I have worked for several hours with the config.plist offered by
@CaseySJ as well as the FB patch offered by
@jaymonkey
Thanks to ALL of you for your support thus far. I am determined to see this through. We need this information for future 'toshers. So, I will learn as I go and, help as much as I can.
Progress report...
Initially, the system would not boot with the config provided by
@CaseySJ . So, I determined to find out exactly what setting was causing it to freeze. I started with my base config.plist and, added each setting one-at-a-time and rebooted. There were times when one setting would cause a freeze. But, when used in conjunction with a known "white hat" setting, it worked fine. So, based on this tedious methodology. We found a "black hat" in the bunch.
Aaaaand the winner is
->Acpi -> "Plugin Type". When checked, the system freezes just as IGPU should be initialized. And, right after Ethernet initializes.
All other settings get 'er booted up. So, Just for kicks, I restored the setting again. I can confirm that this is the check that soils the bed. (Although, I have no idea what it really does.)
I have attached that config.plist in the EFI.zip attached. I still have some cleanup to do with unneeded drivers and kext files in /L/E/ also per
@CaseySJ. That will be job #1 tomorrow. But, getting this far has used up all available time for today. It is (again) midnight here.
This EFI has been successfully booted MANY, many times. So, I know it gets me into a working system.
What's improved?
GUI now loads in full UHD4K
Intel Gbe is working fully now.
What doesn't work?
Of course, full video features/acceleration
QuickView and Preview (which did work before)
Shut Down and Restart
Many USB Ports (Another job for tomorrow per the dreaded SSDT learning curve)
I have tried to boot off of the
MacMini8,1 SMB several times. It's just not happening ATM. Perhaps when I get better with the FB stuff, I can comprehend what
@jaymonkey has shared with us. For now, iMac18,3 is the only one that works for this system.
I tried this Video patch offered by
@jaymonkey . Which resulted in a lock/freeze at the "GIOsomething??? This is usually a sign that the GPU has initialized. And, usually, I get the GUI a few seconds later... But, It did not proceed any further on several attempts.
Removing the HDMI connection and replacing it after a few seconds did not change anything. (But, the verbose display DID restore after reconnecting. THAT hasn't happened before. Usually, it just stays dark after a disconnect/reconnect.
I also tried this patch with DP with identical results.
Again, I will be back on this tomorrow as time permits. I have a feeling that the Video is the hardest part of this build. Maybe, just maybe... ACPI will cooperate and USB can be relatively easy to sort.
-----------------------_fb-patch attempted ----------------------
Code:
<key>Properties</key>
<dict>
<key>PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x2, 0x0)</key>
<dict>
<key>AAPL,ig-platform-id</key>
<data>
BwCbPg==
</data>
<key>device-id</key>
<data>
mz4AAA==
</data>
<key>enable-hdmi20</key>
<data>
AQAAAA==
</data>
<key>framebuffer-con0-busid</key>
<data>
AQAAAA==
</data>
<key>framebuffer-con0-enable</key>
<data>
AQAAAA==
</data>
<key>framebuffer-con0-pipe</key>
<data>
EgAAAA==
</data>
<key>framebuffer-con0-type</key>
<data>
AAgAAA==
</data>
<key>framebuffer-con1-busid</key>
<data>
AgAAAA==
</data>
<key>framebuffer-con1-enable</key>
<data>
AQAAAA==
</data>
<key>framebuffer-con1-index</key>
<data>
/////w==
</data>
<key>framebuffer-con1-pipe</key>
<data>
EgAAAA==
</data>
<key>framebuffer-con1-type</key>
<data>
BAAAAA==
</data>
<key>framebuffer-con2-enable</key>
<data>
AQAAAA==
</data>
<key>framebuffer-con2-pipe</key>
<data>
EgAAAA==
</data>
<key>framebuffer-patch-enable</key>
<data>
AQAAAA==
</data>
<key>framebuffer-pipecount</key>
<data>
AgAAAA==
</data>
</dict>
</dict>
