Clevo P650SE/Sager NP8651

[mcfee03]

Hi,

I've very keen to be the 'test' bunny on this relatively new laptop. I'm keen to make this my Ultimate laptop, and happy to trail it all out to help others with the same laptop.

My specs:

• i7 4720HQ
• 3GB GDD5 GTX 970M | Intel 4600
• 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz (x1)
• 1TB 5400rpm
• 128GB M.2 SSD X110 (Operating System W8.1)
• Realtek RTL8723BE Wireless

1. Plan to install PremaMod bios (I believe this is necessary to get the right bios settings for OSX?)
2. Can I Install MacOSX on a partition of my 1TB drive (whilst using the rest of the drive for storage shared across Mac & Windows)? Or will I need a new drive?
3. Do you forsee any compatibility issues?

Any help is much appreciated, and I look forward to contributing to this forum (#1 post)


Update: 13/06/2015 (basic things I learned- often these aren't explained)
1. Several USB's didn't work simply as OSX installer didn't like them.
2. Dont confuse Github links for actual kext's- bitbucket normally hosts them
3. Ethernet kext= Realtek1811.kext, Audio kext=VoodooHDA
3. To get iMessage/App store/Facetime working- I needed a working MLB & ROM from a real Mac and repaired disk permissions using the kext wizard.
4. Editing Clover boot options required using CloverConfigurator (GUI)
5. To use CloverConfigurator, you need to mount the EFI partition in terminal (diskutil list, then diskutil mount *your hdd* eg disk1s2)
6. BIOS: Prema mod bios is NOT necessary. Bios settings needed are UEFI & CSM (make sure you enable it in all locations with Prema mod)
7. My clock in Windows & OS X kept confusing each other. A registry change in Windows fixed this (link)
8. DSDT/SSDT for brightness (installed ACPIBacklight.kext) then put pre-made "aml" files into Clover/ACPI/patched and set CloverConfig to Drop OEM (at ACHI tab) [NB It is not recommended to use 'remade' aml files as differences in your ram/wifi etc can lead to other issues]
9. Battery percentage- installed ACPIBatteryManager.kext
10. Fixed minor graphic glitches using FakePCID & Fake_PCID_4600
11. Above fix caused other graphic glitches - so went to clover config and changed (under 'Graphics') ig-platform-id to "0xa2e0008"

(for Wificard- don't forget, this laptop uses NGFF/M2- don't buy the wrong card like I did)
12. Installed Fake PCID & Fake PCID BCM94352Z kexts
13. Installed BCMRam kext
14. Copied contents of "config-bcm94352-103.plist" into my Clover Configurator (Kernal & Kext Patches).
15. Downloaded command file (wireless_bcm94352-100-v3.0a.command) and had to enable permission to run it (chmod u+x downloads/wireless_bcm94352-100-v3.0a.command).

To do:
1. Get instant wake working
2. Install Wifi adapter [waiting to find BCM94352Z]
3. Get Function keys working without FN button


Issues:
Did not know to mount partition of Clover's EFI when using Clover Configurator
Did not know how to identify which Clover EFI partition was being used (changed themes to identify it)
Purchased BCM94352 mSata version (not M2)
Windows 8 not booting- EFI (clover) directory didn't have a EFI/Microsoft folder. Copied a backup of it (but can be done with BCD.exe)

 

[RehabMan]

Hi,

I've very keen to be the 'test' bunny on this relatively new laptop. I'm keen to make this my Ultimate laptop, and happy to trail it all out to help others with the same laptop.

My specs:

• i7 4720MQ
• 3GB GDD5 GTX 970M | Intel 4600
• 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz (x1)
• 1TB 5400rpm
• 128GB M.2 SSD X110 (Operating System W8.1)
• Realtek RTL8723BE Wireless

1. Plan to install PremaMod bios (I believe this is necessary to get the right bios settings for OSX?)
2. Can I Install MacOSX on a partition of my 1TB drive (whilst using the rest of the drive for storage shared across Mac & Windows)? Or will I need a new drive?
3. Do you forsee any compatibility issues?

Any help is much appreciated, and I look forward to contributing to this forum (#1 post)

OS X can be installed on many laptops with stock limited BIOS from the likes of HP, Lenovo, etc, so a BIOS flash may not be necessary.

Read here for compatibility overview: http://www.tonymacx86.com/laptop-compatibility/106791-laptop-compatibility.html

See also, stickies here: http://www.tonymacx86.com/yosemite-laptop-support/

Suggest Clover guide: http://www.tonymacx86.com/yosemite-...oting-os-x-installer-laptops-clover-uefi.html

You will need to replace the Realtek WiFi. Read here: http://www.tonymacx86.com/network/104850-guide-airport-pcie-half-mini-v2.html

 

[mcfee03]

OS X can be installed on many laptops with stock limited BIOS from the likes of HP, Lenovo, etc, so a BIOS flash may not be necessary.


Suggest Clover guide: http://www.tonymacx86.com/yosemite-...oting-os-x-installer-laptops-clover-uefi.html

You will need to replace the Realtek WiFi. Read here: http://www.tonymacx86.com/network/104850-guide-airport-pcie-half-mini-v2.html

Thanks for that quick reply.

1. I want to get an AC Wifi adapter anyway. Would the Intel 7265 M.2 card work?
2. Will my hard drive configuration proposal work (using my 128GB SSD for W8.1, then sharing my 1TB storage drive with a Mac OSX installation as one partition, then using the other partition to share files accross apple and windows)?

 

[RehabMan]

Thanks for that quick reply.

