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[Guide] Aero 15X V8 (High Sierra + Nvidia Graphics, Mojave, Catalina)

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Joined
Sep 25, 2018
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73
Motherboard
Gigabyte Aero 15X V8
CPU
i7-8750H
Graphics
GTX 1070
This guide is now marked as deprecated and was replaced with:
I'm not following this thread anymore, nor I do plan to update it.
I'm leaving this here for historical reasons, and as reference for High Sierra users.


-----

Hi all, I've managed to install High Sierra and Mojave on my Aero 15X V8 and I just want to share this guide with you.
If possible please help me on things that are still not working.

Please note that I made my Hackintosh DSDT patchLESS (yay!) to keep the system as clean as possible and as much as compatible with other systems (your fancy Aero Laptop ;-)).
I wanted to do it as much as compatible with other Aero 15Xs as possible. Therefore, mostly you just need to copy and paste SSDT amls, tweak the configs, and install the kexts.

I will always try to make this very minimal, please let me know if there's anything that is unnecessary with my configs, kexts, DSDT/SSDT patches.
I will always be doing minor tweaks (on the repo mostly, but will update here if needed). Thanks a lot for the forum in general. Got many helpful info here.

For now I'll not add much installation info here, so I'll be sharing only quick summary and the repo that I created for us:
https://github.com/zacmks/Hackintosh-Aero-15X
Which contains:
  • Patches used (USB ports/PM/backlight/battery indicator, etc..)
  • Config (Intel/Nvidia)
  • Kexts
If anyone finds any issues on what I've done, please correct me. Thanks a lot!

What's working
  • CPU/IGPU Power Management
  • Battery indicator
  • Touchpad
  • Ethernet card
  • WiFi + Bluetooth
  • Sound (internal speakers + mic jack on/off)
  • Intel graphics card
  • Built-in display backlight
  • All USB ports (2.0 + 3.0); USB PM
  • Card Reader (USB 3.0)
  • HD Camera (USB 2.0)
  • Keyboard (USB 2.0)
  • Bluetooth (Internal 2.0)
  • Nvidia graphics card (over HDMI) - NOT on Mojave, since we user Nvidia Web Drivers
  • Shutdown/Sleep/Restart
  • Saving/Restoring screen brightness on reboot
Replaced parts:
  • Intel WiFi replaced with Broadcom BCM94352Z (But Dell DW1830/BCM43602 seems to be a better option as it does not have the interruption freeze for Windows users)

Not working/Issues
  • Black screen on boot (stays dark for a few minutes, this is a known issue for Coffee Lake laptops)
  • Need to add keyboard backlight control (volume controls working)
  • Thunderbolt hot-plug (I do have a workaround with unlocked BIOS + SSDT, to be released)
Known issues

- Black screen on boot (stays dark for a few minutes):
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...utes-after-booting-coffeelake-uhd-630.261131/

1- Before we start/info/requirements
Please note that this will be a post-install thread for High Sierra [17G2208] and further versions, with Coffee Lake support.
For the installation, you can use most of the installations guides on the internet (feel free to use my EFI folder setup, it does work good most of the time).

The installed Toshiba NVMe ssd needs to be formatted to 4k sectors, there are plenty of ways of doing this - Windows/Linux, etc.
Please note that when you change the physical block sectors of your SSD, it will erase all your data. So please make sure that you make a backup of all your important data.

The idea of this post is to show what is needed to make each component to work. I will not give a very detailed step-by-step since we have plenty of info in our forum, but will show what guide to follow, a few which steps and some reasoning.

On clover setup, please use OsxAptioFixDrv-64.efi and EmuVariableUefi-64.efi to save your nvram. Also, install the clover rc scripts - Native NVRam now with SSDT-PMC + AptioMemoryfix.efi

Prerequisites:
- Knowledge on patching DSDT/SSDTs:
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/guide-patching-laptop-dsdt-ssdts.152573/
  • Please dump your DSDT/SSDT (guide/link above), we are going to use it on the guide
  • Knowledge using clove, adding patches, etc
  • Knowledge using kernel extensions, kexts
  • Know how to use MaciASL

tl;dr:
  • Know how to do DSDT/SSDT patches
  • Know how to use MaciASL (at least for patches)
  • Replace your wifi card
  • For Mojave: Do install High Sierra, the update through App Store
  • For clover, use OsxAptioFixDrv-64.efi, EmuVariableUefi-64.efi and install rc scripts
2- Let's do it. Patching, hacking

CPU/IGPU Power Management:
Requirements:
  • SSDT patch needed
  • config.plist edit needed
  • Use the correct version of MacOS, for Coffee Lake machines, High Sierra has a special version with Intel 8th gen support
How to make it work:

