ASUS N752VX hangs at first boot

[tmazzoni]

Hello, I own an ASUS N752VX (specs on the left). It's been running fine for one year now on High Sierra 10.13.3 and so I decided to update to the latest Mojave version.

I used the latest build of Clover for the installation, created a dedicated APFS partition for a work-in-progress install.
I managed to get the installer up and running and installed Mojave on that partition (called "Partition Two")
Now, when I boot the newly installed system, it just hangs - the third picture I'm attaching shows the last line printed.

It's difficult to get pictures of an ongoing boot, I am attaching two pics which can be read with a little effort, for the sake of completeness.

What's wrong?

Thanks a lot in advance

 

[Feartech]

Hello, I own an ASUS N752VX (specs on the left). It's been running fine for one year now on High Sierra 10.13.3 and so I decided to update to the latest Mojave version.

I used the latest build of Clover for the installation, created a dedicated APFS partition for a work-in-progress install.
I managed to get the installer up and running and installed Mojave on that partition (called "Partition Two")
Now, when I boot the newly installed system, it just hangs - the third picture I'm attaching shows the last line printed.

It's difficult to get pictures of an ongoing boot, I am attaching two pics which can be read with a little effort, for the sake of completeness.

What's wrong?

Thanks a lot in advance

had a similar issue on mine

i had to mod my BIOS to add in updated Microcode (also disabled nvidia card as well)

i can upload a new BIOS for you if you like? (the new bios on Asus website doesn't include new microcode for some reason)

 

[tmazzoni]

had a similar issue on mine

i had to mod my BIOS to add in updated Microcode (also disabled nvidia card as well)

i can upload a new BIOS for you if you like? (the new bios on Asus website doesn't include new microcode for some reason)

Hello Feartech,
well yes, it would be very nice of you if you uploaded it for me.
I'll try and understand what changes are necessary anyway.

I was away from the scene for a long time and I didn't know that so many things changed, in the site as well.

Thanks

 

[tmazzoni]

@Feartech

I had the BAD idea to update my BIOS from 301 to 303 from the ASUS site.
Since then nothing, I mean nothing, boots.

Even High Sierra just bootloops: Apple logo and reboot.

It looks like the NVME is no longer recognized. When I try to boot Mojave from the USB dongle, the partitions on the main NVME no longer show up.

Of course I can't go back: the system complains that 301 is too old.

What a day

 

[Feartech]

@Feartech

I had the BAD idea to update my BIOS from 301 to 303 from the ASUS site.
Since then nothing, I mean nothing, boots.

Even High Sierra just bootloops: Apple logo and reboot.

It looks like the NVME is no longer recognized. When I try to boot Mojave from the USB dongle, the partitions on the main NVME no longer show up.

Of course I can't go back: the system complains that 301 is too old.

What a day

i helped someone out awhile back ago:

Stuck after (during?) Mojave upgrade directly from Sierra on Asus N752VX

I had a working installation of Sierra on my Asus N752VX and wanted to upgrade to Mojave. I firstly updated Clover to latest 48xx version and added apfs.efi driver. I was able to boot to Sierra again and started Mojave installation. It rebooted once, I've selected "Install" boot option in...

www.tonymacx86.com

i also updated to latest and was still able to roll back, follow my instructions on that page

i also have new clover folder as well if you need that

 

[tmazzoni]

i helped someone out awhile back ago:

Stuck after (during?) Mojave upgrade directly from Sierra on Asus N752VX

I had a working installation of Sierra on my Asus N752VX and wanted to upgrade to Mojave. I firstly updated Clover to latest 48xx version and added apfs.efi driver. I was able to boot to Sierra again and started Mojave installation. It rebooted once, I've selected "Install" boot option in...

www.tonymacx86.com

i also updated to latest and was still able to roll back, follow my instructions on that page

i also have new clover folder as well if you need that

Thanks for your help.
Now I just have to find a Windows machine to make the USB stick LOL.

 

[Feartech]

Thanks for your help.
Now I just have to find a Windows machine to make the USB stick LOL.

hahahahaha!

you could install windows your asus on your other hard drive that you have?

 

[tmazzoni]

Ok, I succeeded in installing your BIOS.
The system just continues to boot loop, just as it happened after the official ASUS BIOS install. D'oh!

I made a video and uploaded it to dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/s/l4upmtg7wdhpahl/VID_20190809_122920.mp4?dl=0

I have no idea as to what may have happened.

BTW: no versions of CLOVER help booting, and of course I can't try to install Windows on the HDD because the first partition is a bootable CCC backup, the second is free but Windows won't install there, the third contains lots of data.

 

[Feartech]

Ok, I succeeded in installing your BIOS.
The system just continues to boot loop, just as it happened after the official ASUS BIOS install. D'oh!

I made a video and uploaded it to dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/s/l4upmtg7wdhpahl/VID_20190809_122920.mp4?dl=0

I have no idea as to what may have happened.

BTW: no versions of CLOVER help booting, and of course I can't try to install Windows on the HDD because the first partition is a bootable CCC backup, the second is free but Windows won't install there, the third contains lots of data.

did you use the bios to disable the nvidia graphics? did you then load default settings in BIOS?

if so, i can upload my clover folder and kexts i use

 

[tmazzoni]

did you use the bios to disable the nvidia graphics? did you then load default settings in BIOS?

if so, i can upload my clover folder and kexts i use

Yes, I did. With the Nvidia-disabled BIOS and with a refresh of the settings - w/ DVMT, etc - it looks like this: https://www.dropbox.com/s/a2zbj8frov5qbwh/VID_20190809_151212.mp4?dl=0

Somehow different, but now with the latest version of CLOVER on the USB drive, no drives are recognized, be it PCI-E or SATA.

I fear I have to dismantle the system completely to figure out if I can install anything while preserving my data.