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18,3 SMBIOS

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ASUS Z270 ROG MAXIMUS IX HERO
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i7-7700K
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Vega 64
Mac
  1. iMac
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  1. iOS
Greetings!

If there is a better place to discuss this, let me know and I'll re-post there.

I'm interested in migrating (eventually, though sooner than later) to the 18,3 SMBIOS as I understand it has Kaby Lake support "defined." Though I haven't a clue as to what is in an SMBIOS (I'd love a little reading on that subject if anyone can point me to it), I'm not sure if there is anything to be gained or not. I would suspect that, usually, matching an SMBIOS to hardware is generally a good idea. Without knowing what the differences are in 14,2 vs. 18,3 I truly don't know if migrating is worth it. I suppose the underlying concern with not moving to 18,3 is future support for board features/devices that 14,2 doesn't cover, or does Apple update the previous definitions with device support (again, not knowing what the makeup of an SMBIOS is, I don't know if that is even a proper question).

So, my question really is: what needs to be done to successfully migrate from 14,2 to 18,3, if that really is a good idea?

More specific questions are:

1. Will the custom USB port work I've done carry over without issue?
2. iTunes, iMessage, Handoff, etc., are all working now - will that get broken (I'm sure I'll have to re-do the Board ID/UUID as per Idiot's Guide iMessage)?
3. What else is a "must know" prior to moving?

A general follow-on question is who might already be doing testing, etc.? I think @pastrychef has started to, but encountered errors with his USB ports pretty early on.

So, that's the start of the discussion... thoughts welcome of course!!!

Jon
 
I also know it is possible to create different configs in Clover and choose from which to boot - I suppose that would be a good idea?
 
1. Will the custom USB port work I've done carry over without issue?
2. iTunes, iMessage, Handoff, etc., are all working now - will that get broken (I'm sure I'll have to re-do the Board ID/UUID as per Idiot's Guide iMessage)?
3. What else is a "must know" prior to moving?

  1. Yes, if you have cut your USB port count to 15 or less, it will carry over. Remember to copy Custom Flags to disable ports on your new config.plist and you should be fine.
  2. I don't know how others do it, but whenever I try a new system definition, I create new serial, UUID, etc. as per the Idiot's Guide To iMessage.
  3. Remember that some system definitions (i.e. iMac17,1, MacPro6,1) will result with the "black screen" issue and steps need to be taken to fix that.

My understanding is that using a system definition that most closely matches your hardware can only help everything work better. For example, on my HP Elite 8300, the CPU never enters Turbo mode when using iMac14,2 system definition but works perfectly when using iMac13,2.

How many things are affected when you deviate too far from matching your hardware to system definitions? I don't know...

In regards to the iMac18,3 system definition, I want to use this because I'm running an i7-7700K (Kaby Lake) with Z170 chipset which, as far as I know, is what a real iMac18,3 uses. However, as you stated, I encountered a weird USB issue where some items were not showing up while others that were connected to the same USB hub were.

Also, my 10GbE PCI-e card completely disappeared. My Wifi/Bluetooth card (connected via PCI-e) worked fine. Weird. I haven't seen anyone else with this PCI-e issue so they may be isolated to my particular build. I will have to do some more digging when time permits.

This is why I am currently back on iMac17,1...
 
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Question: Can I safely create a different Config.plist (plan to "Save as" my current config and remove SMBIOS-specific entries) and boot from that to test the 18,3 definition without consequence to the 14,2 definition I currently have in place?

Question: What are (or, what do you mean by) "Custom Flags"?

Also, relative to the 15-port limit, that cracks me up that Apple still has that limit imposed.

EDIT: I have implemented a custom DSDT as per RehabMan's guide to define my USB ports...
 
Yes, of course. Just be sure to have backups of your working config.plist. You can create as many new config.plists as you like to test.

Custom Flags:
Screen Shot 2016-11-06 at 11.00.48 AM.png
 
Ah, those Custom Flags. I don't think I have any, so that should be a no-brainer. :)
 
I implemented this method.

EDIT: Which, it seems, is what your reference explains. :)
 
Looks like the same procedure. My Custom Flags may be extraneous. I even disabled the unused ports in BIOS.
 
If you did the "proper" 15 USB port limit fix, you should have this. See #7.2 in the first post of this thread: 10.11.0-10.11.3 Skylake Starter Guide | tonymacx86.com

I implemented this method.

EDIT: Which, it seems, is what your reference explains. :)
I, too, highly recommend creating the SSDT-USB.aml. The 101 by ammulder is a must read for newbie understanding. Then RehabMan's thread can be understood.

I must admit that I procrastinated making the SSDT-USB for my Gene system, and, consequently, pastrychef beat me to it. So, I used his SSDT and removed the patch in the config.plist. Everything seems to be working like pastrychef described in his build description.

I have yet to make the SSDT for MyHero build, but will do so when I run out of things to do. I've got all the ports document as per pastrychef's method. As soon has I get the SSDT successfully working, I'll publish it in my build description.

Oh, if your motherboard has more than one USB controller, then you need to reduce the port count to 15 for each controller, not 15 total.
 
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