[Guide] El Capitan on the Skylake H170N-WIFI

[Robhawthorn]

Back after a few days. Going through and optimizing the audio/sleep fixes now. I have noticed one problem related to the bootup that I haven't seen elsewhere. As follows:

1) Am unable to boot up to disk unless F12 at start - letting the default run shows no boot up disk selected:?

2) When I F12 to select boot disk after shutting down from working boot, gives me multiples of the same partition:


each reboot creates a new duplicate partition and adds it to the list, 9 partitions = 9th shut off -> turn on



After rebooting from the boot menu, I get the "UEFI OS" option- the one I'm looking for. I boot from this one, ignoring the duplicate partitions.

Anyone else experiencing this problem?

 

[Robhawthorn]

@Robhawthorn ... Do you have any issues waking your monitors from 'monitor sleep'? not a full PC sleep, but simply turning off the displays using a hotcorner?

I am currently experiencing the issue that I can't wake up my monitor from a monitor off state. With an Intel HD 530.

Not much I can say here as I haven't really bothered with sleep. I just shut everything down when i'm done. I believe the problem you are seeing is pretty common however and may already have a fix available. Search this thread a little harder and let me know what you find.

**Working on implementing the audio HDMI fix now and will update post when working successfully. See http://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/audio-hdmi-audio-applehda-guide.143760/ for more details or if experiencing similar issue

 

[Robhawthorn]

Hi,

First of all great guide. I have most things working properly without too much difficulty.

I am using the Z170N-WIFI (almost identical to the H170N-WIFI I believe) with 16GB (2 x 8GB) of Crucial PC-19200 2400 RAM, internal graphics, and not much else different from the recommended configuration. Internal Intel graphics plays 4k video fine without artifacts on a 2560x1440 monitor. A custom install of HWMonitor (with CPUSensors) allows the CPU temperature, fan speeds, voltages etc. to be read.

On the memory front, contrary to what someone wrote earlier, Clover is not correctly detecting my DDR4 RAM. The way I got this working was to configure Slot 0 and Slot 2 (sic) for the RAM I'd bought, ensuring they were set to DDR4. Then specify "Dual channel" and 4 slots. All this is in the guide. However, you need to enter a part number AND serial number or it doesn't seem to work. The result is almost perfect, save for the fact that 'About My Mac' thinks I have 4 slots when I have 2 (i.e. it sees 2 slots each with 8GB of RAM in, and two empty). Minor issue and only cosmetic. Any ideas?

Some questions:

1. I'd like Bluetooth. Is there (since the guide was written) any sign of a working driver for the internal bluetooth? I know the WiFi driver is a little way away, but I thought Bluetooth should work. I could buy the Broadcom BCM94352Z DW1560 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WLAN + Bluetooth card (and subsequently install the driver I guess). But shouldn't the bluetooth (only) work over the (internal) USB to the Intel based card? In System Report I see some Bluetooth Hardware, but suspiciously with a hardware address of 00-00-00-00-00-00 which isn't going to work; the firmware version of 255.0 (37.605408) also looks suspicious, and I wonder whether it is not loading the firmware. It can't discover anything nor can it be discovered. I did not initially do any of the bluetooth changes described in the guide as those were labelled as only for the replacement Broadcom based card; on the basis the bluetooth USB chip might have been Broadcom too, I installed the kexts with KextBeast but to no effect.
   
   
2. Is there a way of getting audio over HDMI (using the integrated graphics) without breaking the existing audio? (the guide referenced here says it breaks the existing jack audio).
   
   
3. I need to use VT-d to use virtualisation software that takes advantage of VT-d (I am aware VT-x is the minimum requirement here, not VT-d, but I want to do PCI passthrough etc). Can that be safely enabled in the BIOS?
   
   
4. Is it safe to upgrade El Capitan or do I need to do something special?

A

#4 this thread is about installing El Cap on the H170N. Based on your post, you are running an OS that is not El Cap. I think there's another thread out there for you if you're looking to update.

