vphone
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      • Boot ROMs

      Choose which boot ROM and SEP boot ROM a VM starts from. Use this page to check which ROMs a VM uses or to switch between the open-source ROMs and Apple's.

      Check and switch

      vphone-cli vm info myphone                                    # shows rom and seprom
vphone-cli vm config myphone --rom openavb --seprom opensep   # open-source ROMs
vphone-cli vm config myphone --rom apple --seprom apple       # Apple's ROMs

      A switch applies from the VM's next start, without a restore, in either direction.

      OptionValueROM
      --romopenavbThe bundle's OpenAVB
      --romappleVirtualization.framework's AVPBooter (the machine's own patched copy when it has one)
      --roma file pathAny other boot ROM
      --sepromopensepThe bundle's OpenSEP
      --sepromappleVirtualization.framework's AVPSEPBooter
      --seproma file pathAny other SEP boot ROM

      Both boot ROMs load the same patched LLB, and both SEP ROMs load the SEP firmware the restore installed, which is why no restore is needed.

      Info

      Restoring a VM that boots OpenAVB needs VPhone.bundle 2.10.1 or newer.

      Which ROMs a VM uses

      New VMs start from two open-source ROMs instead of the closed ones in Virtualization.framework:

      • OpenAVB replaces AVPBooter, the boot ROM. It needs no patch, so fw patch leaves it alone.
      • OpenSEP replaces AVPSEPBooter, the SEP boot ROM.

      With both, nothing Apple wrote runs before iBoot and SEPOS. VMs created by earlier versions keep Apple's ROMs until you switch them.

      Where the ROMs come from

      Both ship in VPhone.bundle, prebuilt from pinned upstream commits. Each one's README says how to rebuild it and check it byte for byte:

      For the details, see the research notes on OpenAVB and OpenSEP.

      See also