quite a difficult problem to overcome.
I ended up resolving this error by using Errrneist's ACPI files. Specifically SSDT-I2C.aml, SSDT-I2CcConf.aml, SSDT-XOSI.aml, and SSDT-XSPI.aml. After applying these patches, the trackpad worked perfectly, with no failures, in interrupt mode.
If you have any issues, the trackpad on this model is running on _SB_PCI0_I2C0_TPD0, with trackpad PNP0C50 on ELAN0406.
I mean, you should know from the functionality table that this doesn't work. 2070 and macOS doesn't work, and the Mini-DisplayPort-out and HDMI-out ports both extend from this card.
All of your USB ports should work completely vanilla. However, the way to get maximum functionality would be to use Utils->USBMap to map your USB ports properly for macOS.
The three USB 3.1 ports will be mapped as Type 3, and the USB-C port should be mapped as Type 9.
Razer Blade, Bluetooth Adapter, and the third one which name escapes me, should be mapped as Type 255 for internal devices.
I have not experimented with TB3 functionality enough to guarantee its functionality. As far as this guide is concerned, it should be disabled.
I got audio working using AppleALC.kext and using boot arg alcid=29. I managed to get full audio functionality with this number. This is odd for this model, as the pattern seems to be either 21 or 28 for full audio functionality. The speakers work though, so that's good enough for me.
Using SMCBatteryManager.kext seemed to do the complete job for battery reporting. I can even view the battery cycle count in System Report. Pretty cool. This does require VirtualSMC.kext to function.
There are lots of guide and helpful Git repos to thank for this project. I'll begin with:
- Apple for making a clean, beautiful OS with no external paid promotions pre-installed.
- OpenCore for the amazing bootloader.
- Dortania's OpenCore install guide for getting me 90% of the way there.
- Various Git repos mentioned above that helped get me on the right track.
- Utils that I used to make the job easier
- GenSMBIOS
- Hackintool
- IORegistryExplorer (pretty sure this is an Apple internal/developer app)
- MountEFI
- ProperTree
- USBMap
Most of these apps seem to be from CorpNewt, so thanks for the awesome tools.