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MP 1,1-5,1 Looking for AVX/AVX2 software failures

Some findings (Sequoia 15.2):

Code: 
avx2 /System/Library/Extensions/                       
Macschrauber's AVX/AVX2 Scanner 16-1-2025 D
Scanning directory: /System/Library/Extensions/
Executable with AVX and AVX2: /System/Library/Extensions//AMDRadeonX5000GLDriver.bundle/Contents/MacOS/AMDRadeonX5000GLDriver
Executable with AVX and AVX2: /System/Library/Extensions//AMDRadeonX4000GLDriver.bundle/Contents/MacOS/AMDRadeonX4000GLDriver                                                                                                        
Executable with AVX and AVX2: /System/Library/Extensions//AppleIntelGraphicsShared.bundle/Contents/MacOS/libMTLIGCCompilerPlugin.dylib                                           
Executable with AVX and AVX2: /System/Library/Extensions//AMDRadeonX6000GLDriver.bundle/Contents/MacOS/AMDRadeonX6000GLDriver                                                    
Executable with AVX and AVX2: /System/Library/Extensions//AMDShared.bundle/Contents/PlugIns/libAMDNTPlugin.dylib                                                                 
/System/Library/Extensions//AppleMIDIBluetoothDriver.plugin/Contents/MacOS/AppleMIDIBluetoothDriver                                                 
AVX and AVX2 code found.

Code: 
avx2 /System/Applications/Music.app 
Macschrauber's AVX/AVX2 Scanner 16-1-2025 C
Scanning directory: /System/Applications/Music.app
Executable with AVX and AVX2: /System/Applications/Music.app/Contents/MacOS/Music 
Executable with AVX and AVX2: /System/Applications/Music.app/Contents/PlugIns/com.apple.Music.web.bundle/Contents/MacOS/com.apple.Music.web 
Executable with AVX and AVX2: /System/Applications/Music.app/Contents/PlugIns/MusicCacheExtension.appex/Contents/MacOS/MusicCacheExtension 
Executable with AVX and AVX2: /System/Applications/Music.app/Contents/PlugIns/MusicStorageExtension.appex/Contents/MacOS/MusicStorageExtension 
Executable without AVX/AVX2: /System/Applications/Music.app/Contents/XPCServices/VisualizerService_x86.xpc/Contents/MacOS/VisualizerService_x86 
Executable without AVX/AVX2: /System/Applications/Music.app/Contents/XPCServices/VisualizerService.xpc/Contents/MacOS/VisualizerService 
AVX and AVX2 code found. 
test@Pro-von-test ~ % avx2 /System/Applications/TV.app 
Macschrauber's AVX/AVX2 Scanner 16-1-2025 C
Scanning directory: /System/Applications/TV.app
Executable with AVX and AVX2: /System/Applications/TV.app/Contents/MacOS/TV 
Executable with AVX and AVX2: /System/Applications/TV.app/Contents/PlugIns/TVStorageExtension.appex/Contents/MacOS/TVStorageExtension 
Executable with AVX and AVX2: /System/Applications/TV.app/Contents/PlugIns/TVCacheExtension.appex/Contents/MacOS/TVCacheExtension 
Executable with AVX and AVX2: /System/Applications/TV.app/Contents/PlugIns/com.apple.TV.web.bundle/Contents/MacOS/com.apple.TV.web 
AVX and AVX2 code found.
 
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hi. are you able to launch the latest version of desktop whatsapp? it gives EXC_BAD_INSTRUCTION (SIGILL)
 
Intel SDE can emulate AVX/AVX2 on linux. Intel discontinued SDE for macos. latest version was with macos support was 9.7. intel dropped macos with 9.17 in 2022-10
they dont provide a download for the old 9.2 macos release.

has anybody the 9.2 macos intel sde and did test it to emulate avx2?
 
