OSX Boot flags

Well, this is a list of common boot flags for chameleon based bootloaders, I always forget them, so decided to put it here for “once and for all”… feel free to add more flags in comments if you like šŸ™‚

-xĀ  safe boot
-vĀ  boot in verbose mode, to see actual error or kernel panic error
-fĀ Ā  – reload all kext and dump the boot config cache
-sĀ  – single user

-F
If you enter some extra boot flags into org.Chameleon.boot.plist, but they’re messing up your Hackintosh’s bootloader, enter the -F boot flag to ignore them.

-force64
Forces Mac OS X to boot into 64-bit mode.

-legacy
System loads in 32 bit mode while running on 64 bit version of Os X.

rd=diskXsX
Tells where is the boot partition, first X is hdd sata port and second X is partition number ( rd=disk0s1), sometimes can fix “Waiting for boot volume UUID” error.

platform=ACPI

platform=X86PC (non ACPI)

platform=ACPI|86PC (if ACPI fails do not use it)

cpus=1
Limit the number of processor cores (usually used for AMD processors).

PCIRootUID=1
Some AMD Radeon cards wont boot without it, PCIRootUID=1 or PCIRootUID=0

arch=i386
Forces Mac OS X to boot into 32-bit mode. Useful for older PC’s if CPU or graphics card isn’t fully supported in OSX 64 bit mod. No longer works in OS X Mountain Lion which is 64 bit only.

arch=x86_64
Allows Mac OS X to boot into 64-bit mode.

mach_kernel
Locate the kernel (“mach_kernel”), if your Hackintosh says that it can’t find mach_kernel, and if the kernel is located in the Extra folder, enter the boot flag /Extra/mach_kernel. If you testing new kernel, call it custom and than enter “custom” flag to boot it with custom kernel without of removing old kernel.

darkwake=0Ā 
DisableĀ  wake up of certain parts of your Mac from sleep, while leaving other parts in sleep mode. This feature often messes up sleep on Hackintoshes. EnterĀ  darkwake=1 to turn it on, if turning it off doesn’t do the trick). if your verbose boot is freezingĀ  be sure to remove SleepEnabler.kext completely by deleting it from either /Extra/Extensions or /System/Library/Extensions in your hard drive.

GraphicsEnabler=No or GraphicsEnabler=Yes
It’sĀ turned on by default when you set up your Hackintosh with latest Multibeast. Certain graphics cards (AMD RadeonĀ cards), may make Mac OS X unable to boot, or cause the graphics in Mac OS X to display incorrectly. If this is the case use this flag. Turning GraphicsEnabler off will break DVD Player, most games, video and audio editing apps etc… NVIDIA 600 series no longer require GraphicsEnabler to work with OSX so turning off GraphicsEnabler won’t cause any problems.

debug=0x100 or debug=0x144
Turns on debug mode. If youĀ get a kernel panic use either of these boot flags, andĀ  you’ll see a debug screen full of code instead of a kernel panic message.

DSTD=/Extra/DSDT_test.aml
Safe way to test newly patched DSDT file. First rename your new DSDT.aml file to DSDT_test.aml and than copy it to /Extra folder. Or can be used otherway around for DSDT_backup.aml.

dart=0
If you can’t boot with OS X and VT-x/VT-d enabled in BIOS, use this flag (UEFI BIOS).

4 thoughts on “OSX Boot flags

  1. Thanks for dart description.

    have small question about undocumented flags.
    is it possible to next can extends functionality and can catch new flags while boot.

    probably: some kexts added into system can be configured at boot state from bootloader.

    what you think about?

    i know what kernel can do it, but whats about other extensions like kexts and some binaries?

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