How do I make my macOS detect my Ledger Nano S when plugged in?

Question

There is a section in Ledger's guide (Chapter 3.2.2) to configure your Mac so it will detect your Ledger Nano S.

Could someone write a more descriptive guide for this section?

Answer 1

PLEASE NOTE!!!!!! With the launch of the official 0.13 Beryllium Bullet CLI and GUI wallets, the following guide is now redundant. You should be able to set up the Ledger Nano S without the need to complete this guide.

Part 1 - Check if you have Smart Card Services installed.

1. Open a Finder window. Then press CMD + SHIFT + G. Paste the following into the prompt window and select Go:

/usr/libexec/SmartCardServices/drivers/

2. If Finder can find this folder, then you have Smart Card Services installed and can move onto Part 2. If Finder doesn't find this folder, then you will have to install the the Smart Card Services by choosing the correct installer for the macOS version you are using. You can find the installers here:

https://smartcardservices.github.io/installers/

Once installed, you can move onto Part 2.

Part 2 - Disabling SIP (System Integrity Protection) in order to edit a file.

1. You will need to boot into your Mac's Recovery OS in order to edit a file. To do this, restart your Mac and immediately hold down the CMD + R keys after you hear the Apple startup 'boooong', until you notice you are in the Recovery OS (this will have a light grey background and will look different to your usual user account desktop). Ignore the macOS Utilities window and move onto point 2.

2. Launch Terminal from the Utilities menu.

3. Enter the following command and press Return:

csrutil disable

4. Restart your Mac.

5. Once restarted, open a Terminal window and type:

csrutil status

Press Return and you should see the following message:

System Integrity Protection status: disabled.

If it says that it's enabled then you may have to repeat Part 2.

Part 3 - Editing a file.

1. Open a Terminal window and paste this command:

sudo nano /usr/libexec/SmartCardServices/drivers/ifd-ccid.bundle/Contents/Info.plist

Press Return and you will get asked for your user password. Enter it and press Return. You will then enter the editor.

2. Using your down arrow key (or you might be able to scroll using your mouse), scroll down the file until you see:

<key>ifdVendorID</key>

Immediately following this, you will see there is an <array> tag. Inside the <array> tag there are many <string> tags on separate lines. Begin to scroll down the <string> tags until you get to the last one inside the <array>. Move the cursor after the last closing </string> tag and press Return to go onto a new line.

3. Press the Tab key twice to indent the cursor and then paste/type the following:

<string>0x2C97</string>

4. Immediately after the closing </array> tag, you will see the following:

<key>ifdProductID</key>

Like before, begin to scroll down the <string> tags until you get to the last one.

5. After the final </string> tag, make a new line, indent twice and paste the following:

<string>0x0001</string>

6. Immediately after the closing </array> tag, you will see the following:

<key>ifdFriendlyName</key>

Like before, begin to scroll down the <string> tags until you get to the last one.

7. After the final </string> tag, make a new line, indent twice and paste the following:

<string>Ledger Token</string>

8. To save/write out the file, press CTRL + O. Then press Return. The file has been saved.

9. Press CTRL + X to exit the editor and then close Terminal.

Please note: Even if the <string> you need to add already exists, you will still need to add it, despite it being a duplicate.

Part 4 - Enabling SIP (System Integrity Protection) to restore Mac OS security.

1. Once again, boot to the Recovery OS by restarting your machine (see Part 2.1 for this explanation).

2. Launch Terminal from the Utilities menu.

3. Enter the following command and press Return:

csrutil enable

4. Restart your Mac.

5. You can check that SIP has been enabled by opening up a new Terminal window and typing:

csrutil status

Press Return and you see the following message:

System Integrity Protection status: enabled.

If the status is disabled, then you will need to redo Part 4, otherwise your Mac might be at risk.

6. You are now ready to generate a wallet from your Ledger Nano S.

Further information

Configuring SIP

Answer 2

In case anyone wants extra validation that these steps are safe:

here are ledger's instructions for the same