Asus Z690 ProArt Creator WiFi (Thunderbolt 4) + i7-12700K + AMD RX 6800 XT

[Bergier3K]

@etorix I got your point perfectly, I will not change my NAS motherboard just now, but I surely will start learning more about it !

@oli.mathieu I was wondering as well is this NAS topic would not be better on a separate thread, I was refraining myself from commenting to avoid squashing posts and questions about the Z690 Proart build (which works marvellously btw).

On that note, a quick question : My MX Master 3 is connected via Bluetooth which is provided by a genuine Apple wifi-BT module. Is it normal I have no mouse at all in the Bios ? Somehow I never managed to have that feature on any build I tried...

 

[dehjomz]

@etorix I got your point perfectly, I will not change my NAS motherboard just now, but I surely will start learning more about it !

@oli.mathieu I was wondering as well is this NAS topic would not be better on a separate thread, I was refraining myself from commenting to avoid squashing posts and questions about the Z690 Proart build (which works marvellously btw).

On that note, a quick question : My MX Master 3 is connected via Bluetooth which is provided by a genuine Apple wifi-BT module. Is it normal I have no mouse at all in the Bios ? Somehow I never managed to have that feature on any build I tried...

Not sure if the BIOS has drivers for the apple Bluetooth controller. If you plug the mouse into a USB port, it should work in the BIOS.

 

[Bergier3K]

@dehjomz USB works of course. I just read somewhere (Dortania maybe ?) that it should work with Bluetooth. Maybe I misread though, it makes sense that BIOS is not Apple compatible

 

[dehjomz]

@dehjomz USB works of course, I just read somewhere (Dortania maybe ?) that it should work with Bluetooth. Maybe I misread though, it makes sense that BIOS is not Apple compatible

I tried Bluetooth once in the BIOS on z590, and it worked. But that was after a warm reboot from macOS, while the controller was already brought up by macOS and established a connection with the mouse/keyboard.

IDK if it will work on a cold boot. I don’t see why not. But, if not, then perhaps it is that there is no driver to bring up the radio and establish communication with devices in the preboot environment.

 

[Bergier3K]

@dehjomz I'll give a try to the warm reboot ASAP.

 

[Jeson]

Does this mean you were actually able to install Synology DSM on this NAS? I didn’t think that was possible!

I have installed Synology DSM on this server and it has been running smoothly for almost 4 months now. I didn't think it was possible either! You can follow this thread, https://github.com/fbelavenuto/arpl, to easily install Synology DSM.

 

[echosat1]

Hello @Jeson,

A handful of users in this thread have reported their experience with Z790 ProArt Creator and 13th Gen CPU. It would be good to search the thread before starting macOS installation. If you don't have Thunderbolt 1 and 2 devices, then you should be okay with latest BIOS version.

To enable sleep/wake, certain BIOS parameters will need to be set. Again, it's best to search this thread. Once the system is assembled and you encounter any issues with macOS, feel free to post those issues here.

Hello @CaseySJ and @Jeson

Regarding the latest BIOS firmware 0816 there was this note from @ramazarusx I'm not sure what has been changed and if it breaks the system so it may be better to stay away from 0816 version until there is more information about it.

They’ve changed ACPI and I get constant kernel panics, didn’t pinpoint cause yet.

Currently I'm using UEFI firmware 0814 with my Z790 setup. I didn't write about my experience to this thread yet, as I have some problems I'm trying to solve first (but looks like I will need some help/ideas as well if I can't find anything). But overall I can say that Z790 setup is almost identical to the Z690 setup and common problems are related to Z790 as well, with the exception of TB1/2 devices cannot work on Z790. I'm running a Apple Studio Display from the Z790 USB-C/TB output (with 2 DisplayPort cable from dGPU, even a dual monitor setup with an additional 4K monitor through the second USB-C/TB output is working), Bluetooth with every feature is working. I have some problems with sleep/wake that I'm trying to solve currently. I created a custom USB port mapping with USBToolbox from Windows, so it suits my needs the best. Anyways, I will reply this thread with a more detailed/explanatory comment about my experience so far later, just wanted to point out that you may steer away from the 0816 BIOS, or if you'd like to experiment you can and maybe we also learn from that

 

[Sabzz]

Z790 here - I've tested BIOS versions 0204, 0704, and 0814. All work. Haven't tested 0816 due to @ramazarusx mentioning some issues.

