[SUCCESS] Gigabyte Designare Z390 (Thunderbolt 3) + i7-9700K + AMD RX 580

[mobi]

OcQuirks / FwRuntimeServices Experiment​

In our ongoing quest to find a truly viable alternative to OsxAptioFix2Drv-free2000, we plan to compile and test OcQuirks with a number of different parameter settings. We'll consolidate the data here. If my system is one of the most finicky ones around, then hopefully a solution that works for me will work for most or all.

System Configuration:

• Catalina 10.15.1
• BIOS F8 with MSR 0xE2 unlocked
• Intel i7-9700K
• G.Skill TridentZ 4 x 8GB 3200MHz DIMMs with XMP Profile 1
• Clover v5098 (press "A" at Clover Boot Menu to determine your Clover version)
• EmuVariableUefi and FwRuntimeServices both copied to CLOVER/drivers/UEFI folder
• Using VirtualSMC instead of FakeSMC
• SMBIOS iMac19,1
• iGPU enabled with headless platform ID 0x3E980003
• Lilu and WhateverGreen installed in both CLOVER/kexts/Other and /Library/Extensions with Inject Kexts set to Detect.
• M2M (top M.2 slot) = ADATA SX8200 PCIe NVMe 240GB (Windows 10)
• M2P (bottom M.2 slot) = ADATA SX8200 Pro PCIe NVMe 512GB (macOS)
• MSI Gaming X Radeon RX 580 in PCIe Slot 1
• Fenvi FV-T919 WiFi/BT card in bottom x1 PCIe slot
• Original Intel CNVi WiFi/BT module still installed; using NO-CNVW SSDT to disable.

Quirk	Default	Test 1	Test 2	Test 3	Test 4
AvoidRuntimeDefrag	True	True	True
DevirtualiseMmio	False	True	True
DisableSingleUser	False	False	False
DisableVariableWrite	False	False	False
DiscardHibernateMap	False	False	False
EnableSafeModeSlide	True	True	True
EnableWriteUnprotector	True	True	True
ForceExitBootServices	True	True	True
ProtectCsmRegion	False	False	False
ProvideCustomSlide	True	True	False
SetupVirtualMap	True	True	True
ShrinkMemoryMap	False	False	False
QuirksProvideConsoleGopEnable	True	True	True

Results:

• Test 1 with slide=0 shows good promise. It allows my system to boot consistently from USB and SATA buses only. Unable to boot from PCIe bus.
• Test 2 has been compiled (attached); will be tested later this evening.

If anyone has suggestions for other test conditions please let me know.

So far Test2 works on my system, using a PCIe Samsung 970plus M2P (bottom M.2 slot)

 

[CaseySJ]

So far Test2 works on my system, using a PCIe Samsung 970plus M2P (bottom M.2 slot)

Does TEST-1 also work? I've added it to the post above.

 

[CaseySJ]

...
As for other drive options causing allocation errors- I have done a fresh install of Mojave from a Sata SSD which I plugged into a different port on the board. No allocation errors. I then updated directly to Catalina 10.15.1 from there, leaving the Mojave Installer SSD plugged in, again no allocation errors. I have also created a bootable backup to an external TB2 SSD, which I connect to my CalDigit TS3 Plus TB3 port, using Apple TB2/TB3 adapter. I can select my backup drive from the F12 Boot menu and boot perfectly- again no allocation error. All this with iGPU enabled using AptioMemoryFix. No problems until I plug in the Windows drive. I have check the NVRAM since then, and there are no Windows references. To me, it appears that the Windows drive just changes the Memmap enough to cause the error. Once I get the error, the only way out is to clear the CMOS.

Good idea -- will also attempt to boot via SATA SSD and USB Flash connected to my OWC Thunderbolt dock.

 

[djx8605]

Adobe apps appear to be running well, I have installed the 2020 version and things are running smoothly. Have not really put it to the test of everyday editing on a project yet. As far as AMD/Nvidia goes, for Adobe, I think Nvidia is still the best performer, by a significant margin- but that's on the PC side. Will never know on the Mac side since Nvidia drivers have not been released for Mojave and now Catalina. I have a 1080 Ti that is stuck in 10.13.6 land. Very frustrating.

As for other drive options causing allocation errors- I have done a fresh install of Mojave from a Sata SSD which I plugged into a different port on the board. No allocation errors. I then updated directly to Catalina 10.15.1 from there, leaving the Mojave Installer SSD plugged in, again no allocation errors. I have also created a bootable backup to an external TB2 SSD, which I connect to my CalDigit TS3 Plus TB3 port, using Apple TB2/TB3 adapter. I can select my backup drive from the F12 Boot menu and boot perfectly- again no allocation error. All this with iGPU enabled using AptioMemoryFix. No problems until I plug in the Windows drive. I have check the NVRAM since then, and there are no Windows references. To me, it appears that the Windows drive just changes the Memmap enough to cause the error. Once I get the error, the only way out is to clear the CMOS.

