Release-5168

[YBronst]

Description

🚀 Replace BlockSkywalk with KextsToBlock

📌 Summary

This Release replaces the hardcoded BlockSkywalk option with a fully extensible, menu-integrated, and OS-aware mechanism called KextsToBlock.
It also includes upstream synchronization from brunch master and improvements to CPU/SMBIOS detection.

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✨ Key Features

🔹 1. New KextsToBlock system

• Replaces the single-purpose BlockSkywalk flag.
• Supports multiple kexts.
• Each entry can be:
  • Enabled/disabled,
  • Filtered by macOS version (MatchOS),
  • Toggled via Clover UI menu,
  • Exported correctly to OpenCore Kernel -> Block.

🔹 2. Menu integration

• New submenu “Kexts to block”.
• Each rule appears as a checkbox item.
• Menu state is synced back into runtime config.

🔹 3. Config format update

• Removed:

   <dict>
        <key>KernelAndKextPatches</key>
        <dict>
            <key>BlockSkywalk</key>
            <true/>
        </dict>
    </dict>

• Added:

            <key>KextsToBlock</key>
            <array>
                <dict>
                    <key>Comment</key>
                    <string>Allow IOSkywalk Downgrade</string>
                    <key>Disabled</key>
                    <false/>
                    <key>MatchOS</key>
                    <string>14.x,15.x,26.x</string>
                    <key>Name</key>
                    <string>com.apple.iokit.IOSkywalkFamily</string>
                </dict>
                <dict>
                    <key>Comment</key>
                    <string>Allow Block AppleEthernetRL</string>
                    <key>Disabled</key>
                    <true/>
                    <key>MatchOS</key>
                    <string>26.x</string>
                    <key>Name</key>
                    <string>com.apple.driver.AppleEthernetRL</string>
                </dict>
            </array>

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🔧 Technical Details

• Introduced new class: KEXT_TO_BLOCK
  • Fields: Comment, Name, Disabled, MatchOS, MenuItem, Label
  • Method: ShouldBlock(const MacOsVersion&)
  • Added filtering logic in:

LOADER_ENTRY::FilterKextsToBlock();

• Clover config generation dynamically builds Kernel -> Block entries based on active rules.
• Removed all traces of BlockSkywalk from structures, config parsing, menu, and OC export logic.

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🔄 Upstream Sync (from brunch master)

Includes:

• Updated CPU detection:
  • Added: Nehalem EX, Westmere, Raptor Lake, Meteor Lake, Arrow Lake.
• Improved SMBIOS selection:
  • i9 → iMac20,2
  • Comet/Rocket Lake → iMac20,1
  • New Intel → MacPro7,1
• MacPro7,1 enhancements:
  • ECC enabled,
  • Max RAM increased to 1.5 TB,
  • Correct slot layout.
• Cleaned comments and minor logic refinements.

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🧠 Why this matters

• Removes hardcoded behavior.
• Makes kext blocking scalable, configurable, and future-proof.
• Aligns Clover with OpenCore’s flexible kernel blocking model.
• Improves maintainability and UI consistency.

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✅ Compatibility

• Existing configs using BlockSkywalk continue to work via migration to KextsToBlock.
• No behavior change for users unless they opt to add new block rules.

Type of change

• Bugfix
• New functionality
• Code improvements
• Documentation update

Checklist

• Tested my changes locally
• Added relevant comments to the code
• Updated the relevant documentation

Additional information

Comparison of branches: