Advice please: GA-Z170X-UD5 -> Z390-Designare

[Coolz]

Hi All,

I have a fully working Hackintosh (Gigabyte GA-Z170X-UD5/i7-6700k/GTX 1080/clover) that has served me well. In preparation of moving to a Big Nav here in a few months, I've decided to upgrade my MB/CPU to a Gigabyte Z390-Designare with a i9-9900k. Using the buyer's guide, everything has been purchased and is sitting on my bench. I intend to upgrade this weekend. I know that I am stuck with High Sierra until I get my Big Nav, due to me having a nVidia GTX 1080, and that's fine (for now).

My system is running like a top, so I'd prefer not to start over from scratch.

The advice that I need is:

1) Can I swap out my motherboard/cpu and survive the change, or do I need to install fresh and reinstall all of my apps?
2) If I can use my current install, will i need to change my serial number, etc. in order for iMessage to still work?
3) Is there anything else that I should be concerned about?

Thank you for any and all assistance.

-Corey

 

[kylec]

If you're going to be using Big Navi, then you'll need Big Sur, since Catalina development is finished and the cards aren't out yet. That means switching to Open Core. It's possible to do without reinstalling, but if it's your first time working with Open Core, then I think you should install from scratch. It will be easier to learn that way.

For the time being, you're staying on High Sierra, which makes it more possible to keep your installed system. However, I still don't recommend it. Ever change your motherboard on a Windows install and when it first boots up you get the spinner on a black screen as it scans everything and reconfigures? OS X doesn't have this feature, since it's not needed with a real Mac. I have heard that even though OS X will load different drivers with different hardware, there may be configurations for frameworks and such that end up being screwed up.

 

[Coolz]

Thank you.

That means switching to Open Core.

 

[zipb]

If you're going to be using Big Navi, then you'll need Big Sur, since Catalina development is finished and the cards aren't out yet. That means switching to Open Core. It's possible to do without reinstalling, but if it's your first time working with Open Core, then I think you should install from scratch. It will be easier to learn that way.

For the time being, you're staying on High Sierra, which makes it more possible to keep your installed system. However, I still don't recommend it. Ever change your motherboard on a Windows install and when it first boots up you get the spinner on a black screen as it scans everything and reconfigures? OS X doesn't have this feature, since it's not needed with a real Mac. I have heard that even though OS X will load different drivers with different hardware, there may be configurations for frameworks and such that end up being screwed up.

That's wat I did. I just replaced the EFI partition on my boot SSD used in my former Z170x system with a working Z390 efi. Worked, even with a couple of things I forgot to change, and some third party hardware.
A mac boot disk will work on any mac(well, if it's not too old etc), for a hack you will need an EFI fit for your system.

 

[Coolz]

OK, great. Did you have to change Mac Model or Serial Number?

I just replaced the EFI partition on my boot SSD used in my former Z170x system with a working Z390 efi.

 

[kylec]

In any case, you will be using a newer model in the system definition, so that implies a new serial number.

 

[Coolz]

Yeah, I just remember all the "fun" trying to get iMessage working. Of course, all of this predates clover, even, so I'm hopeful. (this is my 3rd hack)

In any case, you will be using a newer model in the system definition, so that implies a new serial number.

 

[kylec]

Some good precautions to follow when changing SMBIOS: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/guide-clear-multiple-configuration-identities-in-macos.256316/