DriverKit

RSS for tag

Develop device drivers that run in user space using DriverKit.

Posts under DriverKit tag

80 Posts

Post

Replies

Boosts

Views

Activity

Which IOUserClient entitlements are really required?
Hello @all I'm develop a DriverKit driver extension and without entitlement checks by OS everything runs fine. But if the entitlements check is enabled in the NVRAM then I get an error due connecting my IOUserClient instance. Which entitlements are really and exactly required for my driver? My driver contains: one IOUserClient instance and multiple IOUserSerial instances The bundle identifier of the driver ist: org.eof.tools.VSPDriver The bundle identifier of the client app org.eof.tools.VSPInstall My entire source code is available on GitHub if any one want to dive deep in :) kernel[0:5107] () [VSPDriver]: NewUserClient called. kernel[0:5107] () [VSPDriver]: CreateUserClient: create VSP user client from Info.plist. kernel[0:5107] () [VSPUserClient]: init called. kernel[0:5107] () [VSPUserClient]: init finished. kernel[0:5107] () [VSPDriver]: CreateUserClient: check VSPUserClient type. kernel[0:5107] () [VSPDriver]: CreateUserClient: success. kernel[0:5107] () [VSPDriver]: NewUserClient finished. kernel[0:5107] () [VSPUserClient]: Start: called. kernel[0:5107] () [VSPUserClient]: User client successfully started. kernel[0:389f] DK: VSPUserClient-0x100001127:UC failed userclient-access check, needed bundle ID org.eof.tools.VSPDriver kernel[0:389f] DK: VSPUserClient-0x100001127:UC entitlements check failed kernel[0:5107] () [VSPUserClient]: Stop called. kernel[0:5107] () [VSPUserClient]: User client successfully removed. kernel[0:5107] () [VSPUserClient]: free called. Here my drivers entitlement file: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.allow-third-party-userclients</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.family.serial</key> <true/> </dict> </plist> Here my drivers Info.plist file <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>CFBundleDevelopmentRegion</key> <string>$(DEVELOPMENT_LANGUAGE)</string> <key>CFBundleExecutable</key> <string>$(EXECUTABLE_NAME)</string> <key>CFBundleIdentifier</key> <string>$(PRODUCT_BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER)</string> <key>CFBundleInfoDictionaryVersion</key> <string>6.0</string> <key>CFBundleName</key> <string>$(PRODUCT_NAME)</string> <key>CFBundlePackageType</key> <string>$(PRODUCT_BUNDLE_PACKAGE_TYPE)</string> <key>CFBundleShortVersionString</key> <string>1.0</string> <key>CFBundleVersion</key> <string>1</string> <key>NSHumanReadableCopyright</key> <string>Copyright © 2025 by EoF Software Labs</string> <key>OSBundleUsageDescription</key> <string>Provide virtual serial port</string> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.allow-any-userclient-access</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.communicates-with-drivers</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.system-extension.redistributable</key> <true/> <key>OSBundleLibraries</key> <dict> <key>com.apple.iokit.IOSerialFamily</key> <string>1.0</string> </dict> <key>IOKitPersonalities</key> <dict> <key>VSPDriver</key> <dict> <key>CFBundleIdentifier</key> <string>$(PRODUCT_BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER)</string> <key>CFBundleIdentifierKernel</key> <string>com.apple.kpi.iokit</string> <key>IOMatchCategory</key> <string>$(PRODUCT_BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER)</string> <key>IOProviderClass</key> <string>IOUserResources</string> <key>IOResourceMatch</key> <string>IOKit</string> <key>IOProbeScore</key> <integer>0</integer> <key>IOClass</key> <string>IOUserService</string> <key>IOUserClass</key> <string>VSPDriver</string> <key>IOUserServerName</key> <string>$(PRODUCT_BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER)</string> <key>UserClientProperties</key> <dict> <key>IOClass</key> <string>IOUserUserClient</string> <key>IOUserClass</key> <string>VSPUserClient</string> </dict> <key>SerialPortProperties</key> <dict> <key>CFBundleIdentifierKernel</key> <string>com.apple.driver.driverkit.serial</string> <key>IOProviderClass</key> <string>IOSerialStreamSync</string> <key>IOClass</key> <string>IOUserSerial</string> <key>IOUserClass</key> <string>VSPSerialPort</string> <key>HiddenPort</key> <false/> <key>IOTTYBaseName</key> <string>vsp</string> <key>IOTTYSuffix</key> <string>0</string> </dict> </dict> </dict> </dict> </plist> Here the entitlements of the client app <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.allow-third-party-userclients</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.communicates-with-drivers</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.shared-with-you</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.system-extension.install</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.security.application-groups</key> <array> <string>$(TeamIdentifierPrefix).org.eof.apps</string> </array> </dict> </plist> Here the Info.plist of the client app: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>CFBundleDevelopmentRegion</key> <string>$(DEVELOPMENT_LANGUAGE)</string> <key>CFBundleExecutable</key> <string>$(EXECUTABLE_NAME)</string> <key>CFBundleIdentifier</key> <string>$(PRODUCT_BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER)</string> <key>CFBundleInfoDictionaryVersion</key> <string>6.0</string> <key>CFBundleName</key> <string>$(PRODUCT_NAME)</string> <key>CFBundlePackageType</key> <string>$(PRODUCT_BUNDLE_PACKAGE_TYPE)</string> <key>CFBundleShortVersionString</key> <string>1.0</string> <key>CFBundleVersion</key> <string>1</string> <key>LSMinimumSystemVersion</key> <string>$(MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET)</string> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.install</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.system-extension.install</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.system-extension.uninstall</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.userclient-access</key> <array> <string>VSPDriver</string> </array> <key>com.apple.private.driverkit.driver-access</key> <array> <string>VSPDriver</string> </array> <key>com.apple.security.temporary-exception.iokit-user-client-class</key> <array> <string>IOUserUserClient</string> </array> </dict> </plist>
2
0
655
Mar ’25
How to sign a DEXT
Kevin's Guide to DEXT Signing The question of "How do I sign a DEXT" comes up a lot, so this post is my attempt to describe both what the issues are and the best current solutions are. So... The Problems: When DEXTs were originally introduced, the recommended development signing process required disabling SIP and local signing. There is a newer, much simpler process that's built on Xcode's integrated code-signing support; however, that newer process has not yet been integrated into the documentation library. In addition, while the older flow still works, many of the details it describes are no longer correct due to changes to Xcode and the developer portal. DriverKit's use of individually customized entitlements is different than the other entitlements on our platform, and Xcode's support for it is somewhat incomplete and buggy. The situation has improved considerably over time, particularly from Xcode 15 and Xcode 16, but there are still issues that are not fully resolved. To address #1, we introduced "development" entitlement variants of all DriverKit entitlements. These entitlement variants are ONLY available in development-signed builds, but they're available on all paid developer accounts without any special approval. They also allow a DEXT to match against any hardware, greatly simplifying working with development or prototype hardware which may not match the configuration of a final product. Unfortunately, this also means that DEXT developers will always have at least two entitlement variants (the public development variant and the "private" approved entitlement), which is what then causes the problem I mentioned in #2. The Automatic Solution: If you're using Xcode 16 or above, then Xcode's Automatic code sign support will work all DEXT Families, with the exception of distribution signing the PCI and USB Families. For completeness, here is how that Automatic flow should work: Change the code signing configuration to "Automatic". Add the capability using Xcode. (USB & PCI) Edit your Entitlement.plist to include the correct "Development Only" configuration: USB Development Only Configuration: <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb</key> <array> <dict> <key>idVendor</key> <string>*</string> </dict> </array> PCI Development Only Configuration: <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.pci</key> <array> <dict> <key>IOPCIPrimaryMatch</key> <string>0xFFFFFFFF&amp;0x00000000</string> </dict> </array> If you've been approved for one of these entitlements, the one oddity you'll see is that adding your approved capability will add both the approved AND the development variant, while deleting either will delete both. This is a visual side effect of #2 above; however, aside from the exception described below, it can be ignored. Similarly, you can sign distribution builds by creating a build archive and then exporting the build using the standard Xcode flow. Debugging Automatic Code-signing In a new project, the flow I describe above should just work; however, if you're converting an existing project, you may get code signing errors, generally complaining about how the provisioning profile configuration doesn't match. In most cases, this happens because Xcode is choosing to reuse a previously downloaded profile with an older configuration instead of generating a new configuration which would then include the configuration changes you made. Currently, you can find these profile files in: ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData/Provisioning Profiles ...which can make it easier to find and delete the specific profile (if you choose). However, one recommendation I'd have here is to not treat the contents of that folder as "precious" or special. What automatic code signing actually does is generate provisioning profiles "on demand", so if you delete an automatic profile... Xcode will just generate it again at the next build. Manually generating profiles is more cumbersome, but the solution there is to preserve them as a separate resource, probably as part of your project data, NOT to just "lose" them in the folder here. If they get deleted from Xcode's store, then you can just copy them back in from your own store (or using Xcode, which can manually download profiles as well). The advantage of this approach is that when profiles "pile up" over time (which they tend to do), you can just delete[1] all of them then let Xcode regenerate the ones you're actually trying to investigate. In terms of looking at their contents, TN3125: Inside Code Signing: Provisioning Profiles has the details of how to see exactly what's there. [1] Moving them somewhere else works too, but could indicate a fear of commitment. __ Kevin Elliott DTS Engineer, CoreOS/Hardware
1
1
611
3w
Basic introduction to DEXT Matching and Loading
