[Guide] HP Elite 8300 & 6300 Pro (all form factors) using Clover UEFI hotpatch

[trs96]

Quick question; I'm watching this thread, so I get notified when new posts are made. Will I get a notification if Sniki edits the guide?

Not unless he were to create a new post detailing that he did. Just check back once in a while.

 

[Micalllee]

OK, thanks. That's what I've been doing, just wanted to make sure I needed to.

 

[LisaAlterEgo]

I think that for High Sierra the Custom SSDT for CPU PM is the best way to go. Possibly also for Mojave which this guide was originally written for. Sniki will probably update this guide to reflect that.

I basically used this guide and followed method 1 for power management previously,
but today I tried method #2 with my 8300 MacOS Mojave 10.14.3 (18D109) with an i5-3570.

To be explicit, the command I used to generate the ssdt.aml was:

./ssdtPRGen.sh -p 'i5-3570' -f 3400 -turbo 3800

I tried following Sniki's instructions, but I kept hanging on boot and seeing time-outs. I noticed
that the ssdtPRGen script told me, "XCPM mode detected (Ivy Bridge workarounds disabled)",
so I re-enabled /KernelAndKextPatches/KernelXCPM=YES as opposed to Sniki's instruction.
That fixed the boot hang-ups.

I also changed the CPU type to 0x0704 for the i5-3570 per the script warning.
I also dropped the SSDT tables as recommended in trs96's guide (thank you!).

I can see with Intel Power Gadget that it is operating as expected.
Attached is my i5-3570 power management ssdt.

 

[nicksoph]

@LisaAlterEgo "I also changed the CPU type to 0x0704 for the i5-3570 per the script warning. " Ive seen these messages and never understood them, where did you make the change to the cpu type?

Can you clarify you are using the settings PluginType=Yes, KernelXCPM=Yes, and have an ssdt in /patched?
(I havnt tested but my (v limited) understanding was that in that case, it wouldnt make any difference if you dropped the ssdt.)

 

[LisaAlterEgo]

For power management Method #1 use PluginType=Yes; for #2 use PluginType=No.
For my 8300s, I use KernelXCPM=Yes with both methods.
An ssdt in ACPI/patched for power management generated using ssdtPRGen.sh is used only in method #2.
Trs96 explains some SSDT tables to be dropped for method #2 only.
I compared the two power management methods using two i5-3470 8300's and see little difference in performance.

 

[nicksoph]

Thanks, I have had issues with creating ssdt's and will have a play and report back.
And what about the error messages re cpu type running ssdtPRGen, where can you change?

 

[LisaAlterEgo]

I get the ssdtPRGEN.sh 0x0704 message with both i5-3470 and i5-3570.
The Clover boot log says the CPU type for 3570 is 704, but it says 3470 is a 604.
Even though ssdtPRGEN thinks an 0704 is an i5, the System Report thinks its an i7
with 0704 set.

 

[certainReasons]

For reference, my machine's been up for the last two days or so. I'll update if I get any other issues that seem to be related to power management, but I think it should be solved. Thanks Sniki for a comprehensive guide on this machine!

The machine just passed the seven day uptime mark with no real problems. If you're having power management problems it's definitely worth making a custom SSDT.

 

[LisaAlterEgo]

Low Cost Graphics Alternative for Mojave 10.14.3

I wanted to report that there is another low cost graphics card alternative:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00R2M10SU/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

This is a $79 low-profile MSI Kepler GT 730 card with 2GB DDR5 RAM. It appears to be working
with QE/CI using Clover r4871, Lilu 1.3.4, WhateverGreen 1.2.6, and AppleALC 1.3.5.

I have just replaced a PNY GT720 card which provided a Cinebench 15 framerate of 26.5 fps to a 1080p monitor.

The MSI GT730 performed as follows. I ran Geekbench 4 Metal five times -- the mean score was
20,913 with a standard deviation of 90. I ran the Cinebench 15 OpenGL framerate test ten times,
and got a mean framerate of just over 51 fps with a standard deviation of 1.96. For some reason,
the OpenCL Geekbench 4 test quits without finishing.

By comparison, a low-profile MSI RX560 gets a Geekbench4 Metal score of about 74,000 and a framerate
of about 60 in Cinebench 15.

After initial installation, HDMI audio worked fine, but was lost after the first reboot. I followed
Sniki's recommendations here and am using his ssdt and CodecCommander. Sniki also recommends
defining various device properties for the ALC221, including a layout-id of 11. I am also using Sniki's
device properties, and have also set Clover Configurator to inject 11 and resetHDA in Devices/Audio.
I found I had to disable the renaming of GFX0 to IGPU in ACPI patches, and then HDMI audio worked
just fine.

 

[trs96]

I wanted to report that there is another low cost graphics card alternative:

Thanks LisaAlterEgo: This card has been updated. There was a Fermi version before this came out. It is still for sale new too. Some that bought that version found that there is no metal Support in Mojave. Hence, some people said it didn't work and some said that it did. Since that creates confusion, it was not added to the list of supported/recommended cards. It looks like a good alternative to the GT1030 which has no Mojave drivers. One of these Kepler GT 730s can be used for 8300 owners that need dual monitors. There is only one onboard DP on the HP motherboards, which limits HP owners to one monitor when using only HD4000 graphics.

It's good that MSI actually put Kepler in the title of this card so it's easy to distinguish from the Fermi version.

MSI GeForce GT 730 Kepler GDDR5 2GB OC Low Profile Ready DirectX 12 (N730K-2GD5LP/OC)