Clover weird start up behaviour (missing config.plist?)

[chatzki]

Didn't find anything regarding such a Clover behaviour in the net, so I've decided to dedicate this ode to this "awesome" bootloader.

I've been using Chameleon for years, and never had any weird issues with it: if it didn't work, it meant I'd done smth wrong. Clover does resemble a capricious baby wuss in its behaviour. The issue is that this piece of software doesn't see my config.plist. When it boots it boots with random theme (not the one stipulated in the config) and mess instead of my options. Sometimes the removal of EFI directory and copying it from backup helped (though obviously there have been no discrepancies between the laggy EFI and backup EFI). Sometimes, it didn't help at all, and it doesn't matter how hard you banged your keyboard with your head – it wouldn't work. Firstly, I blamed Clover Configurator and switched to manually editing config.plist. No luck. Secondly, I thought it could have been previous versions of config.plist, somewhere in the trashes. Nope. Should I mention that numerous reinstallations didn't help either?

I'm using legacy BIOS of GA-Z68XP-UD3, could it be the stumbling block?

Did anyone come across with such tricks? Any input from me will provided if needed (ioreg/config.plist).

Missing Chameleon.

 

[Feartech]

Didn't find anything regarding such a Clover behaviour in the net, so I've decided to dedicate this ode to this "awesome" bootloader.

I've been using Chameleon for years, and never had any weird issues with it: if it didn't work, it meant I'd done smth wrong. Clover does resemble a capricious baby wuss in its behaviour. The issue is that this piece of software doesn't see my config.plist. When it boots it boots with random theme (not the one stipulated in the config) and mess instead of my options. Sometimes the removal of EFI directory and copying it from backup helped (though obviously there have been no discrepancies between the laggy EFI and backup EFI). Sometimes, it didn't help at all, and it doesn't matter how hard you banged your keyboard with your head – it wouldn't work. Firstly, I blamed Clover Configurator and switched to manually editing config.plist. No luck. Secondly, I thought it could have been previous versions of config.plist, somewhere in the trashes. Nope. Should I mention that numerous reinstallations didn't help either?

I'm using legacy BIOS of GA-Z68XP-UD3, could it be the stumbling block?

Did anyone come across with such tricks? Any input from me will provided if needed (ioreg/config.plist).

Missing Chameleon.

upload your clover folder (zipped) and maybe someone could shed some light on it

 

[cmn699]

Reading about CLOVER in https://clover-wiki.zetam.org/contents is like getting to know the dashboard of one's brand new car of a different make and model after being comfortable with one's favorite first bought vehicle!

To fix your Theme problem

• Launch the friendly CCV (Clover Configurator Vibrant Edition or CC Classic).
• Mount EFI partition of your Sierra HDD on desktop
• Dbl click EFI>EFI (folder)>CLOVER> Themes folder
  
• Check the contents.
  • there are many you don't like and
    
  • some you like and
  • may be there is something you would like to have it as your favorite but not there
• All those you don't like , select and send to Trash
• If you like some retain
  
• If you have something like YosemiteLogin , download and drag and drop and remove everything else.
• Now Open Config.plist with CCV
• Go to Gui menu>Scan section> theme box and type in your favorite theme
• Go down in the Left panel to Themes Editor > and then look toward Bottom Right Corner of that page to find Load Themes /partitions button to load the theme of your liking and Save button near by to save and also see the image loaded to a rectangle box left middle of that page
• Now Click the 2nd Rightward arrow at bottom of Left Panel>Save as >save config. >CLOVER
• Reboot and enjoy

 

[chatzki]

Reading about CLOVER in https://clover-wiki.zetam.org/contents is like getting to know the dashboard of one's brand new car of a different make and model after being comfortable with one's favorite first bought vehicle!

Well, Clover Wiki definitely has a huge gap to develop, indeed. Thanks about the theme (you guessed or you knew about YosemiteLogin, ha-ha-ha??!), but the issue is deeper than just a theme lag.