Note: This document is specifically focused on what happens after a DEXT has passed its initial code-signing checks. Code-signing issues are dealt with in other posts. Preliminary Guidance: Using and understanding DriverKit basically requires understanding IOKit, something which isn't entirely clear in our documentation. The good news here is that IOKit actually does have fairly good "foundational" documentation in the documentation archive. Here are a few of the documents I'd take a look at: IOKit Fundamentals IOKit Device Driver Design Guidelines Accessing Hardware From Applications Special mention to QA1075: "Making sense of IOKit error codes",, which I happened to notice today and which documents the IOReturn error format (which is a bit weird on first review). Those documents do not cover the full DEXT loading process, but they are the foundation of how all of this actually works. Understanding the IOKitPersonalities Dictionary The first thing to understand here is that the "IOKitPersonalities" is called that because it is in fact a fully valid "IOKitPersonalities" dictionary. That is, what the system actually uses that dictionary "for" is: Perform a standard IOKit match and load cycle in the kernel. The final driver in the kernel then uses the DEXT-specific data to launch and run your DEXT process outside the kernel. So, working through the critical keys in that dictionary: "IOProviderClass"-> This is the in-kernel class that your in-kernel driver loads "on top" of. The IOKit documentation and naming convention uses the term "Nub", but the naming convention is not consistent enough that it applies to all cases. "IOClass"-> This is the in-kernel class that your DEXT attaches to and works through. This is where things can become a bit confused, as some families work by: Routing all activity through the provider reference so that the DEXT-specific class does not matter (PCIDriverKit). Having the DEXT subclass a specific subclass which corresponds to a specific kernel driver (SCSIPeripheralsDriverKit). This distinction is described in the documentation, but it's easy to overlook if you don't understand what's going on. However, compare PCIDriverKit: "When the system loads your custom PCI driver, it passes an IOPCIDevice object as the provider to your driver. Use that object to read and write the configuration and memory of your PCI hardware." Versus SCSIPeripheralsDriverKit: Develop your driver by subclassing IOUserSCSIPeripheralDeviceType00 or IOUserSCSIPeripheralDeviceType05, depending on whether your device works with SCSI Block Commands (SBC) or SCSI Multimedia Commands (SMC), respectively. In your subclass, override all methods the framework declares as pure virtual. The reason these differences exist actually comes from the relationship and interactions between the DEXT families. Case in point, PCIDriverKit doesn't require a specific subclass because it wants SCSIControllerDriverKit DEXTs to be able to directly load "above" it. Note that the common mistake many developers make is leaving "IOUserService" in place when they should have specified a family-specific subclass (case 2 above). This is an undocumented implementation detail, but if there is a mismatch between your DEXT driver ("IOUserSCSIPeripheralDeviceType00") and your kernel driver ("IOUserService"), you end up trying to call unimplemented kernel methods. When a method is "missing" like that, the codegen system ends up handling that by returning kIOReturnUnsupported. One special case here is the "IOUserResources" provider. This class is the DEXT equivalent of "IOResources" in the kernel. In both cases, these classes exist as an attachment point for objects which don't otherwise have a provider. It's specifically used by the sample "Communicating between a DriverKit extension and a client app" to allow that sample to load on all hardware but is not something the vast majority of DEXT will use. Following on from that point, most DEXT should NOT include "IOMatchCategory". Quoting IOKit fundamentals: "Important: Any driver that declares IOResources as the value of its IOProviderClass key must also include in its personality the IOMatchCategory key and a private match category value. This prevents the driver from matching exclusively on the IOResources nub and thereby preventing other drivers from matching on it. It also prevents the driver from having to compete with all other drivers that need to match on IOResources. The value of the IOMatchCategory property should be identical to the value of the driver's IOClass property, which is the driver’s class name in reverse-DNS notation with underbars instead of dots, such as com_MyCompany_driver_MyDriver." The critical point here is that including IOMatchCategory does this: "This prevents the driver from matching exclusively on the IOResources nub and thereby preventing other drivers from matching on it." The problem here is that this is actually the exceptional case. For a typical DEXT, including IOMatchCategory means that a system driver will load "beside" their DEXT, then open the provider blocking DEXT access and breaking the DEXT. DEXT Launching The key point here is that the entire process above is the standard IOKit loading process used by all KEXT. Once that process finishes, what actually happens next is the DEXT-specific part of this process: IOUserServerName-> This key is the bundle ID of your DEXT, which the system uses to find your DEXT target. IOUserClass-> This is the name of the class the system instantiates after launching your DEXT. Note that this directly mimics how IOKit loading works. Keep in mind that the second, DEXT-specific, half of this process is the first point your actual code becomes relevant. Any issue before that point will ONLY be visible through kernel logging or possibly the IORegistry. __ Kevin Elliott DTS Engineer, CoreOS/Hardware
2
0
324
2d
Unable to localize driver name or description
I am trying to localize the CFBundleDisplayName and OSBundleUsageDescription of a driver that is part of an app. I am able to use InfoPlist.strings files to localize the Bundle display name for the app, but when I try to use the same file as part of the driver, the name displayed in settings for the app does not change correctly. In fact, it seems to follow the default language set in the xcode project. If the default language is not included in the suite of InfoPlist.strings files, it seems to take the string from the info.plist file. sometimes it just seems to take the English version regardless of the default language or tablet language. Has anyone had success with this?
4
7
244
Aug ’25
Will special entitlements like Screentime API remain valid when transferring an app?
Certain entitlements require special permission from Apple like DriverKit or Screentime API/Family controls. Those entitlements are tied to the bundle IDs of the app. If those entitlements have been granted for an app from developer A (personal account) and we transfer that app to developer B (organization account), including the bundle IDs, will those bundle IDs keep the entitlement? Or will we need to re-request from the developer account B? Any insights or experiences regarding this process would be greatly appreciated.
1
3
727
May ’25
DriverKit driver doesn't appear in Settings when installed with iPad app
I'm working on a DriverKit driver. I have it running on macOS, including a very simple client app written in SwiftUI. Everything is working fine there. I've added iPadOS as a destination for the app as demonstrated in the WWDC video on DriverKit for iPadOS. The app builds and runs on my iPad, as expected (after a little work to conditionalize out my use of SystemExtensions.framework for installation on macOS). However, after installing and running the app on an iPad, the driver does not show up in Settings->General, nor in the app-specific settings pane triggered by the inclusion of a settings bundle in the app. I've confirmed that the dext is indeed being included in the app bundle when built for iPadOS (in MyApp.app/SystemExtensions/com.me.MyApp.MyDriver.dext). I also can see in the build log that there's a validation step for the dext, and that seems to be succeeding. I don't know why the app isn't being discovered -- or in any case surfaced to the user -- when the app is installed on the iPad. Has anyone faced this problem and solved it? Are there ways to troubleshoot installation/discovery of an embedded DriverKit extensions on iOS? Unlike on macOS, I don't really see any relevant console messages.
6
2
2.1k
Apr ’25
OSSystemExtensionsWorkspace on iPadOS
Hello! I have app (macos and iPadOS platforms) with empbedded DEXT. The DEXT executable runs fine on both platforms (ver 26.2). Trying to execute from iPad App code: let sysExtWs = OSSystemExtensionsWorkspace.shared let sysExts = try sysExtWs.systemExtensions(forApplicationWithBundleID: appBudleId) but always getting OSSystemExtensionError.Code.missingEntitlement error. Which entitlement am I missing? Thank You!
3
2
469
2w
DriverKit Access to Built-In MacBook Trackpad Raw HID Reports
We are trying to intercept raw reports from the built-in MacBook haptic trackpad using a DriverKit IOUserHIDEventDriver dext. Our dext installs and activates successfully: OSSystemExtensionRequest finishes with result 0 systemextensionsctl list shows the dext as activated enabled the dext is embedded correctly in the app bundle However, it never attaches to the built-in trackpad IOHIDInterface. ioreg shows the built-in trackpad interface still matched only by Apple’s HID dext. We also observed that Apple’s own HID dext appears to use com.apple.developer.driverkit.builtin, while that entitlement is not available in our provisioning profile. Our dext specifically relies on: IOUserHIDEventDriver::handleReport(...) SetProperties() with kIOHIDEventDriverHandlesReport Questions: Is com.apple.developer.driverkit.builtin required for a third-party IOUserHIDEventDriver to match a built-in internal trackpad IOHIDInterface? Is that entitlement public/requestable, or Apple-internal only? At what stage is it enforced: activation, personality matching, provider attach, or before Start()? If builtin is not available to third parties, is there any officially supported way to receive raw reports from the built-in MacBook trackpad in DriverKit? Our conclusion so far is that activation succeeds, but provider binding to the built-in trackpad fails due to built-in-only authorization/matching.
4
1
235
2d
Doesn't match the entitlements file's value for the com.apple.developer.driverkit.userclient-access entitlement.
My application will create a virtual touchpad. The problem I encountered is: click on the Product menu, select Archives, then select the Distribute App, then click on Drill Distribution, then click on Distribute, and then a prompt appears: Provisioning profile "Mac Team direct Provisioning Profile:"com.xxx.xxx"doesn't match the entitlements file's valuefor the com.apple.developer.driverkit.userclient-access entitlement. But My Identifiers Selected the:DriverKit Allow Any UserClient (development) Do I need toRequest a System Extension or DriverKit Entitlement Select "Virtual HID" in here? https://developer.apple.com/contact/request/system-extension/
1
0
177
2w
System Extension Termination Fails
My application installs a system extension. When I try to remove the app from the Applications folder (cmd + backspace) I get an error message: "The operation can’t be completed right now because another operation is in progress, such as moving or copying an item or emptying the Bin." According to systemextensionsctl the extension state is "terminating for uninstall but still running". I can see an error in the console logs: kernelmanagerd Failed to terminate dext com.my.driver-dk, error: Kernel request failed: (os/kern) invalid address (1) sysextd a category delegate declined to terminate extension with identifier: com.my.driver-dk sysextd failed to terminate extension with identifier: com.my.driver-dk: Optional(Error Domain=kernelmanagerd.KMError Code=38 "(null)") Issue occurs with macOS 13 - works fine with macOS 12 and macOS 11 What is the problem here? Have there been any changes in macOS in that regard?
