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Project OS X Forums > Previous Releases > Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 > Leopard Guides & Tutorials > Getting Started

realityiswhere

Mar 15 2009, 12:53 PM

WORK IN PROGRESS

Important or frequently used kexts will be highlighted in Red. Problematic kexts (known to cause problems, not necessarily kexts to be removed) will be marked in Orange. Anything marked with Obsolete has nothing to do with Intel Macs or OSx86. Pseudo-Extensions only have an Info.plist and a version.plist, not a binary (binaries can be very, very loosely called "programs").

If you see another table on the right of a kext, that means these kexts are located *INSIDE* of the kext on the left. Access them by right clicking the kext in question, click "show package contents", under the Contents/PlugIns/ directory.

If anyone edits this and messes it up, I will be very sad

Apple KEXTs

Kext Name

Definition

ACard6280ATA.kext

Obsolete SCSI/ATA drivers for Acard

ACard62xxM.kext

Obsolete SCSI/ATA drivers for Acard

ACard67162.kext

Obsolete SCSI/ATA drivers for Acard

ACard671xSCSI.kext

Obsolete SCSI/ATA drivers for Acard

ACard6885M.kext

Obsolete SCSI/ATA drivers for Acard

ACard68xxM.kext

Obsolete SCSI/ATA drivers for Acard

ALF.kext

Presumably used for the Algebraic Logic Functional Programming Language.

ATINDRV.kext

ATI Native Driver, presumably for non-Radeon cards. See the notes from the PowerMac G3

ATIRNDRV.kext

Presumably for ATI Radeon Native Drivers.

ATIRadeon.kext

Obsolete PPC Only

ATIRadeon8500.kext

Obsolete PPC ATI Radeon 8500 driver.

ATIRadeon9700.kext

Older graphics card kext, Absent from Snow Leopard.

ATIRadeonX1000.kext

ATI X1000 (X1300/X1600 etc) series ATI driver

ATIRadeonX2000.kext

ATI 2000/3000/4000 series cards

ATTOExpressPCIPlus.kext

PCI-E SCSI card drivers for ATTO

Apple02Audio.kext

Obsolete Legacy audio kext.

Apple16X50Serial.kext

Obsolete Used for serial connectors/adaptors

AppleACPIPlatform.kext

ACPI is the standard for Power Management in computers, interacts with the EFI in real Macs, has to do with controlling interrupts (IRQ), non-volatile RAM, controlling sleep, thermal settings, controlling the RTC, contains other kexts including AppleACPIButtons.kext, AppleACPIIEC.kext, AppleACPIPCI.kext.

AppleAD741x.kext

Digital temperature sensor driver.

AppleADBButtons.kext

Obsolete Apple Desktop Bus (or ADB) is an obsolete bit-serial computer bus connecting low-speed devices to computers. Used primarily on the Apple Macintosh platform, ADB equipment is still available but not supported by most Apple hardware manufactured since 1999. <you>(No idea what this actual kext does, doesn't really matter)</you>

AppleADBKeyboard.kext

Obsolete Used for Apple Desktop Bus keyboards.

AppleADBMouse.kext

Obsolete, used for Apple Desktop Bus mice.

AppleADM103x.kext

ACPI-Compliant remote thermal monitor with integrated fan controller.

AppleADT746x.kext

Thermal management controller and voltage monitor.

AppleAHCIPort.kext

ACPI for AHCI, vendor/device id control for AHCI, explained more in "Still Waiting for Root Device" thread.

AppleAPIC.kext

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_APIC_Architecture

AppleAirPort.kext

Obsolete PPC Only - Airport kexts

Name	Definition
AppleAirportFW.kext	Obsolete PPC Only
AppleAirportFWAP.kext	Obsolete PPC Only

AppleBMC.kext

A baseboard management controller (BMC) is a specialized microcontroller embedded on the motherboard of a computer, generally a server. The BMC is the intelligence in the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) architecture. The BMC manages the interface between system management software and platform hardware.

AppleBacklight.kext

Backlighting support for Notebook displays, ie: changing the brightness/power settings of the lcd.

AppleBlower.kext

Obsolete PPC Only, Most likely to do to with the fan, references in the binary to KeyLargo.

AppleCPUThermo.kext

Obsolete PPC Only, temperature sensor, references in binary to PPCI2CInterface

AppleCore99NVRAM.kext

Obsolete PPC Only.

AppleDallasDriver.kext

Obsolete Legacy Audio kext

AppleEFIRuntime.kext

Possibly used for EFI initialization of graphics card ROM BIOS.

AppleFCU.kext

Nothing to do with the Apple Federal Credit Union,

going through ASCII strings in the binary seems to indicate some form of sensor polling for PowerPC I2C Interface sensors.