1. I want to get an AC Wifi adapter anyway. Would the Intel 7265 M.2 card work?

No. Please read the link already provided.

2. Will my hard drive configuration proposal work (using my 128GB SSD for W8.1, then sharing my 1TB storage drive with a Mac OSX installation as one partition, then using the other partition to share files accross apple and windows)?

It will, but you'll need some tricks to install Clover to the SSD. You'll need to create a small HFS+ partition on the SSD to serve as a "fake target" for Clover, so it installs to the EFI on SSD. Or you can install it manually.

 

[mcfee03]

You'll need to create a small HFS+ partition on the SSD to serve as a "fake target" for Clover, so it installs to the EFI on SSD. Or you can install it manually.

I think I follow. So that's the bootloader (clover) that will have to be on the master drive.

Here is how I plan to setup my drives

1. 128GB SSD
   • Win 8.1 (GPT table I presume?) | ~115GB
   • Clover (HFS+ partition) | 300mb?
2. 1TB 5400RPM Sata drive
   • Mac OSX Yosemite | 150GB
   • Storage (for W8.1 & Mac OSX to share) | 750GB+

Are there any flaws in my setup?

I plan on using Parted Magic. Will I loose my current W8.1 installation if I create the HFS+ partition?

Thanks for the help thus far

 

[RehabMan]

I think I follow. So that's the bootloader (clover) that will have to be on the master drive.

Bottom line: You need to install Clover to the system boot drive (SSD). Generally, Clover is installed with the Clover installer and you point it to your OS X system volume. It determines the associated EFI partition as it relates to the install target. With multiple drives, you need to play tricks on it. Thus the small partition or manual install. Clover is UEFI, which involves a file/folder hierarchy, so doing a manual install is as simple as copying (the correct) files.

Here is how I plan to setup my drives
[*]128GB SSD

• Win 8.1 (GPT table I presume?) | ~115GB
• Clover (HFS+ partition) | 300mb?

It can be much smaller than 300MB. The Clover installer will place only backups (of the previous install of Clover on EFI) during upgrades.

[*]1TB 5400RPM Sata drive

• Mac OSX Yosemite | 150GB
• Storage (for W8.1 & Mac OSX to share) | 750GB+

I'm not sure what you're going to use for your "shared" storage. There isn't any good solutions for shared read/write storage between Win/OS X that doesn't involve (unreliable) 3rd party software.

Are there any flaws in my setup?

I plan on using Parted Magic. Will I loose my current W8.1 installation if I create the HFS+ partition?

You should create a backup in any case, but shrinking your Windows partition to make room for the dummy HFS+ partition should not affect your Windows setup.

 

[mcfee03]

Great.

I created a 100MB HFS+ partition on my primary SSD drive.

Here are my next steps (taken from your clevo guide):

1. Install Clover UEFI to my 8GB USB (including .efi files and your kexts)
2. Choose config.plist (HD4600 as it's my intel GPU)
   • Config_HD4600_4400_4200.plist- Will I need to use a plist editor like Xcode to change anything? My res is 1920x1080
3. Createinstalmedia method in MacOSX terminal
4. Change my bios settings
5. Put the USB in my PC, boot up via USB.
6. Install MacOSX Yosemite

Where do I "trick" Clover (like you said)?

 

[RehabMan]

Great.

I created a 100MB HFS+ partition on my primary SSD drive.

Here are my next steps (taken from your clevo guide):

1. Install Clover UEFI to my 8GB USB (including .efi files and your kexts)
2. Choose config.plist (HD4600 as it's my intel GPU)
   • Config_HD4600_4400_4200.plist- Will I need to use a plist editor like Xcode to change anything? My res is 1920x1080
3. Createinstalmedia method in MacOSX terminal
4. Change my bios settings
5. Install

Where do I "trick" Clover (like you said)?

Installing Clover to your HDD comes after you install OS X. Read guide post #2. Instead of installing Clover to your main system volume, you'll install to the small HFS+ volume in your SSD.

But first you have to reach the installer and install OS X...

 

[mcfee03]

Great.

When choosing "config.plist" (HD4600 as it's my intel GPU).
1. Will I need to use a plist editor like Xcode to change anything? My res is 1920x1080

I'm not sure what you're going to use for your "shared" storage.

I have lots of files (media- audio, images, videos etc) I'd like accessibly on both.

Mainly, I want to be able to access the files in W8.1. Using the 1TB drive's files in Mac OSX isn't as important. I have read about third party options.

2. Can I pre-format a 150GB partition of my 1TB drive to HFS+ so the installation doesn't write on the entire drive?

The remaining ~750GB would be in NTFS for W8.1 use. Could this work?

 

[RehabMan]

Great.

When choosing "config.plist" (HD4600 as it's my intel GPU). Will I need to use a plist editor like Xcode to change anything? My res is 1920x1080

Always use a plist editor to edit plist files.

I have lots of files (media- audio, images, videos etc) I'd like accessibly on both.

Mainly, I want to be able to access the files in W8.1. Using the 1TB drive's files in Mac OSX isn't as important. I have read about third party options.

Can I pre-format a 150GB partition of my 1TB drive to HFS+ so the installation doesn't write on the entire drive?

Read access to HFS+ volumes in Windows is easy. You can install the bootcamp drivers. Read/write access requires 3rd party solutions.

Read access to NTFS volumes in OS X is easy -- it is built-in. Read/write access requires 3rd party solutions.

OS X can read/write FAT32 and exFAT volumes, but the OS X exFAT code seems to cause corruption.

It is not a pretty situation.