6
1
3.2k
Feb ’26
how to inhibit -fprofile-instr-generate passed to linker
I'm struggling to build a driver for iPadOS in a particular project configuration. If I put the driver code and dext target into the same Xcode project which contains the iPad app, all is well. This is the way the Xcode driver template does it. However, I'd like to build and debug the dext on macOS, while eventually deploying on iPadOS. So I put the dext into a different project, which has a macOS target, a minimal iPadOS target and a DriverKit target. I made a workspace which contains both projects. I dragged the macOS project into the iPadOS project so that I can refer to the products of the macOS project (specifically, its driver target) as a dependency of the iPadOS target. Note that the main iPad app target depends on the driver target. So the workspace organization looks like this: Workspace iPad project main iPad app target (depends on driver) test project reference test project test macOS/iPad app target DriverKit dext target When I build the iPadOS target, it builds the dependent driver target in the macOS project, but it fails to link because Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/lib/clang/15.0.0/lib/darwin/libclang_rt.profile_driverkit.a is not found. If I just build the driver target directly in Xcode, there is no such complaint. I looked closely at the build logs, and I see for the failed link, there are these two linker flags set which are not set in the successful case -debug_variant -fprofile-instr-generate I can't seem to control the generation of this flag. I tried turning off the Profile switch in the Scheme editor for the driver, but is makes no difference. When I directly build the driver target, no -fprofile-instr-generate is set and it compiles and links. When i build the driver as a dependency of another target, -fprofile-instr-generate is passed to the linker, which fails. The obvious workaround is to put the driver source code into a separate driver target in the iPadOS project, but I'd rather have just one DriverKit driver for both platforms, with a few settings (such as bundle ID) controlled by a configuration file. Has anyone else encountered this problem, and know of a workaround?
3
1
1.2k
2w
Neither macOS 14.7 "Standard" 'AppleUserHIDEventDriver' Matching Driver Nor Custom HIDDriverKit Driver 'IOUserHIDEventService::dispatchDigitizerTouchEvent' API Work for a HID-standard Digitizer Touch Pad Device
I have been working on a multi-platform multi-touch HID-standard digitizer clickpad device. The device uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) as its connectivity transport and advertises HID over GATT. To date, I have the device working successfully on Windows 11 as a multi-touch, gesture-capable click pad with no custom driver or app on Windows. However, I have been having difficulty getting macOS to recognize and react to it as a HID-standard multi-touch click pad digitizer with either the standard Apple HID driver (AppleUserHIDEventDriver) or with a custom-coded driver extension (DEXT) modeled, based on the DTS stylus example and looking at the IOHIDFamily open source driver(s). The trackpad works with full-gesture support on Windows 11 and the descriptors seem to be compliant with the R23 Accessory Guidelines document, §15. With the standard, matching Apple AppleUserHIDEventDriver HID driver, when enumerating using stock-standard HID mouse descriptors, the device works fine on macOS 14.7 "Sonoma" as a relative pointer device with scroll wheel capability (two finger swipe generates a HID scroll report) and a single button. With the standard, matching Apple AppleUserHIDEventDriver HID driver, when enumerating using stock-standard HID digitizer click/touch pad descriptors (those same descriptors used successfully on Windows 11), the device does nothing. No button, no cursor, no gestures, nothing. Looking at ioreg -filtb, all of the key/value pairs for the driver match look correct. Because, even with the Apple open source IOHIDFamily drivers noted above, we could get little visibility into what might be going wrong, I wrote a custom DriverKit/HIDDriverKit driver extension (DEXT) (as noted above, based on the DTS HID stylus example and the open source IOHIDEventDriver. With that custom driver, I can get a single button click from the click pad to work by dispatching button events to dispatchRelativePointerEvent; however, when parsing, processing, and dispatching HID digitizer touch finger (that is, transducer) events via IOUserHIDEventService::dispatchDigitizerTouchEvent, nothing happens. If I log with: % sudo log stream --info --debug --predicate '(subsystem == "com.apple.iohid")' either using the standard AppleUserHIDEventDriver driver or our custom driver, we can see that our input events are tickling the IOHIDNXEventTranslatorSessionFilter HID event filter, so we know HID events are getting from the device into the macOS HID stack. This was further confirmed with the DTS Bluetooth PacketLogger app. Based on these events flowing in and hitting IOHIDNXEventTranslatorSessionFilter, using the standard AppleUserHIDEventDriver driver or our custom driver, clicks or click pad activity will either wake the display or system from sleep and activity will keep the display or system from going to sleep. In short, whether with the stock driver or our custom driver, HID input reports come in over Bluetooth and get processed successfully; however, nothing happens—no pointer movement or gesture recognition. STEPS TO REPRODUCE For the standard AppleUserHIDEventDriver: Pair the device with macOS 14.7 "Sonoma" using the Bluetooth menu. Confirm that it is paired / bonded / connected in the Bluetooth menu. Attempt to click or move one or more fingers on the touchpad surface. Nothing happens. For the our custom driver: Pair the device with macOS 14.7 "Sonoma" using the Bluetooth menu. Confirm that it is paired / bonded / connected in the Bluetooth menu. Attempt to click or move one or more fingers on the touchpad surface. Clicks are correctly registered. With transducer movement, regardless of the number of fingers, nothing happens.
4
0
917
Dec ’25
DriverKit IOUserSerial Driver
Hello everyone. After a lot of research and some tests from various sources, I have actually built a small SerialDriverKit IOUserSerial driver. Unfortunately, the documentation on the official sites is tight-lipped and very thin. At least I have a running driver instance. Now my request and question: Can anyone give me a tip on how to get the data from the serial client? I have already called IOUserSerial::ConnectQueues(...) in the IOUserSerial::Start() method and I got the IOMemoryDescriptors for interrupt, RX and TX to my driver instance. I tried to get access to the memory in the method IOUserSerial::TxDataAvailable() with IOMemoryDescriptor::CreateMapping(...). Unfortunately, no data is coming in. It's always 0x00. Here is the OS log: kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriver] init called. kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] constructor called. kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriver] start called. kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) IOUserSerial::: 40 0x600000da4058 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] Start called. kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] Connect INT/RX/TX buffer. kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) IOUserSerial::: 59 0x600000da4058 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] prepare TCP socket. kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriver] driver started successfully. kernel: DK: VSPDriver-0x100000753::start(IOUserResources-0x100000116) ok ... ... some client serial setup stuff ... kernel: (IOUserSerial) IOUserSerial::hwResetFIFO: 1076 ==&gt;0 kernel: (IOUserSerial) IOUserSerial::hwResetFIFO: 1076 &lt;== kernel: (IOUserSerial) IOUserSerial::hwResetFIFO: 1076 locklevel = 1 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriver] HwResetFIFO called. kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] HwResetFIFO called. kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] HwResetFIFO: tx=0 rx=1 kernel: (IOUserSerial) IOUserSerial::hwResetFIFO: 1076 ==&gt;0 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriver] TxDataAvailable called. kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable called. kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: address=0x104c22000 length=16384 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: debug TX buffer kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00
20
1
1.4k
Nov ’25
Can't enable an iOS Driverkit driver when using an older app ID
Hi there, We've discovered a problem with our iOS app. We've been attempting to add a Driverkit driver to it, but any time we run the app through Testflight, the driver installs fine, but when we go to enable the driver toggle in the app's settings, the toggle stays on, but in the device logs I can see: could not insert bundle at <private> into manager: <private> As you would expect - this means the driver is not actually enabled and does not respond to a device being connected to the iPad. This does not happen when building & running the app locally, nor does it happen when installing an Ad Hoc build. We also have a different app, not yet shipped. We are able to add the driver to that app without issue. It works after going through Testflight. What we have discovered now is that everything works fine even if we just create an entirely new app with it's own bundle IDs. I should point out that in all cases, we're keeping the capabilities the same for each of these apps/IDs - including the managed capabilities. The bundle IDs that have this problem are older (5 years old or more). It seems like any newer ID will work, but trying to add the driver (and the associated managed capabilities) to an older app/ID results in this vague error message, with no further details. If we inspect the resulting dexts, we can also see that the "Internal requirements code size" is different on the ones that fail. The failing ones have a size of 204 bytes, whereas the working ones all have a size of 220 bytes. Not sure if that's related but it's strikingly consistent. Does this mean there is an issue with older app IDs, and we need Apple to manually refresh them in some way before the driverkit capabilities will work after going through Testflight? We have two apps in this state, both are of the same vintage (~5 years+). We've been battling this issue for months on and off, so would appreciate some help.
6
0
543
4w
CreateMemoryDescriptorFromClient can't write data to user?