AppleFPButton.kext

Missing from Snow Leopard

AppleFWAudio.kext

FireWire audio

AppleFan.kext

Fan control

AppleFileSystemDriver.kext

General filesystem driver for HFS+, Apple RAID.

AppleFlashNVRAM.kext

Obsolete PPC Only, references to Jmicron in the binary, most likely has to do with flashing nvram as the name says.

AppleGPIO.kext

General Purpose Input/Output

AppleGW.kext

Graphics warning? Localizable strings and binary make reference to properly plugging the graphics card in, binary has nothing but button/alert text.

AppleGraphicsControl.kext

Presumably for dynamic GPU switching on things like the Macbook Pro which has two GPUs, has to do with controlling brightness as well.

AppleGraphicsPowerManagement.kext

Guess

AppleHDA.kext

High Definition Audio kext, contains other audio kexts including: AppleHDAController.kext, IOHDAFamily.kext, and AppleHDAHALPlugin.bundle.

AppleHDAController.kext

Found inside of AppleHDA.kext

AppleHIDKeyboard.kext

Human Interface Device = Keyboard controls.

AppleHIDMouse.kext

HID = Human Interface Device, mouse controls.

AppleHPET.kext

High Precision Event Timer: Complicated, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HPET

AppleHWClock.kext

Abesent from Snow Leopard

AppleHWSensor.kext

I believe this is used for backlighting control related to the ambient light in the room, references to the framebuffer in the binary.

AppleI2C.kext

Inter-Integrated Circuit, used for connecting low-speed peripherels to a motherboard.

AppleI2S.kext

Integrated Inter-chip Sound, an electrical serial bus interface standard used for connecting digital audio devices together

AppleI2SModemFamily.kext

Same as above, but for modems.

AppleIRController.kext

Driver for the infrared port used by the Apple Remote.

AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement.kext

Used for speedstepping on real Macs, known to cause kernel panics on OSx86 systems that do not have a properly patched DSDT. *note: this does not provide functionality from the kext, only stops the kernel panic from occuring.

AppleIntelGMA950.kext

Kernel extension for GMA 950 (mobility and desktop versions).

AppleIntelGMAX3100.kext

Kernel extension for GMA X3100 graphics cards. GMA X3100 always refers to the mobile version, there is no known support for the GMA 3100 (Without the X), the desktop version.

AppleIntelGMAX3100FB.kext

Framebuffer for GMA X3100

AppleIntelIntegratedFramebuffer.kext

Built-in framebuffer for Integrated Intel (GMA950?) graphics cards.

AppleK2.kext

Obsolete K2 is an older IO controller used with PowerMac G5's, potentially obsolete? Nothing to do with Intel Macs at least.

AppleK2Driver.kext

Obsolete K2 is an older IO controller used with PowerMac G5's, potentially obsolete? Nothing to do with Intel Macs at least.

AppleK2Fan.kext

Obsolete K2 is an older IO controller used with PowerMac G5's, potentially obsolete? Nothing to do with Intel Macs at least.

AppleK2SATA.kext

Obsolete K2 is an older IO controller used with PowerMac G5's, potentially obsolete? Nothing to do with Intel Macs at least.

AppleK2SATARoot.kext

ObsoleteK2 is an older IO controller used with PowerMac G5's, potentially obsolete? Nothing to do with Intel Macs at least.

AppleKauaiATA.kext

An island in Hawaii, also an Obsolete PPC ATA controller used in older Macs.

AppleKeyLargo.kext

Obsolete The KeyLargo custom IC, the third major component of the Xserve architecture, is connected to the main PCI bus through a dedicated PCI-to-PCI bridge. It provides all the I/O functions except Ethernet and FireWire. The KeyLargo IC provides two USB root hubs, a UATA interface, and support for the LED display, also used in PowerMac G4's.

AppleKeyswitch.kext

Obsolete Xserve G5's keyswitch security prevents unauthorized hot-plugging and mounting of a USB or FireWire hard drive. When the keyswitch is locked, the CD is ejected. In addition, the Security System pane provides configuration support for USB keyboard and mouse.

AppleKiwiATA.kext

Obsolete I believe this is another IO Controller hub driver.

AppleKiwiRoot.kext

Obsolete See above.

AppleLED.kext

Absent from Snow Leopard

AppleLM7x.kext

Absent from Snow Leopard

AppleLM87.kext

Absent from Snow Leopard

AppleLM8x.kext

Absent from Snow Leopard

AppleLMUController.kext

Powerbook keyboard illumination

AppleLPC.kext

AppleLSIFusionMPT.kext

SAS/SCSI/Fiberchannel kext, very much so still used (as per Delsol

)

AppleMCEDriver.kext

AppleMPIC.kext

[Obsolete], Multiprocessor Interrupt Controller, used for PowerMacs with multiple PPC procs.