Demo of running an AVX2 binary using Intel SDE on a Xeon X5570 without AVX2 (MP 5,1 running linux):

bofh@tux:~/dev/misc/avx$ ./avx2-test
illegal instruction
Click to expand...

bofh@tux:~/dev/misc/avx$ /usr/local/sde-external-9.48.0-2024-11-25-lin/sde64 -hsw -- ./avx2-test
Result of element-wise multiplication:
5 12 21 32
Click to expand...

unfortunately only on linux as Intel don't provides the SDE for MacOs anymore.

would be really nice if someone has the latest Intel SDE for MacOs and could test this under MacOs
 
ok, thanks to Macschrauber, I think I have fixed it.
I am testing, and it's early, so idk if there will be any problems, but so far, so good.
I have the Music.app on my media server, which is Monterey, and has no problem.
You cannot copy that app to Sequioa, and have it work, and iTunes will not install anymore since Sonoma.
So, I was kind of stuck.
Now, it's working, but there's still a little problem.
macOS locks down so bad, you cannot replace apps anymore. Not as root, not booted into the recovery console, nothing I hav found.
I would like to be able to replace a couple of files, so I am still looking for a solution, but for the Music.app, I just made a duplicate called "Music NOACX.app".
A little sloppy, but so far, so good.
I copied the 3 plugins without the avx code out of the Monterey version of the app, and into the Sequoia version of the app, and it's good so far.
I could plat further, and try to get the newer plugins from Sonoma, but I don't have a running Sonoma computer, so I just used the one I have in Monterey.

It will probably have to be redone after every OS update to get the latest version of the Music.app.
 
Another update.
I am looking for the Music.app, but it doesn't really exist in the Applications folder.
I made a Catalina boot, so I could see the real drive structure, and it doesn't really live there.
macOS is putting them there virtually, probably along with the rest of the protected files.
This now makes more sense to me, where I have seen duplicate apps in the Finder, with the exact same names.
The Mac Finder thinks it really lives in /System/Applications, but it really doesn't.
It's another redirect. Booted to Catalina terminal, I can see that it isn't really there.
Perhaps, there's a virtual volume mounted, or some other method.

If anyone else knows, and can help out with how to modify these files, please let me know.

For now, having a duplicate Music.app is working well. Not a single crash.
I will try to extract the plugins later from something newer than Monterey, probably Sonoma. I used it for convenience, because my server is running it.
 
In the OpenCore Dortania folder, there is a Music.app, and it's just a few files, not the whole bundle. I wonder if we can put the plugins in there.
Since there's no way to leave feedback for OCLP, maybe someone can run this by them?
To many people have been running into this issue, so it's surprising that they haven't addressed it yet.
For now, I guess I will just keep my temporary solution, and hopefully it helps others.
 
Hi - I've just stumbled upon this thread which may no longer be active, but in case anyone's listening, I have a problem with Apple Music running on Sequoia 15.5 after an OCLP upgrade to my mid-2010 Mac Pro 5,1. It crashes immediately on 'search' and when creating playlist or trying to play a music video. I read elsewhere that this was due to a AVX/AVX2 incompatibility with my old machine and OpenCore not having addressed this issue in their boot loaders. I would love to find a solution to this!
 
The Jeep said:
Hi - I've just stumbled upon this thread which may no longer be active, but in case anyone's listening, I have a problem with Apple Music running on Sequoia 15.5 after an OCLP upgrade to my mid-2010 Mac Pro 5,1. It crashes immediately on 'search' and when creating playlist or trying to play a music video. I read elsewhere that this was due to a AVX/AVX2 incompatibility with my old machine and OpenCore not having addressed this issue in their boot loaders. I would love to find a solution to this!
Click to expand...
Hi,
I did finally solve it.
I had tried older versions of Music, but it won’t run on Sequoia when copied over from an older macOS.
Thanks to another person writing an avx detection script, I was able to see where the problem was.
I replaced the 3 plugins in the Music app bundle from an older version of the app, before Apple broke it by putting in avx code.
It’s been totally solid now.
The only thing I cannot figure out is how to replace the broken original app, because it’s protected.
So, until I, or someone else resolves that, I’m just running a modified, working copy.
I named mine Music NOAVX.app, but you can name it whatever you want.
I’m not sure when the avx code was implemented, so I am still going to look and see what the latest versions of the plugins I can use are. For now, I just grabbed them from Monterey, but I will be getting them from Sonoma, or an earlier version of Sequoia, when I verify which the last avx free version was. I just need to do a few installs to get to the app when I have time.
 
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ok, I'm done testing macOS Sonoma 14.7.6, Music 1.4.6, and I just confirmed that it too has the AVX code in the plugins.
This doesn't mean earlier versions of Sonoma have it, it's just the first I was able to install and test.

Early versions of Sequoia, and Sonoma need to be tested.

If they all have it, then I need to go back and look at Ventura and others.

My working version I made is from Monterey 12.6.5, and Music 1.2.5.
It just happens that's the version I am running on my cMP media server, so I had it available immediately.
My goal is to try to find the newest version I can without the avx code, to get the latest plugins.