We've developed a PCIDriverKit driver for the capture card on macOS and have identified an issue: CreateMemoryDescriptorFromClient can only read data from the user space to the driver, but cannot write data back to the user. typedef struct _MWCAP_EDID_DATA { uint64_t size; uint64_t uaddr; } MWCAP_EDID_DATA; // App size_t xxx::GetEdid(void *buff, size_t size) { MWCAP_EDID_DATA edid; edid.size = size; edid.uaddr = (uint64_t)buff; kr = IOConnectCallStructMethod( connect, kUserGetEdid, &edid, sizeof(MWCAP_EDID_DATA), NULL, NULL ); // kr is 0. But However, the data in the buffer remains unchanged; // it does not reflect the EDID copied from the DEXT. return size; } // Driver MWCAP_EDID_DATA *edid = (MWCAP_EDID_DATA *)input; IOMemoryDescriptor *user_buf_mem = NULL; IOAddressSegment segment; segment.address = edid->uaddr; segment.length = edid->size; // We have verified that the values in edid->uaddr and edid->size are consistent with what was set by the application. ret = CreateMemoryDescriptorFromClient(kIOMemoryDirectionOutIn, 1, &segment, &user_buf_mem); if (ret != kIOReturnSuccess) { os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "Failed to create memdesc with error: 0x%08x", ret); break; } IOMemoryMap* user_buf_map = nullptr; ret = user_buf_mem->CreateMapping(0, 0, 0, 0, 0, &user_buf_map); if (ret != kIOReturnSuccess) { os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "Failed to create mapping with error: 0x%08x", ret); OSSafeReleaseNULL(user_buf_mem); break; } // ... fill the user_buf_map with edid data ... // For example: // memcpy(user_buf_map->GetAddress(), source_edid_data, edid->size); // At this point we have also verified the data in user_buf_map->GetAddress(), which matches our expectations. OSSafeReleaseNULL(user_buf_map); OSSafeReleaseNULL(user_buf_mem); Please help take a look, thank you!
1
0
217
Oct ’25
"Signing certificate" and post-installation assignment fail due to IOPCIPrimaryMatch
I'm having trouble configuring the "IOPCIPrimaryMatch" entitlement. I'm currently developing using "sign to run locally" and have been able to confirm the expected behavior. I was considering signing with "Developer ID Application" for future distribution to customers, but after finding the following forum, I'm now aiming to sign with "Apple Development." https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/743021 I'm currently having trouble with the IOPCIPrimaryMatch value. The "signing certificate" status in Xcode changes depending on the value, as follows: Successful if the value is as follows: IOPCIPrimaryMatch 0xFFFFFFFF&0x00161916 An error occurs if the value is as follows: IOPCIPrimaryMatch 0xFFFFFFFF&0x00161916 So I tried building and installing using "0xFFFFFFFF&0x00161916", but this time the driver was not assigned to the PCI device. By the way, when I used "sign to run locally", both the installation and assignment were successful with the following: IOPCIPrimaryMatch 0xFFFFFFFF&0x00161916 Could you please tell me the correct way to write this?
13
0
1.6k
Dec ’25
Driver Activation failure error code 9. Maybe Entitlements? Please help
This is my first driver and I have had the devil of a time trying to find any information to help me with this. I beg help with this, since I cannot find any tutorials that will get me over this problem. I am attempting to write a bridging driver for an older UPS that only communicates via RPC-over-USB rather than the HID Power Device class the OS requires. I have written the basic framework for the driver (details below) and am calling OSSystemExtensionRequest.submitRequest with a request object created by OSSystemExtensionRequest.activationRequest, but the didFailWithError callback is called with OSSystemExtensionErrorDomain of a value of 9, which appears to be a general failure to activate the driver. I can find no other information on how to address this issue, but I presume the issue is one of entitlements in either the entitlements file or Info.plist. I will have more code-based details below. For testing context, I am testing this on a 2021 iMac (M1) running Sequoia 15.7, and this iMac is on MDM, specifically Jamf. I have disabled SIP and set systemextensionsctl developer on, per the instructions here, and I have compiled and am attempting to debug the app using xcode 26.2. The driver itself targets DriverKit 25, as 26 does not appear to be available in xcode despite hints on google that it's out. For the software, I have a two-target structure in my xcode project, the main Manager app, which is a swift-ui app that both handles installation/activation of the driver and (if that finally manages to work) handles communication from the driver via its UserClient, and the driver which compiles as a dext. Both apps compile and use automated signing attached to our Apple Development team. I won't delve into the Manager app much, as it runs even though activation fails, except to include its entitlements file in case it proves relevant <dict> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.communicates-with-drivers</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.system-extension.install</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.security.app-sandbox</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.security.files.user-selected.read-only</key> <true/> </dict> and the relevant activation code: func request(_ request: OSSystemExtensionRequest, didFailWithError error: any Error) { // handling the error, which is always code value 9 } func activateDriver() { let request = OSSystemExtensionRequest.activationRequest(forExtensionWithIdentifier: "com.mycompany.driver.bundle.identifier", queue: .main) request.delegate = self OSSystemExtensionManager.shared.submitRequest(request) //... } And finally the Manager app has the following capabilities requested for its matching identifier in our Apple Developer Account: DriverKit Communicates with Drivers System Extension On the Driver side, I have two major pieces, the main driver class MyDriver, and UserClient class, StatusUserClient. MyDriver derives from IDriverKit/IOService.iig but (in case this is somehow important) does not have the same name as the project/target name MyBatteryDriver. StatusUserClient derives from DriverKit/IOUserClient.iig. I have os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "trace messages") code in every method of both classes, including the initializers and Start implementations, and the log entries never seem to show up in Console, so I presume that means the OS never tried to load the driver. Unless I'm looking in the wrong place? Because I don't think the driver code is the current issue, I won't go into it unless it becomes necessary. As I mentioned above, I think this is a code signing / entitlements issue, but I don't know how to resolve it. In our Apple Developer account, the Driver's matching identifier has the following capabilities requested: DriverKit (development) DriverKit Allow Any UserClient (development) DriverKit Family HID Device (development) -- NOTE: this is planned for future use, but not yet implemented by my driver code. Could that be part of the problem? DriverKit Transport HID (development) DriverKit USB Transport (development) DriverKit USB Transport - VendorID -- submitted, no response from Apple yet HID Virtual Device -- submitted, no response from Apple. yet. This is vestigial from an early plan to build the bridge via shared memory funneling to a virtual HID device. I think I've found a way to do it with one Service, but... not sure yet. Still, that's a problem for tomorrow. Apparently I've gone over the 7000 character maximum so I will add my entitlements and info.plist contents in a reply.
10
0
410
3w
Supported way to expose an iPhone+controller as a macOS gamepad without restricted entitlements?
I’m prototyping a personal-use system that lets an iPhone with a physically attached controller act as an input device for a Mac. End goal: Use the iPhone as the transport and sensor host Use the attached physical controller for buttons/sticks Map the iPhone gyroscope to the controller’s right stick to get gyro aim in Mac games / cloud-streamed games such as GeForce NOW that don't support the gyro. What I’m trying to understand is whether Apple supports any path for this on macOS that does NOT require restricted entitlements or paid-program-only capabilities. What I’ve already found: CoreHID virtual HID device creation appears to require com.apple.developer.hid.virtual.device HIDDriverKit / system extensions appear to require Apple-granted entitlements as well GCVirtualController does not seem to solve the problem because I need a controller-visible device that other apps can see, not just controls inside my own app So my concrete question is: Is there any supported, entitlement-free way for a personal macOS app to expose a game-controller-like input device that other apps can consume system-wide? If not, is the official answer that this class of solution necessarily requires one of: CoreHID with restricted entitlement HIDDriverKit/system extension entitlement some other Apple-approved framework or program I’m missing I’m not asking about App Store distribution. This is primarily for local/personal use during development. I’m trying to understand the supported platform boundary before investing further. Any guidance on the recommended architecture for this use case would be appreciated.
3
0
95
3d
Using Adhoc Profile for DriverKit show error: Xcode 14 and later requires a DriverKit development profile enabled for iOS and macOS
We got an app for iPad which has two targets one for the App itself (MainApp target ) and another one for the Driver ( Driver Target ) using DriverKit. The app works fine in Development, but I'm trying to distribute it with adhoc. I've requested the Distribution Entitlement to Apple, after getting it, the App Id for the Driver has the following Capabilities: DriverKit, DriverKit (development), DriverKit USB Transport (development), DriverKit USB Transport - VendorID, In-App Purchase Now in the profile section, I've created a adhoc profile for the Driver AppId (Identifier). Obviously I've also created an Adhoc profile for the Main AppId Finally in the Signing & Capabilities Section I set up the profiles for MainApp target, int the Debug one I set up the Development one and int the Release one I set up the adhoc one. I do the same in the Driver Target, but when I set up the Adhoc one in the Release, I've got a warning: Xcode 14 and later requires a DriverKit development profile enabled for iOS and macOS. Visit the developer website to create or download a DriverKit profile Also interestingly the Signing Certificate section says: None I also set up the Capabilities for the Driver Target: DriverKit USB Transport - VendorID DriverKit USB Transport ( Development ) Inside these capabilities I set up the vendor ID as dictionary The problem is, if I try to Archive the app I will get the previous Warning message as error: Xcode 14 and later requires a DriverKit development profile enabled for iOS and macOS. Visit the developer website to create or download a DriverKit profile. Any idea what I'm missing? Thanks
2
0
1.1k
Nov ’25
DriverKit: embedded.mobileprofile has the wildcard USB Vendor ID instead of my assigned Vendor ID
I've added my Vendor ID to the appropriate entitlement files but my binary fails validation when trying to upload it to the store for distribution. The embeded.mobileprovision file in the generated archive shows an asterisk instead of my approved Vendor ID. How can I make sure the embedded provisioning file has my Vendor ID?
5
0
1.9k
Apr ’25
Which IOUserClient entitlements are really required?