AppleMacRISC2PE.kext

test

AppleMacRISC4PE.kext

Obsolete PPC only.

AppleMacRiscPCI.kext

AGP Driver for PowerMacs

AppleMaxim1989.kext

Obsolete PPC Only.

AppleMaxim6690.kext

Obsolete PPC Only.

AppleMediaBay.kext

test

AppleMikeyHIDDriver.kext

test

AppleMobileDevice.kext

test

AppleOnboardAudio.kext

test

AppleOnboardDisplay.kext

test

ApplePCCard16ATA.kext

test

ApplePCCardATA.kext

test

ApplePMU.kext

Obsolete Power Management Unit, twice outdated (once by the SMU, then by the SMC)

ApplePlatformEnabler.kext

support for non-ACPI compliant systems? (old kernel flag "Platform=X86PC" as opposed to Platform=ACPI)

AppleRAID.kext

Software RAID

AppleRAIDCard.kext

Hardware RAID card support

AppleRTC.kext

Used for controlling the Real-Time Clock, the chip used to keep the computer time even when the system is turned off.

AppleSEP.kext

This is a guess at best Signaling End Point, used for controlling signals in telecommunications, possibly having to do with modems. Info.plist makes reference to virtual interfaces and physical interconnects.

AppleSMBIOS.kext

A normal PC SMBIOS defines data structures (and access methods) in a BIOS which allows a user or application to store and retrieve information specifically about the computer in question. The AppleSMBIOS.kext does the same thing with the OS X System Profiler.

AppleSMBusController.kext

SMBus is a subset of I2C, used for communication with low-bandwidth devices on a motherboard, especially power related chips, such as temperature, fan, or voltage sensors, communicates with the ICH (I/O Controller Hub) on Intel chipsets, and with the MCP (Media Communications Processor) on nVidia chipsets.

AppleSMBusPCI.kext

SMBus is a subset of I2C, this kext resumably does the same thing as the SMBUSController except for low bandwidth PCI devices specifically.

AppleSMC.kext

System Manegement Controller, replaces the SMU, used for power management, optimization of airflow and keeping noise to a minimum inside the case.

AppleSMCLMU.kext

sensors for macbooks, macbook3,1 & macbook4,1 & macbook5,1 .

AppleSMU.kext

Obsolete The SMU manages thermal and power conditions to optimize the power and airflow while keeping audible noise to a minimum. Power consumption and temperature are monitored by the operating system, which communicates the necessary adjustments back to the SMU. The SMU makes the changes, slowing down or speeding up fans as necessary. Replaced by the SMC.

AppleSMUMonitor.kext

Obsolete Monitoring for the System Management Unit. Replaced by the SMC.

AppleSPU.kext

Obsolete PPC only, references ot keylargo and K2 in binary.

AppleSmartBatteryManager.kext

SBD (Smart Battery Data) is a method to monitor a rechargeable battery pack, initiated by Duracell and Intel. A special integrated circuit in the battery pack monitors the battery and reports information to the SMBus. This information might include: type, model number, manufacturer, characteristics, discharge rate, predicted remaining capacity, almost-discharged alarm so that the PC can shut down gracefully; temperature and voltage to provide safe fast-charging.

AppleStorageDrivers.kext

AppleStorageDrivers.kext contains these kexts

Name	Definition
AppleATAPIStorage.kext	test
AppleHollywood.kext	test
AppleMemorexCDROMDriver.kext	test
AppleUSBODD.kext	test
AppleXserveRAID.kext	test
CanonEOS1D.kext	test
FWPreferredProtocolSpeed.kext	test
FireWireStorageDeviceSpecifics.kext	test
IOFireWireSerialBusProtocolSansPhysicalUnit.kext	test
LSI-FW-500.kext	test
MKE-LF-D211A.kext	test
MKE-SR-8171.kext	test
MaxTranserSizeOverrideDriver.kext	test
OxfordSemiconductor.kext	test
PioneerSuperDrive.kext	test
PreventMediaMountDriver.kext	test
QPSQueFire.kext	test
SanyoIDShot.kext	test
SonyXDCAMDriver.kext	test
StorageLynx.kext	test
UFIWriteProtectedMediaDriver.kext	test
USBStorageDeviceSpecifics.kext	test
WriteProtectedMediaDriver.kext	test
initioFWBridge.kext	test

AppleSym8xx.kext

Symbios Logic SCSI driver.