• Front USB-C port works, but has issues, causes sleep issues on Mac (and unstable transfer speeds on Windows), could be a board issue.
• Thunderbolt 1/2 devices don't work in Mac or Windows (painful weeks of testing).
• Sleep and wake work (however after a long period of time being asleep, once woken i get a panic attack and it reboots) - still can't work it out, could be USB/Bluetooth issue (using WiFi/BT kexts with original Intel hardware - would love some help with this at some stage lol).
• 10GbE can SOMETIMES cause sleep issues (on Monterey for me it did), but i do recall it working and sleeping after i removed the patching from the EFI. (Need to confirm as I don't use it, I use the Intel port).
• Swapped from MacPro7,1 to iMacPro1,1 and Metal scores drastically improved, my audio improved as I noticed some static coming in and out as I played music through my UAD Audio Interface running at 48K, 44.1K had no issues.. But now no more static at 48K on IMacPro1,1.
  
  Everything works besides AirDrop (someone mentioned they have it working? - how?)

That's just a quick summary of my experience over the last 4 months of owning this beast of a machine. Besides the above, I can't think of anything other flaws. Its great for everything I use it for - music production, 4K video recording and editing, gaming, extremely fast render times and smooth multi-tasking workflow.
Can't really ask for more, but in saying that - I wouldn't expect anything less from a 4-5K machine. lol


Hope this helps those asking about the ProArt Z790 + 13900K combo.

 

[Jeson]

Thank you, @CaseySJ and all the friends who participated in this thread, for providing valuable feedback. A few days ago, I received the ASUS Z790 ProArt Creator motherboard and paired it with a 12th CPU, using BIOS firmware 0816. Here are some brief problems I encountered:

1. If I use the original Intel WiFi/BT kexts, the system displays that it has been driven, but in fact, it cannot connect to Bluetooth devices such as mice or keyboards. Here, I disabled the BT/WiFi option in the BIOS and plan to use the BCM94360CD instead.

2. Thunderbolt 4/USB4 ports: confirmed that they can be driven. In Big Sur, Thunderbolt bus can be seen. Although it cannot be seen in Ventura, connecting Thunderbolt 3 or USB4 devices is not a problem.

3. AQC107 10GbE has sleep issues? I am currently working hard to troubleshoot. In the Ventura 13.3.1 version, once asleep, the probability of being unable to wake up is high. Whether it is related to the BIOS version, I cannot determine at present. I plan to reinstall the system and redefine the EFI definition to try again.

4. Switching from MacPro7,1 to iMacPro1,1 significantly increased the Metal score? Will it be helpful for Adobe users? I will try it today. However, when I use AE/ME, there are some crashes, which I need to investigate.

These are the problems I encountered, and I will post an update next week.

 

[knowwhatimsayin]

Well, maybe you should double-check my suggestions carefully.

Instead of flashing modified BIOS into your motherboard, UEFI-editor page showed another approach down below. You can modify some setting value temporarily with the modded EFI shell. A USB flash-disk is required for this step. After booted into the shell, you would get a DOS interface, so that you can type commands.

That is, you DO NOT need to make a custom BIOS by yourself.

That's partially my fault, as I updated the instructions after replied to you.

I've managed to downgrade to 2103, then 2004, thunderbolt devices still didn't work, so I will try the modified 9901 BIOS to revert the Thunderbolt firmware.

The BIOS firmware update (downgrade) is super slow but seems to be processing...like watching paint dry, haha...still flashing. I will leave it overnight and let you know if it doesn't work.

update: 9901 was "successful" but my TB1 & 2 still don't work, with macOS or windows 10 with the thunderbolt driver from ASUS

so... i tried to flash with 2103.. but 9901 didn't recognize 2103 as a valid bios option.. but thankfully it recognizes 2004.. so i'm flashing that now...

and 2004 did not help ... insert cry emoji

oh, this is painful.. lol

update 4/27: ...soooo, after 9901 seemingly had no success, i reflashed with 2004, since 9901 is an oddball bios... and perhaps after multiple soft reboots, it's WORKING NOW!!!!! WOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I do wonder how many times you can flash a board before the onboard memory actually fails. lol

Thanks again for all the hard work!