Build advice for Sierra and Creative Suite 6 specifically

[Lix]

I installed High Sierra from the Apple store download.
I normally do a full backup of the previous version and do a clean install from the new version installer.

Thanks for reply.
I'm sorry, I'm struggling to get the boot disc to build with a later version. I have used unibeast and and followed the HS guide and the installer won't finish. I worked through the patch for msi z390 board, because I had updated to latest bios but still didn't work.
I tried replacing the EFI folder with the later one from r5119 but then clover doesn't show the high siera installer, just 4 windows icons.
I can still only access the forum via mobile.
Do you know a good clover guide I could follow?

 

[Lix]

@Edhawk
Thanks for reply.
I'm sorry, I'm struggling to get the boot disc to build with a later version. I have used unibeast and and followed the HS guide and the installer won't finish. I worked through the patch for msi z390 board, because I had updated to latest bios but still didn't work.
I tried replacing the EFI folder with the later one from r5119 but then clover doesn't show the high siera installer, just 4 windows icons.
I can still only access the forum via mobile.
Do you know a good clover guide I could follow?

 

[Edhawk]

The High Sierra guide linked at the top of the page in the 'Guides' section, should work with your system and High Sierra.

UniBeast: Install macOS High Sierra on Any Supported Intel-based PC

UniBeast will now create the bootable USB drive. The process will only take about 10 minutes, depending on system and drive speed. Do not unplug or stop during this time. 15. Drag MultiBeast to your completed USB drive. Clover Note: UniBeast delivers basic bootloader support based on our...

www.tonymacx86.com

You don't have to use a newer version of Clover, as your old system won't see many (if any) enhancements in the newer Clover builds/releases.

Here is a guide to running Catalina on your motherboard, it could be used to install High Sierra, with minimal changes.

GA-X58A-UD3R Catalina Install Mini Guide

Some of us in another thread thought it might be useful for some to see my experience on my GA-X58A-UD3R (v 2.0) motherboard with Catalina. Once it is up and running, it works pretty well, but it is not without some hurdles to getting there, probably because the hardware is just so old at this...

www.tonymacx86.com

Here is a less detailed guide for your motherboard installing High Sierra.

(Guide) GA-X58A-UD3R v2 -> 10.13.3 High Sierra

I finally upgraded from El Capitan to High Sierra 10.13.3 successfully on this GA-X58A motherboard. After a few roadblocks, that I overcame, everything seems to be working including (sleep, shutdown, audio, network, etc..) USB 3.0 doesn't seem to work, as I haven't tried to fix it with the...

www.tonymacx86.com

If you are using a patched DSDT.aml from the Downloads section, this may mean you don't need as many Clover patches.

DSDT Database

www.tonymacx86.com

As these patched DSDT's are likely to have been included the standard patches required for your motherboard.

You also need to make sure that the patched DSDT.aml you are using is correct for the BIOS release you are using.

Bios releases for X58A-UD3R

Assumption is you are creating a Legacy Mode Clover installer, as your 5-series motherboard isn't likely to have a UEFI bios.

 

[Lix]

Its the msi z390-a i7 9700k build I'm trying to get going. The x58 original build is running mavericks and just about coping with the Adobe software.

I had followed the guide you had linked to. I'll give it another go from scratch, maybe I missed something and I may see if I can revert back to an older bios as I'm not syre I was doing the patch correctly.
Thanks again for your time

 

[Edhawk]

OK, so I went off on a complete tangent, looking at your User Profile system (x58A-UD3R) and not your MSI Z390-A system. You can obviously ignore the information regarding your X58A-UD3R system in my post above, unless you want to upgrade that system from Mavericks to a newer version of macOS.

It always helps when you put the system you want help with in your User Profile, that way we know which system you are looking for help on. Without having to read through the whole thread to understand which system is being problematic.

Anyway, here is an OpenCore EFI for a Coffee Lake system running macOS High Sierra, using an Nvidia GPU with the Nvidia Web Drivers installed.

It is based on OpenCore 0.8.7.

1. Requires you to add the SMBIOS (serial Number, MLB, ROM and SystemUUID) data for an iMac18,3 to complete the setup.

NVIDIA GPU.