AppleThermal.kext

test

AppleTyMCEDriver.kext

Nehalem ECC RAM support, could be used for more, will have to explore more. Problem with SMBIOS's identifying model as MacPro4,1, if so then make sure to delete AppleTyMCEDriver.kext, not needed for 90% of systems anyway.

AppleUSBAudio.kext

USB audio driver.

AppleUSBDisplays.kext

test

AppleUSBMultitouch.kext

Multi-touch trackpad driver for the Aluminium Macbooks.

AppleUSBTopCase.kext

reminder, make a new table for AppleUSBTCButtons.kext, AppleUSBTCKeyEventDriver.kext, AppleUSBTCKeyboard.kext, AppleUSBTCTrackpad.kext

AppleUpstreamUserClient.kext

test

AppleVIA.kext

test

AppleVSP.kext

Obsolete PPC only, makes reference to PowerMac G3 in binary, no idea what this actually does.

AppleXsanFilter.kext

test

Apple_iSight.kext

Webcam kext (iSight is Apple's webcam name).

ArcMSR.kext

test

AudioDeviceTreeUpdater.kext

test

AudioIPCDriver.kext

test

BootCache.kext

test

CHUDKernLib.kext

test

CHUDProf.kext

test

CHUDUtils.kext

test

CM4040.kext

test

CRYPTOCardPCCard.kext

Smart card reader (for cryptographic cards).

Dont Steal Mac OS X.kext

Used to support memory page encryption and decryption, presumably through interaction with an EFI module.

GeForce.kext

One of three very important original Apple kexts required by OSx86 machines for nvidia graphics functionality. This kext is a MUST for QE/CI.

GeForcePPC.kext

test

I2CGPIO.kext

test

ICAClassicNotSeizeDriver.kext

test

ICAFWKodakProDriver.kext

test

IO80211Family.kext

Basic wireless framework driver, further functionality for specific cards are in other kexts located *inside* of this kext (under the Contents/PlugIns/ directory), such as support for Broadcom or Atheros chipsets (to name the two most commonly supported chipsets).

IOACPIFamily.kext

for all ACPI devices such as PowerButton, Battery, Lid, ThermalZone, PS/2, HPET etc

IOADBFamily.kext

provide basic functionality for apple desktop bus class of devices. Its contain hardware independent methods that real drivers must override (subclass of superclass).

IOAHCIFamily.kext

AHCI provide basic functionality for an AHCI class of devices. Its contain hardware independent methods that real drivers must override (subclass of superclass).

Name	Definition
IOAHCISerialATAPI.kext	test
IOAHCIBlockStorage.kext	test

IOATAFamily.kext

provide basic functionality for an ATA/SATA class of devices. Its contain hardware independent methods that real drivers must override (subclass of superclass).

Name	Definition
AppleIntelPIIXATA.kext	This is one of the main kexts used for SATA/ATA settings for the ICHx (I/O Controller Hub) family. If your ATA/SATA settings are not working and you're using an ICHx southbridge, this is the first kext to look at.
IOATABlockStorage	test
IOATAPIProtocolTransport.kext	test

IOAudioFamily.kext

provide basic functionality for a basic audio class of devices. Its contain hardware independent methods that real drivers must override (subclass of superclass).

IOBDStorageFamily.kext

provide basic functionality for a blu-ray disc class of devices. Its contain hardware independent methods that real drivers must override (subclass of superclass).

IOBluetoothFamily.kext

provide basic functionality for a bluetooth class of devices. Its contain hardware independent methods that real drivers must override (subclass of superclass).

IOBluetoothHIDDriver.kext

test

IOCDStorageFamily.kext

provide basic functionality for a cd class of devices. Its contain hardware independent methods that real drivers must override (subclass of superclass).

IODVDStorageFamily.kext

provide basic functionality for a dvd class of devices. Its contain hardware independent methods that real drivers must override (subclass of superclass).

IOFireWireAVC.kext

test

IOFireWireFamily.kext

provide basic functionality for firewire class of devices. Its contain hardware independent methods that real drivers must override (subclass of superclass).

IOFireWireIP.kext

test

IOFireWireSBP2.kext

test

IOFireWireSerialBusProtocolTransport.kext

test

IOGraphicsFamily.kext

abstract Display device working in VESA mode, may be overrided by AppleBacklightDisplay or AppleOnboardDisplay or else.

IOHDAFamily.kext

Found inside of AppleHDA.kext, provide basic functionality for a high definition audio class of devices. Its contain hardware independent methods that real drivers must override (subclass of superclass).

IOHDIXController.kext

Used for creation of and mounting of Disk Images, such as .dmg files.

IOHIDFamily.kext

Input/output of human interface devices, such as keyboards/mice.

