Overclocking Controllers on macOS Big Sur, Monterey, Ventura, or Sonoma
This guide explains a temporary workaround for "overclocking" (increasing the poll rate) of a controller adapter on macOS Big Sur (11.0), Monterey (12.0), Ventura (13.0) or Sonoma (14.0).
If you're running on High Sierra (10.13), Mojave (10.14), or Catalina (10.15), you should run the official Installer Package and select the "overclock" option when asked.
The method below will be obsolete once GCAdapterDriver.app supports overclocking natively.
If you're not comfortable with the Terminal, then you should feel free to use the official GCAdapterDriver.app for Big Sur and wait for the overclocking update. The below steps remove a lock on your System Integrity Protection to allow the kernel extension to load; when the update for GCAdapterDriver.app is released, you should remove the kernel extension from your system and run the app instead.
Copy and paste the commands in this document if you're not familiar with a Terminal.
If you're asked for your password, and it doesn't feel like you're typing, you actually are - just type it and hit enter.
Boot into Recovery Mode on your Mac by turning off the computer, and follow the steps below:
If you have an Intel Mac: hold CMD + R, and turn on your Mac. Hold the buttons until Recovery Mode appears.
If you have an Apple Silicon Mac: hold your power button until a screen appears for entering Recovery Mode.
Once in Recovery Mode:
- Open a Terminal (in the Utilities dropdown at the top)
- If you're on an M1 Mac:
- You'll need to change your Boot Settings in Recovery Mode to enable extensions from signed developers.
- Run the following commands:
csrutil disable
csrutil enable --without kext - Reboot your Mac into normal mode.
Visit the GCAdapterDriver releases page on the repository and download the kext zip file for your architecture.
- If you're on an M1 Mac, download the ARM build.
- If you're on an Intel Mac, download the Intel build.
Unzip the download to your Desktop and ensure it's named GCAdapterDriver.kext.
If you previously used SmashEnabler.kext, you should remove it with the following commands:
sudo kextunload /Library/Extensions/SmashEnabler.kextsudo rm -rf /Library/Extensions/SmashEnabler.kext
Open a Terminal.app instance and run the following commands, one after the other.
sudo mv ~/Desktop/GCAdapterDriver.kext /Library/Extensions/GCAdapterDriver.kextsudo chown -R root:wheel /Library/Extensions/GCAdapterDriver.kextsudo kextutil /Library/Extensions/GCAdapterDriver.kext
If you reboot your system and find the driver isn't loading, you'll need to re-run the final command from the list above.