Asus Z97-AR iBoot Haswell

[fraz7]

Hi,

I got Snow Leopard 10.6.3 to open up the other night after tinkering with the UEFI BIOS - Trouble is I could not get back in for some reason after I shut OS X down so I don't know what I actually did that worked.

I figured that the BIOS changes should have remained intact so it should have worked. I remember altering the boot priority but other than that I don't know how I did it.

Whats needed is to know what the critical element is so I can actually learn and that can only happen if someone with understanding of the BIOS can assist.

I'm aware of one or two of the tweaks that are required but it was pure chance rather than know how that got the boot loader to work. I have figured it is something to do with the CD DVD drive [communicating with the HDD] and when I put the burned disc in the apple screen is displayed with the apple logo but no spinning black circle to trigger the boot sequence

These are the clues so please someone with know how speak up as I'm stuck.

 

[fraz7]

In the BIOS

ADVANCED > CPU CONFIGURATION > LIMIT CPUID MAXIMUM > ENABLED [CAUSED LOTS OF WRITING TO FLY DOWN THE SCREEN] on boot attempt with iBoot Haswell

I think this is significant but I'm not sure whether it needs to enabled or disabled

 

[Adrian B]

In the BIOS

ADVANCED > CPU CONFIGURATION > LIMIT CPUID MAXIMUM > ENABLED [CAUSED LOTS OF WRITING TO FLY DOWN THE SCREEN] on boot attempt with iBoot Haswell

I think this is significant but I'm not sure whether it needs to enabled or disabled

It should be disabled. Try loading Optomized Defaults, and set Boot > Secure Mode > Other OS. Then save and reboot.

 

[fraz7]

Presumably then the changes should be minimal with optimized defaults as the base. I started Snow Leopard for the 2nd time - After disabling vt-d and audio through monitor

I shut Snow Leopard down to go back in - For some reason I think the boot order of the HDD's where changed within BIOS without me altering this.

I could not get the boot loader to work again after this - I am confused with this.

Do I need to update the BIOS and get an update from ASUS website or what???? -

Have I missed something?

 

[fraz7]

OPTIMIZED DEFAULTS:
CHANGES:
XMP PROFILE 1 WITH "NO" ALL CORE ENHANCEMENT OTHER OPTIONS IS "YES" AS WHEN PROFILE 1 IS ACTIVATED A QUESTION IS POSED

INTEL VIRTUALIZATION TECHNOLOGY ENABLED [ADVANCED > CPU CONFIGURATION]
BOOT ORDER PRIORITY #1 CD DVD #2 HDD [WITH INSALLATION]

BOOT MENU > SECURE BOOT > OS TYPE > OTHER OS

ADVANCED > PCH STORAGE CONFIGURATION > SATA MODE SELECTION > AHCI

INTEL RAPID START TECHNOLOGY ENABLED > THEN HYBRID HARD DISK SUPPORT ENABLED [ADVANCED > PCH CONFIGURATION > INTEL RAPID START TECHNOLOGY > HYBRID HARD DISK SUPPORT]- there are other options here too to be enabled / disabled
AS I HAVE HYBRID SSD'S

VT-d ENABLED > ADVANCED > SYSTEM AGENT CONFIGURATION > VT-D

 

[fraz7]

What is needed is to be able to use the iBoot bootloader every time without fail with the correct BIOS settings. Then there will be confidence in what I am doing to be able to go to the next stage of the process which currently cannot be done as its not been possible to get the installation created to boot up reliably.

I've spent long enough on experimenting with what may work without having found the correct way to do this.

 

[Adrian B]

OPTIMIZED DEFAULTS:
CHANGES:
XMP PROFILE 1 WITH "NO" ALL CORE ENHANCEMENT OTHER OPTIONS IS "YES" AS WHEN PROFILE 1 IS ACTIVATED A QUESTION IS POSED

INTEL VIRTUALIZATION TECHNOLOGY ENABLED [ADVANCED > CPU CONFIGURATION]
BOOT ORDER PRIORITY #1 CD DVD #2 HDD [WITH INSALLATION]

BOOT MENU > SECURE BOOT > OS TYPE > OTHER OS

ADVANCED > PCH STORAGE CONFIGURATION > SATA MODE SELECTION > AHCI

INTEL RAPID START TECHNOLOGY ENABLED > THEN HYBRID HARD DISK SUPPORT ENABLED [ADVANCED > PCH CONFIGURATION > INTEL RAPID START TECHNOLOGY > HYBRID HARD DISK SUPPORT]
AS I HAVE HYBRID SSD'S

OS X does not work well with hybrid drives. Rapid start I think should be switched off.

[/QUOTE]VT-d ENABLED > ADVANCED > SYSTEM AGENT CONFIGURATION > VT-D[/QUOTE]

Disable VT-d or boot using dart=0 (dart=zero not o)

 

[fraz7]

Right OK OS X and hybrid drives don't work is this all versions of OS X?- or just Snow Leopard

AND why did it work at all - This is important Adrian -

well I've got some older 500 GB SATA drive that I'll try instead.

How would a hybrid drive work as a non installation drive? - Is this a NO NO too?

 

[fraz7]

OS X does not work well with hybrid drives. Rapid start I think should be switched off.

VT-d ENABLED > ADVANCED > SYSTEM AGENT CONFIGURATION > VT-D[/QUOTE]

Disable VT-d or boot using dart=0 (dart=zero not o)[/QUOTE]


I can disable vt-d in the UEFI BIOS - I don't understand what you mean by using dart=0 [zero]

 

[fraz7]

OK SATA 500 GB non hybrid drive is installed in the computer - with one stick of RAM in slot A1 -

XMP PROFILE 1 WITH "NO" ALL CORE ENHANCEMENT OTHER OPTIONS IS "YES" AS WHEN PROFILE 1 IS ACTIVATED A QUESTION IS POSED

CD DVD is #1 and HDD is #2

BOOT > secure boot > other os

AHCI mode is on [SATA won't show otherwise]

EDIT: I started to optimized defaults - altered some of the recommended settings and couldn't get the iBoot installer to work - Then I changed alot of the other BIOS items to the opposites of the optimized defaults - OS X is now installing - This was installing the other night as well on the full install and an error occured at 22 minutes to go 30 being the start.

Then I installed without the added bits and the countdown was from 19 minutes and the install completed but I couldn't get back in after-

I'm still puzzled by the installer working now after reversing alot of the values within the UEFI BIOS - Please explain if you can. The important values like AHCI have been retained.