Note on IOI2C

I�C (Inter-Integrated Circuit) is a multi-master serial computer bus invented by Philips that is used to attach low-speed peripherals to a motherboard, SMBus is a subset of this bus-type. Most of these are PPC ONLY - meaning completely OBSOLETE

IOI2CAD741x.kext

Obsolete PPC Only

IOI2CADT746x.kext

Obsolete PPC Only

IOI2CCPUVoltage.kext

Unibin - Add more info

IOI2CControllerPMU.kext

Obsolete PPC Only

IOI2CControllerPPC.kext

Obsolete PPC Only

IOI2CControllerSMU.kext

Obsolete PPC Only

IOI2CDeviceFCU.kext

Obsolete PPC Only

IOI2CDeviceLMU.kext

Unibin - Add more info

IOI2CDriveBayGPIO.kext

Obsolete PPC Only

IOI2CFamily.kext

Obsolete PPC Only

IOI2CHWClock.kext

Unibin - Add more info

IOI2CLM6x.kext

Obsolete PPC Only

IOI2CLM7x.kext

Obsolete PPC Only

IOI2CLM8x.kext

Obsolete PPC Only

IOI2CMaxim1631.kext

Obsolete PPC Only

IOI2CMaxim1989.kext

Obsolete PPC Only

IOI2CMaxim6690.kext

Obsolete PPC Only

IOI2CMotionSensor.kext

Obsolete PPC Only

IOI2CPulsar.kext

Unibin - Add more info

IOI2CSMUSat.kext

Obsolete PPC Only

IOI2CSlewClock.kext

Unibin - Add more info

IOKeyLargo.kext

test

IONDRVSupport.kext

abstract Framebuffer driver working in VESA resolution, overrided by ATINDRV, ATIRNDRV, AppleIntelIntegratedFramebuffer, or NVDAResman and so on

IONetworkingFamily.kext

This kext provides a basic driver framework for Ethernet adaptors, further functionality for specific chipsets is provided by other kexts located *inside* of this kext (located under the Contents/PlugIns/ directory), such as support for Intel or Realtek chipsets (two of the most common ones).

IOPCCardFamily.kext

test

IOPCIFamily.kext

for all PCI devices and PCIBridges, may by overrided by AppleMacRISCPCI or AGPGart, for example

IOPlatformFunction.kext

test

IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext

test

IOSCSIArchitectureModelFamily.kext

test

IOSCSIParallelFamily.kext

test

IOSMBusFamily.kext

test

IOSerialFamily.kext

test

IOStorageFamily.kext

test

IOStreamFamily.kext

test

IOUSBFamily.kext

test

IOUSBMassStorageClass.kext

Needed for USB flash storage devices.

IOVideoFamily.kext

test

IPFirewall.kext

Pseudo Extension

ImmersionForceFeedback.kext

Used for a usb gaming wheel.

JMicronATA.kext

Exactly as it sounds, ATA driver for jmicron chipsets.

KeyLargoATA.kext

Obsolete Key Largo ATA drivers.

LSIUltra320.kext

Obsolete SCSI controller driver for LSUI Ultra 320.

LogitechForceFeedback.kext

test

MacIOGPIO.kext

GPIO headers on ICH, as well as a few other serial controllers.. so that your hard drive blinkies work right. On a good motherboard, you have a GPIO header (or two) that looks like USB header, you plug cable from there into hard drive backplane, so that all the blinkies on your hot swap sleds work... and failure lights work, etc.

MegaRAID.kext

MegaRAID drivers.

NVDANV10Hal.kext

test

NVDANV20Hal.kext

test

NVDANV30Hal.kext

test

NVDANV40Hal.kext

One of three very important original Apple kexts required by OSx86 machines for nvidia graphics functionality. This kext provides support for 6xxx and 7xxx series nvidia cards.

NVDANV40HalPPC.kext

PowerPC equivalent of NVDANV40Hal.kext.

NVDANV50Hal.kext

One of three very important original Apple kexts required by OSx86 machines for nvidia graphics functionality. This kext provides support for 8xxx and 9xxx series nvidia cards.

NVDAResman.kext

One of three very important original Apple kexts required by OSx86 machines for nvidia graphics functionality. This kext is responsible for providing resolution changing capabilities with nvidia graphics cards.

NVDAResmanPPC.kext

Resolution changing for nvidia cards on PPC Macs.

NVSMU.kext

Possible nvidia system management unit, ROM controller potentially?

OSvKernDSPLib.kext

Kernel digital audio signal processing library?

PMUMotionSensor.kext

Presumably an outdated kext, since it refers to the PMU (Power Management Unit), which has since been replaced not only once by the SMU (System Management Unit), but twice, by the SMC (System Management Controller).