If anyone has other versions up and running, please test, and see if they have the bad plugins.

Thanks to Macschrauber, I am using his script with a GUI that scans the file easily. It's above here to download.

Here's the links from his message above.

Mac Pro 1.1-5.1, MBP111, MBA61, MM71, iPhone SE, iPad 8 and vintage Macs & iPods
links to the Dumper:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...es.2333460/page-4?post=32055801#post-32055801 https://github.com/Macschrauber/Macschrauber-s-Rom-Dump

The time consuming part is having to install the OS to get to Music.app.
None of the package extractors work anymore.

Music 1.4.6 from Sonoma 14.7.6, BAD, has AVX code
Music 1.2.5 from Monterey 12.6.5, GOOD, NO AVX CODE!


The plugins are in;
Music.app/Contents/Plugins
and all 3 plugins are bad:

com.apple.Music.web.bundle
MusicCacheExtension.appex
MusicStorageExtension.appex


I will update after more results, and check to see if anyone else is able to find a newer working version.

Honestly, I don't know if it's worth all of the effort, or what the newer plugins might have that the older working ones don't. Maybe they are just newer, and have minor bug fixes and updates, or maybe there's no difference.
Until I find a newer one to compare, I don't know if they are the same as the ones in Monterey.


Once this is ironed out, it would be nice if there's a way to fix the actual music.app, and not have to run a copy. Maybe even OCLP can include it.


Another note, copying Music.app is a little tricky on the newer macOS, because the file doesn't really exist.
I am using ARD (Apple Remote Desktop) to copy them, the Finder and terminal cannot.
 
Fred4 said:
ok, I'm done testing macOS Sonoma 14.7.6, Music 1.4.6, and I just confirmed that it too has the AVX code in the plugins.
This doesn't mean earlier versions of Sonoma have it, it's just the first I was able to install and test.

Early versions of Sequoia, and Sonoma need to be tested.

If they all have it, then I need to go back and look at Ventura and others.

My working version I made is from Monterey 12.6.5, and Music 1.2.5.
It just happens that's the version I am running on my cMP media server, so I had it available immediately.
My goal is to try to find the newest version I can without the avx code, to get the latest plugins.

If anyone has other versions up and running, please test, and see if they have the bad plugins.

Thanks to Macschrauber, I am using his script with a GUI that scans the file easily. It's above here to download.

Here's the links from his message above.

Mac Pro 1.1-5.1, MBP111, MBA61, MM71, iPhone SE, iPad 8 and vintage Macs & iPods
links to the Dumper:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...es.2333460/page-4?post=32055801#post-32055801 https://github.com/Macschrauber/Macschrauber-s-Rom-Dump

The time consuming part is having to install the OS to get to Music.app.
None of the package extractors work anymore.

Music 1.4.6 from Sonoma 14.7.6, BAD, has AVX code
Music 1.2.5 from Monterey 12.6.5, GOOD, NO AVX CODE!


The plugins are in;
Music.app/Contents/Plugins
and all 3 plugins are bad:

com.apple.Music.web.bundle
MusicCacheExtension.appex
MusicStorageExtension.appex


I will update after more results, and check to see if anyone else is able to find a newer working version.

Honestly, I don't know if it's worth all of the effort, or what the newer plugins might have that the older working ones don't. Maybe they are just newer, and have minor bug fixes and updates, or maybe there's no difference.
Until I find a newer one to compare, I don't know if they are the same as the ones in Monterey.


Once this is ironed out, it would be nice if there's a way to fix the actual music.app, and not have to run a copy. Maybe even OCLP can include it.


Another note, copying Music.app is a little tricky on the newer macOS, because the file doesn't really exist.
I am using ARD (Apple Remote Desktop) to copy them, the Finder and terminal cannot.
Click to expand...
Edit: The AVX/AVX2 problem started with Ventura. The newer the macOS versions gets, the more of it you can discover.

Most likely Apple only changed a compiler flag to include AVX2 support and subsequent macOS builds will now include more and more of those incompatible instructions.

There will be no way around it without a fully working emulator which has been discussed in the past. The Apple Silicon version of macOS includes an x86-64 emulation including AVX2 support, so technically it can be done.

There is a really old project named OpcodeEmulator which seems to work even on pre AVX systems with limited success, but it is not a fully emulation. You need to download, compile, add it to the OLCP generated OpenCore configuration and cross fingers.

You can also try this shortcut....some instructions how to install and use are included. Users on the OCLP Discord had some success lately.
 
