<< Solved >> 6900 XT not as smooth as RX 570? Driver Issue?

[djbuddha]

So a small update (haven't had time to do any tinkering since the last post so I still have to try the hardware switch to downclock the GPU) - it seems the FCPX has mostly gone away since updating to 13.3.1a and is still gone now that I'm updated successfully to 13.4. (Sounds like it was a video driver issue in MacOS that seems fairly close to resolved, not entirely, I've seen it happen again, but rendering / transcoding to optimized media seems to fix it faster than it did previously)

The Handbrake issue still exists, the file completes if I use the software (CPU) encoding but with VideoToolBox which uses the GPU, the machine still starts lagging and eventually freezes. Also - AVCLabs Video AI Upscaler basically hard freezes the machine the second it tries to engage GPU acceleration. There's some progress, but still not sure what's happening.

 

[djbuddha]

Yes, you can use ProperTree to edit/add the RX 6900's DeviceProperties.

You can also use ProperTree to edit your USBPorts.kext/Contents/info.plist to enable the existing ASMedia and Fresco Logic USB Ports. Just right-click on the USBPorts.kext and select show Contents from the drop down list displayed. Then navigate to the Contents folder and open the info.plist with ProperTree. Simply remove the # from the ASMedia and Fresco Logic ports to active them.


As to the Caldigit dock, yes you would probably be best served disconnecting it when undertaking the USB port discovery phase. As long as the dock is connected to a fully working TB/USB port it shouldn't cause any issues after you revise your USBPorts.kext.

Is this your RX 6900 XT card?

https://www.sapphiretech.com/en/consumer/nitro-radeon-rx-6900-xt-16g-gddr6

If yes, how have you set the Bios switch on the card, options explained in the screenshot below.

View attachment 566729

Do you use the Trixx software in Windows?
Did you make any changes using the software that might effect the way the card runs, in macOS, i.e. play with the fan speed to make the card run quieter?

Ok new update:

I was remoted in and the software (Remotix) relies on HEVC to screen share.

If I run Handbrake with VideoToolBox (which is Apple’s HEVC encoder) while using Remotix, the machine hard crashes.

So this got me thinking, because Final Cut relies on the T2 to encode HEVC / H.264. I’m assuming other system operations are attempting the same thing (thus the Handbrake crash on that specific file that finishes fine on the MacBook Pro with a T2, and the inconsistent weirdness with that Final Cut video glitch).

Obviously my Hackintosh doesn’t have a T2 chip. So because I’m using SMBIOS 1,1 - I’m assuming that’s my issue (the iMac Pro 2017 has a T2 apparently)

So, if I change my SMBIOS, I’m assuming I have to generate a new serial number. Is this going to bork my iCloud / iMessage?

Also, what would you recommend as an alternative SMBIOS that doesn’t have a T2 chip for my config. And also, do I have to reformat or can I apply this to my current install? (Really hoping I can keep my install as I have very specific set of shortcuts and optimizations for my workflow and have this cloned to an external drive)

Specs:

ASUS X299 Sage /10G (dual 10GbE Ethernet)
Intel 10980XE
128 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 3200
Sapphire Nitro AMD 6900XT Toxic Air Edition
Fenvi BT / Wi-Fi
Gigabyte Titan Ridge Thunderbolt 3

Any insight on the SMBIOS to bypass any potential way for MacOS to attempt to use T2 would be great. It seems all the issues I’m having are things that a real Mac could do with a T2.

 

[Edhawk]

Have you tried running the system with SecureBootModel = Disabled, instead of Default, which is used for most systems running Big Sur or newer.

You have a system with no IGPU, so your two main options for running Monterey or newer are iMacPro1,1 or MacPro7,1. Both of these systems use the T2 chip.

 

[djbuddha]

Have you tried running the system with SecureBootModel = Disabled, instead of Default, which is used for most systems running Big Sur or newer.

You have a system with no IGPU, so your two main options for running Monterey or newer are iMacPro1,1 or MacPro7,1. Both of these systems use the T2 chip.

I’ll give that a shot.

What’s the difference between Disabled & Default in my specific case?

 

[Edhawk]

See this guide for more information on SecureBootModel options:

[HOW TO] SecureBootModel changes in OpenCore 0.7.2

Apple Secure Boot is the technology used in Macs to verify the integrity of the operating system at boot: boot loader > kernel > system volume snapshot. If this check fails, macOS won't boot. Apple Secure Boot only works during the boot process, once macOS is running it no longer performs any...

www.tonymacx86.com

 

[djbuddha]

Have you tried running the system with SecureBootModel = Disabled, instead of Default, which is used for most systems running Big Sur or newer.

You have a system with no IGPU, so your two main options for running Monterey or newer are iMacPro1,1 or MacPro7,1. Both of these systems use the T2 chip.

Same behaviour sadly. Handbrake just locks up the machine on certain videos as previously mentioned.

 

[oguz463]

Same behaviour sadly. Handbrake just locks up the machine on certain videos as previously mentioned.

Would you try booting with agdpmod=ignore not agdpmod=pikera if you set it so. I had some freezes with hardware decoders with my Sapphire 6900 XT before and with changing the boot-args it was fixed.

 

[djbuddha]

Would you try booting with agdpmod=ignore not agdpmod=pikera if you set it so. I had some freezes with hardware decoders with my Sapphire 6900 XT before and with changing the boot-args it was fixed.

I’ll try this shortly!

What’s your system config?

Edit: No dice, black screen on boot up- reverted to pikera

 

[oguz463]

I’ll try this shortly!

What’s your system config?

Edit: No dice, black screen on boot up- reverted to pikera

This is my config, I'm using iMac20,2 also had SMBIOS with MacPro7,1

With my Sapphire 6900 XT SE, when I boot with pikera I don't see AGPM is enabled automatically. Even I try to inject it I had some problems with codecs especially when I scroll with Preview app through photos and with video decoding. I disabled whatevergreen, AGPM wasn't enabled again without injection, But I hadn't had any hard freeze.

Eventually I re-enabled whatevergreen and used the boot-arg agdpmod=ignore everything seemed fine. No black screen at boot, also AGPM was there without injection.

By the way, I'm also having boot to black screen issue when I remove the agdpmod flag. I am using latest version of macOS.

 

[djbuddha]

This is my config, I'm using iMac20,2 also had SMBIOS with MacPro7,1

With my Sapphire 6900 XT SE, when I boot with pikera I don't see AGPM is enabled automatically. Even I try to inject it I had some problems with codecs especially when I scroll with Preview app through photos and with video decoding. I disabled whatevergreen, AGPM wasn't enabled again without injection, But I hadn't had any hard freeze.

Eventually I re-enabled whatevergreen and used the boot-arg agdpmod=ignore everything seemed fine. No black screen at boot, also AGPM was there without injection.

By the way, I'm also having boot to black screen issue when I remove the agdpmod flag. I am using latest version of macOS.

I believe both of those SMBIOSes have an iGPU which my machine doesn’t have. So I’m stuck with either iMacPro 1,1 (what I’m currently on) or MacPro 7,1

On the latest Ventura as well.