PPP.kext

Point-to-Point Protocol kext, associated with PPPoE.ppp, PPPSerial.ppp, PPTP.ppp, and Radius.ppp, all located inside /System/Library/Extensions/.

SCR24X_Apple_Driver.kext

PCMCIA card driver for SCR24X smart card reader.

seatbelt.kext

Obsolete in 10.6 - Used for sandboxing, provides an additional layer of security when running programs downloaded from the internet or potentially dangerous code.

Sandbox.kext

Replaces seatbelt.kext in 10.6, performs sandboxing functions.

SM56KUSBAudioFamily.kext

Note: New table for AppleSM56KUSBAudio.kext and AppleSM56KUSBModemFamily.kext

SMCMotionSensor.kext

Current motion sensor kext for Macbooks, which have an integrated motion sensor, some games make use of it, mainly use to lock the hard drive in place if it detects sudden motion (such as dropping), or can be used in case of theft to trigger an alarm.

SoftRAID.kext

test

System.kext

System.kext contains lots of Pseudo-Extensions

Name	Description
AppleNMI.kext	Pseudo-Extension - A non-maskable interrupt (NMI) is a computer processor interrupt that cannot be ignored by standard interrupt masking techniques in the system. It is typically used to signal attention for non-recoverable hardware errors. (Some NMIs may be masked, but only by using proprietary methods specific to the particular NMI.)
ApplePlatformFamily.kext	test
BSDKernel.kext	test
BSDKernel6.0.kext	test
IOKit.kext	test
IOKit6.0.kext	test
IONVRAMFamily.kext	test
IOSystemManagement.kext	test
Libkern.kext	test
Libkern6.0.kext	test
MACFramework.kext	test
Mach.kext	test
Mach6.0.kext	test
System6.0.kext	test
Unsupported.kext	test

TMSafetyNet.kext

Used to protect accidental or intentional deletion of time machine backups. More info

VirtualAudioDriver.kext

Most likely this Virtual Audio driver allows you to route the audio output of any program into the input of another

autofs.kext

Used to eliminate the need to mount filesystems manually, probably guesses the filesystem and mounts it automatically with the available/appropriate options that OS X has for that specific filesystem.

cddafs.kext

Compact Disc Digital Audio filesystem, presumably used to read/write audio cds following the CDDA standard.

iPodDriver.kext

Absolutely mind-boggling what this kext could possibly ever do. Maybe someday its true mysteries will be explored.

iTunesPhoneDriver.kext

iPhone driver, same as iPodDriver above, but for the iPhone.

mcxalr.kext

Managed Client application launch restriction tool and agent - Used internally to manage and implement application launch restrictions for Managed Clients (MCX). Also used by Workgroup Manager to sign applications as root to insure all permissions and modes are preserved.

msdosfs.kext

ms-dos filesystem driver.

ntfs.kext

New Technology File System driver, allows OS X to read Windows NTFS volumes.

nvenet.kext

Nvidia ethernet, has to do with ethernet on MCP73/MCP79 systems.

smbfs.kext

Samba filesystem kext, responsible for providing the ability to mount remote Windows file shares using Samba

udf.kext

Universal Disc Format filesystem driver, used to read/write to UDF formatted cd/dvd's.

webdav_fs.kext

Filesystem driver for WebDAV.Wikipedia: Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning, or WebDAV, is a set of extensions to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) that allows users to collaboratively edit and manage files on remote World Wide Web servers.

webfilter.kext

test

zfs.readonly.kext

Read-only capability for the ZFS filesystem. There is a ZFS read/write kext available if one wishes to experiment with the ZFS filesystem under OS X.