Hello @all I'm develop a DriverKit driver extension and without entitlement checks by OS everything runs fine. But if the entitlements check is enabled in the NVRAM then I get an error due connecting my IOUserClient instance. Which entitlements are really and exactly required for my driver? My driver contains: one IOUserClient instance and multiple IOUserSerial instances The bundle identifier of the driver ist: org.eof.tools.VSPDriver The bundle identifier of the client app org.eof.tools.VSPInstall My entire source code is available on GitHub if any one want to dive deep in :) kernel[0:5107] () [VSPDriver]: NewUserClient called. kernel[0:5107] () [VSPDriver]: CreateUserClient: create VSP user client from Info.plist. kernel[0:5107] () [VSPUserClient]: init called. kernel[0:5107] () [VSPUserClient]: init finished. kernel[0:5107] () [VSPDriver]: CreateUserClient: check VSPUserClient type. kernel[0:5107] () [VSPDriver]: CreateUserClient: success. kernel[0:5107] () [VSPDriver]: NewUserClient finished. kernel[0:5107] () [VSPUserClient]: Start: called. kernel[0:5107] () [VSPUserClient]: User client successfully started. kernel[0:389f] DK: VSPUserClient-0x100001127:UC failed userclient-access check, needed bundle ID org.eof.tools.VSPDriver kernel[0:389f] DK: VSPUserClient-0x100001127:UC entitlements check failed kernel[0:5107] () [VSPUserClient]: Stop called. kernel[0:5107] () [VSPUserClient]: User client successfully removed. kernel[0:5107] () [VSPUserClient]: free called. Here my drivers entitlement file: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.allow-third-party-userclients</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.family.serial</key> <true/> </dict> </plist> Here my drivers Info.plist file <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>CFBundleDevelopmentRegion</key> <string>$(DEVELOPMENT_LANGUAGE)</string> <key>CFBundleExecutable</key> <string>$(EXECUTABLE_NAME)</string> <key>CFBundleIdentifier</key> <string>$(PRODUCT_BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER)</string> <key>CFBundleInfoDictionaryVersion</key> <string>6.0</string> <key>CFBundleName</key> <string>$(PRODUCT_NAME)</string> <key>CFBundlePackageType</key> <string>$(PRODUCT_BUNDLE_PACKAGE_TYPE)</string> <key>CFBundleShortVersionString</key> <string>1.0</string> <key>CFBundleVersion</key> <string>1</string> <key>NSHumanReadableCopyright</key> <string>Copyright © 2025 by EoF Software Labs</string> <key>OSBundleUsageDescription</key> <string>Provide virtual serial port</string> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.allow-any-userclient-access</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.communicates-with-drivers</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.system-extension.redistributable</key> <true/> <key>OSBundleLibraries</key> <dict> <key>com.apple.iokit.IOSerialFamily</key> <string>1.0</string> </dict> <key>IOKitPersonalities</key> <dict> <key>VSPDriver</key> <dict> <key>CFBundleIdentifier</key> <string>$(PRODUCT_BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER)</string> <key>CFBundleIdentifierKernel</key> <string>com.apple.kpi.iokit</string> <key>IOMatchCategory</key> <string>$(PRODUCT_BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER)</string> <key>IOProviderClass</key> <string>IOUserResources</string> <key>IOResourceMatch</key> <string>IOKit</string> <key>IOProbeScore</key> <integer>0</integer> <key>IOClass</key> <string>IOUserService</string> <key>IOUserClass</key> <string>VSPDriver</string> <key>IOUserServerName</key> <string>$(PRODUCT_BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER)</string> <key>UserClientProperties</key> <dict> <key>IOClass</key> <string>IOUserUserClient</string> <key>IOUserClass</key> <string>VSPUserClient</string> </dict> <key>SerialPortProperties</key> <dict> <key>CFBundleIdentifierKernel</key> <string>com.apple.driver.driverkit.serial</string> <key>IOProviderClass</key> <string>IOSerialStreamSync</string> <key>IOClass</key> <string>IOUserSerial</string> <key>IOUserClass</key> <string>VSPSerialPort</string> <key>HiddenPort</key> <false/> <key>IOTTYBaseName</key> <string>vsp</string> <key>IOTTYSuffix</key> <string>0</string> </dict> </dict> </dict> </dict> </plist> Here the entitlements of the client app <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.allow-third-party-userclients</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.communicates-with-drivers</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.shared-with-you</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.system-extension.install</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.security.application-groups</key> <array> <string>$(TeamIdentifierPrefix).org.eof.apps</string> </array> </dict> </plist> Here the Info.plist of the client app: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>CFBundleDevelopmentRegion</key> <string>$(DEVELOPMENT_LANGUAGE)</string> <key>CFBundleExecutable</key> <string>$(EXECUTABLE_NAME)</string> <key>CFBundleIdentifier</key> <string>$(PRODUCT_BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER)</string> <key>CFBundleInfoDictionaryVersion</key> <string>6.0</string> <key>CFBundleName</key> <string>$(PRODUCT_NAME)</string> <key>CFBundlePackageType</key> <string>$(PRODUCT_BUNDLE_PACKAGE_TYPE)</string> <key>CFBundleShortVersionString</key> <string>1.0</string> <key>CFBundleVersion</key> <string>1</string> <key>LSMinimumSystemVersion</key> <string>$(MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET)</string> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.install</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.system-extension.install</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.system-extension.uninstall</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.userclient-access</key> <array> <string>VSPDriver</string> </array> <key>com.apple.private.driverkit.driver-access</key> <array> <string>VSPDriver</string> </array> <key>com.apple.security.temporary-exception.iokit-user-client-class</key> <array> <string>IOUserUserClient</string> </array> </dict> </plist>
Replies
2
Boosts
0
Views
655
Activity
Mar ’25
How to sign a DEXT
Kevin's Guide to DEXT Signing The question of "How do I sign a DEXT" comes up a lot, so this post is my attempt to describe both what the issues are and the best current solutions are. So... The Problems: When DEXTs were originally introduced, the recommended development signing process required disabling SIP and local signing. There is a newer, much simpler process that's built on Xcode's integrated code-signing support; however, that newer process has not yet been integrated into the documentation library. In addition, while the older flow still works, many of the details it describes are no longer correct due to changes to Xcode and the developer portal. DriverKit's use of individually customized entitlements is different than the other entitlements on our platform, and Xcode's support for it is somewhat incomplete and buggy. The situation has improved considerably over time, particularly from Xcode 15 and Xcode 16, but there are still issues that are not fully resolved. To address #1, we introduced "development" entitlement variants of all DriverKit entitlements. These entitlement variants are ONLY available in development-signed builds, but they're available on all paid developer accounts without any special approval. They also allow a DEXT to match against any hardware, greatly simplifying working with development or prototype hardware which may not match the configuration of a final product. Unfortunately, this also means that DEXT developers will always have at least two entitlement variants (the public development variant and the "private" approved entitlement), which is what then causes the problem I mentioned in #2. The Automatic Solution: If you're using Xcode 16 or above, then Xcode's Automatic code sign support will work all DEXT Families, with the exception of distribution signing the PCI and USB Families. For completeness, here is how that Automatic flow should work: Change the code signing configuration to "Automatic". Add the capability using Xcode. (USB & PCI) Edit your Entitlement.plist to include the correct "Development Only" configuration: USB Development Only Configuration: <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb</key> <array> <dict> <key>idVendor</key> <string>*</string> </dict> </array> PCI Development Only Configuration: <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.pci</key> <array> <dict> <key>IOPCIPrimaryMatch</key> <string>0xFFFFFFFF&amp;0x00000000</string> </dict> </array> If you've been approved for one of these entitlements, the one oddity you'll see is that adding your approved capability will add both the approved AND the development variant, while deleting either will delete both. This is a visual side effect of #2 above; however, aside from the exception described below, it can be ignored. Similarly, you can sign distribution builds by creating a build archive and then exporting the build using the standard Xcode flow. Debugging Automatic Code-signing In a new project, the flow I describe above should just work; however, if you're converting an existing project, you may get code signing errors, generally complaining about how the provisioning profile configuration doesn't match. In most cases, this happens because Xcode is choosing to reuse a previously downloaded profile with an older configuration instead of generating a new configuration which would then include the configuration changes you made. Currently, you can find these profile files in: ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData/Provisioning Profiles ...which can make it easier to find and delete the specific profile (if you choose). However, one recommendation I'd have here is to not treat the contents of that folder as "precious" or special. What automatic code signing actually does is generate provisioning profiles "on demand", so if you delete an automatic profile... Xcode will just generate it again at the next build. Manually generating profiles is more cumbersome, but the solution there is to preserve them as a separate resource, probably as part of your project data, NOT to just "lose" them in the folder here. If they get deleted from Xcode's store, then you can just copy them back in from your own store (or using Xcode, which can manually download profiles as well). The advantage of this approach is that when profiles "pile up" over time (which they tend to do), you can just delete[1] all of them then let Xcode regenerate the ones you're actually trying to investigate. In terms of looking at their contents, TN3125: Inside Code Signing: Provisioning Profiles has the details of how to see exactly what's there. [1] Moving them somewhere else works too, but could indicate a fear of commitment. __ Kevin Elliott DTS Engineer, CoreOS/Hardware
Replies
1
Boosts
1
Views
611
Activity
3w
Basic introduction to DEXT Matching and Loading
