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

Also, as far as OC picker it still tries to boot from windows first unless I manually set it to macOS Catalina. Any ideas?

There are a couple of ways to change it but one of the easiest is to go to System Preferences | Startup Disk. Unlock it and then select the disk you want to be the default, in your case Catalina disk. The next time you restart the machine Catalina will load unless you pick Windows in the picker.
 
Hi @CaseySJ,

I just verified that it is Disabled. I was able to check the USB EFI on my MacBook Pro and I added the -v and set timeout to 5 to see if it would even show the OC picker. It did in fact show the picker with my macOS & Win10 partitions. I was able to boot into macOS after that but it still has some very weird time issues...It sets the time to May 9th 2033 but when i unlock the Time & Date section, the Time & Date corrects itself without me having to un-check and re-check the "Set date and time automatically" checkbox. I've tested this multiple times and it still some how sets the time and date way ahead and again once I unlock the Time & Date section it then fixes it, not really ideal.

Also, as far as OC picker it still tries to boot from windows first unless I manually set it to macOS Catalina. Any ideas?
Could it be a weak CMOS battery (CR2032) on the motherboard?
 
Could it be a weak CMOS battery (CR2032) on the motherboard?
I thought that as well and replaced it, old one was at 3.10v and new on is at 3.23v should be ok right? its driving me bonkers lol

Do i need to reset NVRAM? If so how can I do that?
 
I thought that as well and replaced it, old one was at 3.10v and new on is at 3.23v should be ok right? its driving me bonkers lol

Do i need to reset NVRAM? If so how can I do that?
I would recommend CMOS Reset instead. This is done by shorting the two designated pins on lower right of the motherboard with a flat head screwdriver. Please refer to the Gigabyte owner's manual for specific procedure.

It will then be necessary to configure BIOS parameters again, starting with F7 (Load Optimized Defaults). Also remember to disable CFG-Lock from the BIOS --> Boot page.
 
In cases like these I always recommend installing fresh temporary copy of macOS on an external SATA SSD mounted to a USB 3 enclosure. Without installing any third-party apps except for simple tools and utilities, check if the system is stable. If a clean install is stable, we can then install our applications one by one until the problem resurfaces. If the problem never resurfaces we can then copy all data files across to the new install until it becomes a fully configured system. Once this system has been thoroughly tested and verified, it can be cloned to the internal NVMe SSD, thereby replacing the old unstable system with a new stable system.
Good suggestions, thanks!
So, this is happening even on a clean install.

But, I've managed to narrow this down. By disabling Discrete Thunderbolt Support directly in the BIOS, the freezing seems to go away permanently. I will need to test this over a longer time period to verify it though.

I have been having issues with the (non-flashed) Thunderbolt controller anyway lately (my Focusrite Clarett 2Pre is no longer able to play back audio, even though it is selectable). These problems started happening exactly at the same time as I migrated to OpenCore 0.6.8 and 11.4 beta 1, so at this point I'm assuming there might have been a hardware fault around this time, even though it is extremely unlikely. This is quite interesting, as I don't experience any freezes in Windows, even when booting into it from the OpenCore bootloader (it's a dual boot system).
 
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Good suggestions, thanks!
So, this is happening even on a clean install.

But, I've managed to narrow this down. By disabling Discrete Thunderbolt Support directly in the BIOS, the freezing goes away permanently.

I have been having issues with the (non-flashed) Thunderbolt controller anyway lately (my Focusrite Clarett 2Pre is no longer able to play back audio, even though it is selectable). These problems started happening exactly at the same time as I migrated to OpenCore 0.6.8 and 11.4 beta 1, so at this point I'm assuming there might have been a hardware fault around this time, even though it is extremely unlikely. This is quite interesting, as I don't experience anything like this in Windows, even when booting into it from the OpenCore bootloader (it's a dual boot system).
Interesting. Some questions/comments:
  • You know I'm going to ask this... Did you make a backup of the system before installing 11.4 beta 1?
    • If so, boot from the backup to see if the problem is still present.
    • Which macOS version were you running before 11.4 beta 1?
  • Which version of BIOS is installed? We do not recommend F9j, but F9i is good.
 
I'm looking for recommendations on a clean install of Catalina, as I have the downloaded App and am in the process of creating the installer USB for it now.

There are so many different guides and processes, I would like to use the most current and recommended method we have to date.

I do NOT have a config.plist to start with, drive is wiped. I also have Windows 10 installed on a separate physical drive and MacOS will go on its own separate physical drive. I have an actual MacMini with Catalina fully updated to work from.

Thank you.

Z390 Designare
i9-9900K
32GB RAM
SAPPHIRE RX 580 4GB
 
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Interesting. Some questions/comments:
  • You know I'm going to ask this... Did you make a backup of the system before installing 11.4 beta 1?
    • If so, boot from the backup to see if the problem is still present.
    • Which macOS version were you running before 11.4 beta 1?
  • Which version of BIOS is installed? We do not recommend F9j, but F9i is good.
So, THIS IS AMAZING! Yes, I run F9i, and I've tried reflashing F9i before to see if it resolved my Thunderbolt problems without luck. But this time, after reading your message, I tried something else - I flashed F9j and then reflashed F9i. I don't know what to tell you other than this is pure magic, because that maneuver completely fixed all my Thunderbolt issues. My Clarett is back up and running as good as ever and there haven't been any freezes as of yet. I guess what we learned from this experience is that if we want to reflash the BIOS, we might want to flash another version first.

While we're at it, has anyone reached out to Gigabyte to make them aware of the issues that F9j has so that we can get a new official release with the security patches as well as Resizable BAR support?
 
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I would recommend CMOS Reset instead. This is done by shorting the two designated pins on lower right of the motherboard with a flat head screwdriver. Please refer to the Gigabyte owner's manual for specific procedure.

It will then be necessary to configure BIOS parameters again, starting with F7 (Load Optimized Defaults). Also remember to disable CFG-Lock from the BIOS --> Boot page.
OK. So I have tried to reset CMOS per my manual (see attached pics). However, I'm a bit confused. Isn't it supposed to return to the factory BIOS version after this? I'm still showing I'm on F9i. It did, however, say a Clear CMOS was performed. When I entered BIOS, I set Optimized Defaults. But I can't seem to figure out why its not reverting back to the default BIOS version the board came with? The reason I mention this is you said to start with F7. Does that mean I would be downgrading to F7 then back to F9i? Is it normal for it to not go back to factory bios version?

Thanks for all your help @CaseySJ
 

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So, THIS IS AMAZING! Yes, I run F9i, and I've tried reflashing F9i before to see if it resolved my Thunderbolt problems without luck, but this time, after reading your message, I tried something else - I flashed F9j and then reflashed F9i. I don't know what to tell you other than this is pure magic, because that maneuver completely fixed all my Thunderbolt issues. My Clarett is back up and running as good as ever and there haven't been any freezes as of yet. I guess what we learned from this experience is that if we want to reflash the BIOS, we might want to flash another version first.

While we're at it, has anyone reached out to Gigabyte to make them aware of the issues that F9j has so that we can get a new official release with the security patches as well as Resizable BAR support?
Well I'm speechless! :silent::crazy: Not sure that counts as science, but if it works it works! :)

Gigabyte is testing a successor to F9j. Let's give them a couple of weeks.
 
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