OK, I've found a way to make it work at least for one time: mount EFI, remove everything, reinstall Clover. Then you have to start building the configuration again, and if you don't match the requirements, you take your saviour USB card, boot again, remove EFI partition, install Clover, etc, etc, etc. I forgot to mention that all my adventures were accompanied by CMOS reset upon reboots (in spite of the loaded RTC tweak). I'll omit my intercourse with sleep: I have dual BIOS, after I sent macOS to sleep the CPU remain working and didn't even start after reset! All these well-thought Gigabyte precautions and dual BIOSes suck and capitulate when facing Clover. The only thing I could do is to remove battery from mobo and reset to make it work again.

Attached please find my EFI partition zipped. Thanks for looking into this.

 

[cmn699]

I had a brief look at the uploaded zipped EFI file. I have done some editing and zipped back and uploading it.

I did NOT change anything you have selected in your ACPI fixes because frankly I did not know why you needed all those fixes. I just left them alone.

I have added to your empty /EFI/CLOVER/kext/Other folder 2 essential file missing in them for Sierra booting: "FakeSMC.kext" and the Ethernet kext on your MoBO "RealtekRTL8111.kext."

I took the liberty to empty your Theme folder which as I expected had a bunch of themes. I just added YosemiteLogin .

I have saved the changes in config.plist .

From your post I surmised that the changing "Clover themes" seemed to be your biggest gripe about Clover EFI which Tonymac Forum and a lot of the hackintosh community have embraced as the best bootloader for Sierra ( el Capitan too).

I too was so used to Chimera and never liked Clover in the beginning. I was so skeptical about it that I refused to change my bootloader to Clover for Yosemite until el Capitan forced me to adopt it with some fear and reluctance. But, as time went by and I got used to it and learned a little bit about it through my own research, and reading from the best Experts in this Forum, my complaints gradually disappeared and I started liking it.

I am not canvassing for Clover EFI bootloader. I was not happy with Chameleon in Sierra.

We cannot stop progress. It won't be too long before Legacy BIOS (MBR) will become extinct. If anyone is not learning about or start using EFI bootloader, in the next few years , they will find it hard to get back to the new standard. BIOS is on its way out and UEFI is the new way in computing. The current CSM may vanish one day.

 

[chatzki]

Thanks for looking into this. The config structure I've uploaded was a result of XXX iteration, so ACPI fixes have been there before set by Clover, not by me. I played a lot with them during the last week, so the only one I do need is Darwin, but the rest of the fixes could have helped me to prevent Clover from playing tricks and they were selected in my iBoot stick, so I just left them, not to worsen the situation.

Again, the problem was not about the themes. The bunch you removed was embedded, tonymacx86 and random, being there by default. Please, read my initial post with more attention: the config in Clover during boot doesn't correspond to what I've just edited on EFI partition. The first thing you determine it by is, of course, the theme. None of my options I had just set in config.plist were there on reboot. +CMOS resets. Plus, other weird things, like, e.g. I have two monitors, one above another. With some ACPI fixes (I dare not to state which one exactly) Sierra kept treating my monitors like left and right after reboot, in spite of the settings i've made to them positioning them one above another. Every f**** reboot. The rest of my Apple devices kept telling me that I'm using Facetime and iMessage on new computer. After every f**** reboot. Besides, I didn't even try to make it work and it doesn't by now. It's not about the theme, you see.

I wouldn't have called myself a pro/guru, but I know the ropes. My Z68 mobo works more stable with legacy BIOS. I have already updated it to UEFI and had to revert it back to F10 after I found out that my sleep, USB3.0 and sound were gone. So, maybe the future is for UEFI, but not for my mobo. I have Mavericks running on the same computer and there is nothing which could make me upset: everything works just perfectly. So, based on my experience, I just blame Clover. I used to hack my Samsung laptop with Clover and succeeded in it a year ago, but it took me about a week to make it work. If it were possible to do it with Chameleon it would have taken a day. Moreover, my Samsung is not upgradable now, anyway, so I just have to stick to Mavericks on it. Every attempt to make it work with Yo, El or Sierra led to fiasco. So, I'm wondering how people receive OS major updates on Clover. It's not that simple as it's stated here. I know about the significant changes Apple made to OSX after Mavericks, but I'm here for help, not for "holy war talks".

