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Aspire E15 (E5-573) - No internal HDD for Sierra install

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Final Note... for now...

The Aspire E5-573 would have two issues at installing OS X Sierra (not tried any other).
1. The graphics
2. Internal HDD Detection by the installer

For 1, The solution would be to go into the BIOS Advanced options and set the DVMT to 96Mb - I tried 64 but did not work. Furthermore, the config.plist has to be modified with ig-platform-id set to 0x16160002, GUI resolution might need to be set to the max resolution. Mine was 1366x768

For 2, I have not yet found a solution, and variable options, too many to list here, were tried. One thing did work but I'm not happy with it, is changing the BIOS mode to Legacy instead of UEFI. in Legacy mode (using the legacy USB setup as per RehabMan) the Sierra install recognizes the internal HDD and installs Sierra successfully. Following the remaining post boot steps will result in a bootable Sierra version on the laptop.

I did not further check which components are or aren't running since I am still chasing after a solution for a UEFI BIOS mode install...

If in the mean time anyone finds a solution please post or reply...
Thank and Merry Christmas and a Happy New 2017 Year
 
aasem80 said:
Final Note... for now...

The Aspire E5-573 would have two issues at installing OS X Sierra (not tried any other).
1. The graphics
2. Internal HDD Detection by the installer

For 1, The solution would be to go into the BIOS Advanced options and set the DVMT to 96Mb - I tried 64 but did not work. Furthermore, the config.plist has to be modified with ig-platform-id set to 0x16160002, GUI resolution might need to be set to the max resolution. Mine was 1366x768

For 2, I have not yet found a solution, and variable options, too many to list here, were tried. One thing did work but I'm not happy with it, is changing the BIOS mode to Legacy instead of UEFI. in Legacy mode (using the legacy USB setup as per RehabMan) the Sierra install recognizes the internal HDD and installs Sierra successfully. Following the remaining post boot steps will result in a bootable Sierra version on the laptop.

I did not further check which components are or aren't running since I am still chasing after a solution for a UEFI BIOS mode install...

If in the mean time anyone finds a solution please post or reply...
Thank and Merry Christmas and a Happy New 2017 Year
Click to expand...

Attach output of 'lspci -nn' in Linux Terminal.
Attach EFI/Clover folder as ZIP (omit 'themes' folder).
 
Hi again RehabMan...!

I believe we have gone through this process earlier in the post. Nevertheless, I thank you and appreciate the fact you are already trying to help so many people at the same time.

For the moment I need a break. I have exhausted a lot my time and energy with this laptop and I need to move away a bit or I'll lose sight completely. I have already re-loaded the original content of the drive, which had windows 10, from an image I made of the drive before I start. At least let's enjoy Christmas for a while.

But for the sake of it, let me summaries some of my activities...

Using your guide for laptops and following the steps for creating a bootable install USB (I made two USBs, one for legacy and another for UEFI).

On initial UEFI boot attempts, I got memory allocation error immediately upon launching Sierra install from Clover. Multiple flags were tested but none worked. I searched and found that it had something to do with the graphics memory (DVMT) being 32mb when it should be more than 64mb. Luckily my BIOS had a setting to adjust the value, and I set it to 96Mb.

This allowed the Sierra install to bypass the memory allocation error but it was still freezing during the launch (I was using verbose mode all the time) but the freezing point did not give a hint as to what was causing this. I suspected it was the graphics again. After further reading I realized from one post that changing the DVMT value was only part of a two step process. The ig-platform-id needed to be set to 0x16160002 as well. The post patched this value in the DSDT. So I created the DSDT & SSDT (tried both Linux and F4 Clover) in which the FGX0 was patched as per the post. This immediately resolved the installer startup and I was able to reach the installer screen smoothly.
Note that at this stage I was not aware that DropOem needed to be set to YES. but later changing this value did not seem to have much impact. Furthermore, setting the ig-platform-id to 0x16160002 in config.plist (and keeping DropOem=NO) without using DSDT gave mixed results but mostly failed to launch Sierra install.
So, the guaranteed way of reaching the installer hassle free was to include the DSDT/SSDTs file with the AAPL, ig-platform-id set to the described value, set the same in config.plist and set DropOem=YES.

The big issue was now the Disk Utility not displaying the internal HDD, and only showing the boot USB. No matter how many times I reboot, the disk is still not detected. The SATA controller is standard and by default in AHCI mode. Details of the hardware were provided earlier in the post. various AHCI kexts were tried in EFI/Clover/kexts/Other. For the unsupported and for the RAID, all tried and failed. I have not come across DSDT patch for SATA so I could not try that.

On failing so many times, I decided to try BIOS legacy mode. So the mode of BIOS was changed from UEFI to Legacy. A boot for legacy BIOS USB was used to start clover and then Sierra install, and to my surprise the installer started and the Disk Utility showed my internal HDD. I installed Sierra, however, post installation I installed CLOVER on the main HDD as system with UEFI (not legacy), and perhaps this was a mistake, hoping that after the install I can revert the BIOS to UEFI and boot Sierra.

After reverting the BIOS to UEFI, Clover booted normally showing the internal HDD, however, when trying to launch Sierra mid way the launch freezes and Sierra never starts. I reverted the BIOS to Legacy, and using the (Legacy version) USB I was able to launch the installed Sierra but re-installing clover for legacy mode, did get it to boot, but would not launch Sierra. Starting Sierra at this point was only done using the (legacy) USB and only under legacy mode BIOS.

