Hackintosh the Easy Way: Generating a Clean EFI with OpCore-Simplify (Windows First)

In this guide, I’ll show a practical, reproducible workflow to generate a working EFI using OpCore-Simplify, starting from Windows (Ubuntu also works with some tweaks — I’ll cover that later).

This approach focuses on:

• Correct hardware detection
• Automatic ACPI + kext selection
• Minimal manual OpenCore editing

Prerequisites

• A Windows machine (Ubuntu works too, but Windows is easier for the first step)
• A USB drive (16GB+ recommended)
• Basic BIOS knowledge (disable Secure Boot, enable AHCI, etc.)

Step 1: Dump Your Hardware & ACPI (Windows)

First, we need a precise hardware report. This is critical — don’t skip it.

1️⃣ Download Hardware Sniffer

Download Hardware-Sniffer.exe from GitHub:

👉 https://github.com/lzhoang2801/Hardware-Sniffer

Run it as Administrator.

2️⃣ Export Hardware Report

When prompted:

1. Press H → Export hardware report
2. Press A → Dump ACPI tables
3. Quit the program

This will generate:

SysReport/
 ├── Report.json
 └── ACPI/
     ├── *.aml

Keep this folder safe — we’ll need it next.

Step 2: Generate EFI with OpCore-Simplify

Now comes the magic ✨

1️⃣ Clone OpCore-Simplify

git clone https://github.com/lzhoang2801/OpCore-Simplify.git
cd OpCore-Simplify

Run the tool:

python OpCore-Simplify.py

2️⃣ Load Hardware Report

In the menu:

• Choose 1 – Select Hardware Report
• Drag & drop Report.json from SysReport/

3️⃣ Choose macOS Version

When asked for macOS version:

• Usually Tahoe 26 → option 25

(Pick another version only if your hardware requires it.)

4️⃣ Load ACPI Tables

• Drag & drop the SysReport/ACPI folder

5️⃣ Audio Kext Selection

When prompted for audio:

• Choose AppleALC

(This works for most Realtek codecs.)

6️⃣ Generate EFI

Back in the main menu:

• Choose 6 – Generate EFI

After a few seconds, your EFI folder will be ready 🎉

Step 3: Create macOS Installer USB (Windows)

1️⃣ Download macOS .raw Image

Get a vanilla macOS installer image from Olarila:

👉 https://olarila.com/topic/6278-olarila-vanilla-images-macos-installer/

Download the .raw file for your chosen macOS version.

2️⃣ Burn the Image with Rufus

Use Rufus:

• Device → your USB
• Boot selection → Choose any file
• Select the .raw image
• Start

This will create a bootable macOS installer.

Step 4: Replace USB EFI with Generated One

Rufus creates an EFI partition, but Windows doesn’t mount it automatically.

1️⃣ Assign a Drive Letter to EFI

Use DiskGenius (or any alternative):

👉 https://www.diskgenius.com/

• Select the USB
• Assign a drive letter to the EFI partition

2️⃣ Copy EFI Folder

Use Explorer++ (run as admin):

👉 https://explorerplusplus.com/

• Open the USB’s EFI partition
• Delete existing EFI (if any)
• Paste the EFI generated by OpCore-Simplify

Your USB is now ready 🚀

Step 5: Install macOS

• Boot from the USB
• Install macOS normally
• Make sure it boots fully into the desktop before continuing

Step 6: Move EFI to Internal SSD (Important!)

Right now, macOS boots only because of the USB. We need to install EFI onto the internal disk.

1️⃣ Mount EFI Partitions in macOS

Download Hackintool:

👉 https://hackintool.com/

• Open Hackintool

• Go to Disks

• Mount:

  • USB EFI
  • SSD EFI (where macOS is installed)

2️⃣ Copy EFI to SSD

• Copy the EFI folder from the USB
• Paste it into the SSD’s EFI partition

Reboot without the USB — if all goes well, macOS boots normally 🎯

Final Notes

• This method avoids manual OpenCore editing
• ACPI tables are hardware-accurate
• Works great for modern Intel systems
• AMD & laptops may need extra tweaks (future article 👀)

Personal Notes & Caveats

• With Tahoe, dual-monitor setups work out of the box with no extra configuration

• Dual GPU (iGPU + dGPU) is not realistically achievable

  • Prefer using the dGPU
  • AMD GPUs are generally more stable than NVIDIA

• HDMI audio volume cannot be controlled (stuck at 100%)

  • Use MonitorControl: https://filecr.com/macos/monitorcontrol/
  • Or use a USB audio interface for proper volume control