# nullmoth/nvidia-macos-driver

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4,204 stars · 406 forks · Rust · NOASSERTION

## Links

- GitHub: https://github.com/nullmoth/nvidia-macos-driver
- Homepage: https://nullmothsystems.com
- awesome-repositories: https://awesome-repositories.com/repository/nullmoth-nvidia-macos-driver.md

## Topics

`kext` `macos` `metal` `nvidia` `opencore` `vulkan`

## Description

This is a Metal graphics driver that lets supported NVIDIA GeForce, GTX and RTX cards render graphics and composite the desktop on macOS Sequoia. It targets Intel Macs and OpenCore-based Intel and AMD hackintosh PCs. It ports NVIDIA's open GPU kernel modules and GSP firmware into macOS kernel extensions, and it implements Metal devices, queues, command buffers and pipelines over a Vulkan backend. Metal shaders are translated through SPIR-V into NVIDIA machine code, with compiled results cached.

The project's distinguishing capability is a bridge that routes a game's MetalFX upscaling, frame interpolation and denoised upscaling calls to NVIDIA DLSS on RTX cards. DLSS runtime files are downloaded on the user's Mac and checksum-verified, and the project ships no NVIDIA code. DLSS kernels are precompiled for the installed GPU at install time. Beyond that, the driver covers ray tracing acceleration, Metal 4 API support, hardware H.264 and HEVC encoding on newer cards, tensor-core machine learning kernels, and OpenGL, OpenCL, Core Image and Core ML access. Per-application compatibility profiles apply fixes to a single named process, such as Cyberpunk 2077, without affecting other software. A foreign ELF loader for x86-64 Linux shared objects and ahead-of-time translation of ARM-only Mac apps for Intel are also part of the toolkit.

Display and power behavior is a large focus. The driver handles high-refresh, HiDPI and ultrawide modes, hot-plugged monitors, HDMI and DisplayPort audio, and an HD Audio driver for macOS 26. It also covers multi-GPU and laptop setups. Sleep and wake support saves and restores video memory and PCI state, and gates client calls while the GPU is in standby, so the desktop returns intact.

Installation is built around OpenCore. Scripts locate the OpenCore partition, back up and patch the configuration, test-build the kernel collection and roll back automatically on failure. They also generate USB port maps, keep the previous driver as a fallback and offer a boot-picker option that starts macOS without the driver. Diagnostics include anonymized crash reports, card-specific diagnostic bundles, GPU fault decoding, a Metal self-test, benchmarks and rendered-frame comparison.

## Tags

### Graphics & Multimedia

- [Upscaler API Bridges](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/graphics-multimedia/game-graphics-upscalers/upscaler-api-bridges.md) — Routes a game's MetalFX upscaling, frame interpolation and denoised upscaling calls to NVIDIA DLSS on RTX cards. ([source](https://github.com/nullmoth/nvidia-macos-driver/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md))
- [DLSS Feature Wrappers](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/graphics-multimedia/dlss-feature-wrappers.md) — Exposes NVIDIA DLSS upscaling through the MetalFX interface so games render at lower resolution and output sharper frames. ([source](https://github.com/nullmoth/nvidia-macos-driver/tree/main/plugin))
- [MetalFX-to-DLSS Bridges](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/graphics-multimedia/dlss-feature-wrappers/metalfx-to-dlss-bridges.md) — Routes a game's MetalFX upscaling and frame interpolation calls to NVIDIA DLSS on RTX cards using locally downloaded, checksum-verified runtime files.
- [Metal Shader Compilers](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/graphics-multimedia/graphics-engines-rendering/shaders/shader-cross-compilation-pipelines/runtime-shader-compilers/metal-shader-compilers.md) — Converts Metal shader libraries into NVIDIA-executable code using SPIR-V conversion, native machine-code generation and cached compiled results. ([source](https://github.com/nullmoth/nvidia-macos-driver/tree/main/plugin))
- [Metal-on-Vulkan Translation Layers](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/graphics-multimedia/metal-graphics-backends/metal-on-vulkan-translation-layers.md) — Implements Metal devices, queues, command buffers and pipelines as thin wrappers over a Vulkan backend so macOS graphics calls run on NVIDIA hardware.
- [Metal Rendering Drivers](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/graphics-multimedia/metal-rendering-drivers.md) — Implements Metal devices, queues, command buffers and pipelines on a Vulkan backend so macOS apps and the compositor render on NVIDIA GeForce cards. ([source](https://github.com/nullmoth/nvidia-macos-driver/blob/main/README.md))
- [Display Mode Control](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/graphics-multimedia/display-mode-control.md) — Supports ultrawide, 4K, HiDPI and high-refresh display modes, hot-plugged monitors, gamma tables and optional 12-bit deep color. ([source](https://github.com/nullmoth/nvidia-macos-driver/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md))
- [Display Output Drivers](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/graphics-multimedia/display-output-drivers.md) — Publishes each GPU display head with real mode timings, EDID data and vblank, and supplies shared surfaces for window-server compositing. ([source](https://github.com/nullmoth/nvidia-macos-driver/blob/main/docs/HOW-IT-WORKS.md))
- [Hardware-Accelerated Ray Tracing](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/graphics-multimedia/graphics-engines-rendering/rendering/systems/3d-graphics-pipelines/3d-intersection-ray-calculators/hardware-accelerated-ray-tracing.md) — Builds ray tracing acceleration structures on the GPU, checks video memory before builds, and supports ray tracing in games. ([source](https://github.com/nullmoth/nvidia-macos-driver/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md))
- [Ray Tracing Engines](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/graphics-multimedia/graphics-engines-rendering/rendering/systems/3d-graphics-pipelines/3d-intersection-ray-calculators/hardware-accelerated-ray-tracing/photorealistic-ray-tracing/ray-tracing-engines.md) — Builds ray tracing acceleration structures on the GPU and supports ray-traced visuals in Mac games alongside DLSS upscaling.
- [Shader Language Conversions](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/graphics-multimedia/shader-language-conversions.md) — Converts Metal shaders into a form a Vulkan back end can run so Metal applications execute on NVIDIA hardware. ([source](https://github.com/nullmoth/nvidia-macos-driver#readme))