1. It contains the nvda_drv_vrl=1 boot argument, which is used for enabling Nvidia's Web Drivers on Maxwell and Pascal cards when running Sierra and High Sierra.
2. If you don't have High Sierra or the Nvidia Web Drivers installed, yet.
   1. Then the nvda_drv_vrl=1 boot argument may need to be changed.
   2. That being the case, you would need to replace nvda_drv_vrl=1 with nv_disable=1 boot argument, which disables the Nvidia Web Drivers in macOS.
   3. The nv_disable=1 boot argument is used so your system boots and runs the OS installation without graphics acceleration, i.e. in VESA mode.
3. When you boot in to High Sierra you will need to update the OS to the latest release, as the High Sierra 10.13.6 download does not include all the Security updates Apple have released over the years for this OS.
4. I would recommend keeping nv_disable=1 boot argument in place until you have completed all the High Sierra updates, there are a few if I recall correctly.
5. Once macOS says your system is up to date then and only then should you install the Nvidia Web Drivers. I say this because each High Sierra update has its own release of the Nvidia Web Drivers. I am sure you don't want to waste your time downloading and installing a dozen releases of the Nvidia Web Drivers.

Everything else should be kept as I have configured the EFI folder.


After adding the SMBIOS data to the OC config.plist do the following.

1. Copy the OC EFI Folder to a spare USB pen drive's EFI partition.
2. Boot your Coffee Lake system from the USB, you need to press the F11 key on an MSI board IIRC.
3. Make sure you use the ResetNvramEntry.efi from the OC boot screen.
   1. The ResetNvramEntry.efi will not be visible, but all you need to do is press the spacebar to display the hidden icons while on the boot screen (should be the OC GUI not picker list).
   2. The system should automatically reboot after you have selected the ResetNvramEntry option (pressed Enter with the ResetNvramEntry highlighted).
4. Reboot from the USB pen drive again, this time select your High Sierra boot or installation icon.

Hopefully the system will boot in to High Sierra or the installer with no issues.

If you get a kernel panic, take a photo of the verbose text shown on your screen and post a copy here.

 

[Lix]

OK, so I went off on a complete tangent, looking at your User Profile system (x58A-UD3R) and not your MSI Z390-A system. You can obviously ignore the information regarding your X58A-UD3R system in my post above, unless you want to upgrade that system from Mavericks to a newer version of macOS.

It always helps when you put the system you want help with in your User Profile, that way we know which system you are looking for help on. Without having to read through the whole thread to understand which system is being problematic.

Anyway, here is an OpenCore EFI for a Coffee Lake system running macOS High Sierra, using an Nvidia GPU with the Nvidia Web Drivers installed.

It is based on OpenCore 0.8.7.

1. Requires you to add the SMBIOS (serial Number, MLB, ROM and SystemUUID) data for an iMac18,3 to complete the setup.

NVIDIA GPU.

1. It contains the nvda_drv_vrl=1 boot argument, which is used for enabling Nvidia's Web Drivers on Maxwell and Pascal cards when running Sierra and High Sierra.
2. If you don't have High Sierra or the Nvidia Web Drivers installed, yet.
   1. Then the nvda_drv_vrl=1 boot argument may need to be changed.
   2. That being the case, you would need to replace nvda_drv_vrl=1 with nv_disable=1 boot argument, which disables the Nvidia Web Drivers in macOS.
   3. The nv_disable=1 boot argument is used so your system boots and runs the OS installation without graphics acceleration, i.e. in VESA mode.
3. When you boot in to High Sierra you will need to update the OS to the latest release, as the High Sierra 10.13.6 download does not include all the Security updates Apple have released over the years for this OS.
4. I would recommend keeping nv_disable=1 boot argument in place until you have completed all the High Sierra updates, there are a few if I recall correctly.
5. Once macOS says your system is up to date then and only then should you install the Nvidia Web Drivers. I say this because each High Sierra update has its own release of the Nvidia Web Drivers. I am sure you don't want to waste your time downloading and installing a dozen releases of the Nvidia Web Drivers.

Everything else should be kept as I have configured the EFI folder.


After adding the SMBIOS data to the OC config.plist do the following.

