How To Determine Required kext's for MBP

KieferThomas · 03-19-2012, 07:17 AM

Hello All,

I am new to the Mac world with my first purchase of a MBP.

What I have been searching to find out is how does one go about finding out which extensions are required to fill all the hardware dependencies for their Mac. I wish to remove all extra kexts which are not needed for my system from the Extensions folder so they are not testing to see if they are needed to be installed when I boot. I have managed to remove the obvious ones such as the display drivers I do not need.

My point blank question is how do i determine which kext's are not being used and will never be used...?

Thanks in advance,
Kiefer

hayne · 03-19-2012, 09:44 PM

You weren't completely clear on *why* you are asking this.
Are you trying to make it boot faster? I don't think the boot time will be noticeable affected.

But you can find out which kext's are loaded by using the command:
kextstat

agentx · 03-20-2012, 05:47 AM

Overall i would advise not messing with System Kext's at all regardless. Very little will be achieved by removing a small amount of "cruft" MacOS is not Windows ! Many combo system updates will just replace them and it can/could cause issues in the future.

chabig · 03-22-2012, 12:52 AM

Kiefer, just leave them alone. You won't gain any benefit from attempting this.

benwiggy · 03-24-2012, 06:06 AM

I'll also add my voice here. There is no point in doing this. Kext are loaded as needed. You will achieve nothing in performance, almost nothing in disk space saving, and you are very likely to break something.

Did I mention that there is no Point in doing this....?

OS X manages itself optimally.

agentx · 03-24-2012, 07:14 AM

I think @KieferThomas has given up on us ;-)

KieferThomas · 03-28-2012, 08:45 AM

Sorry Guys,

I had not given up on you, have been away for awhile with family matters and just getting back to what I was wanting to do. And yes I was wanting the system to boot faster without having the system testing whether the were need or not...

I have managed to figure out what extension I will never use such as the graphics card and removed them and I am thinking this is as far as I will go with it...

Thanks for the input though...

KieferThomas

agentx · 03-29-2012, 01:08 PM

Just joking. OS x does not do system tests ervery time as such. It builds an extension cache based on your system and loads what it needs.

chabig · 03-29-2012, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KieferThomas


	...I was wanting the system to boot faster without having the system testing whether the were need or not...

Generally, Mac users never shut down their machines so rebooting is nearly never required. Just let it sleep. Apple has your back.

benwiggy · 03-30-2012, 01:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chabig


	Generally, Mac users never shut down their machines so rebooting is nearly never required.

Generally? Speak for yourself! I boot up my iMac every morning and shut it down at night.

A reboot every once in a while is usually a good thing, just to blow away the cobwebs, cure any memory leaks and refresh anything in the memory that might have got corrupted.

Unless you're running a mission critical server, I don't get the "649 days without a restart" machismo.

chabig · 03-30-2012, 02:09 AM

Perhaps I should have said that Mac OS, by design, does not require restarting. Of course, you are free to make whatever personal choices you wish. I do fail to see the efficacy of rebooting due to cobwebs. In that case, a thorough vacuuming would probably work better.

NaOH · 03-30-2012, 02:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benwiggy


	Unless you're running a mission critical server, I don't get the "649 days without a restart" machismo.

I agree with this even though I typically sleep my MacBook Pro rather than power it down. My machine largely lives as a desktop, so sleeping it overnight without AC power is how I ensure the battery gets some regular activity. In cold months that means the charging light on the cord shows amber when the machine gets electricity in the morning, and in warm months the light will be amber about every other day.

03-19-2012, 07:17 AM	#1
KieferThomas Prospect Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 9	How To Determine Required kext's for MBP Hello All, I am new to the Mac world with my first purchase of a MBP. What I have been searching to find out is how does one go about finding out which extensions are required to fill all the hardware dependencies for their Mac. I wish to remove all extra kexts which are not needed for my system from the Extensions folder so they are not testing to see if they are needed to be installed when I boot. I have managed to remove the obvious ones such as the display drivers I do not need. My point blank question is how do i determine which kext's are not being used and will never be used...? Thanks in advance, Kiefer

03-19-2012, 09:44 PM	#2
hayne Site Admin Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Montreal Posts: 31,941	You weren't completely clear on why you are asking this. Are you trying to make it boot faster? I don't think the boot time will be noticeable affected. But you can find out which kext's are loaded by using the command: kextstat __________________ hayne.net/macosx.html

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03-20-2012, 05:47 AM	#3
agentx Hall of Famer Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Brighton, UK Posts: 3,811	Overall i would advise not messing with System Kext's at all regardless. Very little will be achieved by removing a small amount of "cruft" MacOS is not Windows ! Many combo system updates will just replace them and it can/could cause issues in the future.

03-22-2012, 12:52 AM	#4
chabig Hall of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 2,934	Kiefer, just leave them alone. You won't gain any benefit from attempting this.

03-24-2012, 06:06 AM	#5
benwiggy League Commissioner Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 5,040	I'll also add my voice here. There is no point in doing this. Kext are loaded as needed. You will achieve nothing in performance, almost nothing in disk space saving, and you are very likely to break something. Did I mention that there is no Point in doing this....? OS X manages itself optimally.

03-24-2012, 07:14 AM	#6
agentx Hall of Famer Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Brighton, UK Posts: 3,811	I think @KieferThomas has given up on us ;-)

03-28-2012, 08:45 AM	#7
KieferThomas Prospect Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 9	Sorry Guys, I had not given up on you, have been away for awhile with family matters and just getting back to what I was wanting to do. And yes I was wanting the system to boot faster without having the system testing whether the were need or not... I have managed to figure out what extension I will never use such as the graphics card and removed them and I am thinking this is as far as I will go with it... Thanks for the input though... KieferThomas

03-29-2012, 01:08 PM	#8
agentx Hall of Famer Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Brighton, UK Posts: 3,811	Just joking. OS x does not do system tests ervery time as such. It builds an extension cache based on your system and loads what it needs.

03-30-2012, 02:09 AM	#11
chabig Hall of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 2,934	Perhaps I should have said that Mac OS, by design, does not require restarting. Of course, you are free to make whatever personal choices you wish. I do fail to see the efficacy of rebooting due to cobwebs. In that case, a thorough vacuuming would probably work better.