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Automates the entire process of creating a bootable OpenCore hackintosh USB. No manual config.plist editing, no hunting down kexts, no macrecovery commands.

Supports Linux, Windows, and macOS as host operating systems.

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📢 Announcements

v2.0.0 is out — the biggest correctness release so far. An audit of the whole generation pipeline turned up bugs that produced EFIs which booted but were quietly broken. All are fixed:

• setup.py crashed on macOS. Stock macOS ships Python 3.9, and setup.py used 3.10-only syntax, so it died before doing anything. It now runs on 3.8+, and builds the venv from a modern interpreter instead of one that cannot launch HackMate.
• ACPI renames were applied without the SSDT that made them safe. On every desktop and every PS/2-only laptop, _OSI was renamed to XOSI while nothing defined XOSI — pointing every firmware _OSI call at a method that did not exist. A rename is now only emitted alongside the table supplying its replacement.
• The instant-wake fix was backwards. It renamed each device's _PRW and left an XPRW method nothing called. It now uses the standard form: GPRW → XGPR, with SSDT-GPRW supplying the replacement.
• Intel WiFi never loaded. itlwm.kext was given another kext's binary name, so OpenCore refused to inject it. ExecutablePath is now read from each bundle's own Info.plist, which structurally prevents the entire class of bug.
• USB port maps were inert. The map's ExecutablePath named a binary that plist-only bundles do not have, and applying a map disabled USBToolBox.kext — the driver that reads it.
• Laptops loaded two ACPI tables that both defined _SB.USBX.

Also fixed: recovery downloads for five macOS versions shared a cache directory (Big Sur/El Capitan, Monterey/Sierra, …) and could serve the wrong image; MLB board serials were 16 characters instead of 17; kexts were auto-added from GitHub repos that no longer exist; Bluetooth kexts had overlapping version windows; iasl was looked up under the wrong filename, silently disabling SSDT template compilation on every platform; and Windows Ethernet detection used a deprecated CIM query that could pick up VPN/tunnel adapters instead of the real NIC.

New — EFI Health Check. Point HackMate at any OpenCore EFI, including one you built by hand, and it reports what is actually wrong: orphaned ACPI renames, kexts that will never inject, USB ports that are not really mapped, SIP decoded flag by flag, deprecated kexts, and a missing -no_compat_check. It is on the welcome screen, and in the terminal:

sudo .venv/bin/python3 src/hackmate.py --doctor            # finds your mounted EFI
.venv/bin/python3 src/hackmate.py --doctor /Volumes/EFI/EFI

It only reads, and needs no root, so it is safe to run against a booted system.

New — kext sources are checked before your USB is formatted, so a dead download source is a warning you can act on instead of a kext that silently goes missing.

v1.3.0 — Windows users can download a single HackMate.exe from the releases page — no Python, no venv, no setup.py. Also fixes AMD config.plist crash, Windows SSL error, and macOS lspci error. Config.plist editor added to welcome screen.

If you cloned before June 25th (running from hackmate-linux/): Just run your usual command — HackMate will auto-migrate itself to the new src/ layout and relaunch. No manual steps needed.

If you're on macOS and got a lspci not found error: macOS is now fully supported. Pull the latest and re-run.

If USB formatting fails on Windows: Fixed in latest update. Pull and try again. If it still fails, use the new Already Formatted button — format your USB as FAT32 (GPT) in Disk Management first, then pick that option in HackMate.

If you got sudo: uv: command not found: Don't use sudo uv run. Always run with sudo .venv/bin/python3 src/hackmate.py after setup.

Kaby Lake (7th gen) users: Tahoe now shows as an option for your hardware. Pull the latest and rerun.

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Install

Linux / macOS

git clone https://github.com/riftaway7-code/hackmate.git
cd hackmate
python3 setup.py
sudo .venv/bin/python3 src/hackmate.py

Always use the full path to the venv Python (.venv/bin/python3) with sudo — not python3 or uv run. sudo does not inherit your PATH so it won't find uv or your user-installed packages.

Windows (EXE)

Download HackMate.exe from the latest release and run as Administrator.

