Guide for Gigabyte H/Z97N-WIFI Using HD4600 or GTX 750 Ti Using Clover (El Capitan)

[benjyvc]

I recently built a Windows 10 PC into a mini-ITX with H97N-WIFI mobo, i7-4790K CPU, and GTX 980 Ti GPU. I followed the clear instructions to Hector's build, thanks for the thorough write up, updated BIOS from F7 to F8, no issues; created the bootable USB installer for El Capitan 10.11.2 and loaded MultiBeast and the assortment of related files per instructions to Hector. I disconnected several SSD drives devoted to Windows, left a fourth SSD connected to house Mac OS X, also disconnected the GTX 980 Ti, this to simplify the basic install, but also to provide greater physical access to the mobo while testing. (At one point I lost total access to BIOS, shorting the pins to Clear CMOS didn't do it, disconnecting all drives didn't do it, had to pull the CMOS battery for 1/2 hour before bringing BIOS back. Cabling for 5 SSDs and the rest inside mini-ITX and this GTX card is super tight, so figured leaving things open and pared down was the most efficient workflow, no?) I then configured BIOS settings, only ran into a couple questions there.

By the checkbox, 'BIOS Features > Boot Option Priorities <--- Set this to the UEFI version of the UniBeast USB tumb drive' my BIOS Features tab has 'Boot Option Priorities' at the top, but then I see no option displayed (see attached photo, ignore Boot Option Priority setting, this was changed to UEFI only). Given the USB installer was recognized on restart POST F12, I figure it's a non-issue, yes?

The second question is more to confirm I got this right, 'BIOS Features > VT-d Disable <--- for non K processors...' My processor is Intel Core i7 4790K, so I left this Enabled, correct?

On restart I reached the Clover screen and encountered another minor question, what to do with 'nv_disable=1'. Since I left the GTX 980 Ti card out, I figured this wouldn't be necessary, could first install the Nvidia drivers per instructions, then connect the card and all should be good, no? For what it's worth, I'm unclear how to invoke the 'nv_disable=1' command line. I tried doing this in Shell, but this didn't seem to take. I tried hitting the space bar in Clover and looking for that flag, thought I saw something like this before, but couldn't find it again. Thanks for a tip and for clarification if this even matters in my case.

Okay, so I then forged ahead and attempted launching from the bootable USB, Apple logo came up, progress bar ran through all the way and hung there for an hour. I then ran in verbose mode and repeated the exercise, taking a photo at the end (see attached). Thanks for guidance!

If I've been overly verbose, sorry for the time suck, but reading the forum rules it seems the easiest way to get clear answers here is to provide equal clarity in posing the questions. Big thanks in advance.

P.S. BTW, I noticed if you attempt selecting two images at a time for uploading, the Manage Attachments utility somehow rotates both images 180°, weird, thought it worth pointing out.

 

[Stork]

...I then configured BIOS settings, only ran into a couple questions there.

By the checkbox, 'BIOS Features > Boot Option Priorities <--- Set this to the UEFI version of the UniBeast USB tumb drive' my BIOS Features tab has 'Boot Option Priorities' at the top, but then I see no option displayed (see attached photo, ignore Boot Option Priority setting, this was changed to UEFI only). Given the USB installer was recognized on restart POST F12, I figure it's a non-issue, yes?

Strange, but you are correct - it's a non issue.

The second question is more to confirm I got this right, 'BIOS Features > VT-d Disable <--- for non K processors...' My processor is Intel Core i7 4790K, so I left this Enabled, correct?

Disable "for non K processors and the new Haswell Refresh "K" and non "K" processors. You have a Haswell processor so you need to change it to Disable.

On restart I reached the Clover screen and encountered another minor question, what to do with 'nv_disable=1'. Since I left the GTX 980 Ti card out, I figured this wouldn't be necessary, could first install the Nvidia drivers per instructions, then connect the card and all should be good, no? For what it's worth, I'm unclear how to invoke the 'nv_disable=1' command line. I tried doing this in Shell, but this didn't seem to take. I tried hitting the space bar in Clover and looking for that flag, thought I saw something like this before, but couldn't find it again. Thanks for a tip and for clarification if this even matters in my case.

Since you removed the graphics card, you don't need the nv_disable=1 boot flag until you install the nVidia web driver. Boot flags are entered by clicking on the gears icon at the Clover boot screen. Arrow to the "Boot Argu", it return and then enter a boot flag like nv_disable=1. Then, type the Return/Enter key and arrow down to the Return to select it and Return/Enter to return to the Clover boot screen.

Okay, so I then forged ahead and attempted launching from the bootable USB, Apple logo came up, progress bar ran through all the way and hung there for an hour. I then ran in verbose mode and repeated the exercise, taking a photo at the end (see attached).

Hmmm. The only thing that comes to mind is to make sure your BIOS setup is like that in the guide and use the Rear Panel in the same stack as the P/S port for your UniBeast USB installer.

P.S. BTW, I noticed if you attempt selecting two images at a time for uploading, the Manage Attachments utility somehow rotates both images 180°, weird, thought it worth pointing out.