I will stop here, this post have gone longer than I anticipated, regardless of not mentioning other trials I have done.
I might pick up the challenge at a later date... but for now I'd like to enjoy the holidays....

All the best.... and Merry Christmas
 
aasem80 said:
Hi again RehabMan...!

I believe we have gone through this process earlier in the post. Nevertheless, I thank you and appreciate the fact you are already trying to help so many people at the same time.

For the moment I need a break. I have exhausted a lot my time and energy with this laptop and I need to move away a bit or I'll lose sight completely. I have already re-loaded the original content of the drive, which had windows 10, from an image I made of the drive before I start. At least let's enjoy Christmas for a while.

But for the sake of it, let me summaries some of my activities...

Using your guide for laptops and following the steps for creating a bootable install USB (I made two USBs, one for legacy and another for UEFI).

On initial UEFI boot attempts, I got memory allocation error immediately upon launching Sierra install from Clover. Multiple flags were tested but none worked. I searched and found that it had something to do with the graphics memory (DVMT) being 32mb when it should be more than 64mb. Luckily my BIOS had a setting to adjust the value, and I set it to 96Mb.

This allowed the Sierra install to bypass the memory allocation error but it was still freezing during the launch (I was using verbose mode all the time) but the freezing point did not give a hint as to what was causing this. I suspected it was the graphics again. After further reading I realized from one post that changing the DVMT value was only part of a two step process. The ig-platform-id needed to be set to 0x16160002 as well. The post patched this value in the DSDT. So I created the DSDT & SSDT (tried both Linux and F4 Clover) in which the FGX0 was patched as per the post. This immediately resolved the installer startup and I was able to reach the installer screen smoothly.
Note that at this stage I was not aware that DropOem needed to be set to YES. but later changing this value did not seem to have much impact. Furthermore, setting the ig-platform-id to 0x16160002 in config.plist (and keeping DropOem=NO) without using DSDT gave mixed results but mostly failed to launch Sierra install.
So, the guaranteed way of reaching the installer hassle free was to include the DSDT/SSDTs file with the AAPL, ig-platform-id set to the described value, set the same in config.plist and set DropOem=YES.

The big issue was now the Disk Utility not displaying the internal HDD, and only showing the boot USB. No matter how many times I reboot, the disk is still not detected. The SATA controller is standard and by default in AHCI mode. Details of the hardware were provided earlier in the post. various AHCI kexts were tried in EFI/Clover/kexts/Other. For the unsupported and for the RAID, all tried and failed. I have not come across DSDT patch for SATA so I could not try that.

On failing so many times, I decided to try BIOS legacy mode. So the mode of BIOS was changed from UEFI to Legacy. A boot for legacy BIOS USB was used to start clover and then Sierra install, and to my surprise the installer started and the Disk Utility showed my internal HDD. I installed Sierra, however, post installation I installed CLOVER on the main HDD as system with UEFI (not legacy), and perhaps this was a mistake, hoping that after the install I can revert the BIOS to UEFI and boot Sierra.

After reverting the BIOS to UEFI, Clover booted normally showing the internal HDD, however, when trying to launch Sierra mid way the launch freezes and Sierra never starts. I reverted the BIOS to Legacy, and using the (Legacy version) USB I was able to launch the installed Sierra but re-installing clover for legacy mode, did get it to boot, but would not launch Sierra. Starting Sierra at this point was only done using the (legacy) USB and only under legacy mode BIOS.

I will stop here, this post have gone longer than I anticipated, regardless of not mentioning other trials I have done.
I might pick up the challenge at a later date... but for now I'd like to enjoy the holidays....

All the best.... and Merry Christmas
Click to expand...

DropOem=true can only be used with all OEM SSDTs in ACPI/patched.
Patched ACPI generally not required to reach the installer, and AAPL,ig-platform-id can be injected using only Clover... no ACPI patching required.
If you use DropOem=true without SSDTs in ACPI/patched, you should expect your SATA controller to not work...
 
Yes... all that is true, and I followed all of the instructions advised.

Earlier in the post you noted about setting the DropOem, which was a detail I missed, but since then I would set DropOem to YES only when I include the DSDT/SSDTs in the patched folder (regardless whether they are patched or not). If nothing in patched, then DropOem is set to NO.

Without going into more details, I plan to re-visit this issue a fresh after the new year. If you're still interested I will keep you posted and supply all files from Hardware Lists, to Clover content, to *.aml files to images of failed bootings and whatever else needed.

Please note that although I'm IT literate and I do programming, the content of the DSDT and the SSDTs tend to through me off completely. I'm OK with anything other than manipulating the content of these files (unless specific and clear code is given).

Once again all the best...:thumbup: :headbang:
 
aasem80 said:
Please note that although I'm IT literate and I do programming, the content of the DSDT and the SSDTs tend to through me off completely. I'm OK with anything other than manipulating the content of these files (unless specific and clear code is given).
Click to expand...

Take the time to read the ACPI specification.
 
I wont lie to you but this was something I was just about to start doing during my work on the laptop. but it felt like it needed a dedicated time. So I'll do it my leisure time.
 
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