Note: This document is specifically focused on what happens after a DEXT has passed its initial code-signing checks. Code-signing issues are dealt with in other posts. Preliminary Guidance: Using and understanding DriverKit basically requires understanding IOKit, something which isn't entirely clear in our documentation. The good news here is that IOKit actually does have fairly good "foundational" documentation in the documentation archive. Here are a few of the documents I'd take a look at: IOKit Fundamentals IOKit Device Driver Design Guidelines Accessing Hardware From Applications Special mention to QA1075: "Making sense of IOKit error codes",, which I happened to notice today and which documents the IOReturn error format (which is a bit weird on first review). Those documents do not cover the full DEXT loading process, but they are the foundation of how all of this actually works. Understanding the IOKitPersonalities Dictionary The first thing to understand here is that the "IOKitPersonalities" is called that because it is in fact a fully valid "IOKitPersonalities" dictionary. That is, what the system actually uses that dictionary "for" is: Perform a standard IOKit match and load cycle in the kernel. The final driver in the kernel then uses the DEXT-specific data to launch and run your DEXT process outside the kernel. So, working through the critical keys in that dictionary: "IOProviderClass"-> This is the in-kernel class that your in-kernel driver loads "on top" of. The IOKit documentation and naming convention uses the term "Nub", but the naming convention is not consistent enough that it applies to all cases. "IOClass"-> This is the in-kernel class that your DEXT attaches to and works through. This is where things can become a bit confused, as some families work by: Routing all activity through the provider reference so that the DEXT-specific class does not matter (PCIDriverKit). Having the DEXT subclass a specific subclass which corresponds to a specific kernel driver (SCSIPeripheralsDriverKit). This distinction is described in the documentation, but it's easy to overlook if you don't understand what's going on. However, compare PCIDriverKit: "When the system loads your custom PCI driver, it passes an IOPCIDevice object as the provider to your driver. Use that object to read and write the configuration and memory of your PCI hardware." Versus SCSIPeripheralsDriverKit: Develop your driver by subclassing IOUserSCSIPeripheralDeviceType00 or IOUserSCSIPeripheralDeviceType05, depending on whether your device works with SCSI Block Commands (SBC) or SCSI Multimedia Commands (SMC), respectively. In your subclass, override all methods the framework declares as pure virtual. The reason these differences exist actually comes from the relationship and interactions between the DEXT families. Case in point, PCIDriverKit doesn't require a specific subclass because it wants SCSIControllerDriverKit DEXTs to be able to directly load "above" it. Note that the common mistake many developers make is leaving "IOUserService" in place when they should have specified a family-specific subclass (case 2 above). This is an undocumented implementation detail, but if there is a mismatch between your DEXT driver ("IOUserSCSIPeripheralDeviceType00") and your kernel driver ("IOUserService"), you end up trying to call unimplemented kernel methods. When a method is "missing" like that, the codegen system ends up handling that by returning kIOReturnUnsupported. One special case here is the "IOUserResources" provider. This class is the DEXT equivalent of "IOResources" in the kernel. In both cases, these classes exist as an attachment point for objects which don't otherwise have a provider. It's specifically used by the sample "Communicating between a DriverKit extension and a client app" to allow that sample to load on all hardware but is not something the vast majority of DEXT will use. Following on from that point, most DEXT should NOT include "IOMatchCategory". Quoting IOKit fundamentals: "Important: Any driver that declares IOResources as the value of its IOProviderClass key must also include in its personality the IOMatchCategory key and a private match category value. This prevents the driver from matching exclusively on the IOResources nub and thereby preventing other drivers from matching on it. It also prevents the driver from having to compete with all other drivers that need to match on IOResources. The value of the IOMatchCategory property should be identical to the value of the driver's IOClass property, which is the driver’s class name in reverse-DNS notation with underbars instead of dots, such as com_MyCompany_driver_MyDriver." The critical point here is that including IOMatchCategory does this: "This prevents the driver from matching exclusively on the IOResources nub and thereby preventing other drivers from matching on it." The problem here is that this is actually the exceptional case. For a typical DEXT, including IOMatchCategory means that a system driver will load "beside" their DEXT, then open the provider blocking DEXT access and breaking the DEXT. DEXT Launching The key point here is that the entire process above is the standard IOKit loading process used by all KEXT. Once that process finishes, what actually happens next is the DEXT-specific part of this process: IOUserServerName-> This key is the bundle ID of your DEXT, which the system uses to find your DEXT target. IOUserClass-> This is the name of the class the system instantiates after launching your DEXT. Note that this directly mimics how IOKit loading works. Keep in mind that the second, DEXT-specific, half of this process is the first point your actual code becomes relevant. Any issue before that point will ONLY be visible through kernel logging or possibly the IORegistry. __ Kevin Elliott DTS Engineer, CoreOS/Hardware
Replies
2
Boosts
0
Views
324
Activity
2d
Unable to localize driver name or description
I am trying to localize the CFBundleDisplayName and OSBundleUsageDescription of a driver that is part of an app. I am able to use InfoPlist.strings files to localize the Bundle display name for the app, but when I try to use the same file as part of the driver, the name displayed in settings for the app does not change correctly. In fact, it seems to follow the default language set in the xcode project. If the default language is not included in the suite of InfoPlist.strings files, it seems to take the string from the info.plist file. sometimes it just seems to take the English version regardless of the default language or tablet language. Has anyone had success with this?
Replies
4
Boosts
7
Views
244
Activity
Aug ’25
*.ips CrashReport not always available when dext crashes
While developing our driver, we've noticed that the *.ips report that contains the stacktrace of the crash is not always generated. I'm wondering why this report may not get generated, or if there's anything specific to do to guarantee it gets generated.
Replies
1
Boosts
3
Views
185
Activity
Oct ’25
Will special entitlements like Screentime API remain valid when transferring an app?
Certain entitlements require special permission from Apple like DriverKit or Screentime API/Family controls. Those entitlements are tied to the bundle IDs of the app. If those entitlements have been granted for an app from developer A (personal account) and we transfer that app to developer B (organization account), including the bundle IDs, will those bundle IDs keep the entitlement? Or will we need to re-request from the developer account B? Any insights or experiences regarding this process would be greatly appreciated.
Replies
1
Boosts
3
Views
727
Activity
May ’25
DriverKit driver doesn't appear in Settings when installed with iPad app
I'm working on a DriverKit driver. I have it running on macOS, including a very simple client app written in SwiftUI. Everything is working fine there. I've added iPadOS as a destination for the app as demonstrated in the WWDC video on DriverKit for iPadOS. The app builds and runs on my iPad, as expected (after a little work to conditionalize out my use of SystemExtensions.framework for installation on macOS). However, after installing and running the app on an iPad, the driver does not show up in Settings->General, nor in the app-specific settings pane triggered by the inclusion of a settings bundle in the app. I've confirmed that the dext is indeed being included in the app bundle when built for iPadOS (in MyApp.app/SystemExtensions/com.me.MyApp.MyDriver.dext). I also can see in the build log that there's a validation step for the dext, and that seems to be succeeding. I don't know why the app isn't being discovered -- or in any case surfaced to the user -- when the app is installed on the iPad. Has anyone faced this problem and solved it? Are there ways to troubleshoot installation/discovery of an embedded DriverKit extensions on iOS? Unlike on macOS, I don't really see any relevant console messages.
Replies
6
Boosts
2
Views
2.1k
Activity
Apr ’25
OSSystemExtensionsWorkspace on iPadOS
Hello! I have app (macos and iPadOS platforms) with empbedded DEXT. The DEXT executable runs fine on both platforms (ver 26.2). Trying to execute from iPad App code: let sysExtWs = OSSystemExtensionsWorkspace.shared let sysExts = try sysExtWs.systemExtensions(forApplicationWithBundleID: appBudleId) but always getting OSSystemExtensionError.Code.missingEntitlement error. Which entitlement am I missing? Thank You!
Replies
3
Boosts
2
Views
469
Activity
2w
DriverKit Access to Built-In MacBook Trackpad Raw HID Reports
We are trying to intercept raw reports from the built-in MacBook haptic trackpad using a DriverKit IOUserHIDEventDriver dext. Our dext installs and activates successfully: OSSystemExtensionRequest finishes with result 0 systemextensionsctl list shows the dext as activated enabled the dext is embedded correctly in the app bundle However, it never attaches to the built-in trackpad IOHIDInterface. ioreg shows the built-in trackpad interface still matched only by Apple’s HID dext. We also observed that Apple’s own HID dext appears to use com.apple.developer.driverkit.builtin, while that entitlement is not available in our provisioning profile. Our dext specifically relies on: IOUserHIDEventDriver::handleReport(...) SetProperties() with kIOHIDEventDriverHandlesReport Questions: Is com.apple.developer.driverkit.builtin required for a third-party IOUserHIDEventDriver to match a built-in internal trackpad IOHIDInterface? Is that entitlement public/requestable, or Apple-internal only? At what stage is it enforced: activation, personality matching, provider attach, or before Start()? If builtin is not available to third parties, is there any officially supported way to receive raw reports from the built-in MacBook trackpad in DriverKit? Our conclusion so far is that activation succeeds, but provider binding to the built-in trackpad fails due to built-in-only authorization/matching.
Replies
4
Boosts
1
Views
235
Activity
2d
Doesn't match the entitlements file's value for the com.apple.developer.driverkit.userclient-access entitlement.
My application will create a virtual touchpad. The problem I encountered is: click on the Product menu, select Archives, then select the Distribute App, then click on Drill Distribution, then click on Distribute, and then a prompt appears: Provisioning profile "Mac Team direct Provisioning Profile:"com.xxx.xxx"doesn't match the entitlements file's valuefor the com.apple.developer.driverkit.userclient-access entitlement. But My Identifiers Selected the:DriverKit Allow Any UserClient (development) Do I need toRequest a System Extension or DriverKit Entitlement Select "Virtual HID" in here? https://developer.apple.com/contact/request/system-extension/
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
177
Activity
2w
System Extension Termination Fails
My application installs a system extension. When I try to remove the app from the Applications folder (cmd + backspace) I get an error message: "The operation can’t be completed right now because another operation is in progress, such as moving or copying an item or emptying the Bin." According to systemextensionsctl the extension state is "terminating for uninstall but still running". I can see an error in the console logs: kernelmanagerd Failed to terminate dext com.my.driver-dk, error: Kernel request failed: (os/kern) invalid address (1) sysextd a category delegate declined to terminate extension with identifier: com.my.driver-dk sysextd failed to terminate extension with identifier: com.my.driver-dk: Optional(Error Domain=kernelmanagerd.KMError Code=38 "(null)") Issue occurs with macOS 13 - works fine with macOS 12 and macOS 11 What is the problem here? Have there been any changes in macOS in that regard?