I asked. This appears to be a bug in the forum's software. It happens to large (screen snapshot) graphics files that use the file extension .JPG (in all caps). So, take your screen snapshots into Preview and save them as a .png file with a density that's more conducive to viewing from a web page.

 

[benjyvc]

Thanks for response, didn't realize my 4790K was Haswell. The keyboard and bootable USB are in the rear panel USB 2.0 ports. I went back into BIOS to set VT-d to Disable, double-checked all the settings, and now mysteriously the option for UEFI shows under Boot Mode Selection. I saved the change in BIOS, booted into Clover and launched from the installer, alas seeing the same behavior, progress bar appears 100% complete and just sits there. How long should I give that before we know it's not going to take? Now that I've disabled VT-d, is it useful to run once more in verbose mode and image the last screen? I take it you saw nothing unusual in the previous last screen, but I'm curious if where it stopped says anything at all to you, like that the installer either ran to the very end (and for whatever reason doesn't want to bring up the El Capitan install screen) or has yet to perform certain operations.

I'm out of ideas. With your 7,411 posts here and all you've seen I surely hope you've got a couple left in you

After a couple hours of the stuck progress bar, I went ahead and ran again in verbose mode, in the event it kicks anything new out, see attached. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[benjyvc]

Hello Sir Stork, am checking in to see if you caught my last update and whether you had any ideas how I might proceed in troubleshooting my issue. My hardware lines up with what you describe, I've methodically followed the yellow brick road, seems I've cleared those last couple items you pointed out, so what's missing? Is there something I'm not telling you, don't know to tell you, that possibly misleads you from the culprit? For instance, are there any designations in the hardware spec I'm leaving out that could explain things, e.g. see longer specs like socket and this and that behind my mobo and GPU. Is there a point I can back up to and start over with know variables, maybe the El Capitan version has moved on and changed the game? (I believe this latest v used to build my installer is OS X 10.11.2)

Anyway, thanks if you can spare the time to help me press on. I've been at this for a couple weeks now and beginning to wonder if my hackintosh just isn't meant to be.

Big thanks.

 

[Stork]

benjyvc,
I think it's your GTX 980 Ti card that might be the problem for the initial installation. Did you remove it and try the on-board only installation? If not, I'd try that first. If this approach works, then you can install MultiBeast and the nVidia Web driver, shut down, re-install the card and boot up.

 

[benjyvc]

Yeah, I thought about that, have left the 980 Ti disconnected this whole time with the idea to add the driver later. It's something else. What on earth?

 

[JRDN]

Hello! Thanks for the guide!

I'm working up to upgrading to El Cap. Could I use system definition iMac15,1? I am using a 4690S on my Z97N system and according to Everymac.com this 5k model uses the 4690 i5. Whereas the 14,1 definition doesn't have the 4690 listed

Is there any reason why should't use 15,1 and use 14,1 instead? I'm just using HD4600 no graphics card

Thanks!

 

[Rankel]

I am running into a problem that I have never seen in many years of building these things. Clover loads, I select the usb installer, it displays the initial screen shown below, and right when I expect it to start loading files and such, it reboots.

Board: GA-H97N-WiFi
Bios: F8
CPU: 4690k / i3-4150
RAM: Balistic tracer 2gb / Adata 2gb
PSU : silverstone 450W Gold

I followed the guide in post #1, preparing the USB with my mac pro. I used the i3 mentioned above, and at first I figured the USB was created poorly, but since it took hours to make, i threw it into my Z97MX-Gaming5 4960k computer, and it made it to the installer no problem. I thought perhaps the installer did not like the HD4400 in the i3, so I swapped out the i3 for the i5, but that made no difference.

I swapped the ram with the ram in the gaming 5 board, no difference

I tried using -x for safe mode, no difference.

I tried launching a mavericks/chimera installer I had, it makes it most of the way through but gives me a KEXTD kernel panic, and booting in safe mode produces a reboot after it has loaded most of the way to the installer.

I found one other post that described behavior like mine, and it mentioned a possible solution of using legacy mode, so I recreated the installer using legacy mode and changed the bios setting to legacy mode, but the computer does not load the boot loader, just tells me to insert boot media and try again.

I am out of ideas. I don't have the wifi card plugged in, am only running one stick of proven good ram, and the UEFI installer I am using works on similar hardware. I am using the USB 2.0 atop the ps2 ports, but have tried other ports as well. This isn't a complicated setup, in fact just getting to the installer screen is as laid out in the generic guide. Could I have a bad motherboard or something?

 

[Rankel]

Oh, and the system boots into windows OK... Also, creating a 10.10 installer with the exact same unibeast and same USB drive boots the installer with NO issues. I recreated the 10.11 USB and I have the exact same issue, loads the initial screen and reboots the computer.

 

[Rankel]

Ok, I fully installed Yosemite, and attempted to upgrade to el capitan following tonymacs guide. once I select install osx from the clover menu, it does exactly the same thing, loads the initial screen and reboots... I'm very confused.