1. Copy the OC EFI Folder to a spare USB pen drive's EFI partition.
2. Boot your Coffee Lake system from the USB, you need to press the F11 key on an MSI board IIRC.
3. Make sure you use the ResetNvramEntry.efi from the OC boot screen.
   1. The ResetNvramEntry.efi will not be visible, but all you need to do is press the spacebar to display the hidden icons while on the boot screen (should be the OC GUI not picker list).
   2. The system should automatically reboot after you have selected the ResetNvramEntry option (pressed Enter with the ResetNvramEntry highlighted).
4. Reboot from the USB pen drive again, this time select your High Sierra boot or installation icon.

Hopefully the system will boot in to High Sierra or the installer with no issues.

If you get a kernel panic, take a photo of the verbose text shown on your screen and post a copy here.

Thank you so much for that, once I had figured out gensmbios wouldn't work in mavericks, I sorted in windows. Got the installer to work at the second attempt with the nv_disable=1 and I am currently working trough the system updates.
I had bought a rx580 off ebay to use but the courier has stolen or lost it. So going to have to search for another one at the right price.
Now got to cross my fingers and hope my adobe software works.
Thank you for your patience and time I wouldn't have got this far without you.

 

[Edhawk]

I have a High Sierra system that runs the Adobe CS6 Master Collection, so I expect it will work.

Even though the Adobe apps are stated as being 64-bit, they rely on older 32-bit code in the software, so they don't function correctly in versions of macOS newer than High Sierra.

Mojave and newer don't support any 32-bit apps as they are purely 64-bit OS's. Whereas High Sierra does work with 32-Bit software.

Good to hear you have High Sierra installed and updating.

 

[Lix]

@Edhawk
Bit of an update and new issue.
I got the apps installed, but can't get graphics acceleration working.
I have downloaded and installed the nvidia drivers 387.10.10.10.40.140 (now have logo in top bar)
I tried removing nv_disable=1 but got a black screen (think the system had booted in the background correctly though)
Then read one of your replies to someone else and changed nvda_drv=1 to nvda_drv_vrl=1 but that hasn't sorted it either.
Also if I add voodoops2controller (have a brand new keyboard I want to use) will it conflict with anything in the plist you gave me.
Thanks in advance

Still having to use mobile to access the site, I've been told I was blocked for port sacnning the site? I'm a bit worried as I have no idea how or if I did that. As you can probably tell I'm no hacker

 

[Edhawk]

Keyboard:

I assume you have a new PS2 keyboard, and that is why you are looking to install/add the VoodooPS2Controller.kext, yes?

VoodooPS2Controller.kext is a multi-kext container. It contains 4 x plugin kexts:

plugin kexts

These 4 x kexts are required for laptop systems, where this VoodooPS2Controller.kext is normally used/required for the PS2 connected keyboard, mouse or trackpad to work. It is not usually used on a Desktop system.

As your system is a desktop, you may only need the VoodooPS2Keyboard.kext.


If you have a new USB keyboard, which I hope is the case, then you don't need to add any additional kexts for it to work. You just need to use it on a USB port that works in macOS.

Let me know which type of keyboard you are looking to use and I will advise as best I can.


Nvidia Web Drivers and boot arguments:

• Have you updated the system to the latest version of macOS High Sierra?
• If yes, then you need to install the Nvidia Web Drivers for that specific version of High Sierra, which I think is version 17G1402.
• The Nvidia Web Drivers for that version of High Sierra are linked below.

macOS 10.13.6 High Sierra (17G14042)

Check this is the version of High Sierra you are using, as using the wrong version of the Nvidia Web Drivers can cause issues.

Once you have installed the correct version of the Nvidia Web Drivers to match your version of High Sierra:

1. You need to remove nv_disable=1 boot argument you have been using whilst installing and updating macOS High Sierra.
2. Only then do you add the nvda_drv_vrl=1 boot argument. (Yes you are correct, I used an older version of the boot argument when instructing you previously).
3. When you reboot your system for the Nvidia Web Drivers to take effect, you need to use the ResetNvramEntry.efi to remove the old boot argument from the NVRAM entries, and allow the new boot argument to be used.

 

[Jasonhacks]

but got a black screen

It maybe related to this. You might have to install re-signed unofficial Nvidia webdriver from here unless there is an official version with new certificate.