### Operating Systems & Systems Programming

- [Graphics Drivers](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/operating-systems-systems-programming/hardware-interfacing-drivers/hardware-drivers/graphics-drivers.md) — Provides a Metal graphics driver letting supported NVIDIA GeForce, GTX and RTX cards render and composite the desktop on macOS Sequoia.
- [GPU Firmware Loaders](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/operating-systems-systems-programming/gpu-firmware-loaders.md) — Loads GSP firmware from disk, claims the PCI device, maps memory windows and initializes the GPU, holding display startup until output is ready. ([source](https://github.com/nullmoth/nvidia-macos-driver/blob/main/docs/HOW-IT-WORKS.md))
- [GPU Kernel Driver Ports](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/operating-systems-systems-programming/gpu-kernel-driver-ports.md) — Runs NVIDIA's open kernel modules and GSP firmware inside macOS kernel extensions so the operating system can initialize and drive the card directly.
- [GPU Kernel Extension Drivers](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/operating-systems-systems-programming/macos-kernel-extensions/gpu-kernel-extension-drivers.md) — Loads NVIDIA's open kernel modules and GPU firmware through kernel extensions so supported cards are recognized, initialized and drive the display. ([source](https://github.com/nullmoth/nvidia-macos-driver/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md))
- [OpenCore](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/operating-systems-systems-programming/firmware-boot-interfaces/uefi-emulators/bootloader-emulators/opencore.md) — Installs the driver through OpenCore with config backup, patching, USB mapping and automatic rollback, plus a boot-picker option to start without the driver.
- [OpenCore Driver Installers](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/operating-systems-systems-programming/gpu-driver-installation/opencore-driver-installers.md) — Locates the OpenCore partition, verifies the package, test-builds the kernel collection, patches the config and rolls back automatically on failure. ([source](https://github.com/nullmoth/nvidia-macos-driver/blob/main/docs/HOW-IT-WORKS.md))
- [GPU Sleep and Wake Support](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/operating-systems-systems-programming/gpu-sleep-and-wake-support.md) — Suspends the display and resource manager on sleep and restores the GPU on wake so the desktop, windows and Metal apps return intact. ([source](https://github.com/nullmoth/nvidia-macos-driver/blob/main/docs/SLEEP-WAKE.md))
- [Hackintosh Installation Frameworks](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/operating-systems-systems-programming/hackintosh-installation-frameworks.md) — Ships scripts to install, patch configuration, back up, roll back and recover from boot failures on OpenCore-based Intel and AMD hackintosh systems.
- [Hardware Wake-from-Sleep Fixes](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/operating-systems-systems-programming/hardware-wake-from-sleep-fixes.md) — Keeps displays, HDMI audio and the desktop working across hot-plugging, sleep and wake, preserving video memory so screens do not stay black.
- [Suspend-Gated Device Access](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/operating-systems-systems-programming/suspend-gated-device-access.md) — Holds client calls at a gate while the GPU is in standby and saves and restores video memory and PCI state across sleep.
- [Video Memory Preservation Across Sleep](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/operating-systems-systems-programming/video-memory-preservation-across-sleep.md) — Copies video memory allocations into pageable kernel memory before power loss and restores them on resume so compositor and app buffers survive. ([source](https://github.com/nullmoth/nvidia-macos-driver/blob/main/docs/SLEEP-WAKE.md))

### DevOps & Infrastructure

- [NVIDIA Hardware Acceleration](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/devops-infrastructure/nvidia-hardware-acceleration.md) — Runs supported NVIDIA GeForce cards on macOS Sequoia with working graphics, desktop compositing and compute on Intel and AMD hackintosh PCs.

### Programming Languages & Runtimes

- [Shader Translation](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/programming-languages-runtimes/intermediate-representation-translation/shader-translation.md) — Translates Metal shaders through SPIR-V into NVIDIA machine code with cached results, so Metal apps render on NVIDIA GPUs.
- [Apple AIR to SPIR-V Conversion](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/programming-languages-runtimes/spir-v-translators/apple-air-to-spir-v-conversion.md) — Converts Apple AIR shader bitcode into SPIR-V, which the Vulkan compiler turns into NVIDIA machine code so Metal shaders run. ([source](https://github.com/nullmoth/nvidia-macos-driver/blob/main/docs/HOW-IT-WORKS.md))
- [SPIR-V to Native Translation](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/programming-languages-runtimes/spir-v-translators/spir-v-to-native-translation.md) — Converts Apple AIR shader bitcode into SPIR-V, which the Vulkan compiler lowers to native NVIDIA machine code, with compiled results cached.

### Development Tools & Productivity

- [Configuration Rollbacks](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/development-tools-productivity/scan-configurations/configuration-validators/configuration-rollbacks.md) — Backs up the OpenCore configuration, test-builds the kernel collection, copies files and rolls back automatically if any step fails.

### Software Engineering & Architecture

- [Compatibility Profiles](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/software-engineering-architecture/configuration-mapping-tables/compatibility-profiles.md) — Applies per-application profiles and shader fixes inside a single named process so specific games like Cyberpunk 2077 render correctly without affecting other software. ([source](https://github.com/nullmoth/nvidia-macos-driver/tree/main/plugin))