Replies
6
Boosts
1
Views
3.2k
Activity
Feb ’26
how to inhibit -fprofile-instr-generate passed to linker
I'm struggling to build a driver for iPadOS in a particular project configuration. If I put the driver code and dext target into the same Xcode project which contains the iPad app, all is well. This is the way the Xcode driver template does it. However, I'd like to build and debug the dext on macOS, while eventually deploying on iPadOS. So I put the dext into a different project, which has a macOS target, a minimal iPadOS target and a DriverKit target. I made a workspace which contains both projects. I dragged the macOS project into the iPadOS project so that I can refer to the products of the macOS project (specifically, its driver target) as a dependency of the iPadOS target. Note that the main iPad app target depends on the driver target. So the workspace organization looks like this: Workspace iPad project main iPad app target (depends on driver) test project reference test project test macOS/iPad app target DriverKit dext target When I build the iPadOS target, it builds the dependent driver target in the macOS project, but it fails to link because Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/lib/clang/15.0.0/lib/darwin/libclang_rt.profile_driverkit.a is not found. If I just build the driver target directly in Xcode, there is no such complaint. I looked closely at the build logs, and I see for the failed link, there are these two linker flags set which are not set in the successful case -debug_variant -fprofile-instr-generate I can't seem to control the generation of this flag. I tried turning off the Profile switch in the Scheme editor for the driver, but is makes no difference. When I directly build the driver target, no -fprofile-instr-generate is set and it compiles and links. When i build the driver as a dependency of another target, -fprofile-instr-generate is passed to the linker, which fails. The obvious workaround is to put the driver source code into a separate driver target in the iPadOS project, but I'd rather have just one DriverKit driver for both platforms, with a few settings (such as bundle ID) controlled by a configuration file. Has anyone else encountered this problem, and know of a workaround?
Replies
3
Boosts
1
Views
1.2k
Activity
2w
Neither macOS 14.7 "Standard" 'AppleUserHIDEventDriver' Matching Driver Nor Custom HIDDriverKit Driver 'IOUserHIDEventService::dispatchDigitizerTouchEvent' API Work for a HID-standard Digitizer Touch Pad Device
I have been working on a multi-platform multi-touch HID-standard digitizer clickpad device. The device uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) as its connectivity transport and advertises HID over GATT. To date, I have the device working successfully on Windows 11 as a multi-touch, gesture-capable click pad with no custom driver or app on Windows. However, I have been having difficulty getting macOS to recognize and react to it as a HID-standard multi-touch click pad digitizer with either the standard Apple HID driver (AppleUserHIDEventDriver) or with a custom-coded driver extension (DEXT) modeled, based on the DTS stylus example and looking at the IOHIDFamily open source driver(s). The trackpad works with full-gesture support on Windows 11 and the descriptors seem to be compliant with the R23 Accessory Guidelines document, §15. With the standard, matching Apple AppleUserHIDEventDriver HID driver, when enumerating using stock-standard HID mouse descriptors, the device works fine on macOS 14.7 "Sonoma" as a relative pointer device with scroll wheel capability (two finger swipe generates a HID scroll report) and a single button. With the standard, matching Apple AppleUserHIDEventDriver HID driver, when enumerating using stock-standard HID digitizer click/touch pad descriptors (those same descriptors used successfully on Windows 11), the device does nothing. No button, no cursor, no gestures, nothing. Looking at ioreg -filtb, all of the key/value pairs for the driver match look correct. Because, even with the Apple open source IOHIDFamily drivers noted above, we could get little visibility into what might be going wrong, I wrote a custom DriverKit/HIDDriverKit driver extension (DEXT) (as noted above, based on the DTS HID stylus example and the open source IOHIDEventDriver. With that custom driver, I can get a single button click from the click pad to work by dispatching button events to dispatchRelativePointerEvent; however, when parsing, processing, and dispatching HID digitizer touch finger (that is, transducer) events via IOUserHIDEventService::dispatchDigitizerTouchEvent, nothing happens. If I log with: % sudo log stream --info --debug --predicate '(subsystem == "com.apple.iohid")' either using the standard AppleUserHIDEventDriver driver or our custom driver, we can see that our input events are tickling the IOHIDNXEventTranslatorSessionFilter HID event filter, so we know HID events are getting from the device into the macOS HID stack. This was further confirmed with the DTS Bluetooth PacketLogger app. Based on these events flowing in and hitting IOHIDNXEventTranslatorSessionFilter, using the standard AppleUserHIDEventDriver driver or our custom driver, clicks or click pad activity will either wake the display or system from sleep and activity will keep the display or system from going to sleep. In short, whether with the stock driver or our custom driver, HID input reports come in over Bluetooth and get processed successfully; however, nothing happens—no pointer movement or gesture recognition. STEPS TO REPRODUCE For the standard AppleUserHIDEventDriver: Pair the device with macOS 14.7 "Sonoma" using the Bluetooth menu. Confirm that it is paired / bonded / connected in the Bluetooth menu. Attempt to click or move one or more fingers on the touchpad surface. Nothing happens. For the our custom driver: Pair the device with macOS 14.7 "Sonoma" using the Bluetooth menu. Confirm that it is paired / bonded / connected in the Bluetooth menu. Attempt to click or move one or more fingers on the touchpad surface. Clicks are correctly registered. With transducer movement, regardless of the number of fingers, nothing happens.
Replies
4
Boosts
0
Views
917
Activity
Dec ’25
DriverKit IOUserSerial Driver
Hello everyone. After a lot of research and some tests from various sources, I have actually built a small SerialDriverKit IOUserSerial driver. Unfortunately, the documentation on the official sites is tight-lipped and very thin. At least I have a running driver instance. Now my request and question: Can anyone give me a tip on how to get the data from the serial client? I have already called IOUserSerial::ConnectQueues(...) in the IOUserSerial::Start() method and I got the IOMemoryDescriptors for interrupt, RX and TX to my driver instance. I tried to get access to the memory in the method IOUserSerial::TxDataAvailable() with IOMemoryDescriptor::CreateMapping(...). Unfortunately, no data is coming in. It's always 0x00. Here is the OS log: kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriver] init called. kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] constructor called. kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriver] start called. kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) IOUserSerial::: 40 0x600000da4058 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] Start called. kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] Connect INT/RX/TX buffer. kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) IOUserSerial::: 59 0x600000da4058 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] prepare TCP socket. kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriver] driver started successfully. kernel: DK: VSPDriver-0x100000753::start(IOUserResources-0x100000116) ok ... ... some client serial setup stuff ... kernel: (IOUserSerial) IOUserSerial::hwResetFIFO: 1076 ==&gt;0 kernel: (IOUserSerial) IOUserSerial::hwResetFIFO: 1076 &lt;== kernel: (IOUserSerial) IOUserSerial::hwResetFIFO: 1076 locklevel = 1 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriver] HwResetFIFO called. kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] HwResetFIFO called. kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] HwResetFIFO: tx=0 rx=1 kernel: (IOUserSerial) IOUserSerial::hwResetFIFO: 1076 ==&gt;0 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriver] TxDataAvailable called. kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable called. kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: address=0x104c22000 length=16384 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: debug TX buffer kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00 kernel: (org.eof.tools.VSPDriver.dext) [VSPDriverPrivate] TxDataAvailable: TX&gt; 0x00
Replies
20
Boosts
1
Views
1.4k
Activity
Nov ’25
Can't enable an iOS Driverkit driver when using an older app ID
Hi there, We've discovered a problem with our iOS app. We've been attempting to add a Driverkit driver to it, but any time we run the app through Testflight, the driver installs fine, but when we go to enable the driver toggle in the app's settings, the toggle stays on, but in the device logs I can see: could not insert bundle at <private> into manager: <private> As you would expect - this means the driver is not actually enabled and does not respond to a device being connected to the iPad. This does not happen when building & running the app locally, nor does it happen when installing an Ad Hoc build. We also have a different app, not yet shipped. We are able to add the driver to that app without issue. It works after going through Testflight. What we have discovered now is that everything works fine even if we just create an entirely new app with it's own bundle IDs. I should point out that in all cases, we're keeping the capabilities the same for each of these apps/IDs - including the managed capabilities. The bundle IDs that have this problem are older (5 years old or more). It seems like any newer ID will work, but trying to add the driver (and the associated managed capabilities) to an older app/ID results in this vague error message, with no further details. If we inspect the resulting dexts, we can also see that the "Internal requirements code size" is different on the ones that fail. The failing ones have a size of 204 bytes, whereas the working ones all have a size of 220 bytes. Not sure if that's related but it's strikingly consistent. Does this mean there is an issue with older app IDs, and we need Apple to manually refresh them in some way before the driverkit capabilities will work after going through Testflight? We have two apps in this state, both are of the same vintage (~5 years+). We've been battling this issue for months on and off, so would appreciate some help.
Replies
6
Boosts
0
Views
543
Activity
4w
CreateMemoryDescriptorFromClient can't write data to user?
