A Metal driver for NVIDIA GeForce cards on macOS 15 Sequoia (Intel Macs and OpenCore PCs). It is open source; the kernel extensions, the Metal plugin, the shader translator and the Mac app are all in this repository.

Supported cards are Turing and newer: GTX 16, RTX 20, 30, 40 and 50, TITAN RTX, Quadro RTX and the T-series. Most testing is done on an RTX 5060, so other cards may have problems that haven't been found yet. See card support for what has been reported working.

• Changes: CHANGELOG.md, downloads on the releases page
• Problems: troubleshooting, then Send logs from the 1401 app
• Installing macOS from Windows: 1401
• How it works: docs/HOW-IT-WORKS.md
• Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md

If your PC doesn't boot macOS with OpenCore yet, set that up first with the OpenCore Install Guide, then install the driver.

Support the work: https://buymeacoffee.com/nullmoth

macOS	15 Sequoia (tested 15.7.x and 15.8.1), x86_64
GPUs	NVIDIA Turing and later; developed on an RTX 5060
Metal	Metal 3: argument buffers tier 2, ray tracing, mesh shaders, MPS, MetalFX path
Also	OpenGL (through Apple's GL-on-Metal), OpenCL, Core Image, Core ML

How it works

Metal app ─► NVMTLDriver.bundle ─► translator (Apple AIR → SPIR-V) ─► NVK (Mesa Vulkan + NAK compiler) ─► kexts ─► GPU

Component	Path on disk	Source
Metal driver plugin	/Library/GPUBundles/NVMTLDriver.bundle	plugin/
Shader translator	inside the plugin (libnvmtl_translate.dylib)	translator/ (LGPL-3.0, based on metal2vulkan)
Vulkan back end (NVK)	/Library/GPUBundles/nvmtl/	nvk/nvk-macos.patch on Mesa 17ca6174
Kernel extensions	/Library/Extensions/NVRM, NVAccel, NVRMFB, NVRMAGDC	kexts/
GPU firmware (GSP)	/Users/Shared/nvfw/nvidia/610.57.04	NVIDIA, unmodified

The kernel side runs NVIDIA's own open GPU kernel modules (r610) under macOS. NVRMFB is the display framebuffer, NVAccel the accelerator WindowServer composites through, NVRMAGDC the display-policy shim.

Install — by hand

Use the 1401 Mac app below unless you manage your OpenCore config yourself. install.sh installs the driver files but does not change OpenCore, and the driver does not start until OpenCore has these settings:

• boot-args include nvfb=1 nvaccel=1 nvfbheads=4 -nvkmsnosmooth amfi_get_out_of_my_way=0x1 amfi=0x80 ipc_control_port_options=0, and not nv_disable=1 or -wegnoegpu (both hide the NVIDIA card)
• csr-active-config includes the bits 0x0A43
• Misc > Security > SecureBootModel is Disabled
• Lilu.kext and AMFIPass.kext are in Kernel > Add and enabled

Download nullmoth-nvidia-<version>.tar.gz from Releases, then:

tar -xzf nullmoth-nvidia-*.tar.gz && cd pkgroot
shasum -a 256 -c SHA256SUMS
sudo ./install.sh
sudo shutdown -r now

Every file must say OK in the check. install.sh copies the files and rebuilds the Auxiliary Kernel Collection; the restart is required, because logging out does not load the driver. (Paste the lines without anything after them: the Terminal on macOS does not treat # as a comment, so a pasted comment becomes part of the command.)

macOS asks you to allow the extensions in System Settings → Privacy & Security the first time. Allow, then reboot again.

1401 Mac app (recommended)

Download the latest 1401-Mac-<version>.dmg from Releases, open it, and run 1401 (the driver package is inside the disk image, so nothing else to download). Follow its steps. A supported setup must use a verified or explicitly selected OpenCore partition. The app finds the OpenCore that started your Mac (in EFI/OC or EFI/BOOT, on an EFI or FAT32 partition), shows every change before making it, backs the config up, installs the driver, and adds 1401: Remove NVIDIA driver to the OpenCore boot picker. Choosing that entry removes the driver at the next start and puts the Mac back exactly as it was before the install, OpenCore config included, then restarts by itself. The app also maps your USB ports and, if the driver ever crashes the Mac, offers to make a crash report you can upload yourself (it never sends anything on its own).

If something goes wrong, open 1401 > Crash report > Send logs to NullMoth. It uploads what 1401 did, the driver's state, crash reports and OpenCore's startup log, with names, serial numbers and addresses removed, and gives you a report ID to put in your issue or in Discord.