THX for the Adobe info... I may have to get an NVIDIA card for my cube, since it is mainly used under Windows with Adobe apps.

Regarding your drive issue, I wonder if you are having them same issue as @CaseySJ, he can't boot from an NVME drive unless he's using OSXAptioFix-free2000. In light of the recent updates on the forum, you should try booting with FWRuntimeServices and OCQuirks.efi files instead of AptioMemoryFix. This may or may not help.
I think (and unless you have an empty drive there's no way to test this), Windows is not the issue here, but adding the NVME drive to that slot might be the problem. As you said, it may be altering the memmap and causing allocation errors once the drive is plugged in...

As I only have 1 NVME drive on the bottom slot (970 EVO), I'm not experiencing such issues. I have WIndows 7 and 10 sharing the 970 EVO, and then have macOS Mojave and Catalina sharing an 860 EVO on a SATA port. This seems to be working fine with AptioMemoryFix.efi.
If I get a chance I;'ll add a second NVME drive on the top slot (for the sake of testing), see what happens. Of course I'm still on BIOS F7, so that may also play a part here

 

[mobi]

Does TEST-1 also work? I've added it to the post above.

Test 1 seems, ok I'll try later to boot from a backup and going back to test 1 to check if still can boot

 

[djx8605]

For Catalina, I recommend using a non-T2 SMBIOS. You should be able to use iMac19,1 with or without iGPU. If you use iMac19,2 then it's necessary to use a patched version of USBInjectAll from this site.

THX @CaseySJ, that was one of my concerns about using MacMini, while researching the model I saw that it has a T2 chip. Is there any advantage (that you know of) over using iMac19:2 over iMac19:1? Without iGPU that is

I already have a copy of the kext you linked to, as I use it for one of my laptops, so I guess I could test that out if need be.

 

[djx8605]

Also would love to understand what the ._ files that are being created automatically in the EFI folder are. It seems like something is watching the folder and creating it (not during boot but right when I put the file there).

Is this just an OSX thing and unrelated to Clover or boot?

View attachment 435433

Are you viewing all (hidden) files? I think those ._ files are normally placed there by macOS, I've seen them myself through the system, mainly on flash drives when copying files and then viewing them on Windows, they'll show. But by default I think they're suppose to be hidden

 

[jdapolo]

Hi @kwalter it's good to know this is not an isolated case. What mistake did you do? Perhaps I've done it too unknowingly. And what did you do differently on the fresh build? I might be able to relate it to how I do mine as well that might have caused the problem. Thanks!

I had exactly the same problem, but then due to a mistake on my part I ended doing a fresh build and I now no longer have the problem. What was causing it I don't know

 

[jdapolo]

Thanks @CaseySJ these are definitely worth trying. I've always been intrigued with the whole VirtualSMC thing. Perfect time to finally dive in to it now. Update soon. Cheers!

Your configuration looks perfectly fine. But some suggestions:

• Consider replacing FakeSMC with VirtualSMC.
  • Instructions are located here.
• Attempt process of elimination:
  • Disconnect all USB devices except keyboard/mouse.
  • Disconnect all non-macOS hard drives.
  • Disconnect any Nvidia GPU.
  • Disconnect all Thunderbolt devices except monitor (if using).
  • Consider also disconnecting 10Gbit Ethernet temporarily.
• Then test WiFi/BT reliability for a sufficient period of time.
  • If WiFi/BT is stable, begin reconnecting one device at a time until WiFi/BT becomes unstable again.
    • That will identify the offending device.
  • If WiFi/BT is still unstable, consider buying an off-brand Broadcom 94360CS2 module from local retailer or etailer, and also a PCIe x1 adapter for the Broadcom.
    • I know that shipping a new part from US is time consuming and possibly expensive, so it's okay to try with a more readily available alternative.

UPDATE: Another suggestion is to install macOS onto a new spare SATA SSD (even a small 64GB or 128GB SATA SSD) mounted either internally or externally (via USB 3 SSD enclosure) and see if WiFi/BT is stable. This determines whether your main installation of macOS is or is not corrupted.

 

[babrina]

Hey, hows goin on Catalina after 1 month? Is it save to update for it? I read all links in 1st post with descriptions about Catalina

Thanks for answer