OSx86 Community Contributed KEXTs

Name	Definition (and Author, if known/applicable)
ALCinject.kext
AppleDecrypt.kext	the newest decryption kext available, replaces dsmos.kext for decryption of OS X binaries. For more info on the encrypted binaries see this article by Amit Singh, author of "OS X Internals".
AppleSMBIOSEFI.kext	Kext written by Chun-Nan to resolve SMBIOS issues as opposed to hacking the original AppleSMBIOS.kext
SMBIOSEnabler.kext	Kext written by Kabyl to resolve SMBIOS issues as opposed to hacking the original AppleSMBIOS.kext (deprecated in favour of SMBIOSResolver)
SMBIOSResolver.kext	Kext written by Superhai to resolve SMBIOS issues as opposed to hacking the original AppleSMBIOS.kext
dsmos.kext	Used to decrypt binaries in the OS X Operating System. For more info on the encrypted binaries see this article by Amit Singh, author of "OS X Internals".
forcedeth.kext	Outdated kext used to provide basic ethernet adaptor functionality for nforce-based motherboards.
HDAEnabler.kext	High Definition Audio Enabler, provides increased functionality from ALCinject, with fake outputs in System Profiler as well.
Intel82566MM.kext	A kext graciously crafted by Guijin Ding, can be used to get certain Intel LAN chipsets working properly, source available at his blog. Based off the open source e1000 driver from Linux/BSD.
Disabler.kext	Used to disable kexts known to cause issues on standard PC's, specifically AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement.kext, and AppleEFIRuntime.kext
Natit.kext	This kext injects pre-established values into the OS X IOREG from a graphics card, can be ATI, Intel, or nVidia depending on the version of the natit.kext used.
nforcelan.kext	newest kext for providing driver functionality for nforce chipset based motherboards.
NVenabler.kext	This kext, created by our ProjectOSX.com forum's own Fassl and Krazubu, the newest and best injector for Nvidia cards. Automatic NVCAP patching included, check it out!
NVkush.kext	This kext injects pre-established values that a nvidia graphics card provides into the OS X IOREG, enabling graphics driver functionality
NVinject.kext	This kext injects pre-established values that a nvidia graphics card provides into the OS X IOREG, enabling graphics driver functionality
OpenHaltRestart.kext	A kext provided by Psystar Inc., used to fix several shutdown/restart issues, no known correlation to sleep issues. Can be downloaded from Psystar's website.
Titan.kext	This kext injects pre-established values that a nvidia graphics card provides into the OS X IOREG, enabling graphics driver functionality

To be added: agpgart, EHCISleepEnabler

Sabr

Mar 15 2009, 01:31 PM

This is cool.

pater

Mar 15 2009, 02:19 PM

try to contain your enthusiasm sabr.

but yeah, looks like it will be a lot of work though.

Hagar

Mar 15 2009, 05:24 PM

just got in from work, gotta do another shift tonight.. but WOW.. nice going

macgirl

Mar 18 2009, 08:22 PM

Very large post tho.

Maybe divide in various.

but, hey, looks great.

pater

Apr 7 2009, 09:18 PM

Just a suggestion.. change important kexts to blue and problematic ones to red.. purely aesthetic but I think it matches more. ~~Put anything that is currently in blue into orange.~~ I see that the blue things are just notes to yourself, nvm.

munky

Apr 12 2009, 12:05 AM

QUOTE (pater @ Apr 7 2009, 10:18 PM)

Just a suggestion.. change important kexts to blue and problematic ones to red.. purely aesthetic but I think it matches more. ~~Put anything that is currently in blue into orange.~~ I see that the blue things are just notes to yourself, nvm.

nerdy tho it seems, i actually read the whole thing

nice work.

sonotone

May 19 2009, 04:34 PM

Crasy idea to do this guys... but extremely brave and usefull

MikeTheMilkman

Jun 3 2009, 09:46 PM

Very useful, It would be good if you had told people how to install the kexts if say a newbie downloaded one from the internet, and didn't know what to do with it. Just a suggestion

realityiswhere

Jun 4 2009, 02:44 AM

QUOTE (MikeTheMilkman @ Jun 3 2009, 06:46 PM)

Very useful, It would be good if you had told people how to install the kexts if say a newbie downloaded one from the internet, and didn't know what to do with it. Just a suggestion

Actually, I told people twice

http://www.projectosx.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=67

http://www.projectosx.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=6

MikeTheMilkman

Jun 4 2009, 03:03 PM

QUOTE (realityiswhere @ Jun 4 2009, 02:44 AM)

Actually, I told people twice

http://www.projectosx.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=67

http://www.projectosx.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=6

All very cool guides! Sorry I did not notice them, my bad

MACinized

Jul 10 2009, 02:54 PM

woow! this is one great resource!

just wondrin' why NVEnabler.kext is not yet included.

btw, would anyone be able to tell me what kexts are the AppleHDA & ALCinject kexts are dependent to?

[EDIT]

problem solved by lebidou of insanelymac.

now my 10.5.7 is fully untouched. audio is now working w/out installing AppleHDA & ALCinject kexts in /S/L/Extensions.

sonotone

Jul 14 2009, 09:52 AM

QUOTE (MACinized @ Jul 10 2009, 03:54 PM)

now my 10.5.7 is fully untouched.

Sorry if i break some dream but a "fully untouched" osx Installation can't even boot on any PC.

MACinized

Jul 14 2009, 10:41 AM

QUOTE (sonotone @ Jul 14 2009, 05:52 PM)

Sorry if i break some dream but a "fully untouched" osx Installation can't even boot on any PC.

pardon my ignorance. so does it mean that whatever i have in my "bootloader-partition" (e.g. usb-flashdisk) is actually "injected" to the partition where leopard is installed? will u educate me on what in particular, and where, and how? tia.

jadran

Jul 14 2009, 11:35 PM

Wow! I read the hole thing.
This is science.