Keep the USB stick or disk that OpenCore started from plugged in while the app runs, and for every restart after: that is the config the app changes. The app never copies OpenCore to your internal disk. The first start with the driver pauses for up to a minute at "PCI configuration end" while the GPU comes up.

Wiring into an existing OpenCore setup

The kexts install into /Library/Extensions and load from the Auxiliary Kernel Collection — do not also inject them from EFI/OC/Kexts. OpenCore only needs to set SIP and boot-args.

NVRAM → Add → 7C436110-AB2A-4BBB-A880-FE41995C9F82

Key	Value	Why
csr-active-config	<430A0000> (Data)	the tested value: unsigned kexts, plus what root patches need
boot-args	nvfb=1 nvaccel=1 nvfbheads=4 -nvkmsnosmooth amfi_get_out_of_my_way=0x1 amfi=0x80 ipc_control_port_options=0	framebuffer + accelerator, 4 display heads; the AMFI args let WindowServer load the driver bundle

Optional boot arguments, for troubleshooting:

boot-arg	Effect
-nvrmnoflip	keeps the composited frame on the copy path: NVRM never turns on zero-copy scan-out (debug.nvaccel_iop_flip), so the display reads a finished copy instead of the surface the GPU may still be drawing. Try it first when the desktop flashes or tears while the cursor moves.
-nvrmnogo	the driver idles until nvrmctl go <pass> instead of starting the GPU itself.
-nvrmnobootscreen	do not snapshot the boot screen.

Add every key you set to NVRAM → Delete as well, so the values are rewritten each boot.

Setting	Value	Why
UEFI → Quirks → ResizeGpuBars	keep the existing value	Forced resizing can stop firmware before the picker; -1 preserves firmware sizing
Booter → Quirks → ResizeAppleGpuBars	keep the existing value	Large firmware BARs can stop PCI configuration; 0 is the installer-safe small-BAR setting
Kernel → Block	com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport, Strategy Exclude	otherwise the firmware framebuffer takes display index 0 from NVRMFB
Misc → Security → SecureBootModel	Disabled	Apple Secure Boot refuses kexts Apple did not sign

The macOS installer uses ResizeAppleGpuBars 0, ResizeGpuBars -1, and IONDRVSupport not excluded: it runs on the firmware framebuffer. The Mac app keeps your existing BAR settings when it installs or updates the driver, and the driver sets up the BAR itself after macOS starts, so don't copy BAR values from someone else's board.

Also required:

• BIOS: Above 4G Decoding ON (the card maps memory above 4 GB), CSM OFF.
• SMBIOS: a Mac model that runs macOS 15 with a discrete GPU (tested: iMacPro1,1, which 1401 uses).
• Remove any nv_disable=1, WhateverGreen NVIDIA patches, or agdpmod=pikera for this card.
• No DeviceProperties are needed for the NVIDIA card.

Verify after the reboot:

kmutil showloaded --list-only | grep nullmoth
system_profiler SPDisplaysDataType | head -20

The first shows 4 lines; the second shows your GeForce with Metal: supported.

Dual boot

Nothing in the driver touches other disks. OpenCore's picker boots Windows (ScanPolicy 0 or including NTFS) and Linux (OpenLinuxBoot.efi in UEFI → Drivers, LauncherOption = Full) alongside macOS.

Uninstall

sudo ./uninstall.sh && sudo shutdown -r now

Build from source

Requires Xcode 16, Rust (stable), Meson/Ninja, and NVIDIA's open-gpu-kernel-modules at tag 610.57.04.

build/build_xlate.sh
RELEASE=1 build/build_plugin.sh
build/build263.sh
build/accel_build.sh <src> <out>
build/accel_build_all.sh kexts/NVRM <out>

In order: the translator (libnvmtl_translate.dylib); the plugin (NVMTLDriver.bundle; RELEASE=1 strips every diagnostic); NVK (apply nvk/nvk-macos.patch to Mesa 17ca6174 first); the kexts; and NVAccel for macOS 15 and 26 (NM_TAHOE=1), written to <out>/15 and <out>/26.

Rebuild both accelerators whenever nvrm_vram_abi.h or nvrm_gpuva_abi.h changes: an accelerator built against an older ABI loads, but NVRMFB refuses all its VRAM requests and the desktop stays black.

License

Free of charge, source code included. Nobody may sell it or use it to make money.

• plugin/, kexts/, build/, package/: PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 (see LICENSE), © NullMoth Systems. Personal, research, educational and non-profit use is allowed; any commercial use is not.
• translator/: LGPL-3.0-or-later (see translator/LICENSE): it is based on metal2vulkan, whose licence carries over.
• nvk/: changes to Mesa (MIT).
• GSP firmware: NVIDIA's redistributable firmware licence.

See NOTICE for third-party credits.