SOME OF THE Frequently Asked Questions
Q.: What does the Trackpad++ Control Module user interface look like?
A.:Here is a screen shot. (Note: in the most recent version, both the appearance and the features may be different).
- The MacBook Pro 15' was the first MacBook Pro model released in January 2006, and has more models than any other display size. The first 15 inch MacBook Pro shared a lot of design elements from the PowerBook G4, but made use of an Intel processor as opposed to the PowerPC G4 chips.
- All recent MacBook Air (Please report if your model is not supported) MacBook Pro with Retina Display (2013, 2014, 2015, 13-inch & 15-inch) New MacBook (12-inch) MacBook Pro 2015, 2016, 2017 (a few SPI devices are in work-in-progress state) T2-based devices: MacBook Air 2018, MacBook Pro 2017/2018/2019/2020: Use default fallback, experience.
Feb 23, 2018 Connect other end to printer. Once a connection has been established, your printer should appear on the screen menu. If your printer does not appear on the screen menu, you should find and install the proper driver for the printer, but usually, the Macbook Pro does not have to install any software from the printer if it is your first time connecting them.
Q.: Why alternate trackpad driver for Windows 7 / 8 / 10?
A.: Apple trackpads are the perfect, probably world's best, touchpad devices. And the MacOS native driver is good: it unleashes almost all of the amazing trackpad capabilities. But the stock Windows driver provided by Apple for Boot Camp is, unfortunately, very far from being perfect. No support of 3+ finger gestures. No accelerated scrolling (yet the scrolling is too sensitive!). Dragging is just usable. And there is no vital option to ignore accidental input when typing. This is just an incomplete list of the issues every Boot Camp user is experiencing. So, the need of the better trackpad driver is obvious. In fact, if you are asking this question, then probably you have never tried to use Windows on an Apple Macbook Retina / Pro / Air :)
Q.: Do I need to install the Boot Camp drivers first? What are the supported Boot Camp and Windows versions?
A.: Yes, the Boot Camp drivers shall be installed (but normally it's already done automatically by Apple installer, right after you install the Windows). The supported Boot Camp versions are 3.0 - 3.3, 4.0, 4.1, 5.0, 5.1, 6.0 and 6.1
Q.: Which devices except of the Macbook, Macbook Pro and Macbook Air are supported?
A.: NONE. The only supported devices are: Force Touch Macbook Pro 16' Late 2019, Macbook Pro 13' / 15' Mid 2020, Mid 2019, Mid 2018, Mid 2017 and Late 2016, Macbook 12' Early 2015, Early 2016, Mid 2017, Macbook 13' / 15' Early 2015 and Mid 2015; classic Multi Touch models: Macbook Pro (Mid 2009, Mid 2010, Early 2011, Late 2011, Mid 2012 / Retina, Late 2012 / Retina, Early 2013 / Retina, Late 2013 / Retina, Mid 2014 / Retina) and Macbook Air (Late 2010, Mid 2011, Mid 2012, Mid 2013, Early 2014, Early 2015, Mid 2017, Late 2018, Mid 2019, Early 2020).
If you search for a Bluetooth Magic Trackpad / Magic Trackpad 2 driver installer and control panel for Boot Camp or PC, please see the following solution: an ExtraMagic.
Q.: Is it safe to install the Trackpad++? And, just in case, how do I remove the driver?
A.: Yes, it's completely safe to install, especially now when the driver is Microsoft-cross-signed, so its origin and integrity and fully assured. Just follow the simple installation instructions. Also (optional, but recommended step) you can install the Power Plan Assistant software first. In fact, the Trackpad++ does not interfere with any of the Boot Camp drivers installed. Instead, it seamlessly integrates into your existing Boot Camp installation. The setup procedure is transparent and fully automatic. If you would like to remove the Trackpad++ from your system, you can simply uninstall the Control Module (as you do with any Windows application - via Windows Control Panel) and, optionally, roll back to a 'HID-Compliant Mouse' driver via Windows 7 / 8 Device Manager. When the Trackpad++ Control Module is not installed anymore, the system will use the settings of the Boot Camp control panel, as if the Trackpad++ had never been installed.
Q.: Even with Trackpad++, the scrolling in my web browser isn't as smooth as in MacOS (Safari). Any suggestions?
A.: First of all, even in MacOS, other browsers do not provide the same ultra-smooth experience as Safari. So, the question is not just about the trackpad driver settings, but about how each specific browser handles the scrolling events it receives from the driver. For Windows, the answer would be - consider using the Opera or Firefox web browser. These browsers work best with Trackpad++, providing almost as smooth and as intuitive scrolling experience as Safari in MacOS. As to the rest of the browsers, the experience may not be 100% perfect. In any case, the Trackpad++ significantly improves scrolling behavior vs. the Boot Camp driver, so you should get noticeable improvement regardless of the web browser you are using.
Q.: I have got a question which is not listed there! How can I get an answer?
A.: Please feel free to contact us.
