[Guide] HP 6300 Pro / HP 8300 Elite - A 100 percent Working and Easily Affordable CustoMac

[pastrychef]

Hey,
Pleasure to help a little in return to what I've learned from contributors sharing their time an knowledge for the community

Keep on good job guys

I noticed that my system would restart after being asleep for a while after adding the DSDT. So, I went back and added the SMBUS patch and now the system is sleeping fine again.

Edit:
Btw, the old PCI slot (not PCI-e) is now also functioning!!

 

[edelton]

Hi Everyone,

I mistakenly deleted my macOS partition in windows but i still have the recovery partition which clover recognizes.... i don't have any real macs available to re-download macOS again.... so my question is Can i use the recovery partition to download macOS and install through the installer????? or do i need to get a real mac to redownload macOS???

 

[glassman2004]

Hi Guys
Thanks once again for a superb guide. I managed to find two USDT Elite 8300s for less than £250 including 4Gb and 8Gb memory, DVD writer and 500Gb HDDs in superb condition. One had W7 Pro and the other W8.1 Pro which I quickly upgraded free to W10 Pro (just in time before MS stopped it.). That one I have kept as a W10 machine, the other is now a Hack with a new (secondhand) i7-3770s processor and both machines now have 8Gb memory. I haven't found the money for a mSSD yet but perhaps in time... Cheapest computers I have ever bought! They are SO.. quiet and run cool and the footprint is tiny. The hack works fine except that I have not got DisplayPort audio yet, although the outputs are listed in SystemPrefs>Sound - could be a cable, will have to check further. The front audio works fine with headphones. Very pleased - more power to your elbow!

 

[trs96]

Changing Video Option ROM section of the Guide
​

In the original version of the guide (Step 3) I had recommended this BIOS change. I want a number of HP 6300/8300 owners to test this before I omit that from the guide in post #1.

Advanced → Option Rom → Video Option Rom → UEFI Only - Press the F10 key to accept the change. Save and Exit.
Makes your Clover Bootloader screen look normal, not stretched and distorted. If your monitor is 1080p the Clover Bootloader will be displayed at 1080p also. Will cause a black screen at boot up with a GT630/640 etc. Having the Clover Bootloader screen display at full resolution is just cosmetic, it looks nicer but that's about it. So leave the Video Option Rom setting on Legacy if you'll use dual or triple monitors.

So I need some testers that are still running Sierra and not using the VOR UEFI only setting. Under the secure boot configuration tab, change legacy support to Disabled. Then see if when you boot up see if the Clover Boot Mgr. screen is in full 1080p and not stretched. If you have dual or triple monitors and not able to change VOR to UEFI only, try this and report back if it works for you. Thanks in advance.


Change legacy support to Disabled under Secure Boot Config.
Even if you have a single monitor and Nvidia Pascal GPU, 710, 1030 or 1050, give this a try and see what happens at the CBM screen. It's still required to keep legacy enabled if you have an older Nvidia GT graphics card like the GT210 or other older Nvidia.

 

[Micalllee]

I'd be happy to give this a try. I'm still running Sierra, using dual monitors on my GT710. I'll have to check my BIOS as I set up my computer well before this guide was started, so I may not have all of the recommended settings.

Two questions:

(1) Is there any way to check my BIOS settings other than rebooting to the BIOS?

(2) What is leading to this change? Specifically, is there anything I need to do (like update Clover) before I make the change?

Changing Video Option ROM section of the Guide
​

In the original version of the guide (Step 3) I had recommended this BIOS change. It looks like it won't be necessary anymore. I want a number of HP 6300/8300 owners to test this before I omit that from the guide in post #1.

So I need some testers that are still running Sierra and using the VOR UEFI only setting. What you should do is go into BIOS, change the VOR setting back to legacy. Under the secure boot configuration tab, change legacy support to Disabled. Then see if when you boot up see if the Clover Boot Mgr. screen is in full 1080p and not stretched. If you have dual or triple monitors, try this and report back if it works for you. Thanks in advance.

View attachment 305909
Change legacy support to Disabled under Secure Boot Config.
Even if you have a single monitor and Nvidia Pascal GPU, 710, 1030 or 1050, give this a try and see what happens at the CBM screen. It's still required to keep legacy enabled if you have an older Nvidia GT graphics card like the GT210 or other older Nvidia.

 

[trs96]

I'd be happy to give this a try. I'm still running Sierra, using dual monitors on my GT710. I'll have to check my BIOS as I set up my computer well before this guide was started, so I may not have all of the recommended settings.

Two questions:

(1) Is there any way to check my BIOS settings other than rebooting to the BIOS?

(2) What is leading to this change? Specifically, is there anything I need to do (like update Clover) before I make the change?

I tested this setting with an install of High Sierra and it works much better in that scenario. The version of Clover you are using should not matter. I want to see if there is an advantage to this approach with those running dual or triple monitors. I don't think it will work but would like to know if it does. You have to reboot to BIOS to make this change. If you can't boot with 2 or more monitors attached and legacy support disabled, simply disconnect all but one and then boot to BIOS and change the setting back to what it was (legacy support enabled).

 

[Micalllee]

I tested this setting with an install of High Sierra and it works much better in that scenario. The version of Clover you are using should not matter. I want to see if there is an advantage to this approach with those running dual or triple monitors. I don't think it will work but would like to know if it does. You have to reboot to BIOS to make this change. If you can't boot with 2 or more monitors attached simply disconnect all but one and then boot.

OK. I'll try to get to that in the next few days. I'd been meaning to reboot anyway to create a DSDT to start looking in to switching to AppleALC audio (the DSDT, I'm aware, will change based on BIOS settings.)

 

[trs96]

OK. I'll try to get to that in the next few days. I'd been meaning to reboot anyway to create a DSDT to start looking in to switching to AppleALC audio (the DSDT, I'm aware, will change based on BIOS settings.)

Great to hear. When I connect a second monitor (LG TV actually) I can't boot UEFI. But with only one monitor attached it does work. I then plug the HDMI cable into the LG and I've got working dual monitors. Legacy support is disabled in BIOS as well as the Legacy Option ROM setting changed to UEFI only.

 

[Micalllee]

OK, I rebooted to check the settings I've been using. They are:

Advanced->Option ROM->PXE->Do Not Launch
Advanced->Option ROM->Storage Option ROMs->Do Not Launch
Advanced->Option ROM->Video Option ROMs->Legacy Only

Security->Secure Boot Config->Legacy Support->Enabled
Security->Secure Boot Config->Secure Boot->Disabled

I'm on firmware v02.90 and Clover 4128. You'd like me to change Legacy Support to Disabled and see how this affects the Clover boot screen, correct?

Is there a way to take screenshots while I'm in the BIOS or at the Clover splash screen, or do I just need to snap a picture?

 

[edelton]

Hi Everyone,
I mistakenly deleted my macOS partition in windows but i still have the recovery partition which clover recognizes.... i don't have any real macs available to re-download macOS again.... so my question is Can i use the recovery partition to download macOS and install through the installer????? or do i need to get a real mac to redownload macOS???