Slice

Aug 22 2009, 06:22 PM

Is there anybody continuing investigation? I can add some information.
For example;
AppleMacRISCPCI.kext - AGP driver for PowerMac

bofors

Aug 22 2009, 09:46 PM

Nice work, very useful... thanks.

realityiswhere

Aug 22 2009, 10:44 PM

QUOTE (Slice @ Aug 22 2009, 03:22 PM)

Is there anybody continuing investigation? I can add some information.
For example;
AppleMacRISCPCI.kext - AGP driver for PowerMac

I definitely am, I'll add it in to the list, and if I can find some time soon then I'll try and do some more research and add in whatever official kexts I can find, and the newer hacked kexts as well.

Slice

Aug 23 2009, 05:08 PM

QUOTE (Slice @ Aug 22 2009, 06:22 PM)

AppleMacRISCPCI.kext - AGP driver for PowerMac

QUOTE (realityiswhere @ Aug 22 2009, 10:44 PM)

I definitely am, I'll add it in to the list,

I said PowerMac but not all Macs, i.e. PPC only.

Some more information
IOxxxFamily.kexts provide basic functionality for a xxx class of devices. Its contain hardware independent methods that real drivers must override (subclass of superclass).
IOACPIFamily - for all ACPI devices such as PowerButton, Battery, Lid, ThermalZone, PS/2, HPET etc
IOPCIFamily - for all PCI devices and PCIBridges, may by overrided by AppleMacRISCPCI or AGPGart, for example
IOGraphicsFamily - abstract Display device working in VESA mode, may be overrided by AppleBacklightDisplay or AppleOnboardDisplay or else.
IONDRVSupport - abstract Framebuffer driver working in VESA resolution, overrided by ATINDRV, ATIRNDRV, AppleIntelIntegratedFramebuffer, or NVDAResman
and so on

Gringo Vermelho

Sep 12 2009, 07:10 PM

AppleLPC.kext

Drives the motherboard LPC bus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Pin_Count
http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Plug-and-Play-HOWTO-6.html#ss6.10

When AppleLPC.kext is not loaded on vanilla kernel capable hardware, this message appears during boot:

CODE

ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin::registerLPCDriver - WARNING - LPC device initialization failed: C-state power management not initialized

Using LSPCI, the LPC device is listed under 'ISA bridge'. Run LSPCI with the -nn flag to see device IDs.
You can add your LPC's device ID to the kext to get it to load (or make a legacy kext: http://www.projectosx.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=798 ).
Device ID can also be patched via DSDT using zhells method (original thread: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=168014 )

Here's an example from my own DSDT:

CODE

            Device (LPCB)
            {
                Name (_ADR, 0x001F0000)
                Method (_DSM, 4, NotSerialized)
                {
                    Store (Package (0x02)
                        {
                            "device-id",
                            Buffer (0x04)
                            {
                                0x18, 0x3A, 0x00, 0x00
                            }
                        }, Local0)
                    DTGP (Arg0, Arg1, Arg2, Arg3, RefOf (Local0))
                    Return (Local0)
                }

The LPC device might appear under a different name (for example SBRG on ASUS boards, PX40 on Gigabyte boards).
If you can't spot it right away you can search for it by address which (as LSPCI should tell you) is normally 0x001F0000, as in the example above.

My LPC device has device ID 3a16 (Intel ICH10R) the code example above overrides it with 3a18 (ICH10) which is supported by AppleLPC.kext. Note the device ID is 'backwards', this is correct. Also note DTGP caller at the end - you must add the generic DTGP method code to your DSDT if you don't have it already (google/forum search for more info).

Having AppleLPC.kext loaded makes 'Automatic restart after power failure' appear in Energy Saver prefs and is a requirement for native speed stepping on systems with an Intel CPU that can run the vanilla kernel.

funkboy

Aug 16 2010, 09:03 AM

beautiful. keep up the good work.

Gringo Vermelho

Oct 8 2010, 04:02 PM

How to have AppleSMBusPCI, IOSMBusFamily and AppleSMBusController loaded on your Intel based Hackintosh via DSDT:

http://www.projectosx.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=685

Note that in the example given, the address of the smbus device is "0x001F0003", which in LSPCI would look like "00:1f.3".
Adjust the address accordingly if yours doesn't match.

Slice

Oct 8 2010, 05:59 PM

Information about AppleEFIRuntime is wrong.
It contains AppleEFINVRAM.kext inside and provides interfaces for Startup prefPane, command-line tools nvram and bless.
It doesn't work in Hackintosh yet.

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