Since this laptop has a recent CPU and compatible macOS version, we can follow the section XCPM only of the following guide:
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/guide-native-power-management-for-laptops.175801/
It's interesting to check the Disable Hibernation and Testing PM sections of this guide too

Summary:
- Add the following to your EFI/CLOVER/patched folder:
SSDT-XCPM.aml
OR
- If you are using RehabMan's modified clover, just set PluginType=true on your config.plist (do not forget to disable other amls, PM patches)

Battery indicator:
Requirements:
  • DSDT patch needed
  • kext needed
  • MacIASL (there's already a patch for it)
How to make it work:

Use the following guide:
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/guide-how-to-patch-dsdt-for-working-battery-status.116102/
And use the "[bat] Gigabyte Aero 15W V8" patch from MacIASL in your DSDT (double-checked and 15W has the same sections/info to be changed as in 15X)
With your patched DSDT, use ACPIBatteryManager kext, from: https://bitbucket.org/RehabMan/os-x-acpi-battery-driver/downloads/

Summary:

  • Patch your DSDT with "[bat] Gigabyte Aero 15W V8" on MacIASL
  • Add ACPIBatteryManager.kext, to your kext folder
NEW:
- For DSDT less configuration, I created a SSDT + clover config.plist to hotpatch the battery indicator (can check on my repo)
- Previous suggestions are still valid if you want to learn how it's done

Touchpad:
- I just use VoodooPS2Controller.kext from https://bitbucket.org/RehabMan/os-x-voodoo-ps2-controller/downloads/
Please let me know what we can improve from here (I'm rarelly using my touchpad), so I can update the guide

Now using ApplePS2SmartTouchPad.kext.

Ethernet:

USB ports, Camera, Keyboard, Bluetooth, Card Reader:
2 guides:
You can use my SSDT from here, too:
https://github.com/zacmks/Hackintosh-Aero-15X/blob/master/10.13.6/patches/SSDT-UIAC.dsl
For USP power property injection, I tested a few values but and I haven't noticed much difference. You can see my SSDT-USBX.dsl or get the values from other Apple machines

WiFi + Bluetooth:
- Again, original Intel cards will not work, I replaced mine with a Broadcom's BCM94352Z
Wifi:
- Used Lilu (https://github.com/acidanthera/Lilu) + AirportBrcmFixup (https://github.com/acidanthera/AirportBrcmFixup) + Fake id for wifi (example: https://github.com/zacmks/Hackintosh-Aero-15X/blob/master/10.13.6/EFI/CLOVER/config-intel.plist. Use the id from your vendor/device!)
Bluetooth:
- Via Rehabman's RehabMan/OS-X-BrcmPatchRAM
Guide here: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/broadcom-wifi-bluetooth-guide.242423/

Sound:

Intel graphics card:

Built-in display backlight:

Nvidia web drivers:
Just install from here (or nvidia website):

It works out of the box. Plug your HDMI cable and see if it's working
Notes:
  • Please make sure tat you disable SIP before installing/restarting the system (RT Variables > CsrActivateConfig -> 0x67)
  • Not working for Mojave (for obvious reasons)

ACPI disable DGPU:

Nvidia PM:
For the lazy, just copy the following kext to your clover kext folder:

For the not so lazy, there's a guide to follow:

Please note that this is from Nvidia GT7XXm era, therefore it's not optimal. Heard that it has less power steps compared to nowadays. Still, it's great because it's something

How to help:

You can fork, create a PR on the following repo. Suggestions are appreciated:
https://github.com/zacmks/Hackintosh-Aero-15X

Please remember to keep the directory structure
Thanks!

Mojave:
  • It's safe to install Mojave directly (you can use your own method)
386451

Catalina:

As per community feedback, it's safe to install macOS Catalina 10.15. Thank you guys!

Update history:
  • 21st Dec 2018: Initial version - Skipped a few updates
  • 4th Feb 2019: The 17G5019 is a safe update
  • 4th Feb 2019: All kexts updated with latest releases on the repo
  • 6th Feb 2019: Formatting
  • 9th Feb 2019: Shutdown/Sleep/Restart issue fixed. Please see:
  • 10th Feb 2019: Aero 15x Hackintosh compatible with macOS Mojave
  • 11th Feb 2019: Added Nvidia DGPU PM section, update USB PM patches (on repo)
  • 19th Feb 2019: Removed USB stuttering issue should not happen in most cases, it was software related (Karabiner-Elements)
  • 23rd Feb 2019: Removed the todo section
  • 17th Mar 2019: Added Battery SSDT, removed DSDT
  • 16th Jun 2019: VirtualSMC officially on the repo now
  • 10th Sep 2019: Updated Mojave compatibility
  • 9th Oct 2019: Updated Mojave Info, added 2.0.1 release
  • 16th Oct 2019: Typos, updated on thread
  • 31st Oct 2019: Added catalina support, release 2.1.0
374297