We've developed a PCIDriverKit driver for the capture card on macOS and have identified an issue: CreateMemoryDescriptorFromClient can only read data from the user space to the driver, but cannot write data back to the user. typedef struct _MWCAP_EDID_DATA { uint64_t size; uint64_t uaddr; } MWCAP_EDID_DATA; // App size_t xxx::GetEdid(void *buff, size_t size) { MWCAP_EDID_DATA edid; edid.size = size; edid.uaddr = (uint64_t)buff; kr = IOConnectCallStructMethod( connect, kUserGetEdid, &edid, sizeof(MWCAP_EDID_DATA), NULL, NULL ); // kr is 0. But However, the data in the buffer remains unchanged; // it does not reflect the EDID copied from the DEXT. return size; } // Driver MWCAP_EDID_DATA *edid = (MWCAP_EDID_DATA *)input; IOMemoryDescriptor *user_buf_mem = NULL; IOAddressSegment segment; segment.address = edid->uaddr; segment.length = edid->size; // We have verified that the values in edid->uaddr and edid->size are consistent with what was set by the application. ret = CreateMemoryDescriptorFromClient(kIOMemoryDirectionOutIn, 1, &segment, &user_buf_mem); if (ret != kIOReturnSuccess) { os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "Failed to create memdesc with error: 0x%08x", ret); break; } IOMemoryMap* user_buf_map = nullptr; ret = user_buf_mem->CreateMapping(0, 0, 0, 0, 0, &user_buf_map); if (ret != kIOReturnSuccess) { os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "Failed to create mapping with error: 0x%08x", ret); OSSafeReleaseNULL(user_buf_mem); break; } // ... fill the user_buf_map with edid data ... // For example: // memcpy(user_buf_map->GetAddress(), source_edid_data, edid->size); // At this point we have also verified the data in user_buf_map->GetAddress(), which matches our expectations. OSSafeReleaseNULL(user_buf_map); OSSafeReleaseNULL(user_buf_mem); Please help take a look, thank you!
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
217
Activity
Oct ’25
"Signing certificate" and post-installation assignment fail due to IOPCIPrimaryMatch
I'm having trouble configuring the "IOPCIPrimaryMatch" entitlement. I'm currently developing using "sign to run locally" and have been able to confirm the expected behavior. I was considering signing with "Developer ID Application" for future distribution to customers, but after finding the following forum, I'm now aiming to sign with "Apple Development." https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/743021 I'm currently having trouble with the IOPCIPrimaryMatch value. The "signing certificate" status in Xcode changes depending on the value, as follows: Successful if the value is as follows: IOPCIPrimaryMatch 0xFFFFFFFF&0x00161916 An error occurs if the value is as follows: IOPCIPrimaryMatch 0xFFFFFFFF&0x00161916 So I tried building and installing using "0xFFFFFFFF&0x00161916", but this time the driver was not assigned to the PCI device. By the way, when I used "sign to run locally", both the installation and assignment were successful with the following: IOPCIPrimaryMatch 0xFFFFFFFF&0x00161916 Could you please tell me the correct way to write this?
Replies
13
Boosts
0
Views
1.6k
Activity
Dec ’25
Driver Activation failure error code 9. Maybe Entitlements? Please help
This is my first driver and I have had the devil of a time trying to find any information to help me with this. I beg help with this, since I cannot find any tutorials that will get me over this problem. I am attempting to write a bridging driver for an older UPS that only communicates via RPC-over-USB rather than the HID Power Device class the OS requires. I have written the basic framework for the driver (details below) and am calling OSSystemExtensionRequest.submitRequest with a request object created by OSSystemExtensionRequest.activationRequest, but the didFailWithError callback is called with OSSystemExtensionErrorDomain of a value of 9, which appears to be a general failure to activate the driver. I can find no other information on how to address this issue, but I presume the issue is one of entitlements in either the entitlements file or Info.plist. I will have more code-based details below. For testing context, I am testing this on a 2021 iMac (M1) running Sequoia 15.7, and this iMac is on MDM, specifically Jamf. I have disabled SIP and set systemextensionsctl developer on, per the instructions here, and I have compiled and am attempting to debug the app using xcode 26.2. The driver itself targets DriverKit 25, as 26 does not appear to be available in xcode despite hints on google that it's out. For the software, I have a two-target structure in my xcode project, the main Manager app, which is a swift-ui app that both handles installation/activation of the driver and (if that finally manages to work) handles communication from the driver via its UserClient, and the driver which compiles as a dext. Both apps compile and use automated signing attached to our Apple Development team. I won't delve into the Manager app much, as it runs even though activation fails, except to include its entitlements file in case it proves relevant <dict> <key>com.apple.developer.driverkit.communicates-with-drivers</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.system-extension.install</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.security.app-sandbox</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.security.files.user-selected.read-only</key> <true/> </dict> and the relevant activation code: func request(_ request: OSSystemExtensionRequest, didFailWithError error: any Error) { // handling the error, which is always code value 9 } func activateDriver() { let request = OSSystemExtensionRequest.activationRequest(forExtensionWithIdentifier: "com.mycompany.driver.bundle.identifier", queue: .main) request.delegate = self OSSystemExtensionManager.shared.submitRequest(request) //... } And finally the Manager app has the following capabilities requested for its matching identifier in our Apple Developer Account: DriverKit Communicates with Drivers System Extension On the Driver side, I have two major pieces, the main driver class MyDriver, and UserClient class, StatusUserClient. MyDriver derives from IDriverKit/IOService.iig but (in case this is somehow important) does not have the same name as the project/target name MyBatteryDriver. StatusUserClient derives from DriverKit/IOUserClient.iig. I have os_log(OS_LOG_DEFAULT, "trace messages") code in every method of both classes, including the initializers and Start implementations, and the log entries never seem to show up in Console, so I presume that means the OS never tried to load the driver. Unless I'm looking in the wrong place? Because I don't think the driver code is the current issue, I won't go into it unless it becomes necessary. As I mentioned above, I think this is a code signing / entitlements issue, but I don't know how to resolve it. In our Apple Developer account, the Driver's matching identifier has the following capabilities requested: DriverKit (development) DriverKit Allow Any UserClient (development) DriverKit Family HID Device (development) -- NOTE: this is planned for future use, but not yet implemented by my driver code. Could that be part of the problem? DriverKit Transport HID (development) DriverKit USB Transport (development) DriverKit USB Transport - VendorID -- submitted, no response from Apple yet HID Virtual Device -- submitted, no response from Apple. yet. This is vestigial from an early plan to build the bridge via shared memory funneling to a virtual HID device. I think I've found a way to do it with one Service, but... not sure yet. Still, that's a problem for tomorrow. Apparently I've gone over the 7000 character maximum so I will add my entitlements and info.plist contents in a reply.
Replies
10
Boosts
0
Views
410
Activity
3w
DriverKit vs MFi for iPad custom hardware serial communication?
I have a custom hardware board that I want to communicate serially with from an iPad. Should I use the DriverKit route or the MFi route?
Replies
2
Boosts
0
Views
84
Activity
2w
Supported way to expose an iPhone+controller as a macOS gamepad without restricted entitlements?
I’m prototyping a personal-use system that lets an iPhone with a physically attached controller act as an input device for a Mac. End goal: Use the iPhone as the transport and sensor host Use the attached physical controller for buttons/sticks Map the iPhone gyroscope to the controller’s right stick to get gyro aim in Mac games / cloud-streamed games such as GeForce NOW that don't support the gyro. What I’m trying to understand is whether Apple supports any path for this on macOS that does NOT require restricted entitlements or paid-program-only capabilities. What I’ve already found: CoreHID virtual HID device creation appears to require com.apple.developer.hid.virtual.device HIDDriverKit / system extensions appear to require Apple-granted entitlements as well GCVirtualController does not seem to solve the problem because I need a controller-visible device that other apps can see, not just controls inside my own app So my concrete question is: Is there any supported, entitlement-free way for a personal macOS app to expose a game-controller-like input device that other apps can consume system-wide? If not, is the official answer that this class of solution necessarily requires one of: CoreHID with restricted entitlement HIDDriverKit/system extension entitlement some other Apple-approved framework or program I’m missing I’m not asking about App Store distribution. This is primarily for local/personal use during development. I’m trying to understand the supported platform boundary before investing further. Any guidance on the recommended architecture for this use case would be appreciated.
Replies
3
Boosts
0
Views
95
Activity
3d
Using Adhoc Profile for DriverKit show error: Xcode 14 and later requires a DriverKit development profile enabled for iOS and macOS
We got an app for iPad which has two targets one for the App itself (MainApp target ) and another one for the Driver ( Driver Target ) using DriverKit. The app works fine in Development, but I'm trying to distribute it with adhoc. I've requested the Distribution Entitlement to Apple, after getting it, the App Id for the Driver has the following Capabilities: DriverKit, DriverKit (development), DriverKit USB Transport (development), DriverKit USB Transport - VendorID, In-App Purchase Now in the profile section, I've created a adhoc profile for the Driver AppId (Identifier). Obviously I've also created an Adhoc profile for the Main AppId Finally in the Signing & Capabilities Section I set up the profiles for MainApp target, int the Debug one I set up the Development one and int the Release one I set up the adhoc one. I do the same in the Driver Target, but when I set up the Adhoc one in the Release, I've got a warning: Xcode 14 and later requires a DriverKit development profile enabled for iOS and macOS. Visit the developer website to create or download a DriverKit profile Also interestingly the Signing Certificate section says: None I also set up the Capabilities for the Driver Target: DriverKit USB Transport - VendorID DriverKit USB Transport ( Development ) Inside these capabilities I set up the vendor ID as dictionary The problem is, if I try to Archive the app I will get the previous Warning message as error: Xcode 14 and later requires a DriverKit development profile enabled for iOS and macOS. Visit the developer website to create or download a DriverKit profile. Any idea what I'm missing? Thanks
Replies
2
Boosts
0
Views
1.1k
Activity
Nov ’25
DriverKit: embedded.mobileprofile has the wildcard USB Vendor ID instead of my assigned Vendor ID
I've added my Vendor ID to the appropriate entitlement files but my binary fails validation when trying to upload it to the store for distribution. The embeded.mobileprovision file in the generated archive shows an asterisk instead of my approved Vendor ID. How can I make sure the embedded provisioning file has my Vendor ID?
Replies
5
Boosts
0
Views
1.9k
Activity
Apr ’25