Modified Driver for Windows XP
- CirrusAudioXP_Macbook_b.zip 1.0.0.13b (Oct. 27, 2009)
- CirrusAudioXP_Macbook_c.zip 1.0.0.13c (Nov. 1, 2009). Try this if recording still fails with 1.0.0.13b, but it probably won't help.
- Cirrus Logic has a newer XP driver version 1.0.0.38 (Jan., 2011) that is reported to fix audio output problems, but still not record properly.
- Windows Vista and newer: Cirrus has a new driver that should work. Unfortunately, their link is dead, so here's a copy: CS4207_WinVista_Win7_32-64-bit_6-6001-1-30.zip
This driver also works in 32-bit versions of Windows Vista and Windows 7, however there is a newer driver set where the Vista driver seems to be fixed. Windows XP driver 1.0.0.32 is not fixed, while 1.0.0.38 appears to fix audio playback but not recording. New drivers are available from Cirrus Logic.
There are two variants of the driver included:
- Cirrus Logic High Definition Audio [MacBook]
- Cirrus Logic High Definition Audio [MacBook, No S/PDIF Out]
Both versions enable the midrange speaker and corrects the volume. The 'No S/PDIF' version also turns off the S/PDIF optical output.
Installation of the modified driver follows standard procedure: In Device Manager, Update Driver for the Cirrus Logic High Definition Audio device. Don't let Windows search for or do anything automatically. Manually choose to the driver from a list, and use the 'Have Disk...' button.
Summary of Changes
This driver is a modification of clhdaud.sys version 1.0.0.13:
- Enables the third (midrange) speaker in the MacBook Pro.
- Removes the -16dB volume limit on the speakers, and applies it to the headphone output instead.
- The 'No S/PDIF' variant turns off S/PDIF optical output. (New on Aug. 8)
- Fixes recording issues for most sample rates in Windows XP (except 96 kHz). (New in 1.0.0.13b, Oct. 27, 2009)
- The recording problem isn't completely fixed in neither version b nor c. If 1.0.0.13b (96 kHz) doesn't work, try 48 kHz instead. (1.0.0.13c only, Nov. 1, 2009)
Description
As per a thread on Apple Discussions (Very Poor Volume Output - Windows XP), Apple/Cirrus Logic appears to have shipped incorrectly-configured drivers for the MacBook Pro's audio device in Windows XP. Windows Vista uses a different driver and has its own independent set of problems.
In the Windows XP driver, there are two causes of low audio volume:
- The MacBook Pro has three speakers. The midrange speaker was not enabled.
- The speaker amplifier gain is scaled by -16 dB in software, while the headphone amplifier gain isn't.
The modifications to the 1.0.0.13 driver addresses these two issues. (Aug. 8, 2009)
The driver also attempts to correct recording issues (1.0.0.13b, Oct. 27). When recording, depending on the sample rate used, the driver has been observed to up-sample the received audio, returning 2x or 4x as much data as an application expects, leading to distorted audio. Version 1.0.0.13b corrects two instances of buffer overruns in the driver, resulting in most sample rates working correctly.
In the IMiniportWaveCyclic::NewStream handler, the driver rejects requests for new streams for sample rates it does not like. Oddly enough, sample rates that NewStream declares legal will record incorrectly. Version 1.0.0.13b accepts only 96 kHz as a valid sample rate, but this seems to fail in Vista. 1.0.0.13c accepts only 48 kHz instead, which I hope will at least partially work in Vista.
Usb Driver For Macbook Pro
Due to popular demand, the 'No S/PDIF' variant also turns off the digital optical output (red light in the MacBook's headphone port). It will remain disabled even if an optical cable were plugged into the headphone port: The jack detection routine does not control the optical output. The optical input should still be enabled, but I haven't tested it.
This modification of the driver has been tested on the following machines:
- MacBook Pro MC118LL/A (15')
Use at your own risk. Without the driver's source code, I could not ensure that the modifications did not introduce subtle side effects.
Previous Versions
- CirrusAudioXP_Macbook.zip (Aug. 8, 2009)
Hardware Details
Some observations that may be useful for writing drivers for the CS4206A on a MacBook Pro:
- The XP driver sets two of the four GPIO pins to output '1' (0xa for direction[717], data[715], and enable[716]). Pin[3] turns on and off the midrange speaker. I haven't observed any effects from toggling pin[1].
- There are DACs(?) at Node ID 2, 3, 4, and 8. These drive the headphone port, internal midrange speaker (right channel only), two internal stereo high-frequency speakers, and digital output, respectively. The XP driver sets the channel/stream ID[706] and stream format[2xx] for all of these nodes when playing audio. (Unmodified original driver did not set them for NID 3).
- The ADC for the microphone has Node ID 6. 5 seems to be for the Line input, while 7 appears to be the digital input.
- Enabling/disabling S/PDIF output is done using verb 70D (set digital converter control) on NID 8
Macbook Pro Screwdriver
Dvd Player Driver For Macbook Pro
The Intel High Definition Audio specification can be found here.