[GUIDE] DELL Optiplex 3020 Tower Mac OS X Mojave (Budget iMac Build)

[2005gg]

Me and a friend are going to attempt a Hackintosh using the same Optiplex 3020 with i5-4590 but want to install a Radeon RX580. What modifications may be needed if we are adding a GPU?

Hey, RX 580 is natively supported in Mojave so everything should work fine. However I did try to install an r7 250 on this build and could not get gpu acceleration working Please comment again if the rx 580 thing worked for you and keep in mind you will need to change the psu to something with 2x PCIe and above 450watts.

 

[50mmSnapshot]

Hey, RX 580 is natively supported in Mojave so everything should work fine. However I did try to install an r7 250 on this build and could not get gpu acceleration working Please comment again if the rx 580 thing worked for you and keep in mind you will need to change the psu to something with 2x PCIe and above 450watts.

So ran into quite a few issues. The GPU hadn't arrived when we went ahead with the installation so I just went ahead and installed Mojave. Everything mostly worked except for sound but after some tweaks sound was working. The only thing is Bluetooth isn't recognized by the Mac even though this is a Fenvi BCM94360CD card. WiFi works no issues but bluetooth just isn't recognized in the System Report under PCI/Bluetooth/USB. My suspicion has something to do with the USB internal header but I'm not sure. When the RX580 arrived plugged it in and although it displays in the screen Mac doesn't recognize the model, so in the BIOS I switched the Display to output from the RX580 as default and from then on I can't boot, we get IOConsoleUsers glOScreenLockState 3 errors when checking it out through verbose. So were stumped at this point with bluetooth and RX580 not working, everything else seems to be ok.

 

[trs96]

I switched the Display to output from the RX580 as default and from then on I can't boot, we get IOConsoleUsers glOScreenLockState 3 errors when checking it out through verbose. So were stumped at this point with bluetooth and RX580 not working, everything else seems to be ok.

If you haven't disabled CSM (legacy option roms) and set to UEFI booting only the 580 won't work. You also need to have Whatevergreen and Lilu kexts installed properly to L/E/ if you are using that instead of injecting all kexts via Clover.

 

[50mmSnapshot]

If you haven't disabled CSM (legacy option roms) and set to UEFI booting only the 580 won't work. You also need to have Whatevergreen and Lilu kexts installed properly to L/E/ if you are using that instead of injecting all kexts via Clover.

So double checked and everything is as should be, with all the correct BIOS settings and LiLu and Whatevergreen all installed properly as far as I can tell. Interestingly when connecting the monitor through the card HDMI or DP it outputs no problem albeit a bit glitchy at times and the Mac doesn’t recognize it’s using the GPU in System Info. Still not sure why.

 

[pythagorean476]

I have the Dell 3020 SFF, which I got refurbished at Microcenter for $279. This guide works with no issues at all... sleep/wake works, Kensington USB3 dock works for a second monitor, ethernet, sound, iMessage, etc. All works with Mojave. Tried upgrading to Catalina from the App store upgrade, which basically worked fine with no other steps. The only thing that didn't work with Catalina was sleep/wake. So I re-installed Mojave.

Used clover configurator on the hackintosh to mount and install the EFI Clover files in the EFI clover folder on the hackintosh hdd per step 2.

Thanks for the detail and files.

 

[2005gg]

I have the Dell 3020 SFF, which I got refurbished at Microcenter for $279. This guide works with no issues at all... sleep/wake works, Kensington USB3 dock works for a second monitor, ethernet, sound, iMessage, etc. All works with Mojave. Tried upgrading to Catalina from the App store upgrade, which basically worked fine with no other steps. The only thing that didn't work with Catalina was sleep/wake. So I re-installed Mojave.

Used clover configurator on the hackintosh to mount and install the EFI Clover files in the EFI clover folder on the hackintosh hdd per step 2.

Thanks for the detail and files.

Hey man so glad I could help, and it’s good to know this guid works on SFF models as well, for the sleep/wake issue, does that mean the power buttons do not function correctly or trying to sleep it within Mac OS doesn’t work.
Thanks,

 

[pythagorean476]

Trying to sleep within the OS doesn't work. The system just hangs in Catalina and then you end up having to hold down the power button and restart. Like for example: CTL+Command+Q usually ends up in the computer sleeping on my macbook air and macbook pro but with the Dell Hackintosh in Catalina it just results in the system hanging. I googled it and tried several different suggestions from various threads, none of which worked, so I re-installed Mojave.

 

[2005gg]

Trying to sleep within the OS doesn't work. The system just hangs in Catalina and then you end up having to hold down the power button and restart. . .

Ah ok I’ll look in to that, I too want to upgrade to Catalina. Thanks for replying!

 

[pythagorean476]

Just a follow up in case anyone else is looking at buying a cheap refurb 3020. I am still on Mojave with my 3020 hackintosh, which I got as a refurb at microcenter. Super happy with how mine runs. Because the system comes stock with only one displayport output, I ended up researching which low profile graphics cards work out of the box with Mojave in the 3020 so that I could easily run two 27" samsung monitors...

Novabench - Benchmark Result

1031 Novabench score with Intel Core i5-4590 CPU and NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 GPU

novabench.com

Long story short, the GeForce GT 710 with 2 GB of DDR3 memory works out of the box with no additional steps required to get the guide at the top of this thread to work. I set up Mojave without the graphics card installed first and then switched to external graphics in the BIOS (instead of HD 4600).

Originally I was using a Kensington dock with Displaylink to run the second monitor over USB3. That worked fine overall but sleep/wake was a little wonky with the second monitor (sometimes I had to unplug the power cable on the dock and plug it back in to get the second monitor to come on) so I thought I would give a cheap graphics card a try.

It works. If you aren't big into video editing and games (which I am not), the GT 710 with DDR3 memory is a good way to get two monitors working.

I mainly use my Hackintonsh for python and sql development with airflow and suchlike, so I don't need a super powerful system. Two gigantic monitors are nice though. And I like using iMessage on the desktop while I am working to respond to text messages rather than getting my phone out. I also like being able to use iTunes the way it always worked before (so I didn't upgrade to Catalina after all because that music app doesn't appeal to me).

For about $300 a perfectly workable Hackintosh was a pretty darned good deal.

I appreciate the detail of this guide.

 

[2005gg]

Hey that’s great to here! I hadn’t had any success with low profile AMD cards but I’m glad the GT 710 worked natively like it should. When I get back from work I’ll update my guide to include this and maybe do some playing around with Kepler cards. Thanks! Glad my guide helped.