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mac-pixel-clock-patch - Documentation.wiki

Introduction

This patch removes certain software limits from video card drivers in Mac OS X.

Who is this for?

1) You want to connect a 4K monitor to HDMI on your Mac

2) You want to overclock your monitor

If you have a MacBook Pro with Retina Display, you will be able to drive a 4K monitor from its HDMI port.

Supported OS X versions

  • 10.7.4
  • 10.7.5
  • 10.8.3
  • 10.8.4
  • 10.8.5

Supported video cards

  • Many Intel video cards
  • Newer NVIDIA video cards

I tested this patch on 13" MacBook Pro with Retina Display and 15" MacBook Pro with Retina Display, but other systems should be supported as well.

If something goes wrong

Before you get started, make sure you have a Recovery partition on your Mac, just in case something goes wrong. When you boot your Mac, hold the option key and you should see an option to boot from a Recovery partition.

My patch creates a backup file in the same folder as the patched file; if you need to roll back, copy the backed up file (with .bak extension) over the patched file.

This patch changes the following files:

  • /System/Library/Frameworks/IOKit.framework/Versions/A/IOKit/IOKit
  • /System/Library/Extensions/NVDAGK100Hal.kext/Contents/MacOS/NVDAGK100Hal

If your OS X version or video card is not supported

Get in touch with me and I will see what I can do.

How to install this patch

Download it here: mac-pixel-clock-patcher download link

Download it into your Downloads folder. Open Terminal and run:

cd ~/Downloads

chmod +x macPixelClockPatcher.command

./macPixelClockPatcher.command

You will be asked to enter your password to approve changes in your system.

Pay attention to the output - it should say it detected unpatched IOKit and NVIDIA driver on (your OS X version) and patch it.

Reboot your system.

After reboot, you should be able to get custom resolutions with over 165 MHz pixel clock to work using SwitchResX.

After you install this patch

Use SwitchResX to create a custom resolution to drive your screen at the resolution and refresh rate that you need: SwitchResX download link

Slowly increase the refresh rate to see how far your system can go.

For example, use the following settings when creating a custom resolution:

  • Use simplified settings - CVT-RB, 1920, 1080, 75 Hz. Test it.
  • Use simplified settings - CVT-RB, 1920, 1080, 85 Hz. Test it.
  • Use simplified settings - CVT-RB, 1920, 1080, 90 Hz. Test it.
  • Use simplified settings - CVT-RB, 1920, 1080, 95 Hz. Test it.
  • Use simplified settings - CVT-RB, 1920, 1080, 100 Hz. Test it.
  • Use simplified settings - CVT-RB, 1920, 1080, 105 Hz. Test it.
  • Use simplified settings - CVT-RB, 1920, 1080, 110 Hz. Test it.

Same for 4K:

  • Use simplified settings - CVT-RB, 3840, 2160, 16 Hz. Test it.
  • Use simplified settings - CVT-RB, 3840, 2160, 20 Hz. Test it.
  • Use simplified settings - CVT-RB, 3840, 2160, 22 Hz. Test it.
  • Use simplified settings - CVT-RB, 3840, 2160, 24 Hz. Test it.
  • Use simplified settings - CVT-RB, 3840, 2160, 26 Hz. Test it.
  • Use simplified settings - CVT-RB, 3840, 2160, 28 Hz. Test it.
  • Use simplified settings - CVT-RB, 3840, 2160, 30 Hz. Test it.
  • Use simplified settings - CVT-RB, 3840, 2160, 31 Hz. Test it.