Todo, in future:
  • Hardware sensors - Done on my laptop, need to update with the guide
  • Anything on known issues sections, if doable
  • Use OpenCore?
  • Suggestions are welcome
What will NOT be done:
  • Hibernate, please disable (sudo pmset hibernatemode 0)
Need answers:
  • Can we use VoodooI2C? Does it have I2C based touchpad? I could not test it
Releases:

1.0.0 - Initial release (just a tag/checkpoint on what was done until this date)
1.1.0 - Added SSDT for working battery status indicator. DSDT patching is not needed anymore!!
1.1.1 - Minor kexts updates
2.0.0 - FakeSMC replaced with VirtualSMC, several kexts updates
2.0.1 - Kext updates
2.1.0 - Kext updates, added Catalina support, Updated WiFi/Bluetooth kexts
2.1.1 - Fixes processor PM

 
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Reserved for fun stuff, such as:
- My tri-boot (Windows/Debian/High Sierra) - DONE
- Pairing the same BT [LE] on all platforms (logitech mouse example) - DONE
- Clonezilla - DONE
- efibootmgr
- Virtualbox: Starting actual Debian partition from Windows, and Linux (+High Sierra?) - DONE
- KVM: From Linux - Start Windows or High Sierra - Not started yet
- VirtIO / PCI passthrough for NVIDIA Graphics card - Not started yet
 
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Could you please share your method of making the NV GPU being driven properly? I can’t get mine work.And when I plug in an external display. It was just no response and nothing change in system preferences.
 
Could you please share your method of making the NV GPU being driven properly? I can’t get mine work.And when I plug in an external display. It was just no response and nothing change in system preferences.

Sorry couldn't complete the guide, pretty busy at work, but this is what I did:

Just installed the nvidia web drivers from:
https://www.tonymacx86.com/nvidia-drivers/

- Also, you can use some of params from my config.plist:
https://github.com/zacmks/Hackintosh-Aero-15X/blob/master/10.13.6/EFI/CLOVER/config-nvidia.plist
The part that I that should be noted is:
SystemParameters/NvidiaWeb = true
Also, I commented out the disable-external-gpu from lilu/whatevergreen
Also, because apple's SPI, CsrActiveConfig is a param that should be noted, too jfyi

Install, reboot, make sure configs are good, reboot (lastly, just to make sure)

Extra: I also use the following when I need to disable the Nvidia (for whatever reason):
https://github.com/zacmks/Hackintosh-Aero-15X/blob/master/10.13.6/EFI/CLOVER/config-intel.plist

I haven't changed the DSDT to acpi disable it, I'm still doing some tests (not actively, but when the things settles up on my side)

Also, @tchen441. How is your keyboard/usb devices? Are they lagging/stuttering often? And are you being able to shutdown without pressing the power button everytime?

EDIT: Just saw that your laptop might not be the same model as mine, please note that the procedures that I shared might not work with yours. It all depends on how your Nvidia and Intel graphics cards are tied with the ports. There are many laptops that the Intel and Nvidia cards share the same Intel framebuffer, for those, the Nvidia graphics card might not work
 
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Sorry couldn't complete the guide, pretty busy at work, but this is what I did:

Just installed the nvidia web drivers from:
https://www.tonymacx86.com/nvidia-drivers/

- Also, you can use some of params from my config.plist:
https://github.com/zacmks/Hackintosh-Aero-15X/blob/master/10.13.6/EFI/CLOVER/config-nvidia.plist
The part that I that should be noted is:
SystemParameters/NvidiaWeb = true
Also, I commented out the disable-external-gpu from lilu/whatevergreen
Also, because apple's SPI, CsrActiveConfig is a param that should be noted, too jfyi

Install, reboot, make sure configs are good, reboot (lastly, just to make sure)

Extra: I also use the following when I need to disable the Nvidia (for whatever reason):
https://github.com/zacmks/Hackintosh-Aero-15X/blob/master/10.13.6/EFI/CLOVER/config-intel.plist

I haven't changed the DSDT to acpi disable it, I'm still doing some tests (not actively, but when the things settles up on my side)

Also, @tchen441. How is your keyboard/usb devices? Are they lagging/stuttering often? And are you being able to shutdown without pressing the power button everytime?

