Dell Optiplex 7020/9020 using OpenCore + Intel HD4600 or AMD graphics

trs96 said:

Yes, that should work with no problems.

No, OC 0.8.0 is new enough for the latest Monterey point update. It will work with that.

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I'm confused about updating my Dell 9020MT w/ Biostar Radeon RX560. Currently I have Mojave installed, using OpenCore 0.6.9 on iMac15,1. I would like to update to Monterey.

The part that confuses me is whether or nor I should use Big Sur, or Monterey after reading this:

If you plan on using an AMD GPU with Monterey support, you can also use Macmini7,1. Say you've got an AMD RX560 or 570 graphics card. Delete disable-external-gpu from your config.plist (with PlistEdit Pro) then save it. Shut down, install the card, boot into BIOS, uncheck Enable Legacy Option ROMs. Save changes and boot into macOS.

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The best option is to use iMac15,1 and Big Sur if you want to utilize a full size AMD GPU. I use Big Sur with my RX 570 installed for video editing and it works great. You can also use the iMac17,1 EFI and Monterey and run the iGPU headless to speed up video rendering in iMovie, Final Cut or Premiere Pro.

The 15,1 iMacs used the Haswell i7-4790K in one version so if you have the i7-4790 CPU it's practically a perfect fit for CPU function too. If you must have Monterey and an AMD GPU, then the best option is iMac17,1 which used a Skylake CPU.

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In my case, would this just mean that I should change to iMac17,1, and I won't have any problems with Monterey? Or is this a recommendation to use Big Sur with an AMD card?

donfulano said:

In my case, would this just mean that I should change to iMac17,1, and I won't have any problems with Monterey? Or is this a recommendation to use Big Sur with an AMD card?

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In my subjective experience in video editing, I prefer using 15,1 and Big Sur.

The iMac 17,1 SMBIOS is for a Skylake iMac, not Haswell. iMac 15,1 is for a Haswell based iMac. What I'm saying is that for the smoothest CPU power mgt. and speed stepping etc. going with 15,1 gives the best results. I use a Big Sur install on my i7-4790 9020 MT with the RX 570 for video editing. The AMD card should perform the same no matter what SMBIOS you use with it. This is what I've found in my personal experience.

You can use either one, if you want Monterey though, 15,1 obviously won't work. Apple dropped support for it. Using iMac 17,1 with Monterey can work perfectly well, it's just not the optimal CPU performance you'd get with 15,1 and Big Sur.

As shown on the very first page of my original 9020 User Build. iMac 15,1 is the best match you can get. Especially with an i7 Haswell 4770 or 4790.

donfulano said:

The part that confuses me is whether or not I should use Big Sur, or Monterey after reading this:

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Use whichever one you prefer. For general use you won't notice any difference in performance. The advantage of Monterey is that it get's a year more of support than Big Sur. Once security updates stop, it's best to upgrade to Monterey. That's not happening this year. Big Sur will still get patches at least until macOS 14 Public release next fall. Maybe even longer than that.

OK, I am continuing to use iMac15,1 which is what I was using with Mojave. I got it to boot with the Big Sur installer, but it didn't see my drives- went back to the BIOS and noticed that I had missed AHCI under SATA Operation. Checked that, reset NVRAM, and now it freezes with a kernel error? at this point in the boot process.

I doubled checked all the setup_var codes in the tutorial, but no joy.

Any suggestions of where I could look?

EDIT: OK, I used a test EFI from zearp and it booted, and is now installing. Don't know if it was that or wiggling cables, but seems to be progressing now.

Many thanks for your support!!!

trs96 said:

Use whichever one you prefer. For general use you won't notice any difference in performance. The advantage of Monterey is that it get's a year more of support than Big Sur. Once security updates stop, it's best to upgrade to Monterey. That's not happening this year. Big Sur will still get patches at least until macOS 14 Public release next fall. Maybe even longer than that.

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Speaking of upgrading to Monterey, I have a 9020 USFF and an EFI that is up-to-date and just slightly modified after joostiphone's and one I found here (e.g., SIP disabled, iMac 16.1 profile). But when I try to update it from the Apple Store, the installation seems to work, starting at 58 mins. But when it reboots and OpenCore autoselects the Installation drive icon, it just reboots and loops until I intercede.
When I select the Big Sur drive, the a "phantom" OSX update seems install normally for about 20 mins but finally opens in Big Sur. Or course, I have an Installation drive icon now in OpenCore's boot menu. Is there a good write up on how to get Monterey to install?

Update: cloned back my Big Sur installation and the Install Mac OS icon is gone. I tried to install Monterey with a fresh copy on a USB installer. But there is about 2 mm of white on the install bar; there is nothing to see in -v that suggests the problem.

Some people have attempted this only to find that browsers like Firefox will not work, many other 3rd party programs won't even open etc. It's much wiser to stay on Monterey and use HD4600 graphics. Everything will continue to work as you've got native iGPU support when using SMBIOS Macmini7,1.

There are other serious problems with using OpenCore Legacy Patcher (OCLP) and patching HD4600 for Ventura. You must break the SSV and also disable SIP permanently or Ventura can't be run on your 7020/9020 Dell Optiplex.

What is the SSV ?

macOS includes enhanced protection for your Mac with cryptographic technology (macOS 11 or later) that prevents access to or execution of files that don’t have a valid cryptographic signature from Apple. All system files are protected on the signed system volume (SSV). This advanced system volume technology provides a high level of security against malicious software and tampering with the operating system.

What about SIP ? Why not just disable that.

SIP is the System Integrity Protection platform that is integrated on macOS X El Capitan (OS X 10.11) and later. Its main function is to protect your Mac or Hack from harmful files such as viruses, malware and ransomware that can change or attack protected files and folders. It works by blocking access to the root user account and limiting which actions the root user can execute on the protected folders of the Mac OS.

Without SIP, there are no restrictions for the root user. It can have unlimited access to all system folders and apps installed on the Mac. You would have to enter your admin credentials to give software root-level permission to install the software. Then, the program or app could make changes or modifications to any app or program.

To protect a Mac from being attacked by malicious software, SIP protects essential files and folders and apps that came preinstalled with macOS. It works with the following directories:

• /System
• /sbin
• /bin
• /usr
• /var

What can I do to run Ventura on my Optiplex ?

Buy a supported AMD graphics card and use iMac18,2 or 18,3 SMBIOS. It's not an ideal solution but it's much better than trying to patch HD4600. I won't be offering any Ventura support as I'm not installing it myself.

@trs96 I purchased a LG 27UK500 4K monitor which looks great on a 9020 hackintosh with Ventura and on Windows 10, but my Ventura Optiplex 3080 only show the maximum resolution of 2560 x 1440 (Default), which of course is not 4K and a little blurry. Any ideas what I can check to fix it?

zjkarim said:

Any ideas what I can check to fix it?

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Look at the device properties section of your config.plist. Please post any further questions in a 3080 thread as it's off topic for this thread.

trs96, I was thinking of making a case swap for my Optiplex 9020, is there a motherboard you would recommend that would also fit for Monterey? Thank you.