Last edited:
Ausdauersportler said:
Most likely Apple only changed a compiler flag to include AVX2 support and subsequent macOS builds will now include more and more of those incompatible instructions.

There will be no way around it without a fully working emulator which has been discussed in the past. The Apple Silicon version of macOS includes an x86-64 emulation including AVX2 support, so technically it can be done.

There is a project named OpcodeEmulator which seems to work even on pre AVX systems with limitedsuccess, but it is not a fully emulation. You need to download, compile, add it to the OLCP generated OpenCore configuration and cross fingers.

You can also try this shortcut....some instructions included.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I know we've been saying; "this one's the last", but I think Sequoia may actually be it now.
I am wondering if earlier versions of Sequoia didn't have the code.

Sonoma may not have had it either, but somewhere along the updates, it got done.

It would be so easy for them to not do this, but I have a feeling it's intentional.

Depending on where the code is, we can try to fix them one at a time.
My solution does fix Music.app.

Thanks
 
I'm looking for 14.3.1.
I believe it's the last version before avx was added.
so far, it's removed from all of the servers I have tried. Including my own...
If anyone has it, let's try that one.
I am still searching archive sites.
 
Hi guys, I'm new here.
I have a 2013 Mac Pro with working RX580 egpu but I cannot play games that requires AVX2.0
OS is Monterey, I can play perfectly well on a 16" 2019 mbp with same OS but i would like to use the 2013 Mac Pro for gaming.
I'm reading of this Intel avx emulator, anybody has done it on their Mac? I cant find anything online.
Thanks!

ps: also found this script, what you think?

#!/bin/bash

# Solution provided by https://github.com/renhiyama
# (https://github.com/Jarred-Sumner/bun/issues/282#issuecomment-1177154684)

# License agreement
echo "The Intel Software Development Emulator is distributed under the Intel Software License Agreement, available at https://www.intel.com/content/dam/d...fied-software-license-version-august-2021.pdf"
echo ""
echo "If you do not accept the terms of the license agreement, you have 10 seconds to stop this script (Ctrl+C)"

sleep 10

# Create directories
[ ! -d /tmp/bun-sde-fix ] && mkdir /tmp/bun-sde-fix
[ ! -d ~/.sde ] && mkdir ~/.sde

echo "Downloading SDE package" && \
curl -sS https://downloadmirror.intel.com/732268/sde-external-9.7.0-2022-05-09-lin.tar.xz -o /tmp/bun-sde-fix/sde-package.tar.xz && \

echo "Extracting into ~/.sde" && \
tar -xf /tmp/bun-sde-fix/sde-package.tar.xz --strip-components=1 -C ~/.sde

# Check architecture type the create aliases
if [ `getconf LONG_BIT` = "64" ]
then
[ -f ~/.bashrc ] && echo '[ -d ~/.sde ] && alias bun="~/.sde/sde64 -chip-check-disable -- bun"' >> ~/.bashrc
[ -f ~/.zshrc ] && echo '[ -d ~/.sde ] && alias bun="~/.sde/sde64 -chip-check-disable -- bun"' >> ~/.zshrc
else
[ -f ~/.bashrc ] && echo '[ -d ~/.sde ] && alias bun="~/.sde/sde -chip-check-disable -- bun"' >> ~/.bashrc
[ -f ~/.zshrc ] && echo '[ -d ~/.sde ] && alias bun="~/.sde/sde -chip-check-disable -- bun"' >> ~/.zshrc
fi

echo "The default supported shells are bash and zsh."
echo 'For other shells, add this to the bashrc file.
[ -d ~/.sde ] && alias bun="~/.sde/sde -chip-check-disable -- bun" for 32-bit archs or
[ -d ~/.sde ] && alias bun="~/.sde/sde64 -chip-check-disable -- bun" for 64-bit archs'

echo 'run "getconf LONG_BIT" to get your architecture type'

echo "When the issue is fixed, remove ~/.sde."

rm -rf /tmp/bun-sde-fix

echo "Done, thank you."
 
Last edited:
Has anyone tried developing Swift and SwiftUI apps on Mac Pro 5,1? I get bronzemtlcomputecmdencoder errors when trying to run my app from Xcode. But when I run the .app I compiled using xcodebuild or built on my m3 MacBook, it works just fine. I first thought that it might be caused by my RX580 which is not Metal 3, but I am wondering if the debugger uses AVX code :/


Xcode 16.1 on Sonoma 14.7.3
 
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