I'll have a look on the files edited by you, but as I understood you mostly dealt with themes. Both fakesmc and realtek drivers were there, you just missed them somehow. I'm not that newbie to miss fakesmc on hack Anyway, thanks!

 

[Bradish]

Thanks for looking into this. The config structure I've uploaded was a result of XXX iteration, so ACPI fixes have been there before set by Clover, not by me. I played a lot with them during the last week, so the only one I do need is Darwin, but the rest of the fixes could have helped me to prevent Clover from playing tricks and they were selected in my iBoot stick, so I just left them, not to worsen the situation.

Again, the problem was not about the themes. The bunch you removed was embedded, tonymacx86 and random, being there by default. Please, read my initial post with more attention: the config in Clover during boot doesn't correspond to what I've just edited on EFI partition. The first thing you determine it by is, of course, the theme. None of my options I had just set in config.plist were there on reboot. +CMOS resets. Plus, other weird things, like, e.g. I have two monitors, one above another. With some ACPI fixes (I dare not to state which one exactly) Sierra kept treating my monitors like left and right after reboot, in spite of the settings i've made to them positioning them one above another. Every f**** reboot. The rest of my Apple devices kept telling me that I'm using Facetime and iMessage on new computer. After every f**** reboot. Besides, I didn't even try to make it work and it doesn't by now. It's not about the theme, you see.

I wouldn't have called myself a pro/guru, but I know the ropes. My Z68 mobo works more stable with legacy BIOS. I have already updated it to UEFI and had to revert it back to F10 after I found out that my sleep, USB3.0 and sound were gone. So, maybe the future is for UEFI, but not for my mobo. I have Mavericks running on the same computer and there is nothing which could make me upset: everything works just perfectly. So, based on my experience, I just blame Clover. I used to hack my Samsung laptop with Clover and succeeded in it a year ago, but it took me about a week to make it work. If it were possible to do it with Chameleon it would have taken a day. Moreover, my Samsung is not upgradable now, anyway, so I just have to stick to Mavericks on it. Every attempt to make it work with Yo, El or Sierra led to fiasco. So, I'm wondering how people receive OS major updates on Clover. It's not that simple as it's stated here. I know about the significant changes Apple made to OSX after Mavericks, but I'm here for help, not for "holy war talks".

I'll have a look on the files edited by you, but as I understood you mostly dealt with themes. Both fakesmc and realtek drivers were there, you just missed them somehow. I'm not that newbie to miss fakesmc on hack Anyway, thanks!

After you have edited the config file are you sure that you saved the file back to the EFI folder? Getting the same theme after edit may suggest the edited file is not replacing the original...just a thought.

 

[chatzki]

After you have edited the config file are you sure that you saved the file back to the EFI folder? Getting the same theme after edit may suggest the edited file is not replacing the original...just a thought.

It does look like that. Like Clover is taking a config from another disk/partition or smth, but no, I don't have any other config.plist files. But you've got the problem. Looks exactly like I see another config on boot. But cleaning EFI and reinstalling Clover helps. For one boot, though then again, "wrong" config.

 

[chatzki]

I actually thought, the reason could hide in some HDA or SATA fixes, that Clover mixes BSD names of disks or something. In spite of the fact, that I've tried all possible options (I had a week to play with it, remember), the issue is still there. Hope, someone will be able to shed a light on it.

 

[chatzki]

The problem was solved. Thanks to cmn699, he noticed that kexts were missing. Strange enough, though, you can't deselect FakeSMC when installing Clover, but in the end it turned out to be missing as well as all other kexts. The sleep issue and CMOS resets are still present though, just returned the battery back to mobo to boot.