Antivirus false positives: Some AVs (Bkav, Gridinsoft, Zillya) flag the EXE as malware. This is a known false positive with PyInstaller-built executables — every major AV (Defender, Kaspersky, ESET, CrowdStrike, Sophos) reports clean. The EXE is built transparently from source on GitHub Actions: view build logs.

Windows (from source)

Must be run as Administrator. Right-click PowerShell and select "Run as administrator" before running any of these commands.

git clone https://github.com/riftaway7-code/hackmate.git
cd hackmate
python setup.py
.venv\Scripts\python.exe src\hackmate.py

Always use .venv\Scripts\python.exe to run HackMate — not python or uv run. The venv ensures all dependencies are available.

GUI (Tkinter, no terminal required)

Prefer a windowed app over the terminal UI? hackmate_gui.py is the same backend with a Tkinter frontend instead of Textual — no extra dependencies, tkinter ships with Python.

sudo .venv/bin/python3 src/hackmate_gui.py      # Linux / macOS
.venv\Scripts\python.exe src\hackmate_gui.py    # Windows, run PowerShell as Administrator

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What it does

1. Scans your hardware (CPU, GPU, audio, ethernet, WiFi, touchpad, NVMe, Thunderbolt)
2. Shows compatible macOS versions based on your hardware
3. You pick a USB drive (internal disks are hidden)
4. Fully automated from there:
   • Formats USB as FAT32 and creates EFI structure
   • Downloads macOS recovery directly from Apple
   • Generates SMBIOS (serial, MLB, UUID, ROM)
   • Generates config.plist with the correct quirks for your hardware
   • Downloads kexts from GitHub releases
   • Downloads latest OpenCore release
   • Generates SSDTs from your actual DSDT using SSDTTime

Supported Hardware

CPU generations: Sandy Bridge · Ivy Bridge · Haswell · Broadwell · Skylake · Kaby Lake · Coffee Lake · Comet Lake · Rocket Lake · Alder Lake · Raptor Lake · AMD Ryzen / Threadripper

Laptops tested: ThinkPad T480s, T480, T470, X1 Carbon · Dell XPS 13/15 · HP EliteBook · ASUS ZenBook · Acer Aspire

Platforms: laptops, desktops, mini-PCs

macOS versions: Ventura · Sonoma · Sequoia · Tahoe (macOS 16)

After install

• Run USBToolBox (saved to EFI/HackMate-Extras/) inside macOS to map your USB ports
• Replace the placeholder USBMap.kext with your generated one — or use HackMate's USB Mapping screen

FAQ

Do I need a Mac to use HackMate? No. HackMate runs on Linux, Windows, and macOS. You can create the USB from any computer.

Will this work on my laptop/desktop? If your CPU is Intel 2nd–13th gen or AMD Ryzen, it very likely will. Run HackMate and it will tell you which macOS versions are compatible with your exact hardware.

Is this the same as following the Dortania OpenCore guide manually? HackMate uses the same tools (macrecovery, SSDTTime, OpenCore) recommended by Dortania, but automates every step. The output EFI is equivalent to what you'd build manually — just without hours of work.

Can I hackintosh a ThinkPad? Yes — HackMate was built and tested on a ThinkPad T480s. Intel WiFi (itlwm + HeliPort), trackpad (VoodooI2C), and all common ThinkPad hardware is supported.

Does it work on Windows without Python? Yes. Download HackMate.exe from the releases page — no Python or dependencies needed.

My antivirus is flagging HackMate.exe Known false positive with PyInstaller-built executables. Every major AV (Defender, Kaspersky, ESET) reports clean. The EXE is built from source on GitHub Actions — view build logs.

Support

HackMate is free and open source. If it saved you hours of config.plist hell, consider sponsoring:

Notes

• macOS is sourced directly from Apple's servers
• Uses the same tools recommended by the Dortania guide (macrecovery, SSDTTime, OpenCore)
• Tested on ThinkPad T480s (i5-8350U, Intel 8265 WiFi, Kaby Lake-R)
• Auto-updates itself on launch via GitHub