Side note: If your RAM isn't recognized try updating Clover, removing all memory references in your config SMBIOS and just checking the Trust box, then rebooting. Worked for me and was figured out in an earlier post

 

[mhatayama]

Back after a few days. Going through and optimizing the audio/sleep fixes now. I have noticed one problem related to the bootup that I haven't seen elsewhere. As follows:

1) Am unable to boot up to disk unless F12 at start - letting the default run shows no boot up disk selected:?

2) When I F12 to select boot disk after shutting down from working boot, gives me multiples of the same partition:

View attachment 198331
each reboot creates a new duplicate partition and adds it to the list, 9 partitions = 9th shut off -> turn on

View attachment 198330

After rebooting from the boot menu, I get the "UEFI OS" option- the one I'm looking for. I boot from this one, ignoring the duplicate partitions.

Anyone else experiencing this problem?

You can find both the quick remedy and the permanent fix of this problem here.

 

[alalal]

#4 this thread is about installing El Cap on the H170N. Based on your post, you are running an OS that is not El Cap. I think there's another thread out there for you if you're looking to update.

Don't know what makes you think that. I am running 10.11.5 (El Capitan). The last point is about 'upgrading El Capitan' (e.g. between 10.11.5 and 10.11.6 when it is out), not 'upgrading to El Capitan', as I'm already running that.

#4
Side note: If your RAM isn't recognized try updating Clover, removing all memory references in your config SMBIOS and just checking the Trust box, then rebooting. Worked for me and was figured out in an earlier post

As per text ("Clover is not correctly detecting my DDR4 RAM") , this didn't work. It only recognised 8GB of 16GB if I did that. Hence I had to select the chips manually (which is what the guide advises). My point was that it isn't clear that you need to fill in the part numbers and serial numbers even though they are marked as optional, or it doesn't work.

 

[alalal]

Back after a few days. Going through and optimizing the audio/sleep fixes now. I have noticed one problem related to the bootup that I haven't seen elsewhere. As follows:

1) Am unable to boot up to disk unless F12 at start - letting the default run shows no boot up disk selected:?

2) When I F12 to select boot disk after shutting down from working boot, gives me multiples of the same partition:

View attachment 198331
each reboot creates a new duplicate partition and adds it to the list, 9 partitions = 9th shut off -> turn on

View attachment 198330

After rebooting from the boot menu, I get the "UEFI OS" option- the one I'm looking for. I boot from this one, ignoring the duplicate partitions.

Anyone else experiencing this problem?

Yes, I saw that. Go into BIOS, clear all the boot options out, and then add ONLY the UEFI boot from the partition that works (i.e. the one with UEFI in the name that works when you selected it via F12).

Note this is a 'too many BIOS boot options' problem we're fixing, not a 'too many Clover boot options' problem.

 

[Foow9]

Not sure if anyone can help.

I am trying to install on a Gigabyte Z170n Wifi (which I understand some people are using). Problem is that I try to install of the USB drive, i get to the utility screen but it cannot see my PCIE m.2 drive (a samsung 256gb). I am using an 8gb USB drive (already started when I read i needed 16gb), but it seemed to just fit... any help would be appreciated.

 

[billotinbox]

Has anyone got any idea how to config the clove to enable two monitors working on this build?

I have this problem when both are connected using HDMI, or one with HDMI the other with DVI.
When boot the system, the screens looks like this.... annoying...

Can anyone help? Thank you!!

 

[alalal]

Has anyone got any idea how to config the clove to enable two monitors working on this build?

I have this problem when both are connected using HDMI, or one with HDMI the other with DVI.
When boot the system, the screens looks like this.... annoying...

Can anyone help? Thank you!!

I see the same, except on the second monitor (which I think is the one on the left in the picture) I see random white noise.

I am using integrated Intel 530 graphics with a Skylake i7 processor - are you?

 

[rerijaapps]

Hello guys. I have a GA-Z170N-WIFI, 8GB RAM (One Slot), 250GB of SSD, I5 6400.

When i'm triying to boot the Installer, the Verbose Mode Stuck On: AMFILoadTrustedKeysFromNVRam: no vram variable :S

Help please and Thanks for the Guide!