GCAdapterDriver enables Gamecube™ controller adapters on macOS.
Easy install - no recovery mode needed!
Easy install - no recovery mode needed!
This driver is 100% free, but if you'd like to show support, consider a small donation to a charity I started to help families in the DC Metro area that are battling childhood leukemia.
On an older OS?
Versions before High Sierra can grab the source (or a pre-built passthrough-kext) at the source repository.
/Library/Extensions folder to ensure the installation went correctly. You should see a GCAdapterDriver extension in there; if not, re-run the installer package.If you're using a Lossless adapter, you should try the beta version (1.7) of GCAdapterDriver. You can download it here. If you previously installed GCAdapterDriver, make sure to remove the old one first and reboot your machine afterwards to ensure the removal took place correctly.
Feedback and/or bug reports for this build are more than welcome! This driver will only ever work on macOS versions 11.0+.
It really just means increasing the polling rate on the adapter. The default poll rate tends to be 125hz; increasing the poll rate can help situations where you might not catch inputs as frequently as you want.
Not yet, but it should be coming in an update. You could technically install the kernel extension in Big Sur with some Terminal.app magic (by disabling System Integrity Protection), but it's not recommended nor documented here.
You can add it as a Login Item in your System Preferences, under the Users & Groups item.
macOS 11.0+:
Just install the new version, replacing the old version, then run the app and click "Activate".
macOS 10.x:
The version on this site is likely the only version being released for older OS versions, so you realistically should never need to upgrade.
With that said, just re-run the installer. If you hit conflicts, go through the Uninstall explanation on this page to clear your system before re-running.
macOS 11.0+:
Move the app to the Trash, then clear your Trash. You can optionally disable the driver from within the app if you want to just stop the detection without removing the app itself.
macOS 10.x:
A bit trickier! You can copy and paste the following commands into a Terminal.app instance.
sudo kextunload /Library/Extensions/GCAdapterDrive*.kext
sudo rm -rf /Library/Extensions/GCAdapterDrive*.kext
You may also want to reboot after this.
Starting in macOS Catalina, Apple has moved to deprecate the older Kernel Extension (.kext) interface in favor of DriverKit. The big difference is that drivers now run in what's known as user-space, as opposed to Kernel Extensions, which ran inside the core kernel of the OS. The Big Sur port of GCAdapterDriver is written in DriverKit, and will be more future-proof as a result.
Some people might have an older extension installed that's known as SmashEnabler, created by jackaolan. While this extension works fine for older versions of macOS where kernel extensions are allowed, it will likely stop working at some point in the future. SmashEnabler was also never digitally signed to work without disabling System Integrity Protection (which, to be clear: was never the author's fault).
GCAdapterDriver is signed, which means you don't have to disable System Integrity Protection in order to get your adapter to detect properly, and doesn't leave your Mac in an insecure state.
As a result of being properly signed, GCAdapterDriver should also persist across system reboots, even on systems with a T2 chip (these systems would periodically evict the extension from the boot cache if the extension was not signed).
If you've previously installed a driver such as SmashEnabler, you can remove it by running the following commands:
sudo kextunload /Library/Extensions/SmashEnabler.kextsudo rm -rf /Library/Extensions/SmashEnabler.kext
It is highly recommended that you copy and paste the commands into your Terminal.
osx-wiiu-gcc-adapter (by mitchdzugan, and further forked and developed by area) is an older driver that some users might have encountered. While it did enable controller usage as a general device, if you were only using it for specific apps, you may want to remove it as it might conflict with GCAdapterDriver.
Chances are most users do not have this installed, as it predates macOS High Sierra. With that said, it's possible it's been grandfathered into a system over OS updates, so there's instructions here on how to remove it.
It is highly recommended that you copy and paste the commands into your Terminal.
sudo kextunload /Library/Extensions/WiiuGCCAdapter.kextsudo rm -rf /Library/Extensions/WiiuGCCAdapter.kextsudo rm /Library/LaunchAgents/com.area.gamecubeAdapter.plistwiiu-gc-adapter in your Applications folder, you can Trash it.gcusbadapter_osx (by hjelmn) is an older driver that some users might have encountered. It actually had two forms - the first acted similar to GCAdapterDriver, and the latter expanded on it to expose the device as a virtual device. If you installed this in the past and never removed it, you might want to - it could conflict with GCAdapterDriver if left installed.
It is highly recommended that you copy and paste the commands into your Terminal.
sudo kextunload /Library/Extensions/gcusbadapter_raw.kextsudo rm -rf /Library/Extensions/gcusbadapter_raw.kextsudo kextunload /Library/Extensions/gcusbadapter.kextsudo rm -rf /Library/Extensions/gcusbadapter.kextDisabling System Integrity Protection (SIP) has security implications for your machine. If you previously disabled SIP, you should consider re-enabling it unless you're sure you know what you're doing and want it off. Follow the instructions below for your given architecture to do so.
M1 Machines:
csrutil enableIntel Machines:
CMD + R until Recovery Mode appears.csrutil enableBug reports are welcome over at the Source Repository.