EDIT: Just saw that your laptop might not be the same model as mine, please note that the procedures that I shared might not work with yours. It all depends on how your Nvidia and Intel graphics cards are tied with the ports. There are many laptops that the Intel and Nvidia cards share the same Intel framebuffer, for those, the Nvidia graphics card might not work
Thanks for your kindly reply.It seems I totally forgot the thing about lilu/wtg. And could you tell me how can I deal with it? Then how can I tell the GPUs share the frame buffer or not? The only thing I can confirm is that the HDMI port tie to the dGPU.
BTW, my USB devices work well after I patched them using FB patcher. And about the shutdown issue, maybe you can try the ‘shutdown fix’ from Rehabman or check it in Clover editor.
 
Thanks for your kindly reply.It seems I totally forgot the thing about lilu/wtg. And could you tell me how can I deal with it? Then how can I tell the GPUs share the frame buffer or not? The only thing I can confirm is that the HDMI port tie to the dGPU.
BTW, my USB devices work well after I patched them using FB patcher. And about the shutdown issue, maybe you can try the ‘shutdown fix’ from Rehabman or check it in Clover editor.


I think that you should be ok, since dgpu is tied to hdmi. Regarding Lilu/Whatevergreen, they do most of the work, you just need to set some good params for your igpu card (you can try the values from the FBPatcher, should be easier with it).
After everything set, I just select to use the nvidia web driver through their software and reboot with the nvidia configured config.plist.
But since our laptops are not qiite the same, it might not work the same with you =/

Yep, regarding the usb, I have it configured too, did the same method as you and also RehamMan's method with same result (all ports working nice for 2.0 and 3.0, bit some lagging). The shutdown fixes I tried several even with many dsdt paches. It might be something with the acpi impl on my laptop, maybe more dsdt tweaking might be neeed for Aero 15x
 
Hello, I currently have this laptop (4k version) and when I try to launch the High Sierra installer, I get the com.apple.WindowServer error message on loop until I restart.

From my understanding, this means the dgpu needs to be disabled before I can continue with the installation. Yet it doesn't seem you ran into this when installing High Sierra, since you say you didn't patch the ACPI to disable the dgpu?

If not, could I ask what settings you used to actually boot the installer? Or if you have the 144hz version, maybe that's where the difference is?

Thanks!


Hello, sorry for taking so much time to answer, was pretty busy at work
But I haven't had similar issues when ran the installer

Yes, for the good or bad, it is better to disable nvidia graphics at least on installation at least to have a working machine to work on. Then you can further do it's configuration, which is what I did

And yes, I haven't disabled the dgpu on my machine since I mostly work it with power adapter, and on my desk
ACPI methods for the Aero 15x machines are a bit different too (the _ON, _OFF calls are somewhat arranged quite differently), I think it's because of the HDMI/DP wiring or something like it. I could not follow Rehabman's guide to patch it
 
Update: Added support for Mojave

@RehabMan, now that we have it. Should this guide be moved to Mojave, too? Sorry I don't know many moderators here

Btw, USB stuttering continues, hahaha
 
Hello, I currently have this laptop (4k version) and when I try to launch the High Sierra installer, I get the com.apple.WindowServer error message on loop until I restart.

From my understanding, this means the dgpu needs to be disabled before I can continue with the installation. Yet it doesn't seem you ran into this when installing High Sierra, since you say you didn't patch the ACPI to disable the dgpu?

If not, could I ask what settings you used to actually boot the installer? Or if you have the 144hz version, maybe that's where the difference is?

Thanks!

Ohh, btw. Also, 4k displays need the boot flag -cdfon. Please refer to:

To disable the dgpu, you can use the following:

Just finished this recently
 
Do u guys know how to fix Intel UHD 630 that High Sierra recognized with only 7MB VRAM? I tried other fix but none of them worked. I follow @zacmks guide upon this point and do some modification for the AppleALC.kext driver to work (I use VoohooDHA.kext instead and install it into L/E) High Sierra still recognize UHD with 7MB. Do you know anything upon this problem?

Also I have a question upon screen. Whenever I use the config.plist provided by you @zacmks I only have screen on my HDMI port while the internal display shows nothing but an apple logo with loading line (shown below). I believe that this might be something with SSDT and DSDT file but I'm pretty new to this so that I don't want to mess up anything.

Btw my keyboard, mouse, and trackpad work totally fine. Bluetooth on the other hand doesnt work but that doesnt affect me that much.

P/s: I can live with this but it is kinda finicking because it detects two display lol
 

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