In one of our previous articles we explained what are kexts and where they are stored. Here are a few different ways to install them. We also show how to repair permissions and rebuild the kext cache.
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The easy way (KextBeast)
- Download the kext you want to install and place it on your Desktop.
- Download KextBeast from tonymacx86 website here. You will need to login with a free account on the site to be able to download the file.
- Run the KextBeast installer and click Continue twice.
- Click Agree.
- If you are replacing a vanilla system kext with a patched one, it should probably be on /System/Library/Extensions. Otherwise, select the /Library/Extensions option.
- Click Continue and then Install. Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
How to install kexts manually
- Download the kext you want to install.
- Now you can either copy and paste the kext to /Library/Extensions, and click Authenticate at the prompt, (and enter your password), or you can open up a Terminal window, and type this command in: sudo cp -R NewKext.kext /Library/Extensions where "NewKext.kext" should be replaced with the name of your kext and its location like so: sudo cp -R ~/Downloads/VoodooHDA.kext /Library/Extensions.
- Both of the above methods for manually installing a kext, require that you rebuild the cache, something that you don't need to do if you're using the KextBeast method above.
- In the Terminal, type: sudo kextcache -i / to rebuild the cache.
- Restart your computer.
- To verify that a kext is loaded, open up Terminal again and type kextstat | grep -y "kextName" where kextname should be replaced with the name of the kext you just installed, like so: kextstat | grep -y "AppleALC"
To install essential kexts needed for boot (using Clover)
- Download, install and open Clover Configurator.
- From the left side, click on Mount EFI.
- On the main EFI partition (should include your startup disk, Preboot, Recovery etc on the square brackets) click on Mount Partition.
- From the top bar, navigate to File menu and click Open.
- Navigate to EFI partition, then EFI folder, then CLOVER folder and open config.plist.
- From the left side, navigate on Kexts Installer. Choose the kexts you want to install, such as WhateverGreen and Lilu.
- From Partition drop-down, make sure EFI is selected, and from Location drop-down list, make sure /EFI/Clover/kexts is selected. From OS version drop-down, select Other.
- Click Download and then close Clover Configurator. Restart your computer.